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Railroad Newsline for Monday, March 12, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

LANDOWNERS AREN'T THRILLED ABOUT RAILROAD RECONSTRUCTION

VICTORIA, TX -- A legal battle that's been going on for several years between Kansas City Southern and people who own land along the old railroad could be drawing to a close and some of the landowners aren't optimistic.

"It's going to be a mess," said Charlie Baros, who owns 90 acres of land adjoining the railroad property. What's more, he said, is that "Victoria County is going to regret them coming through."

The property owners said they've been arguing that when the track was removed between Victoria and Wharton in the mid-1990s the ownership of that property reverted to the adjacent landowners.

Now, they say, the railroad wants the land back and refuses to compensate them for it or for the improvements they've made over the old rail bed.

Kansas City Southern has not responded to phone calls and e-mails from the Advocate asking about the railroad's plans.

But Victoria attorney John Griffin, who is representing some of the property owners, said he's hopeful the legal action will result in a balance of the needs of his clients and the railroad.

"There have been all kinds of disagreements between the line and the landowners," Griffin said. "At this point, we are under a confidentiality agreement and I'm going to respect that."

Property owners like Roger Miller said they welcome the chance to tell their story. Miller said he has just more than 100 acres that have been in his family since 1858, years before the railroad was built. He has mixed emotions about the tracks returning.

"I don't mind them putting it back," he said. "But I think we should be compensated. We built new fences and now they've got to be torn down and moved. That costs about $8,000 a mile."

Miller said the railroad also wants the property owners to pay for reinstalling street crossings that the railroad removed when it took up the tracks.

"I don't think they're treating us right," he said. "They abandoned the railroad, took it up and filed a document in court saying they abandoned it. Then they turned around, came back and are putting back in the tracks."

Property owner Hally Clements said she doesn't see anything to argue about.

"There's no doubt about it, that it's our property," she said. "We don't think; we know it."

Clements, whose family owns more than 500 acres near the rail bed, said that's why she wasn't one of the ones suing the railroad.

"We have not been to court because I think it's a waste of time," she said. "If it ever comes to it, we will deal with it then."

Clements said until that time, they will continue to run cattle on all of what they consider their property.

Baros said he's not so confident about the chance of prevailing against such a large organization as the railroad.

"There's a group of people who have been fighting this thing for three or four years now," he said. "It looks like we're going to lose."

He said he's been paying property taxes for 11 years on the land the railroad claims it owns and he fenced in that property after the rails were removed. He said he wants to be paid for the land and the improvements.

Baros said he has had plans to develop a residential subdivision on part of the property and he's concerned now about the value of that land with the railroad coming back. He said he's also concerned about even being able to get the railroad to agree to let him have a crossing to his land.

"They're going to make it difficult for you to even get a crossing," Baros said. "That's going to be the problem." - David Tewes, The Victoria Advocate

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BNSF ANNOUNCES NEW ORLEANS INTERMODAL FACILITY TO CLOSE ON SUNDAYS EFFECTIVE APRIL 08, 2007

The BNSF Railway Company has announced that the New Orleans Intermodal Facility will be closed on Sundays beginning on Sunday, April 8, 2007, and will be closed on each subsequent Sunday.

The weekly hours at the New Orleans Intermodal Facility are as follows:

· Monday through Friday: 07:00 to 19:00

· Saturday: 07:00 to 12:00

- BNSF Facility Update

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BNSF AWARDED 2007 INNOVATOR AWARD BY FUELQUEST

Thursday, March 8, FuelQuest, which operates the largest fuel management network in the United States, announced BNSF Railway Company and two other major companies as recipients of the 2007 Innovator Award.

The Innovator Awards recognize organizations that have unselfishly contributed to the advancement and continued expansion of FuelQuest's industry-standard supply chain and tax automation solutions.

BNSF was noted for being a driving force behind several product innovations for FuelQuest, including improving technology solutions for the transportation industry. From product movements to pricing, BNSF has enhanced key components of FuelQuest's solutions, expanding these benefits to all customers, especially those moving beyond secondary distribution.

