Today's train of thought takes us to a little slice of New England up in the Pacific Northwest- a shortline in the woods complete with a covered bridge.
Although the 1937 construction date makes the Harris covered bridge in Blodgett, OR is pretty new by east coast standards, the structure looks right at home in the forests of Oregon's Coastal Range. The 75 foot bridge traverses the Marys River outside of Blodgett, OR and crosses the former Southern Pacific Toledo branch, which has been operated by the Genesee & Wyoming's Portland & Western since the 1990s.
Here, railpitcures.net contributor Mike Haywood caught Portland and Western GP39-2 #2310 [formerly Santa Fe #3609- NANESB!] leading the Toledo Hauler past the Harris Bridge on Memorial Day weekend 2003. Like other railroads, the Portland & Western has a practice of naming some of their locomotives after cities and towns along the line that they serve.
Today's Train of thought takes us to the Peach State and highlights what is sure to be a source of consternation for commuters in Georgia's second largest city and home to the US Army's Ft Benning.
The 26-mile Columbus and Chattahoochee is one of the newer railways in the Genesee & Wyoming family of shortlines and actually the second one to operating in the western Georgia city of Columbus. The line operates between Phenix City and Mahrt, AL was formed in 2012 but has trackage rights over a stretch of the former Central of Georgia line between Columbus, GA and Birmingham, AL to reach the Norfolk Southern yard in downtown Columbus.
To get the that NS yard, Columbus and Chattahoochee trains have to traverse the Chattahoochee River, which forms much of the boundary between Georgia and Alabama. Once across the river, trains for both the NS and Columbus & Chattahoochee have to traverse several blocks of street-running trackage on 9th street, sometimes snarling up traffic at rush hour in the heart of this city of more than 200,000.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Casey Thomason caught Columbus & Chattahoochee SD40-2 #3348 leading a consist on its way back to the NS yard after picking up loads from the paper mill in Mahrt, crossing the river and trundling down the middle of 9th street on September 7, 2012- just two months after the Columbus and Chattahoochee was formed.
According to the photographer, this was a relatively short train that only took up 2-3 blocks. Longer trains on the Norfolk Southern from Birmingham have to slow down for yard limits while westbound trains only gradually pick up speed, creating a rolling roadblock that leaves soldiers and civilians alike scrambling to fins an alternate route.
Westbound Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern freight between Huron and Rapid City, SD seen passing through Wall, SD with CP Rail and Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern SD40-2s in June 2007- a year before the CP Rail takeover. JJ Schrader photo
CANADIAN PACIFIC- CP Rail and shortline operator Genesee & Wyoming have reportedly reached a deal to purchase more than 600 miles of former Canadian Pacific (ex Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern, nee Chicago & Northwestern) trackage in South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wyoming.
The price tag for the deal was reportedly $210 million and is Genesee & Wyoming's first transaction since last year's takeover of Rail America. The new name for the line will be the Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern and will run from Tracy, MN west to Colony, WY by way of Rapid City and the South Dakota capitol of Pierre. According to a GWR press release, the transaction includes a branch from Rapid City to Dakota Jct, NE as well as trackage rights over CP from Tracy to Mankato, MN to interchange with the Union Pacific as well as trackage right over BNSF between Yale and Watertown, SD and a separate line between Wolsey and Aberdeen, SD where the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern could also interchange with the independent regional Dakota, Missouri Valley and Western. This stretch of the line primarily hauls ethanol, wheat, bentonite clay and cement.
Prior to 2008, the line was part of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern system. The DM&E was reportedly interested in expansion by building a new line in Wyoming to access coal from the Powder River Basin and ship it to power plants throughout the Midwest. However, the line between Pierre and Rapid City featured unstable roadbed as well as aging track and bridges limiting speed limits to 10 MPH over that portion of the line and creating a significant bottleneck. With the 2008 CP Rail takeover, a number of proposed improvements were approved but quickly forgotten after competition from natural gas and regulatory burdens on coal drove prices down and the CP Rail installed Hunter Harrison as its new CEO after a 2012 hostile takeover by the Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund. With the focus shifting to rising oil traffic from Alberta and North Dakota, the former DM&E lines became viewed as insignificant backwater and an increasing burden by CP Rail management.
The DM&E itself was started up after the Chicago & Northwestern announced their intent to abandon marginal and unprofitable lines through South Dakota and parts of Minnesota in the early 1980s. Responding to pressure from shippers and then-US Senator Larry Pressler, the C&NW spun off their lines between Winona, MN and Rapid City, SD to the newly formed Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern in 1986 and the railroad began operations with castoff equipment and facilities.
In addition to their Powder River ambitions, the DM&E purchased the 1700 mile I&M Rail Link in 2002. The I&M Rail Link ran between the Twin Cities and Kansas City via the former Milwaukee Road/Soo Line main and also ran to Chicago via Iowa. The newly-formed sister railway- called the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern- gave shippers in South Dakota access to the Twin Cities, Chicago, St Louis and the Great Lakes. Ironically, the Canadian Pacific reacquired most of the lines in 2008 with their acquisition of the DM&E and IC&E that their Soo Line subsidiary spun off in the late 1990s. To hardly anybody's surprise, the former IC&E trackage between the Twin Cities and Kansas City as well as the Sabula, IA to Chicago line weren't on the chopping block.
Pere Marquette Berkshire #1225 seen passing a grain elevator in the village of Carland, MI with an excursion on December 13, 2013. Brian Plant photo
MICHIGAN- After a hiatus of nearly four years, Pere Marquette 2-8-4 #1225 is back in service for the Owosso, MI based Steam Railroading Institute. The big Berkshire re-entered service at the end of November, in time for the SRI's Polar Express excursions over the Great Lakes Central Railroad between Owosso and Ashley, MI in December [although some of them were cancelled due to a state of emergency being declared in Shiawassee County, MI due to a snowstorm- NANESB].
The locomotive last ran at the end of 2009, when it was pulled from service for it's FRA-mandated 15 year boiler inspection. A few months prior, the #1225 was one of the marquee attractions at the 2009 Train Fest, which also included fellow Berkshire Nickel Plate #765 and Southern Pacific's colorful 1941-built Daylight #4449.
Appropriately enough, there is another gathering of vintage iron horses- as well as aircraft and autos- within a few months of the #1225's return to service. The gathering is dubbed Locomotives Wings and Wheels and in addition to the #1225, the gathering is scheduled for June 20-22 and will also feature restored WWII era P-51 Mustangs from the Commemorative Air Force as well as SRI's Flagg Coal Company 0-4-0 switcher and visiting steam locomotives from the Little River Railroad.
CANADIAN NATIONAL- Just days after a fiery train wreck and derailment in Casselton, ND, a Canadian National freight carrying crude oil and liquefied propane derailed in rural New Brunswick near the village of Plaster Rock. According to a CN spokesman, 19 cars and one locomotive derailed on the 122-car four locomotive train.
Unlike the Lac Megantic disaster last July of the BNSF oil train explosion in Casselton, ND earlier this month, the CN train involved in the derailment was a mixed freight, meaning it was carrying other commodities besides petroleum and liquefied natural gas. However, the wreck prompted the evacuation of nearby residents and some of the derailed cars burned for four days after the derailment.
Transportation officials believe that a mechanical failure prompted the train to apply the emergency brakes prior to the derailment. There were no reports of injuries to the crew.
