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Railroad Newsline for Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

SCHIEFFER SAYS DM&E'S OPERATION WILL CONTINUE AS IS

There will be no immediate changes in operations on the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, says Kevin Schieffer, DM&E president and CEO.

The railroad has invested in the line and shippers should expect business as usual, Schieffer said.

In a telephone interview, Schieffer said he appreciates the support the project has received from the agriculture sector. He's driven to not let the project's supporters down. Farm groups and agricultural groups are counting on this project to happen, he said.

Minnesota Farm Bureau president Kevin Paap said Farm Bureau was disappointed that t he improvements and upgrades have been delayed.

"We will continue to represent Minnesota Farm Bureau's policy that supports the rail line improvements on the existing corridor proposed by DM&E," Paap said.

Minnesota Farmers Union president Doug Peterson said MFU was likewise disappointed that the loan didn't go through.

MFU is concerned that farmers will be held hostage without the rail upgrade. For now, it's back to the drawing board, he said, adding "don't give up on the DM&E just yet."

In 1998, the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad proposed a plan to extend its system into Wyoming's coal-rich Powder River Basin and upgrade its tracks.

The railroad cleared several hurdles along the way and was challenged by opposition groups, including Mayo Clinic and the city of Rochester.

Schieffer said the railroad has had financing in place several times, but it's impossible to get financial backers to say 'here's the terms, let us know when the project's a go.'

He can't imagine a scenario where a project would be started and there would be a nine-year commitment on financing. - Janet Kubat Willette, Agri News

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ZELENKA SAYS GRAIN SHIPMENTS NOT ENOUGH FOR RAILROAD

The DM&E proposed expansion and upgrade began as a coal project. Coal is really what would give this railroad what it needs to be viable into the future, said Bob Zelenka, executive director of the Minnesota Grain and Feed Association.

Grain alone may not be enough to support it.

Now, about 80 percent of the price of coal comes from transportation costs, Zelenka said. Adding a third player -- the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and the United Pacific currently ship coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin -- would add competition and perhaps decrease cost. - Agri News

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RURAL TOWNS DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY DM&E'S PLANS WERE OPPOSED

SPRINGFIELD, MN -- Folks in Springfield are shaking their heads at the news that the DM&E's loan application has been denied.

They can't believe it, said Mayor Mark Brown.

"It should be a no-brainer," Brown said.

The DM&E isn't proposing to do anything different than any other business. The company wants to upgrade its property and expand.

An upgrade would also improve safety and increase train speed, reducing the time it takes to cross intersections.

DM&E recently upgraded its tracks through the farming community of about 2,300 in southwestern Minnesota, Brown said. He lives a half block from the railroad and said since the railroad upgraded its tracks through Springfield, he hardly hears it go by.

The railroad tracks go through the heart of the city.

"We're not the city of Rochester, the city of Mankato -- Owatonna -- ag is what keeps us going," Brown said.

Mayo Clinic and the city of Rochester lobbied against the project. Brown wants to know why.
Failing to improve the railroad tracks "would be like turning Highway 14 back into a gravel road," Brown said.

If the project is completed, Springfield would get gated crossings. Now, there's flashing lights at one of the town's six crossings. The rest are regulated by stop signs.

Tony Schwing, president of the Lake Benton Economic Development Authority, was surprised to learn the loan was denied. He said he thought it was a done deal.

He questioned why Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who represents all of Minnesota, said the denial was a good thing.

Lake Benton is on record supporting the upgrade, figuring the positives outweighed the negatives, Schwing said. He figures it's safer to have an upgraded railroad with controls rather than the existing uncontrolled railroad where the trains go wobbling through town.

An upgrade may have also been an economic development tool for Lake Benton, which is working on an industrial park, Schwing said.

Coal still needs to be moved, he said, adding he doubts anyone wants more trucks on the road.
"I'm rooting for them," he said of the DM&E.

Roy Srp, the mayor of Waseca and a DM&E employee, said, "I am very disappointed as a railroad employee and as the mayor of Waseca." At the same time, he's looking forward to hearing about the options to move the project forward. Upgrading the existing infrastructure is important to economic development in southern Minnesota, he said.

DM&E is a large employer in Waseca, with about 80 employees.

Kasson Mayor Tim Tjosaas said the loan denial is just another step in the process. Rail vitality is important to southern Minnesota, he said. Rail transportation is important because of farmers, agribusinesses and ethanol plants, but it needs to be financially feasible.

