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Railroad Newsline for Thursday, March 08, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

INSIDERS SAY TSR REPORT 'JUST WRONG'

RUSK, TX -- A Colorado newspaper is reporting that American Heritage Railways will take over operations of the Texas State Railroad in September, but officials here say they're still negotiating terms of a contract.

"The report is just wrong," said Steve Presley, president of the Texas State Railroad Operating Agency. "Nothing has changed."

The Durango Herald is reporting that American Heritage "will take over the operation and management" of the financially strapped tourist train starting in September, and that there's a contract in place that will include the company operating campgrounds in both Rusk and Palestine.

That's not the case, Presley says. No contract has been finalized, much less signed, he says.

"We've been talking to them for a long time, and we're working on details now," he said. "But before anything is decided, we'll go back to Parks and Wildlife and let them review it."

In fact, "we'll also get comments from all interested parties," Presley said.

"Only then will a decision be made, and then it will be made by the Legislature, not us," he said. "All we're doing is offering the Legislature an alternative."

In February, American Heritage Railways was chosen from a group of four operators that also included Sierra Railroad Co., Patriot Rail LLC and Rio Grande Pacific Corp. Those four operators responded to a Request for Qualifications, then made presentations to the operating agency.

Presley said the groups were graded on criteria that included experience, safety, marketing ability and financial strength.

Presley said he was thankful to have "four quality operators" from which to select.

But the selection of a private operator is just one more step on the long track to possible privatization of the state-run railroad.

Up ahead still lies the securing of funding from the Texas Legislature to help pay for needed repairs and improvements, and approval from the train's current operator, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

American Heritage formed in 1997-98 and first acquired the Durango & Silverton Railroad and later the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.

In addition to the Durango & Silverton and Great Smoky Mountains trains, American Heritage owns Rail Events Inc., which offers special licensed rides such as "The Little Engine That Could."

Other special rides the company could offer in Texas include "A Day Out with Thomas" (the Tank Engine) and "The Polar Express."

The Texas State Railroad Operating Agency, created by an interlocal agreement between the cities of Rusk and Palestine, has been asked to provide information to the Legislature about how the railroad could operate with a private entity running it, Presley has said.

Parks and Wildlife officials have said repeatedly that without additional funding, the railroad would have to be turned into a museum.

Bob Goldsberry of the Rusk Economic Development Corporation updated the board of the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority on the Texas State Railroad on Tuesday.

"Our goal is to make sure this train runs," he said. "If you can't see it, hear it, touch it and feel it, you miss out on so much history."

NET RMA Chairman Jeff Austin III said his agency supports the railroad.

"There's no easy answer," he said. "This has been a very emotional issue. We're not offering a pool of money - we don't have that. But we want to make ourselves available to you. We want to work with you to keep this open."

Opponents of privatization spoke to the NET RMA board, urging members not to support efforts to hand over the Texas State Railroad to a commercial operation.

"Everyone wants to save the train," said Michael Banks, president of Save Texas Parks. "But we feel the right way to save the train is to support state funding and operation of the railroad. We urge you not to become a party to privatization. The people of Texas now own this treasure, and the people of Texas want to keep it." - Roy Maynard and Megan Middleton, The Tyler Morning Telegraph

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KOHL BILL TARGETS RAILROAD ANTITRUST LAW

WASHINGTON, DC -- Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, has introduced the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2007 in response to concerns that freight railroads are abusing their dominant market power.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Sens. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., Russ Feingold, D-Wis., Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., and David Vitter, R-La., will repeal the railroad industry's antitrust exemptions. These exemptions deny rail consumers antitrust protections available to consumers in virtually every other industry, Kohl said in a news release.

Over the last 20 years, railroad industry consolidation has reached the point where only four class I railroads provide over 90 percent of the nation's rail transportation, Kohl said. Many industries - known as "captive shippers" - are served by only one railroad and have faced constantly rising rail rates.

"Over the past several years, industries that are served by only one railroad have faced spiking rail rates," Kohl said in a statement. "They are the victims of price gouging by the single railroad that serves them, price increases which they are forced to pass along, ultimately, to consumers. It is time to put an end to the abusive practices of the nation's freight railroads and force railroads to play by the rules of free competition like all other businesses."

For example, according to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, in 2005 Wisconsin utilities incurred nearly $73 million in additional costs associated with shipments of coal, which provides about 60 percent of the state's energy.

Current antitrust law protects a wide range of railroad industry conduct from scrutiny by antitrust enforcers, Kohl said. Railroad mergers and acquisitions are exempt from antitrust law and are reviewed solely by the Surface Transportation Board. Railroads that engage in collective ratemaking are also exempt from antitrust law.

Kohl's bill will eliminate these antitrust exemptions by allowing the federal government, state attorneys general and private parties to file suit to enjoin anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions. It will restore the review of these mergers to the agencies where they belong - the Justice Department's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission. And it will eliminate the antitrust exemption for railroad collective rate making. - The Capital Times (Madison, WI)

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NOT ALL RAIL NEGOTIATIONS MOVING ALONG

The drawn-out bargaining process in the railroad industry yielded a tentative agreement with several unions representing 66,000 U.S. rail workers last week.

But negotiations with the railroads' biggest union remain in a stalemate.

Groups representing five major railroads, including Kansas City Southern, and seven rail unions said they reached a five-year tentative pact that must now be ratified by the workers. The contract would be applied retroactively and run through 2009.

Although details of the agreement were not released, the Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition said wage increases and controls on health insurance co-payments were obtained by the unions. Among the bigger unions belonging to the coalition are the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division, both of which are now part of the Teamsters union.

The negotiations took more than two years.

"We reached a positive outcome because of our unity," Don Hahs, BLE national president, said in a statement. "It was a team effort with all RLBC (coalition) unions working together toward one goal - negotiating a strong contract for our members."

In addition to Kansas City Southern, carriers represented by the National Carriers' Conference Committee included BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.

"While this agreement is the first in the current bargaining round, we are confident that it will set a pattern for successful resolution of negotiations with other rail unions," Robert F. Allen, chairman of the railroads' bargaining group, said in a statement.