Plaster Rock, NB is about 30 miles away from the Canada/US border in the northwestern corner of New Brunswick and has a population of roughly 1100 according to Canada's 2011 census.
Today's Train of Thought takes us north of the border to one of the Genesee & Wyoming's first Canadian ventures- more than 280 miles of disconnected former Canadian Pacific trackage through Central Quebec. By 1997, the Canadian Pacific had moved its headquarters from Montreal to Calgary and began divesting themselves of most of their trackage east of Montreal. The majority of the former CP lines between Montreal and Nova Scotia went to shortlines and regionals such as the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, Quebec Central, Windsor and Hantsport or New Brunswick Southern.
North of the St Lawrence River, the former CP line between Laval and Quebec City (via Trois-Rivières) was purchased by the Genesee and Wyoming along with another disconnected stretch former CP lines between the Ottawa area and the northern Montreal suburb of Saint Jerome. Traffic on the QGRY includes lumber and forestry products, auto parts, propane and chemicals and power is typically painted in the orange and black colors of the GWR family. Initially power for the line was a motley assortment of hand-me-down MLW C424s from Canadian Pacific, former CN wide-cab GP40-2LWs, burly orange and black SD45s from other Genesee & Wyoming lines and SW1500 switchers.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Ken Goslett caught rebuilt QGRY GP39-2 #2302 charging westbound with a local frieght through a snowy Lachute, Quebec around sunset in January 2013. The freight is destined for a suburb of Ottawa on the Quebec side of the river. Interestingly, the #2302 is a fairly new arrival to the QGRY- it started out life as a GP40 for the Chesapeake & Ohio before being rebuilt in 1992 after it was sold the new Virginia Rail Express commuter agency based out of Washington DC and northern Virginia. By late 2012, it had rejoined a couple of other VRE GP39-2us and was sold to the QGRY.
Today's Train of Thought takes us to the verdant fields in the eastern corner of the Buckeye State.
Referred to in tourism literature as the 'Little Switzerland of Ohio', Sugarcreek, OH is known for its gently rolling hills, Amish and Swiss background and until a few years ago, the home of Ohio Central's steam program. The public excursions stopped with the Genesee & Wyoming acquisition of the Ohio Central. However the OHCR's previous owner, Jerry Jacobson, retained his considerable collection of former Ohio Central steam locomotives as part of the deal.
Not only did Jacobson retain his steam fleet, he also had a roundhouse constructed from scratch to house everything. Although he made it clear from the outset that he wouldn't be operating excursions out of Sugarcreek like before, the steam locomotives housed in what would be called the Age of Steam roundhouse would be made available to other scenic and tourist railroads in the region, including the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic outside of Cleveland.
Of course, as the Age of Steam roundhouse is being constructed, there's still a railroad for Genesee & Wyoming to run. The OHCR line through Sugarcreek runs north-south through the gently rolling hills (hence the 'Little Switzerland' moniker) between their Coshocton hub and the Wheeling & Lake Erie interchange in Brewster, OH. Commodities hauled include coal, steel, grain and aggregates- and with ongoing drilling and exploration of the Utica Shale, there's potential for additional traffic including pipe and fracking sand.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Richard Thompson caught Ohio Central B23S-7 #4093 and a trailing Super 7 trundling past a cornfield with a southbound mixed freight outside of Sugarcreek, OH on July 30th 2012. The two-unit lashup represents a sort of 'before and after' of the Ohio Central with the trailing unit in GWRR orange and black.
Today's Train(s) of Thought takes us to a once dormant corner of western Massachusetts. Although the Hampden County town of Palmer, MA has rightfully earned itself a reputation as a train-watcher's haven, Millers Falls in Franklin county deserves an honorable mention for hosting not one, but two resurgent railroads.
Best known for the Millers Falls Tool company, this Western Massachusetts village of about 1100 is situated at the confluence of the Millers and Connecticut River as well as Massachusetts Route 63 and the Mohawk Trail (Route 2- sometimes known locally as the French King highway). The village is also located at the crossing of what was once the Central Vermont Railroad and Boston & Maine's Fitchburg Division. The railroads that served Millers Falls, MA went into a precipitous decline starting in the late 1960s. The B&M started off the 1970s by entering bankruptcy in March 1970 and the CV's line between the Vermont-Quebec border and New London, CT had always been something of a backwater in the Canadian National system.
Along with the Maine Central and Delaware & Hudson, the somewhat resurgent Boston & Maine was brought into the Guilford fold in the early 1980s, ushering in a period marked by declining traffic, reduced salaries, deferred maintenance, layoffs, shop closures and labor strife. By 1988, Guilford abandoned any plans of operating a unified system stretching from Washington DC to northeastern Maine by declaring the Delaware & Hudson bankrupt. While the D&H would continue running with the New York, Susquehanna & Western as their designated operator for a few years, Canadian Pacific purchased the line outright in 1991. For better or worse, this left the Boston & Maine and Maine Central in the Guilford fold.
Around the same time the D&H was purchased by CP Rail, rumblings began on a possible privatization of the Canadian National Railway and its subsidiaries. Although the Central Vermont had operated as a subsidiary of the Canadian National since 1923, a newly privatized CN began looking to sell off marginal lines [even before privatization, they sold off their former Grand Trunk Eastern line between Sherbroke, Quebec to Portland, ME to Pennsylvania-based Emons Industries in 1989- NANESB!]. So one of the lines that ran through this western New England burgh was basically a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian government. To hardly anyone's surprise, the candidates for divestment included the Central Vermont, and they soon found a buyer in San Antonio-based RailTex in 1995. The line's name was changed to the New England Central and new(er) blue and yellow GP38-2s became the mainstay of the NECR fleet.
Meanwhile, Guilford's fortunes were seemingly tied to Maine's paper industry. At the time, Conrail provided the fastest route in and out of New England on their former Boston & Albany mainline between Beacon Hill yard in Boston and the massive former Penn Central yard in Selkirk, NY. If they used Guilford at all, shippers typically preferred the absolute minimum- this typically involved handing off trains to Guilford at Worcester, MA so they could continue to Ayer, MA and points northeast. This meant the underutilized Fitchburg division languished further- although coal trains from western Pennsylvania and general freight was handed off to Guilford by CP Rail at Mechanicsville, NY. While not in direct competition with each other, it seemed as though the Guilford's fortunes faded as New England Central's rose.
In 1998- Guilford's management made a curious move that wouldn't generate much attention until nearly a decade later. They purchased the rights to the name of the defunct Pan Am Airlines. By 2006, Guilford Transportation was re-branded as Pan Am Railways.
Interestingly, this wasn't simply a matter of slapping a new logo on the locomotives and rolling stock and hope that nobody noticed how badly the railroad had sucked for the last 20 years. Earnest efforts were made to retain current shippers and attract new ones or ones that had stopped using them.
By 2008, Pan Am had entered into an agreement with Norfolk Southern to upgrade trackage on the Fitchburg Division between Mechanicsville, NY and Ayer, MA- giving NS access to Boston area shippers. While unit coal trains from Western Pennsylvania continued running to the power plants in Mt Tom, MA and Bow, NH, Pan Am sought to expand upon that.
