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Railroad Newsline for Monday, January 22, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

WORKIN' ON THE RAILROAD: TODAY'S BUILDERS HURDLE BARRIERS UNKNOWN IN TRANSCONTINENTAL ERA

Map here: [deseretnews.com]

Graphic here: [deseretnews.com]

PROMONTORY SUMMIT, Box Elder County, UT -- It was a record that historians claim has yet to be matched: 10 miles of rail laid by hand, in just one day.

Over 1,000 men, all employed by the Central Pacific Railroad, accomplished the feat on April 28, 1869. Twelve days later, the last spike was hammered into the nation's first transcontinental railroad here at Promontory Summit.

Photo here: [deseretnews.com]

Caption reads: A replica of the 119 steam engine chugs away at Golden Spike National Historic Site, where the transcontinental railroad lines met in 1869. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News)

Now, about 50 miles from this historic site, the Utah Transit Authority has begun work on a commuter-rail line. But even with modern equipment such as bulldozers, cranes and special rail-laying machines, the work is slow, and UTA has yet to lay even one mile of rail in one day during construction of the FrontRunner commuter-rail line.

The first phase is 44 miles long, stretching from Salt Lake City to Pleasant View in Weber County. UTA began construction in July 2005. Work is expected to be done in June 2008 -- three years after construction started.

Steve Meyer, UTA project manager over commuter rail, said the differences between his rail project and the transcontinental railroad are substantial. If laying rail was all UTA had to worry about, modern equipment would allow the agency to lay up to 20 miles or more in one day, he said.

"If I had a wide open space, we could do that," Meyer said of the transcontinental railroad's 10-mile record. "There is equipment that would do it all at once: pull the rail out, set the ties, clip them and keep on rolling."

Construction of the entire transcontinental railroad took six years, according to the Central Pacific Railroad's online museum. It stretched 1,776 miles, from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California.

Photo here: [deseretnews.com]

Caption reads: Crews work on the Green River Bridge, completed in 1868. Different eras posed different challenges in laying rails. (Oakland Museum)

Today, only an outline of the historic 10-mile segment remains. Erosion and time are slowly erasing the path. Up against the Promontory Mountains, just a few miles from the "last spike" site, you can see places where dirt was pushed up and packed down to create a level surface for the tracks to be laid.

"It's hard to see," said Bret Guisto, archaeologist for the Golden Spike National Historic Site. "The tracks are gone."

Back in 1928, Erle Heath, associate editor of the railroading magazine Southern Pacific Bulletin, wrote in an article reminiscing about the event: "The scene was an animated one. From the first 'pioneer' to the last tamper, about two miles, there was a line of men advancing a mile an hour; iron cars with their load of rails and humans dashed up and down the newly laid track; foremen on horseback were galloping back and forth."

Modern complications

Meyer said the process of building a modern rail line -- even a small, locally operated line -- is more complicated in some respects than laying the transcontinental railroad. Before beginning construction, UTA was required by federal law to complete a two-year study of the environmental effects of building commuter rail and also had to outline how it would "mitigate," or help to lessen any impacts.

After that, UTA worked six months to obtain approval from 43 cities and jurisdictions to build commuter rail. Now, it is in the middle of a two-year process of diverting utilities that run under the commuter-rail line.

UTA has had to deal with oil pipelines, as well as fiber-optic, sewer, water, natural-gas and power lines. Rails are being laid, but along the way, the utility work must first be done.
"You name it, we've got it," Meyer said. "It's not a small thing."

With the transcontinental railroad, very few, if any, environmental clearances were required, according to historical reports. It was all about building as fast as you could to obtain money from the federal government to build more, said Guisto.

In fact, Guisto said that many historians attribute the demise of the great herds of American bison to the railroad, which made the West more accessible for people to settle. The herds were essentially hunted to extinction by hunters and the settlers, he said.

But unlike commuter rail, creating a path, or grade, for the transcontinental railroad was one of its greatest obstacles. After leaving Sacramento, the Central Pacific Railroad crews had to deal with the high mountain passes of the Sierra Nevadas.

The crews mainly consisted of workers from China, who were paid low wages and worked long hours. Many of the workers died from freezing temperatures and injuries sustained during construction.

Rebecca Cooper Winter, in an article for the Central Pacific Railroad's online museum, said it took a full day, or "three eight-hour shifts," for workers to drill holes where explosives could be placed to blast through the granite rock of the Sierras.

The Union Pacific Railroad crews, many of whom were former soldiers in the Civil War or immigrants from Ireland, began construction in Omaha. They were building on much flatter ground but had to deal with Indian attacks and wild animals such as bison, according to historical reports.

Laying rails

With commuter rail, the only delays have been because of strict safety requirements that prohibit when, and where, work can be done. Also, the train tracks cross over 43 different roads. UTA has had to limit its work because of that issue, said Meyer.

Photo here: [deseretnews.com]

Caption reads: Arnulfo Savalo grinds the weld smooth as Utah Transit Authority workers finish part of the new commuter rail line in Farmington on Nov. 3. The 44-mile first phase, which started in 2005, is expected to be completed in 2008. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News)

But what of the 10-mile record?

Historical reports say it was a well-orchestrated endeavor. Thousands of men and horses, wagons and equipment were used to place wooden ties, lay the rail, then hammer it in with spikes.

Only a handful of local and out-of-state workers, and a few big machines are used to lay track for commuter rail. Meyer says that a crane is used to pick up the concrete ties, place them, and then pick up the rail. Metal clips are used to connect the rail to the ties.

After the tracks are pieced together, a lightweight, angular rock known as ballast is spread on the top of the rail. A machine then grabs the rail and pushes it up on top of the ballast. The ballast keeps the rail in place, and also limits how much it can expand due to heat, said Meyer.

Photo here: [deseretnews.com]

Caption reads: The Big Trestle of the transcontinental railroad is shown under construction near Promontory. The 1,776-mile-long rail line took six years to build. On a record-setting day, crews laid 10 miles of track. (Oakland Museum)

Ron Wilson, a locomotive engineer for the Golden Spike National Historic Site, said that the iron rail used on the transcontinental railroad was "more susceptible to heat and cold" than the steel rail used today. It would expand in the heat, and then the track would lift off the ground, causing derailments.

