Death Toll From Colorado Flooding Revised As Waters Recede

Helen H. Richardson- Denver Post

At least 7 people are feared dead after floodwaters tore through parts of Colorado's Front Range north of Denver last week. The college town of Boulder was particularly hard hit and several outlying mountain towns were cut off from the rest of the state after rising floodwaters undercut state and local highways.

Transportation networks were also snarled by the flooding, as rising waters shut down portions of I-25 between Denver and Cheyenne, WY. Union Pacific was working to restore service over their Denver- Cheyenne mainline as well as portions of the former Rio Grande Denver to Salt Lake City mainline just west of Denver. The UP is also working to shore up their transcontinental mainline downstream in Nebraska from additional damage from the floodwaters.

Joseph K Vonnida- Getty photo

The Colorado National Guard had been activated and was using helicopters and high wheel vehicles in an attempt to get to some of the completely cut off homes and towns in the mountains. The National Guard has also made it a point to evacuate people with their pets if possible in what officials are calling "No pets left behind".

Early estimates put the total amount property damage in the $2 billion range. Rebuilding efforts will likely be complicated by the fact that most of the damaged structures and properties lack flood insurance.

Flooding in Southern Alberta Forces Evacuation Multpile Cities, Kills Three

Floodwaters that were responsible for the deaths of at least three people made their way into the heart of Alberta's largest city, forcing the evacuation of at least 75,000 people from their homes over the weekend.

In downtown Calgary, water was inundating homes and businesses in the shadow of skyscrapers. Water has swamped cars and train tracks.

The city said the home rink of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames flooded and the water inside was 10 rows deep. That would mean the dressing rooms are likely submerged as well.

"I think that really paints a very clear picture of what kinds of volumes of water we are dealing with," said Trevor Daroux, the city's deputy police chief.

At the grounds for the world-famous Calgary Stampede fair, water reached up to the roofs of the chuck wagon barns. The popular rodeo and festival is the city's signature event. Mayor Nenshi said it will occur no matter what.

About 1,500 have gone to emergency shelters while the rest have found shelter with family or friends, Nenshi said.

The flood was forcing emergency plans at the Calgary Zoo, which is situated on an island near where the Elbow and Bow rivers meet. Lions and tigers were being prepared for transfer, if necessary, to prisoner holding cells at the courthouse.

Schools and court trials were canceled Friday and residents urged to avoid downtown. Transit service in the core was shut down.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford warned that communities downstream of Calgary had not yet felt the full force of the floodwaters.

Officials estimate that as many as 350,000 people work in downtown Calgary on any given weekday, but that was not a problem on Friday as most residents and commuters heeded official warnings about travelling to downtown Calgary.

To the southeast, authorities have ordered the evacuation of more than 10,000 residents of low-lying areas around Medicine Hat, AB. Water from the Bow River flows into the South Saskatchewan River, which bisects the town of about 60,000.

The flooding has also affected a number of Indian reservations (called First Nations Communities in Canada) to the south and east of Calgary and residents have been advised to boil tapwater before using it. Nearby schools are closed until further notice as many of them are being used to shelter evacuees.

The Canadian military was activated to help with flood control and evacuation in the province. Canadian Prime minister Stephen Harper, a Calgary resident himself, viewed the damage from above via helicopter.

To the west, the flooding had knocked Canadian Pacific's transcontinental mainline out of commission between Banff and Calgary, leaving some CP freight trains stranded in Alberta or British Columbia as the railroad negotiates with Canadian National and other carriers to accommodate detour traffic. Additional damage, including a washed out bridge, has been reported on CP's Crowsnest subdivision further south.

With a population of one million, Calgary is the largest city in Alberta and fifth largest metropolitan area in Canada. The TransCanada Highway and Canadian Pacific's transcontinental mainline both pass through the city. The city is probably best known as an energy and agricultural hub for western Canada and home of the Calgary Stampede- a 10 day rodeo and exhibition held every July in the city [Organizers of this year's Stampede have announced that the event will go on as planned, despite there being less than two weeks from the scheduled start- NANESB!] Calgary hosted the 1988 winter Olympics and is the home of the NHL's Calgary Flames as well as the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League and Calgary Hitmen of the WHL.

While much of the drilling and refining takes place elsewhere in the province, Calgary has been an administrative center for the oil and natural gas companies operating in western Canada since the 1970s- more than 80% of the gas companies operating in Canada are based out of Calgary. In 1996, the Canadian Pacific Railway relocated their headquarters from Montreal to Calgary.

Today's Train of Thought- The Mouse That Roared, July 17, 2012

Today's train of thought takes us to the gently rolling hills and valleys of northwestern corner of North Dakota. Although North Dakota is the northernmost of the Great Plains states, the Roughrider State features a number of valleys and lakes that were carved out by retreating glaciers at the end of the last ice age.

