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Railroad Newsline for Friday, January 19, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

EASTSIDE DINNER TRAIN NEAR END OF LINE?

RENTON, WA -- The owner of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train said Wednesday that the slow pace of the negotiations between King County and BNSF Railway Company over a proposed land swap could force the train to close for good.

The Eastside dinner train has been threatened for a few years, ever since King County and other local governments began discussing buying the Renton-to-Snohomish rail corridor from BNSF.

But train owner Eric Temple hopes to move his route north - instead of Renton to Woodinville, it would run from Woodinville to Snohomish - and he has the strong support of officials from both North End cities and King County.

In October, King County and the Port of Seattle announced a massive land deal that would give the county ownership of the 47-mile rail corridor. Since then, the county and BNSF have been in negotiations over everything from price to land titles, and Temple has grown frustrated.

He said he must fold the dinner train July 31 because BNSF will close the line in August for bridge improvements near Renton, and later, a widening of Interstate 405.

Until the land deal is completed, Temple said, he can't reach an agreement with King County to move the train north. And if the dinner train is closed for too long, he may not have the resources to reopen the line from Woodinville to Snohomish.

"Hopefully it [the closure] will be temporary and hopefully it will be short," Temple said. "At this point, we're just running out of time."

Rod Brandon, the county's director of environmental sustainability, said he wants the land deal ready for the King County Council to consider this summer. The deal has a lot of pieces, including the transfer of Boeing Field to the Port of Seattle, as well as a railroad-tunnel enlargement through the Cascades at Stampede Pass.

"We're getting closer and closer, but we're not there yet," Brandon said.

If Temple is able to move the train, Woodinville, Snohomish and the county will be there to help, officials say.

Snohomish sees the train as a chance to bring tourists to its historic downtown, and Woodinville likes the idea of serving as the train's headquarters. Right now, the dinner train stops at Woodinville's Columbia Winery and then returns to Renton.

Both cities are willing to host the train quickly if Temple can reach a deal with the county.
Woodinville would provide parking for riders in the short term and then help build a depot for the train later, City Manager Connie Fessler said.

King County wants the rail corridor to serve only as a recreational trail within county borders - but supports a trail-rail combo from Woodinville to Snohomish.

The land deal that would give King County ownership of the corridor is attracting its share of supporters and opponents. A pro-rail group called All Aboard Washington wants the railroad tracks retained in the corridor, and it plans to protest a Puget Sound Regional Council committee meeting in Redmond on Friday.

The advisory committee is set to recommend how it thinks the rail corridor should be used. The committee meets at 09:45 at Redmond Regional Library, 15990 N.E. 85th St. - Ashley Bach, The Seattle Times, courtesy Dick Seelye

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OKLAHOMA RAILROAD BRIDGE COLLAPSES: 14 COAL CARS DERAIL NEAR GORE; NO INJURIES

Photo here:

[www.tulsaworld.com]

Caption reads: Several Union Pacific railroad cars went into a creek or were hanging from the edges of a bridge that collapsed Wednesday about 2.5 miles northwest of Gore, OK. Fourteen cars on the coal train derailed at the rural site. There were no injuries. Tulsa World photo by Kelly Kerr

GORE, OK -- A railroad-bridge collapse brought down a Union Pacific coal train early Wednesday afternoon.

Fourteen of the 133 cars bound for Arkansas with Wyoming coal derailed when an 80-foot-long bridge gave way in a wooded area about 2 1/2 miles northwest of Gore.

Six of those cars plummeted into Cedar Creek, where they lay piled up like crumpled tin cans.

Coal poured out of the cars like spilled flour, and loose pistons were stacked up in the creek like dominoes.

Three employees were on the train, but no one was injured, officials said.

Ruby Henry's property abuts the railroad bridge.

She said the collapse sounded like a what happens when a vehicle drive shaft breaks when you're "going over the rough stuff."

Alarmed by what she heard just outside her pasture, Henry grabbed her gun.

"I was going to shoot their asses out," she said.

Joe Arbona, a Union Pacific spokesman, said railroad investigators have not determined what caused the bridge to collapse, but an employee at the scene didn't think it had anything to do with the icy weather, he said.

"The railroad is familiar with operating in severe weather," Arbona said.

He said the bridge will have to be replaced along with 10 panels of train track.

Alternative routes will be taken until the repairs and replacements are complete.

The cars that fell were near the back of the train. Each box car holds 142 tons of coal.

The crumbling sounds of metal continued hours after the accident.

Arbona said crews will use special equipment to remove the spilled coal.

"They have what's basically like a vacuum cleaner machine that will remove all of the coal particles," he said.