Also, the iron rail had a tendency to "peel back like a banana" when something heavy ran over the top of it. It wasn't safe, he said, but was used because it was American-made. The states had yet to refine steel as well as Europe did, and the bill authorizing the transcontinental railroad required that American materials be used.

"They knew when it was going down that it was not right," Wilson said.

But, said Guisto, the railroad itself left a lasting legacy that changed how Americans moved across country. And the 10-mile record still stirs admiration.

"It was just an amazing feat," said Guisto. - Nicole Warburton, The Deseret Morning News

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PROPOSED LEGISLATION WOULD BOOST FUNDING TO KEEP TEXAS STATE RAILROAD ON TRACK

Texas legislators who learned of state park funding shortfalls too late last session have filed legislation they hope will help remedy the park crisis.

"If Texas is going to grow, we need more state parks, not less," said Rep. Jim McReynolds, D-Lufkin.

When the former Boy Scout troop master learned Texas state parks were laying off employees, reducing hours of operation and planning to close some facilities, McReynolds said called Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, chairman of the House Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee during the 79th Legislature.

"For us who live in more rural parts of the state, state parks are economic development," McReynolds said. "We rural people want our parks funded. Period. It brings dollars to these areas."

State parks, he was told, were receiving less than a fourth of the revenue generated by the sporting goods sales tax created by Legislature in 1993 to fund the 114 state parks in place of the tobacco tax -- a declining source of revenue.

Legislators, however, set a limit on how much revenue generated by this new tax would be given to state parks at $27 million, and the cap was increased in 1995 to $32 million. The difference was diverted back to general revenue.

Of the revenue appropriated to state parks, half goes toward local park funding.

Then in 2006 when sporting good tax revenue had nearly doubled since its inception with $100 million, legislators reduced state parks' portion to $20.5 million.

"I think the will of the people is to fund these parks," McReynolds said. "It was a huge issue to all of us when we learned after that session that parks aren't funded better than they are. We all pledged that when we got back (to the 80th Legislative session) we would fund the parks."

On Jan. 8, Hilderbran filed House Bill 6 which removes the cap and allocates all sporting goods sales tax revenue to state parks.

"True to his word, Rep. Hilderbran included everything that was asked for by the parks advisory committee," said John Parker, a state commissioner from Lufkin.

Under HB 6, state parks will keep 74 percent of revenue generated and appropriate 26 percent to the Local Parks Matching Grants fund, Parker said.

"By doing that, the Texas State Railroad State Park will stay operational and the engines will continue to run," said McReynolds. Up to $50 million is needed for repairs in the next 10 years to keep the historic steam engines on track, according to state parks regional director Ellen Buchanan.

As of Thursday, 73 members had signed the bill including McReynolds on Jan. 12.

"Now we have to guard the hen house to keep the wolves from eating away at the bill," Parker said. "We have to begin the final push to bring HB 6 through the House, through the Senate and on to the Governor's desk for his final signature."

And it will be a fight, agreed McReynolds, referring to Gov. Rick Perry's announcement earlier this year that $12 billion is needed to cover the cost of reducing property taxes.

"It may be a little difficult. We'll have to fight like heck," McReynolds said. - Christine S. Diamond, The Lufkin Daily News

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COPPER WIRE THEFT DISABLED RAILROAD CROSSING LIGHTS

PARAGOULD, AR -- In northeast Arkansas, two Marmaduke residents have been charged with stealing copper wire from some railroad tracks that disabled signals to train engineers and crossing lights in Marmaduke. Charged in the theft from tracks south of town were 33-year-old Jeff D. Farmer and 30-year-old Mark Carter. The two also were charged with threatening to cause a catastrophe, criminal trespassing, and second-degree criminal mischief.

Greene County sheriff's Captain Bruce Drope says Farmer admitted he and two others stole copper wire from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks south of Marmaduke. The officer says Farmer says he helped cut the wires and collect money from selling the copper. The officer also says he found the stolen copper in the bed of Carter's truck. - WMC-TV5, Memphis, TN

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FIRST CROSSINGS CLOSED AS PART OF KCSR, LADOTD AGREEMENT

On January 10, two crossings in Gibsland, Louisiana, Claiborne Street and Railroad Street, became the first to be closed under the Kansas City Southern Railway's corridor project agreement with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD). The permanent closure of these crossings eliminates over 8,000 opportunities annually for a grade crossing collision.

"Every crossing closure reduces risk to our railroad by improving our infrastructure and creating fewer opportunities for a grade crossing collision," said Allen Pepper, KCSR director public safety.

The corridor project agreement to improve the safety of 300 public crossings in Louisiana was announced by KCS in June of 2006. The agreement covers more than 375 miles of track that stretch from Shreveport, La, east to the Mississippi state line along the I-20 corridor; south to DeQuincy, LA, along U.S. 171; and north to the Arkansas state line. Under the terms of the agreement, KCSR will invest up to $5 million and LADOTD will invest up to $11.6 million over a period of five years to upgrade warning levels, renew crossbucks and close redundant crossings. Upon completion of the corridor project, nearly half of the non-gated crossings in the area will have received warning level upgrades - from crossbucks to flashers and gates. The remaining crossings will get new crossbucks with a "YIELD" or "STOP" sign. - KCS News

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RAILROAD SAFETY DEBATE FLARES IN SOUTH TEXAS

WASHINGTON, DC -- A train safety showdown is coming to the streets of Laredo.

Currently, employees of U.S. railroads inspect air brakes and other mechanisms in that Texas border town after trains cross the border from Mexico. Federal agents examine their records and conduct spot checks.

But Union Pacific Railroad is asking federal regulators to allow the inspections to be made by Mexican employees of Kansas City Southern de Mexico railroad or its contractor in Nuevo Laredo, the much larger city just south of the Rio Grande.