For instance, First Light Power began experimenting with blending coal from Colombia at the former Northeastern Utilities power plant in Mt Tom. The coal would be shipped from Colombia's Atlantic coast to Rhode Island, where it was then loaded into a dedicated unit train for the Providence & Worcester. From there it would travel between its two namesake cities. Once at Worcester, it would continue to the northwest to the Guilford/Pan Am interchange at Gardner, MA and on to Mt Tom (via Millers Falls and the East Deerfield yard) from there.
In the above image, NERail Photos contributor Bill Wehmeyer caught a Pan Am train at Miller's Falls, MA having something of an identity crisis. Here, Providence & Worcester B23-7 #2201 is seen leading a P&W GP38-2 with unit coal train PWMT [Providence & Worcester interchange at Gardner, MA to the Mount Tom power plant]- heading eastbound on June 15, 2012. The train utilizes P&W power for the duration of its run to the power plant.
Norfolk Southern's investment seems to be paying off for both parties- in addition to traffic destined for the Canadian Pacific at Mechanicsville and the unit coal trains originating on the Norfolk Southern or Providence & Worcester, the Fitchburg division of the Pan Am is also hosting unit grain trains, unit clay slurry trains from the Vermont Railway and dedicated unit trains of crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken Shale that is handed off to them by the CSX in Rotterdam Jct, NY on a weekly basis. Shippers that once preferred to avoid Guilford or the rails altogether are rediscovering Pan Am, with paper and forestry products moving out of Maine via the old B&M Fitchburg division instead of the former Boston & Albany (now CSX) line. In fact, traffic has increased so sharply on the Pan Am that the line finds itself short on locomotives at the moment- in addition to trying to wring every possible mile out of their secondhand GP35s and GP40s or run-through power from CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF and Norfolk Southern, Pan Am has also been borrowing SD40-2s from Helm Leasing and Norfolk Southern to try and fill in the gap.
New England Central- which had operated under the Rail America umbrella since 2000- has been no slouch, either. Hauling seemingly everything from construction debris to America's Cup yachts, New England Central began handling unit ethanol trains in conjunction with the Canadian Pacific, Vermont Railway and Providence & Worcester starting in 2010. The former Central Vermont line also accommodates Amtrak's Washington DC-St Albans, VT Vermonter. Despite sustaining heavy damage during the 2011 Tropical Storm Irene, the NECR was nearing completion on a massive upgrade of their line between Northfield, MA and St Albans, VT that is expected to benefit the NECR, Amtrak and to a lesser extent, Pan Am [which still uses the line to haul salt, plate steel and LPG as far north as White River Jct, VT- NANESB].
Perhaps the most significant development for the NECR has been the sale of parent company Rail America to Genesee & Wyoming holdings at the end of 2012. Within weeks, NECR locomotives were among those in the former Rail America network being repainted in G&W's trademark orange and black.
Above, raiplictures.net contributor Gary Senecal caught northbound NECR SD40-2 #6281 leading train #611 as it made its way north across the Millers River trestle just outside of the center of town while a passing storm makes its way east off in the distance on May 8th, 2010. Its not uncommon for NECR trains to perform interchange work with Pan Am at Millers Falls instead of at White River Jct, VT on the Connecticut River line
Despite being a New England Central train, the motive power gives no indication that this is a train belonging to any Rail America railroad- #6281's Conrail markings are very much intact while Florida East Coast SD40-2 #722 still retains its Union Pacific Armour Yellow and grey. By 2011, the former FEC SD40-2s and a couple of blue FEC GP40-2s were re-lettered for NECR, although as of March 2013, #6281 still retained the Conrail logo.
UPDATE: 3/8- Almost as soon as I finish the first draft, Pan Am suffers not one, but TWO derailments.
Thirteen tank cars loaded with crude oil derailed near Mattawamkeag, ME on Thursday. Despite the fact that the cars have a 31,000 gallon capacity, officials said that just 3 gallons were spilled in the derailment. Officials cite the tank car's sturdy design along with the slow track speed through the area for the relative lack of damage.
The Pan Am Railways tanker cars, which were among 15 that derailed on the 96-car train, went off the tracks near Route 2 and the Winn town line about 5 a.m. Thursday. No injuries were reported. Thirteen of the 15 cars tipped over but none ruptured, said Pan Am Railways Executive Vice President Cynthia Scarano.
Scarano described the oil spill as that which typically accumulates around the two hatches atop the tank when tanks are filled or emptied. About a gallon of oil came from three overturned tankers, Mattawamkeag Fire Chief Robert Powers said.
“Three gallons — that’s amazing [when you] have the cars laying on their sides, a couple of them in trees,” Powers said. “They’ve built the rail cars to sustain derailment. We are very thankful that that’s where we are at right now.”
Maine Department of Environmental Protection crews and a private contractor will be working with Pan Am to transfer oil from the 13 tankers to 20 smaller tankers. The work likely will continue for two or three days, said department spokeswoman Samantha Warren, who said the spill could have been “disastrous.”
Workers emptied the first car at about 9:15 p.m. The offloading went well, but the work “will be delicate,” she said.
“There are still hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil in derailed cars within sight of the Penobscot River,” Warren added, joining a chorus of voices from the state Legislature and environmentalist community that called the accident’s lack of environmental damage a miracle.
Scarano said a severe leak into the river was never very likely. The train was on a stretch of track from Waterville to Canada that is rated Class 1, which means suitable for traffic moving no faster than 10 mph.
The Federal Railroad Administration investigation of the accident is continuing, but it appears that the train was moving no faster than the speed limit. Firefighters said train workers told them it was traveling 8 mph when the derailment occurred.
A slow speed would be logical, Scarano said, given that the train was approaching a switch in town. Its cargo was to be transferred to New Brunswick Southern Railway for eventual arrival at a refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick. She said the train had three engines pulling it.
A Pan Am train was heading north on Thursday when eight cars filled with coal derailed before the Nashua River and the Bridge Street Crossing. None of the cars rolled over. The cars are leaning, and there was no spillage, the Nashua Fire Department said.
Fire officials said about 100 feet of track were damaged, as well as parts of the steel bridge’s wooden decking. Pan Am crews towed away the remaining cars to reopen the Bridge Street Crossing.
No injuries were reported at either derailment.
Looking more like a scene from the Pacific Northwest, a trio of big GE's idle in the siding with empty grain train AYRJ [AYer, MA to Rotterdam Jct, NY] as eastbound freight MOED [MOhawk Yard, Schenectady, NY to East Deerfield, MA] blasts through North Adams, MA with a pair of leased former BNSF SD40-2s on the point on February 22, 2013. Gary Schermerhorn photo
PAN AM- Thanks to an increase in traffic, Pan Am Railways is finding itself short on motive power and has been leasing SD40-2s from Helm Leasing and maximizing their use of run-through power from BNSF and CSX. The 10 Helm Leasing SD40s join some 21 SD40s that Pan Am acquired back in 2010.
The loaners are still painted in BNSF and Burlington Northern colors, some of them blending in seamlessly with the newer BNSF power that has been appearing on the unit oil trains between the CSX interchange in Rotterdam Jct, NY and the New Brunswick Southern at Mattawamkeag, ME as well as unit grain trains to the Cargill mill in Ayer, MA.
