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Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
Author: Larry W. Grant
Date: 11-16-2006 - 05:11
Railroad Newsline for Thursday, November 16, 2006
Compiled by Larry W. Grant
In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006
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Rail News
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Walking The Line Earns An Arrest
A confrontation between the Napa Valley Wine Train conductor and a pedestrian Tuesday afternoon stopped the train in the middle of an intersection and sent police rolling to the scene.
The Wine Train was on its way back to the station on McKinstry Street around 14:30, when the engineer noticed a man walking in the middle of the tracks at the Central and Main streets crossing, according to Napa Police Sgt. Don Honey.
The man was wearing headphones and did not hear the train's warning whistle, Honey said.
The train came to a halt, and the conductor got out, he said.
When the conductor approached the man, an argument ensued. Napa city and railroad police were called to the scene. The man was taken into custody and whisked off to the county jail.
The charges and the name of the man arrested were not available on Tuesday. - Marsha Dorgan, The Napa Valley Register
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Railroad Sues Two People Killed In New Mexico
The BNSF Railway Company has sued the estates of two people killed when their vehicles were hit by a train west of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The lawsuit claims damage to the track and a locomotive exceeding $75,000. The lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Albuquerque on November 03 --two days after 53-year-old Robert Valencia of Albuquerque and 55-year-old Carol Duran of Edgewood were killed.
Valencia was driving a pickup truck and Duran was driving a dump truck.
The lawsuit says Valencia parked close to the tracks near where they cross a dirt road and Duran parked on the tracks at the crossing.
The lawsuit alleges Valencia had told Duran to stop her vehicle on the tracks so he could talk to her and neither moved despite warnings from the train’s horn. - KOB-TV4, Albuquerque, NM
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Four Rail Cars Missing After Derailment; Could Be In The Drink
MISSOULA, MT -- Four of a coal train's cars were missing after a derailment and may be submerged in the Clark Fork River, officials said.
Representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were at the scene Tuesday.
No one was injured Monday when 27 cars derailed about 2-1/2 miles west of Trout Creek. They were part of a train with 115 cars and four locomotives.
"We do know that of the 27 cars, all but four have been accounted for," said Lynda Frost, spokeswoman for Missoula-based Montana Rail Link. "The four could be in the river, but we haven't been able to confirm they're in the river yet."
Frost said the Clark Fork may be as deep as 80 feet where the derailment occurred, making it difficult to see the cars if they are in the water.
Crews hope to have the tracks clear by midday Friday, Frost said. Meanwhile, rail traffic is being rerouted.
The train carrying coal was traveling from Buckskin, Wyoming, to Boardman, Oregon. - The Associated Press, The Billings Gazette
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Railroad Museum Restoration Project Recognized
After a decade of work, and what will ultimately be a $1 million price tag, the Friends of the Nevada State Railroad Museum was honored for its work to restore a nearly century old train car.
The group was honored by "Trains" magazine for its restoration of the McKeen motor car. The museum has been working in conjunction with the group on restoring the car since 1996.
"This award is really a strong recognition of the importance and significance of restoring this car," said Peter Barton, museum director.
Ronald Allen, president of the friends, said, "It means a lot to us because it has taken a lot of years and now to be able to help the museum make this final push to get it completed is very important."
About 300 of the cars were produced at the beginning of the 1900s.
"It represented a real shift in the railroad industry during the early 20th century. It's an internal combustion engine, not steam, and began the shift from steam to electric power on the rails," Barton said.
The removal of steam as the source of power meant that lighter branch lines of the railroad could provide the same services as major lines, but at a much lower cost, according to Barton.
Of the 300 McKeens originally built, only three are still known to exist. The Nevada State Railroad Museum has two and there is a third in Alaska.
"It's a long process to restore it. We can't go to Napa every time we need a part," Barton said. "I'd be lying if I said any part of a restoration is easy."
The car is about two-thirds restored and is expected to be completed by late 2008. The car will become the cornerstone of the museum's exhibit and will occasionally be operated along the tracks at the museum.
"It's about 80 feet long, so that precludes us from picking it up and trucking it somewhere so it will pretty much spend its time here," Barton said.
The funding for the restoration was accomplished through private donors, the Friends of the Nevada State Railroad Museum and from the state of Nevada.
"The state helped us tremendously by providing funding for the labor and giving us the shop facilities," Barton said.
The project was chosen from among 50 applicants from across the country and comes with a $10,000 prize. The award was announced Saturday afternoon at a conference of the National Association of Railway Museums. - Jarid Shipley, The North Lake Tahoe Bonanza
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RailAmerica Going Private
RailAmerica, a leading railroad for industrial Indiana, will be taken private.
The Boca Raton, Florida, company said Wednesday it will be acquired by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group for about $1.1 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.
RailAmerica operates a railroad through Greensburg, Indiana, site of the new Honda car assembly plant.
The company's lines include the Indiana Southern, which operates in the Petersburg area; the Chicago Fort Wayne & Eastern, which serves heavy industry in northern Illinois, northern Indiana and northwest Ohio; the Central Railroad of Indianapolis, which runs from Marion to Kokomo; and the Central Railroad of Indiana, which runs through Shelbyville and Greensburg to Cincinnati.
RailAmerica stock surged 28 percent this afternoon to $15.82 a share.
Fortress, a hedge fund based in New York, was founded in 1998 and manages $26 billion for pension funds, foundations, endowments and other institutions.
Fortress holdings include the real estate investment trust Newcastle Investment of New York and newspaper publisher Liberty Group of Northbrook, Illinois. - The Indianapolis Star
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Police Warn Restaurants About Scam
Fremont, Nebraska Police are warning area restaurants about a scam involving debit card numbers that might be stolen.
"They're calling restaurants, saying they're with Union Pacific Railroad and ordering for the railroad guys," said Fremont Detective Joyce Henke. "They order food in the $40 to $50 range and ask for $150 cash back in an envelope."
She said the caller asks the restaurant to give the food and cash to a person sent to pick it up. She also said the railroad does not operate this way.
"Thankfully, most places want (the person picking up the order) to sign the slip," Henke said. "They refuse, but the restaurant has already prepared the food so they are out that cost."
At least one of six restaurants believed to be scammed has given the food and the cash. She said the card numbers are from Lincoln residents, and the cards have not been physically stolen.
"This is a good reminder to people to safeguard their debit card numbers because in many cases you never sign anything (when using a debit card)," Henke said. Restaurants receiving calls with this scenario are asked to call the Fremont Police Detective Bureau at 727-2680. Henke said police are especially interested in physical descriptions, vehicle descriptions and license plate numbers. - The Fremont Tribune
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Pinal Rail Yard Running Into Opposition
PINAL COUNTY, AZ -- Pinal County may be heading for a trainwreck of environmentalists, farmers and home builders opposed to a proposed rail yard just north of the Pima County line.
The State Land Department wants the designation of more than 10,000 acres of land between Picacho Peak and Red Rock changed from "natural resource, development sensitive" to "urban, industrial." This would allow the land department to sell almost 1,900 acres to Union Pacific Railroad, which plans to build a switching yard across the highway from Picacho Peak State Park.
Pinal County supervisors will decide the issue on Nov. 29.
With a 5-3 vote, the county planning and zoning commission on Oct. 26 recommended denial of the land department's request.
Citizens have formed a group to lobby against the potential rail yard. The collective, which includes a landowner, a resort owner and a consultant, calls its struggle a "David and Goliath battle" and wants Union Pacific to find another location for its switching yard. The group set up a Web site to promote its cause: www.savethepeak.org
The proposed "hump" yard would contain 36 tracks on 585 acres, almost twice the size of Tucson's 24-track, 300-acre rail yard at 22nd Street. A Union Pacific yard in Phoenix consists of just 20 tracks on 140 acres. The Tucson yard stretches about two miles in length and a quarter-mile in width. The proposed yard in Pinal would stretch a little longer, Union Pacific officials said.
"We just think it's a bad place," said Marana Councilman Herb Kai, who leases from the state much of the land that Union Pacific wants. "Union Pacific is a big elephant that sits on anyone and doesn't care who they're sitting on."
Kai, who lives in Marana and owns or leases thousands of acres of farmland in Pima and Pinal counties, raises pecan trees and small grains on his Pinal farm. He has leased the 2,000 acres since 1995. If Union Pacific buys the land, Kai would receive a sum of money for improvements he made to the property, valued at about $150,000 for the entire acreage.
Of course, Union Pacific would never bid on the land if supervisors reject the requested zoning change, railroad spokesman Mark Davis said, adding that the proposed switching yard would provide a big boost for the company's expansion between Los Angeles and El Paso.
"We're looking at ways to increase sufficiency in order to continue to serve Tucson companies and the international market between Tucson and Nogales," Davis said. "Both yards in Tucson and Phoenix are at capacity and they are landlocked."
Union Pacific operates 32,400 miles of track in 23 states west of the Mississippi River. With 8,000 locomotives and 107,000 freight cars, the railroad is the largest in the United States.