Gore Police Chief Jerry Fields said he is thankful that at least the coal didn't spill onto city streets.

"It would have made a mess," he said.

The accident site is in a rural area far from roads. - Susan Hylton, The Tulsa World

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AAR REPORTS U.S. RAILROAD FREIGHT TRAFFIC OFF TO A SLOW START

WASHINGTON, DC -- United States railroads freight traffic was down for the week ending January 13 compared to the corresponding week in 2006, according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Thursday.

The AAR reported the following: carload freight totaled 318,852 cars, a 5.9 percent decline from 2006; loadings declined 3.4 percent in the West and 8.9 percent in the East; total volume was estimated at 32.5 billion ton miles-down 4.4 percent from 2006; and intermodal volume came in at 237,636 trailers or containers, which was down 0.7 percent. Intermodal container volume was up 3.2 percent, and intermodal trailer volume was down 13.0 percent.

Also reflecting a down week was the fact that the AAR reported that of the 19 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR, only three of them, including coke at 4.5 percent and coal 1.4 percent, were up year-over-year. And the continued decline in the automotive and housing markets were evidenced with loadings of motor vehicles and equipment down 30.0 percent and loadings of lumber and wood products down 26.5 percent.

The AAR also reported that cumulative loadings for the first two weeks of the year totaled 606,604 carloads, which represents a 6.5 percent dip from 2006. And the 426,221 trailers or containers reported year-to-date is off 1.2 percent, as is total volume of an estimated 61.5 billion ton-miles, which is down 5.2 percent from last year. - Logistics Management

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RENOVATION WORK BEGINS ON RAIL LINE

FORT BEND COUNTY, TX -- Construction has begun for another railroad line in Fort Bend County, which would connect trains from Rosenberg to existing lines in Victoria.

The Tex-Mex rail line has been abandoned for decades, but it was purchased in 1995 by Kansas City Southern Railway. The company announced plans to reconstruct the line in 2005, and broke ground in November of 2006.

Now, construction crews can be seen within Fort Bend County, especially in the Beasley area, conducting initial work on the project.

Warren Erdman, vice-president of corporate affairs with KCSR, said an increased demand for rail service prompted the reconstruction plans. The Tex-Mex line in Victoria will be connected to existing rail lines that connect trains to Laredo and into Mexico.

"Rail is the most efficient way to move heavy freight, and we want to expand the capacity of the rail network in Texas and try to take some of the freight off of Texas highways," he said.

Erdman said "preliminary dirtwork" is under way, but the process of restoring or constructing rail lines has not begun.

One Fort Bend County official said the rail company will build a facility near Beasley and Kendleton. Erdman said he would not comment on any structures associated with the rail line. - Stephen Palkot, The Fort Bend Herald

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RAILROAD POISED TO BRING SUPPLIES TO FUTUREGEN

MATTOON, IL -- Being hours away by train from Illinois coal mine country might help Mattoon and Tuscola in their FutureGen bids, city officials learned this week.

"Canadian National Railroad told us the Illinois sites are in a good position because we're closer to the coal sources," said Mattoon Public Works Director Dave Wortman, who has helped lead city efforts for landing the FutureGen coal-burning plant. "During its first five years, FutureGen will be burning coal from three locations: Powder River Basin in Wyoming, northern Appalachia and the Illinois Coal Basin."

FutureGen will burn 1.3 million tons of coal per year during its first years of development and research. The FutureGen Alliance, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, will build an electrical plant that will use advanced coal gasification technology. That means that the facility will emit a small fraction of air emissions compared to conventional coal-burning power plants. And carbon dioxide emissions will be pumped underground in saline deposits more than a mile below the surface.

But it will be several months before the alliance picks the community where the $1-billion plant will be built. All four FutureGen finalist communities are looking to promote advantages of their locations. Reducing the travel costs and time for coal could be a plus for the Illinois cities. The other finalist sites are located near Odessa, Texas, and in East Texas.

"Those coal source sites are good news for us. All the sites are closer to Illinois. And the Illinois Basin is in our backyard," Wortman said.

City officials met with rail officials on Tuesday. Several subjects were covered, including the railroad loop on the plant site if FutureGen comes to Mattoon, and coal train schedules along the northwest railroad connection at Mattoon. The FutureGen site for Mattoon covers a few hundred acres along the Dole Road south of Illinois Route 121.

"We have learned the rail loop on the plant site will be long enough to handle the entire coal train. That might include 100 or more coal cars. Right now, three to four trains travel that spur per day. For coal there will be about two per week," Wortman said.

Another piece of good news for local officials involved in the FutureGen effort is the selection process schedule.

"Based on the August schedule we received, we are ahead," said Coles Together President Angela Griffin.

