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Railroad Newsline for Wednesday, 02/14/07
Author: Larry W. Grant
Date: 02-14-2007 - 00:40
Railroad Newsline for Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Compiled by Larry W. Grant
In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006
RAIL NEWS
BNSF ISSUES WEEKLY PRB COAL UPDATE FOR FEBRUARY 13, 2007
Average Daily PRB Train Loadings Exceed 50 for Third Consecutive Week of 2007
Average BNSF daily train loadings for the Powder River Basin (PRB), including Wyoming and Montana mines, totaled 50.1 trains per day for the week ended February 11, 2007, compared with an average of 48.7 trains per day for the week ended February 12, 2006. Planned and unplanned mine outages resulted in an average of 5.1 missed loading opportunities per day for the week ended February 11, 2007.
Year-to-date through February 11, 2007, BNSF has loaded a total daily average of 49.2 trains in the PRB, up 2 percent from the 48.2 trains loaded through the same period in 2006.
Systemwide, BNSF has loaded a total of 32.5 million tons through February 11, 2007, up 1 percent from the 2006 year-to-date total of 32.1 million tons.
Construction Projects Update
Turnouts are being installed to link three additional yard tracks at the Donkey Creek Yard near Rozet, Wyoming, to the yard's six existing tracks, which were completed last year. The three new tracks are scheduled to go into service in March after all turnouts are installed and the track is surfaced.
Installation of turnouts is scheduled this week on the first seven-mile stretch of a total of 14 miles of new second main track being built this year between Angora and Northport, Nebraska. The first seven-mile segment is expected to go into service in mid-March after completion of signal work. - BNSF Service Advisory
UNION PACIFIC AND GE TRANSPORTATION HOST GREEN LOCOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY TOUR
OMAHA, NE -- Union Pacific and General Electric Tuesday announced the Green Locomotive Technology Tour to showcase current and experimental technologies that are helping reduce locomotive emissions. The environmental rail tour will wind through California Feb. 20 - 28 with planned stops in West Colton, Fresno, Stockton, Roseville, Oakland, Los Angeles and Long Beach.
At each stop, UP and GE representatives will brief federal, state and local air quality officials, regulatory and elected officials, and high school students on the companies' leading-edge emissions reduction technologies. Guests will also receive an overview of fuel conservation initiatives and railroad safety practices along with an on-board tour of environmentally friendly locomotives.
"This tour is truly a rolling environmental laboratory that is displaying the proven technology we're using today and the experimental technology we're testing to help lower locomotive emissions and improve fuel economy," said Jim Young, chairman and chief executive officer, Union Pacific. "We stand by our commitment to improve the environment while delivering the products Americans need."
By the end of 2007 Union Pacific will have invested more than $5 billion to purchase new, environmentally friendly locomotives, and will have invested millions of dollars to test technologies that reduce emissions from older locomotives.
Trains, like those operated by Union Pacific, are already one of the nation's most environmentally friendly modes of moving freight - and are three times more fuel efficient than over-the-road trucks. Investments in new technology and infrastructure have made the railroad industry environmentally "cleaner and greener" than ever before.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a typical over-the-road truck emits three times more nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates per ton-mile than a locomotive.
According to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, if just 10 percent of intercity freight now moving by highway were shifted to rail, 2.5 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted into the air.
"GE Transportation is proud to partner with Union Pacific on this environmental tour through California," said John M. Dineen, president and CEO, GE Transportation. "This tour demonstrates our commitment to protecting the environment by investing in technologies like GE's Evolution Series locomotive and other fuel-saving technologies. Together, our efforts are establishing a gold standard in the industry for investing in new, reliable technologies that continue to reduce emissions and improve fuel savings."
Green Locomotive Technology Tour Featured Locomotives:
· GE Evolution. GE Transportation invested more than $300 million and eight years of research and development in the GE Evolution Series over-the-road diesel locomotive. The result is an evolutionary diesel locomotive that incorporates the best of existing, proven diesel locomotive engineering with new advanced technologies. To date, Evolution Series technology has yielded 24 U.S. patents, 13 patents pending and 18 invention disclosures.
· Genset switcher. UP is pioneering the new low-emission Genset switch locomotive for use in rail yards. The locomotive uses modified, Tier 3 certified off-road diesel engines and is expected to reduce NOx and particulate matter emissions by as much as 80 to 90 percent while achieving a 16 percent reduction in fuel consumption. The railroad began testing a prototype of the Genset in Long Beach in 2006; the first production unit was delivered to the Los Angeles Basin rail yards in January 2007; UP expects to have more than 160 Gensets in operation by the end of 2007.
· Oxicat long-haul locomotive. UP is field testing an experimental oxidation catalyst (Oxicat) filter on a high-horsepower long-haul locomotive built in June 1989. The Oxicat, which operates much like a catalytic converter on today's cars and trucks, was installed inside the diesel engine's exhaust manifold to reduce emissions. During static testing using ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, particulate emissions were reduced by approximately 50 percent with the Oxicat installed. A yearlong field test of the Oxicat is under way in the Los Angeles area. This is North America's first older long-haul diesel locomotive modified with this particular after-market technology.
· DPF low-horsepower yard locomotive. A diesel particulate filter (DPF) has been retrofitted on a low-horsepower UP yard locomotive built in November 1982. The DPF uses high temperature silicon carbide blocks to trap particulate matter in the exhaust and lower emissions. During static testing, particulate emissions were reduced 80 percent with the DPF installed. A yearlong field test of the DPF is underway in UP's Oakland rail yard. This is the North America rail industry's first experimental use of after-market technology on a yard locomotive.
- James Barnes, UP and Shaunda Parks, GE, Joint News Release
RAILROAD ISSUE GAINING STATEWIDE INTEREST
YUMA, AZ -- The proposal to build a rail line from Mexico and into the United States through Yuma has spawned a legislative bill, possible state meetings here and a torrent of public discussion.
