Especially Steamy Iron Horse Roundup for March 2013

TVRM's Southern 2-8-0 Consolidation is seen chugging eastbound with a Norfolk Southern 21st Century Steam special at Chucky, TN on March 10, 2013.Ron Flanary

.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN- Thanks in no small part to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Musuem, the Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam program is off to a pretty early start this season, with a number of excursions having already run between Chattanooga, TN and Roanoake, VA earlier this month.

The TVRM has posted a schedule on their homepage for the remaining excursions over the Norfolk Southern this spring including trains to Norfolk, VA as well as Spencer and Asheville, NC with more excursions to be announced.

Meanwhile, the Ft Wayne Railroad Historical Society's Nickel Plate Berkshire #765 will once again be traversing Norfolk Southern's former Pennsy mainline through the Alleghenies at least as far east as Altoona, PA with excursions over Horsehoe Curve that are available to the public on Memorial Day weekend. The big Lima was the first steam locomotive to move through central Pennsylvania's Horseshoe Curve under its own power in more than 30 years when it made a ferry move from Pittsburgh to Harrisburgh, PA and return in August 2012 for a series of Employee Appreciation Specials to mark the 30th anniversary of the Norfolk Southern.

Norfolk & Western J Class steam locomotive #611 is seen is seen heading northbound over the Trace Fork Branch trestle with an excursion at Amonate, VA in June 1994. Made famous by the night photography of O Winston Link in the late 1950s, the 611 was built in the N&W's Roanoke Shops in 1950 and was retired in 1959 before becoming part of an earlier incarnation of the Norfolk Southern's steam program. The 611 was pulled from excursion service in 1994 and has been on display in the Virginia Musuem of Transportation in Roanoke ever since.Bob Lyndall

VIRGINIA- The Virginia Museum of Transportation has announced that they're undertaking a feasability study on restoring former Norfolk & Western J class 4-8-4 #611 to service, which has been on display at the Roanoke, VA museum since 1994- when the Norfolk Southern decided to cancel their first incarnation of their steam program.

Called "Fire Up 611!," the study isn’t a guarantee the engine will actually be fired up. The committee will look not just at what repairs and upgrades the 611 might need, but what sort of financial strain a restoration would put on the museum’s day-to-day operations.

If bringing the beloved streamlined 611, which was built in the Norfolk and Western Railway’s Roanoke shops, back to life turns out to be feasible, the transportation museum will have to put out a call to the international rail community to raise the funds, Museum Executive Director Bev Fitzpatrick said. The engine is considered the most modern steam locomotive in existence.

A volunteer team of steam engine enthusiasts has stepped forward to conduct the study. They include Atlanta, Ga. software consultant Cheri George, Birmingham, Ala., historic rail equipment restorer Scott Lindsay and Roanoke rail safety consultant Preston Claytor all of whom volunteered on the 611’s crew during the interval when Norfolk Southern used it for passenger excursions, 1981 to 1994.

The museum is launching a fund raising campaign today to pay for the study’s expenses, said museum public relations director Peg McGuire. Should the task of getting the 611 operational prove to be out of the museum’s reach, the funds will go into an endowment to pay for the locomotive’s upkeep as an exhibit.

The Museum has set up a website called Fire Up 611! where visitors can find out more information about plans to reactivate the #611, donate or take a survey on which cities they'd like to see the #611 visit should it be restored to service.

Santa Fe 4-8-4 Northern #3751 seen scaling Cajon Pass with Amtrak diesels north of San Bernardino, CA en route to the Grand Canyon in May 2012

CALIFORNIA- While the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society plans for Sante Fe 4-8-4 #3751 aren't quite as ambitous as last year's trip to the Grand Canyon, the 1927-built Northern is scheduled to hit the high iron nonetheless.

The SBRHS announced that the #3751 will be running under her own power from Redondo Jct near LA's Union Station to San Bernardino for San Bernardino Railroad Days on April 27th and returning to Los Angeles on April 28th. The passenger cars will consist of meticulously restored vintage coaches and Amfleet passenger cars and tickets are available to the general public at the San Bernardino Railroad & History Museum website.

Milwaukee Road #261 is seen with a cut of gondola cars on the Twin Cities & Western's former Milwaukee line west of Minneapolis in May 2010. Mitch Goldman photo

MINNESOTA- For the first time since 2008, Milwaukee Road's 4-8-4 #261 will be hauling excursion trains. This will also mark the first time that the Friends of the 261 will operate the 1944-built ALCo as outright owners of the locomotive. When the #261 was taken out of service, the organization had the unexpected opportunity to buy the locomotive from the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI in 2010 [previously, they Friends had been leasing the #261 from the museum long-term- NANESB!].