Revisions are under way on the Environmental Impact Statements for each of the sites, she said. In a matter of weeks, she said the EIS will be published for public review.

Hearings will then convene at each site for public comments or questions on the EIS compiled last year.

The announcement of the final FutureGen site is expected in late summer. - Herb Meeker, The Journal Gazette and Times-Courier (Matoon and Charleston, IL)

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SUSPECT ARRESTED IN THEFTS OF GENERATORS FROM RAILROAD CROSSINGS

SPRINGFIELD, MO -- The Greene County Sheriff's Department arrested a person Wednesday night in connection with the theft of a generator from the BNSF Railway Company.

Sheriff Jack Merritt said about 10 generators used to power warning lights at local crossings were reported stolen. The railroad company staffed the crossings with employees while power was out.

Merritt said a deputy stopped a vehicle with a generator in the back. The deputy then noticed the generator's serial number belonged to BNSF, he said.

The suspect is not named because charges had not been filed Thursday morning. Several generators remain missing.

"I just get pretty disgusted at a time like this that people are taking advantage," Merritt said. - Ryan Slight, The Springfield News-Leader

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CITY TO TEST RAILROAD-CROSSING WARNING SYSTEM

COMMERCE CITY, CO -- The city will be demonstrating and testing a railroad-crossing warning system at 69 th Avenue and Fairfax Drive at 18:00 Tuesday, Jan. 23.

The test is part of the city's efforts to increase safety, decrease noise from train horns and save money at selected railroad crossings in the area.

"The city is looking into the warning system in an effort to create quiet zones within the city," Matt Wiederspahn, an engineer for the city, said. "And it will improve the quality of life for residents living near those railroad crossings."

According to Wiederspahn, a quiet zone is a section of a rail line that contains one or more consecutive public crossings where locomotive horns are not routinely sounded.

The warning system, also known as a wayside horn, is a stationary horn located at the highway-railroad crossing and is designed to provide audible warning to pedestrians and oncoming traffic that a locomotive or train is nearing the intersection. The horn removes the requirement for trains to sound their horns in advance of crossings; sometimes as far as a half-mile in advance of the crossing.

"The wayside horn delivers a longer, louder, more consistent audible warning to motorists and pedestrians,'' Wiederspahn said. "And it will help eliminate noise pollution in neighborhoods for more than one-half mile along the railroad tracks corridor."

For more information about the demonstration, contact Wiederspahn at 303-289-8171. - Commerce City News Release, YourHub.com

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LIGHT SHINES THROUGH BOTH PORTALS

CARSON CITY, NV -- Railroad workers started cutting through the andesite hill near American Flat 139 years ago. It took them about a year to cut through 500 feet, that would become tunnel No. 2, on the route used to transport precious ore from the Comstock Lode to the mills along the Carson River over the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.

This week, a new cadre of workers for the tourism rail industry is reinforcing that labor, which had been blown out, burned, and scavenged. Contractors have worked for about a year straight after reopening the tunnel in September 2005.

"We're working now at the same time they were," said Gary Luce, a senior engineer with Geocon Consultants. "But I think I'd rather have our gear and equipment than what they were dealing with."

With end-to-end of the historic tunnel opened, project engineers are looking forward to bringing the first train through the tunnel in about a year.

Standing at the gaping west geographic portal of the tunnel, Luce said Wednesday that this is a landmark accomplishment for all those involved - even those who did not live to see a locomotive pass through the tunnel once again.

The engineering team involved in the reconstruction of the V&T Railway lost surveyor Mike Donovan this week. Believed to have died from a heart attack, Donovan was a lifelong Comstock resident who first surveyed the reopened tunnel and parts of the first phase of construction. Phase I included reconstructing track from the Gold Hill Depot to American Flat.

"It's kind of heart-breaking," Luce said about Donovan's death.

Drilling reverberates inside the 350-foot tunnel and across a metal form that is being built to stabilize it. Jagged rocks and debris have been mucked out. Light streams in through clouds of dust stirred by workers bolting wire mesh to the interior rock walls that arch far above their heads. Excavators took out about 190 feet of the historic tunnel to find the openings.

The $1.5 million contract has been difficult because of the amount of falling rocks. But no accidents have occurred.

"I just want to ride on it once the train comes through," said Kelly Thompson, of Pinehurst, Idaho, a driller with Hardrock Tunnel Contractors Inc., of Vancouver, Canada.

Next week tunnel contractors will reinforce the tunnel lining with concrete. In 2010, tourists will pass through concrete portals on both ends treated with wood to give them a historic look, Luce said.