Upgrade opponents Mayo Clinic and the Rochester Coalition will continue to monitor the proposal. - Janet Kubat Willette, Agri News

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WHAT'S NEXT FOR DM&E AFTER LOAN IS DENIED?

The Federal Rail Administration's decision to deny the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad a $2.3 billion loan left many in agriculture wondering what's next.

"It would have been nice to see it go through," said Kevin DeBerg, grain merchandiser for Harvestland Cooperative, based in Morgan, Minnesota.

The cooperative invested in a shuttle loading facility at its Springfield location on the DM&E line in anticipation of the upgrade. Dry fertilizer, liquid propane and liquid fertilizer arrive at Springfield via the DM&E railroad. The cooperative ships 110-car export trains of grain from the facility and 108-car domestic trains of corn.

Now, they're in the uncomfortable situation of having invested in an upgrade without knowing if the DM&E will be able to upgrade.

Al-Corn Clean Fuels of Claremont, Minnesota, which lately has shipped close to 25 percent of its dried distillers grain on the DM&E to markets in Idaho and California, said the decision will mean more trucks on the road.

"Our industry needs the rail," said Al-Corn CEO Randy Doyal.

The DM&E needs to upgrade the track because they can't move product well, he said. The railroad moves slow, requiring shippers to lease more cars to keep product flowing. If the train was more efficient, it could carry more freight faster.

Rep. Tim Walz, D-Mankato, who sided against the railroad in its loan application, later said he could support the project if its focus was changed and the DM&E approached the project differently.

"We need expanded rail travel, whether that's a coal-based railroad or not, I'm not sure. But I can guarantee that we need an agricultural railroad," Walz was quoted in a Star Tribune article.

In a conference call, Walz said the DM&E needs to have a project that will work, be safe and not face huge resistance up and down the line. He said the railroad needs to be open about how it asks for a loan, rather than sneaking in a request.

The DM&E may have gone to the letter of the law, but not to the spirit of the law, Walz said.
Next time, the railroad needs to make a good faith effort to work with the local communities and be open about its plans. It can't approach the upgrade and expansion as a big railroad that is going to have its way no matter what.

Some have said that Mayo Clinic and Rochester are bad apples along the route, he said, but the duo aren't bad apples, they are important constituents.

Bob Zelenka, executive director of the Minnesota Grain and Feed Association, questions whether lawmakers can be both for agriculture and for Rochester.

"I'll be damned if I'm going to hold a meeting in Rochester," Zelenka said. "They're no friend of agriculture. I'm looking elsewhere" and he's encouraging his colleagues to do the same. - Janet Kubat Willette, Agri News

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RAILROAD TANKER TROUBLE DOUBLES UPON RETURN

RODEO, CA -- Just as both houses of Congress are discussing ways to better protect hazardous chemical shipments against terror attacks, that very tanker threat is back in Rodeo, California with a vengeance.

This time, there are not just a dozen cars marked to carry highly explosive liquefied petroleum gas parked across from a Head Start preschool, as there were in January. On Monday, there were 24.

And rather than promise that they will be removed, the railroad is faulting local governments for allowing the preschool there in the first place.

"We are in the business of dealing with children and their well-being," said Lynn Yaney, a spokeswoman for the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department, which runs the Head Start facility. "It's very frustrating to have to continually contend with having these tankers across the street."

Yaney said she has pestered both the Union Pacific Railroad and Conoco Phillips refinery, which produces the gas, to move the cars. Union Pacific continues to point the finger at Conoco Phillips -- whose representative could not be reached for comment -- saying that the refinery next to the town continues to ask for cars to load with the gas, one of several products that comes from oil refining.

"There just isn't anywhere else in the system to do it," said Wayne Horiuchi, the railroad's special representative for governmental affairs in California and Nevada.

As a result of community and county concern, Union Pacific sent out a directive that "asks the train crews never to stage loaded cars down there," Horiuchi said, so any cars parked there Monday would have been empty.

County safety authorities have said the cars pose a danger even if they are empty. Horiuchi acknowledged that "there may be some residue in there, but the risk is minimal."

A greater risk faced by the school is from gasoline truck tankers that passed by the school three times recently as a Union Pacific worker stopped in Rodeo to take stock of the preschool-tanker issue, Horiuchi said.

"That risk, compared to the risk of empty tank cars 1,400 feet from the school, you've got to put this into perspective," Horiuchi said.

He added that the trouble started when local authorities decided to put the school next to the railroad tracks in what had been an industrial area. Had he known the county was going to put the preschool there, he would have warned against it.

But Contra County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema said the school and residential development are not new.

