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Railroad Newsline for Monday, February 19, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

NEW BILL WOULD ALLOW CONGRESS TO VETO DM&E LOAN; RAILROAD PRESIDENT SAYS LEGISLATION WOULD CHANGE RULES 'AT THE END OF THE GAME'

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad would need congressional approval -- not just the go-ahead from transportation department officials -- for its $2.3 billion federal loan under legislation introduced in the US House and Senate Friday.

The attempt to take back congressional control over the taxpayer-financed loan came just 73 days before the Federal Railroad Administration, an arm of the transportation department, is required to make a decision on the DM&E’s loan application. The legislation asserting congressional authority over any loan of $1 billion or more is being supported by a politically diverse group of lawmakers including six of the 10 members of the Minnesota congressional delegation.

Some of the sponsors are concerned about the ambitious coal-train project the loan would finance and the project’s potential impact on Mankato, Rochester and other towns along the DM&E rail line. Others are fiscal conservatives who balk at the idea of a taxpayer-backed loan to the private Sioux Falls-based railroad.

“This is probably as wide a spread on the political spectrum as you can get,” said Rep. Tim Walz, the Mankato Democrat who spearheaded the legislation in the House.

Walz introduced the bill with Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who has focused on environmental and energy issues during five terms in Congress. Co-sponsors include conservative Republicans such as Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota and Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona and liberal Democrats such as Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York and Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota.

The chief sponsors in the Senate are Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, both of Minnesota.

The legislation was applauded by the Rochester Coalition, an organization that includes the Mayo Clinic, the city of Rochester, Olmsted County and the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce.

“DM&E shouldn’t be allowed to use the Federal Treasury as its own personal bank without being held accountable to taxpayers, Congress and communities that will be impacted by this decision,” said coalition spokesman Chris Gade in a written statement.

The conservative Taxpayers League of Minnesota also came out in support of the legislation.

The DM&E’s plan -- which would involve running as many as 34 mile-long trains daily to or from the coal-fields of Wyoming in service of Midwestern and eastern utility markets -- has been controversial almost from the moment it was announced more than a decade ago. It became more contentious when the railroad decided in 2005 to seek the largest federal loan to a private company in American history.

The loan application came after South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who had previously been paid $220,000 by the DM&E for lobbying work, quietly added a provision to the hefty 2005 federal transportation bill expanding the FRA’s loan program ten-fold to make it large enough to handle a $2.3 billion loan. The provision went unnoticed by opponents of the project until well after the bill had been signed into law.

The provision also set a 90-day limit for the FRA to decide on the loan once environmental paperwork had been completed -- a time-clock that started ticking at the end of January. That leaves Congress little time to pass the new legislation before the FRA makes its decision on the loan.

But the legislation has a provision that would retroactively require congressional approval of any transportation department loans of more than $1 billion even if they had been approved earlier this calendar year.

“It would be changing the rules not in the middle of the game but at the end of the game,” said DM&E President Kevin Schieffer Friday night.

Schieffer wouldn’t comment on whether he thought Congress could retroactively require congressional approval of a loan that had already been approved under existing law. He also declined to speculate on the likelihood of the legislation becoming law.

“If somebody wants to change the process at this stage of the game, that’s their prerogative and we’ll see how it comes out,” he said.

Schieffer believes the legislation is primarily aimed at stalling -- and ultimately derailing -- construction of the project.

“This is about delay,” he said. “You can characterize this any way you want, but this is an attempt to kill a project that’s good for (Minnesota).”

Walz said the motivation is about setting up an open and accountable process for approving or denying a huge taxpayer-backed loan to a private company.

“My whole concern was the process and how this was done,” Walz said. “... People in southern Minnesota want transparency in their government.”

Coleman and Klobuchar, in written statements, had similar comments.

“This project poses serious safety concerns for Rochester, and we believe that transportation loans of this magnitude should be voted on by Congress,” Coleman stated.

Added Klobuchar: “... This bill will allow members of Congress to do their job: to protect the public interest by reviewing and approving loans that affect thousands of their constituents and to make sure that any billion-dollar loan to a private company is a good investment of the people’s money.”

Any congressional review of the loan would first require that the legislation be passed and signed by the president. Walz said he believes it can become law.

“It was sure not introduced symbolically,” he said, adding that the potential for broad and diverse support is demonstrated by the co-sponsors of the bill. “... I can never guarantee anything other than that I will work hard.”

Schieffer said he would be “happy to debate the merits of this project at any level” and encouraged supporters of the project — which include some rural utilities and farm commodity groups who want the DM&E rail upgraded — to make their voices heard.

“If (the legislation) goes anywhere, we’ll deal with it if, when and as it develops,” he said. - Mark Fischenich, The Mankato Free Press

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V&T RAILWAY TO START PHASE III

DOUGLAS COUNTY, NV -- Phase II of the V&T Railway reconstruction project will be underway by late summer or early fall, due in part to the efforts of Minden attorney Mike Rowe, who volunteered his time to locate and negotiate with the owners of parcels for right-of-way for the track. At a Valentine’s Day Carson Valley Lions Club dinner, he talked about the history and progress of the completion of the railroad between Virginia City and Carson City.

Rowe was joined by his wife Susie in making a presentation where he gave detailed information about the history and progress. Rowe, who currently is legal counsel for the commission overseeing the reconstruction project of the famous short-line Virginia & Truckee Railroad, described the original completion of the railway from Virginia City to Carson City in 1869 and its operations until its final run in 1950. With large aerial maps he was able to graphically illustrate the nearly 20-mile route the reconstructed short-line railway will follow.