Many freights traveling through Tucson hang a left at Casa Grande and head for Los Angeles. Others roll east to Kansas City, Chicago and other points.
As its name implies, a switching yard is the setting for the changing of cars on a train. If a 100 car train rolls into a 36-track yard, the switching occurs on about 20 tracks. Say the 100 car train becomes three trains, then one train might go to Los Angeles, one to Kansas City and one to El Paso.
Workers break apart trains and reassemble them based not only on location but by type of load. Freights carry through Tucson a variety of products, including lumber, cement, aggregate, auto parts, farming supplies, coal and chemicals.
Some opponents are concerned about train mishaps and chemical spills while others have concerns about diesel engines left idle 24 hours a day.
"Diesel residue will form on all surrounding plant life, destroying the vegetation and animals that depend on the plant life to live," states the Web site of the opposition group, which also includes Picacho Peak RV Resort Co-owner Michael Wirth.
"This rail yard will destroy our business and the thousands of travelers that visit the area," Wirth said.
If approved, the yard will sit just northeast of an underway 4,000-home development at Red Rock and another potentially huge subdivision once called La Osa that's now off the drawing board but still under consideration for development. The Picacho Mountains, which figure prominently in the Tohono O'odham creation story, would hover over the yard to the east. Across the highway to the west sets Picacho Peak State Park and its wildflowers, trails and campgrounds.
State parks officials seem a little steamed that "no one has ever approached the (state parks board) about these pending changes to the land uses around Picacho Peak State Park," State Parks Executive Director Kenneth Trevous wrote to Pinal County Supervisor Lioinel Ruiz. "The proposed switching and maintenance facility is clearly not compatible with a State landmark park."
The state parks board last year spent $265,000 and acquired 10 acres to protect the viewshed of Picacho Peak.
Three Pinal supervisors hold the switching yard's fate. State Land's requested land use change already has met two rejections at the hands of a citizens committee and the planning commission.
Pinal Supervisor David Snider refused to comment, citing the fact that the proposed rail yard does not fall in his district. Supervisor Sandie Smith did not return phone calls.
"I've kind of stayed away from (the issue)," Ruiz said, adding that he wants to get "more definitive" details about the rail yard before making his decision. "If anything else, it'd be a good job center and we look for that."
The yard will bring about 290 jobs and an annual payroll of more than $20 million to southern Pinal. Of course, some of those jobs could come in the form of transfers from the Tucson yard, stripping Pima County of jobs.
Environmentalists have identified the area between Red Rock and Picacho as a wildlife corridor, a safe place for animals to cross the interstate. Picaho Peak State Park Manager Robert Young has concerns about the negative impact the yard would have on night-time stargazing, a big draw for the campers who visit the park.
"I think it's a bad idea," said Christina McVie, executive director of Desert Watch, a non-profit activist corporation consisting of scientists, landowners, conservationists and government agencies. "I'm not against a switching yard, but they could put it closer to Casa Grande."
Union Pacific vowed to work with state and federal agencies on environmental issues. The company would use all intermodal trains, noted Union Pacific's spokesman. An intermodal train carries both shipping containers and highway semi-trailers.
"One intermodal train takes about 200 trucks off the road," Davis said. "It's more fuel efficient."
How the other 8,100 acres of the 10,000 will be used is unknown. Officials said they will reveal more of those plans if supervisors approve the current land use request.
In Marana, town officials have taken no official position on the proposed rail yard. The yard would have no effect on the planned Villages of Tortolita, a 7,000-home development which could require Marana to annex into Pinal, said Town Manager Mike Reuwsaat. - Eric Beidel, The Northwest Explorer
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Chemical Industry Leaders Commit To Ambitious Chlorine Rial Tank Car Replacement Plans
WASHINGTON, DC -- Several leading chemical manufacturers Wednesday announced plans to replace their entire U.S. and Canadian chlorine tank car fleets by the end of 2017 with new rail tank cars that will feature significantly enhanced safety and security attributes.
Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem), The Dow Chemical Company, US Magnesium LLC and Bayer MaterialScience reaffirmed their drive for continuous improvement in the safe and secure rail transportation of chlorine through this aggressive rail tank car replacement commitment and announced the formation of a Chlorine Rail Tank Car Development Coordination Panel.
This new effort is a logical progression to the next generation of safe and secure rail tank cars. Multiple safety enhancements have been incorporated into the current generation of tank cars and they are performing well, with a strong record of performance in accident situations. In the spirit of Responsible Care® and continuous improvement, the industry is preparing to break through to the next level of safety and security performance-based improvements.
The primary goal of the Coordination Panel is to accelerate the chlorine industry's development of enhanced tank car designs that can be leveraged across the chemical industry in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Transport Canada. The Panel welcomes the participation of other chlorine shippers willing to commit to the same rail tank car replacement plans.
Panel participants believe that enhancing chlorine transportation safety and security is a shared responsibility between shippers, railroads and the government and must go beyond rail tank car design to include a comprehensive review of all the factors involved, including train operations, human factors, routing and track conditions.
Rail transport is the safest mode of transportation for chlorine and other hazardous materials that are critical to the U.S. economy and national security. Although chlorine is best known as a disinfectant for drinking water, it also is essential to the manufacturing of 93 percent of all pharmaceuticals, numerous life-saving medical devices, nearly all crop protection chemicals, and the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), mostly used as building and construction materials -- not to mention advanced materials critical to protecting our armed forces.
"Of all the aspects involved in the safe rail transport of chemicals, shippers like OxyChem can have the greatest positive impact on rail tank car design," said Stephen R. Fitzgerald, OxyChem Sr. Vice President-Manufacturing, Engineering & Technology. "While we believe the current rail tank car fleet is dependable, our commitment to health, safety, environment and security excellence and continuous improvement leads us to support development of a next generation tank car design that incorporates significant safety and security enhancements."
"We at Bayer bring a great deal of experience in improving rail transit safety and rail car design to the group, and we are pleased to participate. Such active involvement in distribution safety improvement aligns with our commitment to the Responsible Care Initiative," said Robert Blake, Director- Distribution Safety, Bayer MaterialScience NAFTA. "We believe that any decision on a new tank car design approach should be based on sound science and engineering and consider all factors of design, construction and operation."
"US Magnesium is looking forward to working with the Chlorine Institute and the members of the industry to achieve significant improvements in transportation reliability and safety," adds Dr. Howard I. Kaplan, Vice President, Chemicals and By-Products, US Magnesium LLC.
The Chlorine Institute has agreed to facilitate the new Panel, which will work in close coordination with the Next Generation Rail Tank Car project -- a joint initiative of Dow, Union Pacific Railroad and Union Tank Car Company. In addition, the Chlorine Institute will incorporate the efforts of its Tank Car of the Future Task Force into these efforts.
"We are pleased to work with these companies and the Chlorine Institute to continue to build upon our shared commitment to Responsible Care," said Henry Ward, The Next Generation Rail Tank Car Project Leader and Global Director of Transportation Safety and Security for Dow. "Together our efforts will help enable the safe and secure production and distribution of essential products for decades to come."
The Next Generation Rail Tank Car project is focused on the design and implementation of a next generation rail tank car for highly hazardous chemicals that provides a step change in safety and security performance. This project is part of a much larger set of initiatives to drive improved rail safety and security that include efforts to address operational safety, material sourcing and routing, implementation of advanced tracking technologies and emergency preparedness. - PRNewswire, Source: Dow Chemical Company
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Freight Railroads Post Busiest Intermodal Season In History
WASHINGTON, DC -- This fall has been the busiest intermodal season in history for the nation's freight railroads, which could signal a big holiday season for the nation's retailers.
Intermodal is the movement of goods in large containers that can move seamlessly from cargo ships to freight trains to trucks. And this time of year, those containers come filled with toys, consumer electronics, clothes and other merchandise that will stock the stores for the holidays.
More intermodal containers are moving on the nation's freight railroads this fall than ever before. During October, an intermodal container or trailer was loaded onto a train every 2.4 seconds, making it the busiest month in history for rail intermodal.
"Whether they started out in Singapore or Spokane, the hottest toys, the latest fashions and the most up-to-date consumer electronics are making their way across the country in sealed intermodal containers via train," said Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads.
Anthony Hatch, a Wall Street transportation analyst, noted that intermodal is the fastest growing segment of the freight rail business, and will continue to grow rapidly because of its ability to link American businesses with Asian and European businesses.
"It is the single most important ingredient in the global economy," said Hatch. "Right now, America's trade is growing at about twice the rate of the GDP. And that's largely due to the fact that freight railroads are moving more freight than ever before, at rates that are, on average, less than they were 25 years ago."
Intermodal is a win-win form of transportation, moving freight by train for long haul and truck for the shorter trips. It combines the flexibility of truck with the economy and fuel efficiency of rail, providing retailers - and ultimately consumers - with cost-effective services. As an added benefit, it reduces highway congestion and air pollution by moving trucks off the highway and onto the railroad. - BusinessWire.com, Source: Association of American Railroads
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Main Street McDonald's Getting $1 Million Face Lift
BARSTOW, CA -- The McDonald's restaurant at Barstow Station on Main Street is undergoing a $1 million renovation, according to Billy Rosenberg, co-owner of the property.