Six other rail unions have yet to reach a new contract, including the United Transportation Union. Representing conductors, brakemen and yard workers, the UTU has about 46,000 members affected by the negotiations.

The carrier group broke off talks with the UTU in late January, said Frank Wilner, a union spokesman. The group called it an impasse, but the railroad committee has not yet filed such a declaration with the National Mediation Board, Wilner said.

Such a filing could lead to a process that would create a Presidential Emergency Board to make recommendations on a new contract, but that could take an additional three months. The union wants to keep talking, Wilner said.

Among the union's key issues yet to be addressed by the carriers are training and entry-level pay, Wilner said. - Randolph Heaster, The Kansas City Star

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AMTRAK PROVIDES STUDY TO RESTORE STATE-SUPPORTED RAIL SERVICE TO ROCKFORD AND NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS

CHICAGO, IL -- Amtrak has completed a report requested by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) that evaluates possible Northwestern Illinois routes between Chicago and Dubuque, Iowa, via Rockford, Illinois. This "Feasibility Report on Proposed Amtrak Service" is also in response to a July 2006 town meeting held in Rockford and hosted by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) who was joined by Congressman Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.), Amtrak and IDOT representatives, labor officials and community leaders from Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, DeKalb and Ogle Counties.

In the report, the approximate cost of upgrading the railroad infrastructure to accommodate passenger train speeds is up to $62 million, dependant on the choice of routes. Not included in this figure are any capital costs for railcars and locomotives, nor what are assumed to be the local costs of providing stations.

The annual operating cost for any of the three routes is estimated at less than $5 million, based upon a single daily round-trip frequency. Chicago-Rockford travel times of about two hours and Chicago-Dubuque travel times of less than 4.5 hours are possible and would be competitive with automobile driving, dependant on the choice of routes, agreements with host railroads and required infrastructure improvements. Excerpts from the report and a map are included below.

Amtrak estimates two construction seasons would be needed to make the infrastructure improvements necessary to achieve these travel times.

"We appreciate all the effort that Amtrak has put into gathering the data assembled in this report," said IDOT Acting Secretary Milt Sees. "This is a good first step, and gives us some of the information we need as we move forward and work with local communities, their elected leaders and Senator Durbin to determine the best course of action."

"In July we held a meeting that showed us that Northern Illinois communities are committed to bringing Amtrak back to the area," said Senator Durbin. "Today, we have a feasibility study that shows us that adding rail service along the Chicago to Galena/Dubuque corridor will give businesses and tourists a time competitive and convenient alternative to the Northwest Tollway rush hour.

"Amtrak already provides quick, cost-effective, and reliable public ground transportation to 30 communities in the state -- it's time to add communities in Northwest and North Central Illinois to that list," Durbin concluded.

"With the completion of this report, we are now closer than ever before to restoring Amtrak service to Rockford and Northwest Illinois," Congressman Manzullo said. "Daily passenger train service to Chicago will give our residents another great transportation option and bolster economic activity throughout northern Illinois. I want to thank Amtrak for completing this study, and I look forward to working with Senator Durbin, our state officials, and our local leaders to make this new train service a reality."

The last passenger train service through Rockford and Freeport to Galena and Dubuque was operated from February 14, 1974, through September 30, 1981, using the CN (former Illinois Central or Chicago Central) route. At that time, IDOT contracted with Amtrak to operate the daily round-trip train known as the Black Hawk.

"Many parts of the country lost rail passenger service in the 70s and 80s," said Alexander Kummant, Amtrak President and CEO. "With partners such as the State of Illinois - and with the support of Senator Durbin, Congressman Manzullo and others -- the Rockford area can again have the economic and environmental advantages of Amtrak service.

"We look forward to taking the next step, which would involve negotiations with host railroads, development of detailed capital plans and funding requests," Kummant added.

Last month, IDOT asked Amtrak to deliver another feasibility report, this one to study state-supported service to the Quad Cities (including Rock Island and Moline, Illinois,), which has never been served by Amtrak trains and which lost its passenger rail service in 1978, when the Rock Island Railroad discontinued operations. The findings of the study are expected by year's end. The IDOT request is the result of a meeting Senator Durbin held several weeks ago in Rock Island, where public support was heard for a return of passenger trains to the region. - Marc Magliari, Amtrak; Mike Claffey, Illinois DOT; Sandra Abrevaya, Senator Durbin's Office; and Rich Carter, Congressman Manzullo's Office, Joint News Release

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BNSF BUYING GREENER ENGINES

Photo here: [www.dallasnews.com]

Caption reads: (BNSF Photo)

FORT WORTH, TX -- Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the country's second-largest freight railroad, announced new efforts Tuesday to reduce emissions from its diesel locomotives.

The Fort Worth-based railroad made the announcement just days after the Environmental Protection Agency proposed stringent new emissions standards for diesel locomotives, which spew soot and nitrogren oxides, a key ingredient in smog.

"It's very important that railroads reduce emissions so that we all have cleaner air," said Mark Stehly, BNSF's assistant vice president of environment and research development. "We will work with the EPA to make sure the regulations ... can be achieved. We are supportive of it."

Thanks in part to state grants, the railroad is adding 14 ultra-low-emission locomotives made by National Railway Equipment Co. for its rail yards in Houston and the Dallas area. It's planning to buy 50 more.

The locomotives, which cost about $1.4 million each, discharge only 10 percent to 20 percent as much pollution as regular locomotives. They're up to 20 percent more fuel-efficient, which will save the railroad money.

But they lack the horsepower necessary to haul freight over long distances.

For these kinds of trips, BNSF is buying 200 of the new Evolution Series locomotives made by General Electric Co. It has already added 600 to its fleet.

At a cost of $2 million each, these are the lowest-polluting long-haul locomotives in the U.S., Mr. Stehly said. They generate only a third as much nitrogen oxide as regular locomotives, but that won't be enough to meet the proposed new EPA standards.

BNSF will need to modify the engines and eventually add devices to clean their exhaust.

The railroad has been retrofitting its locomotives that were built after 1973 with kits that reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by a third.