The entire tunnel No. 2 project is expect to cost about $3 million. - Becky Bosshart, The Nevada Appeal

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EL DORADO FOUGHT TO KEEP REFINERY DURING DROUGHT

EL DORADO, KS -- "There was no other way to keep the refineries going," Justus O'Reilly told his audience, "and El Dorado needed the refineries."

Even if its refineries were down, he said, El Dorado itself would still be using a "sizable amount of water."

The group of which he was part, O'Reilly said, went so far as to look at a water line coming from up in the northwest part of the state, where the Republic and Kansas rivers joined.
There was also cloud seeding, he recalled, but "it didn't really do too much."

Going east as far as the Kansas River was also looked at, he said, as well as the northern part of Butler County and the area of the reservoir Fox Lake.

Actually, he said, a pipeline was built down from there almost to the old Lake El Dorado.
O'Reilly said the Santa Fe Railroad was "very cooperative," he said, because it wanted to have the tank car business from the refineries in El Dorado and Augusta.

"They (the railroad) gave us some privileges they ordinarily wouldn't have touched."

Eventually, O'Reilly said, the superintendent-manager at Augusta's Socony-Mobil refinery "said 'if you can get Skelly to build that line, do it.
'For us to get the approval we have to go back to New York; you folks can handle it.

"We'd have to have competitive bids and pick out the contractor to do it, so you can tell the contractor working for you don't work on that pipeline for crude oil out in western Kansas.

'Move to El Dorado and work on the pipeline for water right here.'
"That's the way it turned out."

In the late summer of 1954 El Dorado was suffering through a prolonged drought.

O'Reilly was superintendent at what was then El Dorado's Skelly Refinery.
On Sept. 1, 1954 a headline on the front page of The El Dorado Times read "Consumption Drops But Lake Level Hits An All-Time Low."

That was the situation at the former Lake El Dorado.

However, another front page headline from that day let readers know "El Dorado 'Lifeline' Crews Reach Highway 77 South of Augusta."

A Times front page headline 12 days later read "Water Flow A 'Matter of Hours.' "

The smaller lead-in headline below it read "Mulvane To El Dorado 'Lifeline' May Be Completed Tonight."

On Sept. 14 the banner headline across the top page of The Times proclaimed "Water Flow Nears El Dorado."

The headline below it, in smaller type but still big enough to proclaim the importance of what was about to happen, declared "Time Of Arrival Is 10 P.M. Tonight; Restrictions To Be Removed."

It was the following day that the headline at the top right corner of the Times' front page declared "Time Of Arrival - 1:28 This Morning."

That "lifeline" had been made possible by the efforts of the Augusta-El Dorado Water Association, a consortium made up of representation from the city of El Dorado, what were then El Dorado's Skelly and ElReCo refineries, Augusta's Mobil refinery and the city of Augusta.
A special election had made the water line possible.

O'Reilly recounted the experience of getting the pipeline (which, although no longer needed for its original purpose because of the departure of the Augusta Mobil refinery and construction of the current El Dorado Lake, still serves the city of Augusta) during a talk last Thursday evening in the Clymer Room of Bradford Memorial Library.

O'Reilly's talk was presented by the Bradford's Friends of the Library.
If it had not have been for the water line, O'Reilly said, what was then the Skelly refinery (now Frontier El Dorado Refining Co.) Skelly Refining would have moved from El Dorado to being on the river in the St. Louis area, where some other large refineries were then located.

"El Dorado would have been a different town," he said.

"To me as a kid," recalled Morgan Metcalf of the Friends of the Library, "it was a very scary time."

Water use restrictions were imposed, he recalled, and "I can remember my sister brushing her teeth.

"I would be getting on her because she would be letting the water run, which you weren't supposed to do, when she was brushing her teeth."

Mulvane had an underground water supply, O'Reilly said of how that area was able to have water while El Dorado was running out.

The reservoir which was the pumping station source for El Dorado's water belonged to the Santa Fe Railroad, he said, and was put in as a watering station when steam locomotives still traveled the rails. - Steve Smith, The El Dorado Times

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DERAILED TRAIN NARROWLY MISSES IOWA HOME

CLINTON, IA -- Traci Beecher is used to the sound of trains passing by her Clinton home, but the rumbling she heard recently prompted some worry.

After stepping outside to see what was causing all the raucous, she saw that a derailed train had smashed through her fence and stopped against some trees -- just a few feet from her home.

Around noon Tuesday, an empty tanker car headed for the Archer Daniels Midland Company corn sweetener plant derailed. The train tracks run alongside Beecher's home and are owned by ADM.

Beecher says she had been warning ADM and the Iowa, Chicago And Eastern Railroad about the dangerous condition of the tracks for months.