A big part of the effort to complete the project is the acquisition of right-of-way for the track. Rowe, who is providing his services free of charge to the commission, has been actively engaged in locating and negotiating with the owners of the scores of parcels over which the reconstruction will take place. He was successful in obtaining agreement form the various owners to allow the completion of Phase I, a 1.40 mile extension across Overman Pit, in September 2005. Just this week he completed right-of-way agreements to allow the start of Phase II, a 4.34 mile section referred to as the “Mound House Extension,” which traverses an area referred to as the “American Flat.” Construction of this phase will be started this summer or early fall and should be completed in 2008. Additional phases are scheduled to be completed in 2009, with a hopeful start-up date sometime in 2010.

According to Rowe, once completed and put into operation, the reconstructed short-line railway is expected to add $120,000,000 to the economy. The commission projects that Carson City, Lyon County, Storey County, Washoe County and Douglas County will all benefit. - The Douglas County Record-Courier

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ON TRACK FOR QUIET

SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- It may have gotten lost in last week's tragic news, but Salt Lake City and the Union Pacific Railroad finalized a $50 million deal that will make life a lot more pleasant for folks along UP's line on 900 South on the city's west side.

The city and the Utah Transit Authority will help UP realign tracks between North Temple and 100 South from 500 West to 700 West. A train traffic bottleneck in this area, known as Grant Tower, caused the railroad to send freight trains down its 900 South line beginning in 2001, rattling the teeth, the nerves and the building foundations of adjoining residents.

But after the Grant Tower tracks are rebuilt, allowing trains, including UTA's FrontRunner, to pass through the area more quickly, UP will abandon the 900 South line for good, probably in mid-2008, and local residents will sleep easier once again. - Editorial Opinion, The Salt Lake Tribune

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GROUP AIMS TO EXPAND AMTRAK ROUTE FROM OKLAHOMA CITY TO KANSAS CITY

WICHITA, KS -- A group wants to bring Amtrak back to the state's largest city, which hasn't had passenger service since 1979.

The Northern Flyer Alliance wants to speed up expansion of the Heartland Flyer route north from Oklahoma City to Wichita, Newton and Kansas City, Missouri.

"I haven't found one person yet who says that's a crazy idea," said Autumn Heithaus, the alliance's executive director.

Anyone wanting to catch an Amtrak train from the Wichita area must drive 20 miles north to Newton, and there is no service running south.

That doesn't sit well with 81-year-old Rosemary Terry, a member of the newly formed Northern Flyer Alliance. She would like to visit her daughter in Fort Worth, Texas, which is served by the Heartland Flyer route.

"I know a lot of people, if they could get on a train and not worry about getting hit by a truck on a highway, they could go somewhere," she said.

The alliance has started a letter-writing campaign to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, hoping to enlist her in the push for returning rail service to Wichita.

"A city of this size that doesn't have any rail, any other way to get out but an airplane, is absolutely ridiculous," Terry said.

Lloyd Stagner, an alliance member from Newton, is a former railroad employee and the author of several books about trains. Rail travel, he said, is a logical response to fluctuating gasoline costs and airline security issues.

"I think passenger rail has a big future. With the city of Wichita giving subsidies to airlines, I think Amtrak would be in line, too," Stagner said.

Wichita's Union Station has been converted into an office building where Cox Communications maintains its state headquarters. But Cox is moving to another location, with the move to be completed in 2008.

After that, Cox's real estate firm will put the station on the market, said Jay Allbaugh, the company's vice president for government and public affairs.

The expansion move is also getting support from Evan Stair of Norman, Oklahoma, director of the Amtrak Extension Coalition.

"This train should've operated through Wichita from day one," he said.

Oklahoma transportation officials, too, would like to see the route extended into Kansas.

"It only stands to reason if it were connected to the north, the ridership would obviously be enhanced," said Joe Kyle, manager of the rail programs division for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

Texas and Oklahoma split the annual cost -- approximately $4 million -- of running the Heartland Flyer. Kansas would have to provide state funds for any expansion to occur, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said, and the initiative would have to come from the transportation departments of Kansas and Oklahoma.

But John Maddox, rail affairs program manager for the Kansas Department of Transportation, said the department has no state money available for capital improvements to rail service.

Kansas law also prohibits the use of state money to pay for passenger rail operations, Maddox said.

A KDOT study in 2000 found that capital costs for development of the corridor from Kansas City to Wichita would be $194 million, Maddox said, with another $149 million to improve the corridor from Wichita to Oklahoma City.

That doesn't take in the cost of station improvements, cars and locomotives, Maddox said.

However, Stair said those numbers were exaggerated. He estimated that Kansas would pay $5.39 million in annual operating costs, with another $2.79 million in startup costs.

Despite the hurdles, Heithaus said she is optimistic that passenger service will be back in Wichita.

"It's going to be a lot of hard work," she said. "But I still have a lot of heart and a lot of passion this is going to work out." - The Associated Press, The Kansas City Star

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PROJECT CALLS FOR MULTIPLE OVERPASSES

Photo here:

[www.hattiesburgamerican.com]

Caption reads: A line of traffic forms on Front Street as a train makes its way into the Norfolk Southern switching yard in downtown Hattiesburg. (Reuben Mees/Hattiesburg American)

HATTIESBURG, MS -- Building five overpasses to cross the railroad tracks in eastern Hattiesburg, Mississippi would cost $56.2 million, according to a recently-released report that has been two years in the making.

Overpasses were one of several recommendations that ranged from as low as $6.5 million to more than $140 million to alleviate traffic woes created by having a major railroad switching yard in downtown Hattiesburg.

