Today's Train of Thought- And They're Off! May 8th, 2014

Today's train of thought takes us to the Bluegrass State in the leadup to the Kentucky Derby- despite the very visible presence of a steam locomotive, this shot was taken in the not too distant past.

Besides the mint juleps and Southern belles in big hats, the Kentucky Derby also brings out special excursions for the railroads that serve Louisville. CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific, RJ Corman Lines and Amtrak have all operated special trains for the sole purpose of shuttling VIPS to Churchill Downs [CP sold their former Milwaukee Road line to Louisville, KY to the Indiana Railroad a few years ago, and Amtrak stopped service to Kentucky's largest city in 2003, but Amtrak power still hauls a charter train from Chicago to Louisville for the Derby- NANESB!].

Here, railpictures.net contributor Chase Gunnoe caught RJ Corman's 2010 Kentucky Derby special steaming through West Frankfort, KY under rainy skies with a rather distinct lashup on May 1, 2010. Leading the charge is Chinese-made QJ 2-10-2 steam locomotive #2008, followed by one of RJ Corman's Railpower GenSet demonstrators and a pair of F units from My Old Kentucky Dinner Train on Corman's Bardstown line. The big Chinese QJ, which the late RJ Corman had imported from China and fired up for service on the old Louisville & Nashville 'Old Road' Line in 2008 goes by the moniker "Big Smokey"- somewhat ironic considering that the QJ is actually newer than the F-units behind it.

Corman's QJ has another 15 or so miles to go before uncoupling from the rest of the train in a siding at Christiansburg, KY. Ever since the 1990s, CSX has prohibited the operation of steam locomotives on their rails, and RJ Corman's line in Kentucky exercises trackage rights on CSX around Louisville, meaning the F units will take the passenger consist the rest of the way.

Despite the rainy and overcast weather, the Kentucky Derby went off that day and Thoroughbred Super Saver was the Derby winner.

Today's Train of Though- Enter Sandman, September 9th, 2013

Today's Train of Thought takes us to the Bluegrass state and provides us a glimpse of the late RJ Corman's impeccably-run Central Kentucky Lines.

Sand vacuumed up from the bed of the Ohio River is loaded into a fleet of RJ Corman's impeccably maintained fleet of red gondola cars by Louisville, KY based Nugent sand for the relatively short 80 mile trip to Nugent Sand's Lexington, KY facility.

The short trip, which was profiled in a 2011 Lexington Herald-Leader article about RJ Corman's railroad enterprises, takes an estimated 17,400 trucks of the road between Louisville and Lexington each year. Since 2005- just two years after RJ Corman's Central Kentucky Lines took over operations of the former Louisville & Nashville line between Lexington and Louisville- anywhere from 400,000 to 600,000 tons of sand have been moved over the line with each car carrying roughly 125 tons.

Here, railpictures.net contributor JL Scott caught RJ Corman Lines SD40T-2 #5409 and SD40-2 #3944 roaring eastbound through Shelbyville, KY with a Lexington-bound sand train on May 22nd, 2011. The #5409 started out life as Denver, Rio Grande & Western #5409 while the #3944 began as a Missouri Pacific unit.

Kentucky Entrepreneur and Railroad Contractor RJ "Rick" Corman Passes Away at Age 58

RJ "Rick" Corman, the savvy Kentucky entrepreneur who parlayed a small outfit with a single backhoe and rented dump truck into a $300 million business, passed away from multiple myeloma on August 23rd.

Corman claimed that he got his start fairly early, helping out with his grandfather's business hauling junk, cattle and dirt in Jessamine County, Kentucky at age 11. Barely graduating high school in 1973, Corman soon went into business for himself by renting a backhoe and dump truck to find whatever odd jobs he could and easing into railroad work by rebuilding crossings.