ADM had crews cleaning up Beecher's property yesterday. - The Associated Press, WQAD-TV8, Moline, IL

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SAN MANUEL STACKS TOPPLE INTO HISTORY; CHANGE COMES TO MINING TOWN

Photo here:

[www.azcentral.com]

Caption reads: The smelter stacks at the BHP copper mine in San Manuel come down in an implosion on Wednesday. The town is hoping the move will help attract retirees after the mine was closed in 1999, leaving 2,200 people out of work.

SAN MANUEL, AZ -- The toppling of two 500-foot smokestacks in San Manuel on Wednesday symbolized the bittersweet transition of this 4,500-resident community from a rambunctious mining town to a haven for retirees. The stacks, which were the most prominent reminders of the southeastern Arizona community's mining days, were leveled with 320 pounds of explosives that caused the giant towers to topple like felled trees.

Jamie Dicus, who has lived here for 53 years, cried when the dust settled and the familiar landmarks were no more. She worked in Tucson for a while and always was relieved when she topped the hill and the towers came into view. "When I saw them, I'd say, 'Thank God, I'm home,' " she said. Added Charlie Looney, "It's the end of an era." "Generation after generation worked here, and now it's ending," said Looney, a longtime miner.

Many old-timers thought that, as long as the stacks stood, there was a possibility the mine, which closed in 1999, could reopen. But as the chimneys fell Wednesday, they were forced to accept that San Manuel's mining days were over.

Controlled Demolition Inc. of Phoenix, Md., handled the job, first weakening the stacks' bases and then creating notches that made them fall in the prescribed direction. The company holds the U.S. record for demolishing a concrete chimney, a 750-foot stack brought down near McGill, Nev., in 1993.

Built a decade before Sun City, San Manuel was Arizona's first Del Webb community. It was built in the early 1950s by Phoenix contractor Del E. Webb as a company town for workers at Magma Copper Co.'s nearby San Manuel Mine. And, although it never was intended as a retirement community, most of its residents are now retirees.

When the mine closed, taking away the livelihoods of more than 2,000 miners and their families, it looked like San Manuel might die. But as the miners moved on, retirees began buying up their houses, breathing new life into the community. When copper prices rebounded, some of the miners who remained hoped the mine could be restarted. But Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd., which bought Magma Copper for $2.4 billion in 1996, already had started the required reclamation of the property and was too far along in the process to turn back.

State and federal laws require mine sites to be made safe and substantially returned to their natural states when mining activity ceases. The reclamation process at San Manuel includes demolition of the smelter stacks and is now almost complete.

BHP, the world's largest mining company, now is concentrating on developing the surface of the 20,000 acres it owns in the area, instead of the minerals that lie below. The company envisions a new industrial park for the land where the chimneys stood and as many as 15,000 houses for the rest of the property. Commercial developments would go in to support the new homes.

BHP and others believe San Manuel could be Arizona's next real estate hot spot. "It's affordable, less that 30 miles from Tucson, and all the utilities are already in," said Jeff Parker, BHP's director of health, safety, environment and community in San Manuel. "It's one of the largest privately owned development sites left."

Jamie Dicus said she is happy about the new people who have moved to San Manuel since the mine closed. "It's a beautiful town," she said. "I'm happy the new people want to share it with us." Dicus rose early and stared out at the chimneys she knew would be gone by day's end. "I said, 'Thank you for guiding me home at night, for the jobs they created and for the good times in San Manuel.' " - Max Jarman, The Arizona Republic, courtesy Marc Pearsall

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TRAIN THEFT BY ESCAPED YOUTH OFFENDERS TRIGGERS CALL FOR BETTER RAILROAD SECURITY

HOCKING COUNTY, OH -- In retrospect, maybe a 250,000-pound diesel locomotive wasn't the best choice for a getaway vehicle.

That may be what two teenaged boys were thinking after their arrest in Hocking County early Tuesday morning.

The pair, who ran away from the Hocking Valley Community Residential Center in Nelsonville around 20:30 Monday, were apprehended after they allegedly stole a train - yes, that word was train - and drove it about 12 miles, nearly to Logan, before stopping and giving themselves up.

The incident has already triggered a call by a railroad workers' union for increased railway security, and a response by a state representative who says he'll re-introduce a security bill that failed to pass the General Assembly earlier.

In a dangerous gambit that has local law enforcers shaking their heads in disbelief, the pair of boys, aged 16 and 13, commandeered a locomotive from the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway station and took it to a spot near Ohio Rt. 328 in Hocking County.

"When (police) called me up in the middle of the night, they had to explain it to me two or three times," recalled Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren. "I kept thinking this was the kind of train that runs around a Christmas tree."