Unionized railroad workers are fighting the proposal, warning that it would allow trains to run from within Mexico to San Antonio, Atlanta, New Orleans, St. Louis and hundreds of other communities without stopping for safety inspections.

"It's as if 9/11 never occurred and public safety and national security must take a back seat to increased profits and bigger executive bonuses," said Paul Thompson, president of the United Transportation Union, which represents 125,000 railroad, bus and mass transit workers.

Union Pacific officials counter that the U.S. Customs Service and Border Patrol would still inspect these incoming trains.

"It would not compromise security," said Joe Arbona, a spokesman for Union Pacific. He said the proposal is not as much a matter of profits as it is a way to reduce the traffic congestion that its idling trains cause by blocking street intersections in Laredo.

The Federal Railroad Administration has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 7 in Laredo on the proposal for inspections in Nuevo Laredo.

Opponents warn that a war among drug gangs is being waged there, and the city of 581,000 residents is so lawless there is no way to ensure that the inspections are being made to U.S. standards.

"Nuevo Laredo is a dangerous place," said Frank Wilner, a spokesman for the United Transportation Union. "Mexico is a country where, if you have money or political connections, you can make things happen. There is no telling what might come into the United States if we trust Mexicans to perform these inspections."

The Federal Railroad Administration rejected a similar request from Union Pacific two years ago, saying the railroad had "failed to demonstrate that granting the petition would be consistent with safety at this time."

However, the railroad agency also said it "found no merit in the suggestion of some commenters that approval of the waiver would compromise security."

Initially at least, the waiver would apply to only one train per day, Arbona said. This train's cargo is mostly household goods and auto parts, he said.

Every day, 20 trains travel north to the United States or south to Mexico through Laredo, so the initial effect on snarled auto traffic would not be dramatic, Arbona conceded.

"But it's a place to start" in cutting back on the trains idling in Laredo, Arbona said. He said conducting the safety tests on both sides of the border is "redundant," and that any time a train is forced to sit when it could be running is an economic inefficiency.

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, has written to the railroad administration expressing his opposition to allowing the inspections to be done in Mexico.

"This waiver would represent a backward step contrary to recent representations by the railroads that all possible efforts are being made to ensure rail safety," Gonzalez wrote.

"These trains would be coming from Mexico to my district in Bexar County, approximately 150 miles away, without proper safety inspections on this side of the border," he said. He noted previous accidents involving Union Pacific trains in Bexar County in which four people were killed and a 17-car derailment destroyed two houses.

Union officials point out that the United States would have no regulatory power over the Mexican inspections and say that Nuevo Laredo is so dangerous that U.S. inspectors would not go there for oversight even if they did have that power.

Thompson, the union president, said the waiver would extend dangers beyond the Union Pacific trains that would be involved initially.

"If Union Pacific succeeds in avoiding safety inspections on U.S. soil, many of those trains will be interchanged, without appropriate U.S. safety inspections, to other railroads, such as CSX and Norfolk Southern, as part of their 1,500-mile trip through dozens of U.S. cities," Thompson said.

After 1,500 miles, the air brakes would have to be tested again.

Texas had the most train accidents -- 178 -- of any state during the first six months of 2006, the Federal Railroad Administration reported. Georgia had 30, Ohio had 50, Florida had 24, Colorado had 30 and North Carolina had 16. - Bob Dart, The Austin American-Statesman

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RAILROAD TUNNEL TO BE BUILT IN VICKSBURG

Photo here: [www.vicksburgpost.com]

Caption reads: A KCS train passes underneath the Clark Street bridge. (Marty Kittrell, The Vicksburg Post)

VICKSBURG, MS -- A tunnel, not a replacement bridge, is in the future for a Washington Street rail overpass at Clark Street, Vicksburg officials decided Thursday.

The design was among four being considered. It is more expensive than a replacement bridge, but is expected to last longer and be less burdensome to traffic during construction.

The plan calls for a steel arch to be built over the rail tracks, fill dirt to be added and a roadway built at the current bridge level.

The plan addresses erosion and slope slippage that have plagued the deep trench for years. Several shoring-up projects have been undertaken, but the bridge, near DiamondJacks, is now closed to heavy vehicles.

Mayor Laurence Leyens called the tunnel “a permanent solution.” It was chosen during an informal meeting among city personnel, Kansas City Southern Railway and engineers Thursday at City Hall.

Based on initial estimates, the tunnel design chosen would cost $1.7 million more than the least-expensive alternative, but the consensus was that the extra investment would pay off in the long run.
Among those helping plan the project are personnel of the Jackson office of the Neel-Schaffer engineering firm. Leyens asked that an accelerated schedule for the project be developed.

The city voted in April 2004 to spend $16,000 to determine how and when to replace the overpass, then about 60 years old.

The project is to be paid for using proceeds from a $16.9 million bond issue the city approved in October.

The city is to be reimbursed for part of the project's cost with $4.75 million in federal transportation funds the city secured in 2005. The money is to be paid in four payments, one during each of four fiscal years starting Oct. 1. Costs in excess of the $4.75 million will be paid by local taxpayers.

Counts show average daily traffic of 10,000 to 16,000 vehicles in the area.

The train tracks below are used by about 24 trains a day, said KCS director of engineering Lee Peek. The city will also investigate whether KCS can manage the entire project.

Another design idea also called for a tunnel, but with a more-gradual slope than on the accepted design. It was estimated to cost about $800,000 more than the one chosen. Leyens said KCS could opt for the more-expensive design if it would pay the difference.

Also discussed at Thursday's meeting were plans for KCS and the city to collaborate on closing some railroad crossings in the area, including those where tracks run just east of Pearl Street at Speed and Klein streets. Such closures reduce the risk of accidents. In exchange for the reduction in risk of liability, the railroad is to contribute to the overpass deal money or work that the city would otherwise have to pay or do, Leyens said.

Another reason the city wants to reduce the number of crossings in the area is that trains sound their horns when traveling through crossings and the tracks there pass near historic homes and bed-and-breakfast inns. Among the city's long-range goals are to create a “quiet zone,” Leyens said.

