Today's Train of Thought- Winter Mix, December 17, 2013

Today's Train of Thought takes us to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for weather conditions best described as a 'winter mix' which is mostly snow, sleet and freezing rain all taking place at temperatures below freezing.

Here, railpicture.net contributor John Ryan caught Illinois Central GP40-2 #3110 leading a southbound Canadian National merchandise freight over the Cedar River at Powers, MI on December 28th, 2008. The white stuff is clinging not only to the tree branches, telephone poles and truss bridge, but also the nose of the #3110 and the broom kept on the front of the unit. In the process, the white stuff is also obscuring the 'death star' Illinois Central logo on the nose- a moniker applied to the logo that came with the IC's final paint scheme prior to the 1998 takeover of IC by Canadian National.

Today's Train of Thought- Change is U.P. in The Air; October 17, 2010

The Lake Superior and Ishpeming in Michigan's Upper Penninsula had a reputation for making the most for it's oddball fleet of six-axle ALCos and GE diesels up until the end of the 1980s, where they were replaced.....well....by more oddball diesels. This time around, the replacements took the form of nearly twenty six-axles U30C's purchased secondhand from Burlington Northern. The 3000 HP behemoths had an extensive background hauling coal from Wyoming's Powder River basin to power plants throughout the midwest and would seemingly be at home hauling ore jennies from the mines to the dock along the south shore of Lake Superior at Marquette, MI. The 50-mile line sees most of it's traffic come from mining.

With the leaves starting to change color in Michigan's upper peninsula, railpictures.net contributor Kevin the Krazy 1 caught LS&I U30C #3006 leading a short train from the Canadian National (former Wisconsin Central) interchange through the rock cut at Neagunnee, MI on a brilliant October 2008 afternoon.

While change may come slowly to the LS&I, it does come sooner or later as the shortline is presently leasing nine C44-9s from CIT Group.

IRON HORSE ROUNDUP: May-June 2010 Edition

EMD: Perhaps the biggest news of the month (if not the whole year) is the acquisition of locomotive manufacturer Electro-Motive Diesel by Caterpillar's Progress Rail Services from private equity firms Berkshire Partners and Greenbriar Equity LLC in a deal believed to be worth 820 million. Started in the 1930s as the Electro Motive Company and acquired by General Motors by the end of the decade, EMC started out making small, low horsepower switchers before graduating to the FT series. The introduction of the distinctive FT series in 1939 was seen as start of the demise of the steam locomotive while ushering in the streamliner-era.

Immediately after WWII, EMD's locomotive manufacturing faced competition from steam locomotive manufacturers ALCo, Baldwin and Lima-Hamilton and their early entries into the diesel locomotive market- the most resilient of which (ALCo) lasted until 1969. By that time, the EMD brand was introducing successful locomotives along the lines of the SD40 but was also facing competition from GE's burgeoning diesel manufacturing. Even with orders for the popular SD70MAC and SD70ACE from Class I haulers CSX, BNSF and Canadian National coming in, General Motors sold off their EMD subsidiary to Berkshire and Greenbriar in 2005.

Several overseas companies manufacture EMDs locally as well. India's Diesel Locomotive Works manufactures EMD engines and parts under licence, with EMD having a 50 year presence in India. Sweden would produce locomotives with EMD components up until the 1970s through Nydquist & Holm while Australia's Clyde would manufacture EMD products for the state-run railways throughout Australia as well as the privately-run ore-haulers in Western Australia.

As a side-note, a half-dozen Clyde Built SD50S that had worked for Western Australia ore-hauler Hammersley Iron were exported to the USA when they were replaced by American-made C44-9Ws a decade ago. The Clyde-built locos [which after nearly 2 decades of hauling ore in the Australian outback could hardly be described as 'gently used'- NANESB!] roamed the country briefly as loaners before being purchased by the Utah Railroad. Here, Aussie import Clyde #6064 is seen in it's distinctive Genesee & Wyoming orange paint while between assignments at Utah Rail's Midvale, UT yard in April 2009.

(railpictures.net: Jeff Terry)

NORFOLK SOUTHERN: Before purchasing EMD outright, Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail Services was busy re-engineing and refurbishing EMD locomotives approaching the end of their service life. In addition to the Progress Rail PR30Cs being tested extensively by Florida East Coast for much of the last year, Norfolk Southern was testing a pair of higher-horsepower Progress Rail rebuilds on their Illinois lines. The units were rebuilt from SD60s Norfolk Southern was withdraing from service, designated PR43Cs (PR for Progress Rail, 43 for 4300 HP and C for 6 axles) and worked mainly around the Peoria, IL area- headquarters of Progress Rail's parent company Caterpillar in case any servicing was required.

(Photo: Henry Dralle)

One can only learn so much about a locomotive's performance on the flat-as-a-tabletop terrain of Illinois, so in February, the Norfolk Southern decided to bring them to Virginia to test their capabilities in hillier terrain. Secondhand reports indicate that both PR43Cs handled the 1.58% Starkey Grade on the line out of Roanoke, VA with about 50 loaded hopper cars and the test car quite well. Norfolk Southern would also bring in Kansas City Southern's EMD GP22ECO mother/slug set and Brookville Equipment Corporation's 'co-generation' hybrid locomotive for road testing and evaluation in the Roanoke area over the spring.

Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary Buffalo & Pittsburgh is also reportedly interested in looking at the KCS GP22ECO rebuilds.