"Where the tankers have been stored is an area that has been developed for decades," she said. "The Housing Authority at Bayo Vista (which adjoins the preschool) has been there for at least 40 years.

"It was inappropriate to store stuff there before and it's inappropriate to store it there now."
The Rodeo dispute has resurfaced just as the House Homeland Security Committee was preparing to hear testimony today on the need to make hazardous rail shipments more secure against terror attacks.

In the Senate, presidential hopeful Joe Biden, D-Delaware, planned to introduce an amendment to a railroad security bill that would open the door for rerouting highly hazardous shipments such as liquefied petroleum gas and poisonous chlorine and ammonia around densely populated areas. - Erik N. Nelson, The Conta Costa Times

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VIDEO TELLS STORY OF O&C RAILROAD LANDS

ROSEBURG, OR -- A video exploring the history of the Oregon & California Railroad lands has been posted on Douglas County's Web site.

The 12-minute video was produced by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners. It tells the story of how the federal government granted the railroad large tracts of land -- 20 miles on each side of the rail line -- to finance construction of a railroad through what would become western Oregon.

The railroad was supposed to sell the land to homesteaders, with the proceeds to pay the railroad's construction costs. However, the plan was ruined by scandal.

Corporate interests fraudulently obtained large chunks of land by paying people to pose as homesteaders. The railroad improperly held onto much of the land itself.

After Theodore Roosevelt became president, he promised to clean up the mess. Federal investigators spent two years gathering evidence and indictments led to the arrest of more than 1,000 politicians, business owners, railroad executives and others.

The government took back 2 million acres kept by the Southern Pacific Railroad, which completed the rail line after the O&C Railroad failed.

Today, O&C lands are located in 18 western Oregon counties. They are managed for forest production on behalf of those counties by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

Douglas County receives about $25 million per year from the O&C lands, which goes into the county's general fund. The money, distributed among all of the counties with O&C lands within their borders, is considered part of the federal timber safety net.

The video can be found at the bottom left of the county's home page at www.co.douglas.or.us. - The Roseburg News-Review

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COST TO REPLACE BURNED COLFAX TRESTLE MORE THAN $5 MILLION

COLFAX, WA -- The cost to replace a railroad trestle destroyed by last summers wildfire outside of Colfax, Washington has climbed to more than five million dollars.

The executive director of the Port of Whitman County, Joe Piore (POHR'-ay), says preliminary estimates originally were one to two million dollars.

The increase has the Washington State Department of Transportation's rail division looking for alternatives.

The trestle burned in a fire that burned nearly four-thousand acres. - KGW-TV8, Portland, OR

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RAIL OVERPASS WINS ANOTHER ROUND; GOBBLES ANOTHER SEMI

PIERRE, SD -- Yet another semi had a run-in with the railroad bridge on Pierre Street Monday morning.

While many of the accidents result in minimal damage to the cabs of the semis, Monday's incident resulted in the trailer becoming wedged under the bridge midway through.

Corp. Jeff Hill of the Pierre Police Department said the accident occurred shortly after 09:00, when a truck driver from Joe Rud Trucking Inc. was making a delivery to Runnings Farm and Fleet.

Although the size limit is clearly marked with flashing lights on the bridge the driver tried to pass underneath and got stuck.

"About once a year we get an example like this," Hill said.

The truck's contents were unloaded and put onto another trailer, which was from Snappy Delivery Incorporated, before the truck could be pulled out from under the bridge.

A & R Towing of Chamberlain had to be called as none of the towing companies in Pierre had a truck big enough to handle the job.

David Thompson, owner of A & R, said he had never performed a job like this one.

"We don't have too many low bridges in Chamberlain," Thompson said.

Thompson added that he expected the job to be easy once the semi trailer was unloaded.

"Once they get the weight off it, that makes it a lot easier," he said.

According to Lt. Brian Hines of the Pierre Police Department, the trailer was finally extricated at 1:48 p.m. and sustained $20,000 worth of damage in the incident.

Hines also said he heard the driver was fired from his job as a result.

There is probably one main reason behind why there have been similar incidents at the bridge, Hines said.

"I guess a lot of people don't know how tall their vehicles are," Hines said. "It's well-marked and labeled, and the lights are flashing, but apparently people don't know the height and think they can make it."

Incidents at the bridge are not relegated only to semis. Hines said RVs sometimes lose their air conditioning units as a result of trying to pass under it.

Hines said there has been discussion of hanging a pole from the bridge delineating the height restrictions, similar to the ones that hang in fast food drivethroughs.