The McDonald's Corporation, Rosenberg said, is upgrading all areas of the restaurant. The restaurant is the only McDonald's in the country that is housed in authentic railroad cars, which are from the 1920s and 1930s.
New quarry tile floors will be installed in the bathrooms along with ceramic tile walls with marble accents. The four railroad cars, which seat a total of around 50 diners, will be redone with new wallpaper for a more modern look, according to Mc-Donald Corporation's Director of Operations Kevin Kereluik.
The outside of the old railroad dining cars will be painted to match the original stainless steel exterior.
The restaurant, he said, serves more than 500,000 customers a year. It was built in 1976.
The restaurant will soon feature historic displays of the old train cars that make up the restaurant and the Santa Fe Railroad that served Barstow, Kereluik said. He said he has recently found a couple of Santa Fe timetables from 1908 and has ads for the Barstow Station from 1944.
"We will have a collage of items from every decade from the 1920s on," he said. The restaurant is open during the renovations, but the bathrooms will be closed until Nov. 22. Patrons may use nearby restrooms in the Barstow Station. The renovations are expected to be finished by December 15. - Howard Decker, The Barstow Desert Dispatch
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BNSF Employee's Music Gets National Exposure
If you see him walking the BNSF Railway Company hallways in Fort Worth, Texas, you may not think he’s a superstar, but his recent song says differently.
Jerry James, manager, Strategic Studies, Finance, is a BNSF employee by day and an up-and-coming rock star by night.
His musical group, the Foxymorons, produced their third album last year and one song from the album, "This Heart of Mine," received national exposure after a snippet was played on the television show Men in Trees, last Friday. Men in Trees, which runs on the ABC network, stars Anne Heche.
James says he was very surprised when he received a notice that the Foxymorons song would be highlighted on the show.
"The music supervisor for the show is also a host for a radio show," says James. "She played our music on her program and thought the song would be a good fit."
For those who may have missed the Men in Trees episode, don’t fret; rerun season is near. Look for "The Menaissance," episode No. 9. Please remember to check your local listings as the schedule may change. - BNSF Today
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BNSF Rail Safety Symposium Held In Nebraska
Tuesday, Nov. 14, the BNSF Railway Company held a rail safety symposium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nearly 70 people attended the symposium, including many state legislators, public service commission officials, emergency response agency leaders from communities across Nebraska and officials from the Federal Railroad Administration.
"This is the first BNSF Rail Symposium held in Lincoln and it was a big success," said Bob Munguia, director, Government Affairs, Lincoln, Neb. "The focus of the symposium was to increase awareness and inform our neighboring communities of what BNSF is doing in safety."
Attendees also learned the latest industry data on rail safety including grade crossing safety, security, rail and yard operations, hazardous materials transportation, and environmental protection and remediation. Other information included presentations on railroad economics, the BNSF business model and how BNSF affects the local and state economy.
The rail symposium also included various speakers such as Rick Sheehy, Nebraska lieutenant governor and director, Nebraska’s Homeland Security; BNSF employees in Government Affairs, Engineering Services, Hazardous Material Transportation and more.
"The safety symposiums provide an important forum for BNSF not only to improve understanding of the great progress we have made in improving rail safety, security and the environment, but to improve the dialog with key partners in the communities we serve," said Charles Shewmake, assistant vice president, Government Affairs. - BNSF Today
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Professor, Students Venture Into Old Railroad Tunnel
UPPER TOWNSHIP, OH -- There was no nail biting, teeth grinding or sweaty palms. In fact, the Ohio University Southern seniors taking their final exam in a cultural studies class seemed relaxed.
They joked. They laughed. They all huddled together roasting hot dogs - probably because their final was not your run-of-the-mill test, it was a hands-on lesson in local history and a way of life buried underground for years.
On Tuesday, a group of students from instructor Dave Lucas' class - Cultural Inquiry in Diversity in Familiar and Foreign Contexts - ventured into an old Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railway tunnel on a gravel road in the Porter Gap area of Upper Township. The students recently discovered the tunnel after months of research in the area.
The tunnel, which is now flooded with several feet of water, was originally named after Vesuvius but was later changed to the Royersville Tunnel. It was completed in 1850 and used to transport native iron ore, limestone, charcoal and timber into the Hanging Rock region.
The tunnel is a dark, eerie place that has been traveled through only a handful of times over the past few decades. The clear, calm water covers the wood and steel tracks, but they are still visible with the help of some flashlights.
Last August, David Lucas and his students started surveying the Porter Gap area as part of an Appalachian Culture class. After their initial report was done about a long-forgotten African-American cemetery, they kept hearing more about the area and decided to dig deeper in the area's rich history.
"The field research that we did was something that was very exciting," said Andy Hannon, an organizational communications major. "The people on Porter Gap were just great. They not only opened their homes to us (OUS students), they also opened their hearts.
After learning more from local residents, students decided to find the tunnel that they had heard so much about. It was a mission that many of them took very seriously.
Lucas said the class voted unanimously to go and chart the area before the site was lost forever. The class divided into research teams to measure, photograph and record all the facts they could about the tunnel. The class plans to produce a video documentary as well, Lucas said.
Garland Monceaux, a business administration major, was one of Lucas' first students to explore the tunnel. Although he admits he is not a history buff, he said participating in the Porter Gap tunnel project has been an exciting part of his college education.
"It has been very exciting," said Monceaux, who piloted boats carrying visitors into the tunnel Tuesday. "I think the more we talked to the people in the area and the more we learned, all of us really got into it more and more."
According to Lucas, the Porter Gap tunnel is the only one of its kind on the D, T &I Railway, which was owned by car mogul Henry Ford for a short time.
The tunnel had a major rood collapse in 1926. It was then cleaned out, electric lights were added and it was shortened from 1,050 feet to 920 feet.
The last train passed over the tracks in 1974. Grand Trunk Western Railroad bought the company in the early 1980s and the tracks south of Washington Courthouse were abandoned. - Kirsten Stanley, The Ironton Tribune
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Transit News
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Draper Approves Rail Route
DRAPER, UT -- Expounding to a full house Tuesday night, City Council members voted unanimously to approve Utah Transit Authority's hotly contested light-rail route to curve eastward through Draper.
In recent weeks, the route, which runs along an old Union Pacific rail line purchased by UTA in 1993, served to polarize this rural but rapidly growing community. People came out either for or against it.
Prior to the vote, Councilman Jeff Stenquist sought to clarify its significance.
"In 1992, the council recommended you buy that right of way - it was the preferred route at that time. Why are we rehashing this?" Stenquist asked.
UTA Project Manager G.J. LaBonty explained that the technical transit study, which compared several alternatives, was done to comply with federal requirements.
"If there were further extensions into Utah County, the feds would want to see there was adequate study done on this, to make sure it wasn't predetermined," LaBonty said.
"Wasn't it kind of predetermined?" asked Councilman Peter Larkin.
To some extent it was, said LaBonty - hence the advance purchase of the right of way. However, the study showed that none of the alternative alignments were feasible, he added.
Stenquist suggested that UTA's approach of seeking public input on the alternatives caused confusion and ignited the subsequent controversy when people discovered the real choice was between the UTA right of way or no line at all.
"It poured gas on the whole thing," Stenquist said. "People thought this body had a choice when that was not the case."
Barry and Jean Goff have lived near the planned route for nine years - Tuesday night they said they were unhappy about the council's vote but not surprised.
"We knew this would happen. They already had their minds made up" Jean Goff said.
For the Goffs and other members of Citizens for Responsible Transportation, a grass-roots group opposing the route, the fight's not over.
"We're prepared to do a referendum if our legal counsel says we can - and we might have to go to court to get that right," said Summer Pugh. "But the big issue is why UTA and Draper misled the citizens by asking our opinions on the alternatives after the fact," Pugh said. "It's a bait and switch."
Quick Facts about Draper's TRAX
* 8-mile route
* 3.5 miles border the Porter Rockwell Trail
* $245 million to $300 million to build
* $6 million a year to operate
* 3,540 new weekday riders expected
* average speed 37 mph
* trains to run every 15 minutes
* would reduce vehicle trips by 1,150
* ranks low compared with other regional transit projects
* construction several years out
- Cathy McKitrick, The Salt Lake Tribune
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Next Step For KC's Light-Rail Plan Is Research And Flexibility
Much has happened since Kansas Citians woke up a week ago to discover that they had approved a billion-dollar light-rail plan.
City officials fortunately have backed away from threats to quickly repeal the plan, promoted through a petition by Clay Chastain.
And the city sensibly has begun to collect information on how to proceed from here. Respect for the voters' decision last week requires that.
City Hall eventually may ask voters to approve a significantly modified light-rail plan. Before that can happen, solid answers must be found to some long-standing questions.