OTHER PAN AM NEWS- An Icelandic shipping company has signed a contract with the Maine Port Authority to begin operating out of Maine's largest seaport, Maine governor Paul LePage announced in February. The firm, Eimskip, also announced that they would partner with Pan Am Rail to provide cost effective access to markets across North America and that the Portland location would shave off travel time between North America and Europe.
Eimskip will open a warehouse in Portland and begin providing biweekly cargo service at the end of March, replacing the company's container operation in Norfolk, Va., according to Eimskip's website.
The company is moving to Maine's largest commercial port in order to shorten travel time between North America and Europe.
Eimskip also will partner with Pan Am Railways to offer cost-competitive access to other North American markets, according to the governor's news release.
LePage met with representatives of Eimskip and Pan Am Railways in January to discuss the new service.
“Maine’s economy will be strengthened by this new service and accessibility to markets,” LePage said in the release. “Maine produces some of the best products in the world and this investment by Eimskip is a testament to that quality."
Eimskip President and CEO Gylfi Sigfusson said, "PanAm has been very helpful working with us to make this possible and we believe that our work together is critical for success moving forward."
Details about the contract, the number of jobs to be created and the location of the warehouse will be announced Wednesday at a 10 a.m. news conference at the terminal on Commercial Street.
Portland has been without contracted cargo service for nearly a year, after the New York-based American Feeder Lines suspended operations and closed in April 2012, citing a lack of volume and loss of private investment.
At the time, the terminal was in the midst of a $5 milion, federally funded renovation and expansion that was completed last summer. The Maine Port Authority lost $200,000 it had loaned to the company. Boston and Halifax, Nova Scotia, had made similar investments.
In 2011, Eimskip added a new route to its shipping system, connecting North America to northern Norway, according to the company's website. The new shipping route has opened new markets for Eimskip customers in the North Atlantic.
"The port is well equipped to handle the operation and has been renovated during recent years," according to Eimskip's website. "Eimskip will operate a warehouse and an office in Portland and the terminal is equipped with 150 (refrigeration) plugs, a 100 ton mobile crane and other equipment required to serve Eimskip and its customers."
Eimskip will continue to receive smaller shipments in Norfolk and New York.
Maine's agricultural, forest and seafood industries will benefit from the expanded service, providing new opportunities for growth in Canada and Europe, Maine officials said.
The service will call on Portland every 14 days and give Maine businesses direct import-export access to eastern Canadian and European markets.
Access to these markets may result in both larger freight volumes and access to previously cost-prohibitive markets for importers, exporters and manufacturers.
Although traffic in oil, grain and clay slurry has picked up in recent years, intermodal service hasn't been Pan Am's strong suit. In early 2011, Pan Am innagurated triweekly intermodal service between eatern Massachusetts and Halifax, NS with New Brunswick Southern called the Bluenose.
NEW YORK CITY- Manhattan's Grand Central Station is turning 100 this year. The cavernous station originally was a meeting point from trains from the New York and Hudson River Railroad, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railway and the New York and Harlem Railroad.
The actual 100th anniversary took place on February 1st with ceremonies and tours with ongoing exhibits throughout the year. Some of the restaurants in Grand Central got into the spirit of things by offering 1913 prices on some of their meals.
The landmark terminal fell into disrepair in the late 1960s with the bankruptcy of the New York Central. In 1968, NYC successor Penn Central announced plans to demolish Grand Central to make way for a skyscraper. The proposals drew opposition from a number of New Yorkers, including former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis. Prior to the Penn Central's unveiling, New York City's Landmarks Comission designated Grand Central a landmark, meaning that Penn Central was unable to secure permission to demolish Grand Central [the matter went before the supreme court in 1978 with the justices ruling in favor of the city- NANESB!]. By 1994, the Penn Central's Corporate successor, American Financial Group, reached an agreement with New York's Metropolitan Transit Agency to lease Grand Central for more than 200 years- the MTA's Metro North is turning 30 this year.
Despite the fact that Grand Central hasn't seen regularly scheduled long-distance passenger service since 1991, recent timetables show more than 280 trains departing from the New York landmark on any given weekday. New York's MTA operates commuter trains north to the Hudson River Valley and western Connecticut out of Grand Central while Long Island Railroad, NJ Transit and Amtrak operate out of Penn Station.
A full schedule of this year's events and exhibitions is available at the Grand Central's Centennial website.
BNSF- I'm about a year behind schedule with this, but I thought it would still be worth pointing out. The Burlington Northern-Santa Fe handled a rather unique cargo in April of 2012 that was destined for the Arizona capital of Phoenix. That cargo was actually the barrel from the USS Arizona, one of four battleships sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, HI on Dec 7th, 1941. More than 1100 sailors were killed when the ship's magazine exploded and to this day, the site of the sunken Pennsylvania-class battleship remains a memorial site.
One of the guns from the USS Arizona was being refurbished on the mainland at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack and during wartime, was refitted on the USS Nevada during WWII. The 67-foot long gun was transported on a special-purpose flatcar from Virginia and joins one of the guns from the USS Missouri- the battleship on which the Japanese formally surrendered to the USA in Tokyo Harbor in 1945- heralding the end of World War II. The Navy reportedly refused the Arizona Capitol Museum's initial request for the barrel from the Arizona but offered them one from the Missouri instead before relenting.
Both guns will be on display at the Wesley Bolin plaza as part of the Arizona Capitol Museum in Phoenix and are on permanant loan from the US Navy.
Twin Cities Western GP39-2 #2300 is seen leading a short freight across the Minnesota/South Dakota state line and over BNSF trackage rights at Big Stone City, SD in January 2013. The train is enroute to the TC&W's newly acquired Sisseton-Milbank Railroad in Milbank, SD. Jeremiah Rindal photo
TWIN CITIES & WESTERN- South Dakota's 37-mile Sisseton-Milbank railroad joined the Twin Cities & Western fold as of last summer. The line between the two South Dakota towns its named after went through a number of operators since the Milwaukee Road's 1982 bankruptcy, including the Milwaukee Road, Dakota Rail and Sisseton Southern. However, the Sisseton-Milbank has been in operation since 1989, interchanging with the BNSF at Milbank, SD.
Between the Twin Cities & Western and affiliated railroads Red River Valley & Western and Minnesota Prairie Line, the TC&W system has more than 800 route miles of track throughout North Dakota and Minnesota. The Sisseton-Millbank is connected to the rest of the TC&W system thanks to trackage rights over BNSF between Milbak, SD and Appleton, MN and represents the TC&W's first foray into South Dakota. Power for the Sisseton-Milbank is a pair of EMD endcab switchers while the TC&W fleet uses a number of Caterpillar re-engined EMDs as well as some EMD end-cab switchers and Geeps.
Chicago, Ft Wayne & Eastern SD40T-2 #3316 is seen leading former BNSF GP50# 4023 with symbol freight FWWA [Fort Wayne- WArsaw, IN] at Arcola, IN on March 7th. The CFW&E is one of many former Rail America properties that Genesee & Wyoming has wasted no time in applying their corporate image on. Matt Weldon photo
RAIL AMERICA- It seems as though the Genesee & Wyoming wasted little time in putting their mark on former Rail America properties. In addition to locomotives on the Chicago, Ft Wayne and Eastern, Connecticut Southern and Indiana & Ohio visitors to Rail America's website are redirected to the Genesee & Wyoming homepage.