"The overlying problem is that trucks aren't supposed to be on that road, anyway," Hines said. "It's not the truck route."

Hines said the trucker in Monday's incident sped up when he saw the sign instead of slowing down.

"That's why it took so long to get it out," Hines said. "I've seen people make it out to the other side, but this was wedged right in the middle. I'm sure his boss was not impressed." - Travis Gulbranson, The Pierre Captial Journal

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SANTA FE RAILYARD: FRESH TRACKS

SANTA FE, NM -- Workers began pulling old rail out of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Railyard on Monday, marking the first step in the long-awaited Railyard renovation project.

This initial phase will replace rail from Montezuma Avenue to 150 feet north of Paseo de Peralta using $800,000 to $900,000 in city money procured from the state for the Railyard project, said Carol Raymond, the general manager of Santa Fe Southern Railway.

Workers from Mountain State Contractors arrived a week early, Raymond said. The project was scheduled to begin next week, but the company has a reputation for starting early, she said.

Photo here: [www.freenewmexican.com]

At the construction scene, many of the railroad ties had been pulled out by Monday afternoon. New bundles of black ties, made of oak or ash, waited to be laid in the ground. In a few places, workers had left small piles of 5-inch-long steel spikes, but a nearby bulldozer had many more in its blade.

Raymond said some of the spikes had been stamped with a date, most of them from the 1950s and '60s, but contractors found some from the '20s and '30s, too, she said.

While old spikes aren't particularly rare, collectors often purchase them from the nearby gift shop, she said.

Many of the ties and much of the rail will be recycled in the renovation project, Raymond said. Soft or cracked ties can't be reused in railroads, but many people buy them for landscaping, she said.

The first phase of replacing rail is scheduled to be completed in two months, said Bob Sarr of Santa Fe Southern Railway. Work should begin soon afterward on the second phase, replacing track from Paseo de Peralta to the intersection of Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive, Raymond said.

The renovation is part of the preparation for bringing the Rail Runner Express commuter train to Santa Fe from Albuquerque in late 2008.

Eventually, the Railyard will have three tracks side by side running by the train depot, Sarr said. The plan will leave the Railyard with the same number of tracks while creating more space for parking, bike trails or other developments, he said. - Brandon Garcia, The Santa Fe New Mexican

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CHICAGO-IOWA TRAIN STUDIED

CHICAGO, IL -- A new study evaluating the possible resumption of passenger trains from Chicago to Rockford and Dubuque reported Monday that travel times would not be any faster than driving, but the rail service would help reduce traffic congestion on highways.

The study, conducted by Amtrak at the request of Illinois transportation officials, also laid out preliminary cost estimates for the first time.

Up to $62 million would be needed to improve the railroad infrastructure, but that does not include costs for railcars, locomotives or stations, the study said.

Operating costs to run a single daily round trip between Chicago and Dubuque via Rockford were estimated at less than $5 million annually.

The study mentioned travel times of about two hours between Chicago and Rockford, and less than 4-1/2 hours between Chicago and Dubuque.

It has been more than 25 years since the last passenger train service from Chicago through northwestern Illinois ended.

Officials at the Illinois Department of Transportation said they received the study Monday from Amtrak and needed time to review it before commenting. - The Chicago Tribune

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CIVIL WAR-ERA TRAIN WRECK BROUGHT TO LIFE

The newspapers were filled with news of the war in Virginia and the fighting along the Mississippi River on June 25, 1862. The Civil War was ramping up with additional troops after several unsuccessful battles along the Virginia peninsula.

A south-bound train from Boston, dubbed an "extra", pulled into Trenton's State Street depot sometime between 10:30 and 11 that morning. It had been traveling all night as it raced towards Washington, but was now being delayed, waiting for a "special" train carrying President Abraham Lincoln to pass through.

Lincoln was simply passing through on his return trip from his visit with General Winfield Scott at West Point. He was heading back to Washington and the men were forced to wait until the president's train passed by.

Onboard the "extra" were the 156 men, 120 horses, 6 cannons, 2 full days of rations, forage for the horses and a large quantity of ammunition and supplies that belonged to Captain Asa H. Cook's Eighth Massachusetts Battery.

Five, six, seven hours passed before Lincoln's "special" train made its way through Trenton.

After an hour or so, the men onboard the stalled train got off to explore the area of the city surrounding train depot that stood on the site where the state's Department of Environmental Protection is now located on East State Street.

They strolled around the streets of Trenton talking with local residents and enjoying their unscheduled, extended visit.