What's the potential for ridership along different routes? Should the spine of the system go down Broadway (as Chastain sketches out) or Main or Grand? Which routes have the most potential for spurring nearby redevelopment, particularly near permanent rail stations? How much in federal and state funds could be available, and how much should local taxpayers kick in? And if the 3/8-cent sales tax approved last week by voters is devoted to light rail, what happens to bus service that now relies on the tax?
The answers obtained in the next few months will help determine whether the city can successfully compete for federal construction funds.
In The Star Tuesday, Chastain indicated he didn't want to refine his system. He asked whether "we can just vote again because the city does not like the way the election turned out?"
That's an odd question from Chastain, who continued to pursue light-rail plans despite earlier defeats at the polls. As he knows, the public always has the right to change previous plans.
For instance, Seattle voters approved a monorail expansion in 1997, endorsed funding it in 2002 and then killed the entire plan in 2005 after costs ballooned.
In Florida, voters in 2000 passed a constitutional amendment mandating a high-speed transportation system, but four years later repealed the amendment.
City leaders who have long fought Chastain's ideas have a duty to reach out to work with him. But Chastain should try to cooperate with them as well and remain open to the possibility of reasonable changes. - Editorial Opinion, The Kansas City Star
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Union Station Redevelopers Named
DENVER, CO -- Continuum Partners/East West Partners were tapped officially Wednesday to redevelop Denver's historic Union Station.
The publicly supported construction project will be the city's largest since Denver International Airport and will create the hub for metro Denver's $4.7 billion FasTracks transit network.
At a press conference this morning, officials representing the four public agencies that own the 125-year-old train station -- RTD, Denver, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Denver Regional Council of Governments -- cited several highlights they most appreciated about the Continuum/East West team's plan. Among them:
· The completion of all transportation and street-level improvements by 2011, which includes light rail, commuter rail and the regional bus system.
· The complete underground construction of commuter rail and portions of the regional bus system.
· The integration of private development, such as shops and restaurants, with public transportation, and the integration of public spaces and pedestrian-friendly connections with the surrounding historic neighborhood.
· The construction of 1.8 million square feet of development over nine years supported by a reasonable financing plan. The overall cost is $75 million less than the competing proposal.
· A commitment to involve small businesses in at least 15 percent of the project's predevelopment work.
· A design that complements the character of Denver's historic LoDo neighborhood.
The Continuum/East West design calls for 730,000 square feet of office space and 557 residential units. A 678,000- square-foot retail component would feature a grocery store and a large-format retailer, along with boutiques, restaurants and bars. The plan also calls for burying bus and commuter-rail lines next to the station, but would light-rail lines at street level about two blocks to the west.
In a memo to Mayor John Hickenlooper, top RTD and Denver officials said the Continuum/ East West plan would have "less of a negative impact" on transit ridership than the proposal of the other finalist, Union Station Partners, led by real-estate developer Cherokee Investment Partners.
The Continuum/East West plan "will tend to reinforce the distinctive character of individual buildings consistent with the surrounding neighborhoods," the memo continued.
The memo came from Denver planning chief Peter Park, Hickenlooper aide Diane Barrett and Regional Transportation District planning director Liz Rao.
In contrast, the rival Union Station Partners plan to develop "large buildings of uniform design ... is not allowed within the adopted zoning for the site, nor is it in keeping with the varied architecture that is characteristic of Lower Downtown and the Commons neighborhood." That team's proposal included high-rise structures of up to 45 stories.
A group of real-estate and financial experts who have been advising Union Station's owners unanimously approved a recommendation to move forward with Continuum/ East West in "exclusive contract negotiations," according to an e-mail that circulated Tuesday.
Those negotiations are designed to settle on precise financial and development details for the Union Station remake.
Longtime LoDo developer Dana Crawford, a member of the advisory committee, sided with her fellow committee members, even though she recently voted to endorse the Union Station Partners proposal through Friends of Union Station.
"I have to serve the group I'm working with," and the team "wanted a unanimous response," Crawford said. "It seemed like the right thing to do."
"I don't think they're done with this story," said Marilee Utter, who has long been active with downtown development issues. "Being selected for negotiations doesn't mean it's a done deal."
The memo to Hickenlooper, obtained by The Denver Post, said the city's urban-design team believes the Continuum/East West plan is preferable to that of Union Station Partners.
Park, Rao and Barrett - key members of the owners' negotiating team - huddled Tuesday with about 10 other members of the group to review final financial details provided by both teams of bidders.
Development of all transit, public space, retail, office and residential construction on the 19.5-acre Union Station site is expected to be worth $1.5 billion when it is completed.
The memo to Hickenlooper said the Union Station Partners plan anticipates 2.9 million square feet of mixed development on the station site, while Continuum/East West has "50 percent less density."
Continuum/East West "has stated that if the market is able to absorb greater density, it will build more," the memo adds. The Union Station Partners plan "requires the development of at least the entire 2.9 million square feet in order to be successful financially."
The Continuum/East West proposal also has a far better plan for accommodating parking on the Union Station site, the document said. Continuum locates parking in the center of blocks, "thereby minimizing the visual impact of structured parking." Union Station Partners, in contrast, proposed decks of parking above the first level of some buildings. It required "the lower floors of street-facing buildings to mask the visual impact of exposed parking for up to 8 floors above street level," the memo added, "distracting from street-oriented activity and increasing the height of the buildings."
The Continuum plan "does more to extend and encourage Denver's commitment to adding life on the streets," the memo said.
With its underground station, Union Station Partners would get light-rail riders closer to the depot and a transfer to commuter rail than Continuum/East West, but RTD said the Continuum group compensates for that disadvantage by extending the 16th Street Mall shuttle, and a second proposed downtown shuttle, two blocks to the street-level rail platform. - Jeffrey Leib, Margaret Jackson, and Julie Dunn, The Denver Post
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Planners Weigh Sacramento's Transportation Options
SACRAMENTO, CA -- As Sacramento begins to evolve into a busy city of high-rise buildings and a more dense population, urban planners are already working on how to cope with transportation needs far greater than those of today.
Sacramento is literally growing up.
Thousands of downtown high-rise housing units are under way or planned. Even low-rise projects have commercial space below and lofts above.
When you add in the future vision for revitalization in West Sacramento, you've got a major metropolitan center developing along the river.
The Towers on Capitol Mall project will have 800 condos with 2,000 residents, and that's just the beginning.
In 30 years, experts project another 20,000 residents in downtown and midtown. How will they get around?
Minus floating cars, new options will be needed for short trips. And experts said we'll be doing more downtown walking and biking.
Experts also believe we need to reclaim the idea of streetcars that once connected Sacramento.
"We call streetcars pedestrian accelerators. They're really a way for people to take those trips around town without using their car.
And they might not have enough time or the weather might not suit walking 3/4 of a mile," transportation planner Charles Hales said. "The streetcar is a different animal than light rail in that you don't have to dedicate a lane. They operate typically in traffic, sharing a lane of traffic and stopping like a bus does -- more frequently than light rail."
Hales is one of the top urban planners on the West Coast. He said Sacramento should look at his hometown of Portland, Oregon. The city has eight bridge crossings over the Willamette River and has made walking a top priority.
"We've said for years in Portland that our corporate philosophy in transportation is that we wanted the pedestrian to be the first-class passenger. You need more space dedicated to pedestrians -- wider sidewalks, more pathways, better connections, better ways across the river -- so you have to provide more and more for pedestrians as the place increases in density and activity," Hales said.
Options now being considered include a streetcar loop, a new four-lane bridge connecting Broadway to 15th Street in West Sacramento, rebuilding the I Street Bridge and adding a bike and pedestrian bridge over the Sacramento River at R Street.
Sacramento gets more than its share of criticism for increasing traffic congestion, air pollution and the lack of an exciting downtown core. But here's something rather encouraging about the planning now under way.
"I've worked in all over the country. I've been involved in these issues of making it a great street life. And I have not seen any place that has as good an opportunity as Sacramento and West Sacramento have here," Hales said.
To view a related photo, please click on the following link:
[www.kcra.com]
- KCAR-TV3, Sacramento, CA
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THE END
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Compiled by Larry W. Grant
In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006
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Rail News
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Walking The Line Earns An Arrest
A confrontation between the Napa Valley Wine Train conductor and a pedestrian Tuesday afternoon stopped the train in the middle of an intersection and sent police rolling to the scene.
The Wine Train was on its way back to the station on McKinstry Street around 14:30, when the engineer noticed a man walking in the middle of the tracks at the Central and Main streets crossing, according to Napa Police Sgt. Don Honey.
The man was wearing headphones and did not hear the train's warning whistle, Honey said.
The train came to a halt, and the conductor got out, he said.
When the conductor approached the man, an argument ensued. Napa city and railroad police were called to the scene. The man was taken into custody and whisked off to the county jail.