Recently, Rep. Lynne Pancrazi, D-Yuma, introduced House Bill 2713, which would force railroads to publicize any purchases of private land and require that public hearings be held after the transaction. Rep. Theresa Ulmer, D-Yuma, and Sen. Amanda Aguirre, D-Yuma, are also sponsoring the bill along with other Democrats and a few Republicans, including House Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor.
Pancrazi said the bill was in response to Union Pacific's proposal to build a line through the Yuma area. She said the corporation's discussions with some elected officials and quiet solicitation of land options did not adequately engage the public. "My hope is that they will look at the community and ask residents 'What do you think is best?' That's all this does," she said.
While local officials appreciated the sentiment of the bill, some are confused by what it may actually achieve. The legislation would require hearings before county boards of supervisors. Yuma County Supervisor Greg Ferguson said the county has no authority to stop a railroad from building a new line, so holding a public hearing wouldn't do much good.
"What's the point? Other than to let people come in and vent," he said.
Pancrazi acknowledged that railroads have eminent domain power, but she said the goal of the bill is to let railroad companies know that local people want to be heard. Union Pacific has said that it will include local stakeholders and the public, and does not want to use eminent domain to secure right-of-way to lay new track.
Hundreds of bills are proposed in the legislature every year and only a small percentage gain any traction whatsoever, so what will happen to HB 2713 is unclear. The bill is scheduled to be discussed today by the House members of the Counties, Municipalities and Military Affairs committee, of which Ulmer is a member.
Union Pacific officials said they could not make a lot of noise about their plans when they were studying the idea of a rail line coming north out of Mexico because they had no definite plans at that time. Railroad officials say that now they can be more open about the project and plan to answer all questions at stakeholder meetings.
The railroad has purchased at least one option for land, according to Union Pacific officials. If Pancrazi's bill had been in effect, that purchase would have been accompanied by a notice in the newspaper and a public hearing. John Boelts, Yuma County Farm Bureau president, applauded the Yuma legislators for backing the bill, but he was far from certain that it would make a difference. The Farm Bureau has been adamant in their opposition to the proposed rail line.
"I think it would be helpful to disclose (land purchases), but they'd probably find a way around it," Boelts said.
The bill does not require railroad officials to appear at the required public hearing. Pancrazi said the hope is that they would.
The controversy over the railroad here has gained the attention of the Arizona Corporation Commission. ACC spokeswoman Heather Murphy said commissioners have expressed interest in holding hearings in different locations about proposed rail lines. She said a meeting about a new Union Pacific line is tentatively scheduled for March 23 in Willcox, and a possible hearing in Yuma likely wouldn't be before that.
"The commissioners have expressed interest in holding meetings in affected areas, and Yuma is certainly one of them," she said.
Murphy said the meetings would be a chance for the ACC to explain what it can and cannot do. She said the commissioners have no authority to tell a railroad where to build track, but they have a say over safety issues on the lines that are built.
Boelts said if the rail line comes through the Yuma Valley, it would mean installing a high number of road crossings and that could be a safety concern. "The Corporation Commission is well-founded in coming down here," he said. "I like their approach. They sound motivated and interested." - Jeffrey Gautreaux, The Yuma Sun
KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN TO INVEST IN MEXICO
KANSAS CITY, MO -- The Mexican arm of U.S.-based railroad operator Kansas City Southern said it plans to invest US$380 million (euro290 million) on equipment and infrastructure in Mexico.
Kansas City Southern de Mexico said this year it will lease 90 new locomotives valued at US$190 million (euro145 million), spend about US$103 million (euro80 million) to upgrade its infrastructure in seven states, and lease US$7 million (euro5.4 million) in new railcars and maintenance equipment, according to a news release issued Monday.
Separately, the company said it will invest US$80 million (euro60 million) to build a new intermodal container-handling terminal in the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas.
"With this new intermodal terminal, the port of Lazaro Cardenas will stand out as one of the most important logistics centers in the world, and a more attractive Pacific port for exporters," said Jose Zozaya, president of the company.
Kansas City Southern has railroad investments in the central and south central U.S., Mexico and Panama.
Its international holdings include Kansas City Southern de Mexico, serving northeastern and central Mexico and the port cities of Lazaro Cardenas, Tampico and Veracruz, and a 50 percent stake in Panama Canal Railway Company. - The Associated Press, Forbes.com
GE HAS PUSHED TO WEAKEN US SMOG CONTROLS - WSJ
NEW YORK, NY -- General Electric Co., which is running a marketing campaign promoting itself as environmentally friendly, has pushed to weaken smog controls for railroad locomotives in rules about to be proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The rules, which could take effect between 2011 and 2017, are designed to cut smog and soot levels and would replace standards adopted in 1997, the paper said, adding that a proposal from the EPA could come this month.
The conglomerate told the EPA, in a December letter reviewed by the Journal, that catalytic converters used to meet EPA emissions reductions imposed earlier on trucks and off-road construction equipment have "fundamental limitations" that make their durability on locomotives unlikely, the paper said.
Early on Tuesday, Patrick Jarvis, a spokesman for GE's transportation unit, confirmed that the company was in technical discussions with the EPA "on how to achieve attainable and sustainable emissions reductions."
Those discussions include talk of technology that will have to be developed in order to meet the proposed cuts, he said.
The EPA wants a limit of 1.3 grams per horsepower per hour's operation of nitrogen oxides, which cause smog, the Journal said. GE is advocating a 1.9-gram limit and said in the December letter that achieving that level would require "significantly high-risk technology breakthroughs," the paper said.
Current rules set a limit of 5.5 grams, the paper said.