The #261 was successfully test-fired late last year and will power a passenger train from the Twin Cities to Duluth, MN and return on the weekend of May 11th and 12th. The excursion is part of a larger celebration of National Train Day held by the Lake Superior Railroad Museum that will also feature the a dinner train over the North Shore Scenic Railroad with the LSRM's 1923-built 4-6-2 Pacific- Soo Line #2719.

Iron Horse Roundup For October 2011

Providence & Worcester B40-8W #4005 traverses the P&W Willamantic branch in Lisbon, CT pulling a joint office car special with officials from Canadian Pacific, Vermont Railway, New England Central and the P&W on October 19, 2011. Photo, Tom Nanos.

NEW ENGLAND: Some of you might recall back in late August that officials from Guilford/Pan-Am and Norfolk Southern [NYSE: NSC] observed progress on the Patriot Corridor project and using a joint office car special, inspected intermodal facilities in Ayer, MA and one under construction in Mechanicsville, NY before Hurricane Irene struck.

A second, separate office car special for officials from the Canadian Pacific [NYSE: CP], the Vermont Railway, Rail America's [NYSE: RA] New England Central and the Providence & Worcester [NASDAQ: PWX] was supposed to take place on the Green Mountain Gateway in late August as well, but was postponed indefinitely because of extensive flood damage both the Vermont Railway and New England Central sustained due to Tropical Storm Irene.

Powered by a General Electric locomotive from Providence & Worcester and with two passenger cars from the Vermont Railway in tow, the OCS got underway departing east out of Whitehall, NY and continuing on towards Bellows Falls, VT on October 19th over the recently-reopened Green Mountain Railway line which was pummeled in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene. From there, it continued south over the New England Central to Willamantic, CT via Palmer, MA. At Willamantic, the train continued east over Providence & Worcester's Willamantic Branch to Plainfield, CT.

Reopened in 2007, the Willamantic branch was plagued by a series of derailments in 2010 and the FRA ruled that the line would be downgraded to 'excepted', limiting speeds on the line to 10 MPH and preventing more than 5 cars of hazardous materiel from travelling the line. At Plainfield, CT, the Willamantic Branch intersects with the P&Ws Worcester, MA to Groton, CT line and from these, the OCS headed back north into Massachusetts. Since the derailments, many of the unit ethanol trains that traverse the Green Mountain Corridor simply travel all the way south to the NECR/P&W interchange at New London, CT before continuing on to Providence via Worcester, MA.

Besides unit ethanol trains, the railroads that make up the Green Mountain Gateway hope to compete against Norfolk Southern/Pan-Am's 'Patriot Corridor' and CSX's Boston line for autorack and intermodal traffic. In 2006, the Green Mountain Gateway saw unit trains of imported coal from South Africa being offloaded in Providence, RI with a final destination of Johnson City, NY- just west of Binghamton, NY- via Canadian Pacific's former Delaware & Hudson Bridge Line for a few weeks as the power plant there was test burning various grades of coal. While there is no more unit trains of imported coal for Johnson City, the P&W does still handle unit trains of imported coal to First Light's Mt. Tom, MA power plant and Northeast Utilities [NYSE: NU] Bow, NH plant.

LIRR commuter trains meet at Huntington Station- Photo, Jospeh Meade

NEW YORK: Hundreds of Long Island Railroad Employees may have scammed New York City's MTA and the US Railroad Retirement Board out of more than $1 billion in a pension and disability fraud scheme dating back to at least the late 1990s. Eleven people, including two doctors and the former President of United Transportation Union Local 645, have been charged with the decade-long scam bilking the pension of the nation's largest commuter railroad.

Janice Fedarcyk, the head of New York’s FBI office, called it a “game where every retiree was a winner.” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the disability pension program was not designed to be “a feeding trough for the truly dishonest,” but authorities say that’s what happened.

Hundreds of LIRR employees falsely declared themselves disabled to collect more pension money from the ages of 50 to 65, when they would otherwise qualify for full benefits, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The complaint said a retired engineering manager who complained of severe hand, knee, shoulder and back pain often played tennis and golf while collecting about $105,000 yearly in combined pension and disability payments.