About 2,000 locomotives have undergone the retrofitting, with 2,000 more to go. BNSF maintains a fleet of 6,600 locomotives. - Katherine Yung, The Dallas Morning News

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NET RMA SEEKS STUDY FUNDING FOR TRADE ZONE CONCEPT IN EAST TEXAS

RUSK, TX -- The North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority could help to build a rail spur to the East Texas Regional Airport in Gregg County, making that facility one of three in the nation to offer rail, highway and air access to a Foreign Trade Zone.

In its meeting on Tuesday, the NET RMA board agreed to seek funding for a financial and feasibility study of the plan presented by Griff Hubbard of the Gregg County Rail District. If the plan goes forward, the East Texas Regional Airport would join airports in Los Angeles and Memphis as the most accessible in the country, Hubbard said.

Track would be laid from the airport to Kilgore's Synergy Park and to a link-up with the BNSF Railway Company's line near Tatum.

"We are seeking RMA input into how we could partner to assist each other with common goals," Hubbard said.

He said the project could have a significant economic impact.

"If you run 100 boxcars into the Foreign Trade Zone at the airport, you have instant warehousing and instant tax advantages," he said. "And there is an unnamed shipper who will guarantee 100 carloads of freight from East Texas Regional Airport to the Port of Houston per day."

Board members liked the concept.

"Rail has become one of the premier needs (of the region)," board Chairman Jeff Austin III observed. "This is an eligible project that we could take on."

The board agreed to a financial analysis of the project.

"We're not spending the money yet," Austin noted. "We will look for the funding to do the study."

The issue led to a wider discussion of high-speed rail service in East Texas.

"There's a lot of interest in bringing high-speed rail from Shreveport to Dallas," said board member Gaylon White.

"Who is the real winner in that? East Texas," Austin said. "We're sitting in the middle. We want to encourage both ends to come together."

In other business on Tuesday, the NET RMA agreed to apply for up to $110 million in state financial assistance for the third stage of the Loop 49 project (linking State Highway 31 to Interstate 20).

The board also voted to add the counties of Panola, Wood, Bowie, Cass, Van Zandt, Titus, Camp and Anderson to the RMA. That's the second of four steps in the process of expanding the RMA; provided the current member counties and the Texas Department of Transportation agree, the eight counties now petitioning for membership could join by July. - Roy Maynard, The Tyler Morning Telegraph

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EISNACH HOLDS TALKS WITH RAILROAD

PIERRE, SD -- Pierre Mayor Dennis Eisnach said Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad could be doing construction on their tracks in Pierre as early as this year.

At Tuesday night's city commission meeting, Eisnach said he meet with two representatives from DM&E Monday, and they said they are optimistic about getting private funding for their rail project.

"We've talked about the need for the DM&E especially to rebuild that 104 miles from Pierre to Wall because that is the weak link in their system," Eisnach said. "This construction activity certainly could be an economic impact on our community."

DM&E railroad recently was denied a $2.3 billion loan request by the Federal Rail Administration, which said the company's credit was not good enough for the loan.

"Just because the federal loan has not been accepted, does not mean the DM&E is not moving ahead with plans to do something with that rail," Eisnach said.

He said he does not know to what level the construction will be in Pierre. However, he added that all the groups that could be affected - such as the business and medical communities and the schools - need to be aware of the potential plans.

"We all (need to) realize that the final chapter in this DM&E has not been written yet," Eisnach said.

The mayor said the representatives did not name any specific companies when they told him the railroad was looking into private funding. - Crystal Lindell, The Capital Journal (Pierre, SD)

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ON TRACK FOR BIG BUSINESS, RAILROAD PROVIDES SHIPPING OPTION

SURPRISE, AZ -- Multiple projects are on the horizon for Surprise's new industrial area and city officials believe Surprise will be a major business hub along the BNSF Railway Company's line.

"We are taking big steps forward," said District 1 Councilman Cliff Elkins. "These businesses are going into areas where the land use just makes sense. There is no conflict with residential areas or Luke Air Force Base - I see many positives and very few negatives."

A total of five major industrial projects are scheduled for two square miles bounded by Waddell Road north, Peoria Avenue south, Dysart Road east and Litchfield Road west.

Surprise officials know they must attract the industrial element in order to build a well-rounded community.

The announcement of several business parks moving into the undeveloped land is a huge step toward achieving that goal.

"This is what we are trying to do," Surprise Economic Development Director John Hagen explained. "We want those jobs in Surprise - this has multiple benefits, one of the most important being the impact on traffic. More people working here at home means less traffic on our major thoroughfares."

Mr. Elkins concurred.

"More jobs in our city means less people leaving the city to get to work," he said. "And with the use of the railway, that will also lessen the traffic somewhat."

Surprise has a major advantage of possessing vacant land adjacent to the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe railway. Due to Luke Air Force Base's noise contour restrictions, the land is undeveloped but is considered prime commercial real estate because it is the only undeveloped land in the area with access to the BNSF railroad lines.

"This is big for us," Mr. Hagen admitted. "Industrial businesses look at that and it's attractive to them."
Incoming projects include:

* Surprise Pointe -- 300 acres between Waddell and the future Sweetwater Road alignment designed as an industrial, business and commercial park.

The complex features 36 different lots and developers are expected to strike an infrastructure deal with city leaders within two months. According to city documentation, it will feature high-end retail on the southeast corner of Litchfield and Waddell roads with industrial businesses along the BNSF railroad.

* Summit Business Park, located south of Surprise Pointe between the Sweetwater alignment and Cactus Road.

* Skyway Business Park I -- a 300-acre industrial park near Dysart Road and Peoria Avenue. The industrial center will be home to manufacturing plants and distribution centers utilizing the rail line to ship their goods.

Matt Hobaica of Phoenix-based real estate firm Lee & Associates confirmed several companies are building at Skyway Business Park I. Mr. Hobaica said Milgard Manufacturing, Phoenix Wholesale Supply and Sun States Plumbing are on board.

"Phase one of this project is 160 acres and 45 acres will be occupied by Milgard," Mr. Hobaica explained. "They are looking at having 300 employees and a 300,000-square-foot facility."

Phoenix Wholesale Supply will build on six acres, he added.

The companies moving into the business park could create more than 500 new jobs in the next two years, Mr. Hagen estimated.