ARIZONA: Passenger service returned to the restored 1916 depot in the Arizona mining town of Globe for the first time in 77 years with the Copper Spike excursion. The excursions have been operating since late 2008 and the newest addition is Arizona Eastern E8A painted in a scheme reminiscent of Southern Pacific's 'Black Widow' livery. The Copper Spike's consist also includes a dome car and a rebuilt Illinois Central coach that's now a club car. The Arizona Eastern normally hauls freight between Miami, AZ to the Union Pacific interchange at Bowie, AZ- a distance of 130 miles. In 2008, AZER also gained trackage rights over UP's former Southern Pacific Sunset Route between Bowie, AZ to Lordsburg, NM and acquired the former Espee branch between Lordsburg and Clifton, AZ. The Arizona Eastern is a wholly owned subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC.

MICHIGAN: The Escanaba & Lake Superior filed a request with the Surface Transportaton Board to abandon 43 miles of trackage between Ontonagon and Frost in Michigan's upper peninsula. Smurfit-Stone Container, the largest shipper on that line, and the Ontonagon Economic Partnership have agreed to draft a joint letter to the STB requesting a stay. Both the board and Smurfit-Stone are in talks with outside parties to sell the currently idle paper plant. In anticipation of the pending abandonment request, the E&LS began moving equipment off the line and elsewhere as early as November 2009- when railpictures.net contributor Dean Sauvola caught E&LS SD9 #1224 and SD40-2 #501 hauling a string of empty boxcars stored at the mill across the Ontonagon River. Hit particularly hard by the recession, Ontanogon County MI has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.

INDIA: At least 145 people were killed and another 250 injured when suspected Maoist terrorists in West Bengal sabotaged a stretch of track that the the Gyaneshwari Express was travelling on, derailing the train and knocking some of the passenger cars into the path of an oncoming freight train. Indian Railways minister Mamatma Banerjee said that rebels removed a 50cm section of rail and timed it so that the Gyanshwari Express would collide with another train. Local investigators found Naxalite literature at the scene, although they wouldn't identify which specific group. According to the Ministy or Railways, the engineer had just left the station in the Paschim Medinipur district when the train hit the sabotaged portion of track, derailing 13 cars from the Gyanshwari Express.

Bart Stupak Announces That He Won't Seek Re-Election

Less than a month after selling out the unborn for a worthless and largely ceremonial piece of paper signed by President Obama, Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI, 1st District) announced that he will not seek re-election this fall.

First and foremost, this begs the question of whether or not Stupak even got his executive order from Obama prohibiting federal funding of healthcare plans that covered abortions. I also have to wonder if 0bamacare is so wonderful and popular, how come Stupak is stepping down? Retiring is a whole lot easier than Stupak defending his 0bamacare vote for the next 8 months or so.

The announcement still give the Democrats time to field a candidate in the 1st district against Republican Dan Benishek.

Michigan Doctor to Challenge Rep. Bart Stupak for Congress

Even before 'pro-life' Democrat Bart Stupak caved into Nancy Pelosi and President Obama last week, Dan Benishek- a surgeon from Michigan's Upper Peninsula- announced his candidacy for Congress from the steps of the Dickinson County Courthouse last week. Benishek also has a Facebook page and new campaign website being developed.

(Map courtesey of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Even if every registered voter in Michigan's 1st Congressional District was as pro-abortion as Nancy Pelosi, there's still one very large issue that Benishek could bring up against Stupak in the election. The above map represents county-by-county unemployment statistics for Michigan., with dark blue (much of the state, really) representing counties where the unemployment rate remained above 10% as of January 2010. According to this excellent interactive graphic from the Washington Post, most of the counties in Michigan have an unemployment rate of 13% or higher.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics map and Washington Post graphic, the jobless rates in some Upper Peninsula counties are even worse than perpetually mismanaged and corrupt Detroit; with Mackinack County coming in at 31.2% and Baraga County reporting a 28.6% unemployment rate.

These seem like numbers reminiscent of some crooked banana republic. Remember when the President said that his priorities were going to be jobs and the economy during the State of the Union address? He did.....granted it was in there somewhere around Cap & Trade and repealing the military's 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' policy- almost like a requisite throwaway line. The fact that he went right back to his government-expanding, economy-killing pet project that more than half of America had their doubts about should speak volumes to even the most ardent supporter about Obama's priorities.

And when push came to shove, the much touted 'pro-life' bloc of the democrats- led by Stupak- sold out for an executive order that's hardly even worth the paper it was written on, saddling America with a 'Healthcare' bill that will provide more IRS agents than doctors or nurses. And for that, I think Bart Stupak should join the 31% of Mackinack county in the unemployment line.

Today's Train of Thought- Fall Colors and Fallen Flags in the Upper Peninsula

Today's train of thought is an excellent catch by railpictures.net contributor Dean Sauvola, proving that New England isn't the only place to catch some good autumn foliage.

Here, we see Wisconsin Central GP40# 3024 cross Moore Road in Bessemer, MI at a leisurely 10MPH with the White Pine local on October 11th, 2009. The Wisconsin Central ceased to exist in 2001, taken over by Canadian National. Since then, WC's fleet of older motive power has been systematically sold off or retired and replaced with newer power from Canadian National (or one of the many railways CNR has acquired this past decade like the Illinois Central; Duluth Missabe & Iron Range or British Columbia Rail). But as this shot illustrates, CN hasn't repainted all of the WC power that it retained.

It was also announced that the copper smelter at White Pine, MI which this line services anticipated shutting down in 2010. So like the leaves on the trees themselves, the 3024 and the line through the northern Michigan woods is on borrowed time.