One of the rivers that meanders through North Dakota is the Souris- which is French for 'Mouse'. The river begins in Saskatchewan and meanders southeast into North Dakota, making its way east before swinging back up into Canada and feeding into the Assiniboine River in Manitoba.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Fredrick Wolter catches Northern Plains GP7U #2297 leading a westbound train destined for the Canadian Pacific at the interchange in Kenmare, ND in July 2009. In addition to the Souris River appearing prominently in the background, the photographer also points out the Kenmare Country Club and the tail end of a CP Rail train destined for the border crossing at Portal, ND is visible in the background.

The Souris River hasn't always been this tranquil. Last summer, the river overran levees and caused widespread damage to crops and property in North Dakota, forcing BNSF and Canadian Pacific to re-route trains off of their respective main lines through the state as a result of the record flooding.

Rising Thai Floodwaters Reach Bangkok

Flooded highway interchange at Pathum Thani north of Bangkok on October 20

Knee high floodwaters began inundating outlying sections and neighborhoods of the Thai capital this week as officials warned resident to move their belongings to higher ground.

Knee-high floods began to appear in some outer districts of the city, a day after authorities said they would take the risky move of releasing some waters that had been building up in recent days behind barricades fashioned along the city's northern outskirts. The idea is to let some waters run through the canals that crisscross Bangkok to escape to the sea, but it was unknown whether the operation could be executed without inundating large parts of the capital.

In Thailand, more than 200 major highways and roads are now impassable, while several key industrial estates have been inundated. Damages are expected to tally at least $6 billion and shave up to two percentage points off gross domestic product, according to economists' estimates. Humanitarian groups said parts of the affected provinces-- covering about a third of Thailand -- are inaccessible, with some towns under water more than six feet high.

There are several industrial parks around Bangkok that provide components for products from companies such as Toyota [NYSE: TM], Apple Computers [NASDAQ: AAPL] , Honda Motors [NYSE: HMC] and Sony [NYSE: SNE] that have halted production at their Thai facilities due to the ongoing flooding, further disrupting supply chains already in disarray from the March 2011 quake and tsunami that struck Japan.

State Railways of Thailand (SRT) passenger tran traversing flooded are near Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Thailand on October 19, 2011. Lerdchai Seangsong photo

Some of the expressways in and out of the capital had literally become parking lots as the high overpasses were the only high ground that the motorists were able to find. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and over government officials have warned that the floodwaters could take as long as 6 weeks to fully receede.
Earlier this month, the Kingdom's State Railway of Thailand shut down freight and passenger service to two northern cities while more recently it offered tourists refunds on tickets rendered unusable due to suspension of service because of the floods.

Iron Horse Roundup- Yet Another Tropical Storm Irene Cleanup Edition

New England Central detour freight MFMO (Millers Falls, MA- MOhawk Yard, Schenectady NY) preparing to head west at Pan Am's former Boston & Maine yard in East Deerfield, MA on September 8, 2011. Only a stone's throw away from the NECR interchange at Millers Falls, the train will then continue north to Whitehall, NY where it will traverse over the Vermont Railway system via Rutland and north to 'home' rails at Burlington, VT- Photo, Matt Baj

As cleanup from Irene continued throughout the Green Mountain state and elsewhere, Class 1 and regional rail carriers were scrambling to accommodate an array of detour traffic over the regions intact lines throughout the month of September.

Canadian Pacific ES44AC GEVO #8780 and a pair of former BNSF SD40-2s blast out of the East Portal of the Hoosac Tunnel in Florida, MA with loaded unit ethanol train MOPW (MOhawk Yard to Providence & Worcester interchange at Gardner, MA)on September 10, 2011. The first car is actually a spacer, while the ethanol tak cars are obscured by the shadows. Photo, Matt Rooks

The flurry of activity breathed new life into obscure and long-forgotten junctions and spawned an alphabet soup of new and improvised train symbols on one railway.

Rail America's New England Central got the ball rolling on September 9th with a southbound detour train from Essex Jct, VT that consisted primarily of empty welded rail cars from the track improvement project on NECR's Roxbury and Palmer subdivisions and backlogged freight cars. The detour train (NECR gave it the symbol 323X) would traverse the western end of the Green Mountain state between Burlington and Rutland before heading west to the Canadian Pacific interchange at Whitehall, NY on the Vermont Railway's former Delaware & Hudson's Rutland branch.

Once on CP rails, the detour freight would be handed off to the Pan Am railway at Mohawk Yard just outside of Schenectady, NY. From there, the NECR detour would continue east over the former Boston & Maine Fitchburg Main to the NECR interchange at Millers Falls, MA.

At least one unit ethanol train was rerouted off VRS's Green Mountain Gateway in the wake of Irene. On September 10, Canadian Pacific handed off a 50 car loaded ethanol train to Pan Am at Mohawk Yard. From there, the train would travel as far east as Gardner, MA on the former Boston & Maine line where it was handed off to the Providence & Worcester.