"This is not a dispute over whether GE shares EPA's goals for reducing (nitrogen oxides)," Jarvis wrote in an Email. "The discussion centers on whether the level discussed by EPA is technologically achievable and whether the level will be sustainable for the useful life of the locomotive."
The EPA was not immediately available to comment.
GE, whose operations also include jet engines and commercial lending, has a hybrid freight locomotive in development, Jarvis said, with a prototype due later this year. - Reuters
FREIGHTCAR AMERICA NAMES NEW CHAIRMAN
CHICAGO, IL -- FreightCar America Inc., which manufactures railroad freight cars, said Tuesday it elected Thomas M. Fitzpatrick as non-executive chairman of its board of directors to succeed Camillo M. Santomero.
Santomero will resign as chairman and company director on March 15. Santomero has been a director at FreightCar American since 1999 and has served as its chairman since 2004. Santomero said in a statement that "it is the right time" to hand over leadership of the company.
Fitzpatrick, 53, has served as a director at FreightCar America since 2005. He is the managing principal of Fitzpatrick Law Offices, a business law firm in Chicago. Fitzpatrick is also managing director of Harper Laboratories LLC, a venture management and investment firm with offices in Chicago and Geneva, Switzerland. - The Associated Press, The Houston Chronicle
FEDS WON'T INTERVENE IN CN STRIKE
Canadian Federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl says the government has no plans at this time to intervene in the ongoing strike by workers at the Canadian National Railway.
CN's 2,800 conductors and yard-service workers walked off the job early Saturday morning, after talks between company and union representatives in Montreal broke down.
The Canadian Wheat Board, the single largest rail shipper in Western Canada, has asked the federal government to do whatever it can, including introducing back-to-work legislation, to end the strike. Board officials said they were concerned the job action could mean delays for clients expecting shipments of grain, timber and other commodities.
'Inappropriate to step in'
But Strahl told CBC News that the government would not become involved in the matter, since it is currently before the federal Industrial Relations Board (IRB).
"The railroad continues to run right now and they are still moving grain and that's good," he said.
"It would be inappropriate for the government to step in right now when the company has actually made an application to the Industrial Relations Board, and that has to follow a due process. We wouldn't want to intervene in what is an arm's-length thing at this time."
Breaks and wage increases
The IRB will hold a hearing in Montreal on Tuesday to hear a request by Canadian National Railway to declare the strike illegal. Lawyers for CN argue the strike is illegal because the union failed to gain required strike authorization from United Transportation Union International.
CN Rail has said it will continue freight operations using management employees to keep the goods moving.
According to the UTU, the main sticking points in the contract talks have been breaks and the size of the wage increase.
The union wants a 40-minute lunch break during nine-hour shifts instead of the 20 minutes that workers currently get.
Union negotiators were also pushing for a 4.5 per cent wage increase over two years and a four per cent increase in the third year. - cbc.ca
TEST RUN BRINGS PROPANE VIA RAILROAD TO TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
SONORA, CA -- The last time liquid propane gas was delivered to Tuolumne County via rail car was about 30 years ago.
Yet, if all goes well with a joint business venture between J.S. West & Symons Propane and Sierra Railroad Company, much of the propane J.S. West sells will come regularly via the railroad tracks.
Last week, a railroad tanker car filled with 30,000 gallons of liquefied petroleum gas was delivered to J.S. West & Symons storage tanks on South Washington Street in Sonora.
One railroad tanker holds the equivalent of three truckloads of propane.
"That's three less trucks on Tuolumne County roads," said Eric Benson, senior vice president of J.S. West and Symons.
Earlier this year, Benson reached a deal with Sierra Railroad for a test run to bring one or two tankers filled with propane on a trial basis to J.S. West's large storage tanks south of their store. Benson said last winter, during an extended cold snap in California, he had trouble getting propane and the prices reflected the low supplies.
"We needed to find a way to increase our supply efficiently and safely," Benson said. "I had approached Sierra Railway about 10 years ago, but they were too busy with the lumber mill business."
But Benson tried again this year, and Sierra Railroad Company was open to the new business.
"We were not getting a whole lot of wood or lumber on rail cars from SPI (Sierra Pacific Industries), so we were looking for new business," said Alan Lambert, a vice president for Sierra Railroad Company.
Sierra Railroad Company runs passengers and freight on its tracks, although passengers only go as far as Warnerville on the company's Oakdale-based dinner trains.
Beyond Warnerville, the tracks are not maintained for passengers except for a small section near Jamestown where Railtown 1897 State Historic Park runs tourist trains between Jamestown and Chinese Camp.
Dave Mcgaw, Sierra Railroad president, said even though the tracks are not maintained to passenger standards required by the Federal Railway Administration, the tracks are more than safe for the propane tankers.
A railroad company inspector rides the trains twice a week to inspect the tracks, Mcgaw said.
"If there is a defect or a problem, then we fix it quickly," Mcgaw said.
Propane is considered a hazardous material and, by federal regulation, no more than five tankers holding hazardous material can be hauled on one train, Mcgaw said.
Tuolumne County Emergency Services Coordinator Steve Boyack said there have been train derailments in the past on Sierra Railroad Company lines, but that as long as the Federal Railway Administration is satisfied the tracks are safe, then he is satisfied propane tanker deliveries are safe.
"If there was a derailment with a leaking propane tank, we have emergency plans in place to deal with it," Boyack said. "We would handle it just like we would if there was a propane truck on a road. The problems would be the same."
Benson said the test run last week went well and that he will be working with Sierra Railroad Company officials on improving a spur line to the J.S. West tanks this summer. By next winter, all propane for J.S. West will be delivered by railroad. - Amy Lindblom, The Sonora Union Democrat
RAILROAD NIXES KALAMA'S PLAN TO REPAIR I-5 CULVERTS
KALAMA, WA -- Plans to fix corroding culverts draining into the Port of Kalama have been canceled despite warnings from the Kalama Public Works Department that the deteriorating pipes present a safety hazard to the public.