The study, done by engineering consulting firms Wilbur Smith Associates and Neel-Schaffer, was a nearly $300,000 project paid for with a federal grant in 2004.

And Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree hopes he can use it as a base for asking for a continued federal commitment to the project.

"I will be taking it to Washington in March," he said. "We were successful in getting $300,000 for the study, and I think we could qualify for more funding."

DuPree said of all the options provided, the overpass project would probably give motorists the most relief.

"If we go with one of the other options, we would not have solved the congestion problem and the efficient movement of vehicles," he said. "Also, hopefully this would help with truck traffic through neighborhoods and around the city."

In addition to creating overpasses, the $56.2 million three-phase project would create a continuous road that connects U.S. 11 at East Fourth Street with U.S. 49 at W.S.F. Tatum Boulevard as well as two overpasses on Hall Avenue near the Hattiesburg Police Department.

Other options include:

· A new $6.5 million track along an abandoned line in east Hattiesburg that would make downtown train moves more efficient

· A new $17.5 million switching yard north of Petal

· A $41.1 million new track that would bypass the city entirely.

While those options would reduce wait times for trains, they would not create any overpasses.

Palmer's Crossing resident Frankie Benton Sr. said he remembers one time many years ago he couldn't get across the tracks to get his son to the hospital.

"I had to drive all the way down to south Hattiesburg to get around the train," he said as he waited Thursday for a train to pass through downtown.

He said he would like the city to begin seriously considering the project.

"They need to do it," Benton said. "It's better than waiting like this and they're going to raise our taxes to pay for something anyway."

Hattiesburg Fire Chief David Webster said he would like to see new overpasses to improve response times for emergencies.

"Trains have been our perennial problem," he said. "Hattiesburg is one of the few communities in the nation that still has an intersection of three railroads; so we do have challenges with railroad crossings on the north, south, east and west."

Webster said several stations in the downtown area are closer than they need to be to avoid the hang-ups caused by trains.

"That's a key ingredient in why Station 5 is still in the location it's in."

The station is on East Hardy Street.

Hattiesburg Downtown Association President Bernice Linton said although she does not believe rerouting most of the through traffic around downtown would hurt businesses, she would like city officials to consider the relocation of the Norfolk Southern switching yard.

"If the railroad switch yard doesn't move, they will still have a problem with the trains stopping and backing up," she said. "A lot of people just pass through. My understanding from talking with other people is you really only want the traffic that wants to stop."

But the overpass proposal also fits with a number of other long-term transportation planning packages that have been discussed in various circles.

Additionally, the truck route around east Hattiesburg and the W.S.F. Tatum extension were part of DuPree's Progress Hattiesburg plan for this year that is still being discussed.

"I think they do go hand-in-hand," DuPree said. "I think you have to pursue all of these funding options as aggressively as you can."

He also said if the federal government does commit funds to the project, the city would likely need to contribute at least $10 million to $12 million in matching funds.

"If you can get $48 million from the federal government, we could find a way to raise the rest, even if it's by phasing it out over many years," he said.

It also fits with the Area Development Partnership's strategic plan for future growth, President Angie Godwin said.

"I see it as a necessity not a luxury," she said. "It's absolutely critical to be able to accommodate our growth potential in a way commerce can develop and traffic can flow." - Reuben Mees, The Hattiesburg American

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COAL LOSES MARKET MOMENTUM

ST. LOUIS, MO -- If the nation's largest coal producers needed a reminder of how fast energy markets can turn against them, they got it last year.

After a furious rally in 2005 that saw record sales and earnings, along with soaring stock prices and dividend increases, King Coal has retrenched.

St. Louis-based Peabody Energy Corp., the world's largest publicly traded coal company, and Creve Coeur-based Arch Coal Inc., the No. 2 U.S. producer, have scuttled some expansion plans and reined in spending, reflecting a softer market for the fuel used to generate more than half of the nation's electricity.

Many of the same forces that triggered a spike in coal prices higher two years ago conspired against the sector last year, including Mother Nature; and coal demand declined for the first time since the 2001 U.S. recession.
Dropoff in demand

"Most of that demand drop-off that we saw last year was the result of mild weather," said Paul Forward, a coal analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in Washington.

Cooler weather last summer and improvements in rail service from mines in Wyoming's Powder River basin allowed electric utilities to increase coal inventories that had dwindled to uncomfortable levels in 2005. As power companies rebuilt stockpiles, coal markets softened.

Prices for coal mined in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, prized for its low sulfur content, have declined to $9 per ton from more than $20 in late 2005.

The industry's response has been swift. Peabody in October scaled back its 2007 expansion plans in the Powder River Basin by 7 million tons and pushed back the startup of its planned School Creek Mine in Wyoming until at least 2009. And while it's a larger company after last year's purchase of Australia's Excel Coal, Peabody's capital spending will be little changed from 2006.

Arch, too, is scaling back, limiting spending and cutting production targets to 130 million to 135 million tons next year from an initial target of 150 million tons.

"Leaving more tons in the ground is the right decision," Steven F. Leer, Arch's chief executive, said earlier this month. "By doing so, we are preserving the value of our low-cost reserves for future periods when we expect demand to be stronger."

The situation is more dire for some small producers in West Virginia.

There, average cash production costs are at or even above the $40 spot prices for Central Appalachian coal, and some companies have started to shut mines.
'Transition year'

Mark Reichman, a coal analyst at A.G. Edwards in St. Louis, said 2007 will be a "transition year" for producers.

"I would expect that by the end of this year we'll be in a better balance between supply and demand and that should firm up pricing," he said.

"But I think producers will still have to stay pretty disciplined in terms of their expansion plans."

Despite the slowdown, the news isn't all bad for Peabody and Arch.