"Railroads don't care -- well, they really can't care -- what the weather's like when something needs fixing," he says. Workers who couldn't take the punishment left. Corman kept making himself the model for doing things right. A "go-getter" by the description of many, including even himself, he steadily picked up construction jobs and gained a reputation for fast, expert service. It also helped that most people simply liked him, sensing his innate intelligence, quickly learning that he was totally honest, enjoying his openness and humor and boisterous, cackling laugh.

In business, Corman was opportunistic. A Columbus company to which the rail industry outsourced some of its derailment business quit the city, and Corman was asked by railroad friends to step into the void. He did, accepting the need to acquire heavy, expensive equipment -- machines that will lift a derailed car, for example, so that the rails beneath it can be repaired or replaced. But Corman also has a hand in more prosaic businesses, such as selling rails and ties to railroads. In effect, he takes on inventory costs they'd just as soon not bear.

By 1984, when Corman was paying 24% interest to finance new trucks, he sought help from Luther Deaton, a lending officer at Lexington's Central Bank & Trust. Deaton, now president of the bank, recalls that "a very self-confident and happy-go-lucky" Corman, then just short of 30, arrived for their first meeting wearing boots, khaki pants, and a big belt buckle flashing his initials, and with no financial statements in hand. "I just couldn't get comfortable with him," Deaton remembers.

Deaton stayed skeptical until Corman got him to visit a couple of work sites -- "to see what we do." On his first visit, to a sprawling Baltimore & Ohio wreck, Deaton saw shiny red trucks and bulldozers and watched Rick work atop a railroad car, rigging cables to start pulling derailed cars out of a tunnel. Next, on a deathly hot August day, Deaton drove to see a stretch of railroad being rebuilt. Deaton found Rick pulling up spikes so that track could be re-laid, while sweat poured out of the top of his work boots. Explaining to Deaton that he couldn't right then talk to him, Corman said that if he got the job finished by midnight, he would get a bonus and in turn be able to pay bonuses to his workers -- those remaining, because several had quit during the day owing to the harsh conditions.

Deaton went home, comfortable, and says he told the president of the bank, "Look, we've got to help this guy. He knows how to get it done. He's free to go be a great success," and the boss said, "Do it." The next day, a Saturday, Deaton found Corman sitting in the engine he used for an office, with blisters on his feet visibly oozing. Deaton cut his interest costs on the trucks to 14% and offered him a $500,000 credit line. "We've never looked back since then," says Deaton. "He's a banker's dream." Translation, according to Deaton: Corman is a brilliant businessman who borrows frequently, but is conservative and always good for his debt.

BNSF CEO Matt Rose compared Corman to legendary oilfield firefighter Red Adair, both in terms of the scale and unforgiving schedule of the job. In 1987, Corman ventured into the railway operating business when his contacts with the Seaboard System [now CSX- NANESB!] sold him a 20 mile former Louisville & Nashville branch line to Bardstown, KY for $300,000. Within a year of the sale, Corman began operating My Old Kentucky Dinner Train on the Bardstown line, which is still running to this day.

In 1995, Corman embarked on an ambitious expansion with the acquisition of nearly 300 miles of Conrail's former Pennsylvania Railroad Clearfield cluster serving the central Pennsylvania coalfields. RJ Corman lines also acquired branchlines around Allentown, PA and Lima, OH in the 1990s while much closer to home, Corman's group purchased the 115 mile former Louisville & Nashville Old Road line between Louisville and Winchester, KY (via Lexington and the state capitol of Frankfort) in 2003 which they called the Central Kentucky Lines to differentiate it from the Bardstown operation.

With an already robust traffic base on the Central Kentucky Lines, Corman aggressively went after new business on the former Old Road through his backyard. As a result of his company's efforts, the Central Kentucky Lines now see near-daily unit trains of sand and aluminum ingots in addition to the paper, alcohol, limestone, peanut, brick and corn syrup that was there prior to the RJ Corman Line's acquisition.