The charges and the name of the man arrested were not available on Tuesday. - Marsha Dorgan, The Napa Valley Register
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Railroad Sues Two People Killed In New Mexico
The BNSF Railway Company has sued the estates of two people killed when their vehicles were hit by a train west of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The lawsuit claims damage to the track and a locomotive exceeding $75,000. The lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Albuquerque on November 03 --two days after 53-year-old Robert Valencia of Albuquerque and 55-year-old Carol Duran of Edgewood were killed.
Valencia was driving a pickup truck and Duran was driving a dump truck.
The lawsuit says Valencia parked close to the tracks near where they cross a dirt road and Duran parked on the tracks at the crossing.
The lawsuit alleges Valencia had told Duran to stop her vehicle on the tracks so he could talk to her and neither moved despite warnings from the train’s horn. - KOB-TV4, Albuquerque, NM
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Four Rail Cars Missing After Derailment; Could Be In The Drink
MISSOULA, MT -- Four of a coal train's cars were missing after a derailment and may be submerged in the Clark Fork River, officials said.
Representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were at the scene Tuesday.
No one was injured Monday when 27 cars derailed about 2-1/2 miles west of Trout Creek. They were part of a train with 115 cars and four locomotives.
"We do know that of the 27 cars, all but four have been accounted for," said Lynda Frost, spokeswoman for Missoula-based Montana Rail Link. "The four could be in the river, but we haven't been able to confirm they're in the river yet."
Frost said the Clark Fork may be as deep as 80 feet where the derailment occurred, making it difficult to see the cars if they are in the water.
Crews hope to have the tracks clear by midday Friday, Frost said. Meanwhile, rail traffic is being rerouted.
The train carrying coal was traveling from Buckskin, Wyoming, to Boardman, Oregon. - The Associated Press, The Billings Gazette
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Railroad Museum Restoration Project Recognized
After a decade of work, and what will ultimately be a $1 million price tag, the Friends of the Nevada State Railroad Museum was honored for its work to restore a nearly century old train car.
The group was honored by "Trains" magazine for its restoration of the McKeen motor car. The museum has been working in conjunction with the group on restoring the car since 1996.
"This award is really a strong recognition of the importance and significance of restoring this car," said Peter Barton, museum director.
Ronald Allen, president of the friends, said, "It means a lot to us because it has taken a lot of years and now to be able to help the museum make this final push to get it completed is very important."
About 300 of the cars were produced at the beginning of the 1900s.
"It represented a real shift in the railroad industry during the early 20th century. It's an internal combustion engine, not steam, and began the shift from steam to electric power on the rails," Barton said.
The removal of steam as the source of power meant that lighter branch lines of the railroad could provide the same services as major lines, but at a much lower cost, according to Barton.
Of the 300 McKeens originally built, only three are still known to exist. The Nevada State Railroad Museum has two and there is a third in Alaska.
"It's a long process to restore it. We can't go to Napa every time we need a part," Barton said. "I'd be lying if I said any part of a restoration is easy."
The car is about two-thirds restored and is expected to be completed by late 2008. The car will become the cornerstone of the museum's exhibit and will occasionally be operated along the tracks at the museum.
"It's about 80 feet long, so that precludes us from picking it up and trucking it somewhere so it will pretty much spend its time here," Barton said.
The funding for the restoration was accomplished through private donors, the Friends of the Nevada State Railroad Museum and from the state of Nevada.
"The state helped us tremendously by providing funding for the labor and giving us the shop facilities," Barton said.
The project was chosen from among 50 applicants from across the country and comes with a $10,000 prize. The award was announced Saturday afternoon at a conference of the National Association of Railway Museums. - Jarid Shipley, The North Lake Tahoe Bonanza
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RailAmerica Going Private
RailAmerica, a leading railroad for industrial Indiana, will be taken private.
The Boca Raton, Florida, company said Wednesday it will be acquired by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group for about $1.1 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.
RailAmerica operates a railroad through Greensburg, Indiana, site of the new Honda car assembly plant.
The company's lines include the Indiana Southern, which operates in the Petersburg area; the Chicago Fort Wayne & Eastern, which serves heavy industry in northern Illinois, northern Indiana and northwest Ohio; the Central Railroad of Indianapolis, which runs from Marion to Kokomo; and the Central Railroad of Indiana, which runs through Shelbyville and Greensburg to Cincinnati.
RailAmerica stock surged 28 percent this afternoon to $15.82 a share.
Fortress, a hedge fund based in New York, was founded in 1998 and manages $26 billion for pension funds, foundations, endowments and other institutions.
Fortress holdings include the real estate investment trust Newcastle Investment of New York and newspaper publisher Liberty Group of Northbrook, Illinois. - The Indianapolis Star
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Police Warn Restaurants About Scam
Fremont, Nebraska Police are warning area restaurants about a scam involving debit card numbers that might be stolen.
"They're calling restaurants, saying they're with Union Pacific Railroad and ordering for the railroad guys," said Fremont Detective Joyce Henke. "They order food in the $40 to $50 range and ask for $150 cash back in an envelope."
She said the caller asks the restaurant to give the food and cash to a person sent to pick it up. She also said the railroad does not operate this way.
"Thankfully, most places want (the person picking up the order) to sign the slip," Henke said. "They refuse, but the restaurant has already prepared the food so they are out that cost."
At least one of six restaurants believed to be scammed has given the food and the cash. She said the card numbers are from Lincoln residents, and the cards have not been physically stolen.
"This is a good reminder to people to safeguard their debit card numbers because in many cases you never sign anything (when using a debit card)," Henke said. Restaurants receiving calls with this scenario are asked to call the Fremont Police Detective Bureau at 727-2680. Henke said police are especially interested in physical descriptions, vehicle descriptions and license plate numbers. - The Fremont Tribune
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Pinal Rail Yard Running Into Opposition
PINAL COUNTY, AZ -- Pinal County may be heading for a trainwreck of environmentalists, farmers and home builders opposed to a proposed rail yard just north of the Pima County line.
The State Land Department wants the designation of more than 10,000 acres of land between Picacho Peak and Red Rock changed from "natural resource, development sensitive" to "urban, industrial." This would allow the land department to sell almost 1,900 acres to Union Pacific Railroad, which plans to build a switching yard across the highway from Picacho Peak State Park.
Pinal County supervisors will decide the issue on Nov. 29.
With a 5-3 vote, the county planning and zoning commission on Oct. 26 recommended denial of the land department's request.
Citizens have formed a group to lobby against the potential rail yard. The collective, which includes a landowner, a resort owner and a consultant, calls its struggle a "David and Goliath battle" and wants Union Pacific to find another location for its switching yard. The group set up a Web site to promote its cause: www.savethepeak.org
The proposed "hump" yard would contain 36 tracks on 585 acres, almost twice the size of Tucson's 24-track, 300-acre rail yard at 22nd Street. A Union Pacific yard in Phoenix consists of just 20 tracks on 140 acres. The Tucson yard stretches about two miles in length and a quarter-mile in width. The proposed yard in Pinal would stretch a little longer, Union Pacific officials said.
"We just think it's a bad place," said Marana Councilman Herb Kai, who leases from the state much of the land that Union Pacific wants. "Union Pacific is a big elephant that sits on anyone and doesn't care who they're sitting on."
Kai, who lives in Marana and owns or leases thousands of acres of farmland in Pima and Pinal counties, raises pecan trees and small grains on his Pinal farm. He has leased the 2,000 acres since 1995. If Union Pacific buys the land, Kai would receive a sum of money for improvements he made to the property, valued at about $150,000 for the entire acreage.
Of course, Union Pacific would never bid on the land if supervisors reject the requested zoning change, railroad spokesman Mark Davis said, adding that the proposed switching yard would provide a big boost for the company's expansion between Los Angeles and El Paso.
"We're looking at ways to increase sufficiency in order to continue to serve Tucson companies and the international market between Tucson and Nogales," Davis said. "Both yards in Tucson and Phoenix are at capacity and they are landlocked."
Union Pacific operates 32,400 miles of track in 23 states west of the Mississippi River. With 8,000 locomotives and 107,000 freight cars, the railroad is the largest in the United States.
Many freights traveling through Tucson hang a left at Casa Grande and head for Los Angeles. Others roll east to Kansas City, Chicago and other points.
As its name implies, a switching yard is the setting for the changing of cars on a train. If a 100 car train rolls into a 36-track yard, the switching occurs on about 20 tracks. Say the 100 car train becomes three trains, then one train might go to Los Angeles, one to Kansas City and one to El Paso.
Workers break apart trains and reassemble them based not only on location but by type of load. Freights carry through Tucson a variety of products, including lumber, cement, aggregate, auto parts, farming supplies, coal and chemicals.
Some opponents are concerned about train mishaps and chemical spills while others have concerns about diesel engines left idle 24 hours a day.
"Diesel residue will form on all surrounding plant life, destroying the vegetation and animals that depend on the plant life to live," states the Web site of the opposition group, which also includes Picacho Peak RV Resort Co-owner Michael Wirth.
"This rail yard will destroy our business and the thousands of travelers that visit the area," Wirth said.