Both companies delivered record earnings in 2006 and are expected to produce more coal and record higher sales and profits again this year. Coal companies sell most of what they produce under multiyear contracts, so even though coal prices have fallen sharply from a year ago, they're still significantly higher than they were a few years earlier. And for Peabody, which has a growing presence outside the United States, international markets are robust, spokesman Vic Svec said.

Coal producers say they expect supply and demand to come back into balance in 2007, citing a forecast by the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, calling for a 2 percent increase in coal demand and 3.1 percent drop in production.

Analysts are less sure. Utility coal stockpiles remain at above-average levels and the last slump for the coal sector lasted a year and a half, from late-2001 to mid-2003.

Meanwhile, the long-term outlook for the coal sector remains strong, they said.

The big wildcard is rising momentum for regulation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which could mean a cutback in coal consumption. - McClatchy Newspapers, The Billings Gazette

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BIOFUEL INNOVATIONS FACE OFFICIAL BOTTLENECK

WASHINGTON, DC -- All that's standing between the United States and the world's first cellulose ethanol plant is an obscure Washington office staffed by one federal contractor.
The office in the U.S. Department of Energy opened last summer to provide federal loan guarantees for producing clean energy and innovative technologies.

However, its sole employee hasn't been able to do more than open the mail. More than 100 so-called pre-applications for loan guarantees have arrived, only to be shelved because the Department of Energy hasn't had the money to hire more staff to assess them.

Among the applications is one from Iogen, a Canadian biotechnology company incorporated in Idaho that wants to open a $500 million plant near Idaho Falls. It would be the first in the world to produce cellulose ethanol, which can be used in today's cars, on a large commercial level.

Iogen expects to turn out annually 20 million to 50 million gallons of the renewal biofuel, which is made from switch grass and such crop waste as corn stalks and barley, oats and wheat straw. Iogen already has contracted with 320 farmers in southeastern Idaho, who could collectively reap $25 million to $35 million a year, according to some estimates.

Photo here: [www.omaha.com]

Caption reads: The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory crew cuts switch grass at a test field in Knoxville, Tennessee. (AP photo)

Though it's more complicated and expensive to make ethanol from tough cellulose fibers than from corn, the Department of Energy has said that more ethanol, at a ratio of 2-to-1, will have to come from cellulose to achieve President Bush's goal of increasing the renewable fuels supply by 35 billion gallons in 10 years.

Yet Iogen can't start building its Idaho cellulose ethanol plant until it gets the federal loan guarantee it applied for last year.

Congress authorized the Department of Energy to back loans for new energy technologies "a year and a half ago," said Jeff Passmore, Iogen's executive vice president, "and we still don't have a loan guarantee initiative up and running. That's disappointing."

The company has everything in place to break ground in Shelley, about 10 miles from Idaho Falls, including equity from such investors as Shell Oil. But it can't close on an approximately $200 million loan without a government-backed loan guarantee.

"We want to get the shovel in the ground and build the plant," Passmore said. "The technology is ready to go. The equity is there. But on the debt side, you can't borrow money from . . . lenders for new technology. They will not take a technology risk unless that debt is guaranteed by a strong credit rating, such as from a government."

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said there's "significant" frustration in Congress with the Department of Energy's pace in implementing the loan guarantees.

"There just has been an awful lot of foot dragging over there," he said. "We talk about climate change, but we have not been able to muster up whatever it takes . . . to take research that is nearly complete and move it to the market with financing through the process of loan guarantees."

Department of Energy spokesman Craig Stevens said the slow rollout wasn't on purpose. "We've done all we can with the authority and appropriation we were given," he said.

He said the department last year asked Congress for authority to transfer $1 million within the department to staff the loan guarantee office and start making decisions on the pre-applications. But lawmakers denied the request.

The outlook is brightening as Congress is poised to finalize a government-funding bill for the current fiscal year that includes $7.3 million for the loan guarantee office and authorizes it to back up to $4 billion in loans this year.

For 2008, Bush requested $8.4 million for the office and authorization to guarantee up to $9 billion in loans for a variety of clean-energy projects. However, the White House funding request doesn't seek money for a section of the program that makes loans specifically for cellulose ethanol plants, according to the Renewal Fuels Association, which represents the ethanol industry.

Stevens said there are other funding sources for cellulose ethanol, such as grants.

He said the department might be able to approve the first loan guarantee by Sept. 30. - McClatchy Newspapers, The Omaha World Herald

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THERE IS A BETTER WAY TO RE-ROUTE ALASKA RAILROAD THROUGH FAIRBANKS

FAIRBANKS, AK -- Rail traffic through the Trainer Gate area has been cause for concern since it became a popular residential area -- well before I began my 10-year tenure as City Engineer for Fairbanks.

The concern intensified when refineries were built and began shipping fuel by train, resulting in up to four fuel trains each day. I remained involved with the problem even after leaving city service and joining the University’s maintenance and operations staff.

In 2003, I served on a Borough Rail Task Force to evaluate alternative routing for this rail traffic. The task force, established by Mayor Rhonda Boyles, included representatives from the Alaska Railroad, all local governments, appropriate agencies, and experts in the field of transportation.

One of the proposals considered grew from a 1985 study that identified the Parks Highway as the only remaining corridor running through Fairbanks. More recently this concept had been expanded to include using the Tanana River Levee to bypass both Fairbanks and North Pole all the way to Moose Creek. In my opinion, the Parks Highway alternative is the only one that offers a truly long-term solution for routing rail transportation around Fairbanks and North Pole. The route has encountered political opposition.