"We have some of the only available rail-serve land in the Valley," the economic development director said. "It's going to mean a lot of jobs for us in Surprise."

* Near phase one will be Skyway Business Park II, between Cactus Road and Peoria Avenue.

"This will be located west of Dysart Road and east of the railway, along the Ennis Spur of the railroad," Mr. Hagen explained.

Phase two of the project is also 160 acres, with 60 acres already sold to Stock Building Supply for a building materials distribution center.

* Desert Cove Business Park, a 160-acre parcel along Litchfield Road and Peoria Avenue west of the Skyway project.

All of the developments except for Desert Cove are accessible from the BNSF rail line. Timetables for completion are not yet available.

Mr. Elkins said the addition of industrial parks can help offset the slowdown in Surprise's housing market.

"I think the market will bounce back, but this is something we have needed," the councilman said. "It is just an excellent use of the land in that area." - Matt Loeschman, Independent Newspapers, NewsZap.com

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IN COURT, LANDOWNERS DESCRIBE DEALINGS WITH DM&E

GILLETTE, WY -- A landowner said in a District Court hearing that he and other landowners put off dealing with a railroad's land acquisition efforts until the company could prove that a rail expansion project had a chance of moving forward.

The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is suing Lenard Seeley, Jerry Dilts and their relatives for permission to survey their land in Campbell, Crook and Weston counties in Wyoming's northeastern corner.

The railroad wants to look at the land while it plans a $6 billion expansion that would allow more coal to be shipped from the Powder River Basin to the Midwest. The surveys could be a first step toward using eminent domain to seize land for the project.

Elisabeth Hollmann, a Hot Springs, South Dakota-based landowner liaison for the project, told District Court Judge Michael Deegan on Monday that she notified landowners about the project as early as 1998. The land acquisition efforts stalled after that, however.

They remained stalled in March 2005, when Seeley bought land the DM&E is now eyeing for the expansion. Seeley said the project had appeared to be a "dead issue" at the time.

Last year, the federal Surface Transportation Board approved the project and Hollmann said she sent notification letters to landowners in June. Seeley, however, turned down Hollmann's requests for the railroad to survey his land.

He said he wanted a statement of the railroad's financial situation.

"If they didn't have any funding to go forward with it, I didn't want to be bothered with it," he said. "I didn't want to have to deal with it, but I was forced to."

Seeley wasn't alone in his worries. Last week, the Federal Railroad Administration denied a $2.3 billion loan request for the proposed expansion. Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman said in his decision that the risk remained too high that the railroad might not be able to repay such a loan.

Randy Henke, DM&E's vice president of Powder River Basin design and construction, told the court that the railroad still planned to build the project. He said the federal loan was one of many financing options the railroad was considering.

Hollmann said the railroad's hope for getting financing created urgency. She said construction could have begun this spring had DM&E secured the loan.

She sent a final set of letters to landowners in October. The letters gave landowners two weeks to decide whether they wanted to provide access or address the issue in court.

But Tad Daly, the landowners' lawyer, said Hollmann had not given Seeley, Dilts and others enough details about the surveys. Daly asked Henke whether landowners had been told they would be giving access for geotechnical surveys that involved backhoes and drilling rigs.

"I don't know how to answer that question," Henke said.

When Daly asked Dilts and Seeley about whether the railroad had told them about a laundry list of possible surveys, both men said they were unsure what the railroad wanted to do. - The Associated Press, The Casper Star-Tribune

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RISKY BUSINESS

KALISPELL, MT -- It doesn't roll into action often, but it's there, cached in the downtown Kalispell fire station and filled with a surprising amount of equipment for cleaning up hazardous materials.

Most people aren't aware of the big red "hazmat" trailer and the heavy-duty truck that hauls it, just as most people don't ponder the sheer volume of hazardous materials moving through the Flathead Valley. But the truck and the trailer are ready, every day, just as hazardous materials are out there, every day.

"We have a lot of hazardous materials going through the county on a daily basis, and a lot of it is going right through the cities," said Mark Peck, director of the Flathead County Office of Emergency Services.

The hazmat trailer represents a regional and statewide response program. The trailer has been provided by the state, but it has been augmented with equipment from the county and local jurisdictions, and most importantly, it is backed up a diverse array of people who make up the county's hazardous materials team.

That team includes personnel from law enforcement, professional and volunteer fire departments, the medical community, and even area industries and utilities.

It ranges from people who are trained to support a hazmat operation plus six hazmat technicians trained to wear protective suits and enter "hot zones."

One of those technicians, Kalispell firefighter Mike Chappuis, offers a tour of the hazmat trailer, showing off its capabilities. Inside are "bubble suits" with varying degrees of protection. There are laptop command computers, a device for refilling oxygen tanks, radio and satellite communications, and hand-held instruments for detecting basic hazardous gases.

There is a mobile bubble tent that is plumbed with showers and a water heater for technicians to be cleaned after leaving a hot zone. And an impressive computer device carries out one of the most basic duties in a hazardous material response -- identifying the hazardous material.

A powdered, solid or liquid sample is put on a small plate below a sensor, and the computer, which contains a vast archive of hazardous and non-hazardous product chemistry, can discern what the substance is.

"If you put salt on there, it can tell you what brand," Chappuis said, later adding that if you put Coca-Cola on the plate, "it will tell you it's Coca-Cola."

The device was put to work last year when the hazmat team investigated a suspicious powder that was found in a mailbox in Bigfork.

The device identified the powder as a basic lawn fertilizer. Someday, however, it could identify something far more threatening.

The BNSF Railway Company runs some 40 trains through the northern tier of the Flathead every day, each train presumably loaded with a variety of products that could be considered hazardous, whether they be tankers filled with chemicals or freight cars loaded with car batteries.

The railroad doesn't discuss its manifests, or the volumes of hazardous materials that are transported through the area, but it does concede that rail traffic has been increasing steadily for years and likely will continue to grow.

And the railroad defends its safeguards and preparedness to manage accidents involving hazardous materials.

BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said 40 trains move through the Flathead every 24 hours, each averaging 100 cars.