The older boy is from Lawrence County, and the younger boy from neighboring Scioto County. The HVSR, which offers scenic railway tours, is currently shut down for the winter and won't reopen until April.

The young men reportedly took advantage of the disruption caused earlier Monday night, when two other juvenile males ran away from HVCRC, to make their own escape. (All four escapees have been captured.)

The two alleged train thieves reportedly hid out for a few hours, then broke into the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway station in Nelsonville by prying open a door, started up a train and took off.

The older boy, who reportedly comes from a railroading family and has extensive experience with trains, was able to go through the complex steps for starting up a diesel locomotive, move cars around on the tracks, and uncouple the cars from the engine before taking off, authorities say. He even knew to blow the whistle at every crossing.

The 16-year-old "was very familiar with trains," according to Nelsonville Police Ptl. John Meeks, who helped capture the boys. "He could tell you just about anything you wanted to know about running them."

The youth needed all that expertise, apparently. According to Sgt. Ryan Gabriel of the Hocking County Sheriff's office, the teen told arresting officers that he had first headed southeast toward Athens, but found that the tracks dead-end near Hocking College.

The boys reversed the locomotive and headed back to Nelsonville, where they reportedly uncoupled cars from the engine, moved them out of the way, switched to an open track and took off again in just the locomotive, this time toward Logan.

Around 01:15 Meeks, and officers from the Hocking College Police, spotted the train heading west near the Ohio Rt. 278 crossing, and realized it should not be running.

An HC officer went after the train in a cruiser, while Meeks visited the train yard and found it had been broken into. Officers contacted a HVSR volunteer, who confirmed that the locomotive should not have been out.

At first, apparently, officers who saw the train in Hocking County didn't realize it was being driven by runaways. And even after they found out, Gabriel said, there wasn't a whole lot they could do to stop it. An officer tried to flag the train down at a crossing, but it didn't stop.

"Unless you've got a tank, I don't know how you stop a train," he observed.

Police kept after the escapees, however, and the hijackers "saw cruisers at just about every intersection they went through," said Meeks. Fortunately, the two boys decided on their own to shut down their flight just short of the Ohio Rt. 328 exit of U.S. Rt. 33 in Hocking County.

Sheriff's deputies got a call that the train was stopped behind the new Save-A-Lot building at that location, and when Sgt. Eric Matheny approached it, the boys came out and Matheny handcuffed them.

Though the escapade ended without any serious mishap, it could potentially have been much worse. Gabriel noted that in Hocking County, the HVSR tracks are used on an infrequent but regular basis by commercial trains, hauling supplies for three local industrial sites.

"When you get close to Logan, there's still a line that comes out of Columbus," he noted. "Two to three times a week, there's a small train." A train from the Indiana & Ohio line reportedly was scheduled to arrive in Logan at 03:00 that day.

Gabriel said that had the boys gotten to the Logan station, they probably would have found their way blocked by parked train cars. Preparations had also reportedly been made to possibly derail the runaways if needed.

But had they somehow made it through Logan, the officer added, "they could have made it all the way to Columbus" - assuming they didn't hit some other train head-on.

As things turned out, a tree limb or some other sort of rubble on the tracks, not official intervention, may have been what averted a catastrophe.

Gabriel said that according to the sheriff's report on the incident (he didn't take part in the pursuit himself), the older boy told officers that he decided to stop the locomotive to avoid hitting something on the track.

"There was debris on the tracks," the officer said. "Basically, he said he was afraid something would happen to make him wreck."

Though the episode has its remarkable aspects, Prosecutor Warren noted that it spells some major legal problems for the two boys.

"This is serious business," he stressed. Though any charge against a juvenile is officially one of delinquency, the underlying felony charges that would apply to an adult in this case include escape, second-degree felony grand theft (over $500,000) and breaking-and-entering, not to mention any charges relating to endangering the public, Warren said.

The two boys will be referred to the juvenile courts in their home counties.

On Wednesday, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen issued a news release saying the train theft points up the need for better railroad security.

"If you can't secure a potential weapon of mass destruction from kids, how could we ever think our rail networks are safe from terrorist acts?" asked BLET lobbyist Timothy R. Hanely, quoted in the release.

The same day, Ohio state Rep. Bob Hagen issued a release promising that "in light of this incident," he plans to re-introduce the former Senate Bill 363, the "Rail Safety and Security Act," in the Ohio House this week. The bill would require rail owners and operators to secure their facilities from the threat of terror stricks, and would provide for state oversight. - Jim Phillips, The Athens News

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TRANSIT NEWS

LIGHT RAIL LACKS FARE ENFORCERS: WHY PAY FOR A TICKET TO RIDE?