If ignored, Kalama Public Works Director Carl McCrary has stated the culverts could collapse and create a sinkhole. Nearby Interstate 5 and the BNSF Railway Company -- which has railroad tracks lying over the rusting culverts -- could be negatively impacted if the culverts fail, he said.
Despite the $80,000 cost, the city of Kalama agreed to line two 36-inch corrugated steel pipes with new plastic pipes. The pipes are not city property, but there's enough urgency that the work should be done right away, McCrary previously said.
The project was expected to start this week and finish by Friday, McCrary said.
The work fell through when the BNSF denied the city permission to repair culverts under its tracks, McCrary said.
Repairs now are in the hands of the railroad company, he added.
Gus Melonas, a BNSF spokesman, said engineers are working to establish a new timeline for the project, but he didn't know how soon that might be. "BNSF railway supports moving this process forward and we are actively partnering with the city of Kalama and Port of Kalama to make expeditious repairs," he said.
An environmental consultant currently is reviewing the project, Melonas said, and the project still is in planning stages.
"I'm pretty pleased the project is still going to go ahead," McCrary said. "It's an odd way to go about it, but it all works out for the better I guess."
Examinations done by the city last month reveal parts of the circular culverts are oval shaped, partly due to the weight of trains above, McCrary said.
It's still unclear who owns the culverts, McCrary said. The city planned to approach the Port of Kalama and the BNSF Railway Company for funding once the project was under way.
The Washington State Department of Transportation awarded Kalama a $30,000 grant for the repairs, which McCrary said might still be used for the culvert repairs. - Leila Summers, The Longview Daily News
RAIL PRESERVATIONISTS SAVE SMALL SLICE OF VALLEY RAILROAD
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, CO -- Preservationists once dreamed of saving miles of railroad tracks along the Roaring Fork Valley corridor. They'll have to settle for several city blocks' worth instead.
Railroad enthusiasts have successfully prevailed upon the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority board to leave in place the tracks between 14th and 23rd streets in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Glenwood resident Jan Girardot, with the Western Colorado chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, said the group is planning to run its speeder cars on the short stretch beginning this summer for public education purposes. The small cars are powered by automotive engines and once were used for maintenance on local tracks.
It's a far cry from railroad proponents' original hopes of keeping all of the tracks in the corridor in place for possible use by commuter or tourist trains. RFTA has torn up most of the tracks for their salvage value and to ease installation of a trail along the corridor.
At one point, proponents had pushed to preserve tracks between Glenwood and Carbondale for a tourist train. Without a solid proposal in place, RFTA decided over time to continue removing stretches of rail, and tourist train advocates kept adjusting their plans. One plan was for the train to run as far south as Orrison Distributing south of Glenwood, and more recently it would have had to stop at city limits.
Tourist train partner Kip Wheeler of Aspen said the idea finally died due to potential problems created by the city of Glenwood Springs' plans to reconfigure the area of the railroad "wye" intersection downtown, where the city is planning to extend Eighth Street.
Now RFTA plans to begin removing tracks in Glenwood. However, Girardot and fellow valley railroad advocate Jon Busch convinced the board last week to stop at 23rd Street because the valley rail corridor trail can tie in there with the city's existing trail running parallel to the tracks. The tracks must remain in place north of 14th Street to accommodate the wye intersection.
Rail proponents had continued to want to preserve the tracks south of 23rd as well. RFTA Executive Director Dan Blankenship said while the board didn't agree to that, it went along with saving the remaining tracks even though it might cost the agency a little more revenue from salvage operations.
Blankenship said RFTA lost about $300,000 when it delayed salvage of tracks south of Glenwood. At the time, the salvage company had a place where it could use the tracks rather than just reselling them for scrap.
RFTA has made about $1.1 million so far salvaging tracks. Because of the small amount of remaining track and the cost of mobilization by a salvage company, RFTA doesn't expect to generate significant revenue from the tracks that remain. But having the tracks salvaged will save the cost of paying someone to remove and dump the rails and ties.
Removing the rail also reduces the cost of building the trail in narrow spots where it otherwise is hard to accommodate both the trail and tracks.
Blankenship said that with the city trail already in place, he doesn't see a need for RFTA to remove the rail north of 23rd Street. He recognizes the tracks' historic value and hopes Girardot and others can take advantage of that.
Girardot said his group is planning to provide weekend rides in the summer, promoting awareness among children and others who never have been exposed to rail travel.
"It's a fun ride even though it's a really short ride," he said.
He said the nonprofit group already has plenty of insurance for such an operation, and doesn't require state Public Utilities Commission approval because the remaining tracks won't intersect with any state highways. The speeder car would cross sparsely traveled Riverside Drive, but Girardot said it would stop before crossing the street, and a flagger would get out to provide for safe passage.
Girardot said it's been frustrating to have so much of the valley's tracks torn up despite years of efforts to save them.
"You can't believe the amount of stomach acid it's caused me and the other people that were involved in it. It's been really, really tough," he said.
Blankenship said the valley just doesn't have the population to make a commuter train feasible now because of the huge expense involved. He thinks RFTA's board has tried to accommodate rail enthusiasts all along the way regarding a tourist train, but said it was hard to continue losing time and money without a concrete proposal ever being presented.
Girardot said rail supporters had to deal all along with the reality of the fact that the rail corridor was preserved by trail supporters, using Great Outdoors Colorado money intended for trail use. But he hopes an educational effort on the short stretch of tracks in Glenwood will serve as a reminder of the importance of rail transportation, something he thinks someday again will become vital to the Roaring Fork Valley. - Dennis Webb, The Glenwood Springs Post Independent
SLIDE IN
Photo here: [www.dailyinterlake.com]
COLOMBIA FALLS, MT -- William Kennedy, 46, was unable to stop in time to avoid hitting a slow-moving train Monday afternoon on the Mission Mountain Railroad crossing at Talbott Road in Columbia Falls.