Also long-range, the city would like to build a connecting road west of the railroad tracks between around Fairground Street and the Vicksburg Convention Center area. Among the benefits of such a road is that it would provide better emergency access to that area, Leyens said. KCS has agreed to donate former railbed that has been vacant since the most-recent track-realignment in that area, in 2004.

In late 2005, KCS and a railroad company whose network is to the east and north, Norfolk Southern, announced a joint venture to invest $300 million in track upgrades over four years. Train traffic is expected to increase to 40 or more trains following that work. - Sam Knowlton, The Vicksburg Post

LAWSUIT FILED OVER RAILROAD DANGER NEAR SAFECO FIELD

Dangerous train crossing near Safeco Field (raw video):

[www.king5.com]

Caption reads: The nearby railroad crossing is a danger that has loomed just outside the gate since the day Safeco Field opened, and now the Mariners and the City of Seattle face a lawsuit from a fan who was injured. Watch a video that shows why the crossing is so dangerous.

SEATTLE, WA -- The nearby railroad crossing is a danger that has loomed just outside the gate since the day Safeco Field opened, and now the Mariners and the City of Seattle face a lawsuit from a fan who was injured.

When Safeco Field first opened, the Mariners and the city acknowledged that the railroad crossing right outside the stadium was a trouble spot. They said they were studying a pedestrian overpass and other options to keep fans safe.

Seventy-two-year-old Garnet Gallinger, a trucker from California, was knocked 28 feet on his way into a Mariners - Oakland A's game and suffered a permanent brain injury.

"All I remember is waking up in the hospital a week later, that's all I remember," he said.

The obvious question is: why wouldn't someone see or hear a train coming? The problem is two trains. Gallinger was with the crowd that didn't see the train coming on the other track.

A video shot by Gallinger's law firm shows one train passing, and the crowd starts ambling across the track. Twenty seconds later another train crosses the intersection in the opposite direction.

Gallinger's lawyer says the thundering noise -- cross traffic trains -- and mass crowds are a recipe for disaster.

“Millions of people go to that game,” said attorney Joel Cunningham at the Luvera law firm. “We have people in wheel chairs, the retarded and people like my client, 72-years old and he's hard of hearing."

One man was killed at the crossing in 2005. King 5's review of federal railway accident data shows 12 mishaps reported at the crossing in the last 20-years.

But the only injury accidents involving the public -- four of them, and the one fatality -- occurred after the stadium was built.

A police report shows another accident involving a bicyclist that happened a couple of weeks before Gallinger was hit. It's not in the federal crash records, which rely on voluntary reporting by the railroads so it's possible there have been other accidents here that have gone unrecorded.

The city of Seattle, the Mariners and the BNSF Railway Company all declined to comment for this story. - KING-TV5, Seattle, WA

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HEARING THE TRAIN A-COMIN'

FORT WORTH, TX -- This is a case where teamwork is important.

Fort Worth officials have taken the lead in working with its northern neighbors -- Haltom City, Watauga and Keller -- and Tarrant County in establishing "quiet zones" at 15 railroad crossings along U.S. 377. About 26 Union Pacific trains pass through those crossings every 24 hours, day and night, blowing their horns as required by federal law.

"Quiet zones" aren't cheap. To allow railroad engineers to stop blaring those horns, each intersection must be equipped to properly warn motorists and prevent them from crossing the tracks in front of a locomotive. The cost can vary from $185,000 to as much as $500,000 per intersection, depending on the specific equipment used. Annual maintenance can cost $4,000 to $10,000, railroad officials estimate.

But the improved quality of life for residents from miles around, escaping those constantly blaring horns -- well, to steal a line from TV commercials, it's priceless.

Teamwork among the cities involved is crucial for two reasons.

First, these cities and intersections are so close together that the impact of one quiet zone would be lost if the next one down the line is unchanged and the train horns sound for it.

Second, the chance of getting federal grants to help pay for the work is much greater if officials from several local governments present a united front.

Fort Worth already has quiet zones at six railroad crossings and plans to add more at 20 crossings throughout the city. Watauga set up a quiet zone at U.S. 377 and Watauga Road in August. Arlington hopes to start work on seven quiet zones later this year, but officials say that Union Pacific has been slow in responding to requests for help. (Come on, folks, let's get these projects rolling.)

Some local officials along the U.S. 377 corridor still have some worries about how much their cities will be required to pay to set up the quiet zones. That's understandable, but they should work hard at resolving those issues and at joining the effort. - Editorial Opinion, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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ADVISORY PANEL DECIDES IN FAVOR OF RAIL-TO-TRAIL

KING COUNTY, WA -- If a regional committee meeting held Friday is any indication, the King County Council will probably see some political fireworks this year when it considers a plan to buy a 47-mile rail corridor running from Renton to Snohomish.

The 24-member Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) rail-corridor advisory committee recommended that the corridor be converted into a trail for most of its length. The real decisions will be made by the county, but that didn't stop about 15 protesters from standing in the rain to support keeping the railroad tracks, or committee members from arguing over the future of the corridor.

King County Executive Ron Sims wants to buy the corridor as part of a complicated land swap and convert the line to a trail within county limits and a trail-rail combo from Woodinville to Snohomish. The advisory committee, meeting in Redmond, approved the same plan, while leaving open the possibility the corridor could revert to train use in 20 to 40 years.

"The priority is implementing the first viable use, which is trail," said Tom Hodgson, a committee member and Kirkland city councilman.

Members of All Aboard Washington, a Seattle pro-rail group, protested that idea. They stood with signs reading "Trains are Green" and "Do the Obvious ... Use These Tracks Now!"

With tracks already in place, commuter rail could be built relatively quickly and cheaply, group members said. By contrast, the light-rail extension to Lynnwood and Redmond — if approved by voters this fall — would not be complete until 2027.

"Why are we the last city in the United States of America to be catching on [to rail transit]?" asked Al Runte, a group member and former Seattle mayoral candidate.