"The technology innovations made by these industry-leading award recipients benefit all of our customers and the downstream energy industry in general," said Rich Cilento, FuelQuest's president and CEO.

The awards were distributed at GRAIL, an annual conference and training seminar for customers and partners of FuelQuest, from industry leaders in motor fuel retail, transportation, to commodity trading and refiners.

Other awardees include Aventine Renewable Energy and 7-Eleven. - BNSF Today

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UNION PACIFIC TOPS FORTUNE MAGAZINE'S 25TH ANNUAL LIST OF AMERICA'S MOST ADMIRED RAILROADS FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR

OMAHA, NE -- Fortune magazine has named Union Pacific the most admired railroad in its America’s Most Admired Companies list.

For the second consecutive year, Union Pacific was named the U.S. railroad industry leader in key attributes of reputation on Fortune’s annual list of Most Admired Companies: innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, and long-term investment. The rankings are determined in a survey of industry analysts, boards of directors and corporate and railroad executives.

"Being named America’s most admired railroad for two consecutive years is truly an honor," said Jim Young, chairman and CEO, Union Pacific. "Our continued success is attributed to our 53,000 employees who day in and day out provide the critical work necessary to serve our customers and meet our nation’s demand for consumer and industrial goods." - James Barnes, UP News Release

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DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME CHANGE TO PUT KCSR AND KCSM ON DIFFERENT TIMES FOR THREE WEEKS

Recently, the news media has been talking about the effects of the upcoming daylight saving time change. According to a 2005 federal law, U.S. daylight saving time will begin three weeks earlier than before and extend a week later to the second Sunday in November. The change, effective this weekend, is expected to conserve energy and extend daylight hours. In Mexico, daylight saving time will still begin three weeks from now, as it has in the past for both countries. This means that the time in the U.S. will be one hour ahead of Mexico for three weeks. (Both Kansas City Southern Railway and Kansas City Southern de Mexico remain in the Central Time Zone.)

The KCSR and KCSM IT department has applied patches to software packages in the U.S. as needed. These patches were not necessary in Mexico. Even with the patches, Microsoft Corporation has advised its customers that there is still a high likelihood that calendar entries may not reflect the correct times following the change. To minimize the effect, Microsoft has issued the following recommendations:

1. When organizing a meeting during the extended daylight saving time period, type the specific meeting time in the subject line or body of the message. For example, "Project Planning Meeting, 8:30 A.M. U.S. Time".

2. Consider any appointments and meetings in the extended daylight saving time period to be suspect. When in doubt, verify the correct time with the organizer.

While the KCSR and KCSM IT department believes that it has planned appropriately and that the change will not be an impacting event, it does plan to be on hand throughout the weekend to quickly address any unforeseen issues. Questions or concerns about the change should be directed to the KCSR or KCSM IT Help Desks. - KCS News

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WARNING ENHANCED AT KCSR'S CROSSBUCK CROSSINGS IN TEXAS

In Texas, Kansas City Southern Railway trains operate across 574 public at-grade highway rail grade crossings and 398 private crossings. Of the public crossings, 294 are equipped with flashers and gates, 53 with flashers and 227 with crossbucks. On average, this presents more than 6,000 opportunities daily for a crossing collision.

To enhance the level of traffic control notification to motorists at crossbuck crossings in Texas, KCSR and the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) are jointly funding the installation of new crossbuck blades and an emergency notification sign with a two-inch reflector strip down the front and back of the sign's post. In the next few months, TXDOT will also add a STOP or YIELD sign to each crossbuck crossing.

The proper function of crossbuck signs, flashers and flashers and gates is ordinarily KCSR's responsibility. Therefore, employees are advised to immediately notify the Critical Incident Desk at 877-KCS-XING if a crossbuck sign has been knocked down or vandalized, or when flashers or flashers and gates are not functioning properly. - KCS News

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TRAIN CREW BLAMED IN ACCIDENT: FEDERAL REPORT REFUTES SIGNAL FAILURE, GLARE AS CAUSES OF THE COLLISION

Federal investigators late Friday blamed last summer's Madera County, California train collision on operator error by the crew of one of the trains.