DENVER, CO -- For those who haven't won Powerball lately, RTD is running a game of chance with much better odds.

The Regional Transportation District has only six fare inspectors to check tickets of light-rail riders making about 60,000 daily trips on its 35-mile system.

The odds of fare scofflaws getting caught on RTD's trains are, well ... you do the math.

The lack of fare enforcement disturbs RTD director Bill McMullen, who's been riding the trains since southeast light-rail service opened in November.

"People need to know there is a penalty for not paying your fare, that there are consequences," McMullen said. "I've ridden every day for the last four weeks and have never seen a fare checker."

RTD previously had up to 10 fare inspectors for its 16-mile rail system. The transit agency planned to add 10 more inspectors with the opening of 19 miles of southeast rail.

But hiring and retaining fare checkers has been difficult, and with attrition, RTD finds itself with only six inspectors to monitor the entire expanded system, the agency's rail operations chief, Lloyd Mack, told RTD directors this week.

"That's a tough job, being a fare inspector," McMullen conceded, noting that some passengers get angry and even threatening when asked to show their tickets.

The Utah Transit Authority, which operates 19 miles of light rail in the Salt Lake City area, has about 25 transit police officers to handle both fare enforcement and security, said UTA spokesman Justin Jones. The uniformed officers carry guns and Tasers and have arrest powers.

The Utah agency reports only 1.7 percent of its riders are nabbed for fare evasion, and Jones credited transit police officers as one reason the evasion rate is so low.

Late last year, before the southeast line opened, Mack said RTD's fare-evasion rate for light rail was about 4.7 percent.

RTD and UTA both run open light-rail systems that rely on inspection for fare enforcement.

RTD has looked into the possibility of "hardening" its current rail system - and future FasTracks train lines - by adding gates, fences and turnstiles like some big-city subway systems.

The judgment so far is that such a move would cost too much.

RTD has advertised for outside candidates for fare inspectors and 80 applied, with about 30 making it to the interview phase.

Fare inspectors at RTD make $12.53 an hour to start.

McMullen asked why the 40 or so uniformed Wackenhut security guards that RTD has hired to ride the trains and patrol stations can't do fare enforcement.

RTD general manager Cal Marsella said the agency tried that once but its union objected, claiming the work should be kept within the bargaining unit.

An arbitrator agreed, and that has prevented RTD from having private guards do fare inspections, Marsella said.

Director Neill Quinlan said RTD should revisit the issue the next time the agency sits down to bargain with the Amalgamated Transit Union.

RTD gets adequate security protection by hiring Wackenhut guards and undercover off-duty Denver and Littleton police officers, so the agency doesn't need an in-house transit police force similar to the Utah model, RTD spokesman Scott Reed said.

"The only thing we need to do is hire fare enforcement inspectors and within two weeks we should have most, if not all, of those positions filled," he said. - Jeffrey Leib, The Denver Post

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MADISON, WISCONSIN STREETCARS FACING A BUMPY RIDE; MAYOR'S CONCEPT TURNS INTO AN ELECTION ISSUE

MADISON, WI -- Mayor Dave Cieslewicz for years has envisioned streetcars taking residents around downtown, encouraging development in urban neighborhoods and cutting pollution from cars and buses.

An anti-urban sprawl activist before he became mayor, Cieslewicz believes streetcars could help this rapidly growing city of 225,000 people where parking spots downtown and near the University of Wisconsin are hard to find.

"Streetcars are the most urban neighborhood-friendly form of mass transportation," he said. "Even friendlier than buses. They don't have the diesel fumes, they're a smoother ride and they are quieter."

His goal is to follow in the footsteps of cities like Portland, Oregon, and Tacoma, Washington. But some residents are opposed, and the idea is becoming an issue in his re-election campaign, with opponents ridiculing the idea as a waste of money.

A committee now studying the options will make a recommendation and estimate the cost, but that information will not be available until after the April election, when voters decide whether to give Cieslewicz a second four-year term.

Similar debates have played out elsewhere as streetcars, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, enjoy a resurgence. City planners see them as an environmentally friendly way to grow inward, encouraging development in historic neighborhoods and easing traffic gridlock.

Cities such as Kenosha, Wissonsin, Tampa, Florida, and Little Rock, Arkansas, have built streetcar lines, which run on electricity on tracks alongside cars. Dozens of other cities are looking into the option, said Jim Graebner, a Denver consultant who chairs a committee on streetcars for the American Public Transportation Association.

He said the prospect of bringing back streetcars, which fell out of favor after the rise of cars and buses, can be a tough sell because of their high cost. But in the end, he said cities are satisfied with millions of dollars in new housing, offices and restaurants that sprout near the tracks.