If approved, the yard will sit just northeast of an underway 4,000-home development at Red Rock and another potentially huge subdivision once called La Osa that's now off the drawing board but still under consideration for development. The Picacho Mountains, which figure prominently in the Tohono O'odham creation story, would hover over the yard to the east. Across the highway to the west sets Picacho Peak State Park and its wildflowers, trails and campgrounds.
State parks officials seem a little steamed that "no one has ever approached the (state parks board) about these pending changes to the land uses around Picacho Peak State Park," State Parks Executive Director Kenneth Trevous wrote to Pinal County Supervisor Lioinel Ruiz. "The proposed switching and maintenance facility is clearly not compatible with a State landmark park."
The state parks board last year spent $265,000 and acquired 10 acres to protect the viewshed of Picacho Peak.
Three Pinal supervisors hold the switching yard's fate. State Land's requested land use change already has met two rejections at the hands of a citizens committee and the planning commission.
Pinal Supervisor David Snider refused to comment, citing the fact that the proposed rail yard does not fall in his district. Supervisor Sandie Smith did not return phone calls.
"I've kind of stayed away from (the issue)," Ruiz said, adding that he wants to get "more definitive" details about the rail yard before making his decision. "If anything else, it'd be a good job center and we look for that."
The yard will bring about 290 jobs and an annual payroll of more than $20 million to southern Pinal. Of course, some of those jobs could come in the form of transfers from the Tucson yard, stripping Pima County of jobs.
Environmentalists have identified the area between Red Rock and Picacho as a wildlife corridor, a safe place for animals to cross the interstate. Picaho Peak State Park Manager Robert Young has concerns about the negative impact the yard would have on night-time stargazing, a big draw for the campers who visit the park.
"I think it's a bad idea," said Christina McVie, executive director of Desert Watch, a non-profit activist corporation consisting of scientists, landowners, conservationists and government agencies. "I'm not against a switching yard, but they could put it closer to Casa Grande."
Union Pacific vowed to work with state and federal agencies on environmental issues. The company would use all intermodal trains, noted Union Pacific's spokesman. An intermodal train carries both shipping containers and highway semi-trailers.
"One intermodal train takes about 200 trucks off the road," Davis said. "It's more fuel efficient."
How the other 8,100 acres of the 10,000 will be used is unknown. Officials said they will reveal more of those plans if supervisors approve the current land use request.
In Marana, town officials have taken no official position on the proposed rail yard. The yard would have no effect on the planned Villages of Tortolita, a 7,000-home development which could require Marana to annex into Pinal, said Town Manager Mike Reuwsaat. - Eric Beidel, The Northwest Explorer
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Chemical Industry Leaders Commit To Ambitious Chlorine Rial Tank Car Replacement Plans
WASHINGTON, DC -- Several leading chemical manufacturers Wednesday announced plans to replace their entire U.S. and Canadian chlorine tank car fleets by the end of 2017 with new rail tank cars that will feature significantly enhanced safety and security attributes.
Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem), The Dow Chemical Company, US Magnesium LLC and Bayer MaterialScience reaffirmed their drive for continuous improvement in the safe and secure rail transportation of chlorine through this aggressive rail tank car replacement commitment and announced the formation of a Chlorine Rail Tank Car Development Coordination Panel.
This new effort is a logical progression to the next generation of safe and secure rail tank cars. Multiple safety enhancements have been incorporated into the current generation of tank cars and they are performing well, with a strong record of performance in accident situations. In the spirit of Responsible Care® and continuous improvement, the industry is preparing to break through to the next level of safety and security performance-based improvements.
The primary goal of the Coordination Panel is to accelerate the chlorine industry's development of enhanced tank car designs that can be leveraged across the chemical industry in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Transport Canada. The Panel welcomes the participation of other chlorine shippers willing to commit to the same rail tank car replacement plans.
Panel participants believe that enhancing chlorine transportation safety and security is a shared responsibility between shippers, railroads and the government and must go beyond rail tank car design to include a comprehensive review of all the factors involved, including train operations, human factors, routing and track conditions.
Rail transport is the safest mode of transportation for chlorine and other hazardous materials that are critical to the U.S. economy and national security. Although chlorine is best known as a disinfectant for drinking water, it also is essential to the manufacturing of 93 percent of all pharmaceuticals, numerous life-saving medical devices, nearly all crop protection chemicals, and the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), mostly used as building and construction materials -- not to mention advanced materials critical to protecting our armed forces.
"Of all the aspects involved in the safe rail transport of chemicals, shippers like OxyChem can have the greatest positive impact on rail tank car design," said Stephen R. Fitzgerald, OxyChem Sr. Vice President-Manufacturing, Engineering & Technology. "While we believe the current rail tank car fleet is dependable, our commitment to health, safety, environment and security excellence and continuous improvement leads us to support development of a next generation tank car design that incorporates significant safety and security enhancements."
"We at Bayer bring a great deal of experience in improving rail transit safety and rail car design to the group, and we are pleased to participate. Such active involvement in distribution safety improvement aligns with our commitment to the Responsible Care Initiative," said Robert Blake, Director- Distribution Safety, Bayer MaterialScience NAFTA. "We believe that any decision on a new tank car design approach should be based on sound science and engineering and consider all factors of design, construction and operation."
"US Magnesium is looking forward to working with the Chlorine Institute and the members of the industry to achieve significant improvements in transportation reliability and safety," adds Dr. Howard I. Kaplan, Vice President, Chemicals and By-Products, US Magnesium LLC.
The Chlorine Institute has agreed to facilitate the new Panel, which will work in close coordination with the Next Generation Rail Tank Car project -- a joint initiative of Dow, Union Pacific Railroad and Union Tank Car Company. In addition, the Chlorine Institute will incorporate the efforts of its Tank Car of the Future Task Force into these efforts.
"We are pleased to work with these companies and the Chlorine Institute to continue to build upon our shared commitment to Responsible Care," said Henry Ward, The Next Generation Rail Tank Car Project Leader and Global Director of Transportation Safety and Security for Dow. "Together our efforts will help enable the safe and secure production and distribution of essential products for decades to come."
The Next Generation Rail Tank Car project is focused on the design and implementation of a next generation rail tank car for highly hazardous chemicals that provides a step change in safety and security performance. This project is part of a much larger set of initiatives to drive improved rail safety and security that include efforts to address operational safety, material sourcing and routing, implementation of advanced tracking technologies and emergency preparedness. - PRNewswire, Source: Dow Chemical Company
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Freight Railroads Post Busiest Intermodal Season In History
WASHINGTON, DC -- This fall has been the busiest intermodal season in history for the nation's freight railroads, which could signal a big holiday season for the nation's retailers.
Intermodal is the movement of goods in large containers that can move seamlessly from cargo ships to freight trains to trucks. And this time of year, those containers come filled with toys, consumer electronics, clothes and other merchandise that will stock the stores for the holidays.
More intermodal containers are moving on the nation's freight railroads this fall than ever before. During October, an intermodal container or trailer was loaded onto a train every 2.4 seconds, making it the busiest month in history for rail intermodal.
"Whether they started out in Singapore or Spokane, the hottest toys, the latest fashions and the most up-to-date consumer electronics are making their way across the country in sealed intermodal containers via train," said Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads.
Anthony Hatch, a Wall Street transportation analyst, noted that intermodal is the fastest growing segment of the freight rail business, and will continue to grow rapidly because of its ability to link American businesses with Asian and European businesses.
"It is the single most important ingredient in the global economy," said Hatch. "Right now, America's trade is growing at about twice the rate of the GDP. And that's largely due to the fact that freight railroads are moving more freight than ever before, at rates that are, on average, less than they were 25 years ago."
Intermodal is a win-win form of transportation, moving freight by train for long haul and truck for the shorter trips. It combines the flexibility of truck with the economy and fuel efficiency of rail, providing retailers - and ultimately consumers - with cost-effective services. As an added benefit, it reduces highway congestion and air pollution by moving trucks off the highway and onto the railroad. - BusinessWire.com, Source: Association of American Railroads
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Main Street McDonald's Getting $1 Million Face Lift
BARSTOW, CA -- The McDonald's restaurant at Barstow Station on Main Street is undergoing a $1 million renovation, according to Billy Rosenberg, co-owner of the property.
The McDonald's Corporation, Rosenberg said, is upgrading all areas of the restaurant. The restaurant is the only McDonald's in the country that is housed in authentic railroad cars, which are from the 1920s and 1930s.
New quarry tile floors will be installed in the bathrooms along with ceramic tile walls with marble accents. The four railroad cars, which seat a total of around 50 diners, will be redone with new wallpaper for a more modern look, according to Mc-Donald Corporation's Director of Operations Kevin Kereluik.
The outside of the old railroad dining cars will be painted to match the original stainless steel exterior.
The restaurant, he said, serves more than 500,000 customers a year. It was built in 1976.
The restaurant will soon feature historic displays of the old train cars that make up the restaurant and the Santa Fe Railroad that served Barstow, Kereluik said. He said he has recently found a couple of Santa Fe timetables from 1908 and has ads for the Barstow Station from 1944.