Vermont Railway GP38-2 #303 leads a solid set of red EMDs north out of Crescent, NY after having just swapped cars with Pan Am freight EDSR (East Deerfield, MA to Canadian Pacific's yard at SaRatoga, NY) on September 11, 2011. The Pan Am freight picked up carloads of limestone slurry and handed over ballast cars and empties. Normally, the interchange would take place in Hoosac Falls, NY. Photo, Gary R. Schermerhorn

The B&R line between Rutland and North Bennington, VT was also damaged in the aftermath of Irene. In addition to local lumber and grain traffic, this portion of the Vermont Railway System also hosts a weekly unit limestone slurry train that is handed off to Pan Am in Hoosac Jct, NY and on to Maine from there. Interestingly, the original routing for the slurry train when it first started was over the Green Mountain gateway where it was interchanged with the Pan Am at Bellows Falls before continuing to Maine. The south end of the B&R branch was reopened in recent years to accommodate the slurry train and give the VRS and Pan Am a second interchange point.

Like the NECR detours, the VRS slurry train reached the Pan Am via Canadian Pacific at the Whitehall, NY interchange and used Vermont Railway motive power- although instead of travelling to Mohawk Yard, they apparently met with a Pan Am freight just outside of Saratoga, NY on Canadian Pacific's former D&H Bridge Line.

New England Central GP38-2 #3857 leads a mixed bag of power from other Rail America roads and leasers across the Hudson River on the former Boston & Maine west end in Mechanicsville, NY at dusk on September 16th, 2011 with symbol freight MFMO. This would be the last NECR detour train using the Pan Am routing as the Green Mountain Railway line would reopen to through traffic less than 24 hours later. Photo, John Bazan

On September 16, the Vermont Railway's Green Mountain Line re-opened to through traffic between Rutland and Bellows Falls, VT. Not only did this mean that through trains could resume on the former Green Mountain Railway, but that the NECR could utilize a less circuitous detour than the Pan Am and Canadian Pacific lines through Western Massachusetts and Upstate New York while work was continuing on reopening their Roxbury Subdivision north of White River Jct, VT. Instead, NECR trains could travel from New London, CT or Palmer, MA as far north as Bellows Falls, VT before detouring over the Vermont Railway System.

Former Goderich & Exeter GP38 #3843 leads a NECR GP38-2 and Connectictut Southern B39-8 as they lean into the curve at Royalton, VT with New England Central train 323-21 on September 21, 2011. This is the first northbound through train on the former Central Vermont Roxbury Subdivision since Tropical Storm Irene struck. Photo, Kevin Burkholder

After weeks of clearing fallen trees and moving in train loads of ballast, rip rap and gravel, the NECR line north of White River Jct and south of Essex Jct, VT had been reopened to through traffic on September 21st.

Crews had been working around the clock to reopen both the VRS and NECR lines since late August. The final NECR work train reportedly ran north out of White River Jct. on September 25 with a Florida East Coast GP40-2 (ironically, with the 'Hurricane' logo on the hood) and a NECR GP38-2 followed by 9 cars of rip rap to shore up repairs made along the line.

While most of VRS's Washington County Railway line between Newport, VT and White River Jct survived Irene, the trestle across the White River itself was undercut when floodwaters twisted one of the stone piers supporting it, causing the deck to drop almost 6 feet our of alignment. Crews have erected a temporary support system and will replace the damaged piers with a concrete pillar. The bridge might be carrying trains as early as this week. Since the warped trestle isolated the WACR's Connecticut River Division from the rest of the Vermont Railway system, the WACR has been borrowing a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic B39-8 to service the line south of the MM&A interchange in Newport.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee Flood New York's Southern Tier, Parts of Pennsylvania

Floowaters from an already saturated Susquehanna river topped levees and retaining walls in Broome County, NY inundating downtown Binghampton as well as nearby Johnson City, Endicott, Vestal and Owego in the wake of Tropical Storm Lee. Many evacuees in the area took shelter at Binghaton University's events center.

To the south, mandatory evacuation orders were in place in the Wilkes-Barre, PA area due to concerns that the Susquehanna would top levees there.

The flooding also shut down two highways in the region- I-88, which links Binghamton with the Albany, NY area and NY-17, which goes west to Elmira, Corning and further west to Erie, PA. For the second time in two weeks, both CSX and Canadian Pacific experienced disruptions along their lines south and west of Albany, NY. A Canadian Pacific Spokesman said that the former Delaware & Hudson line between Binghamton and Albany NY was washed out in two locations, but that crews were going to work on them when the floodwaters receded.

Lee was the second major storm to strike the area in two weeks. Many businesses and schools were attempting to reopen after sustaining flood damage from Tropical Storm Irene moved through the area at the very end of August. Much of Vermont and the Mohawk River valley in New York state were hit particularly hard by fast moving floodwaters that destroyed homes, businesses, schools, roads and bridges. Damages from the two storms are estimated to cost at least $100 Million in New York state alone

Tropical Storm Irene Aftermath Iron Horse Roundup September 6, 2011

Pan Am ballast train in Greenfield, MA en route to washout at Charlemont, MA on Aug 30th- photo Billy Wehmeyer

Hurricane Irene struck the Berkshires on Aug 28th and there was sizable washouts on Pan Am's former Boston & Maine Fitchburg Division between Ayer, MA and Mechanichsville, NY along the Deerfield River between North Adams and Shelburne, MA. With slow orders in effect for a number of locations, crews were able to get the line reopened by the evening of August 31.