Perhaps the biggest moment for Corman came in 2005 when his company was contracted to rebuild CSX's line out of New Orleans and the company's devastated Gentilly yard- a key hub that linked CSX with no fewer than five other Class 1 carriers- immediately after Hurricane Katrina.

That same year, RJ Corman Lines acquired a 16 mile former CSX branch between Thurmond and Pax, WV. Within a few years, the line would rebuild an abandoned connection with the Norfolk Southern on the west end and garner 2007 Shortline of the Year honors from Railway Age magazine.

Railfanterry via Flickr

Corman was also a rail enthusiast at heart, and this was made apparent in 2008 when he purchased a fully operational standard gauge 2-10-2 'QJ' steam locomotive from China for operation on his Central Kentucky Lines. Like his much larger counterparts at CSX and Norfolk Southern, RJ Corman also regularly operated special VIP trains to the Kentucky Derby each year.

By 2009, Corman had acquired the assets of bankrupt Canadian Genset manufacturer Rail Power, Inc and began demonstrating some of the units on his own Central Kentucky lines. After the Rail Power acquisition, the company was renamed RJ Corman Rail Power and filled orders for CSX, California shortline Modesto & Empire Traction and the ports of Montreal and Corpus Christi, TX.

The company also boasts its own police department and fleet of aircraft used to either fly employees in to perform contract work at various sites or visually inspect the lines from above. Like the Corman fleet of locomotives, the two private jets and helicopter are painted red with silver trim.

Corman was aware of his deteriorating health since 2001 and made estate planning a priority while undergoing treatment. He is survived by his partner Tammie Taylor and five children. In lieu of flowers, Corman's family has requested that donations be made to the Dana-Farber cancer institute instead. Hall of Fame Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari expressed his condolences and announced that he would be wearing red in honor of Corman this upcoming season [usually a no-no, since Corman's company colors are the same of Kentucky's in-state archrival Louisville- NANESB!]. US Senator Mitch McConnell and Kentucky governor Steve Beshear also expressed their condolences.

Today's Train of Thought- Look What the April Showers Dragged in, May 2nd 2012

With just a few days to go before the 138th Kentucky Derby, today's train of thought takes us to the Bluegrass state. Even though the city hasn't seen regular passenger service since 2003, the rails around Louisville, KY will host office car specials from Norfolk Southern, CSX, RJ Corman Kentucky Lines and an Amtrak charter as guests and VIPs are ushered into the area by train for the annual Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs [NASDAQ- CHDN].

The former L&N Old Road line between Lexington and Louisville, KY was acquired by contractor RJ Corman from CSX in September 2003. Under CSX, that portion of the old L&N saw traffic in the form of corn syrup, bricks, peanuts, plastics and fertilizer- since then, Corman has not only kept most of the shippers from CSX days but also added carloads of sand dredged from the Ohio River to be made into cement and an almost-daily unit train of aluminum ingots between AlCan's Berea, KY recycling plant to Logan Aluminum in South Union, KY [according to the RJ Corman homepage, one aluminum ingot is made up of more than a million cans, a little something to think about the next time you're knocking a cold one back- NANESB!]. The line also recieves more than 100,000 annual carloads from SJ Smucker's [NYSE- SJM] Jif Peanut Butter plant in Lexington- the largest such facility in the world.

Here, with less than a month to go before the 2012 Kentucky Derby, railpictures.net contributor Bo Gray catches RJ Corman Lines SD40T-2 #8799 charging past the dogwoods in bloom at the gates of the cemetary outside of Midway, KY with a westbound ingot train on a sunny Easter afternoon. Technically this wouldn't be then end result of the old saying April showers bring May flowers, since the photo was taken in April, but I thought Bo Gray tied this scene togather very nicely.

Today's Train of Though- Digging to China, Jan 23rd, 2012

While China's dalliance with High Speed Rail in recent years has caught the attention of both the industry and politicians alike, it remains a little known fact that China's national railways continued operating steam locomotives on certain main lines up until a few short years ago.