"BNSF railroad does handle hazardous materials, from paint thinners to chlorine, which is used to purify drinking water, as well as petroleum products," he said. "We take extra steps to ensure the safe movement of these necessary products in many ways."

Melonas said that last year on the railroad's 32,000-mile system, 99.99 percent of all hazardous materials arrived safely at their destinations. The railroad has not had a hazardous material fatality since 1981, when a conductor died after exposure to chlorine gas in a derailment near Vancouver, Washington.

Creston fire Chief Gary Mahugh recalls that when he was the county's hazmat team leader, rail traffic was a concern, but not the greatest concern.

That's because the railroad operates in a controlled, linear environment. "And they control that environment pretty doggone well," Mahugh said.

Melonas said the railroad's track record with hazardous materials is due to a wide range of factors: technology, such as derailment detectors and communications equipment, extensive training, not only for railroad employees, but joint training offered to area emergency responders, he said, citing a series of training sessions held in the Flathead Valley. The railroad has internal security, and it has its own hazardous materials response capabilities.

Derailments do occur, however. And one of the concerns about a train derailment in the Flathead is the potential environmental harm, Mahugh said.

BNSF rail lines hug long stretches of the Middle Fork Flathead River and main stem Flathead River, so a derailment carries risks of severe environmental consequences.

A greater concern for Mahugh and others are the trucks that carry hazardous chemicals right through downtown Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls.

"We have 140 trucks a day that go through the intersection of Main and Idaho," said county Commissioner Joe Brenneman, referring to a spot survey that was conducted several years ago. "I suspect half those trucks go right by our office."

Although local manufacturing facilities have hazardous materials on-site, fire departments are aware of those materials, Brenneman said. That's not the case with truck cargo.

That's just one reason why there is an ongoing need for basic and operational hazardous-material response training for the Flathead Valley's many volunteer firefighters who are often the first responders at the scene of an accident, says Brenneman, a longtime volunteer with the Creston Fire Department.

The necessary training, he explained, amounts to providing a responder with the basic diagnostic tools to know whether the scene of an accident may present hazardous materials threats.

Flathead County is prepared to respond to hazmat incidents, Peck says, but the county is in transition for the way its hazmat team will be led and managed. And the county's heavy reliance on volunteer responders is a system under stress, precisely because of the time-demands involved with being part of the county's hazmat response team.

Hazmat incidents are "low-frequency, high-intensity incident responses," Peck said, "and the only way to prepare for them is lots of training and lots of drills."

Peck estimates that those involved with the team put in 110 hours a year, just in training, which can be a heavy burden for volunteers.

Although Flathead County long has had a strong collective of volunteer emergency responders, Peck said, volunteerism in general is on the decline nationally.

More importantly, he said, volunteer involvement in the Flathead has not kept pace with the county's booming growth.

"A lot of the systems that worked well for us 10 or 15 years ago, they are under stress now," he said.

For that reason, there is an effort to seek grant funds that would provide some compensation for the county's volunteer hazmat responders, Peck said.

Another issue is leadership and day-to-day management of the team, which went into limbo when Peck's predecessor, Alan Marble, left the job two years ago.

Now there are discussions about the city of Kalispell taking a leadership role in the program. The city houses and maintains the hazmat truck, trailer and most equipment.

But Peck says the team must reflect the county's unusual demographics -- most of the population lives outside the city limits of Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls.

Hazmat teams typically are centered with urban, professional fire departments in Montana's other cities, largely because the majority of the population lives inside the city limits of Billings and Missoula.

But Flathead County has maintained and will continue to have an interagency hazmat team out of necessity, Peck said.

"There's no single entity in the county that can fill the team," he said.

That situation presents unique challenges as well as strengths.

The challenges include managing "it out of multiple jurisdictions, multiple funding sources, and multiple personnel structures," Peck said. But the program's decentralized diversity is also its fundamental strength. - Jim Mann, The Kalispell Daily Inter Lake

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MEMPHIS CONSIDERS A CITY-OWNED RAIL LINE TO PIDGEON PARK

MEMPHIS, TN -- Memphis, Tennessee is considering building and running its own railroad line from the Mississippi River into Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park, the largely vacant 3,000-acre greenfield the city has marketed for years.

An independent line, supporters say, would give other railroads access to the park without having to pay or negotiate with Canadian National, which owns the only rail line leading to the park and is working with the state Department of Transportation to acquire right-of-way for a second line.

Photo here: [mas.scripps.com]

Caption reads: Norfolk Southern, which operates this crowded rail yard near Southern and Highland, is touted by backers of a city-owned rail line to Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park as a prime candidate to move to the park to gain badly needed space to expand its operations. (Photo by Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

"A city-owned line is a wonderful opportunity to rebirth the Super Terminal," said Robert Milner, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel in charge of military logistics.

A group of citizens, led by Milner and Dr. Tom West, is spearheading the effort, which passed in a resolution presented by City Councilman Dedrick Brittenum Tuesday before the council's Economic Development, Tourism, & Technology Committee.

The group says the region cannot afford to lose more jobs and opportunities like Toyota, which last week announced it would build its $1.3 billion plant in Tupelo, Mississippi, instead of Marion, Arkansas.

"Transportation is this city's strength," said West. "This is something we can do. But we've got to be proactive and not let this opportunity pass by."

Key to the argument and timing, they say, is Norfolk Southern's crowded rail yard near Southern and Highland.

City leaders say it has long been looking for a larger space outside Memphis and would quickly move its switching operation to the Super Terminal if CN didn't control access into the park.
"The Norfolk Southern has got to do something soon," Milner said. "It would be the first to try to get in there because it has been strained for some time where it is."

If Norfolk Southern moves its yard outside of Memphis, the synergies that make the Super Terminal a possible job engine would be reduced.

While Norfolk Southern would not comment on plans to move its yard, "direct access" to a facility like Pidgeon Park "is always an issue," said spokeswoman Susan Terpay.

"It would mean coordinating traffic with other railroads, which would certainly slow operations down," she said.

Gil Carmichael, chairman of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver and former federal railroad administrator, said Memphis has been slow to realize the importance of being one of only two U.S. cities with five Class 1 railroads.

"You've got to honk some horns and ring some bells if you want something," he said. "I don't think Memphis has thought about the role railroads play in its future."