Kennedy was westbound on Talbott when he approached the slope in the road down to the railroad crossing.
A BNSF Railway Company railroad worker signaled for him to stop, but he couldn't because of icy road conditions. Nobody was injured in the collision, but the van had to be towed. Kennedy was ticketed for careless driving. - Karen Nichols, The Kalispell Daily Inter Lake
LEGISLATORS ON BOARD FOR RAILROAD BLOCKAGE BAN
FORT COLLINS, CO -- Local legislators are inching closer to sending a message to railroad operators about delays in Fort Collins, Colorado.
A bill by Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, is scheduled for a Thursday hearing in the Senate transportation committee.
Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, is co-sponsoring the bill, and Rep. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, is sponsoring it in the House.
If passed, the bill would prohibit trains from blocking a major crossing for more than 10 minutes at a time unless the railroad company had no control over the reason for the blockage.
It also would require trains to let traffic clear or give 5 minutes between stoppages, whichever happened first.
Fort Collins City Manager Darin Atteberry is scheduled to testify in support of the bill at Thursday's hearing.
"We're very concerned the railroads be good corporate citizens to the people in Fort Collins," said Mark Radtke, city government relations coordinator.
Intersection tie-ups were a problem last summer in northeast Fort Collins, especially near a switching yard at Riverside and Lemay avenues, which is about a half-mile north of Poudre Valley Hospital. Trains also frequently blocked the intersection of Riverside Avenue and Mulberry Street.
The bill does not exempt crossings at or near switching yards, a loophole included in the Fort Collins code that makes the rule difficult to enforce since most of the city's train-delay problems stem from switching yards.
"That's our target with it," Radtke said.
A spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad, one of the three railroads that uses the switching yard northeast of Riverside and Lemay avenues, said the railroad has been working hard to alleviate blockages since the summer. But he declined to say specifically whether the railroad supported the bill.
"We know this is a problem and we're working hard to address it and we hope that counts for something," said UP spokesman James Barnes.
An engineer or conductor could be fined between $500 and $1,100 for breaking the law. A state analysis of the bill predicted it would generate less than $5,000 in annual revenue, suggesting it would produce few violations.
Though city leaders and legislators have talked in the past about sending a message to the railroads, Radtke said this bill, modeled after a long-standing Indiana bill, is about more than that.
"We're not posturing," Radtke said. "We're serious about it." - Kevin Darst, The Fort Collins Coloradoan
ALL ABOARD THE TRAIN FOR A UNIQUE STEELHEAD FISHING EXPERIENCE
EUGENE, OR -- John Henry was a steel driving man. Chuck Fleser, on the other hand, is a steelhead driving man.
For Fleser, you see, is the driving force behind what has to be the most unusual steelhead fishing adventure in the Pacific Northwest.
Every weekend in February and March, participants in Fleser's third annual "Winter Steelhead Fishing Spectacular" board a two-car train outside his Minam Motel and Market - located about halfway between La Grande and Enterprise - for a trip into the 10-mile "wild and scenic" section of the Wallowa River canyon.
Anglers can opt to get off at any one of several "whistle stops" to fish, and re-board to move to other holes as the train shuttles back and forth during the day.
Fleser's fishing train uses tracks and railroad equipment owned by Union and Wallowa counties, which several years ago purchased the railroad built in 1907 to connect the towns of La Grande and Joseph, and to haul timber out of the Grand Ronde Valley.
The counties operate a sightseeing train for tourists during the summer months. But Fleser recognized the potential of train tracks that shared an otherwise roadless canyon with a strong run of hatchery steelhead. The run is strong enough, in fact, that state fishery managers have, for the second year in a row, raised the bag limit from two steelhead per day to three.
By the time they reach Fleser's eight-unit motel near the junction of the Minam and Wallowa rivers, the steelhead have traveled about 700 miles and over several dams. But most of that has been in the Columbia and Snake rivers, so the fish haven't been exposed to all that many lures by the time they reach the confluence of the Wallowa and Grand Rhonde rivers.
"Even people who don't have a clue - people like me - can catch fish," Fleser said.
As for skilled anglers, Fleser said, one expert fly-fishermen told him he hooked more than two dozen steelhead in one day, and landed most of those. "He's been back every year."
The fish are "not huge," but "feisty," he said. "Most of them run 4 to 12 pounds. We see a lot in the 8-pound range, and the occasional 14- to 16-pound buck."
In addition to fin-clipped hatchery steelhead, anglers hook bull trout, rainbow trout up to 20 inches and wild steelhead. All of the non-finclipped fish must be released unharmed, so Fleser encourages anglers to crimp the barbs on their hooks.
There are seats for 100 people on the train, but Fleser limits each day's run to "25 rods" to assure a quality fishing experience.
"A lot of wives come along and stay on the train and read or look at the canyon," he said. Wildlife lovers also sign up for the trip, and some of those take hikes farther down the canyon than the train runs.
A hundred years ago, steam engines puffed along this line. But the county-owned railroad uses two "self-propelled" Pullman cars powered by diesel electric engines. The look is more like back-to-back streetcars than train. But the cars are heated, have bathrooms and "canyon view" windows. One of them even has a baggage compartment large enough to hold small pontoon boats for those who want to "float" a section of the river.
For the full-day trip (10:00 to 16:15), Fleser charges $50 for adults and $15 for children age 13 and under.
Half-day sightseeing trips, which leave the motel at 13:30, are $30 for adults and $10 for children.
All eight Saturdays for the 2007 season are already booked for the maximum of 25 anglers (sightseeing space, however, is still available). But Fleser still has room for more "rods" on the remaining Sunday trips.