The report on the collision June 14 on the BNSF Railway Company's line near Road 26 and Avenue 19, just north of Madera, also said a breakdown product of cocaine was found in the blood of the train's conductor.

It said that the conductor's cocaine use "may have contributed to the cause of the accident." But it went on to say that neither blood nor urine test results would permit a conclusion about whether the conductor was impaired.

BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent said the railroad would be unable to comment until it had reviewed the report, which the Federal Railroad Administration released after close of business Friday.

The report placed blame for the accident solely on the crew of a train traveling south toward Fresno.

It discredited crew accounts that a signal failed or that glare from the sunrise -- the accident happened shortly before 06:00 -- blinded the crew to a signal.

It said that the signals were tested, and no defects were found. A re-enactment of the accident showed that all signals were clearly visible. Astronomical records did not suggest that sunlight was a problem.

"Despite claims to the contrary, there is no basis for accepting the claims of crew members that their signal went clear or their vision was hampered by the sunrise," the report concluded.

The train, with seven locomotives and 55 cars, braked hard at the last minute and struck a northbound train with four locomotives and 30 cars.

At impact, the southbound train was traveling at 22 mph, and the northbound train at 38 mph. They struck head-on.

Five crew members on the two trains were injured, and 24 locomotives and cars derailed, resulting in more than $5 million in damage.

One of the state's main rail arteries was shut down for days.

The crew members were not identified in the report.

Timothy Smith, chairman of the California State Legislative Board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said he was skeptical of the report's findings.

"If in fact it is the crew's fault that this accident happened, then why did it happen?" he said.

He said contributing factors such as fatigue should be addressed.

The report said that both crews had received the required amount of off-duty time before reporting for work.

The southbound crew had been working for about 9-1/2 hours before the accident; the northbound crew for about two hours. - Russell Clemings, The Fresno Bee

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TRACKING A MILESTONE

ROCHESTER, MN -- Two weeks after the department of transportation denied DM&E's loan request. Area lawmakers are still praising the government's decision. At the Canadian Honker Saturday morning, Coalition members and a US Senator all offered up their feelings of relief after years of work.

Senator Norm Coleman says, "I got a call from the Secretary of Transportation."

One Rochester woman says, "I'm glad that it didn't go through."

Ken Brown says, "You know it was a surprise."

Senator Norm Coleman says, "my initial reaction was one of being relieved."

There's strong opinions on both sides.

And while one is looking for a new route. The other is celebrating what they're calling a milestone.

Senator Norm Coleman says, "There is finality to this loan, so you can sleep a little easier in that regard. They did the things they should have done. They looked at the railroad and said this company cannot carry a 2 billion dollar loan."

Nearly two weeks ago that was welcome news for the coalition and while the applause is still going strong.

No one is forgetting about the future.

John Wade says, "Instead of putting the book on the shelf. It's really finishing a chapter."

The rest of that book may still include a compromise with DM&E as their president now turns back to the private sector looking for new investors.

Whether it happens or not the coalition holds, Rochester will not make some sacrifices.

Senator Norm Coleman says, "There are alternatives with routing traffic around the Mayo Clinic, there are alternatives with the kind of traffic that can go by the clinic. We need competition in rail, we need high quality rail, but it cannot come at the expense of Minnesotans." - Katie Brandt, KTTC-TV, Rochester, MN

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PLAN FOR RAIL SERVICE TO DULUTH GAINS STEAM

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- By the time the last Amtrak passenger trains ran between the Twin Cities and Duluth in 1985, the 150-mile trip took four hours, trains were often late, public subsidies were draining and ridership was falling.

Now 22 years later, county officials along the old route -- with the blessing of Jim Oberstar, the influential Minnesota congressman -- are trying to revive the rail line because they say times have changed. But the project is already raising concerns that its sudden emergence is competing for money with other, more advanced rail initiatives. The proposal also is forcing one county commissioner to explain whether his support is linked to any personal land holdings.

