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Railroad Newsline for Saturday, January 27, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

AMTRAK EXTENDS FREE TRAIN TICKETS TO PAIR OF ACCIDENTAL PASSENGERS

EUGENE, OR -- Amtrak is offering free round-trip tickets to Portland or Seattle to a Eugene, Oregon woman and a teenager who became accidental tourists to Oakridge after stepping aboard the Coast Starlight train to assist a disabled passenger.

Marc Magliari, Amtrak media relations director in Chicago, said railroad officials want to apologize face-to-face to Eugene resident Suzette McInally and her 17-year-old companion, Destiny Chavez.

McInally and Chavez went to the Eugene station to see a friend off to California.

They stepped aboard the train to help a woman with a walker reach her upstairs seat. McInally said the train began moving while they were on the second level, and its conductor accused them of being stowaways, threatening to prosecute them for trying to sneak a ride. The conductor refused their requests to get off the train while it was still in Eugene, she said. The pair were instead put off beside an Oakridge field on a freezing night.

An Oakridge police officer met McInally and Chavez, let them use his phone to call relatives to come fetch them, and drove them to a McDonald's so they could wait in a warm place for their ride.

Magliari said Amtrak officials hope to use the meeting to gather more information about the way the two were treated during the 50-mile ride.

A preliminary investigation by the company turned up no record of a passenger scheduled to board in Eugene that day who had requested boarding assistance or downstairs seating because of "mobility issues."

"That doesn't mean they weren't there," he stressed. "It just means that no one in the course of making a reservation let us know they would be using a walker."

He urged such passengers to always notify the railroad about the need for such accommodation, so railroad employees can assist them aboard or direct them to a wheelchair ramp, plus ensure that they have downstairs seating.

Magliari said the free travel offer also would be extended to Chavez's mother, Chivonne Chavez, who had accompanied McInally to the Eugene platform to see the friend off to California.

Chivonne Chavez said Thursday that she had not yet heard from Amtrak officials, and McInally could not be reached for comment. - Karen McCowan, The Eugene Register-Guard

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DRUNK MAN GOES FOR UNEXPECTED TRAIN RIDE

FARGO, ND -- A drunk man who tried to climb over a freight train stopped at a downtown crossing ended up going for a ride when the train took off. The 23-year-old man called 911 from his cell phone early Friday when the train reached the Casselton area west of Fargo because he was cold and wanted off, said Cass County Deputy Sheriff Shawn Getz.

Dispatchers called BNSF Railway Company, which alerted the train conductor.

"A few miles west of Casselton they were able to stop the train and (the man) got off," Getz said.

Authorities said the man did not require any medical treatment, and the railroad did not press charges. The man was taken to a detox center, Getz said. - The Associated Press, The Kansas City Star, courtesy Cassie Frank

STB ISSUES FINAL RULE ON RAILROAD FUEL SURCHARGES

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Surface Transportation Board (STB) issued a final rule Friday, which will significantly alter the way in which railroads calculate and apply fuel surcharges.

The ruling is mostly good news for railroad shippers, as the STB declared it an unreasonable practice for railroads to compute fuel surcharges in a manner that does not correlate with actual fuel costs for specific rail shipments.

The STB first proposed these changes at its May 2006 public hearing, STB Ex Parte 661. It then published proposals for the rule in August, followed by shipper comments that were submitted in October.

The proposals made in August included: requiring railroads wishing to assess fuel surcharges to develop a computation more closely linked to its increased fuel costs attributable to that movement; prohibiting railroads from "double dipping" by charging a fuel-cost increase for a shipment both through a fuel surcharge and through application of a rate escalator based on an index, such as the STB's Railroad Cost Adjustment Factor; requiring each Class I railroad to submit a monthly report to the agency showing the railroad's actual total fuel costs, total fuel consumption, and total fuel surcharge revenues; and requiring each Class I railroad to use the Energy Information Association's (EIA) "U.S. No. 2 Diesel Retail Sales by All Sellers (Cents per gallon)-for measuring fuel-cost increases.

In today's ruling, the STB said it will prohibit assessing fuel surcharges that are based on a percentage calculation of the base rate charged to freight railroad customers. And it added that the practice of double-dipping will be prohibited. It will also monitor the fuel surcharge practices of the railroad industry through the practice of imposing mandatory reporting requirements for all Class I railroads regarding fuel expenditures and consumption. The STB added that it will not require carriers to adhere to the EIA index to measure changes in fuel prices, but it encourages carriers to use it.

The STB said that railroads will have a 90-day transition period to adjust their fuel surcharge programs. If any railroad needs more time to change its fuel surcharge processes, it will be required to request an extension from the STB and be prepared to demonstrate why it is necessary.

While this ruling is generally good news for shippers, it may have been better news if it required fuel surcharges to be based on mileage. In a copy of its final decision, the STB noted that the railroads question the practicality of alternatives to rate-based fuel surcharges. It added that "many [Class I railroads] assert that a fuel surcharge based on mileage would be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to implement to administer.but these assertions are largely unsupported."

The STB added that a mileage-based fuel surcharge more closely tracks changes in fuel costs for an individual shipment than does a rate-based fuel surcharge. But in light of this it said it will not require Class I railroads to include ton-mile revenue in its monthly report, in an effort to mimimize regulatory burden.

"Some of the things taken out of this rule, such as the retroactivity in reporting, which was not even addressed, and removing the proposed reporting of ton miles for freight revenue, do not help shippers," said Jay Roman, president of Escalation Consultants, an energy and railroad consultancy. "The thing that is positive [for shippers] is the revenue from fuel surcharges which was never reported before, but if it can be measured on a 'per something' basis for ton-miles or a per-mile basis, it is hard to see how things changed in the past. And this makes it hard for shippers to determine how their fuel surcharges are increasing on a per-ton mile basis in relation to their increase fuel costs on a per-ton mile basis."

Roman added that without some type of retroactivity it makes it hard for shippers to see if future fuel surcharge increases are reasonable, because they will not have methodology for comparing old and new rates. He also said that although shippers did not get everything they had hoped for with this ruling, it is still "better than nothing" but he was not sure by how much.
"The positive thing about this is the STB did say it was an unreasonable practice to apply the fuel surcharge against the rate, which was a big issue to an awful lot of shippers," said Roman.