The first Rail America locomotive to appear in GWI colors was Central Railroad of Indiana RP20B Genset #2001, which was actually in orange and black before the merger was finalized at the end of December. The former Rail America genset was repainted at Norfolk Southern's Juniata shops in Altoona, PA at the beginning of December 2012. Some other locomotives from Rail America lines to appear in the GWI ornage and black include Chicago, Ft Wayne & Eastern SD40T-2 #3316, repainted at Ohio Central's Morgan Run shops at the end of January [the previously independent Ohio Central was purchased by GWI in 2008- NANESB!] and Connecticut Southern GP38 #2201 which was repainted in New England Central's St Albans, VT shops in the first week of March.
It doesn't seem that long ago that New England was the place to be for fall- especially if you were a sports fan. The days get shorter, the hills start to explode with reds, oranges and yellows and you could hardly turn on the radio or TV without listening to a Boston team winning.
It wasn't that long ago one could expect to tune in to the Red Sox vie for another American League pennant, the Patriots embark on their quest for another title, Boston College raise hell in the ACC with Matt Ryan at QB and the Bruins and Celtics season get underway- all in one weekend. But the only constant is change, and like the leaves lazily drifting to the ground an increasing number of these teams have made themselves in non-factors in the month of October.
Now, that mojo seems to have made it's way west to the Wolverine State. Granted they haven't gotten off to the best of starts in the World Series, but not only have the Detroit Tigers won the American League pennant, they also can lay claim to the first triple crown winner in baseball in more than 45 years as well as the defending AL MVP and Cy Young winner- starting pitcher Justin Verlander. Be it the Wolverines or Spartans, either one of Michigan's Big 12 college football teams have more wins than all three FBS schools in New England combined (the MAC teams are another story, tho').
Sometimes the icing on the cake is the bucolic scenery in the fall- whether in the Midwest of northeastern corner of the country. And if some active rail lines happen to cut their way through that bucolic landscape, then all the better.
And this is exactly the case with western Michigan's Marquette Rail. Here, railpictures.net contributor familymansystem caught Marquette Rail SD40-2 #3001 leading a pair of Union Pacific-painted leasers up the hill and under a wooden bridge at Newyago, MI with Grand Rapids-bound symbol freight Z-151. The wet weather and fallen leaves on the tracks made the rails especially slick on October 11, 2012 and the crew has decided to double up the hill- a process where the crew splits the train into two portions before heading up the hill with one half, placing it in a siding before retrieving the second half and continuing after reattaching the two portions.
Not surprisingly given the composition and bright colors [no easy feat on an overcast day- NANESB!], familmansystem's image has been selected for a People's Choice award by railpictures.net users.
Interestingly, the #3001 is the only such unit to wear such bright livery for the Marquette- the other units are primarily leasers, some of which had the Marquette Rail logo hastily applied. This will also likely be the only unit to wear this distinct scheme. Marquette Rail has the distincion of going from becoming an independent shortline to a Rail America subsidiary to a part of the Genessee and Wyoming system in a few months time. The GWI acquisition of Rail America systems means that there will be plenty more orange along the Marquette Rail in the future.
Today's Train of thought takes us to the coastal range of western Oregon and Genesee & Wyoming's Portland & Western and their 75-mile Toledo district between Toledo and Albany, OR. It's safe to say that the 520-mile Portland & Western is perhaps the most diverse line in the Genesee & Wyoming family, featuring everything from scrap metal, brick, grain, chemical, aggregates and forestry products to steam-powered excursion trains and Portland's TriMet Westside Express commuter trains.
The remote, rugged former Southern Pacific branch in Western Oregon features dense forests, sharp curves and an average running speed of 10-12 MPH. Despite the sluggish economy and downturn in the timber industry, Portland and Western's Toledo Hauler keeps busy serving the Port of Toledo as well as the large Georgia Pacific mill in town. Train length out of Albany can usually range anywhere from 30-50 cars- the respectable size requires alot of horsepower, so six locomotives- including cabless slugs- aren't unusual.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Charles Bonville catches the eastbound Toledo Hauler crossing the secluded trestle over the Marys River outside of Philomath, OR in October 2009. Although it apprears as though GP39-2 #2301 is leading, the former Santa Fe locomotive is actually the trailing unit on today's consist- power is a mix of rebuilt GP40s, road slugs and GP39-2s- all in GWI industries orange and black.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN- There was more to the 30th anniversary celebration of Norfolk Southern than the 21st Century Steam program, as it turned out.
Although it had initially planned a total of 18 'heritage' units- new locomotives painted in the colors of various Norfolk Southern predecesors- the total was bumped up to 20 earlier this summer with the belated additon of the Penn Central and Monongehela as part of the heritage fleet.
While just about all of the heritage units were placed in revenue service after arriving from GE's Erie, PA plant of Progress Rail's EMD facility in Muncie, IN, in late June, all 20 units were sent to the North Carolina Transportation Museum at Spencer, NC for a one-of-a-kind 'family portrait' at the Museum's massive roundhouse.
In the above official Norfolk Southern image, the heritage units on display include Norfolk & Western ES44AC #8103, Nickel Plate ES44AC #8100, Virginian SD70ACe #1069, Wabash SD70ACe #1070, Illinois Terminal SD70ACe #1072, Pennsylvania #8102, New York Central #1066, Penn Central SD70ACe #1073, Erie SD70ACe #1068, Delaware Lackawana & Western SD70ACe #1074, Central Railroad of New Jersey SD70ACe #1071, Reading SD70ACe #1067, Lehigh Valley ES44AC #8104, Monongehela ES44AC #8025, Conrail ES44AC #8098, Norfolk Southern ES44AC #8114, Interstate ES44AC #8105, Wabash SD70ACe #1070, Savannah & Atlanta SD70ACe #1065 and Southern ES44AC #8098.
Norfolk Southern had also made it a point to have some of the heritage units accompany the steam-powered employee specials earlier in the summer with 'Nickel Plate' GE #8100 accompanying Nickel Plate #765 in Pennsylvania and 'Savannah & Atlanta' EMD #1065 accompanying the Southern #630 on trips through Tennessee and Virginia. Reportedly the Wabash #1070 will accompany the Fort Wayne Historical Society's big Nickel Plate Berkshire to St Louis this month for additional employee specials.
Although Union Pacific and Pan Am have both paid tribute to predecessor roads with specially painted locomotives, the size and scope of Norfolk Southern's heritage program is unprecedented. About half the roads honored in the NS Heritage program are due to the carrier's 1999 joint takeover of Consolidated Rail Corp- better known as Conrail- with CSX. Conrail was hastily formed from the remnants of the Penn Central, Erie Lackawana, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Reading and Lehigh Valley in 1976. Conrail also acquired a controlling interest in southwestern Pennsylvania coal hauler Monongahela in 1993.
A pair of Wheeling & Lake Erie SD40-2s dropping ballast in the yard adjacent to the MarkWest Liberty Mid-stream processing plant in Westland, PA on Aug 2nd, 2012. To access the facilities, the Wheeling & Lake Erie had to re-lay track over a 4½ stretch of former Montour Railroad track that was abandoned nearly 30 years ago and converted into a hiking trail. Jason Capra photo
WHEELING & LAKE ERIE- A portion of a rural branchline in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania that was abandoned and torn up in 1984 is once again seeing trains thanks to the ongoing natural gas bonanza from the Marcellus Shale.