In reaction to this opposition, the Alaska Railroad is suggesting that the Eielson Branch Line east of town be elevated by putting it on top of a 20-foot high earthen embankment. The proposed embankment would start at the railroad freight yards and follow the existing alignment to Fort Wainwright. All major roadways would be spanned by bridges.

This proposal does not measure up to the safety and security expectations of the community.
Further, it is a costly idea that would be more obtrusive and unsightly than the existing at-grade railroad. It closes local streets at a time when the area is bracing for a surge of traffic from new commercial developments; new subdivisions; and a base boundary change that transfers a fully developed subdivision into the community. The area will continue to expand as Fairbanks and the surrounding area grows. In recent years, adjacent areas have exploded with big box stores that strain even existing major arterials such as the old and new Steese Highway.

This neighborhood needs more and improved streets -- not less.

An earthen embankment of this magnitude poses a threat to neighborhood unity and could even shade gardens and yards during our short growing season.

There is a much better way for the Alaska Railroad to improve its operations and achieve all the safety and security benefits that are needed now and even more so in the future. These goals can best be realized by relocating the Eielson Branch to the Parks Highway corridor and utilizing the Tanana River Levee to Moose Creek. This would eliminate all at-grade crossings on the Eielson Branch. The only remaining crossing within local communities would be the existing one across University Avenue. Even there, the numbers of trains using that crossing would be substantially less since all rail traffic now using the Eielson Branch would avoid town altogether. This includes all military traffic as well as refinery fuel trains that run four times a day, seven times a week.

The Parks Highway route, as are any of the alternatives being considered, will be expensive. However, the Parks Highway alternative best addresses all short and long term problems. It also opens the doors to expanding the downtown area and enhancing Fairbanks role as a multiple mode of transportation hub serving all of Alaska north of the Alaska Range.

We are faced with the familiar dilemma; “why is there never time and money to do a job right the first time, but there is always time and money enough to come back and do it over right?’” In reality though, if we do not do it right this time, it will never be done right and our community will forever regret it.

The Alaska Railroad ought to partner with local governments to plan and implement this better way. If they are not willing, then the status quo should remain. Surely, as things get worse it will become clearer that the Parks Highway solution is far superior to anything else. In the meantime we should be planning and preparing for the change. Most importantly, we cannot allow random development to close this last good corridor. - Commentary, John Phillips, The Fairbanks News-Miner (John Phillips, P.E. has 40 years experience in municipal and transportation engineering and was a member of the both the 1985 and 2003 local railroad task forces.)

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TIME TO SAVE OUR STATE PARKS IS NOW

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, TX -- Unless legislators act during the current session, before long, the Battleship Texas will be a pile of rust, the best chance most Texans will ever have of riding the rails will be gone forever, and thousands of school children will never have the opportunity to explore the cradle of Texas independence.

Such consequences may sound alarmist, but without enough money the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife will not be able to make needed repairs to the Battleship Texas and other park sites.

Nor will it be able to keep many parks such as the Washington on the Brazos historic site open every day of the week.

Already, the visitors center at Washington on the Brazos is closed two weekdays, thus preventing numerous school groups from seeing where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. The park is one of the crown jewels of Texas, and it is unacceptable that it not be open every day so that every Texan can visit and learn more about our state's rich history.

The Battleship Texas fought bravely in two world wars, and since 1948 has been an inspiration for visitors from throughout the state, country and world. Now, its bottom is so rusted from years of neglect that officials are afraid to move it to dry dock for fear that it would sink.

Plans now call for building a "dry berth" to protect the mighty ship -- the last of the great ships patterned on HMS Dreadnought - but doing so is only half the battle to save the ship. Cost of the dry berth alone is an estimated $20 million, with 80 percent of that coming from federal funds. It would be up to Texas and Texans to raise the remaining $4 million.

That still leaves some $25 million in repairs that must be done if the great ship is to survive. Many of those repairs are needed just to ensure the safety of the ship's visitors. Others would open more of the ship to visitors.

Also at peril is the Texas State Railroad that carries visitors between Palestine and Rusk through miles of beautiful East Texas countryside. It is the only train ride that many Texans will ever experience. Because the Legislature has been loathe to provided adequate parks funding, the railroad may be shut down permanently after an emergency appropriation runs out in August. Oh, the trains may be put on static display, but without the bonus of the ride itself, attendance would dwindle to the point where it would make no sense to continue operating the park. Once it is gone, a part of our rich heritage goes with it.

Other parks, too, might close and long-delayed maintenance at still others will continue to be delayed unless our lawmakers act. Like Washington on the Brazos, many parks will be forced to cut hours or close off portions of their facilities to the public.

Fortunately, the solution is easy. Fourteen years ago, legislators agreed to use the sales tax money collected on sporting goods equipment and apparel for parks -- sort of. Rather than devote the whole amount, lawmakers decided that no more than $32 million collected each year would go to the parks department. Lately, they haven't even been giving that much, instead using only $20 million of the money for state parks. The rest goes for other things.

The remainder of the park's budget comes from entrance fees and permits.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs estimates that the sporting goods tax will generate $112 million for the 2008 fiscal year starting in September and another $116 million for the following fiscal year. That money, coupled with fees and permits, would be enough to keep all our parks open, doing oft-delayed repairs and necessary maintenance -- and save the Battleship Texas and the Texas State Railroad.

There is a bill in the House -- HB 6 -- with some 114 sponsors that would require the entire amount of the sporting goods tax to be used for state parks. State Rep. Fred Brown of College Station has signed on as a co-sponsor because he understands the importance of our parks to all Texans. Good for Rep. Brown.