Several committee members said the Renton-to-Snohomish rail corridor would not work for commuter rail in the short term. The corridor has too many curves for trains to go much faster than 10 mph and would require an expensive retrofit, including removal of the tracks, they said.

"The current rails are irrelevant and useless for commuter rail today," said King Cushman, a PSRC policy adviser.

Only two committee members — Snohomish City Councilman Larry Countryman and Thomas Till, a director of Discovery Institute's Cascadia Center — voted against the trail-only option on the corridor in King County.

Till said there weren't enough protections in place to ensure the corridor could be converted back to rail use in the future.

Other committee members include representatives from King and Snohomish counties, Bellevue, Redmond, BNSF Railway, Boeing, Weyerhaeuser, Sound Transit, Port of Seattle and bicycle and environmental groups. - Ashley Bach, The Seattle Times

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LARAMIE FOOTBRIDGE WILL BE LIGHTED

Photo here: [www.laramieboomerang.com]

Caption reads: Once again, the city plans to install lights on the Garfield Street footbridge. The bridge spans the railroad tracks from downtown Laramie to the West Side. (Barbara J. Perenic/Boomerang photographer)

LARAMIE, WY -- It may take two to three months, but the Garfield Street footbridge linking Laramie to the West Side over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks will be lighted — again.

City of Laramie Parks and Recreation Director Paul Harrison said it should take about 60 to 90 days to complete the project. He said he is currently working with Union Pacific Railroad to research the agreement on who is responsible for maintenance of the lights on the bridge. He said the original agreement dates back to 1929, when the footbridge and the Clark Street viaduct were built. The railroad maintains ownership of the bridge.

Harrison said in the original agreement it was the city’s responsibility to maintain the lights. He said the bridge has not been lit for about 30 years.

“We’ve always talked about relighting it, and now we are working toward that,” Harrison said.
He said he is excited to see the project move forward, adding that the footbridge gets a lot of traffic both from pedestrians and bicyclists.

Harrison said he is working with Rocky Mountain Power to set up a new service to provide the electricity to the bridge for the new lighting, which will include a new pole and new meter base. He said outlets will also be installed to allow for Christmas or other special lighted decorations.

Financing

Funding for the project has come from a variety of sources, sparked by the generosity of an individual anonymous donor. Laramie Main Street Executive Director Jane Daniels spearheaded the idea to try to light the bridge for Christmas. She applied for grant funding through a program from Hamburger Helper. As word of her efforts became known, Daniels said the donor came to her and offered $1,000. She spoke to other organizations, and they agreed to help with the project.
Main Street and the Laramie Area Chamber of Commerce each donated $1,000, and the Downtown Laramie Business Association donated $3,000 for the $6,000 needed to bring lights to the footbridge.

Daniels said the anonymous donor was the “great instigator in getting the ball rolling for this project.”

Daniels and Harrison said they want the lighting on the bridge to be energy efficient and as vandal-free as possible while still maintaining some historical integrity for the downtown.

Daniels said the groups donating to the project, along with the Albany County Historical Society, will be looking at lighting.

Harrison said one option they will look at is lighting that is placed underneath the railing, which would be “fairly vandal proof.”

Daniels said she hopes upgrading the footbridge will not end with the lighting project. She said her vision includes working with organizations on the West Side to make landscape improvements on the west side of the bridge, as well as possibly painting the bridge. - Karla Pomeroy, The Laramie Boomerang

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ALL ABOARD: FANS BOARD THE STORIED CITY OF NEW ORLEANS BOUND FOR CHICAGO TO CHEER ON THE SAINTS

ABOARD THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS TRAIN, SOMEWHERE NEAR MEMPHIS -- The champagne corks popped and the confidence flowed mere minutes into the 20-hour train ride north.

Mark Vath, 39, sat in a swivel chair, swigging a sweaty Bud Light and belting out, "The City of New Orleans," the song named for the train that rumbled beneath his feet. Across the train car, past some elderly folks in Saints jerseys and men sipping whiskey, a dance party kicked off with an off-key chorus and awkward dance moves.

This is how more than 100 Saints fans plan to invade Chicago and the biggest game in the Saints history, the NFC championship. But at this point they're only one hour into the long ride. The men wearing black and gold plastic necklaces call it better than any bachelor party they've ever attended. The women in baggy black-and-gold jerseys call it once in a lifetime. For the legion of fans aboard this Amtrak train, it felt like an escalator to heaven.

After four decades of losing, no more pain.

"Man, I've suffered for so many years," said Vath, a nurse in Jefferson Parish. "I remember kids with 49ers jersey just picking on me in elementary school. It was nasty. But guess what, look where I'm going now -- and we're almost there."

Actually, the train had barely left Louisiana.

Vath and three of his buddies boarded the train in New Orleans on Friday shortly after 13:00, the kickoff to a three-day weekend that will culminate in a football game in a city considerably colder than home. Vath and his friends say the season has been quite a ride so far.

They're not familiar with such long rides.

'This year's different'

Billy Shanks brushed aside his necklace of fake plastic shrimp as he unloaded bags into his sleeper car, a box only slightly smaller than a FEMA trailer. He's riding with more than 30 friends, including sisters and sisters-in-law.

"I've said before, 'It's over. It ain't happening for the Saints,' " said Shanks, 39. "I used to watch games at Tulane Stadium. This year's different, though, and that's why I'm on this train."
With that, Shanks popped open a beer.

"That's what New Orleanians do, at least on this train," he said, accurately describing the already well-lubricated crowd of passengers, many gathered in the bar car.

Come 17:00, the whiskey bottles in the lounge car no longer brimmed with brown liquor, and trash bags bulged with empty Bud Light bottles.

Inside the car, a loud French Quarter-like escapade started to brew. Armloads of discarded cups littered the floor. A couple of women in Saints jerseys swung their hips to the raucous anthem, "Who Let the Dawgs Out?"

A few tables away, Cati Smith, a 6-year-old blonde in a pink Drew Brees jersey, slept soundly through the din, her head on her father Glenn Smith's lap.