Representatives from Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads declined to comment, because they were still reviewing the STB's decision at press time. - Jeff Berman, Senior Editor, Logistics Management

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AUTISTIC BOY LEAVES CLASS, HOPS TRAIN

PORTLAND, OR -- A ten-year-old autistic boy wandered away from his after-school program and ended up in another state without his teacher ever noticing that he was gone, according to the child's upset mother.

Angie Zecha said it all started Wednesday afternoon when her son, Kyle McEwan got into an argument on the playground. He was upset and wanted to call home.

Zecha said Kyle told her the teacher at his after-school program in North Portland ignored him when he tried to talk to him about it, so Kyle decided to walk home.

Zecha was shocked that no one saw her son leave or even noticed he was gone.

"My child disappears out of his class, and not at one point does he look for him or call up to the main office to notify anybody?"

Kyle, a 5th grader, suffers from a type of autism called Asperger's Syndrom. He is incredibly intelligent but has a short attention span and few social skills.

During his trip home, Kyle said he got scared, started running, and started to climb over a freight train coupler, when the train started moving.

He said the thought "it would be a lot safer" if he stayed on the train. And when it started picking up speed, he was just too afraid to try and get off.

"I hung on," Kyle said.

Off Kyle went, through North Portland, over the Columbia River, and into Washington State.
"I was pretty scared," he recalled.

Once he reached Vancouver, he started screaming for help.

A railroad worker heard him, found him and pulled him from the train.

"I was crying and could barely catch my breath," he said.

The worker contacted Kyle's mom and then she immediately called the school.

"Had he not been found, when he was found... we weren't supposed to pick them up until 5 o'clock, we wouldn't have known anything," she told KGW in Portland, Oregon. "There is no excuse for that. None!"

A school spokesperson told KGW "we are working to make sure this never happens again."

Meantime, Kyle's mom said he will not be returning to the after-school program until the school can guarantee that he will be safe and this type of incident could never happen again. - KTVZ-TV-21, Bend, OR

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RESIDENTS EVACUATED IN KENTUCKY TRAIN DERAILMENT MAY HAVE TO WAIT WEEKS TO RETURN HOME

BROOKS, KY -- Some residents forced from their homes when a train derailed last week may not be allowed back for almost a month, officials said.

Fifteen families may have to stay away while water service is re-established, said Gary Sease, a spokesman for CSX Corp., the train's owner. The company has been working with authorities to allow residents to visit their homes each day to retrieve items and check on pets, Sease said.

A dozen tanker cars derailed and sparked a massive blaze Jan. 16, spilling various chemicals.
Thick black smoke billowed over Bullitt County. No one was seriously hurt, but nearby homes and a school were evacuated and part of a busy highway was closed for hours.

Since derailment, evacuees have stayed in hotels and with relatives while CSX reimbursed them for hotel bills, food and other expenses. The railroad has issued 6,500 checks for $100 each to households inconvenienced by the derailment. - The Associated Press, The San Diego Union-Tribune

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AT THE THROTTLE: COMBINE CAR 06 REVEALS ITS SECRETS

ELY, NV -- At the time Joan and I started restoring combine 06, we had mistakenly assumed that we were working on combine 05. A combine is a railroad passenger car that combines both a passenger section and a baggage section, hence the name combine. This type of car was used on routes which didn't have much in the way of passengers or baggage. According to remarkably complete Nevada Northern records, there were two such combines owned by the railroad; numbered 05 and 06. As mentioned before, the car had been sanded, which had exposed the residue of some numbers and lettering along the side of the car - more like ghosts of numbers and letters.

In looking at the numbers it appeared to me that the ghost number exposed was 05, ergo, we were working on car 05. And that ghost lettering on the side of the car, could it have said 'combine'?

At this particular time, Joan and I lived in Elko, some 200 miles north of Ely. We would come down over a couple of weekends each month (if we were lucky), work in train service and then spend the remaining available time on the car. Bottom line, not a whole lot of time was being put into the car. So to speed up the project we asked if we could take one of the doors back to Elko with us to strip the paint off of it. This was agreed to and one of those great arch topped doors soon headed north.

During those days, there wasn't much more time that could be devoted to the door in at home in Elko, but finally one weekend we decided to start stripping paint off the door. Laying the door on two saw horses, we dosed the door with paint stripper and waited. Like magic, the paint began to peel up and we were able to start scraping, and scraping as it turned out that there were layers upon layers of paint on the door. The paint stripper would lose its effectiveness and we'd slather more on. After three cycles of slathering and stripping, the wood began to appear from under all that paint and I, for one, was not ready for what we found.

Under all of that paint was solid mahogany wood. It was beautiful and as smooth as a baby's bottom! And the discovery scared me; according to the records we had, the car was built in the late 1880's. The vintage and quality of material caused me to believe that I was out of my element and frankly didn't know how to proceed. So with the upper third of the door stripped, we stopped and left the door in our garage. As it turned out, this was the smart thing to do, because the door was the key that would unlock the mystery of the car; such as when it was built and by who.

The combine car project fell into the background as other events conspired to overwhelmed Joan and I. The first was that I agreed to become the Executive Director of the museum. It took us a year to make the transition from Elko to Ely. And once on the ground in Ely, there a thousand and one tasks that all needed doing, so even though we were now living in Ely, we still didn't have time to do anything with the car. So it just sat inside the coach house, safely out of the weather, in fact it sat next to its sister. Periodically, I would lead a tour into the coach house and show off the car.

Eventually, seeing the two cars side by side started the wheels turning in my brain. Was it a good idea to use the best parts of the two cars to create one? I asked others in the organization for their thoughts. One of the people I asked was Sean Pitts, Director of the East Ely Depot Museum.

As a trained historian, Sean advised against combining the cars. These thoughts and concerns began to make me think more on what our preservation policy should be at the museum.

Late one summer evening, as I was walking the grounds, I bumped into a visitor and a conversation ensued. It turned out that he had traveled hundreds of miles out of his way to see coach #2. He was really wanting to see the coach, but it was obvious that the museum was closed. He was very disappointed that he couldn't find it. He had convinced his wife and family to make this detour that had taken way more time then he figured, forcing them to plan on leaving very early in the morning - without ever having a chance to see the car.