Rooms at Fleser's riverside motel start at $58. When his "no vacancy" sign is out, Fleser places people in a bed and breakfast or motel in Elgin, about 14 miles away. - Mike Stahlberg, The Eugene Register-Guard
MONTANA CATTLE GIVE PEAS A CHANCE
BOZEMAN, MT -- You've heard of corn-fed beef. How about pea-fed beef?
Sixteen tons of field peas recently arrived at Montana State University, signaling the beginning of a 90-day experiment to see how beef cattle do when their rations contain field peas, barley malt sprouts and barley instead of corn.
The demand for corn to produce ethanol and high fructose sugar for soda pop has caused a dramatic increase in the price of corn. So have rising freight rates, according to agricultural experts at MSU and elsewhere.
Looking for another and hopefully less expensive substitute, MSU Extension Beef Specialist John Paterson is mixing peas and barley malt sprouts instead of corn into a ration fed to MSU steers in Bozeman. The idea came from Steve McDonnell, manager of Circle S Seeds in Three Forks, Paterson said. The experiment began Jan. 22 and will end in early May.
McDonnell said Montanans grow lots of corn silage, but they can't feed silage-only to their cattle. The animals have needed grain corn, too. As a result, Montanans buy most of their grain corn from South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska. It doesn't help, McDonnell said, that the price of moving a railroad car filled with corn has doubled since fall.
The field peas for MSU's experiment came from Chester, Mont., so freight costs are less than if they'd come from out of state, McDonnell said. The barley came from Moore, Mont., and the barley malt sprouts from Great Falls. Paterson said the peas are run through a hammer mill and cracked into two to 10 pieces for easier digestion. Then they're added to a mixture of barley grain and barley sprouts and fed to steers that live on the MSU farm in Bozeman. Out of 80 steers, 20 are fed four pounds of peas a day. Twenty are fed six pounds a day, and 20 others eat eight pounds. The fourth group are fed no peas.
Paterson said he expects to see a change in the color and smell of the manure because the experimental diet is so high in protein. Think dirty diapers. But what else will happen? Will the animals perform as well with peas as they do with corn?
"We are confident that they will," Paterson said.
McDonnell said the experiment - if it works as well as he predicts- will benefit Montana crop growers and beef producers alike. Ranchers could replace some of the expensive corn they use in their feed and winter rations. Pea growers would have new markets. New varieties of yellow seed peas will produce more than 60 bushels an acre, McDonnell said.
"There are some certain climate limitations about where you can raise corn, but you can raise peas in almost all the locations where you can't raise corn," McDonnell said.
Bobbie Roos of Scobey, MSU Extension agent for Daniels County, said farmers in that area have already increased the number of acres devoted to peas and other legumes.
"I think this is a trend in northeast Montana and northwest North Dakota" said Roos who helped organize a Feb. 21 conference on growing legumes in Montana and North Dakota. - Evelyn Boswell, The Helena Independent Record
TEXAS TOWN COULD BE FUTURE OF POWER
Jewett is a small Texas town along U.S. Highway 79 that's almost equidistant from Dallas, Houston and Austin.
By September, Jewett could find itself politically equidistant from China, India and the United States, countries that will soon be the world's biggest power producers, as they weigh a response to global warming.
Jewett, population 861, is one of four sites under consideration for a futuristic coal-fired power plant called FutureGen. (Odessa and two sites in Illinois are the others.) Site selection is scheduled to take place by late summer.
FutureGen is designed to emit zero pollution. Most important, it's a plant that will test the best available technologies for capturing carbon dioxide emissions and burying them.
The world's climate is warming, melting ice caps and glaciers and putting the ecological balance in jeopardy. Mankind is contributing to the problem with great plumes of carbon dioxide.
This is a good reason not to build any more coal-fired power plants, which each year spew millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But there's no prospect of stopping construction of these plants, either.
TXU Corp. plans to build 11 of them in the next several years. Across the United States, 72 coal-fired power plants are scheduled to begin operating by 2012.
During that same five years, India expects to build 213. China has scheduled 562 more.
China brought more power plants into production last year than there are in all of California.
In two years, China is expected to surpass the United States as the largest emitter of carbon dioxide. India is following close behind.
None of these nations ratified the Kyoto Protocol pledging cuts in carbon dioxide emissions back to 1990 levels, and the pact is set to expire in 2012. A Democratic-controlled Congress may push through limits on U.S. emissions, but China and India say it's up to the wealthy countries that created the problem to fix it.
This is where Jewett and FutureGen come in. Project sponsors, include the Indian government, a Chinese power company and the U.S. Department of Energy. Six of the 12 power companies involved are based overseas. Lessons learned from plant construction and operations would be shared among the partners.
FutureGen isn't scheduled to start producing electricity until 2012. But if it works in a fashion that approaches market viability, partners would presumably incorporate what they've learned in future power plants.
Zero emissions all around?
"There's no doubt in my mind that a market-based technology approach gets us to the right answer. That is the promise of FutureGen," said Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, who's heading the effort to bring the plant to Texas.
It's going to be tough to reach market viability. FutureGen will gasify coal, precipitate out the carbon dioxide, heat it to separate it from hydrogen and inject the CO{+2} into a saline aquifer. Putting all those technologies into a coal-fired plant today would up the cost by 75 percent to 90 percent and cut output by 30 percent, said Mike Mudd, chief executive of the FutureGen Alliance, the private companies involved in the project.
"So many of the countries overseas understand the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but they're really reluctant to go too far until they know technology is there," said Mr. Mudd.
A Texas site could bring viability closer. West Texas oil producers want carbon dioxide because when it's injected into older fields, oil production goes up.