While some steel mills, quarries, mines and lumber companies still use both narrow and standard gauge steam engines to this day, the fires dropped on mainline steam in China for the final time in 2005.

The massive 2-10-2 QJ class steam locomotives [QJ being shorthand for 前进 or Qian Jin meaning 'advance'- thanks again for the assist, Wikipedia- NANESB!] that saw service on China Railways were manufactured by the Da Tong Locomotive works from 1956 on into the late 1980s, and spent their final days hustling fast freights over Jingpeng pass along the arid steppe of Inner Mongolia.

They would often work in tandem on the Jitong line and were popular among enthusiasts in the wintertime since the displays of steam and exhaust stood out that much more dramatically against the frozen air. Interestingly, despite being the last holdout for the centuries-old technology, the nearly 600-mile Jitong line actually opened as recently as 1995.

Since they were too big for the mills, mines and quarries that continued use steam locomotives to this day, the QJs appeared to have little future. A company called Multipower International has advertised both the QJs and smaller steam locomotives for sale online.

Like their American counterparts from a half century earlier, many QJs have wound up on static display in the cities and towns that they once chugged through on a daily basis as well as at least 1 QJ in the Chinese National Railway Museum just southeast of Beijing.

However, the QJ's tale does not end there. In 2006, a pair of QJ's (#6988 and #7081) were shipped to the USA to their new homes on the Iowa Interstate via the port of Houston. Two years later, another QJ made its way to Kentucky where it entered service as part of the RJ Corman network of short haul railroads. These locomotives are primarily used for excursions and publicity, although they also occasional work on revenue freights for both the Corman Lines and IAIS on an as-needed basis.

Here, with about a year to go until retirement, railpictures.net contributor John Day caught 2-10-2 QJ #6763 leading a doubleheader as the freight train begins its assault on Jingpeng pass on a frigid February 22, 2004 day.

Iron Horse Roundup for May 2011- Off to the Races

Ex-MARC GP40WH-2 #59 Arriving in Ayer, MA with train #417- David Hutchinson photo- NE Rails.org

MBTA: Boston's commuter railway agency has acquired some new motive power to augment their aging fleet. In addition to purchasing two MP36PHC's from the Utah Transit agency earlier this year, the T is also leasing three former MARC (Maryland Area Rail Commuter) GP40WH-2s with an option to lease additional units until the first new locomotives from a 20-unit order are expected to arrive in 2013. The commuter agency placed a $115 million order for 20 HSP46 locomotives with Wabtec [NYSE: WAB] subsidiary Motive Power International of Boise, ID.

The T is also hoping to persuade the Utah Transit agency to lease them two additional MPI MP36PHCs, although the Salt Lake City based agency has expressed a reluctance to part with them. Aside from two genset switchers purchased from National Railway Equipment in 2009, the MPI order is the first time the MBTA has ordered new locomotives since the 1970s.

Accoring to MBTA estimates, one in every four trains were delayed systemwide in the first two months of 2011. Of those delays, half were attributed to mechanical problems with the T's aging fleet of eighteen F40PH-2, which the agency is hoping to retire.

NEW ENGLAND CENTRAL: A May 31 derailment on the NECR mainline between Palmer, MA and St. Albans, VT sent eight cars off the rails, damaged some fiber-optic cable from Sprint and blocked the Station Rd crossing in Amherst, MA. The cars weren't carrying any hazardous materiel and did not tip over, but the derailment did damage to several yards of track.

The following day, crews from Sprint [NYSE: S] were repairing the damaged cable and RJ Corman was working to clear the derailment. The deralied cars were carrying steel billets, and it was one 65ft gondola car that was blocking the crossing in Amherstt.

Besides mixed freight between St Albans, VT and New London, CT on the former Central Vermont line, that portion of the New England Central also regularly features unit ethanol trains between North Dakota and Providence, RI as well as Amtrak's Vermonter service.