Another former employee said she suffered neck, shoulder and hand pain from computer work and couldn’t stand more than five minutes without leg pain. She was “surveilled shoveling heavy snow for approximately one and a half hours,” the complaint said. She gets about $108,000 a year in combined pension and disability payments.

The complaint said many workers who retired with disability benefits worked unusually high amounts of overtime in the five years before retirement because pensions are calculated based on earnings during that period. The heavy workloads often continued “right up until the very day when they and their physicians claimed they were utterly unable to continue doing their railroad jobs,” the complaint said.

The complaint also seemed to place some of the blame for the scandal on the pension system itself, saying the “exceptionally high rate of occupational disability applications for the LIRR can be attributed to the fact that the LIRR, and the LIRR alone, offers a pension to employees as young as 50 years old.” The complaint said unscrupulous employees lie about their physical condition so they can retire at an earlier age with a salary almost equal to what they got when they were working.

Three doctors, one of whom has since died, were responsible for 86 percent of the railroad’s disability applications before 2008. One doctor recommended at least 839 LIRR employees for disability from 1998 to 2008, the complaint said.

Authorities said the doctors collected $800 to $1,200 in fees from each patient as they built disability cases by prescribing unnecessary medical tests and physical therapy. They said the doctors then fabricated or grossly exaggerated medical assessments and built illness narratives to show the employees were unable to work.

The charges stem from a September 2008 investigative report in the New York Times which pointed out that nearly 90% disability attriton rate of the LIRR personnel. The claims were not just limited to engineers, conductors or track workers, either- the former deputy general counsel and claims manager were seeking disability according to the New York Times report.

The MTA claimed that it had no say-so in awarding the fraudulent disability payments and that the RRB was acting as a rubber stamp for any claim that came before it. The FBI and RRB's Inspector General have filed charges against the 11 participants in the scheme where they feel they have the strongest evidence. Since its creation in the 1930s, the RRB is the government agency that administers disability, unemployment, retirement and survivor benefits to railroad workers and their families.

Southbound Alaska Railroad freight train at Hurricane Gulch, AK- Photo, Ted Smith-Peterson

ALASKA: The Alaska Railroad broke ground on their 80 mile Delta Jct Extension at the end September by beginning construction of a bridge spanning the Tanana River in Salcha, AK.

The first phase of the project includes the construction of a 3300 ft bridge and 11,000 foot levy. The construction is expected to cause intermittent delays and congestion for the next two years (no work will be done in the dead of winter) but project managers are hoping some 75 truckloads of firewood donated to area residents will offset any inconvenience. The new extension will give the Alaska Railroad access to the US Army's Fort Wainwright as well as potential shippers in the agricultural, mining and petrochemical sectors.

New England Central Rock Train passing Winooski Gorge with Toldeo Peoria & Western GP40-2LW #4053 in the lead at Winooski, VT on November 1, 2011. Photo, Matt Powell

VERMONT: While the railroads throughout the Green Mountain state have reopened in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, the same can't be said for the state's road network. Hit particularly hard was Vermont Route 107 to the west of Bethel. Surging floodwaters from the nearby White River have obliterated sections of the road.

The state of Vermont is hoping to have the highway up and running by mid-December, and to that end they're enlisting the aid of the Vermont Railway and New England Central to do some of the heavy lifting.


The rocks are loaded onto the side-dump gondola cars on the Vermont Railway outside of Burlington and then handed off to the New England Central, where they turn south at Essex Jct and continue about another 50 miles over the newly reopened former Central Vermont mainline to Bethel, where they're dumped down an embankment for trucks to haul the rest of the way to the construction site.

Knoxville Locomotive Works Photo

TENNESSEE: Gulf and Ohio has officially entered the low-emissions diesel market with the unveiling of their KLW20B prototype in October. The Knoxville Locomotive Works website claims a fuel savings of up to 30%, lower rate of oil consumption and compatibility with already-existing components from EMD (the locomotive was made from the frame and carbody of a Norfolk Southern GP38).

Reportedly, the locomotive underwent testing on Gulf and Ohio's Knoxville and Holston River, which is also home to the G&O's 1890 built 2-8-0, Southern #154 that had been fully restored in 2010.