About 5:30 p.m., Lincoln's train finally made its way through the station, but their train was delayed more to allow the president's train to get ahead.

About 15 minutes later orders were given for the Massachusetts soldiers to re-board the railcars to continue their journey toward Washington.Most of the men found a place in the cars, some found a place on top of the cars, but all got onboard.

Looking ahead toward their arrival into hostile territory south of Philadelphia, several men were detailed to care for the horses, while others were ordered to protect the rations and supplies in the forward cars.

There was nothing unusual as the train inched away from the station and headed in the direction of Bordentown along the rails of the Camden & Amboy Railroad.

As the train got about 2 miles from the depot, just a few hundred feet past Riverview Cemetery in the area of Lock No. 3 of the Delaware & Raritan Canal, the train's engineer John Maulsbury--a 13-year veteran of the railroads, noticed a work crew up ahead.

Without notice, the crew had begun repairing a section of track, taking up a section of rail in an attempt to make repairs between scheduled trains.The crew claims they had placed a warning signal out at a distance and that Engineer Maulsbury ignored it and drove on.But Maulsbury claimed the only warning he received was a crew worker waving his arms in the air just moments before a tragic event.

Nevertheless, the train ran off the track, forcing 6 passenger cars to plunge into the Delaware & Raritan Canal sending troops, horses and supplies into the water.

Four men were injured: John Russ badly injured his leg, Samuel Bright was severely hurt, shattering one of his legs,Thomas Flood badly injured his chest and broke his wrist, after jumping from the train just moments before impact, and William C. Wyse received only slight injuries.

Two men were killed,Hosea Packard, of Easton, Massachusetts, who was in the most forward car protecting supplies, was trapped under the wreckage and drowned.The other man, George E. Smith, of Boston, was also found drowned -- he was in a forward car taking care of horses when the accident occurred.

No artillery or ammunition was damaged in the wreck, and all but 7 of the 10-inch Colt pistols onboard were recovered from the mud after they had drained the canal in the rescue efforts.The wreck also claimed the lives of twelve valuable horses from the Battery.

An inquiry following the train wreck found the Camden & Amboy Railroad Company to be blameless, of course, since there were no specific rules that stated an "extra" train must be informed of working crews ahead.

Although the railroad company did pay for the damages to the battery's supplies and horses, and the families of George E. Smith and Hosea Packard were provided with some monetary restitution.

But a testament of the true charity of local residents, a small boy was reported to have asked his mother if he could take the pennies from his piggy bank to buy some cherries "for them soldiers with the red stripes on their clothes."

Scores of local women, who surely must have had their husbands, brothers or sweethearts who were off to war on their minds, came out to bring breads, cakes, and other refreshments to the tired, wrecked soldiers.

One soldier, who was on the train during the wreck, recalled that, "a hundred and fifty good fellows will look back to their detention in this 'wheelbarrow city' as one of memory's pleasant pictures." - Charles Webster, The Trentonian

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COUNTY TO BUY OLD NACHES RAIL LINE

Map here: [img.yakima-herald.com]

YAKIMA, WA -- A doubling of the Yakima Greenway Foundation pathway complex that includes its first foray outside the Yakima urban area will come closer to reality today.

Yakima County commissioners will buy the defunct Naches rail line as part of a plan to retain the corridor for possible future rail service while allowing, in the interim, trail use by the public.

Should a trail come to pass -- Greenway and elected officials are pushing for it -- the pathway system would stretch from its current southern terminus in Union Gap a distance of about 20 miles to Naches. Completing a pathway extension from 40th Avenue and Fruitvale Boulevard will require grants and could be several years away.

The $239,000 purchase using federal grant funds is contingent on clearing up hundreds of thousands of dollars in liens left over from a failed attempt to restore rail service.

The line's 11-mile corridor from near Fruitvale Boulevard and River Road to west of Naches has not carried a rail car for 10 years.

Resolving one landowner's concerns about the location of a portion of the line also could complicate the plan.

Bob Kershaw, president of Kershaw Sunnyside Ranches, favors relocating about a mile of line through the firm's orchard so the company can construct a distribution center at the rear of the Kershaw Fruit and Cold Storage packing and storage complex at Low Road and Highway 12.

Kershaw's ancestors granted a deed for the rail line through the orchard in 1905.

Kershaw, who is pursuing administrative and legal avenues, has offered property outside of his orchard to retain the corridor for both rail and trail.

Kershaw is renewing his request that the line be abandoned. The federal Surface Transportation Board, which oversees rail lines, denied the request in 2004.