KENTUCKY: Each year, a number of VIPs arrive at Churchill Downs [NASDAQ: CHDN] by train for the Kentucky Derby, and last month's wasn't any different [to be honest, I have no idea whether or not ESPN's Erin Andrews arrived by train, yet I somehow thought it was worth posting the picture regardless- NANESB!].

Outbound NS Office Car Special at Lawrenceburg, KY- JL Scott photo

Every year for the last couple of years, both CSX and RJ Corman have run their own passenger trains over the former Louisville & Nashville Old Road division between Louisville and Frankfort, KY. While RJ Corman uses equipment from their My Old Kentucky Dinner train, CSX uses motive power and passenger cars from their executive train and is referred to as the Governor's Special.

In years past, RJ Corman has expressed an interest in running their Chinese-made 2-10-2 QJ steam locomotive on the excusrion, but since the final leg of the trip to Louisville is made over CSX rails, the CSX has veto power over whether or not steam can be used.

Norfolk Southern typically operates their Derby train between Pennsylvania and Louisville using their duo of F9A units painted in a Southern-inspired paint scheme.

Canadian Pacific would frequently operate their own Derby special on the former Milwaukee Road line between Chicago and Louisville, but the CP sold that line to the Indiana Railroad in 2005.

However, over the past few years private varnish from Northern Sky Charters and Amtrak locomotives were used in special charter trains operating between Indianapolis and Louisville on Anacostia Pacific's Louisville & Indiana Railroad, including this year.

KENTUCKY: Kentucky governor Steve Beshear announced last month that the Commonwealth will award a total of $3.1 million in grants towards Kentucky shortlines to replace ties and repair bridges, crossings and right-of-way. Among the recipients include RJ Corman's Central Kentucky Lines, the Paducah and Louisville, TransKentucky Transportation, TennKen, Louisville & Indiana and the Kentucky Railroad Museum. Aside from one project on the Paducah & Louisville, the money is the Commonwealth's portion of a matching grant, with the railroads paying the other half.

RJ CORMAN: While not used for the Kentucky Derby this year, RJ Corman announced that their Chinese QJ 2-10-2 steam locomotive would be making a shakedown run between Frankfort and Lexington on the first weekend in June and would be available for up-close public viewing in Frankfort on June 4.

There remains the possibility that QJ #2008 could be used in limited excursion service later on in the summer.

CP #2816 Arriving in Swift Current, SK- June 11/Paul Sincerney photo

CANADIAN PACIFIC: The Canadian Pacific announced a series of excusrions throughout western Canada featuring 1930-built Montreal Locomotive Works 4-6-4 Hudson #2816, starting with a special between Moose Jaw, SK and Medecine Hat, AB via Swift Current, SK. Proceeds from ticket sales on the excursions go towards the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada. Besides this weekend's train ride between Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat, a number of other excusrions are on tap throughout Alberta and British Columbia between June and August- Schedule and ticket information is available here.

GWRS M420 #2000 Smokes it up hauling ballast and empty tank cars out of storage at Willows, SK in September 2010- John Leopard

GREAT WESTERN: Canadian Railway Observations is reporting that the all-MLW Saskatchewan's Great Western Railway has recently acquired a pair of BNSF B40-8Ws. The units were dropped off by Canadian Pacific at the interchange in Assiniboia at the end of April and reportedly made their first revenue run for the GWRS on May 23rd.

The Great Western is reportedly looking to sell off two of the five M420s, which they've had since beginning operations in the l990s when they purchased a cluster of light density branchlines from the Canadian Pacific in southwestern Saskatchewan.

Also of note on the Great Western system, the province's first tourist train is set to start running excursions this summer between Ogema and Pangman, SK. Equipment will include a former Conway Scenic GE 44-tonner, an ex-Canadian Pacific baggage car and a former Delaware Lackawna & Western coach car and operations will be based out of the restored former CP depot in Ogema (which is really the former Simpson, SK depot, that a nearby farmer used for grain storage for a few years).