TVRM's Southern 2-8-0 Consolidated #630 leading an excursion on Norfolk Southern's Atlanta North District at Chattanooga, TN over the Labor Day weekend. Doyle Massey photo

ELSEWHERE IN TENNESSEE: Norfolk Southern's 21st Century steam program began in earnest over the Labor Day weekend with Tennessee Valley Railroad Musuem's Southern 2-8-0 #630 powering mainline excursions over the Norfolk Southern's North Atlanta District

The Labor Day excursions over the Norfolk Southern also coincided with the TVRM's 50th anniversary, which featured a number of static displays and some diesel excursions [as well as the largest Moon Pie; no foolin'- NANESB!]. Although Tropical Storm Lee put a damper on some of the celebrations, the TVRM's Labor Day railfest was well attended and the #630 is expected to power another mainline excursion over the Norfolk Southern- this time to Knoxville, TN on November 14th.

Iron Horse Roundup For March 2011- China's High Speed Graft Problem; BNSF Crew Killed in Shuttle Wreck; Southern Consolidated Returns to Steam

Railpictures.net photo- Yu Ming

CHINA: A series of internal government audits have found that China's much-vaunted high speed rail projects have been plagued by corruption, embezzlement, misappropriations and cost overruns, China's National Audit Office announced on Wednesday.

China’s state audit office said on Wednesday it had identified numerous cases of embezzlement and other irregularities from just a three-month period of construction on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line last year and has passed the cases on to judicial authorities for formal investigation.

China’s railway minister and the rail ministry’s deputy chief engineer were both removed from their positions last month for “severe disciplinary violations” — an allegation that usually results in criminal charges for corruption.

The former minister, Liu Zhijun, is the most senior government official to be implicated in corruption in the past five years and his downfall has raised doubts about the future of the hugely ambitious high-speed rail expansion plans he championed. Neither Mr Liu nor Zhang Shuguang, the former deputy chief engineer at the rail ministry, have been named in connection with the state auditor’s investigation into the 1,318km, $33 billion Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail project, which is scheduled to open to the public next year.

The line is the longest and most expensive high-speed rail project in the country but it has been dogged by scandals and controversies and singled out in previous state audits for financial “irregularities”. In its latest report the auditor also cited numerous cases of flawed procurement procedures, overcharging, unexplained costs and fake receipts related to the project.

An intense safety review of all projects is under way because of fears that corruption and the speed with which the network has been built will result in poor quality tracks that are meant to carry trains travelling at up to 380 km/h

Chinese High Speed Rail Attendants- Xinhua Photo

According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, auditors say that embezzlers made off with the equivalent of $28.5 million for just the Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail project.

As a matter of personal opinion, I think this stands out as a cautionary tale over pinning any sort of long term economic recovery on numerous massive public works projects that would make the Big Dig look well run and fiscally responsible in comparison. It doesn't help that some of the politicians who are the most enthusiastic backers of high-speed rail here in the USA also backed things like TARP, the Stimulus or various government bailouts and have demonstrated zero appreciation for the massive costs involved in building and maintaining a dedicated high speed line.

Photo- Bill Wagner/Longview Daily News

WASHINGTON: Two BNSF Employees and a shuttle driver were killed while a fourth BNSF worker was in critical condition after a BNSF grain train collided with the shuttle van carrying them on March 24th in Longview, WA.

58 year old engineer Tom Kenny, 28 year old conductor trainee Christopher Loehr- both based out of Seattle- and 52 year old Dwight Hauk of Auburn, WA were being picked up by 60 year old shuttle driver Steven Sebastian and take to Vancouver, WA after their shifts when they were struck by the train.

The crossing is a remote, private crossing with no lights or arms that lower and raise on a train's approach. Instead, the crossing features a warning signs on top of a stop sign.

Railpictures.net- John Higginson

TENNESSEE: For the first time in 21 years, Southern Railway 2-8-0 consolidated #630 is under steam. The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum spent the better part of a decade restoring the 1904-built ALCo to working order, with break-in runs taking place over the last weekend of March 2011.

Almost as noteworthy as the fact that the 2-8-0 is up and running once again is the fact that news of #630's revival was announced on Norfolk Southern's official Twitter page and a short video of the #630 being fired up on the company's official YouTube account. Norfolk Southern had announced last year that it would begin a partial revival of its steam program, using historic equipment form the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.

Ermelo in happier, more derailment-free times- Eugene Armer photo

SOUTH AFRICA: A derailment on the Transnet line between Ermelo and Richards Bay in the northeastern corner of South Africa is expected to slow coal exports.

The accident, which occurred on Wednesday near Ermelo in South Africa's northeastern Mpumalanga province, is likely to add pressure on South African coal producers, already struggling to export all their coal due to bottlenecks on the rail lines.