A subsidiary of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, the Montour Railroad was down to 23 miles in the early 1980s when their last major shipper- the Westland Coal Mine- announced they were closing down in 1984. In the early 1990s, the Montour Trail Council was formed to convert much of the remaining Mountour Railroad right-of-way into a hiking trail in the Pittsburgh area.
In 2005, a natural gas well was drilled in rural Washington County, PA using a relatively new technology called hydrofracking where sand, water and certain chemicals are used to drill through layers of shale for natural gas. Although geologists had long believed there were abundant natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale outcropping- which stretches from Upstate New York to eastern Tennessee- accessing it in an economic manner was problematic until the hydrofracking process had been proven successful.
Although Denver-based MarkWest energy [NYSE: MWE] had completed a massive cryogenic processing plant in Westland, the natural gas byproducts were loaded up in tractor trailers that had to negotiate at least 8 miles of relatively narrow, 2-lane roads before reaching interstate 79 in nearby Cannonsburg, PA. But in 2011, MarkWest Liberty announced their plans to re-open a portion of the former Montour Railroad which would give the cryogenic facility access to the Wheeling and Lake Erie railroad's line between Mingo Jct, OH and the former Norfolk & Western Rook Yard in Pittsburgh as well as interchange with CSX, Norfolk Southern and multiple Genesee & Wyoming properties.
The first train to operate over the newly-opened line was a short ballast train in June powered by two W&LE SD40-2s. In August, MarkWest Liberty began shipping byproducts by rail out of the Westland yard for the first time.
Currently, the rail loading facility has the capability of loading 12 tankers, but plans are to expand the number of loading racks so that up to 24 tankers can be loaded per trip.
The gas is piped to the rail loading facility from the processing plant in pure product lines, mostly propane or butane. The butane will be transported to petrochemical refineries while most of the propane is shipped to the East Coast for home heating use. There also will be shipments of isobutane and natural gasoline, McHale said. The natural gasoline is expected to be shipped to Canada for processing. All of the byproducts markets are subject to negotiated contracts with the producers and, in Washington County, MarkWest processes natural gas exclusively for Range Resources.
While the train is currently making one trip a day with 50 tankers, eventually that will become four trips a day for a total of 200 tankers. Each rail tanker takes four trucks off the road.
As for the rails-to-trails portion, there is still a trail involved. Contractors for MarkWest Liberty also completed a parallel portion of the Montour Trail along the line, with the fence separating the hiking trail from the railroad line.
A pair of Columbus & Chatahoochee SD40-2s lead two more Genesee & Wyoming units southbound with a mixed freight along Brickyard Rd in Girard, AL on July 1st during the innagural run of the C&C.
Frank Orona photoGENESEE & WYOMING- Shortly before the Genesee & Wyoming's [NYSE- GWR] purchase of competing shortline holding company Rail America [NYSE- RA] was announced, GWR started up operations on yet another Southeastern shortline.
Operations for the 26 mile Columbus and Chatahoochee began on July 1, 2012 on a former Norfolk Southern branch between Girard and Mahart, AL. The deal also includes trackage rights on Norfolk Southern between Girard, AL and Columbus, GA to reach the Norfolk Southern Yard and sister GWR road Georgia Southeastern.
Power for the line is a pair of SD40-2s in GWR's trademanrk orange and black. At its startup, the line is also borrowing power from sister railroads Chattooga and Chickamagua and The Bay Line in the form of 3 GP38s. The Columbus & Chatahoochee is the ninth GWR railroad to start up operations in the region- a number of the other lines include formerly independent shortlines and regionals such as the Georgia Central, Altanta & St Andrews Bay, Georgia Southwestern, Chatahoochee Industrial or Meridian & Bigbee.
Apache C424 #98 is seen leading six green & white ALCos southbound out of Holbrook, AZ with 60 loads of coal for the Catalyst Paper mill in Snowflake in May 2011. Drew Mitchem photo.
Citing lowering demand for newsprint and increased fuel prices, Richmond, BC-based Catalyst Papers issued a statement on Monday announcing that they would be permanently closing the Snowflake mill by September 30, 2012.
"Pink slips" are expected to be in the hands of workers by 4 p.m. this afternoon, according to plant officials.
They have also told state officials that if they could get their hands on enough raw wood fiber, perhaps as part of the 4FRI initiative, they could convert back from recycled to fresh paper. That conversion, they have said, would cost around $30 million, which they are apparently not willing to invest on their own.
"This is horrible," said State Senator Sylvia Allen (R-Snowflake) Monday night. "That's around 380 direct jobs, but with truck drivers, rail and other ancillary jobs, it could mean 1,000 jobs.
Handling inbound shipments of coal for the mill's power plant and outbound shipments of paper products, the Apache remains popular with rail enthusiasts for their curious choice of operating exclusively with ALCo locomotives when the manufacturer closed its doors in 1968.
Decked out in Rail America livery, Toledo, Peoria & Western GP38-2 #3821 leads an EMD endcab switcher across the Illinois River in August 2007. The bridge is owned by Genesee & Wyoming's Tazewell and Peoria Railroad. Craig McGregor photo
GENESEE AND WYOMING- In a move that would consolidate the two largest shortline operators in North America, Genesee & Wyoming has reportedly reached an agreement with Fortress Investment Group [NYSE- FIG] to purchase shortline holding company Rail America for $1.39 Billion.
The transaction would give Connecticut-based Genesee & Wyoming control of 111 lines total, pending regulatory approval from the Surface Transportation Board. Genesee & Wyoming reported that they would incorporate the existing Rail America lines into the GWR corporate structure and operations.
Genesee & Wyoming said the deal would diversify its customer and commodity bases, increase its total revenue by nearly two-thirds, to about $1.4 billion, and double its North American revenue to about $1.1 billion. Following the transaction, Genesee will have 111 railroads.
RailAmerica shareholders will receive $27.50 a share, an 11% premium over Friday's closing price.
Shares of Rail America [NYSE- RA] have seen an 83% increase in value since the beginning of 2012 while Genesee & Wyoming shares are down 7% over the same period of time. GWR attributes that in part on a decline in the demand for coal- a commodity many of of its subsidiaries haul.
New England Central SD40-2 #721 is seen leading the northbound 'America's Cup Express' over the Winooski River in N. Duxbury, VT on July 12, 2012. Kevin Burkholder photo
NEW ENGLAND CENTRAL- The America's Cup is coming to Vermont!
Actually, that's only partly true- the America's Cup came and went from the Green Mountain state, only it was in a form that hardly anybody would recognize.
The America's Cup tournament is a yacht racing tournament that pits some of the most innovative vessel designs against teams from around the world, and for the first time in the history of the Cup, the bulk of the equipment was moved across the country via freight train. Reportedly, organizers had considered loading up all the equipment and sending it via the Panama Canal to San Francisco where the America's Cup 2012-2013 World Series is set to get underway on August 21 but decided sending the containers and support equipment to the City by the Bay by rail was more cost effective and fuel efficient.
After finishing up the final event of the 2011-2012 World Tour in Newport, RI most of the yachts and support equipment made their way to Quonset, RI where they were loaded into containers, then placed onto COFC cars and assembled into a 1.5 mile long train by Seaview Transportation before being handed off to the Providence & Worcester on July 9th.