Canadian Pacific's former Delaware & Hudson mainline between Albany NY and Binghamton NY suffered a number of washouts, forcing some trains to be rerouted via CSX's (suddenly ironically named) Water Level route west of Schenectady, NY all the way to Syracuse where they were redirected to Binghampton on the New York Susquehana & Western's Northern Division.

The Canadian Pacific line between Saratoga Springs and the Canadian border at Rouses Point, NY (and on to Montreal from there) suffered minimal flooding and obstruction and for the most part remained open. Besides through freight from CP Rail, the line also hosts Amtrak's Adirondack New York City to Montreal service.

After work was completed on a damaged section of track in Central Bridge, NY, Canadian Pacific resumed operations on the D&H Bridge Line between Albany and Binghaton NY on September 1.

CSX's Selkirk NY to Buffalo Water Level route was flooded, but reopened after a few days while the line along the West shore of the Hudson River experienced a number of floods, washouts and landslides. Crews reportedly had managed to get the line reopened by the early morning hours of August 30th. A CSX service bulletin dated September 3 reports that MOW and signalmen have been working to restore tracks, crossing signals and roadbed throughout affected areas in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland.

The New England Central's former Central Vermont Railway line still remains closed between White River Jct and Essex Jct, VT. Curiously, Amtrak's Vermonter service wasn't affected because passengers for north of Springfield, MA would be served by bus due to ongoing track upgrades along the New England Central since June. The NECR between Essex Jct and the Canadian National interchange in Swanton, VT to the north remains open as well as the line to the south between White River Jct and New London, CT.

Although no timetable for reopening the line between White River Jct and Essex Jct has been announced, a service bulletin dated September 2nd announced a detour train was scheduled to deliver cars to the Canadian National on September 9th.

Washout on the Vermont Railway line in Sunderland between Rutland and North Bennington, VT. Photo- Tim Stockwell

Undoubtedly the hardest hit railroad was the Vermont Railway system, with all of their lines radiating out of Rutland, VT flooded or washed out at some point along the way. The former Delaware & Hudson line between the Canadian Pacific interchange at Whitehall NY and Rutland was the first to re-open, with Amtrak's Ethan Allen resuming service on September 1. The line north between Rutland and Burlington was reopened on Aug 31, with a fuel train to Burlington, VT being the first train through.

However, things were different to the east and south of Rutland. The line south to Bennington, VT and on to the Pan-Am interchange in Hoosick Falls, NY was hit by several washouts. The Green Mountain line between Rutland and Bellows Falls, VT was much worse off and will likely take several weeks to repair.

Vermont's state-owned rail lines have been heavily damaged by Tropical Storm Irene.

An inspection found that five of the state's railroad bridges have major structural damage and need major repairs before they can re-open to freight traffic.

The middle piers of one bridge on the Connecticut River line in Hartford was moved more than 6 feet by rushing floodwaters. Yesterday, a crane was sent to stabilize that bridge, and allow work crews to install temporary shoring.

The Green Mountain line and the Vermont Rail South line rail beds have also seen a number of washouts, culvert failures and erosion of the rail bed.

Freight traffic is still running between Burlington and Rutland, and the Ethan Allen Amtrak line resumed service on Saturday.

Vermont Rail Systems estimates it will be three to four weeks before freight begins moving again on the Green Mountain rail line.

It appears that the Vermont Railway has put a priority on getting the Green Mountain route open so that Canadian Pacific bridge traffic to the New England Central and Providence & Worcester can resume as well as providing a viable detour route while the New England Central line north of White River Jct. is being repaired.

Crews from Vermont Railway and contractor RJ Corman were reportedly dumping ballast and rip-rap along washed away sections of track between Rockingham, VT and Wallingford, VT using hi-rail equipped dump trucks. Structural engineers are also attempting to shore up bridges that were compromised by the flash floods.

The Washington County (a subsidiary of the Vermont Railway) line between Newport, VT and White River Jct is intact, but WACR/VTR power is 'marooned' in from the rest of the system in Bellows Falls or White River Jct. For the time being, the WACR is borrowing a B39-8 from the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic to serve customers on the line. Until the New England Central line reopens and engineers shore up the damaged bridges around White River Juntion, the only interchange is with the MM&A at Newport, VT where the line heads northwest to Farnham, Quebec.

Green Mountain Railway Alco RS-1 shoving on rear of empty ethanol tank train past Bartonsville covered bridge, April 2011.

While not part of the Vermont Railway System, the photogenic Bartonsville covered bridge (above) adjacent to Vermont Route 103 and the Green Mountain Railway was popular with railway enthusiasts and tourists. Perhaps the most iconic image of the damage Irene had wrought on the Green Mountain state, the covered bridge was captured on video being washed away by the raging torrent of the Williams River by a local resident.

Location of Bartonsville covered bridge after Irene- Both photos from Kevin Burkholder

While the bridge was insured by the village of Bartonsville for $1 million, the polity only covered the wooden structure but not the abutments which will need further repair. A fund for replacing the bridge has been set up on the Rockingham-Bellows Falls town website.