Now I was curious, why had this person driven so far out of his way to see this particular car?

Why was it so important? I asked him and he told me that coach #2 was the last surviving example of its class that the Nevada Northern owned the very last one in existence. I introduced myself and offered to show him the car. He thought he had died and gone to heaven. Coach 2 was stored in the Coach House, along with combine cars 05 and 06. Upon seeing this collection, our visitor was in Nirvana. He just couldn't believe how beautiful coach 2 was and he was thrilled to see cars 05 and 06. He knew them to be great examples of early wooden passenger cars.

Fast forward to March 2006: We have just completed three winter photo shoots. What were we going to do next year to bring the photographers back? The idea came up that we would put together the Nevada Northern wreck train. The wreck train would be locomotive #93, the wrecking crane, tool car A-1, a boxcar, a passenger car and a caboose. Traditionally, coach 2 would have gone in the wreck train. But since 2 was still heavily damaged, I elected to use the Willy car.

I had been doing some research on the Willy Car. First off, I learned that I had the number on it wrong. The Willy car was #06, NOT 05. Steve Swanson, a member of the museum had some old pictures of the car while it was parked at McGill. Those pictures showed that the lettering on the side didn't say "Combine" but said "Outfit Car." Also, again according to railroad records, the car was in actuality a used Pullman Car, bought second hand by the railroad on June 30th, 1909.

For combine 06 to be used in the wreck train, it would need to be painted. So plans were made to do just that, bring the car in, paint it and repair the coupler. In order to do the job right, the windows would have to come out. Once the windows were removed, it turned out that the window sill on one side of the car was in considerably worse shape than the other side. So now more work was involved, as the decision was made to replace the unacceptable window sill.

The wooden parts of the car were sanded and the metal parts cleaned to the base with a needle gun. On the iron trucks, under layers of paint were found the casting marks "G T R," believed to stand for the Grand Trunk Railroad, a famous "fallen flag."

At the time this work was getting under way, the Association of Railroad Museum's annual conference was slated at the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento. While at the conference, I found about 40 minutes to spare on the busy schedule and used it to visit the museum library and asked if they had any photos of the Nevada Northern Railway, which they did. In going through the photos I found a picture of car #06, taken in East Ely. I turned the photo over and saw that it was a Gerald Best photo. Gerald Best was a noted railroad photographer, the California Railroad Museum has over 100,000 of his imagines on file and here was one of the 06! But then it got even more exciting: Hand printed on the back of the photo was: "East Ely, Nev 10-1939." And above that it read: "Nevada Northern 06, ex 6, ex C. P. RR 1879."

What?! We had an ex-Central Pacific Railroad passenger car as part of our collection! The Central Pacific was the original transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869. And here was a car from the old C P, and it was built only 10 years after the completion of the transcontinental railroad, wow! I started hyperventilating. But wait, before getting too excited, it would be nice to have confirmation.

I contacted Kyle Wyatt of the California Railroad Museum to ask his opinion. He burst my bubble; Gerald Best had made mistakes. And if the car was an ex-C. P. RR car it most likely would not have "G T R" on the trucks, a dead-end.

In going through the car getting it ready for painting, the shop staff kept looking for clues and didn't find anymore until? ?Jeremy was sanding the door (yes, the very door which started all this) to discover under all of the paint, in gold leaf, the word "LEVIS." What? Levis?! What did this mean? An e-mail to Kyle and EUREKA!

From Kyle's e-mail we learned that the Atlantic Equipment Company of Harvey, Illinois purchased many old Pullman cars after they were retired. But so far as anyone knows, they did not purchase former Central Pacific cars, most of which went to West Coast used equipment dealers. So he checked Ralph Barger's Century of Pullman Palace Cars, vol. II: Wooden Cars and on page 55 found that this "Levis" was a 10 section, 1 drawing room sleeping car built for Pullman by the Grand Trunk RR in 1872, as part of a batch of four built between June and September of that year to the specifications of what later became Pullman plan 31, Lot 3. It was originally named Lachine, but in Oct 1872 it was modified slightly to plan 31B and renamed Tulgela. In 1898 it was again modified to plan 31K and renamed Levis. It was retired in January 1908 and sold to Hotchkiss Blue & Company, an equipment dealer Pullman often used.

Presumably Atlantic Equipment Co acquired it from them (or perhaps they were related companies.)

So we learned that our lowly "Willy Car," bought second hand by the Nevada Northern was built in 1872 as one of the highest class cars on rails!! Just think, before the airplane, automobile, telephones, even the electric light bulb, the Levis was hauling people around the country in style. And through a fluke, she wound up here.

While the exterior work was going on, the shop forces were also working on mechanical aspects of the car. Since we were going to use the car for the photo shoots, it was decided to take the car out for a test run. So how did a 135 year old car do? Just great, according to Jason, she is the smoothest riding car that we have.

I learned a lot over the course of the past eight years with this car. It took quite some research and more than a little luck to find out what we have. What we found out was that we had a treasure. A car that was built only five years after the founding of the Pullman Company and just three years after the completion of the transcontinental railroad. And we learned to look at our stashed away rolling stock in a new light.

The 06 car painting will be completed and some of her wood work repaired and she'll be out for the photo shoots. Work will continue on the car, it will be an ongoing process. We will leave her as an Outfit Car.

Meanwhile her sister 05 will have a different future as Kyle's e-mail continued with "... I note sister car Lorne was sold to HB&Co at the same time as was Levis from Pullman plan 31, lot 4."

Could the 05 be the Lorne? So in our spare time we'll take off one of the doors of 05 and sand where we found the name LEVIS on #06 and see what name we'll find there, if any.

So the long term plan for the 05 will now change. She'll stay in the coach house protected from the weather until we have the chance to a do a full restoration on the car. We'll restore her as a combine. We might not have the money to do what we want to 05 at this moment, but we might in 10 years. And if so, on her 145th birthday #05 will look as she did shortly after she came to the Nevada Northern. And when you're 135 years old what's waiting a mere 10 years for a ground-up restoration? Nothing, just a drop in the bucket of railroad time. - Mark S. Bassett, The Ely Times (Mark Bassett is the Executive Director of the White Pine Historical Railroad Foundation operators of the Nevada Northern Railway Museum. He can be reached at the museum (775) 289-2085 extension 7; by e-mail: director@nnry.com; or by writing him at the museum: 1100 Avenue A, PO Box 150040, East Ely, NV 89315.)