"We will have a collage of items from every decade from the 1920s on," he said. The restaurant is open during the renovations, but the bathrooms will be closed until Nov. 22. Patrons may use nearby restrooms in the Barstow Station. The renovations are expected to be finished by December 15. - Howard Decker, The Barstow Desert Dispatch
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BNSF Employee's Music Gets National Exposure
If you see him walking the BNSF Railway Company hallways in Fort Worth, Texas, you may not think he’s a superstar, but his recent song says differently.
Jerry James, manager, Strategic Studies, Finance, is a BNSF employee by day and an up-and-coming rock star by night.
His musical group, the Foxymorons, produced their third album last year and one song from the album, "This Heart of Mine," received national exposure after a snippet was played on the television show Men in Trees, last Friday. Men in Trees, which runs on the ABC network, stars Anne Heche.
James says he was very surprised when he received a notice that the Foxymorons song would be highlighted on the show.
"The music supervisor for the show is also a host for a radio show," says James. "She played our music on her program and thought the song would be a good fit."
For those who may have missed the Men in Trees episode, don’t fret; rerun season is near. Look for "The Menaissance," episode No. 9. Please remember to check your local listings as the schedule may change. - BNSF Today
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BNSF Rail Safety Symposium Held In Nebraska
Tuesday, Nov. 14, the BNSF Railway Company held a rail safety symposium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nearly 70 people attended the symposium, including many state legislators, public service commission officials, emergency response agency leaders from communities across Nebraska and officials from the Federal Railroad Administration.
"This is the first BNSF Rail Symposium held in Lincoln and it was a big success," said Bob Munguia, director, Government Affairs, Lincoln, Neb. "The focus of the symposium was to increase awareness and inform our neighboring communities of what BNSF is doing in safety."
Attendees also learned the latest industry data on rail safety including grade crossing safety, security, rail and yard operations, hazardous materials transportation, and environmental protection and remediation. Other information included presentations on railroad economics, the BNSF business model and how BNSF affects the local and state economy.
The rail symposium also included various speakers such as Rick Sheehy, Nebraska lieutenant governor and director, Nebraska’s Homeland Security; BNSF employees in Government Affairs, Engineering Services, Hazardous Material Transportation and more.
"The safety symposiums provide an important forum for BNSF not only to improve understanding of the great progress we have made in improving rail safety, security and the environment, but to improve the dialog with key partners in the communities we serve," said Charles Shewmake, assistant vice president, Government Affairs. - BNSF Today
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Professor, Students Venture Into Old Railroad Tunnel
UPPER TOWNSHIP, OH -- There was no nail biting, teeth grinding or sweaty palms. In fact, the Ohio University Southern seniors taking their final exam in a cultural studies class seemed relaxed.
They joked. They laughed. They all huddled together roasting hot dogs - probably because their final was not your run-of-the-mill test, it was a hands-on lesson in local history and a way of life buried underground for years.
On Tuesday, a group of students from instructor Dave Lucas' class - Cultural Inquiry in Diversity in Familiar and Foreign Contexts - ventured into an old Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railway tunnel on a gravel road in the Porter Gap area of Upper Township. The students recently discovered the tunnel after months of research in the area.
The tunnel, which is now flooded with several feet of water, was originally named after Vesuvius but was later changed to the Royersville Tunnel. It was completed in 1850 and used to transport native iron ore, limestone, charcoal and timber into the Hanging Rock region.
The tunnel is a dark, eerie place that has been traveled through only a handful of times over the past few decades. The clear, calm water covers the wood and steel tracks, but they are still visible with the help of some flashlights.
Last August, David Lucas and his students started surveying the Porter Gap area as part of an Appalachian Culture class. After their initial report was done about a long-forgotten African-American cemetery, they kept hearing more about the area and decided to dig deeper in the area's rich history.
"The field research that we did was something that was very exciting," said Andy Hannon, an organizational communications major. "The people on Porter Gap were just great. They not only opened their homes to us (OUS students), they also opened their hearts.
After learning more from local residents, students decided to find the tunnel that they had heard so much about. It was a mission that many of them took very seriously.
Lucas said the class voted unanimously to go and chart the area before the site was lost forever. The class divided into research teams to measure, photograph and record all the facts they could about the tunnel. The class plans to produce a video documentary as well, Lucas said.
Garland Monceaux, a business administration major, was one of Lucas' first students to explore the tunnel. Although he admits he is not a history buff, he said participating in the Porter Gap tunnel project has been an exciting part of his college education.
"It has been very exciting," said Monceaux, who piloted boats carrying visitors into the tunnel Tuesday. "I think the more we talked to the people in the area and the more we learned, all of us really got into it more and more."
According to Lucas, the Porter Gap tunnel is the only one of its kind on the D, T &I Railway, which was owned by car mogul Henry Ford for a short time.
The tunnel had a major rood collapse in 1926. It was then cleaned out, electric lights were added and it was shortened from 1,050 feet to 920 feet.
The last train passed over the tracks in 1974. Grand Trunk Western Railroad bought the company in the early 1980s and the tracks south of Washington Courthouse were abandoned. - Kirsten Stanley, The Ironton Tribune
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Transit News
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Draper Approves Rail Route
DRAPER, UT -- Expounding to a full house Tuesday night, City Council members voted unanimously to approve Utah Transit Authority's hotly contested light-rail route to curve eastward through Draper.
In recent weeks, the route, which runs along an old Union Pacific rail line purchased by UTA in 1993, served to polarize this rural but rapidly growing community. People came out either for or against it.
Prior to the vote, Councilman Jeff Stenquist sought to clarify its significance.
"In 1992, the council recommended you buy that right of way - it was the preferred route at that time. Why are we rehashing this?" Stenquist asked.
UTA Project Manager G.J. LaBonty explained that the technical transit study, which compared several alternatives, was done to comply with federal requirements.
"If there were further extensions into Utah County, the feds would want to see there was adequate study done on this, to make sure it wasn't predetermined," LaBonty said.
"Wasn't it kind of predetermined?" asked Councilman Peter Larkin.
To some extent it was, said LaBonty - hence the advance purchase of the right of way. However, the study showed that none of the alternative alignments were feasible, he added.
Stenquist suggested that UTA's approach of seeking public input on the alternatives caused confusion and ignited the subsequent controversy when people discovered the real choice was between the UTA right of way or no line at all.
"It poured gas on the whole thing," Stenquist said. "People thought this body had a choice when that was not the case."
Barry and Jean Goff have lived near the planned route for nine years - Tuesday night they said they were unhappy about the council's vote but not surprised.
"We knew this would happen. They already had their minds made up" Jean Goff said.
For the Goffs and other members of Citizens for Responsible Transportation, a grass-roots group opposing the route, the fight's not over.
"We're prepared to do a referendum if our legal counsel says we can - and we might have to go to court to get that right," said Summer Pugh. "But the big issue is why UTA and Draper misled the citizens by asking our opinions on the alternatives after the fact," Pugh said. "It's a bait and switch."
Quick Facts about Draper's TRAX
* 8-mile route
* 3.5 miles border the Porter Rockwell Trail
* $245 million to $300 million to build
* $6 million a year to operate
* 3,540 new weekday riders expected
* average speed 37 mph
* trains to run every 15 minutes
* would reduce vehicle trips by 1,150
* ranks low compared with other regional transit projects
* construction several years out
- Cathy McKitrick, The Salt Lake Tribune
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Next Step For KC's Light-Rail Plan Is Research And Flexibility
Much has happened since Kansas Citians woke up a week ago to discover that they had approved a billion-dollar light-rail plan.
City officials fortunately have backed away from threats to quickly repeal the plan, promoted through a petition by Clay Chastain.
And the city sensibly has begun to collect information on how to proceed from here. Respect for the voters' decision last week requires that.
City Hall eventually may ask voters to approve a significantly modified light-rail plan. Before that can happen, solid answers must be found to some long-standing questions.
What's the potential for ridership along different routes? Should the spine of the system go down Broadway (as Chastain sketches out) or Main or Grand? Which routes have the most potential for spurring nearby redevelopment, particularly near permanent rail stations? How much in federal and state funds could be available, and how much should local taxpayers kick in? And if the 3/8-cent sales tax approved last week by voters is devoted to light rail, what happens to bus service that now relies on the tax?
The answers obtained in the next few months will help determine whether the city can successfully compete for federal construction funds.
In The Star Tuesday, Chastain indicated he didn't want to refine his system. He asked whether "we can just vote again because the city does not like the way the election turned out?"
That's an odd question from Chastain, who continued to pursue light-rail plans despite earlier defeats at the polls. As he knows, the public always has the right to change previous plans.
For instance, Seattle voters approved a monorail expansion in 1997, endorsed funding it in 2002 and then killed the entire plan in 2005 after costs ballooned.
In Florida, voters in 2000 passed a constitutional amendment mandating a high-speed transportation system, but four years later repealed the amendment.