The denial prompted a pending appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The board later granted a request that keeps the corridor viable and allows the interim trail use.

Kershaw agrees with the trail idea but still wants the rail line eliminated.

"A trail can exist on the property and we can have development," said Kevan Montoya, a Yakima attorney representing the firm. "A trail and jobs are good for Yakima County. The problem is we haven't had much cooperation up to this point."

County officials say they have been in negotiation with Kershaw. The firm's proposal, however, doesn't satisfy all the issues related to retaining the rail corridor.

The county is somewhat limited because it doesn't own the property until the purchase from Yakima Interurban Lines Association closes.

The nonprofit association, which obtained the line from the BNSF Railway Company in 1999, is out of business because of the failed rebuilding effort and the leftover financial problems.

County commission Chairman Mike Leita said Monday the county's interest is maintaining the option for rail service at some point in the future.

But the focus now is on a trail system that would expand the Greenway and provide links to the William O. Douglas trail that travels through Cowiche Canyon and west toward Mount Rainier.

"Until a rail line is needed to be re-established, there is a concerted effort to link the pathways," Leita said. "Pathways provide another opportunity for the community to enjoy and recreate."

Al Brown, executive director of the nonprofit Greenway, said his group is a proponent of extending the pathway along the Naches corridor.

"We have indicated to the county commissioners we are very interested in that if that is the direction they believe best suits the community. We want to be in a position to partner with the county and the cities to provide that." - David Lester, The Yakima Herald- Republic

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CLEAN UP OF DERAILMENT SITE CONTINUES; CAUSE STILL UNKNOWN

CHANDLER, TX -- From the sky you can see the magnitude of the task that crews have ahead of them. One spot near the scene still smoldering from Sunday night's fire.

Fresh panels of railroad tracks have been brought it to help haul the damaged cars away.

"We lay them down on the ballast which is the rock material under the track and we weld it all together and can run trains through there at a slow speed and get things in and out," says Union Pacific Railroad Public Information Officer Joe Arbona.

Also seen from the sky is some of the lube oil that spilled into Lake Palestine, creating a glossy sheen.

The oil was contained using these orange booms and it could be several thousand gallons that have to be sucked out of the lake.

"What we've been told is that approximately 23,000 gallons spilled out of the tanker. What fell into the slew is 0 and 23,000," says Arbona.

Officials are saying the water is safe to drink. But environmental officials will continue their water testing through the week.

"Everything that leaked was below [where we're fishing]. Going down [toward the accident site] I'm not so sure. I'll do my fishing down this way," says Tilmon Hill who spent the morning fishing on nearby Neches River.

It was business as usual for fishers along Neches River. As for wildlife in the water, Texas Parks and Wildlife says there's no reason to believe the fish are contaminated.

"If it bites a hook and is in good shape and fights like fish, then that fish is going to be okay," says Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden Chris Green.

Just east of the derailment site, you can see grooves in the rail ties, which appears to be evidence that the wheels came off the track around this point.

Union Pacific is not willing to speculate.

Arbona says, "What made the wheel come off the track is the cause, we got to figure out where that is."

With no answer to a cause yet, officials feel they are still on track to solve the mystery behind this derailment and keep something like this from happening again.

Another resource Union Pacific has is the event recorder, which is like what the black box is to an airplane.

They hope it will shed some light on the moments leading up to the derailment.

City of Tyler late this afternoon said it's restarted its Lake Palestine Water Treatment Plant.
Again, water for Tyler residents is safe to drink. - Christine Nelson, KLTV-TV7, Tyler/Longview/Jacksonville, TX

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BNSF ISSUES WEEKLY PRB COAL UPDATE FOR MARCH 6, 2007

February PRB Train Loadings and Tonnage Up from February 2006

Average BNSF daily train loadings for the Powder River Basin (PRB), including Wyoming and Montana mines, totaled 49.9 per day in February, up 6 percent from February 2006 loadings of 46.9 trains per day. PRB tons for February 2007 finished at 20.0 million, up 6 percent from last February's 18.8 million tons.

For the week ended March 4, 2007, BNSF loaded an average of 50.6 coal trains per day in the PRB, compared with an average of 46.7 trains per day for the week ended March 5, 2006. Planned and unplanned mine outages resulted in an average of 2.7 missed loading opportunities per day for the week ended March 4, 2007.

Year-to-date through March 4, 2007, BNSF has loaded a total daily average of 49.5 coal trains per day in the PRB, up 5 percent from the 47.1 trains loaded through the same period in 2006.