The New York, Susquehanna & Western experienced some flood damage to their right-of-way in northern New Jersey between their Little Ferry, NJ hub and Port Jervis, NY. However, there was no damage reported to the Southern Tier line between Binghampton NY and Port Jervis and their Northern Division between Binghamton and Syracuse, NY also managed to survive intact. The Susquehanna was able to resume operations on their Sparta Jct NJ-Little Ferry, NJ line by September 1.

In the Catskills, the Catskill Mountain Railway is expected to resume operations out of Mount Tremper, operating excusrions on a modified route beginning September 10. Meanwhile, just to the north, a notice on the Delaware & Ulster website announced that the railway was shut down until further notice due to flash flooding from Irene.

Over in rural Washington County NY, the 33-mile Batten Kill railroad suffered some flooding from its namesake river and fallen trees along the right of way, but suffered no washouts or damage to its bridges. While the line remained open after Tropical storm Irene passed, interchange with the Pan Am Railway at Eagle Bridge, NY was limited due to flood damage from the swollen Deerfield River that railway suffered on the line between North Adams, MA and Shelburne, MA.

Despite the damage inflicted to railroads to the immediate north and west, Canaan, CT-based Housatonic Railroad experienced minimal disruptions on their line through Westernmost Massachusetts and Connecticut from Tropical storm Irene.

Still Reeling From Irene, Northeast Braces For Arrival of Additional Rain

Brattleboro Reformer Facebook Page

As National Guardsmen and utility crews were working to reach some of Vermont's isolated, flood-ravaged towns by air and damaged roads, forecasters were predicting additional thunderstorms to come in from the west over Labor Day weekend. While dozens of roads remain closed to through traffic throughout the Green Mountain state, the village of Wardsboro, VT is reportedly the only town that's completely inaccessible by land on Thursday.

AP Photo

Complicating relief efforts in the Green Mountain state was the fact that 55 Guardsmen and all six of the Vermont National Guard's Blackhawk helicopters are presently deployed to Iraq. In the immediate aftermath of Irene, the New Hampshire National Guard sent two Blackhawks to Vermont and assistance came from as far away as Illinois when six CH-47 and two Blackhawk helicopters were dispatched. Food, water and other supplies were previously being made by the Vermont National Guard's much smaller Kiowa and Lakota helicopters.

Up and down the East coast as many as 900,000 utility customers from North Carolina's Outer Banks to the Green Mountains remain without power and farmers were assessing damage to their crops and livestock.

As the state government and individual Vermonters launched online appeals for donations and volunteer workers on Thursday, the Obama Administration approved emergency aid and funding for the Green Mountain state.

Roads Crumble, Bridges Collapse and Towns Cut Off As Vermont, Upstate New York Lashed by Remnants of Hurricane Irene

Andre Malebra- Burlington Free Press

After making a second landfall on Sunday outside of Egg Harbor Township just outside of Atlantic City, NJ, Hurricane Irene churned north and was downgraded to a tropical storm around the same time she made a third and final landfall near Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY.

However, the storm would continue wreaking havoc with torrential rains and inland flooding as it continued north through the mountain ranges on either side of the Hudson River.



Southwest of Albany, Scoharie County was hit particularly hard by heavy rains and flooding. The rains sent water over the banks and through the main streets of towns like Prattsville and Windham.

Irene did not let up when she crossed over into the Green Mountain state, dumping as much as 11 inches of rain in just under 48 hours, turning placid rivers into swollen torrents of water sweeping away cars, homes, railroads, chunks of highways and even the region's iconic covered bridges.



Portions of roadways and bridges throughout Vermont have been washed out, leaving entire towns severed from the rest of the state. Route 9, a two lane thoroughfare that crosses the southern portion of Vermont linking Bennington with Brattleboro has been closed indefinitely according to the Vermont Agency of Transportation. At least 30 bridges on state highways- from covered to modern- remained closed as well as any number of bridges on county or municipal roads.

The Vermont National Guard was activated to airlift food, clean water and supplies to towns by helicopter where the road links to the rest of the state had been severed. With 55 Vermont National Guard soldiers and 6 Blackhawk helicopters deployed in Iraq, the National Guard from New Hampshire and Illinois sent additional craft and personnel to assist while high-wheeled vehicles were used to traverse stretches of road that had been washed away.

So far the death toll from Irene is 41 throughout 11 states. The storm is also responsible for an estimated $7 billion in property damage from North Carolina's Outer Banks to northern Vermont.

Iron Horse Roundup for June 2011

photo Brock Hansen

NEVADA: As the death toll from the June 24th collision between a gravel truck and Amtrak's California Zephyr was revised upwards to 6, investigators are focusing their attention on the truck driver, identified as 43 year old Lawrence Reuben Valli of Winnmeucca, NV, and a number of traffic citations and moving violations he accumulated in recent years.

Investigators from the NTSB are also looking into the safety records of John Davis Trucking of Battle Mountain, NV as well as Valli's medical history. The company has has two accidents in the last two years and an January 2011 inspection showed tired so bald on one trailer that it had to be taken off the road. Officials refused to speculate whether or not such a record was typical for a company the size of Davis Trucking (currently with over 100 drivers on its payroll).