TEXAS: General Electric [NYSE: GE] announced plans to construct a state-of-the-art facility in Ft. Worth, TX that could start building locomotives as early as next year. The 500,000 sq foot facility on the north end of Ft Worth could be increased by nearly double according to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram.

The project initially will create more than 500 high-tech manufacturing jobs and the possibility of 275 more in coming years, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce said today.

The company is expected to invest $96 million expanding the building at 12850 Three Wide Drive, located west of the Texas Motor Speedway, into a 900,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art locomotive manufacturing facility. It is being supported by $4.2 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund.

Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO of GE Transportation, said the Fort Worth facility will allow the company to better serve its customers.

"We see robust growth in the U.S. and around the globe," Simonelli said. "A new site will help us to effectively respond to the cyclical demand in the transportation industry and to strengthen our overall position."

GE Transportation will use the Fort Worth facility to assemble and remanufacture the company's rail and transportation-related products, the chamber said. That includes GE's signature Evolution Series locomotive, an energy-efficient product that it says reduces fuel consumption 5 percent while reducing emissions by 40 percent over the lifetime of the locomotive.

GE Transportation will start hiring salaried employees and production workers such as welders, assemblers, painters and related skilled trades by the end of the year. Production should begin by the second half of 2012.

In addition to the Ft Worth facility, GE also plans to expand capacity at it's Erie, PA facility.

CALIFORNIA: California's Modesto & Empire Traction has begun taking delivery of the first of their 5-unit order of RP20BD genset engines from RJ Corman-Railpower. M&ET already has 7 Railpower Gensets, gradually phasing out a fleet of 50 year old GE 70 tonners and a pair of EMD SW1500s.

Today's Train of Though- Mr Sandman; May 29, 2011

Today's train of thought comes to us from the capital of the Bluegrass State [which is NOT Louisville as some people might think- NANESB!] and features a stretch of track that's seemingly seen it all over the past decade.

Since acquiring the former Louisville & Nashville Old Road subdivision from CSX in 2003, RJ Corman's 115 mile Central Kentucky lines have played host to an operational Chinese class QJ steam locomotive, Genset locomotives from RJ Corman's Railpower subsidiary and special VIP passenger trains to and from the Kentucky Derby.

Aside from the meanderings of a new genset, Chinese made steam engine or a VIP-packed Derby special, the line plays hosts to freight trains laden with limestone, corn syrup, alcohol, plastic, limestone, peanuts and fertilizer. This is on top of dedicated unit trains of aluminum ingots (made from recycled beer cans, according to the RJ Corman homepage) and sand. The sand is dredged from the Ohio River near Louisville and separated by grade before making the 80+ mile trek to Lexington, KY on the Old Road subdivision. From there, it's used locally in the construction of cement and asphalt.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Mike Mautner caught a pair of SD40T-2s RJ Corman's sharp red and silver paint scheme in charge of a loaded sand train. Here, RJCC SD40T-2 #5361 is on the point as it trundles down the middle of West Broadway St in Frankfort, KY with a loaded eastbound sand train on May 5, 2009.

Today's Train of Thought: Ice Castles- October 11, 2009

Today's train of thought features yet another unmodified GP9 still hard at work in 2009 (no accompanying images of Jennifer Tilly this time- sorry).

Railpictures.net contributor Bo Gray braved the aftermath of the ice storms that slammed into Kentucky earlier this year to catch RJ Corman Kentucky Lines GP9 #9003 heading up this local as the crew cautiously makes their way through the ice-slicked landscape in Lexington, KY towards the end of January 2009.

RJ Corman Railroad group is a holding company that owns and operates about nine different disconnected shortline railways in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Tennesee. They have also made some unique moves in terms of motive power, such as the purchase of an operating 2-10-2 'QJ' Class steam locomotive from the People's Republic of China, an annual Kentucky Derby office car special and the purchase of Quebec-based genset locomotive manufacturer Railpower Technologies in June of 2009.