Construction Projects Update

Sub-ballast work has been completed for 15 miles of new third main track on BNSF's line between Donkey Creek and Caballo, Wyoming, just north of the Joint Line. Track laying is scheduled to begin later this month, and the new track is expected to go into service in May, with crossovers to follow later this year.

Track laying crews are scheduled to begin work this week on 10 miles of new second main track between Mason and Berwyn, Nebraska. This additional double track, scheduled to go into service in the second quarter of this year, will help improve the flow of loaded and empty coal trains. - BNSF Service Advisory

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BNSF HOSTS DISPLAY OF ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LOCOMOTIVES

Tuesday, March 6, the BNSF Railway Company displayed several environmentally friendly locomotives in Fort Worth, Texas to the public and media.

Equipment on display included an ultra-low emission locomotive; evolution series locomotive (EVO) made by General Electric; and a retrofitted EMD Tier 0, an older locomotive upgraded to improve emissions.

Attendees included representatives from National Railway Equipment Company, which manufacturers the ultra-low emission locomotive; senior officers of BNSF's environmental group; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The group discussed the environmentally friendly technology and the partnership with the state of Texas to reduce diesel emissions.

BNSF is a transportation leader in environmental stewardship and is committed to making the world greener by increasing fuel efficiency and reducing emissions, while continuing to handle more freight ton miles than any other mode of transportation.

Other attendees included representatives of the Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, KTVT-TV (CBS affiliate), and WFAA-TV (ABC affiliate). - BNSF Today

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TRANSIT NEWS

HOW 'BOUT A TROLLEY?

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- More than 50 years after trolleys disappeared from its streets, the city of Minneapolis is moving forward with a plan to bring them back. Pushed by Mayor R.T. Rybak and a number of City Council members, an $800,000 study has identified seven potential routes for electric streetcars, and by next summer, it will recommend which segments should come first, and how the city could raise the money to make it happen.

The city doesn't have the estimated $30 million per mile that it would cost to build streetcar lines.

And the Metropolitan Council, which runs Metro Transit, says that streetcars are not a priority and that the city must not compete for state and federal funds against more pressing transit needs.

Nevertheless, Minneapolis is counting on paying for streetcars with higher taxes from transit-dependent development.

"Streetcars are a development tool that help you build neighborhoods with transit," said Council Member Gary Schiff, one of a number of city officials who say streetcars would offer clean, convenient public transportation while sparking real estate investments all along the line.

Streetcar lines shaped the city's early development, and trolleys trundled along with traffic on a regional rail network until cars and buses pushed the last trolley out of service in 1954.

Since then, the slow but steady service offered by streetcars has brought them back into vogue among transit advocates across the country.

Now the city is taking a leap of faith in exploring bringing back streetcars. Other cities have done it without depending on federal or state dollars or taking funds out of police, fire, parks and libraries, Rybak said.

After visiting Portland, Oregon, where increased tax revenue from private development paid for a 7-mile streetcar system that debuted in 1999, many Minneapolis council members are optimistic that the city could use a similar approach to start a line as a downtown circulator on Nicollet, Hennepin or Washington Avenues.

Six roads with high bus ridership are being studied for streetcars: Nicollet, Hennepin, Chicago, Broadway, Central and University Avenues. A seventh potential streetcar route is the Midtown Greenway.

By mid-summer, a feasibility study will recommend the best potential routes. Rybak said the study will identify the tools the city could use to raise money for the capital investment.

Rybak compared the process to the city's construction of S. 2nd Street out of old railroad yards in the late 1980s. That infrastructure investment resulted in the street becoming the "front door" for the Guthrie Theater, the Mill City Museum and hundreds of millions in private investment, the mayor said.

"We're trying to move beyond this being an interesting dream into a reality," he said.

'Enough on our plate'

Opponents of the idea, currently a minority of council members, include Council President Barbara Johnson. Johnson says the city should focus on core services such police, water, park buildings and libraries.

"I hesitate to see us jump into providing a system of mass transportation when we've got enough on our plate right now," she said. "The city should not be taking this on. We have a regional transit agency."

Council members who favor streetcars say many neighborhoods welcome them.

"In Uptown, almost every community meeting I'm at when the subject of transportation comes up, most of the people say they want a streetcar," said Council Member Ralph Remington. "They look at it as a fast, fun, easy way to get around. People have demonstrated in surveys that they love rail."

A greenway trolley?

A streetcar on the Midtown Greenway, now an east-west bike and walking trail a block north of Lake Street, has the backing of 14 of the 16 neighborhoods along it and a neighborhood board joined by representatives of Target, Allina, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Ryan Companies and the Lake Street Business Council.