"Ain't this somethin'?" Glenn Smith asked, an ear-to-ear grin spreading across his face.

Smith boarded the train with his wife, Lisa, and son, Robbi, a wide-eyed, freckled 14-year-old.
The Metairie couple run a textile manufacturing company and have friends in Chicago.

"We wouldn't be doing much work anyway," Glenn Smith said.

They made the decision to head north as a birthday present for Robbi.

"It's pretty fair, dude," Robbi said.

A previous family vacation had been to Disneyland, but this seemed more like a fantasy. While his sister remained asleep, oblivious to the party, Robbi and his dad played cards.

'I've had a lot of bad Mondays'

Within arm's reach and earshot of the Smiths, childhood pals Mike McGill and Glenn St. Amant, both 53, sipped cheap whiskey, "aged 18 years" but smelling like Robitussin. They laid out grand plans for Chicago: pizza, seafood, steak, skyscrapers and a Saints shellacking of the Bears.

The plans came together Tuesday morning, when McGill called his Little League baseball buddy.
"We got to go," he told him.

"It's been 40 years waiting for this," McGill said on the train. "I don't want to wait much longer."

St. Amant grinned.

"I've suffered the lowest of the lows with this team," he said. "I've had a lot of bad Mondays. Sundays are good because LSU probably won and the Saints have yet to lose."

But this year, in a remark heard this night nearly as often as train whistles, many agreed: "It is different."

"Before, if there was time on the clock, then there was time to lose," St. Amant said. "A 20-point lead with three minutes left meant nothing."

St. Amant, an engineering consultant from River Ridge, said he has never worn a bag over his head, as so many long-suffering fans did in the lean years, but that each loss "still hurt inside."

"Oh, man, tell me about it," said McGill, a Luling resident and owner of a glass company.
At a stop in Jackson, Mississippi, a giddy young couple got onto the train. Within minutes, they were found out.

"They're Bears fans!" somebody shouted.

True, the pair acknowledged, adding they bought tickets on Ebay for $500 each.

An announcement then broke in: Amtrak dinner would be served, and red beans and rice would be served.

Next stop: Miami?

Dinner caused a brief lull as the train pulled near Yazoo City, Mississippi. The red beans drew mixed reviews, but the riders understood the train isn't a French Quarter café.

On a table stacked with spicy slim jims and strong cocktails, not far from an i-Pod station blaring Saints-related tunes, a man called "The Wizard" was leading a game of Pedro, a Cajun card game, which was interrupted at times with call-and-response barking.

A man with the last name of Bordeaux was winning.

"I saw some Eagle feathers stuck to the back of this train," he said. "When we come back we'll be laying on Bear-skin rugs."

A stranger walking by, then started screaming, "Who Dat!"

Shortly after 19:00, with the train rumbling toward Greenwood, Bordeaux and friends had cleared the better part of a case of 12 champagne bottles. As a reserve supply, they toted water bottles filled with vodka.

It was unclear when or if the party would stop. As everyone on the train was quick to point out, the next stop might be Miami.

In that case, the party would last through Mardi Gras. - Brendan McCarthy, The New Orleans Times-Picayune (ED. NOTE: The trip back home will be a long one and the atmosphere will certainly be different. LWG – a long time Saints fan having grown up in the Crescent City)

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TOWNS BET ON WATER FOR ETHANOL

Graphic here:

[www.omaha.com]

LINCOLN, NE -- An ethanol plant under construction in Cambridge, Nebraska, will consume two or three times more water than all of the 1,000 or so residents in this drought-plagued community.

Even though water is in short supply in southwest Nebraska, Cambridge lured the new plant with tax incentives and broad community support. New water wells to supply the plant were placed across the Republican River, miles from the community wells, to minimize the impact.

Like many towns in rural states, Cambridge is anteing up a portion of its water resources for the prospect of a better economic future. Small towns are betting that water will be available for everything - ethanol, residents, livestock, irrigation, wildlife and business.

Scientists say that while the issue is one of concern, not crisis, states and cities cannot afford to ignore the impact of ethanol production on water supplies.

As a result of a 2004 Nebraska law, ethanol refineries and other new water users face increased scrutiny in how they will affect stream flows. But wells are a different story. Of the 23 natural resources districts that regulate water pumping, only one requires that developers of ethanol plants study their potential impact on neighboring water wells.

Iowa has even less scrutiny.

"Somewhere lurking in the background is the question of whether we are going to have enough water, especially if you want to make ethanol work in the long run," said Robert D. Libra, a geologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

It is a question that has moved to the forefront in Nebraska, where Gov. Dave Heineman has proposed that Nebraskans spend $128 million over the next 12 years to address water shortages. A portion of the money would be used to pay farmers to stop or reduce irrigation, but the plan doesn't place a value on how much it would cost to do so.

The addition of ethanol plants into the equation means irrigation would have to be reduced even more. There are 12 ethanol plants in Nebraska, plus nine under construction and 37 planned. If all were operating, they would use about two-tenths of 1 percent of total water pumped in the state, based on estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey.

A large ethanol plant uses the same amount of water annually as it takes for four center-pivot irrigation systems to water a section of land. In water-short areas, some ethanol developers are buying land that already has irrigation wells, and converting the water use from irrigation to ethanol production.

"I think this is a major issue," said Ann Bleed, director of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. "But that doesn't mean we can't resolve the issue and still build ethanol plants."

The most efficient ethanol plants have reduced water consumption from 4 or more gallons of water per 1 gallon of ethanol to 3 gallons of water. Newer systems are being developed that will cut that requirement in half, to 1-1/2 gallons.

At the 3-to-1 ratio, it takes nearly 1 million gallons of water a day -- equal to the amount used by about 15,000 people a day -- to run a large, 100 million-gallon-a-year ethanol plant.

Still, ethanol production requires less than one-twelfth of the water needed to refine crude oil into energy products such as gasoline and diesel fuel.

A barrel of crude oil produces 19.5 gallons of petroleum, using 1,851 gallons of water in the process, according to estimates of the U.S. Geological Survey. The water needed to produce 1 gallon of gasoline would produce more than 30 gallons of ethanol.