The rig in the California Zephyr collision was longer and heavier than the law allowed, but the trucking company was able to obtain a waiver prior to the accident. Investigators also believe that the fireball after the collision was caused by the two sidesaddle tanks, each with a capacity of 110 gallons.

According to a Nevada Highway patrol spokesman, the speed limit on that stretch of highway 95 is 70 MPH and visibility to the crossing was half a mile that day. The gates were also working and should've been activated at least 25 seconds before the train approached the crossing in Churchill County.

AP Photo

INDIA: The death toll has risen to at least 60 in India and is expected to climb as many more passengers are trapped after a passenger train crashed into a bus carrying a wedding party and derailed in the northern Indian state of Uttar Predesh. Initial reports indicate that the bus with about 80 wedding guests got caught on an unguarded rural crossing when the rear axle broke. Upon colliding with the train, the mangled bus was dragged another 1000 feet before the Kalka Mail was able to come to a stop.

Another 200 people were injured, with some being treated at the scene or in nearby hospitals in clinics.

Railway officials estimate that the express train was travelling 108 Km PH at the time of its impact, close to it's maximum speed limit along the route.

Last BNSF train makes its way through Minot, ND as the Souris River tops the levees on June 23rd

NORTH DAKOTA: Traffic levels for the BNSF mainline through North Dakota began returning this week as record flooding of the Souris River in and around Minot, ND severed both the BNSF's former Northern Pacific's Northern Transon line and Canadian Pacific's former Soo Line track between Portal, ND and the Twin Cities.

An official for the North Dakota National Guard said that an estimated 4000 homes in Minot and Ward county have been damaged by floodwaters that have reached anywhere from 6 to 10 feet. Unofficial estimates say that as many as 800 homes may have to be demolished as the floodwaters recede.

A pair of BNSF GE's lead a ballast train through Minot as the floodwaters begin to recede on July 4- Stephen M Welch photos

The BNSF line through Minot reopened to work trains on the 4th of July and saw some of the detoured traffic return gradually throughout the week. Amtrak's Empire Builder- operating on BNSF's Northern Tanscon- was suspended between Havre, MT and St Paul, MN. While it's not unusual for BNSF or Canadian Pacific to divert traffic over each other's lines in the event one line is shut down, the two lines intersected at Minot, necessitating even longer detours for the carriers. The BNSF rerouted trains south across its former Milwaukee Road line through South Dakota while Canadian Pacific detoured trains through Manitoba and on south through Glenwood and Thief River Falls, MN for its Chicago to Vancouver traffic while repositioning motive power and Maintenance of Way equipment over the Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western south of Minot.

A leased Willamette Valley GP35 leads a work train through on the North Western Pacific line in Penngrove, CA in July 2009: Photo- Kevin Sheridan

CALIFORNIA: Final preparations are underway for limited freight service to resume on a 62-mile stretch of former Northwestern Pacific trackage in Northern California this month after the line's operator ran a series of test trains on the rebuilt trackage.

In late June, a single NWP Co locomotive and a pair of loaded freight cars traversed the tracks between Napa Jct and Petaluma, CA to gauge the status of different trestles and crossing signals along the line with further test trains scheduled to run to the current end of the operable track at Windsor, CA.

A number of shippers in communities along the dormant line have expressed an interest in shipping by rail once the line is reactivated. Traffic is expected to include grain, feed, aggregates, lumber and wine.

Multiple environmental agencies in the area have threatened to sue the North Coast Rail Authority- the line's owner- if the NWP resumes operations without addressing their concerns, claiming that re-opening the line would endanger the Eel River if the former NWP line between Willits and Eureka, CA reopened [inquiring minds want to know- did the Natural Resources Defense Council put them up to it, or are environmentalists naturally inclined to be insufferable douchewaffles who savor keeping more trucks on already crowded highways and even more people out of work? -NANESB!]

John Sesonske photo

NEW YORK: New York's newest railway is expected to begin operating in a few days as crews familiarized themselves with new motive power along the former Delaware & Hudson North Creek branch between Saratoga Springs and North Creek, NY. Over the winter, Wayne County and the town of Corinth- the line's owners- announced that Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings would be the new operator of the line. The new railroad will operate as the Saratoga & North Creek and power will be a pair of GE B39-8s and a rare EMD BL2 painted in a scheme reminiscent of the D&H 'Lightning Stripe' colors.

Previously, the limited excursion service over the line was operated by the Upper Hudson Railroad. Iowa Pacific presently operates a number of shortline railroads in the western USA- a number of them, such as the Arizona Eastern or San Luis and Rio Grande, also operate excursion trains.

An invitation-only VIP train is scheduled to operate on July 12th while regular excursions will begin on July 14. By re-opening the line to Saratoga Springs, the line is not only able to connect with Amtrak passenger trains, but also the national rail freight network by interchanging with CP Rail's former D&H Montreal-Albany line. Iowa Pacific is hoping to court Barton Mines, LLC as a shipper while the town of Corinth is hoping that a rail connection could attract a potential tenant to the dormant International Paper mill in town.