Ten years ago when the term "Super Terminal" was coined, city leaders were on fire to reap synergies from a consolidated railroad terminal in Pidgeon Park.

The Super Terminal not only would bring the railroads together with river and truck traffic, but it was expected to boom with warehousing and logistics companies that theoretically would want to be in a center of the logistics park.

Economic forecasters estimated it could have a $2.7 trillion impact on the national economy and create nearly 50,000 local jobs.

It has not developed as envisioned, largely because Union Pacific and BNSF railroads expanded elsewhere.

Milner said they could be enticed back, particularly if a third bridge were built over the Mississippi, reducing, for instance, what shippers have to pay to get goods from UP's yard in Marion.

BNSF, which is expanding at Shelby Drive and U.S. 78, says it has no plans to move to the Super Terminal.

"Our needs are being met by our expansion at the Tennessee Yard," said spokesman Joe Faust. "We're not interested in moving."

Several council members, including Jack Sammons and Barbara Ware, expressed doubt about the city "getting in the railroad business."

"I'm not opposed to exploration, but I think that our getting involved with a railroad is kind of scary," Ware said. "We might be going a step further than we really intend to."

City-owned, neutral railroad lines have been successful in New Orleans, Los Angeles and Florida, Carmichael said.

"New Orleans runs its line by a city-appointed authority," he said. "It takes care of the six railroads coming into the city. You better believe it's a moneymaker."

Southern California runs the Alameda Corridor, a 20-mile rail cargo expressway linking the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to a transcontinental rail network near downtown Los Angeles.

The corridor consolidates four low-speed branch rail lines, eliminating conflicts at more than 200 crossings.

Brittenum and the citizen group say a city-owned line would provide Memphis revenue, reduce truck traffic around Norfolk Southern's yard and give the railroad space to conduct its switching operations outside a residential area.

"The noise over there has become a real concern," Brittenum said. "We think a second, independent line into Pidgeon would bring railroads to the Super Terminal who aren't there now because they don't want to share track with Canadian National."

The issue will be on the City Council agenda March 20. - Jane Roberts, The Memphis Commercial Appeal

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TRANSIT NEWS

HUB RAIL PORTION TO BE SALT LAKE CENTRAL STATION

SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- With TRAX and commuter rail due in downtown next year, it's time to give the rail arrival platform its name: Salt Lake Central Station.

Utah Transit Authority officials believe the new moniker is a good fit for the convergence of FrontRunner commuter rail, TRAX, Amtrak, Greyhound cross-country coaches and UTA buses, all connecting more than 2 million people in the new heart of the capital city.

But despite the best efforts of the Salt Lake Chamber, which lobbied hard to get the new name, the building, which encompasses the rail platform, will still be known as the Intermodal Hub, a bureaucratic handle if ever there was one, said chamber spokeswoman Natalie Gochnour.

The chamber, which inaugurated its Downtown Rising campaign on May 31, has been "visioning" the central city. "Time and time and time again the name of the Intermodal Hub came up as an impediment to the vision we have for the city," Gochnour said.

A mini-poll of chamber members showed that only 2 percent wanted to keep calling the station the Intermodal Hub, she said. Salt Lake Central Station got 45 percent of the responders and 43 percent liked The Hub. No one thought Salt Lake Train Station had any magic.

What's in a name, then? If the platform is called Salt Lake Central Station, will the official Intermodal Hub designation be a useful alternative?

Gochnour's doubtful. "People don't know what it means," she said. "It's wonky."

City planners and residents have great hopes for what they already are calling the Depot District. A $45 million TRAX line now under construction around the Gateway will connect the current north-south line terminus at the Arena Station with the transit hub at 300 South 600 West. The project could be completed as early as spring 2008, about the same time Front Runner commuter rail service begins between Ogden and Salt Lake City.

City Councilman Van Turner has said he envisions thousands of people passing through the station. The activity will spur development of the Depot District, projected to be the state's most urban neighborhood. It was once the city's red light district. The 19-block transit-oriented area between North Temple and 400 South, from 400 West to Interstate 15 could house up to 20,000 people who would live in rowhouses, townhomes and apartments next to -- or atop -- neighborhood shops and offices. Parks, galleries, clubs, grocery stores, coffeehouses, restaurants and other retail would be part of the lively urban mix, all served by transit.

The UTA board likes that vision for the area surrounding Salt Lake Central, but they also had a practical concern. "We need to begin ordering signage," Jones said.

One of the new signs will label the new Planetarium Station TRAX stop on 400 West. A stop at 200 S. 500 West will be built when development and user traffic warrant. So far, suggestions for the 500 West stop are Rio Grande and Old Greektown, Jones said. - Patty Henetz, The Salt Lake Tribune

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FASTRACKS TILT TOWARD DIESEL TO BE ASSESSED

DENVER, CO -- An RTD director believes the transit agency could save $200 million or more in its FasTracks program by using only diesel- powered commuter rail in four of the new corridors.

Lee Kemp, of Broomfield, one of the 15 elected RTD board members, told his colleagues Tuesday that going with single technology would be less expensive upfront, less costly to maintain and perhaps forestall some of the "nickel and dime" cutting that has hit the first FasTracks corridor, which is over budget because of a sharp spike in construction costs.

Kemp asked that the RTD staff come up with a cost comparison between electric and diesel power.
The suggestion, Kemp admits, could cause some political bloodletting, because communities in at least two of the four new corridors targeted for so-called commuter rail - "heavy rail" compared with RTD's existing light rail system - have already eliminated diesel cars from their studies.
Cal Marsella, RTD's general manager, agreed it would be contentious.

"I think we would have serious political issues if we tried to predetermine the outcomes of those studies" by adopting a policy that one size of technology fits all corridors, Marsella said.

"The sentiment has been very strong in the community toward (electric commuter rail) and we have to account for that."

Marsella said each corridor has independent studies that can lead to different choices, and that has to be respected.

But Marsella said his staff would work on comparing the costs of having just a single choice.
Kemp's suggestion was driven by two things.

There is angst in Denver, Lakewood and Golden over having to absorb at least $113 million in cuts to the West Corridor light rail to get back within its $511.8 million budget.