Ethanol refineries use water for cooling and to soak, steep and cook the corn. Compared to irrigation, water for ethanol seems miniscule. But corn prices have nearly doubled because of ethanol demands, and that has prompted farmers to switch from growing soybeans to growing corn.

Corn requires more water to grow than soybeans, so farmers would pump more water from even existing irrigation wells.

"The bigger issue is 'How does it encourage the production of irrigated corn?'" said Jim Cook, legal counsel for the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources.

In areas of the state where underground water supplies exceed demand, farmers are rapidly adding irrigation wells to increase the amount of corn they produce and, consequently, to increase the value of their land.

In the past three years, 466 new irrigation wells have been registered in the 15-county area of the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District, which is based in Norfolk. Those wells alone would pump enough water in a year to operate more than 100 large ethanol plants.

NRD manager Stan Staab said farmers in the district have drilled new wells because they fear that regulators eventually will call for a moratorium.

So far, Staab said, the district has enough water to meet demand.

Heineman said Nebraska is considering the impact on water as it pursues ethanol for its economic-development potential. Some experts say ethanol could transform the economic landscape of rural Nebraska with an infusion of money and jobs.

"We know that water is a challenge," Heineman said. "But I think we have enough water to do what we need to do to maintain ethanol and agriculture and communities, as long as we work together. And I think we are doing that."

The state law passed in 2004 requires that regulators analyze and report on water supply and demand each year, which forces attention to any new applicant for well pumping.

Local NRDs have rules to balance supply and demand. In areas where demand has reached or exceeds supply -- primarily in the Platte River and Republican River Basins -- there is a "stay" on new water uses.

A proposed ethanol plant in those areas must offset its use of water with a reduction somewhere else. The plant developers might, for example, buy land and retire a pivot irrigation system. Or they might pay farmers to stop irrigating.

Water regulators say water availability differs across the state depending on the underground flow.

"There are places where ethanol production will work well and some places where it won't," said John Turnbull, manager of the York-based Upper Big Blue NRD, a corn-rich area of east-central Nebraska.

Turnbull's Upper Big Blue NRD has taken the most advanced steps yet to study the local impact of new big water users like ethanol plants.

It is the only NRD to require proposed ethanol plants to submit a detailed study of how the new water use would affect neighboring wells. The policy was prompted not by ethanol but by plans in 1999 for a cardboard manufacturing plant near Seward.

Plans for the cardboard plant fell through, but the water policy stayed in place.

Four such ethanol water-use plans were reviewed by the NRD in 2006. All four were returned to the developer for more detail.

Three of the revised water studies -- for plants near Fairmont, Aurora and Sutton -- were approved. The NRD is still awaiting the more detailed plan for a proposed plant near Tamora.

"I would think ethanol plants would want to know if they were going to affect domestic users, because if they do they could be liable," said Rod DeBuhr, water department manager for the Upper Big Blue NRD.

David Aiken, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln water law specialist, said Nebraska is behind other Western states in protecting existing wells from interference by new water users.

"In Nebraska, if my well interferes with your well then that's a lawsuit," Aiken said. "That is as far as we are along, and that is not very far."

Legislative Bill 962, passed in 2004, was designed to keep water flowing in streams, but it didn't address the narrower impact of big water users on neighboring wells, Aiken said.

"The NRDs now have a good model in terms of what the Upper Big Blue NRD is doing," Aiken said.

Even though all 23 NRDs have some policies in place to protect stream flows -- such as required water offsets -- they usually find ways to allow ethanol plants to be built.

In Cambridge, the NRD will reduce the amount of water that irrigators are allowed to pump, to offset the water the ethanol plant will use.

The ethanol plant there is expected to provide dozens of jobs with average salaries of more than $40,000 a year.

The Nebraska Ethanol Board has for several years listed water usage high among the factors to be considered when asked by developers to help select locations for new plants, said Todd Sneller, executive director of the Nebraska Ethanol Board.

"It's a long-term issue that will deserve more attention as time goes along," Sneller said. "Two years ago, the top issue was the energy used in ethanol production. Today, it's 'How do you reduce water consumption?'"

Several ethanol plants have altered their site plans because of water availability, Sneller said.
"We knew that water was going to be an issue from the outset." - Bill Hord, The Omaha World-Herald

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TRANSIT NEWS

THE TRAINS MAY NOT START ON TIME; NORTH COUNTY RAIL LINK ESTIMATES NOW AT '08

OCEANSIDE, CA -- Regional transportation officials are concerned that the North County Transit District may be unable to start passenger train service between Oceanside and Escondido by the end of this year.

But district officials said yesterday they still can hit that date.

Jim Linthicum, a San Diego Association of Governments project manager, told the association's Transportation Committee yesterday the project has fallen two months behind schedule and may not begin service until February 2008.

Linthicum said the original December 2007 start of passenger operations on the line remains “achievable,” but to make that date, the prime contractor “needs to be more creative and more aggressive.”

“I think he can do it,” Linthicum told the committee. “My concern is he's not being aggressive enough.”

Tom Lichterman, the transit district's director of rail services, said yesterday in an interview that Linthicum is basing his statement on a computer program that evaluates work tasks and projects completion dates.

Track construction is on schedule, and construction of a maintenance facility is ahead of schedule, he said.

Electrical signaling and communications systems are lagging, but the district is working with the contractor on that, Lichterman said.

The Sprinter rail project involves rebuilding and modernizing 22 miles of freight rail to handle passenger service during the day and freight trains at night.

The project budget, originally approved at $351.5 million in 2002, was recently increased to $484 million by the Federal Railroad Administration, although the transit district said it can finish the project for $440 million.

The Federal Railroad Administration also approved a startup date for train service of July 2008, but the transit district said that is pessimistic.

Peter Aadland, the transit district's director of communications and business development, said yesterday the district is still aiming to begin service at the end of December or the first two weeks of January.

It was the first time a transit official publicly deviated from a December date.