Bob Lyndall photo

WISCONSIN: For the first time in over a decade, the Mid-Continent Railway Muesum in North Freedom, WI will have trains powered by steam. Diminutive 1930-built Porter 0-4-0 #75, built for Flagg Coal, will be trucked into the museum in August by the family-operated, family-run Gramling Locomotive Works. The Museum plans on operating an extended schedule for August, anticipating additional riders with the arrival of the old Porter.

However, that is not the biggest news for the Mid-Continent Railway Museum, as a local foundation offered a $250,000 challenge grant to go towards the full restoration of the MCRM's last operating steam locomotive- 1907 built Chicago & North Western ALCo 4-6-0 #1385. The old C&NW Ten Wheeler routinely saw service hauling not only the museum's excursions, but also the Baraboo Circus Train based out of the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI until the flatcars used to haul the wagons were deemed too old to operate on a common carrier after 2000.

In order for the MCRM to obtain the $250,000 grant, the museum must raise an additional $250,000 on its own.

"We have supported the museum over the past few years and have been impressed with their programs, their popularity with young families and their determination to recover from the destruction of 2008's flooding," said Dick Wagner, president of the Wagner Foundation. "We couldn't think of any more important way to support the museum further than to help it get its steam program going again."

When the restoration project begins, it could take as long as 18 months to put the engine back into service. But museum officials hope to get the ball rolling soon, and have named Tom Diehl, president of the Tommy Bartlett Shows and Exploratory World in Wisconsin Dells, honorary chairman of the fundraising campaign to match the grant.

The 1385 has been out of service since 1998- the locomotive was awaiting boiler work when the FRA revised the guidelines for steam boiler operations, nearly tripling the costs of restoring the disassembled steam locomotive.

Mississippi Flooding Update: More Flood Gates Opened at Morganza Spillway; Mississippi River Closed to Shipping

AP Photo

The Army corps of Engineers announced that they had opened a 16th lock on the 125-bay Morganza spillway on Wednesday, sending an estimated 108,000 cubic feet of water per second gushing through the flood control structure.

26 parishes (counties in Louisiana) have been declared disaster areas, with E. Felicicana, LaFourche, Franklin and Richland parishes being added recently. Parts of St. Martin's Parish- just east of Lafayette, LA- are under a mandatory evacuation order on Wednesday in advance of the approaching flood waters.

Further downstream (but north of New Orleans), the Corps of Engineers said they had opened up nearly 330 of the 350 bays on the Bonne Carre spillway, sending water from the Mississippi River rushing through at a rate of 316,000 cubic feet per second into Lake Pontchartrain.

To the north, the US Coast Guard had closed down the Mississippi River around Natchez, MS to shipping earlier this week over concerns about additional strain on the levees from barges and river traffic. However, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that the Coast Guard was allowing barges loaded with coal, timber, iron and steel to pass through at the minimum speed.

Local officials on both sides of the river from Mississippi town of Natchez breathed a sigh of relief as the Coast Guard and NOAA revised their estimate for the floodwater's crest from 63 feet down to 62 .5 feet. The crest is expected to be reached on Saturday- the previous high water mark dates back to 1937 at 58.4 feet.

Pat over at And So it Goes in Shreveport has much much more.

UPDATED 5/15: US Army Corps of Engineers Opens Up Massive Floodgates Along Mississippi River

UPDATE 5/15: Although residing in a part of Louisiana relatively unaffected by the Morganza floodwall being opened up, blogger Pat Austin of And So it Goes in Shreveport has been updating frequently througout the weekend.

Louisiana reigonal news aggregator The Dead Pelican also came reccomended by a trusted source during the Deepwater Horizon spill last year and should have ample links to local coverage around Baton Rouge and the Morganza floodway.


For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Army Corps of Engineers opened up the first of the 125 massive floodgates of the Morganza spillway to relive pressure on a number of older downriver flood control structures protecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans from a swollen Mississippi River.


The decision to open up the spillway to protect New Orleans and Baton Rouge means that towns throughout the Atchafalaya Basin west of Baton Rouge are bracing for rising floodwaters, with some communities and businesses getting ready to evacuate or erect levees of their own. Elsewhere in the basin, farmers have been working around the clock to harvest their wheat crop before the rising waters from the Morganza Flood wall. There are an estimated 15,256 acres of farmland throughout the basin and another 2,853 acres located in the fore bay area between the floodwall and Mississippi River.

While farmers would be able to harvest some of the wheat, other crops in the basin such as corn, soybeans, sugarcane and rice would be considered a complete writeoff in the floods.

For the past two weeks, the Mississppi River had crested past flood levels as two major storm systems dumped considerable rainfall on the Mississippi and Missouri River headwaters in addition to the melting snow.

Earlier this month, the Army Corps of Engineers blew up an earthen levee in Sikeston, MO to prevent further damage to the town of Cairo, IL. Since then, floodwaters have struck western Kentucky and Tennessee (including Memphis) and Mississippi, surpassing record flood levels set back during 1937.