Spokesman Sandile Simelane said one of the two lines would reopen on Friday but could not confirm when the other would reopen.

"We anticipate one of the lines to reopen tomorrow," he told Reuters, adding that an investigation into the cause of the derailment was ongoing.

He declined to comment on how much tonnage would be lost as a result of the derailment. Besides the immediate impact, it also means trains have to be rerouted, causing further disruption to the transport of coal.

South Africa is a major exporter of coal to power stations in Europe and Asia, but exporters have failed to ship all of their product because of bottlenecks on the lines approaching the huge Richards Bay Coal Terminal.

South Africa exported 63.43 million tonnes of coal last year, boosted by demand from China and India, but far below the terminal's expanded capacity of 91 million tonnes.

Industry representatives have said South Africa was unlikely to export 60 million tonnes this year due to frequent problems on the line.

Transnet is investing heavily in new and improved infrastructure, but it will take years before a substantial increase in transported tonnages is seen.

Speedy, Steamy Iron Horse Update for December 6, 2010.

China Digital Times

CHINA: Engineers in China celebrated late last week as a Chinese-built passenger trainset became the fastest unmodified train in the world, setting a new record at the speed of 302 MPH. In 2007, a modified SNCF high speed train in France reached speeds of 357 MPH during a special test run. The Chinese CRH trainset reached the 302 MPH speed on a recently completed line linking Beijing and Shanghai and reportedly took 22 minutes to accelerate to the record-breaking speed from a standing stop.

The Beijing-Shanghai line opened up nearly a year ahead of schedule and is expected to begin regular service next year. It is estimated that the journey between the two cities will take 4 hours versus the current 10 hour trip.

Steven McCay

More Chinese steam than that dim sum joint!

IOWA/ILLINOIS: Organizers in the Quad Cities have announced details for Train Festival 2011, set to take place in Rock Island, IL from July 21-24, 2011.

Some of the locomotives expected to appear include Nickel Plate Berkshire #765 as well as Iowa Interstate's Chinese built 2-10-2 QJ Class steam locomotives #6988 and #7081 (above), among the last mainline steam locomotives to operate in the world. China Railways retired the QJ locomotives in 2005 and the Iowa Interstate purchased the pair the following year.

The San Bernardino Railway Historical Society also announced that Santa Fe #3751 is expected to make the trip out from California to attend the 2011 Train Festival. Minneapolis/St. Paul-based Milwaukee Road #261 has been the featured power on previous excursions to and from the Quad Cities, but is currently undergoing it's 15 year overhaul and it's not known if it will be ready in time for Train Festival 2011.

Excursions are expected to run between Rock Island and Bureau, IL to the east and Iowa City to the east, as well as shorter excursions to Walcott, IA.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN: The Norfolk Southern has announced plans for a limited return of mailine steam excursions, which were discontinued in 1994. Initially the excursions are supposed to be limited to southeastern Tennessee and use a trio of restored steam locomotives from the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.

The TVRM announced that the Southern Railway 2-8-0 Consolidated #630 was ready for steam up testing to check for any potential boiler issues as of November. Norfolk Southern plans on using the #630 along with Southern Railway 2-8-2 Mikado #4501 and former US Army Baldwin 2-8-0 #610- which the TVRM's current steam workhorse- for excursion service.

TVRM #610 leading excusrion through Rock Spring, GA on October 2008. Photo- John Higginson

In fact, the #610 is the only one of the three aforementioned steam locomotives currently operating. The resumption of steam on the NS excursions in Chattanooga and finishing touches on the #4501 and #630's restoration would also coincide with the TVRM's 50th anniversary.

Today's Train of Thought- Old Army Veteran Soldiers On

Today's train of thought may look like a blast from the past, but it's actually from June of 2009. Here, railpictures.net contributor John Higginson catches Tennessee Valley Baldwin 2-8-0 #610 steaming past the Chattanooga National Military Cemetary on its return trip to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum right before sunset in Chattanooga, TN. The TVRM offers frequent steam and diesel excursions on trackage in southeastern Tennessee and the far northwestern corner of Georiga throughout much of the year. #610 is also a veteran of the United States Army- built by Baldwin-Lima Hamilton in 1952 for the US Army Transportation Corps. That is very new for a steam locomotive- in fact, the TVRM boasts that the #610 was the last steam locomotive that Baldwin-Lima Hamilton ever built for a domestic customer.