There is a similar bill -- SB 252 -- in the state Senate. It has to clear a giant hurdle in the Appropriations Committee, chaired by state Sen. Steve Ogden. Everybody who believes in and enjoys our state parks should contact Sen. Ogden to let him know we want the money collected as a parks tax to actually be used on our state parks.

Readers may write Sen. Ogden at 3740 Copperfield Drive, Suite 103, Bryan, TX 77802. His phone number is 979-776-0521 and his fax number is 979-776-8951. You may also e-mail him at steve.ogden@senate.state.tx.us.

We know there are many demands on lawmakers for funding many different things, but we have a tax in place that would keep our parks in great shape if only we would use it for the purpose for which it was intended.

We're in danger of losing our history and our heritage. The only bright spot is that the Alamo is operated by the non-profit Daughters of the Republic of Texas Inc. At least it is open every day. - Editorial Opinion, The Bryan-College Station Eagle

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HATS OFF TO STORMY KROMER

In 2001, Bob Jacquart was drinking his morning coffee at a restaurant in Ironwood, Michigan (pop. 6,293), when he heard that the Kromer Cap Co., after more than a century, had stopped producing its classic winter hat.

Upon hearing the news, some restaurant patrons decided to buy the last of the remaining hats at nearby stores. Jacquart, however, decided to buy the company.

“I knew I had to do something to keep that hat alive,” says Jacquart, 54, who owns a sewing company in his hometown of Ironwood. “The Stormy Kromer cap is part of our history.

“I called the company that day,” he says. “I bought what would become Stormy Kromer Mercantile two months later.”

The iconic, short-brimmed, ear-flapped hat long has been standard headwear in northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where January temperatures average in the teens and annual snowfall nears 200 inches.

In 1903, Wisconsin locomotive engineer George “Stormy” Kromer, a former semi-pro baseball player, asked his wife, Ida, to modify one of his baseball hats for protection against the bitter winds on his wintertime railroad runs. Ida created an all-wool cap with a short brim and an insulated flap that could be pulled down over the ears. The cap was a hit with Kromer’s co-workers, and it gained popularity as railroad crews traveled across the Midwest. The Kromers made and sold the hats out of their home until 1919, when they opened a cap manufacturing plant in Milwaukee.

Richard Grossman bought the company in 1965, and reluctantly discontinued production of the winter cap in 2001 to concentrate on more profitable products. “We were so glad to have someone like Bob to keep the Stormy Kromer going,” Grossman says. “He understood how important it was.”

Today, a dozen of Jacquart’s employees create each Kromer from the original 13-piece pattern designed by George and Ida more than a century ago. The caps, which cost from $27 to $39, come in a dozen colors and sizes ranging from infant to a custom-made 16-and-1/4-inch hat for Wildcat Willy, the mascot for nearby Northern Michigan University.

Stormy Kromer Mercantile, which produced 6,000 hats in 2002, manufactured 75,000 hats -- and added jobs -- last year.

“It means a lot to me to make a difference in this community,” Jacquart says. “My great-grandfather was a wheelwright here. Both of my grandfathers were grocers here. My dad and my uncles ran businesses here.”

Though he knew the hat’s history, Jacquart didn’t realize how much the Kromer cap meant to people until he began hearing their sentimental stories.

“I was 7 when my dad bought me my first Kromer, and I remember it like it was yesterday,” says Ted Erspamer, now 75. “It’s the perfect hat. In the 1950s, we wore them as part of our uniform on the police department. We wore our badges right on the front of our Kromers.”

Ironwood teacher Dave Kangas wore his old red Kromer on every fishing trip for as long as anyone could remember. So when Kangas died in 1983, his friends and family traveled by boat to the middle of Lake Superior, placed a rock inside the hat and dropped it overboard near his favorite island.

“David loved wearing his Kromers,” says his widow, Nancy Kangas. “He wore his good black Kromer to school and church and special events, and he wore his red one in the outdoors. The tribute was very moving for me -- tears still come when I tell people about it.”

Jacquart has his own fond Kromer story. “We only have two existing photographs of my late grandfather, Lopez,” Jacquart says, “and in both of them he’s wearing a Stormy Kromer. So I know he’d be glad we’re keeping this tradition alive.”

Visit www.stormykromer.com or call (888) 455-2253 for more information. - Steve Lange, Editor, Rochester Magazine, Rochester, MN

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LOVE FOR A LOCOMOTIVE

A rare 1913 locomotive named the Soo Line 1003 sits hissing on the track in Burnett, Wisconsin. (pop. 919), surrounded by parents posing their children under its headlight and railroad enthusiasts peering at its well-preserved parts.

Right on schedule, the engineer rings the train’s bell and pulls on its hollow-voiced whistle.
The locomotive spews a plume of steam and smoke 300 feet above its smokestack. Seconds later, the ground shudders and 82 feet of unleashed power rolls forward.

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” says Bob Krahn, 64, of Fox Lake, WI. “I love the steam engine. I enjoy its sounds and sights. Pictures just don’t do it justice,” he says, watching as the Soo Line 1003 heads to Hartford, WI (pop. 10,905), for a holiday festival.

Dwarfed by a half-million pounds of iron and steel, Krahn’s granddaughter, Brianna, 4, also is impressed by its size. “It is very big,” says the wide-eyed youngster.

The locomotive owes its existence to Burt Mall, of Long Grove, IL (pop. 6,735). As its owner and chief caretaker, Mall is among only a handful of Americans who own a full-size railroad steam engine. Without him, the Soo Line 1003 would be a relic parked in a museum—or worse.

“It would have ended up some place rusting,” says Bob Ristow, a volunteer who helps Mall bring the steam engine to community festivals and special events up to three times a year.