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UNION PACIFIC JOCKEYS WITH BNSF FOR TITLE OF LARGEST RAILROAD AS EARNINGS SOAR

OMAHA, NE -- Union Pacific Corp.'s 64 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit may have pleased investors, but it didn't definitively settle the question of which railroad is the nation's largest.

Union Pacific said Thursday it earned $485 million, or $1.78 per share, during the quarter that ended Dec. 31. That's up from $296 million, or $1.10 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Union Pacific and competitor Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. have sparred for years over which one should be known as the nation's largest railroad. Earlier this week, BNSF renewed the argument when its earnings report revealed it was the nation's largest railroad by freight revenue in the third quarter of 2006.

Union Pacific held the edge in fourth-quarter freight revenue with $3.78 billion, compared with BNSF's $3.77 billion. BNSF's claim also doesn't consider total revenue, where Union Pacific also held the edge, $3.96 billion to $3.88 billion, in the fourth quarter.

The rest of the U.S. railroad universe includes CSX Corp., which reported $2.4 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter to remain No. 3, Norfolk Southern Corp., which had $2.32 billion in revenue, and Canadian National Railway Co., which had $1.64 billion in revenue. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. doesn't report earnings until Tuesday.

But Union Pacific spokeswoman Kathryn Blackwell said those revenue figures shouldn't matter. She said the Omaha-based railroad bases its claim to be the nation's largest on the 32,400 miles of track it operates. BNSF remains close by that measure, too, with about 32,000 miles of track.

The dispute may ultimately matter more to railroad buffs than corporate executives.

"At the end of the day, it's not important to me," said Jim Young, Union Pacific's president and chief executive. "What's most important is looking at your service, your profitability, where you're going with the direction of the company."

BNSF spokesman Pat Hiatte said his company is more concerned about improving its own performance than comparing itself with competitors.

"That's really the focus: customer service and meeting the transportation needs of the country," Hiatte said.

The dispute doesn't concern analysts either. They say investors should care more about which railroad is most profitable, not which one is bigger.

"I don't think it matters one iota who is larger," said Randy Cousins, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets.

In the arena of profits, Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF was the leader last year with $1.89 billion to Union Pacific's $1.61 billion.

Regardless of which railroad is bigger, both Union Pacific and BNSF reported strong performances this week.

Union Pacific's earnings of $1.78 per share in the fourth quarter surpassed the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Financial, which had forecast a profit of $1.57 per share.

Union Pacific officials said greater efficiencies and strong demand for the coal and agricultural products it ships helped boost profits. It posted improved revenue in five of its six business groups, led by 20 percent increases from shipping agricultural and energy-related commodities. Revenue from industrial products fell slightly.

The company also said its operating ratio, or the ratio of operating expenses to revenue and a key measure of efficiency for railroads, improved to 79.6 percent from 85.3 percent in 2005. Railroads typically target an operating ratio of 80 percent.

BNSF reported Tuesday that earnings rose 21 percent in the fourth quarter.

Union Pacific officials predict revenue growth in 2007 of 6 percent to 7 percent and growth in earnings per share of 10 percent to 15 percent.

On Tuesday, BNSF officials forecast a 7 percent to 8 percent rise in freight revenue in 2007 and earnings per share percentage growth in the low teens.

In trading Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange, Union Pacific's shares fell 13 cents to $96.36, while BNSF's shares lost 48 cents to $77.80. - Josh Funk, The Associated Press, The San Diego Union-Tribune

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RAILROAD CONTROVERSY CONTINUES

ROSENBERG, TX -- Contractors with the Union Pacific railroad company began work on resurfacing the crossing at Old Richmond Road and Rawson Road in Rosenberg Friday morning, but officials from Rosenberg police and Fort Bend County Road and Bridge showed up to make sure the crossing remained open.

Marc Grant with FBC Road and Bridge said the reason to halt construction on the crossing itself is because that intersection is the only way in and out of the small subdivision that lies behind the tracks.

There is, however, a closed entrance to the east in Richmond's extraterritorial jurisdiction that leads to that subdivision, but Grant said the entrance is a drainage easement and is not a viable option in its current condition.

After notices were delivered to residents Tuesday, county officials were alerted about railroad plans to close the road. They put a stop to the plans Wednesday because there was not way for residents or emergency vehicles to get in or out of the neighborhood.

On Friday morning, Grant said he had reason to believe Union Pacific was pushing ahead with the project, so authorities showed up to make sure the crossing stayed open.

"We have to have one way in and out of the subdivision for emergency purposes," he said. "There have to be proper detours and routes for the residents to use during the time the crossing is closed. There needs to be an alternate plan other than what (Union Pacific) proposed on having residents park their cars across from the tracks and walking or being shuttled across."

Robert Fuller of Union Pacific said when his crew showed up to begin work Friday morning, they did not plan on closing the only entrance to the subdivision.

"We did not intend to shut down the entrance today," Fuller said. "I came here to try and resolve this issue with them. We wanted to repave the emergency road to use as a detour, but then they were asking for big bucks to do that, so I rejected that. I offered so many services to help make it easier for the residents, like having a van service and taking care of their vehicles while they parked across the street, but they rejected that, too.

"I just want to do the best job that can be done on these tracks. That way it will make life easier for these residents and the trains can run through this area faster."

The resurfacing on the railroad is being done to meet top standards and to prevent derailment because the dirt and rocks under the tracks have settled, making the tracks unstable.

For now, reconstruction on the tracks will continue on either side of the crossing, leaving the entrance open.

Grant said the crossing itself will not be worked on until another proposal in writing can be agreed upon from both the county and Union Pacific regarding plans for a detour route. - Clair Maciel, The Fort Bend Herald and Texas Coaster

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RIDING THE HURRICANE TURN, ALASKA'S FLAG-STOP TRAIN

Photo here: [seattletimes.nwsource.com]

Caption reads: The Hurricane Turn train pauses on the bridge at Hurricane Gulch, mile 284.2 of the Alaska Railroad. The bridge spans a canyon 296 feet above Hurricane Gulch. (Alaska Railroad photo)

TALKEETNA, AK -- There is a little train in Alaska that stops for hitchhikers. It's the Alaska Railroad's Hurricane Turn and it's said to be America's last flag-stop train.