The specs for FutureGen call for a site where a million tons of carbon dioxide a year can be put in deep underground storage. Any production of the gas above that level, however, could be sold, Mr. Mudd said.
Today, the carbon dioxide injected into more than 5,400 Texas oil wells is shipped in from New Mexico and Colorado. Tomorrow?
"We need more CO{+2}. We use all we can get right now," said Adam Haynes, executive vice president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners. - Jim Landers, The Dallas Morning News
TRANSIT NEWS
WEATHER CAUSES SOUTH SHORE DELAYS IN CHICAGO
SOUTH BEND, IN -- Some South Shore passengers encountered weather-related delays in Chicago this morning, a railroad spokesman said.
John Parsons said switch problems on a portion of the Metra commuter rail line used by the South Shore caused the delays.
"We'll continue to operate through this," he said, adding that no other weather-related problems had been reported so far today.
The South Shore has planned a $4 million project to bypass the section of track that was affected today. Currently, Metra and South Shore trains share the track. - Joshua Stowe, The South Bend Tribune
TENANT BUCKS LIGHT-RAIL PATH EVICTION
Photo here: [www.azcentral.com]
Tom Hays is light rail's last man standing.
The 43-year-old truck driver is the only person who has not vacated his premises after the rail project has displaced 250 commercial or industrial occupants and 17 residential tenants.
Hays lives in a modest guesthouse near Camelback Road and Central Avenue, over the fence from where a light-rail station is being built.
Along the entire 20-mile line, Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa have gained control of all but four of the 784 parcels in the way of rail construction. The final holdouts are in Phoenix, involving minor technical issues and tiny properties that don't interfere with construction.
Hays' case has the twists and turns that Phoenix has often run into in securing rail-related property. The job has proven more expensive and time-consuming than planners thought.
Last year, the slow progress threatened to delay the $1.4 billion project. But Metro construction chiefs smelled trouble and in August overhauled the schedule. Metro also decided to change how it worked - in the middle of streets, rather than wait to acquire property alongside streets and stage from there.
"It's the key reason real estate doesn't affect us now," Metro spokeswoman Marty McNeil said. Since the shift, "property acquisition has not, and is not, affecting our schedule."
But the messy human process of uprooting tenants and businesses made it touch-and-go at times.
In the fall, work on 19th Avenue came to a halt over right-of-way issues. In December, Metro reported that the "lack of real estate availability" near Spectrum Mall was hindering construction. The popular China Chili's restaurant on Central was involved in a city dispute before reopening on Third Street.
Hays is not blocking construction, but he's holding up one of the project's last property moves.
For four years he has rented a 600-square-foot, city-owned house on Mariposa Street for $375 a month. His back window is less than 100 feet from the platform being built for the Camelback/Central station. And despite a city offer to pay him $42,550 to move, he said he's going nowhere, despite a notice to evict him next week.
"The city of Phoenix thinks it can manhandle people and push them around, but that's not going to happen. I'm digging in my heels and I'm fighting this," Hays said.
He said he would have settled last summer when the city offered him $30,190, but he wants it all at once. The city pays relocation money out over 42 months to stop people from spending it on anything but a new home. The laws governing relocation require Phoenix to pay residents the cost of moving and the difference in rent between their existing home and the going rate of a comparable place. Because his rent is so low, that adds up to a lot of money for Hays.
"It's my money and I'll spend it as I please," he said.
Money aside, what annoys Hays and troubles the city are shifting rules.
Phoenix bought a strip of properties from Hays' landlord in 2004 as a package deal and issued relocation notices to all the tenants. It asked Hays to stay as a watchdog against vagrancy and vandalism until his home could be torn down.
Hayes envisioned buying it some day and convinced the city that was a better way to dispose of it.
But last year, the city told him he couldn't purchase the property until the federally funded light rail opens in 2008, in keeping with federal regulations. And it would have to sell to the highest bidder, not likely a trucker.
Last summer, his home was flooded by a storm. The city was not obligated under the lease terms to repair the damage. Hays replaced the carpet.
Then in August, he got a letter from the city offering to pay for his relocation. He resisted. The city later graded soil on the property to prevent future flooding but still declared his home unfit for human habitation. Hays disputed this, saying his roof didn't leak and all the utilities worked. He said he believes the city has no grounds to evict him.
Maria Hyatt, the Phoenix city manager's light-rail honcho, has a different take.
"I don't know how I could let anybody willingly live in those conditions," she said. "If I could solve all the problems, I would. He's been a great tenant. This is not retaliation."
Between 2004 and 2007 a number of things changed near Camelback and Central. The neighborhood went historic, so the city couldn't tear down surplus homes. The city also realized it wouldn't have enough parking for the key station. In the fall, a developer with a proven track record proposed a high-rise, mixed-use complex southwest of Camelback and Central. The city is considering zoning changes for the site.
Now, Hyatt said, the city has to consider the best use for 54 1/2 Mariposa Street. It could bank the land and sell it later if the value rises or it could trade or sell the land for redevelopment.
The tiny home is an object lesson in what happens on lengthy projects where goals conflict. The city wants to build light rail as quickly and cheaply as possible and promote station-centered redevelopment while preserving historic neighborhoods and relocating tenants fairly. It also wants to prevent blight on empty streets.
Hays said he just wants straight talk from the city
"They couldn't tell me why they wanted me out," he said. "Just be honest with me. That's all I've asked the city to do." - Sean Holstege, The Arizona Republic
GUARDS TO CHECK RTD FARES
DENVER, CO -- RTD has struck a deal with its union to allow guards who provide security on light-rail trains to also act as fare inspectors.
For the past 10 years, the Regional Transportation District had been constrained by its contract with the transit workers union from letting anyone but union-represented RTD employees do the fare-inspection task.
But a new agreement between RTD and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001 will allow about 35 uniformed Wackenhut security guards who regularly ride trains and monitor stations to ask passengers for tickets.