“There’s a romance with old locomotives,” says Mall, 65. “I was always interested in them.”

Mall’s passion for trains began as a child with a secondhand Lionel train, developed while part of a high school railroad club, and eventually led to summertime railroad jobs during his college years. His passion grew full-size when he learned of the 1003.

After nearly a half century of service, the locomotive was retired to a Superior, WI, park in 1959. Volunteers tried restoring the inoperable engine in the 1970s and then sold it partially disassembled to another Superior group, the Wisconsin Railway Preservation Trust (WRPT), in 1994. The WRPT had the train operational by 1996, when Mall joined the group. After his career as an executive in a manufacturing company, Mall enjoyed the greasy, dirty challenge of keeping the old engine running.

“I’ve always liked the real thing,” Mall says. “I was going to retire and wanted something to keep me active. So many steam engines are disappearing in the U.S. It’s a shame.”

In 1999, when the WRPT couldn’t continue maintaining the 1003, Mall and partners Gary and Karin Ostrand purchased it.

“It’s fun to tell people, ‘My dad owns a steam engine,’” says Dane Mall, 35. “They say, ‘What scale, what model?’ We say, ‘No, he owns a real steam engine, like the old Iron Horse.”

A half-dozen like-minded railroad enthusiasts donate their time to help Burt with the steam engine, which is on display at Hartford’s Wisconsin Auto Museum. Volunteer Ken Ristow, locomotive engineer at the Milwaukee Zoo, uses his vacation to run the 1003.

“I wouldn’t trade this for anything,” Ristow says. “I was meant to be part of this history—to learn it myself and pass it on to others.”

The locomotive undergoes weeks of preparation before taking off on a trip. Before leaving the museum, Mall and his volunteers perform government-required tests on the boiler, safety valves, air brakes, running gear and pressure gauges. They inspect the firebox, fill the 8,000-gallon boiler, start and tend the fire, and build up steam pressure. Mall also must coordinate schedules with the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co. and communicate with event sponsors.

“I like large projects,” Mall says. “And I like bringing history to people who don’t have any idea what a steam engine looks like.”

It’s no surprise parents bring their children, train enthusiasts set up tripods with cameras and people respectfully stand up as the Soo Line 1003 passes by.

“Engines like this built the country,” says Dan Sanger, a Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co. employee. “I really appreciate anyone who can keep them alive for future generations to see what built this country.” - Vicki Cox, American Profile

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TRANSIT NEWS

RAILROAD CONSIDERS WI-FI FOR PASSENGERS, CONDUCTORS

Wi-Fi Internet access has entertained millions of laptop users in cafes, provided a mobile office for business travelers in airports and even given people an inexpensive way to phone home from hotel rooms the world over.

Now, thanks to a system being contemplated for the San Jose-Oakland-Sacramento Capitol Corridor rail line, Wi-Fi also may have a chance to save people from being killed by 79 mph trains.

In the search for a convenient wireless Internet system for laptop-toting commuters, officials for the rail line have been impressed by a British firm's ability to beam video from wireless cameras to a speeding train. Onboard, the engineer can watch video images on a Wi-Fi linked laptop and see what is on a crossing in time to avoid hitting something or someone.

Representatives of the tech firm Nomad Digital Ltd. and the Capitol Corridor staged a successful test of the system Feb. 3 on a train borrowed from Caltrain in San Carlos.

That was 10 days before a man trespassing on the line's tracks was killed Tuesday in Mountain View -- Caltrain's second fatality of the year. Last year 17 people were killed on Caltrain tracks. Nine of them were believed to be suicides.

"Certainly what's being looked at by the Capitol Corridor is exciting to all of us in the business, plus all of us who ride trains," said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. Amtrak, the U.S. government-run company that runs most American passenger rail service, operates trains under contract with both the Capitol Corridor and Caltrain.

"Being able to see a vehicle stalled on the tracks, especially a heavy vehicle, would be very valuable operationally," he said.

"It looks rather favorable,"' said Jim Allison, principal planner for the Capitol Corridor. "When we go out for (a contract) for wireless Internet, we have faith that this technology would meet our needs."

And that could come from Newcastle-on-Tyne-based Nomad or other wireless contractors versed in similar technology, Allison said. While Nomad uses a wireless network similar to long-range, high-speed wi-max systems being tested for municipal Wi-Fi networks, Capitol Corridor also might opt for a satellite-based system.

It could take as much as two years to get the system up and running, said Nigel Wallbridge, Nomad's executive chairman and co-founder.

"Once we give a train a broadband wireless system, you can do all sorts of things with it," he said, such as onboard television service for passengers similar to that enjoyed by JetBlue airline passengers or even boosted mobile phone reception.

Capitol Corridor passengers often are frustrated by dropped mobile phone calls as the train rounds the hilly Bay coastline between Crockett and Hercules.

Earlier systems tested on Capitol Corridor trains "provided people with (Internet) connectivity, but they didn't provide enough bandwidth," Allison explained. "The customers were getting speeds between dial-up and a slow DSL. If you get enough users, it's like water pipes" trying to move more water than will fit through them.

Systems such as Nomad's open that pipe considerably, allowing not only better access and more entertainment media choices, but also safety features like the video crossing monitors, Wallbridge said. - Erik N. Nelson, Contra Costa Times

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TROLLEY STILL HAS TRACTION

JOPLIN, MO -- Helen Chickering remembers the excitement of riding the streetcar as a girl growing up in Joplin, Missouri in the 1930s.

Photo here:

[www.joplinglobe.com]

Chickering, 84, who was born and raised in Joplin, can recall the days before automobiles pushed the trolley off the street -- days when she could give a dime to a streetcar driver and catch a ride wherever she needed to go.