From there, the train was handed off to the New England Central where it made its way north through the western reaches of Masachusetts and New Hampshire before heading northwest through Vermont. The train- dubbed the America's Cup Express- was supposed to hand off its 121 car train to the Canadian National at St. Alban's, VT. However, the trip didn't go quite as smoothly as hoped.
It was supposed to be a 10-day trip until a container shifted Tuesday causing a one-day delay and then crew scheduling problems Wednesday led to a second day on a siding in New Hampshire. Thursday, it finally got underway again.
From St. Albans, the train continues to Montreal on the Canadian National before heading southwest to Chicago where the massive consist was handed off to the Union Pacific. The UP handled it the rest of the way to San Francisco, where it arrived on July 24th and was offloaded at Pier 80.
San Francisco Bay Railroad ALCo S2 #23 seen switching container well cars at the final destination of the America's Cup Express, Pier 80 in San Francisco, CA. Ron Close photo
Despite the America's Cup Express setback in New Hampshire, those involved in the sails-on-rails move remained enthusiastic about the move.
“It is a great example of a freight train as an alternative to trucking if railroads cooperate,” Vermont Transportation Secretary Brian Searles said. “It is pretty exciting it is coming through Vermont,” he said, noting he hoped to be able to see it pass by Montpelier. Freight trains of more than 100 cars are pretty rare sights these days, he said.
The special freight train turned out to be the preferred option to not only trucking but the more likely option of chartering a freighter and sailing the load through the Panama Canal and up to San Francisco, explained Eric Moffett, president of Seaview Transportation Co. in North Kingston, R.I. Moffett worked with several railroads, including the New England Central Railroad, which runs through Vermont, to put together the travel package.
“It is exciting,” Moffett said, because the special train will show the competitiveness of rail transport to a world audience — the international teams associated with the America’s Cup
Moffett of Seaview Transportation likened the train to the circus trains of another era that contained everything the entertainers needed for their shows. The setup for each America’s Cup regatta includes machine shops, broadcasting facilities, and team gear tents, Moffett said.
Christopher Parker, executive director of the Vermont Rail Action Network, noted the importance of freight to the future of rail as well as roads in Vermont.
“While this is an unusual move, it illustrates how much of the freight in Vermont is moving through en-route to or from other parts of New England,” Parker said.
While in San Francisco, the America's Cup World Series will get underway the week of August 21st through the 26th and resume beginning the week of October 2nd.
A trio of Wheeling & Lake Erie SD40-2s in charge of a stone train in Rochester, OH at sunset.Cody Zamostny photo
He said the operation begins when the limestone is mined, processed and crushed at Carey Quarry, which employs about 30 people.
The stone is loaded into 60-car unit trains. The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad transports trains to the Martins Ferry facility. It is unloaded at the site for use in various projects such as contractors, asphalt and concrete production, Ohio Department of Transportation projects, commercial and residential projects, the Utica Shale pads and roads and the general public.
[National Lime & Stone's] DiBerardino noted afterward that they have been in operation in the site for about a month. The company will hire several employees to manage the site and load and unload the stone.
In addition to hauling coal, grain, steel coils, salt, coke, lumber and scrap metal the W&LE has been kept busy hauling frac sand and pipe for natural gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica shales.
The W&LE remains one of the relatively few independently operated regional railroads in the United States.
Today's Train of Thought takes us to the final resting place of World War I veteran Edward Earl Price at the Hemphill Cemetary in Chicora, PA.
The Buffalo & Pittsburgh was one of the first ventures for shortline holding company Genesee and Wyoming [NYSE- GWR] outside the state of New York. Seeking to divest themselves of what they saw as a redundant and under utilized rail line, CSX sold the former Baltimore & Ohio line between Buffalo, NY and New Castle, PA to Genesee & Wyoming, who operated it as the Buffalo and Pittsburgh. The B&P saw an expansion in the 1990s when they acquired the nearby Alleghany Railroad and re-opened the dormant Indiana, PA branch.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Kevin Ashbaugh captured this image just a few miles outside the railroad's Butler, PA hub, Buffalo & Pittsburgh GP18 #926 trundles across the wooden trestle near the Hemphill cemetary with local freight BT-3 on May 29, 2007.
Today's train of thought takes us to the heart of the Peach state- although those eye catching blossoms you see on trackside are actually cherry blossoms.
Although known for peaches, Georgia's agricultural output also includes peanuts, tobacco, cotton and pecans- states along the west coast actually outpace Georgia in the cultivation of cherries, although they can be had at a number of 'pick-your-own' orchards throughout the state.
While probably not part of any orchard (pick your own or otherwise), railpictures.net contributor Nikos Kavoori caught these cherry trees in Danville, GA bracketing train Y101 in late March 2011 as it makes it's way back to Macon, GA with U23B #3959 on the point. The line is part of Georgia Central's former CSX (nee Seaboard Airline) route between Savannah and Macon.
Although acquired by the Genesee & Wyoming in 2005, the Georgia Central continues to operate with its fleet of high-hood secondhand ex-Southern U23Bs. So far, none of the equipment has been repainted int he G&W's trademanrk orange and black. Here, the vintage GEs are seem negotiating one of the numerous see-saw grades along the route.
ARGENTINA: At least 11 people were killed and dozens more injured after a bus collided with two trains in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires last month.
CCTV cameras on the nearby station platform filmed as the disaster unfolded. Upon impact with the bus, the first train was knocked into the path of an oncoming train that was also pulling into the station.
Argentine Transportation Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi said that most of the fatalities were on board the bus. The crossing that the bus used was reportedly protected by gates that lowered on a train's approach.
Arizona Eastern B39-8 #8560 leads a train north into Duncan, AZ on the former Southern Pacific Clifton Branch in April 2009. Photo- Micheal Derrick
ARIZONA: Greenwich, CT based shortline operator Genesee & Wyoming [NYSE: GWR] announced last month that it has completed the purchase of the 200+ mile Arizona Eastern from Iowa Pacific Holdings.
Arizona Eastern operates two branchlines in Arizona and New Mexico. The 130 mile line between the Southern Pacific Sunset Route in Bowie, AZ and the copper mines around Miami, Globe and Claypool, AZ was purchased from Southern Pacific in 1988. In 2008, the AZER purchased the 70 mile Clifton branch between Lordsburg, NM and the Freeport McMoRan [NYSE: FCX] mine at Morenci, AZ from Union Pacific.
The deal is worth an estimated $90.1 million and includes about 50 miles of trackage rights over Union Pacific's former SP Sunset route between Bowie, AZ and Lordsburg, NM to connect the two lines.
Nickel Plate 765 doing a photo runby on the Cuyhoga Valley Scenic Railroad at Boston Mills, OH on September 25th. Photo, Richard Thompson
OHIO: The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society's restored Nickel Plate Berkshire #765 travelled to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in September to haul a series of excursions as part of the CVSR's 'Steam in the Valley' event. The steam powered excusrions were in additon to the regular slate of diesel powered excusrion trains on the CVSR. This is the second year in a row that the #765 made an appearence on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
The Berkshire travelled northwest to Owosso, MI from the Akron area to haul a series of fall foliage excursions for the Michigan Steam Institute between Owosso and Alma, MI over track belonging to the Great Lakes Central. The October excursions in Michigan are reportedly to help raise funds to bring the Michigan Steam Institute's own Berkshire steam locomotive- Pere Marquette #1225- back into working order after its 15 year boiler inspection.