"(This) will more than double our fare-enforcement presence overnight," RTD spokesman Scott Reed said.
In exchange for giving up the fare-inspection work, the union won $1.20-an-hour raises for up to 288 bus and light-rail mechanical and technical positions.
RTD officials have complained about the agency's inability to hire and retain enough qualified fare inspectors, and mechanics and technicians, so the agreement could help RTD deal with both issues.
"This should dramatically help with the hiring and retention of mechanics and technicians, which has been an ongoing problem," Reed said of the pay hike.
When RTD opened its new southeast train in November, it approved a doubling of the budget for fare inspectors, to hire up to 20. But RTD apparently had trouble finding qualified people for a job with starting pay of $12.53 an hour, and as of mid-January, it only had six inspectors to check passengers doing 60,000 trips daily on its 35-mile system.
The paltry effort at fare inspection undermined the confidence of some train passengers that everyone was paying for their ride, said RTD Director Bill McMullen, who helped broker the deal to shift the inspection work to Wackenhut guards.
The agreement calls for the six current RTD employees doing fare-inspection to be "grandfathered" under the deal, allowing them to continue the inspection task, Reed said. As they leave through attrition, fare inspection will become exclusively the work of the private guards, he said.
Some Local 1001 members don't like the agreement because it gives up union-represented inspection jobs, said Holman Carter, the local's president. But a boost in the mechanics' wage scale should make it easier for RTD to recruit and retain employees in the those classifications, he added.
Currently the light-rail electro mechanic wage scale starts at $20.45 an hour and tops out at $25.20 an hour, Carter said. The general repair bus mechanic position starts at $17.95 an hour and tops out at $21.90.
With the new agreement, which still needs the approval of RTD's board of directors, "We get better wages for our mechanics," McMullen said, "and better enforcement of our fare structure on the trains." - Jeffrey Leib, The Denver Post
REPORT ON NEW ORLEANS TRANSIT SYSTEM REFLECTS SPOTTY RECOVERY
NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Ridership figures for New Orleans' mass transit system reflect the spotty recovery of the city's population and economy.
Before Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005, the city's Regional Transit Authority carried about 750,000 paying locals and tourists in a good week.
In 2006, it failed to hit that total for any single month, even during the seven months when all rides were free.
Ridership rose from 386,410 in January to 673,968 in June but then slumped for the rest of the year, especially after fares were reintroduced Aug. 6. Until then, the Federal Emergency Management Agency underwrote the system's operations and everyone rode for free.
With fares back in place, the highest monthly total was 575,334 in October - fewer riders than in March.
There is a bit of good news in the latest report on the number of people using the system: Ridership for January 2007 was 34 percent higher than for the same month in 2006.
The system itself is still recovering. Katrina put the electrical system on the historic St. Charles line out of commission. Buses are being used these days on most of the St. Charles route.
Meanwhile the familiar green antique streetcars from the St. Charles line have been put to use on the Canal Street route. The new, bright red cars that used to run on Canal Street after the route was revived a few years ago were flooded by Katrina. - The Associated Press, The New Orleans Times-Picayune
NOT ALL ABOARD WITH LIRR THIRD TRACK PLAN
NASSAU COUNTY, NY -- As Nassau villages protest the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line Corridor Improvement plan, railroad officials slowly are shedding more light on projects they say would provide more rush-hour trains and eliminate dangerous grade crossings.
The railroad plans to seize portions of up to 107 properties -- some temporarily, others permanently -- for two related projects on the railroad's main line between Queens Village and Hicksville: the construction of a third track and the elimination of five grade crossings.
Advocates of the plan say those costs are outweighed by benefits not just for commuters, but also for the communities where land will be seized.
Among the benefits they cite are:
Increased capacity that would allow the addition of 218 daily trains for 24 million more LIRR riders expected by 2030. More rush-hour trains for people commuting both into and out of New York City.
An end to 3,000 train horn soundings each day in neighborhoods along the corridor.
Reduced traffic congestion and emissions from vehicles idling at grade crossings.
A lower risk of accidents with the elimination of dangerous grade crossings.
Design of the third track project and the first phase of construction -- progressing east from Queens Village -- will cost $122.3 million, LIRR spokeswoman Susan McGowan said. To build the track, the LIRR plans to seize small portions of up to 80 properties along the corridor in permanent or temporary easements.
In a related project, the railroad plans to eliminate five of the eight grade crossings between Queens Village and Hicksville. The state Department of Transportation currently is eliminating a crossing at Roslyn Road in Mineola. There currently are no plans to eliminate grade crossings at Willis Avenue and Main Street in Mineola, where increased train service would bring traffic to a standstill during rush hour, according to the state DOT.
The LIRR has budgeted $80.3 million for the elimination of two grade crossings in Westbury and three in New Hyde Park. The New Hyde Park grade crossing separations could affect 27 properties -- including up to 19 full seizures, according to the LIRR.
McGowan said she could not estimate the number of properties to be affected in Westbury because plans for those grade crossings have not been completed.
Residents in villages along the corridor say they would pay disproportionately for a project that will benefit all Long Islanders.
"They're asking these communities to endorse this and embrace this project, but they have given no direction as to how they plan to proceed or offset impacts to these local communities," Mineola Mayor Jack Martins said.
The LIRR has not yet explained, for example, the scope of the first phase of construction -- how much time, if any, will elapse between the first and final phases, and when the project will be complete.
Railroad officials are meeting with local elected leaders to discuss plans and will release more details in its draft environmental impact statement, scheduled for April, McGowan said. - Jennifer Maloney, Newsday
THE END
| Subject | Written By | Date/Time (PST) |
|---|---|---|
 Railroad Newsline for Wednesday, 02/14/07 |
Larry W. Grant | 02-14-2007 - 00:40 |