The Hurricane Turn runs 55 miles north from Talkeetna, the pioneer town in the shadow of Mount McKinley, to Hurricane Gulch, the turnaround point. It is a roadless area of thick forests and roiling rivers, where Alaskans have cabins tucked into bush country.

Locals depend on the train to reach their remote cabins. Hikers and anglers board the Hurricane Turn for day trips on their own. A few others just go along for the scenery.

"We'll stop anywhere for passengers to get off or on," says Jethro Greenbaum, the engineer. "They flag me down by standing beside the tracks and waving their arms. I see a lot of white T-shirts being waved."

The Hurricane Turn operates from mid-May to mid-September, prime time for Alaska visitors.

But you won't find this train listed in tourist brochures. It's a little-known, little-promoted service that barely breaks even for the state-owned railroad.

"It's sort of our best secret," says Susie Kiger, the Alaska Railroad's manager of sales and marketing.

Visitors are welcome. But be aware that there is no food or beverage service aboard the mini-train. Bring your own picnic.

(Bush residents are not stranded after the summer season. The Hurricane Turn makes a flag-stop run the first Thursday of each month. In addition, the Aurora, the winter train that commutes between Anchorage and Fairbanks on weekends, also will make flag stops.)

Two self-propelled diesel cars known in the industry as RDCs or Budd Cars are coupled to form the Hurricane Turn. The antique cars were built in Philadelphia by the Budd Co. in 1952. Crew members jokingly call them "Budd cans."

One car is for passengers, the other for dogs, groceries, fuel cans, rifles, snowshoes, snow machines and whatever else bush residents may haul aboard. Some of their cabins are a hike of two miles or more back from the railroad tracks.

"You meet some real characters on this train," says Buddy Gray, a longtime Alaska Railroad conductor.

Gray carries a pair of handcuffs in case he needs to deal with an obstreperous passenger.

There is scenery aplenty, including clear-weather views of close-by Mount McKinley (20,320 feet high), as the Hurricane Turn follows the Susitna River north of Talkeetna. Watch for moose, bears, wolves and other wildlife.

"It's never the same, but always beautiful," Gray says.

Flag stop ahead ...

The Gabler family, of Milwaukee, signals for a pickup. Dad, David, an attorney; mother, Marybeth, a nurse; and children, Joseph, 9, and Audrey, 11, were completing a visit to an Alaska relative's bush cabin.

"We had a great time," says Marybeth Gabler. "It was like 'Jurassic Park' back there. I am 5 foot 2, and we were walking through ferns taller than that."

The Gablers spread a lunch of apples and peanut butter/honey sandwiches as the rock-and-roll train sways northward.

We pause again.

A man and his dog are waiting by the tracks. They climb into the baggage car. Meet Charley K. and his yellow lab, Sandy.

Charley is a lean splinter of a man, maybe 6 foot 2, probably in his mid-70s. He finds a seat on a shelf in the baggage car. Sandy naps at his feet.

"Just call me Charley K. That's all I'm going to tell you." "OK, Charley. Where do you live these days?"

"I have a little cabin back in the woods. Have had since 1967. I garden a little, chop firewood and trap for marten, fox and beaver. I get occasional visits from my grandkids."

"Are the winters tough?"

"Not so bad. Sometimes it goes down to 30 below, but that's about it. I have a radio telephone for emergencies. I'm retired from the railroad. I was a track inspector. I get my retirement check each month. I get to ride the trains free."

The train pulls onto the bridge at Hurricane Gulch, a graceful span 918 feet long and 296 feet above Hurricane Creek.

"That's it," says Gray. "We'll enjoy the view from the bridge for a few minutes and turn back to Talkeetna." - Stanton H. Patty, The Seattle Times

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BNSF EMPLOYEE SAVES A STRANGER'S LIFE

A BNSF Railway Comany employee helped save a stranger's life in a Havre, Montana, parts store earlier this month. Jim Lowen, chief engineer, was purchasing parts at the store for BNSF when another customer collapsed to the floor. Lowen, who has worked for BNSF since 1979, says he shouted to a clerk to call 911 for an ambulance -- fast.

At first Lowen thought the man who had collapsed was having an epileptic seizure. However, after the man went from having a pulse and labored breathing to "nothing at all," as Lowen puts it, he knew he had to administer full cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

After about seven minutes of administering CPR, Havre paramedics arrived and took over. The man was subsequently flown to Great Falls, Montana, were he underwent a cardiovascular-related procedure and is now recuperating.

Says Lowen's supervisor, Havre Shop Superintendent Curt Meyers, "I am grateful the Havre Diesel Shop has employees like Jim who are willing to help someone in need." The shop presented Lowen with a plaque for his efforts that day and Ron Hennessey, director, Safety, sent him a letter of recognition as well, notes Meyers.

Lowen says he isn't looking for any recognition, though. "It's just something a person does under the circumstances. I just hope this story encourages everyone to get CPR training." - BNSF Today

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TRANSIT NEWS

CONGRESS MEMBERS PUSH LIGHT-RAIL FUNDING

HOUSTON, TX -- As Metro began negotiations with a contractor to oversee construction of four planned bus rapid transit lines, two local members of Congress said Thursday they will push for federal money to fund light rail lines instead.

Metro said last year it would build the lines with rail in the ground and operate buses in their own right-of-way - separated from other traffic - along the track until ridership grows enough to justify switching to trains.

Some residents who voted for light rail in a 2003 referendum have objected to that, and Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, both D-Houston, said they would work with the Democratic majority in Congress to get the rail funding.

The two lawmakers attended the meeting at which the Metropolitan Transit Authority board approved negotiating with a team headed by Washington Group International for the $1 billion project to design and build the planned North, East End, Southeast and Uptown lines and a north side "intermodal terminal" for buses and trains.

Metro hopes federal dollars will fund half that cost, said spokeswoman Sandra Salazar, and the agency has permission to count $326 million already spent on its Main Street line toward local matching funds.

Metro CEO and President Frank Wilson reaffirmed Thursday that the agency plans to lay rails in the right-of-way, commonly called a guideway, from the outset.

And Metro has changed its terminology from BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) to GRT (Guided Rapid Transit) to include both options.