Queensland, Brisbane Struck by Worst Flooding in Over 30 Years

Floods cutting a swath the size of Texas through northeastern Australia began to recede on Thursday. At least 25 people were killed and 61 more missing as rising waters had swept away cars and cut off entire cities and towns from the rest of the country.
Trees and debris and more than 20 cars piled up under a railway bridge outside of Grantham, Queensland. Police divers did not find any bodies in any of the cars, though.

The city of Rockhampton was cut off from the rest of Queensland and Australia when the flood severed road and rail links. Residents were advised to stay away from the water not only because of the hazards presented by the floodwaters, but also because of the poisonous snakes and crocodiles that could be present in awhile.

In Brisbane, the floodwaters crested just shy of the 1974 flooding that his the Queensland capital. Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said he the city was asking for skilled volunteers- carpenters, plumbers and electricians- to aid in the rebuilding of the city. Local landmarks and industries such as the XXXX brewery and Suncorp Rugby stadium were underwater while at least 3000 people in Australia's 3rd largest city were seeking shelter until the waters fully receeded.
Perhaps the most poignant account from the Queensland floods was that of 13 year old Jordan Rice of Toowoomba. Jordan, along with his mother Donna and 10 year old brother Blake were stranded in their car as the floodwaters rose. Jordan was able to alert a truck driver who began a rescue attempt by wading into the waters with a rope fastened around his waist. When trucker, Warren McErlean, reached Jordan, the 13 year old simply told his would-be rescuer to rescue Blake first. Moments later, Jordan and his mother were swept away to their deaths by the fast moving water.

Iron Horse Roundup For August 2010

CHINA: Passengers stranded on a train that was stuck on a partially collapsed bridge Guanghan, Sechuan were successfully evacuated shortly before at least two of the cars plunged into the river below this week. Amateur video shot inside one of the cars shows passengers making frantic calls to loved ones as the bridge starts to buckle, and later on shows another train passing in the background on a separate bridge immediately in the background as the passenger cars are plunging into the river. Rescuers and railway officials were able to get the passengers out of the cars minutes before the first passenger car toppled into the floodwater-swollen river and came to rest at the abutments of nearby bridge that was still under construction.

Severe flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have battered southern China leaving hundreds dead and hundreds missing this month alone.

HOLLAND: An out of control maintenance-of-way train crashed through a barrier and tore its way through 300 feet of parking lot and slicing a watersports shop in two before coming to a stop in the town square in Stavoren, Holland on July 26.

Dutch Daily De Telegraaf reported that the official in charge of safety on the maintenance of way train was a temporary worker that spoke no Dutch. Investigators said that the firm- Spoorflex Safety First- had a history of safety infractions over the last two years and suspended the contract.

IOWA: The volunteer fire departments in Atlantic and Anita, Iowa held a fundraiser that featured Iowa Interstate's Chinese made QJ 2-10-2 #7081 powering an excursion between the two southwestern Iowa towns. The excursion ran on the western portion of Iowa Interstate's former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific between Blue Island, IL (Chicagoland) and Omaha, NE (across the river from Omaha, NE) line.

Two trips were initially planned, but a third was added due to increased demand.

ALASKA: The Alaska Railroad announced that Kiewit Pacific Co. has been awarded the contract to provide general contracting and construction management services for the first phase of their planned 80-mile extension from the current end of the line between Fairbanks, AK and Delta Jct.

Kiewit is the same company that Alaska Native Coropration Suulutaq Inc subcontracted their $54 Million no-bid Napa Valley Wine Train Project to for less than $30 million earlier this year.

ELSEWHERE: The trailer for Unstoppable is now available online. The movie was flimed along portions of the Wheeling & Lake Erie in Pennsylvania and Western New York & Pennsylvania in western New York State using locomotives from Canadian Pacific and Wheeling & Lake Erie (modified to portray the fictitious Allegheny & West Virginia)



OK....not to get all Jay Sherman here, but it looks like Tony Scott took some of the Cop Show/movie tropes and applied them to a fictional railroad and its workers....["turn in your gun and badge fluorescent safety vest and walkie talkie!!"- NANESB!] Ah well....as I mentioned earlier, the movie is very loosely based on a real life runaway train incident in Ohio back in May 2001.

State of Emergency Delcared as Rhode Island Battered by Record Floodwaters

(Charles Krupa/AP)

All five counties in Rhode Island were declared disaster areas in the wake of this week's earlier heavy rains and floodwaters.

The Pawtuxet River overflowed its banks and managed to shut down portions of Interstate 95, the connector road accessing Providence's T.F. Green International Airport and Amtrak's Washington D.C. to Boston Northeast Corridor. Woonsocket, RI- based CVS Phamacies [NYSE: CVS] reported that flooding from the nearby Blackstone River knocked out its computer system, temporarily affecting prescription services for the nationwide chain.

High waters from the river also flowed over the protective levee built around the city of Warwick, RI's sewage treatment plant, adding to the misery and further contaminating the Pawtuxet's floodwaters.

Governor Carcieri had activated around 220 members of the National Guard to help with evacuations, placing sandbags and detours this week. The floodwaters are expected to recede over the weekend, at which point the damage can be more thoroughly assessed.