First endorsed in 1999, the idea has gained traction but still needs money, said John DeWitt a member of the board of the Midtown Greenway Coalition. "We want the streetcar there as soon as possible. We have spent more money on parking ramps on the corridor than a streetcar line would cost, and we want to turn that dynamic around."

The city has emphasized to neighborhood groups that upgrading a bus route to a streetcar line will happen only if residents agree to support more dense development along the street. The city has found that neighborhood groups accept higher density as long as it doesn't bring more traffic congestion, Rybak said.

City consultants advise that streetcar lines can be built more quickly and cheaply than light rail and with less disruption because they run down the middle of the street and do not require their own right of way. The estimated cost is about a third of what it takes to build light rail. - Laurie Blake, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

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SHERIDAN BOULEVARD CUTS DELAYED BY RTD

DENVER, CO -- One of the budget cuts RTD wants to make to the West Corridor FasTracks light-rail line got a five-week stay of execution Monday.

The proposal to temporarily spare a plan to save $7.5 million by routing the tracks over Sheridan Boulevard where it crosses north of 10th Avenue hinges on someone other than RTD providing the money to fund the more expensive plan.

Neighborhoods in Denver and Lakewood, which border at the site, want RTD to stick with the original plan to raise Sheridan up on a level bridge from the deep Lakewood Gulch and route the light rail underneath.

The original plan, they argue, improves traffic on the busy thoroughfare and makes better bike and pedestrian connections.

But RTD, faced with having to slice an undisclosed amount of money from the project to get back within the $511.8 million budget, says it can restore the original plan only if the cities and neighborhoods get together and find outside funding.

The RTD board's planning and development committee approved all the other cuts on a list totaling $113 million. It goes to the full board March 20 for final approval, minus the Sheridan change. The committee decided to wait until April 10 to see if third-party funding to restore the design can be negotiated.

Members Dave Ruchman and Bill Christopher voted against the list of cuts.

"We would love to see some kind of compromise come out of this," said Cal Marsella, RTD general manager.

Ruchman, who represents the area of the Sheridan Station, said a commitment was made to the original design when it was approved in 2004 by the federal government.

Leaving Sheridan as is keeps two steep hills that are treacherous in icy weather. And putting the light-rail bridge over it cuts down on sight lines for drivers trying to enter Sheridan from cross streets.

It would also make it difficult for the state to go back later and make the changes to Sheridan that people want, Ruchman said, because the light-rail bridge would be in the way. Sheridan is a state highway.

Christopher voted no because he disapproves of one other item, a decision to reduce the standard design for drainage from a system capable of handling runoff from a 100-year storm to that for a five-year storm, a savings of about $5 million. Christopher said he doesn't want to set that precedent for other FasTracks corridors. - Kevin Flynn, The Rocky Mountain News

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LIPA REPLACING WIRES, EQUIPMENT ALONG LIRR LINES

NEW YORK, NY -- The Long Island Power Authority is conducting aerial inspections along 130 miles of Long Island Rail Road tracks and plans to replace fraying wires and faulty equipment within two months, LIPA officials said Tuesday.

Downed LIPA wires caused three major LIRR service disruptions in February, affecting tens of thousands of commuters.

"This is a top priority for us," said LIPA President Richard Kessel.

All three incidents involved frayed or weakened "static wires" -- non-electrified lines that act as lightning rods, LIPA officials said.

"Some are 40 or 50 years old," Kessel said.

So far, LIPA inspectors have identified five faulty connections between static wires and towers in LIRR substations near Floral Park and Lynbrook. Those repairs will be completed in about two weeks, according to Kessel.

Inspectors on helicopters will hover over transmission equipment, taking high-resolution photos of 130 miles of LIRR tracks, starting with 30 miles identified as high priority because of incidents in February or aging equipment.

The first 30 miles of aerial inspection will take three weeks. The remaining 100 miles will take about six weeks, LIPA officials said.

The inspection program also will include 17 LIRR substations and 12 LIPA substations.

Kessel said a special team would respond to any future incidents involving the railroad.

"In the event of a recurrence, we will count on LIPA's improved response protocol to provide a realistic time frame for the restoration of service," LIRR Acting President Ray Kenny said.

The improved coordination between LIPA and LIRR will allow the railroad to make operational decisions, such as providing emergency buses, and, "most importantly, share information with passengers who are affected," Kenny said. - Jennifer Maloney, Newsday

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