Jackson Lee said she and congressional colleagues who represent affected neighborhoods hope that "a GRT will be an LRT - a light rail."

Board Chairman David Wolff said Jackson Lee's appointment last week to chair the transportation and infrastructure subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee gives her "a very important role to play in the future of transit all around the country and particularly in Houston."

'Bipartisan and strong'

Jackson Lee said she would meet with federal agency heads and try to expedite funding.

"The message will have to be reinforced in Washington that Houston is now serious about moving forward with a Metro system," she said. "But because of the competitiveness of federal funding and the numbers seeking federal funds, we will have to be both bipartisan and strong."

The new Democratic edge in Congress does not guarantee success, even if Metro has support for its plans from powerful Texas Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, sits on a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that holds transportation purse strings, and he could oppose funding for routes that deviate, in his view, from those described in the 2003 resolution approved by voters.

His aide Nick Swyka said Culberson would not comment on the projects in Wednesday's vote.

However, he said, Culberson has not changed his mind that Metro is bound by a 2003 transit referendum to build the University light rail line on Westpark and not Richmond. Contracts for that project were not on Thursday's agenda.

The winning team for the four GRT lines and the intermodal terminal, calling itself Houston Transit Partners, will design and build the five projects - and possibly maintain and operate them under a separate contract to be negotiated in 2009.

Wilson said the main- tenance-operation contract could be worth $700 million over 10 to 15 years.

Major projects that Houston Transit Partners members have designed and built include the $1.9 billion Hudson-Bergen light rail line in New Jersey and the $314 million Metro Gold Line and Eastside Extension in Los Angeles.

The team won over another headed by Houston-based Fluor Corp. and Balfour Beatty and one headed by Parsons Transportation Group, Manhattan Construction and Veolia.

If Metro and Houston Transit Partners cannot agree on a contract, which they hope to sign by fall, Metro can negotiate with the competing teams. Salazar said the agency will not reveal which of those two proposals it prefers.

The winning proposal was contained in a stack of books on display in the boardroom.

Metro Executive Vice President John Sedlak said it was chosen not just on technical strengths but also for such important factors as minimizing the impact of construction on residents and businesses and meeting Metro's goal of 35 percent participation by small and disadvantaged businesses.

Some construction and site preparation on all four lines is expected to begin in July, Wilson said, with all the lines to be completed in 2012.

A team to build the University line will be selected soon, he said. - Rad Sallee, The Houston Chronicle

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DOWNED WIRE SHUTS DOWN LIGHT-RAIL LINE

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A downed overhead wire slowed the morning commute for hundreds of passengers using the Gold Line light-rail in the downtown area.

Sacramento Regional Transit spokesman Mike Wiley said the wire came down just before 08:00 in the vicinity of the 38th Street station. It affected service between the 65th Street station and the 16th Street station.

Passengers were ushered onto shuttle buses to travel between the two points; otherwise, trains continued to run westbound to the downtown Amtrak station and eastbound to Folsom.

Wiley said it's unknown what caused the wire to go down. Crews worked throughout the morning to repair it and hope to have the trains operating normally by the afternoon rush hour, he said.

Official said the affected portion of light rail is expected to be up and running again by 15:30. - Erika Chavez, The Sacramento Bee

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MESA READY TO BREAK GROUND FOR LIGHT-RAIL STATION

MESA, AZ -- The countdown to light rail has 699 days to go, and on Saturday, Mesa will be yet another step closer to becoming the future home of the train's final destination.

At 09:30 Saturday, the city will officially break ground on the Sycamore Transit Center on Main Street. It will open as a major portal for riders of the Metro light rail and passengers on Valley Metro buses when light-rail construction is completed in December 2008.

The $2.6 million center will be on the northwest corner of Main and Sycamore, the site of the old Tri-City Mall. It will offer a car drop-off area, seven bus bays with shaded pedestrian seating, an information kiosk, bike racks and lockers. A 812-space park and ride lot slated for construction in 2008 will be next to the center.

By 2020, officials project an average of 9,238 riders each weekday will rely on the Sycamore Transit Center, said Mike James, a deputy transportation director for Mesa.

"It's a wonderful thing because this transit center is really a portal to the region for the city of Mesa," he said.

For now, the Sycamore Transit Center will be the last stop along the 20-mile stretch of track that runs from Phoenix to Mesa.

A regional transportation plan approved several years ago, however, allows for the route to be extended 2.7 miles along Main to Mesa Drive.

If that stretch is constructed, it would open by 2015, city officials said.

James said the future center will be a link to Mesa's future Bus Rapid Transit Service - an express service with stops every mile that will travel to Superstition Springs Center in east Mesa.

Dave Richins, a Mesa Grande neighborhood leader, said he hopes light rail will encourage more businesses to be built in neighborhoods. He said, though, that the city will have to come up with a good land-use policy to promote such development.

"We need to capitalize on our investment in transit by having some increased density around the transit center, but you have to do density done right," Richins said. "You have to do it in a way that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood."

Marty Macurak, a spokeswoman for Valley Metro, said five transit hubs, including the one in Mesa, will provide connections for buses and the train. The light-rail line will have 27 boarding stations.

Groundbreaking

The groundbreaking event for the Sycamore Transit Center will be 09:30 Saturday, with speakers Vice Mayor Claudia Walters and representatives from Metro light rail, Valley Metro and the Mesa Grande neighborhood. - Sarah N. Lynch, The East Valley Tribune

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OREGON IRON WORKS WINS STREETCAR CONTRACT

PORTLAND, OR -- Oregon Iron Works, Inc. is set to win a $4 million contract to produce the nation's first domestically-manufactured modern streetcar, the company announced Friday with state political leaders.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, with assistance from Oregon and Washington's representatives, secured a special authorization of $4 million for domestic production of a streetcar vehicle similar to the Portland Streetcar. DeFazio said some 80 cities are interested in streetcar systems.

The Clackamas company will build a prototype streetcar under its newly-formed subsidiary, United Streetcar LLC. The prototype will be based on the model currently manufactured in the Czech Republic by Skoda, provider of cars for Portland's five-year-old streetcar system. The design is for a four-axle, double-ended, low-floor streetcar, fully compatible with the existing Portland Streetcar. The award of this contract will make Oregon Iron Works the sole U.S. manufacturer of the modern low-floor streetcar.