“We are proceeding with all of our operational plans to begin late this year or early next year,” Aadland said. “At this time we believe that is doable.”

Del Mar Councilman David Druker, a member of the transit district board and the SANDAG committee, questioned district staff about the possible delay at Thursday's board meeting.

“NCTD and the contractor need to get working on a recovery plan,” Druker said Friday in an interview. - Michael Burge and Jeff Ristine, The San Diego Union-Tribune

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NEW CARS TO BUMP SOUTH SHORE CAPACITY 15 PERCENT

DUNE ACRES, IN -- The South Shore commuter railroad soon will order 14 new double-decker rail cars following the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority's approval Tuesday of $17.5 million in funding.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, the railroad's operator, is set to begin final price negotiations with the manufacturer and should place its order by March, according to NICTD General Manager Gerald Hanas.

"The commuter rail concept is now firmly entrenched in the region because we are now getting first-class rail assets," Hanas said Thursday at NICTD headquarters.

The cars should be delivered in the second half of 2008 and in service by early 2009. The South Shore currently operates only single-level cars.

In addition to the rail car order, expected to top $50 million, the railroad is three years into a $107 million upgrade of its catenary and signal systems.

The 14 cars will be used to add four new trains per day, which should increase total capacity about 15 percent, Hanas said. Last year, the South Shore carried more than 14,000 passengers per day on a typical weekday.

The railroad attracted 4.21 million passengers last year, which was its highest ridership in almost 50 years.

The double-decker car bodies will be manufactured by Nippon Sharyo, of Japan. They will be assembled in the United States. Nippon Sharyo produces the same type car for Chicago's Metra commuter rail.

The cars need some special features because the South Shore operates differently than Metra, which added to their cost, Hanas said. - Keith Benman, The Munster Times

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CARROLLTON'S NEW DART RAILWAYS TO BE COMPLETED BY END OF 2010

Artwork here: [media.pegasusnews.com]

Caption reads: The downtown Carrollton station will feature DART's new elevated platform design.

Map here: [media.pegasusnews.com]

CARROLLTON, TX -- Residents of Carrollton, Texas and surrounding areas anticipate using DART’s new light rail transit line, with three station sites along an existing railroad right-of-way, by late 2010.

According to Peter Braster, Carrollton’s first Transit-Oriented Development Manager, within the next 5-10 years, Carrollton will no longer have vacant land for significant development.

Passenger light rail transit provides the means to allow for high density redevelopment.

The demise of growth in the last new green-field developments ends the city’s potential revenue from traditional sources. To sustain the city without tax increases, redevelopment of suburban residential/commercial neighborhoods into higher density mixed-use communities must take place.

“Redevelopment is the answer to increasing our tax base and moving forward,” said Braster.

“Transit-oriented development will promote higher density mixed-use urban design around a light rail transit station, as well as pedestrian activity and alternative modes of transportation.”

Braster, 42, comes to Carrollton with excellent credentials. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. He has over 20 years of public and private experience in engineering large transportation projects including highway, airport, and light rail system, managing real property, real estate acquisition, public administration and governmental relations.

“The citizens of Carrollton have embraced the project and are anticipating its arrival,” said Braster. “The city is prepared to experience and foster revitalization better than any other city has done in the metroplex.”

The downtown Carrollton light rail transit station will be at the northeast corner of Belt Line Road at Broadway Street, 1/10 mile east of Interstate Highway 35E. This station will provide one of the city’s greatest opportunities for growth over the next 15-20 years, Braster said. The arrival of DART’s light railways in 2010 will provide easy access to this area and attract businesses and retail activity. DART also has plans for an east-west line along the Cotton Belt Railroad connecting Fort Worth and D/FW Airport to Addison and Plano by 2030. Also proposed is another north-south line which will connect Frisco with Irving along the Union Pacific alignment. These three light rail transit lines and Denton County’s commuter rail plans will make downtown Carrollton the fourth most significant transportation hub in the DFW area, thus the potential for much commercial and residential development.

Trinity Mills Station will be near the intersection of the President George Bush Turnpike and I-35E, which can accommodate east-west commuters from the turnpike, as well as north-south commuters from I-35E. The City has bought the former 12-acre Home Depot site and is actively pursuing other properties in the area. It is expected that residential, retail and office facilities will be built east of the station on the actual old Home Depot site. In addition, DART plans to develop its already acquired bus transit center property, once the Green Line Light Rail Transit Project opens.

North Carrollton Station, the last on the line, will be on the south side of Frankford Road, east of I-35E and will attract riders not only from Carrollton, but also from Denton County – including Lewisville and Denton. Mixed-use development opportunities don’t exist here, as with the other two stations, because of the already developed warehouse district. However, there are opportunities for town homes and/or condos on the north side of Frankford Road. The City will leverage any development in this area with not only it proximity to the rail station, but to the Indian Creek Golf Course, said Braster.

Significant building and renovation will take place at each station, particularly the downtown station. The goal is to provide: a walkable design with the convenience of pedestrians, not automobiles; a transit station as a prominent feature of a neighborhood center; a mixture of uses in close proximity to each other, including office, residential, retail, and civic uses; high density, high-quality development within a 10-minute walk; design that encourages the use of walking and bicycling for daily needs, as well as reduced and managed parking.

“The development around the stations allows for alternative modes of transportation, in that you will not need to rely on a car as the sole means of transportation,” said Braster.

“The demographics of people who typically move into transit-oriented development neighborhoods are young single people, young couples who have no children, and empty-nesters”

Carrollton Mayor Becky Miller said that she is pleased that the DART railways will not only benefit Carrollton by the transit-oriented development to be built around it, but will also benefit the environment.

“It will help our air quality by taking drivers off the road,” Miller said.

According to Assistant City Manager for Development Services Marc Guy, transit-oriented development near the three light rail passenger stations will offer exciting new opportunities for stores and restaurants, office buildings, and housing choices that have never been available in Carrollton.

“With Carrollton’s prime location these are going to be highly desirable places for people to live, work and invest in our community,” said Guy. - Minnie Payne, Pegasus News

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THE END