RTD has upended long- planned designs to try to cut the total cost.

Second, an RTD consultant last year did a study showing that the upfront cost of building a diesel train system would be less than electrifying the lines, Kemp said.

Saving $200 million or more by ruling out electrified commuter rail would put off "nickel and dime" design changes to stay within budgets, Kemp said.

In the original $4.7 billion FasTracks program, three of the six new corridors were to be diesel- powered commuter rail, with heavier cars than light rail to operate in mixed traffic with freight trains.

They were the East Corridor to Denver International Airport, North Metro Corridor to Thornton and Commerce City and the Northwest Rail Corridor to Boulder and Longmont.

The Gold Line to Arvada and Wheat Ridge was recommended as light rail.

But environmental studies, required by the federal government, haven't gone according to that script.

The airport line and the Gold Line both have turned away from the original plans, and now have electric commuter rail as the remaining alternative.

Arvada Mayor Ken Fellman said a late change to take the electrified line off the table would have some serious consequences.

"It would cause ill will and mistrust of RTD," Fellman said.

"If there was a move to change it, I think there would be a lot of bloodletting along the way."
Mike Salazar, an Arvada resident who has followed the Gold Line study, said residents opposed diesel trains because of emissions, noise and vibration concerns.

Tale of the tracks

Here's a comparison of the two types of commuter rail that RTD is considering for FasTracks. An RTD board member wants to use diesel cars on four corridors, saying they will cost less than electric cars in the long run. - Kevin Flynn, The Rocky Mountain News

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CITY PLANS TO CONDEMN FURTHER DELAYS TO DART PROJECT

CARROLLTON, TX -- City leaders from Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Irving and Addison, Texas have decided to take a stand on news that Dallas city officials may delay the progress on the Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail lines.

Carrollton Mayor Becky Miller, Addison Mayor Joe Chow, Farmers Branch Mayor Bob Phelps and Irving Mayor Herb Gears all have agreed to send a letter to DART's board chairman, Mark Enoch, saying they oppose the Dallas proposal to "revisit the Love Field tunnel issue."

City officials in Carrollton discussed the issue at a work session Tuesday, saying their city and the region have waited long enough for light rail service. They plan to recruit other cities in the Metroplex to sign off on the letter, which condemns a Dallas plan that could further delay completion of DART's light rail project. Groundbreaking is set for June, and the project is slated for completion in 2010.

News broke last week that Dallas city officials plan to delay approving the use of eminent domain which would allow the government to acquire the land for an above-ground DART rail line and station at Love Field. Becky Miller said Dallas officials want the delay to account for the increased traffic they expect at Love Field now that the airport is no longer governed by the Wright amendment.

City officials for Carrollton say there is not sufficient funding to build an underground tunnel at Love Field and that the project's further delay would only serve to worsen congestion from Denton to downtown Dallas and would contribute to air pollution from "the crawling line of cars" along the Stemmons Freeway corridor in their city.

"They can't do this to us," Becky Miller said. "We're not going to stand for a delay."

Carrollton City Manager Leonard Martin estimated that Dallas city officials could delay the project another two to three years and that even with additional funding, DART would have to redesign its plans for the Love Field station.

"It's a crapshoot on what this does to the grant," Martin said, regarding the $700 million the FTA approved for a DART construction grant to fund parts of the light rail project.

Carrollton officials said they fear that revisiting the tunnel project as construction begins on the Green Line would jeopardize the grant DART received from the Federal Transportation Administration in July which was to intended to help fund rail lines to Fair Park, Pleasant Grove and northwest Dallas. DART plans to use its own money to continue the rail lines to Farmers Branch, Carrollton and Irving, but city officials in Carrollton say a delay on the Love Field leg of the light rail system would create a domino effect and stall the entire project.

"We understand that the proponents of the tunnel project are willing to risk loss of the grant or a significant project delay but the DART taxpaying residents of our cities are not," the letter to DART's chairman states. "The region has waited long enough for rail service to serve the northwest corridor to reduce congestion and air pollution." - Katy Moore, The Carrollton Leader Star

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THE MOTORMAN RUMBLES THROUGH JOHNSON COUNTY

JOHNSON COUNTY, TX -- The car began to move forward as gentle pressure was applied to the controller throttle. The tracks leaving Fort Worth were cluttered with the new rage, the automobile, often referred to as the "motor car." On that day, May 31, 1922, Interurban car operator Jesse J. "J.J." Miles carried with him the newly purchased pair of shears requested by his wife, his son, Corbett Miles, said.

The Miles family lived in Burleson, across the street from A.H. "Poss" Loyless, Loyless Interurban Drugstore proprietor, and his wife, Myrtle. Jesse's wife, Beatrice, and Myrtle Loyless became good friends. Myrtle's young daughter, Donna recalled that she often looked after Jesse's 4-year-old son, Corbett.

The car J.J. operated was on its afternoon run, destined for Cleburne. Passenger cars departed every hour on the half-hour, and there were three express runs daily. There were periodic sidings along the route to allow cars to pass. Occasionally, work cars had to blend into the regular daily traffic to inspect the route, investigate potential problems, and perform normal maintenance. A special car referred to as a "weed whipper," tasked with trimming back the vegetation along the tracks was ahead of Jesse's car and had pulled off and parked on a siding to await the passing traffic to clear.

The Wheatland siding was 20 miles north of Cleburne and just north of the Deer Creek crossing. The work car motorman, O.R. Kerr, parked the weed whipper in what seemed to be a timely manner. Once the passenger coach had passed, he and assistant Frank Hudson could resume their track-side maintenance.

Reaching the Wheatland siding, Jesse's car jerked abruptly at the switch, indicating it was open.

Suddenly, all that was visible through the car's windshield was the rear of the parked work car rushing closer, leaving little time to react or to reflect on one's life. It was apparent that a horrible, life-threatening impact was only seconds away.

Long ride to Texas

Deep beneath the waters of a lake covering the channel known as the Cumberland River, some 10 miles northwest of Dover, Tenn., a community known as Tharpe was laid to rest by the Tennessee River Authority in the 1940s. The ghostly remains of stores and other buildings deteriorate in the dark, murky waters. This was the community of Jesse's childhood, a place first settled in 1804. Only after Jesse left home, did it boast of a tobacco prizing factory and sawmills, which allowed more opportunity for employment in a region impoverished by the Civil War.