“They had a conductor on it and you paid him,” she said. “When you turned around, they of course couldn’t turn the car around, so (the conductor) went over to the other end.”

Some rode out of necessity, Chickering said, but others just enjoyed the thrill of being on the streetcar.

“I remember somebody told me — he was so tickled with it — I think he got on where the streetcar began and rode it clear through because he wanted to get his money’s worth,” she said.

And she remembers in 1938 when vehicles finally won and put Joplin’s last trolley out of business.

“We went to buses,” Chickering said. “The buses were OK, but the streetcars I thought were pretty neat.”

Seven decades later, Joplin is making a move to revive the trolley — or at least to revive the feel of the trolley. By late summer or early fall, the city will operate a bus, known as a wheel trolley, to serve as practical transportation but also as an homage to Joplin’s past.

The trolley will make a round-trip every hour and cost $1 to ride. It will include stops downtown, on Range Line Road, and at Missouri Southern State University and Ozark Christian College.

Robert Lolley, transit coordinator for the city of Joplin, said the wheel trolley will be stylized after the classic streetcar, with wood-slat seats and brass detailing, to give it a “nostalgic feel.”

“With downtown revitalization, the city manager and the rest of us that talked wanted to continue that and go with a trolley style so it would have more a historic downtown feel,” he said. “History is important to us.”

An important part of Joplin’s past, the trolley was tied to the Tri-State Area’s mining history, said Ed Conrad, a self-described “local amateur historian,” who wrote “Tri-State Traction,” a book about trolleys of Southwest Missouri, Southeast Kansas and Northeast Oklahoma.

Conrad said trolleys, operated by the Southwest Missouri and the Joplin and Pittsburg Railway, ran through Joplin from 1895 until 1938. The companies, along with the Northeast Oklahoma Railroad, built trolley systems with the idea of serving the areas lead and zinc miners.

He said the Tri-State trolley system was one of the first in the whole country. It was also rare because the region was relatively isolated and other urban areas with similar systems were typically large population centers west of the Mississippi River.

Trolley tracks, which included rails with electrified lines running above, stretched through nearly the whole of Joplin, Conrad said.

Early in the life of the streetcar, the only alternative form of mass transit was the railroad -- which was expensive, dirty and limited to certain parts of town because of rail and noise restrictions.

“Trolleys were touted as the marvel of the age,” Conrad said. “They emphasized the fact that the trolleys were clean. Women in white dresses could ride on the trolley.”

The trolley served more than just the miners who traveled to Picher, Oklahoma or Carterville, depending on which mine was booming at the time.

“Especially before paved roads made it easier for people to get from here to there, people would take to Carthage or Joplin for basically a night on the town,” Conrad said. “People would ride the trolley cars just to cool off because they would move at some speed.”

Soon, however, what was the most practical mode of transport would be phased out, and pushed off the road, for a more convenient mode of transportation.

“By the mid-1920s, the trolley started to lose it’s appeal because the automobile was the latest thing,” Conrad said. “When they started paving the streets, that was really the death knell for the streetcars.”

In 1938, Conrad said, Joplin put Works Progress Administration workers to the task of tearing up the tracks and paving the streets.

And today, Chickering is happy that Joplin is making an effort to restore an important piece of its history.

“That’s fun,” she said. “For the city to do something like that, when they first mentioned it, I thought that was great. Joplin has a very interesting past.” - Mike Dwyer, The Joplin Globe

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LIPA WILL INSPECT LIRR LINES, SUBSTATIONS

NEW YORK, NY -- The Long Island Power Authority will inspect all transmission lines along Long Island Rail Road tracks and all electrical substations serving the railroad, after downed wires caused major delays twice in two weeks, LIPA President and chief executive Richard Kessel said Sunday.

"We want to just take an overall look and inventory of the lines ... to make sure that they're in good shape and that we have as few interruptions as possible," Kessel said.

On Feb. 2, a nonelectrified wire dangling across seven LIRR tracks east of the Valley Stream station forced the railroad to suspend service for 3-1/2 hours on the Babylon, Far Rockaway, Long Beach and West Hempstead branches. Fifty-six trains were delayed or canceled, affecting 30,000 people, the LIRR said. LIPA officials said the wire fell because a metal bracket broke inside a power substation.

On Wednesday, during the snow and ice storm, another nonelectrified wire fell across two tracks just east of the Seaford station on the Babylon branch. Service was suspended for about an hour on one track and for about 3-1/2 hours on the other, the LIRR said.

About 20,000 people and 34 trains were affected. In this case, the wire itself split, said LIPA spokesman Bert Cunningham.

LIPA and railroad officials said downed lines don't often affect the railroad.

"We don't see any endemic problems," Kessel said. "I think we'd rather be safe than sorry."

Kessel said the review will take a couple of months.

Railroad and Long Island Power Authority staff also will meet this week to conduct a joint review of the two recent incidents, said LIRR Acting President Ray Kenny.

"In any major incident, we can always improve our response and we have to anticipate what could happen in the future," he said.

LIPA is still investigating why the wire broke Feb. 14.

"When you have 40- to 50-mile an hour winds and ice, wires are going to come down," Kessel said. "I think that overall, our transmission system that goes along the railroad is in very good shape."

Kessel added that since last year, LIPA has been "hardening" equipment and lines -- including those along LIRR routes -- as part of a 20-year, $500 million program to increase resistance to storms.

LIPA's review will consider whether to harden more lines and equipment along railroad tracks by the end of the year, Kessel said. - Jennifer Maloney, Newsday

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THE END