According to Chandra Brown, Company Vice President Chandra Brown said the contract will mean 20 new jobs immediately at Oregon Iron Works, with the potential for hundreds more as national demand for streetcars increases. - The Portland Oregonian

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LAGNIAPPE (Something extra, not always railroad related, for Saturdays only)

TURNS OUT, KODAK PARK WASN'T A PICNIC SPOT

ROCHESTER, NY -- There was a great deal of excitement among the senior class at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, New York on that Saturday morning in early September 1947. The football team had not won a single game during our entire time at the school, and now they were favored to win the City Championship.

The team and the marching band had already left in chartered buses for the first game. We were gathered at the railroad station in our tweed topcoats and porkpie hats with perhaps 60 other CBA students, waiting for the train that would take us to Rochester to watch a pre-season "tune-up" game against Aquinas in Red Wing Stadium. There was confidence in the air.

Less than 10 minutes into the game it looked like the CBA losing streak was going to last another year, and by halftime eight or 10 of us decided we should try some more interesting pursuits. We broke up into groups of two or three and started walking around the stadium to meet some girls.

It turned out that we had a much easier time finding friendly girls than the team did making a first down.

Before the second half began, our group had at least as many girls as boys and we were all getting along famously.

The girls seemed pleased when we told them that we were staying overnight at the Powers Hotel, and they suggested that we meet them at a dance at Blessed Sacrament School. We agreed, and they provided directions.

We made the short walk in great anticipation and sure enough, the girls were there.

However, we soon realized that the girls were at least as much amused at the reaction of some local boys glowering at us from the side of the dance floor as they were with our attention.

After a small conference, we inquired whether the girls lived nearby, but they laughed and told us they lived in Greece. We had no idea where that was, but they said it was far. We had two crises facing us. We had no cars and the spectators were clearly getting restless.

The girls had the answer. Since we were staying over, they asked, why didn't we meet them for a picnic around noon and we could still catch our evening train? They would bring everything and we just had to show up. We quickly agreed.

The walk back to the Powers Hotel was made in great spirits. In fact, when we came to a place right there in the middle of downtown, where there was a wall and a railing along the sidewalk, two of our group climbed up and walked the length of the railing. Imagine our surprise in the daylight as we walked that same street to Mass at St. Mary's, when we saw the river down there.
There wasn't any river in the middle of Syracuse.

I was in charge of directions to the picnic. We found the appropriate bus and boarded. The rest went to the back but I sat across from the driver so he could tell me where we should disembark.

I told him of our good fortune and even embellished it a little, saying that we were supposed to go back the previous evening, but the girls begged us to stay for the dance and the picnic. He said we were lucky indeed and the other passengers who were listening to us seemed to agree.

Finally, the driver pulled to a stop and announced in a loud voice for all to hear, "This is where you get off, boys. Enjoy your picnic in scenic Kodak Park." It was a silent ride back downtown.

I have now lived in the Rochester area for 42 years and have told that story countless times, always hoping that one of those girls from Greece would be in the crowd and own up to the prank.
I just wanted to let her know that we thought it was funny, too. Much later. - Bob Betterton, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

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WORKERS DIG UP FOUR-LEGGED NUCLEAR LEGACY

RICHLAND, WA -- Hanford workers have removed 40,000 tons of carcasses, manure and other waste from burial trenches at the former experimental animal farms at Hanford.

That included a railroad tanker car packed with animal carcasses, then buried, said Mark Buckmaster, Washington Closure Hanford remediation manager, during a presentation to a Hanford Advisory Board committee last week.

Up to 1,000 animals at a time were kept at the animal farm near F Reactor along the banks of the Columbia River, Buckmaster said.

They ranged from rodents to cats and dogs to farm animals, including cows, sheep, goats and pigs. In addition, the farm had crocodiles, although no carcasses were found, Buckmaster said.

And in interviews with former workers, one scientist remembered rattlesnakes being raised at the farm.

Animal experiments started at Hanford during World War II, when plutonium was produced for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Some were planned to learn more about the health effects of radiation to protect nuclear workers, and some were for military knowledge.

About 95 percent of the waste dug up from the animal farm trenches was manure, and radiation checks found quite a bit of it was contaminated with radioactive strontium 90, Buckmaster said.

Animal carcasses and sawdust in bags and boxes also were recovered from the trenches. Only minimal radioactive contamination was found in the carcasses, he said.

Workers expected to find the rail car after an extensive document search turned up information that animal carcasses were packed into the car, fuel was added, then the contents were incinerated.

But the burn did not appear to work as planned.

When workers opened the lid and took samples, they found almost no ashes. Instead, the car was packed with smelly carcasses wrapped in plastic that had minimal decay.

All the waste was disposed of at the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, a lined landfill for low-level radioactive waste, in central Hanford.

The animal experiments initially were done on fish, Michele Gerber, a Richland historian, said last spring as preparations to start cleaning up the trenches were being made.

The radiological animal testing program underwent a major expansion in the 1950s, with the largest testing program using sheep to determine the possible health effects of radioactive iodine released from Hanford stacks as irradiated fuel was processed to remove plutonium.

Different concentrations of radioactive iodine were included in the sheep's feed during the decade-long program, Gerber said.

Dogs were used for a time to test the health effects of breathing radioactive particles. Another program used hairless pigs to determine what might happen to soldiers if they entered a nuclear battlefield, she said.

Newspaper articles in the early 1960s talked about a man-made pond with heat lamps that was home to as many as 55 alligators at the animal farm. The alligators escaped at least once in the early 1960s by burrowing beneath a chain-link fence. - Annette Cary, McClatchy News Service, The Eugene Register-Guard

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AUSCHWITZ CURATOR TRIES TO PRESERVE CAMP

OSWIECIM, POLAND -- As they do on every anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops, witnesses to the Holocaust will gather Saturday - growing older, frailer and fewer each year. After 62 years, the camp itself is also showing signs of aging under the pressures of tourism and time.

Its new director is searching for ways to preserve vital evidence of Nazi crimes and update the exhibits without chipping away at Auschwitz's authenticity - or giving fodder for Holocaust deniers.