F Units and passenger cars from Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern make their way across the Hudson River at Stillwater, NY enroute to the former B&M yard at Mechanicsville, NY. Photo, John Bazan
The office car special used FP9s and cars from both railways before being split up at Mohawk Yard in Schenedtady, NY with the Pan Am equipment heading back east and the Norfolk Southern equipment making its way back to home rails via Canadian Pacific and Binghamton, NY.
Freshly repainted into Boston & Maine 'heritage' colors, Pan-Am GP9 #77 is seen at the former B&M yard in E. Deerfield, MA drilling cars with Guilford-painted GP9 #72 on September 25, 2011. Photo, Justin Winiarz
OTHER PAN AM NEWS: Workers at Pan Am's Waterville, ME shops painted former Boston & Maine GP9 #77 into vintage maroon and gold colors complete with the B&M 'Minuteman' herald that adorned the railway's early diesels.
The locomotive debuted in it's 'new' colors in August and saw service on Waterville, ME-based local SAPPI-3 before being transferred to the Boston & Maine's freight yard at E. Deerfield, MA where it was put into service as the yard switcher. Reportedly, more 'Heritage' style locomotives are in the works for Pan Am, including some vintage EMD's that could be painted in Maine Central's green and orange paint scheme.
Photo, Dave Duccolo
CALIFORNIA: Stockton, CA based Central California Traction Company purchased their first genset locomotive, which was completed by the Brookville Locomotive Works division of Brookfield Equipment in August. The locomotive, designated a BL21CG is former Brookville Locomotive Works Demonstrator #259 which was rebuilt from a Maine Central GP38.
In addition to the former Brookfield demonstrator, Central California Traction currently rosters a number of SW1500s as well as a couple of 1st generation GP18s and GP7s.
Brookfield has previously built gensets for both ConnDot and MetroNorth to be used in passenger and work train service.
NBSR GP38-2 #2317 seen heading west on the former Montreal Maine & Atlantic/ Bangor & Aroostook Millinocket subdivision with Maine Northern/New Brunswick Southern Train #901 bound for Brownsville, Jct, ME on July 30, 2011. Photo, Ron Tilley
MAINE: St. John, NB-based New Brunswick Southern Railway has begun operations over nearly 230 miles of track owned by the state of Maine beginning in July. The track was the former Montreal Maine & Atlantic Millinocket subdivision between Millinocket, ME and Madawaska, ME as well as branch lines to Houlton, Limestone and Ft. Fairfield, ME. Previously the line had belonged to the Bangor and Aroostook.
In early 2010, the MM&A filed a notice of intent to abandon most of its northern trackage. The state then reached an agreement with MM&A to purchase the lines for $20 million and then subcontract operation of the lines out to a third part while MM&A would retain trackage rights over the line to serve between St. Leonard, NB to the north and Brownville Jct, ME to the south.
In April 2011, the New Brunswick Southern- part of Canadian congolmerate J.D. Irving's holdings in transportation, lumber, food processing agriculture, retail and shipbuilding- was awarded the contract to operate the former MM&A lines, with the actual transfer set to take place on July 1, 2011.
Prior to the agreement, the New Brunswick Southern already operated over 100 miles of former Canadian Pacific track in the state of Maine as the Eastern Maine Railway between the Maine Central/Guilford/Pan-Am junction at Mattawamkeag, ME and the international border at Vanceboro, ME as well as the MM&A connection in Brownsville Jct.
Parent company J.D. Irving said that they expect to hire 30 additional employees and purchase more rolling stock as a result of the agreement with the state of Maine. To accomodate the expansion, the NBSR also purchased a pair of former Union Pacific GP38-2s that arrived in July
OREGON: The former Southern Pacific branchline between Eugene and Coos Bay, OR has been reopened and is seeing limited freight service as the Coos Bay Rail Link ran the first through train over the line in nearly four years.
Rail America's Central Oregon & Pacific last operated over the line in September 2007, electing to shut down most of the branch west of Eugene due to at least nine aging tunnels that would cost an estimated $7 million to repair. A month later, the Port of Coos Bay filed a $15 million suit against Rail America saying that they failed to provide the required 180 day notice prior to shutdown. In late 2008, the surface transportation board ordered Rail America to sell the line to the Port of Coos Bay for $16 million. Since then, contractors have gone to work replacing washouts, strengthening tunnels and inspecting trestles and crossings. In April 2011, it was announced that Arizona-based ARG Trains would handle the railway operations of the 133 mile line.
The first revenue Coos Bay Rail Link train departed Eugene on October 11th with a single SW1200 and dozen centerbeam flatcars, arriving in Coos Bay the following day.
MPI GP15D Genset #1509 and GP20D #2009 are seen waiting to enter yard limits in Rutland, VT with a local freight on August 10, 2011. Photo, Kevin Burkholder
VERMONT: The Vermont Railway began testing a pair of MPI Gensets in early August. The two locomotives- a 1500 HP GP15D and 2000 HP GP20D- were scheduled for three months of testing and began service as a pair on the Rutland to Florence, VT local their first week.
At around the same time, the VRS has started the long-term lease of two former Rail America GP38-3s- numbered 3801 and 3803.
Iowa Interstate 2-10-2 QJ steam locomotive #6988 seen running around the wye at Bureau, IL on September 9, 2011. Photo, Erik Rasmussen
IOWA INTERSTATE: Just because Trainfest 2011 is over and done with doesn't mean that the Iowa Interstate was finished with steam for the year. On the weekend of September 9-11, the town of Geneseo, IL- just east of Rock Island, IL on Iowa Interstate's former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific line- was home to the 5th annual 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles'.
Besides vintage aircraft and automobiles, the Iowa Interstate provided the trains by having Chinese built 2-10-2 QJ class steam locomotive #6988 on display along with a switcher from Patriot Renewable Fuels. The #6988 also powered short excursions out of Geneseo with Iowa Interstate coaches.
Iowa Interstate ES44AC #513 is seen leading detoured freight BICB (BI = Indiana Harbor Belt Rail Yard at Blue Island, IL; CB = Council Bluffs, IA) off IAIS rails in Peoria Heights, IL on October 9, 2011. Photo- Craig McGregor
OTHER IOWA INTERSTATE NEWS: A derailment in Tuskwila, IL on October 7th forced the detour of Iowa Interstate's daily Chicago-Council Bluffs, IA (and its eastbound counterpart) BICB/CBBI by way of Peoria, IL and then west to Colona, IL on the BNSF via Galesburg, IL.
About a half dozen cars loaded with ethanol ignited and the village of Tuskwila had to be evacuated after the derailment in the early morning hours. Nodoby was injured in the wreck and the fire was contained by mid-morning.
The NTSB is dispatching a 6-person team to investigate the cause of the derailment.
New Genset from Tacoma Rail basking in the sun enxt to Mount Rainer Scenic's Restores Polson Logging 1922-buil Balwin on Aug 27th. Andrew Temoshek photo
WASHINGTON: Tacoma Rail has taken delivery of its first genset, an 3GS21B from National Railway Equipment. The locomotive arrived on the property in time for an open house where the 3-day old diesel was on display with Mount Ranier Scenic Railway's restored 1922-built Baldwin 2-8-2 #70, contrasting the old and the new.