Jesse J. Miles, the youngest of three brothers with four sisters was born in 1891 to Mabin and Eliza Miles, said his niece, Opie Sills of Paducha, Ky. She remembered her uncle from her youth. While the family was traveling to acquire work, Jesse's mother succumbed to illness during the winter of 1906 in Montana. Following her death, they returned to Tennessee and Jesse's father, after a time, remarried. At 16, Jesse worked long, hard hours with his older brothers and father, milling railroad cross ties.

Eventually, the boys got itchy feet and one by one, ventured from home. Walter was the oldest and the first to cut away to Texas, followed by his brother, Corbett. Walter returned however, homesick and disappointed of his findings, Sills said. He complained of endless barbed wire and dust-filled winds that never seemed to subside. This did not deter Corbett, the middle son, from continuing the trail southwest. Corbett remained in Texas, highly impressed with his discovery.

With the older boys gone, Jesse took his leave in 1908 and moved to take over farm work left behind by a deceased uncle in Model, Tenn. From that point, he traveled back and forth between towns, hiring out as a woodcutter, sawmill worker and farm hand, working at places like Huntington, Va., earning as much as $1 per day. He continued his education between jobs and as often as possible.

Upon hearing of prosperity from Corbett, Jesse hopped a Tennessee River steamer headed south, intent on joining his favorite brother in Texas. He reached Tolar, taking a job with a nearby landowner. He picked up another job with the International and Great Northern Railway Co., again cutting cross ties until about 1910, after which he worked for the Frisco Railroad.

1915 found Jesse working for his brother's employer, the Northern Texas Traction Co., as a streetcar operator. It was during this year that he married the one love of his life, Beatrice Riley. Corbett would go on to take a job with the Fort Worth Fire Department. Like Corbett, Jesse was a likable chap who made friends easily. His public contact as a streetcar operator, devotion to duty and loyalty were all impressive traits.

It wasn't long until it had won him a position on the interurban route between Fort Worth and Dallas. Jesse and his wife moved to Handley, where their son, Corbett, was born. Jesse's brother Corbett left the company to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War I. He married Floy Fitzhugh of Tolar and went to work as a Fort Worth fireman.

An operator was needed on the Fort Worth-to-Cleburne line. Jesse's hours were inconsistent at the time. So, in 1918, he made a deal with the traction company to take the less prestigious position for a guaranteed permanent job operating for the Tarrant County Traction Co. His son Corbett was born that year. Jesse arranged to move his family to Burleson, renting a house from the Loyless family. He and Albert Loyless hit it off right away. Myrtle would be of some comfort to Beatrice during the anxious hours to come.

Pending destruction

Rails screeched as J.J. locked down the Interurban car's brakes only seconds from impact with the work car. An instant from catastrophe, he leapt from the doorway of the motorman's cab, striking a passing utility pole as he tumbled along the embankment. The work car exploded to splinters as the carnage ripped and tore at the tracks for nearly two-hundred feet. When the passenger coach came to a stop, little was left of the weed whipper, but the roof with its trolley pole.

Beneath the debris were two injured men from the work car, one apparently near death, as reported by the Cleburne Daily Enterprise newspaper.

Several passengers were shaken up. Six of the 25 sustained cuts and bruises, but thanks to Jesse's instantaneous heroics, no one in the coach was seriously injured. The front of the passenger car was completely demolished. Had Miles remained a second longer, he surely would have been killed. As it was, he laid unconscious beside the tracks, badly battered and bleeding with a broken leg. Three ambulances transported the injured to St. Joseph's Infirmary in Fort Worth, according to the next day's edition of the Fort Worth Record.

E.T. Winn was normally Jesse's conductor, but he did not work on this day. A call came into his house from a traction company representative, requesting that he notify Beatrice Miles of the accident. Once contacted, she traveled to the infirmary, where Jesse remained for weeks on the mend after regaining consciousness. He would return to work with a limp, but still loyal and dedicated to his job.

By 1926, the traction company had invested in a bus line that would compete with the Interurbans for the Fort Worth-Dallas fares. On April 30, 1931, Jesse's car No. 2, the "David Crockett" made its final run to Cleburne. With some 8,266,000 fares from its 1912 beginning, the route to Cleburne was crowded at every stop with onlookers, wishing Jesse and the "Pioneer Limited" car farewell.

Jesse's loyalty and company seniority returned him to the Fort Worth-to-Dallas run after 13 years on the Cleburne line. The Miles family moved back to Handley and, his son said, he and his puppy would ride with his father to and from Dallas on occasion just for fun.

Jesse's son Corbett graduated from Texas A&M University and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. A retired North Texas school principal, he and his wife, Kathleen, are proud grandparents.

Entering the 1930s, the Interurbans were losing ground as the bus lines became more popular and convenient.
Three years following the abandonment of the Cleburne line, the Dallas line shut down, replaced by the Texas Motor Coaches. On Christmas Eve, many Interurban employees were jobless. His son said Jesse attempted to make light of the situation for his family's sake by remarking, "Looks like we get to split the hamburger this Christmas." Once again, Jesse's longevity with the company paid off, providing him with a position as a bus driver for the company. Jesse was very popular and well-respected by company officials and fellow workers alike.

In the early 1950s, Jesse Miles became a Tarrant County deputy sheriff as he remained until entering retirement. Less than a year after the loss of his beloved Beatrice, Jesse and she were reunited beneath a cluster of live oaks on a hill overlooking the route of his last days as a motorman.

Though the rumble that once shook the ground from Fort Worth to Cleburne has remained quiet for seventy-six years, efforts are in the works to resurrect the mode of travel in the form of commuter rail. Trinity Railway Express's 2001 version of the passenger rail line between Fort Worth and Dallas has been notably successful, and the outcry for a line south is historically repetitive. Perhaps in the near future, a new "David Crockett" and its operator will greet passengers along Jesse's old route. - Mike Beard, The Burleson-Crowley Connection

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THE END