"The biggest dilemma of this place is preserving what is authentic while also keeping it possible for people to see and to touch," said Piotr Cywinski, a 34-year-old historian who took over in September.

"This wasn't built as a medieval castle with strong materials to last for all time," Cywinski told The Associated Press in an interview in his office in one of the Auschwitz barracks. "It was a Nazi camp built to last a short time."

Most sensitive, perhaps, is what to do about the remains of gas chambers which are slowly sinking into the ground, the result of weather, erosion and gravity.

The Nazis themselves blew up the gas chambers and crematoria toward the end of World War II as the Soviet army approached. Today, they are mostly in ruins as the Nazis left them, evidence of both the original crimes and the German attempt to cover them up.

Any decay at all poses a problem given the camp's role today as evidence of the atrocities inflicted on Jews, Gypsies, Polish political prisoners, homosexuals and others. Still visible are the railroad tracks along which inmates were brought in, the barracks where they lived in inhumane conditions, the gas chambers where they were murdered, and the crematoria where their bodies were burned.

For all that to crumble would deprive future generations of priceless historical evidence of Nazi atrocities - a further concern in light of Holocaust denial. The site provides a clear picture of how the camp operated - while many other former Nazi death camps, including Treblinka and Belzec, were dismantled and are marked today only by monuments.

Auschwitz's eventual decay is hastened because the materials used - such as wood in the watchtowers and the barracks - will eventually rot or collapse.

Cywinski also said some structures at the camp were constructed by weak and starving inmates exerting the minimum effort in order to preserve their strength.

Auschwitz is actually not one camp, but two, each with its own problems. Auschwitz I was built in an abandoned Polish military base, and Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, is a much larger complex built two miles away during the war to speed up the Nazis' "Final Solution."

Together, Auschwitz-Birkenau stands as a metaphor of evil and a symbol of all Nazi crimes, so making any change at all is fraught with great responsibility and potential controversy.

Cywinski is calling for retainer walls to be built around gas chambers to prevent them from sinking further.

"We are at a moment where we have to act," Cywinski said. "If we don't, there's the risk that in 10 or 15 years, it will no longer be possible to understand their construction."

But any tampering with the gas chambers is problematic because Holocaust deniers could seize on that - and photographs of repair work - to try to argue that the whole thing was fabricated, according to Jonathan Webber, a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Birmingham and a member of the International Auschwitz Council, a board that advises Auschwitz administrators.

Webber noted that the barbed wire at Auschwitz has already been replaced more than once since the war, because the original was so rusted. But "fiddling with the gas chambers" is different.

"Anyone tampering with gas chambers is tampering with the heart and soul of what Auschwitz represents," said Webber, who has urged the council to seek the advice of engineering experts before starting any work.

Another mission Cywinski has set for himself is modernizing the exhibit at Auschwitz I that was first set up in 1955. Included in the exhibit housed in the original brick barracks are photographs of inmates, SS offices left in their original state down to the picture of Adolf Hitler on the wall, and displays of suitcases, twisted eyeglasses, and hair taken from victims before they were killed.

Cywinski said he wants none of that removed, but some modernization is needed because the exhibit no longer meets international museum standards. He stressed that he is only starting to decide how to modernize it, and that all decisions would be made after consulting with authorities on Holocaust commemoration.

One of those is Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Israel, which says it welcomes the decision to update the museum. "It is a logical step for a museum that was erected in the 1950s," spokeswoman Estee Yaari told the AP.

The exhibit "was at the time created for people who remembered the war very well," Cywinski said. "Now we have a generation of young people whose parents don't even remember the war. ... If we don't change it, this exhibition will say always less to the next generations." - Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press, The New Orleans Times-Picayune

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JEFFERSON GEARS UP FOR UPRIVER MARDI GRAS FUN

JEFFERSON, TX -- Now in its 18th year as the "official" Mardi Gras Upriver, the Jefferson, Texas, celebration of the pre-Lenten extravaganza of all things of the flesh, fashionable costumes and fabricated things to fling is set to kick off Feb. 16.

On that Friday at 19:00 at Lion's Park, the imaginative, the inventive and the ill-prepared can get a costume on and join revelers in a downtown Jefferson parade.

The Krewe of Hebe's Doo Dah Parade is followed by the annual accompanying Alley Dance where music will continue throughout the weekend's activities. Rock and Soul group Shine Box will perform until 22:30.

Saturday brings the Hebe Krewe's Grand Parade at 14:00, preceded by live music from country singer Davin James and the funky, flashy and jazzy blues of Diddley Squat. The motorcycle parade begins at 13:30.

The Grand Parade will have dozens of local and regional "krewes" (groups who work almost year-round on float construction) who will dance, wave and toss "throws" or trinkets to the crowds bulging along the streets of the normally uncongested East Texas community.

Jefferson and Mardi Gras first crossed paths long ago. Attention to the festival signaling the beginning of the Roman Catholic lenten period by the current generation of residents came after its original recognition in Jefferson by its citizens as early as the 1870s.

The "Queen Mab Ball" was the first "imitation" Mardi Gras on record in Jefferson. The locals, perhaps fancying themselves as a smaller Crescent City, had riverboat ties to New Orleans.

The merchandise brought upriver from South Louisiana included high-class furnishings and fashionable clothing along with other manufactured goods. Influences from New Orleans architecture are still evident in some of Jefferson's historic homes and buildings.

The Jeffersonians took the name "Mab" from the queen of fairies in an Irish myth and folk-tale.

The daylong celebration featured elaborate floats, flowers and intentionally grotesque fairy creatures and trolls. Jessie Allen Wise was voted the first Queen Mab, said Jefferson Tourism Director Juanita Wakefield.

The daylong celebration featured elaborate floats, flowers and intentionally grotesque fairy creatures and trolls. Jessie Allen Wise was voted the first Queen Mab, said Jefferson Tourism Director Juanita Wakefield.

More than 150 costumes borrowed from New Orleans and then added their own fashion touches. Thirty railroad cars from Texarkana and Shreveport, LA, and the steamboat A.P. Kouns each brought loads of party people.

So don't be fooled by thinking Jefferson is a late-comer to the Mardi Gras scene. It's been there a while. Maybe it's time you went there for a taste of Mardi Gras as well.

For more complete schedules and information call Wakefield at 903-665-3733. - Anthony Davis, The Texarkana Gazette

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