City leaders who have long fought Chastain's ideas have a duty to reach out to work with him. But Chastain should try to cooperate with them as well and remain open to the possibility of reasonable changes. - Editorial Opinion, The Kansas City Star
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Union Station Redevelopers Named
DENVER, CO -- Continuum Partners/East West Partners were tapped officially Wednesday to redevelop Denver's historic Union Station.
The publicly supported construction project will be the city's largest since Denver International Airport and will create the hub for metro Denver's $4.7 billion FasTracks transit network.
At a press conference this morning, officials representing the four public agencies that own the 125-year-old train station -- RTD, Denver, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Denver Regional Council of Governments -- cited several highlights they most appreciated about the Continuum/East West team's plan. Among them:
· The completion of all transportation and street-level improvements by 2011, which includes light rail, commuter rail and the regional bus system.
· The complete underground construction of commuter rail and portions of the regional bus system.
· The integration of private development, such as shops and restaurants, with public transportation, and the integration of public spaces and pedestrian-friendly connections with the surrounding historic neighborhood.
· The construction of 1.8 million square feet of development over nine years supported by a reasonable financing plan. The overall cost is $75 million less than the competing proposal.
· A commitment to involve small businesses in at least 15 percent of the project's predevelopment work.
· A design that complements the character of Denver's historic LoDo neighborhood.
The Continuum/East West design calls for 730,000 square feet of office space and 557 residential units. A 678,000- square-foot retail component would feature a grocery store and a large-format retailer, along with boutiques, restaurants and bars. The plan also calls for burying bus and commuter-rail lines next to the station, but would light-rail lines at street level about two blocks to the west.
In a memo to Mayor John Hickenlooper, top RTD and Denver officials said the Continuum/ East West plan would have "less of a negative impact" on transit ridership than the proposal of the other finalist, Union Station Partners, led by real-estate developer Cherokee Investment Partners.
The Continuum/East West plan "will tend to reinforce the distinctive character of individual buildings consistent with the surrounding neighborhoods," the memo continued.
The memo came from Denver planning chief Peter Park, Hickenlooper aide Diane Barrett and Regional Transportation District planning director Liz Rao.
In contrast, the rival Union Station Partners plan to develop "large buildings of uniform design ... is not allowed within the adopted zoning for the site, nor is it in keeping with the varied architecture that is characteristic of Lower Downtown and the Commons neighborhood." That team's proposal included high-rise structures of up to 45 stories.
A group of real-estate and financial experts who have been advising Union Station's owners unanimously approved a recommendation to move forward with Continuum/ East West in "exclusive contract negotiations," according to an e-mail that circulated Tuesday.
Those negotiations are designed to settle on precise financial and development details for the Union Station remake.
Longtime LoDo developer Dana Crawford, a member of the advisory committee, sided with her fellow committee members, even though she recently voted to endorse the Union Station Partners proposal through Friends of Union Station.
"I have to serve the group I'm working with," and the team "wanted a unanimous response," Crawford said. "It seemed like the right thing to do."
"I don't think they're done with this story," said Marilee Utter, who has long been active with downtown development issues. "Being selected for negotiations doesn't mean it's a done deal."
The memo to Hickenlooper, obtained by The Denver Post, said the city's urban-design team believes the Continuum/East West plan is preferable to that of Union Station Partners.
Park, Rao and Barrett - key members of the owners' negotiating team - huddled Tuesday with about 10 other members of the group to review final financial details provided by both teams of bidders.
Development of all transit, public space, retail, office and residential construction on the 19.5-acre Union Station site is expected to be worth $1.5 billion when it is completed.
The memo to Hickenlooper said the Union Station Partners plan anticipates 2.9 million square feet of mixed development on the station site, while Continuum/East West has "50 percent less density."
Continuum/East West "has stated that if the market is able to absorb greater density, it will build more," the memo adds. The Union Station Partners plan "requires the development of at least the entire 2.9 million square feet in order to be successful financially."
The Continuum/East West proposal also has a far better plan for accommodating parking on the Union Station site, the document said. Continuum locates parking in the center of blocks, "thereby minimizing the visual impact of structured parking." Union Station Partners, in contrast, proposed decks of parking above the first level of some buildings. It required "the lower floors of street-facing buildings to mask the visual impact of exposed parking for up to 8 floors above street level," the memo added, "distracting from street-oriented activity and increasing the height of the buildings."
The Continuum plan "does more to extend and encourage Denver's commitment to adding life on the streets," the memo said.
With its underground station, Union Station Partners would get light-rail riders closer to the depot and a transfer to commuter rail than Continuum/East West, but RTD said the Continuum group compensates for that disadvantage by extending the 16th Street Mall shuttle, and a second proposed downtown shuttle, two blocks to the street-level rail platform. - Jeffrey Leib, Margaret Jackson, and Julie Dunn, The Denver Post
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Planners Weigh Sacramento's Transportation Options
SACRAMENTO, CA -- As Sacramento begins to evolve into a busy city of high-rise buildings and a more dense population, urban planners are already working on how to cope with transportation needs far greater than those of today.
Sacramento is literally growing up.
Thousands of downtown high-rise housing units are under way or planned. Even low-rise projects have commercial space below and lofts above.
When you add in the future vision for revitalization in West Sacramento, you've got a major metropolitan center developing along the river.
The Towers on Capitol Mall project will have 800 condos with 2,000 residents, and that's just the beginning.
In 30 years, experts project another 20,000 residents in downtown and midtown. How will they get around?
Minus floating cars, new options will be needed for short trips. And experts said we'll be doing more downtown walking and biking.
Experts also believe we need to reclaim the idea of streetcars that once connected Sacramento.
"We call streetcars pedestrian accelerators. They're really a way for people to take those trips around town without using their car.
And they might not have enough time or the weather might not suit walking 3/4 of a mile," transportation planner Charles Hales said. "The streetcar is a different animal than light rail in that you don't have to dedicate a lane. They operate typically in traffic, sharing a lane of traffic and stopping like a bus does -- more frequently than light rail."
Hales is one of the top urban planners on the West Coast. He said Sacramento should look at his hometown of Portland, Oregon. The city has eight bridge crossings over the Willamette River and has made walking a top priority.
"We've said for years in Portland that our corporate philosophy in transportation is that we wanted the pedestrian to be the first-class passenger. You need more space dedicated to pedestrians -- wider sidewalks, more pathways, better connections, better ways across the river -- so you have to provide more and more for pedestrians as the place increases in density and activity," Hales said.
Options now being considered include a streetcar loop, a new four-lane bridge connecting Broadway to 15th Street in West Sacramento, rebuilding the I Street Bridge and adding a bike and pedestrian bridge over the Sacramento River at R Street.
Sacramento gets more than its share of criticism for increasing traffic congestion, air pollution and the lack of an exciting downtown core. But here's something rather encouraging about the planning now under way.
"I've worked in all over the country. I've been involved in these issues of making it a great street life. And I have not seen any place that has as good an opportunity as Sacramento and West Sacramento have here," Hales said.
To view a related photo, please click on the following link:
[www.kcra.com]
- KCAR-TV3, Sacramento, CA
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THE END
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| Subject | Written By | Date/Time (PST) |
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 Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06 |
Larry W. Grant | 11-16-2006 - 05:11 |
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Re: Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
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William Nicholson | 11-16-2006 - 08:10 |
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Re: Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
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Jon Sapp | 11-16-2006 - 11:14 |
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Re: Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
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mp12point7 | 11-16-2006 - 12:20 |
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Re: Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
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jimboylan | 11-16-2006 - 13:20 |
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Re: Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
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Jim Fitzgerald | 11-16-2006 - 14:12 |
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Re: Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
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Robert | 11-16-2006 - 17:43 |
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Re: Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
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Great Big Rollin' Railroad | 12-04-2011 - 15:33 |
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Great Big Rollin' Railroad
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Great Big Rollin' Railroad | 12-04-2011 - 15:34 |
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Re: Great Big Rollin' Railroad
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GH | 09-08-2012 - 17:10 |
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Re: Great Big TRollin' Railroad
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Author toxic | 03-06-2022 - 13:18 |
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. | 09-08-2012 - 17:09 |
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Re: Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
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Steve Lee.... has also stated that it | 08-28-2016 - 12:39 |
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Steve Lee.... has also stated that it wouldn't make much sense for UP to restore a Big Boy
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Steve Lee.... has also stated that it | 08-28-2016 - 12:40 |
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test delete
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xxxxx | 11-01-2016 - 18:33 |
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Re: Railroad Newsline for Thursday, 11/16/06
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- | 06-11-2017 - 16:17 |
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test post -- ignore
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test | 07-29-2017 - 09:22 |
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Re: test post -- ignore
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test | 07-29-2017 - 09:26 |
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Re: test post -- ignore
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test | 07-29-2017 - 09:27 |
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Re: test post -- ignore
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test | 07-29-2017 - 09:29 |
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Re: test post -- ignore
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test | 07-29-2017 - 09:33 |
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wally wally wally
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5000! | 12-05-2020 - 22:53 |