In Madison, city officials acknowledge their efforts to sell the idea have gotten off to a shaky start. David Trowbridge, project manager for the study committee, said a lack of details has allowed talk radio hosts to "fan the flames of opposition with half-truths and misinformation."

The opponents of Cieslewicz in the race for mayor, which is starting to heat up, are getting into the mix.

Candidate Ray Allen, a state financial official and owner of a newspaper that covers the black community, has run radio ads blasting the idea as a misplaced priority.

Peter Munoz, executive director of a social services agency for Latinos, called any trolley system too expensive.

"This is a dream of Cieslewicz to have it on his resume, and it's not a solution that is going to benefit Madison," he said. "He wants it. He dreams about it, and he intends to ram it down our throats at our expense."

Cieslewicz (pronounced Chess-lev-ich), known for a nice-guy personality and left-of-center politics that put him in the mainstream in Madison, bristles at such criticism. He said he formed the committee to come up with a workable plan and insists it's too early to say how he would proceed.

He acknowledged, "Right now, people are skeptical. That's understandable. This is a new idea in Madison."

Even sometime allies of the mayor are uncomfortable. A leader of Progressive Dane, a liberal political party that recently had a falling out with the mayor, said members were facing considerable anger from constituents over the idea.

"Bottom line is I'm hard-pressed to find people in this city that are behind the trolleys," City Council Member Brenda Konkel wrote on her blog.

Sensing the opposition, Cieslewicz is downplaying his vision - which he once called a historic opportunity for the city to bring back streetcars for the first time since 1935 - during the campaign.

His Web site makes no mention of the alternative transportation system. Campaign spokeswoman Megan McGrorty said the mayor was waiting for the committee's proposal, expected this summer. In the interview, he went out of his way to say he was not anti-car or anti-bus.

Still, few doubt Cieslewicz will continue to push for streetcars, which are probably four to five years from a reality.

The study committee he formed in 2005 has used $300,000 in federal money to look into the idea. In May, the group recommended using modern, European-style tram cars on new tracks such as those in Portland and Tacoma. The committee in December released several options for routes and held a public hearing to gather feedback.

The environmental land-use group Cieslewicz helped found 10 years ago, 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, has kicked off an educational campaign with other backers of the system.

"In every single city that has added this transit to the mix, you find this pattern of significant investment coming," said Steve Hiniker, executive director of the group. "It's more than just mobility and access. It's also an economic development tool." - Ryan J. Foley, The Associated Press, The St. Paul Pioneer Press

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RTD SAYS FASTRACKS PLAN WILL BE DIFFICULT

Map here:

[www.longmontfyi.com]

LONGMONT, CO -- RTD remains committed to bringing FasTracks commuter rail to Longmont by 2015, the agency's director said Tuesday, but he warned there are many difficulties ahead.

For starters, said RTD executive director Cal Marsella, prices for steel and concrete have shot up since voters approved the $4.7 billion transit project in 2004. RTD is legally obligated by the plan to bring rail to Longmont by 2015.

"We are somewhat hostage to the marketplace at this point," he said. "We built quite a bit of float into the schedule, particularly the front end."

Another obstacle is a demand by the BNSF Railway Company that RTD absolve it of liability stemming from any accidents on the tracks. RTD plans to build some new track but primarily use existing BNSF track on the 38.1-mile route from Denver through Boulder and onto Longmont.

If a compromise can't be reached on the BNSF tracks, RTD may have to instead build new track along U.S. Highway 36 from Denver to Boulder, then along the Diagonal Highway to Longmont, Marsella said. State and federal lawmakers are involved in trying to solve the problem, he added.

Marsella said he's also hoping that Gov. Bill Ritter's new Democratic state government means a more receptive audience at the state transportation department. A more receptive administration could mean better partnerships, Marsella said.

"For all of the time I invested, we weren't getting very far, quite frankly," he told the Longmont City Council.

Longmont's council is unusual in that two members -- Mary Blue and Karen Benker -- also served on the RTD board of directors. Both, along with Mayor Julia Pirnack, have championed the FasTracks project in Longmont and are keeping a close eye on RTD's commitments and schedules.

Benker in particular said she's concerned that RTD is starting to make decisions based on saving money that could eventually hamper its ability to move large numbers of commuters. The line is projected to move up to 10,100 people a day by 2025, according to RTD. The agency is currently struggling to contain costs on the line that will run from Denver to the Jefferson County complex in Golden.

"We're putting a huge investment into this," Benker reminded Marsella. - Trevor Hughes, The Longmont Daily Times-Call

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THE END