Since September, the $120 million rail line proposal has nonetheless gained steam.

A divided Hennepin County Board voted two weeks ago to help fund a feasibility study. And Anoka County gave a consulting firm run by Elwyn Tinklenberg, the former state transportation commissioner, a $118,000 contract to push the concept.

Though the project has picked up key endorsements, the engine driving the train is St. Louis County, which sent a contingent to Washington, DC, last week to explore possible rail options.

There, they met with Oberstar, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Supporters say much has changed since the Amtrak line stopped running on Easter Sunday 1985.
Although the new train's principal use would be as a long-distance passenger link between Minneapolis and Duluth, advocates also hope to attract casino travelers heading to Hinckley and business commuters who might find renewed value in train service. The train's speed -- limited to 50 miles per hour in 1985 -- would rise to an average of 79 mph, making the line competitive with cars, Tinklenberg said. Money also could be an issue -- gasoline costs three times more than when the train last ran.

"In 1985, when service stopped, we didn't have the cell phones or laptops that will make this such a productive way to travel for business commuters," said Tinklenberg, whose consulting firm is trying to raise $585,000 to establish an administrative arm to oversee the project and conduct a feasibility study.

Today there is much more activity along the line than when service ended. Grand Casino Hinckley, which opened in 1992, attracts 4 million to 5 million visitors per year, according to a 2000 study prepared in part for the state Department of Transportation, which Tinklenberg headed at the time. That study, he said, concluded that reestablishing rail service was "feasible and prudent."

And Duluth's Canal Park has become one of the state's most popular tourist destinations, said Ken Buehler, director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. The annual number of tourists visiting Duluth has more than doubled since 1985, he said.

Last year's state bonding bill provided $1.3 million in seed money, said John Ongaro, director of Intergovernmental Affairs for St. Louis County. But the proposal has its share of question marks -- and detractors.

At a hearing two weeks ago before the Hennepin County Board, Ongaro said it was unclear how the train would be operated and suggested that Amtrak or private investors were possibilities.

Officials also acknowledged that upgrades of existing track would be needed.

Officials, meanwhile, have talked of limiting station stops to Duluth, Hinckley and Minneapolis. But Anoka County development official Steve Novak said he and others would try to make sure at least one station was built in Anoka County.

That idea drew fire from Hennepin County Commissioner Penny Steele, who voted against the feasibility study funding. She said she has "a great deal of concern about how this particular line was selected."

Steele stopped short of publicly voicing concerns over the role of Anoka County Commissioner Dan Erhart, whose family owns land in Pine, Isanti and Anoka counties, all of which the train would pass through. Other Hennepin commissioners said Erhart's land holdings and any possible connection to the project were discussed privately.

Erhart denied that he wants the line for personal gain.

"I have no clue where the [train] stations will be," said Erhart, who chaired the Anoka County Regional Rail Authority when it hired Tinklenberg's firm last year. "My property could be 20 miles from a station. Some of this property has been owned by my family for decades.

"That somebody thinks I've been supporting rail travel for 20 years for personal gain is just offensive" said Erhart, who is aware of political rumblings.

Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, a longtime rail advocate, said mass transit critics were trying to use any means necessary to block projects like the Minneapolis-to-Duluth proposal. "It reminds me of the early days" of light rail, he said, referring to the building of the Hiawatha line linking downtown Minneapolis and the Mall of America.

Some people also have concerns whether the Minneapolis-Duluth line would compete with the proposed Rush Line, which would offer commuter rail service between downtown St. Paul and Hinckley. The projects are seen separately by federal officials -- the shorter Rush Line, by contrast, could have more than a half-dozen stops to serve rush-hour commuters -- but would likely compete for funds on the state level.

Ramsey County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt, who chairs the Rush Line task force, said she confronted Tinklenberg last week in Washington on whether he was privately telling lawmakers they should choose between the projects. She said that he told her the projects could complement each other.

"If you're talking one or the other, you're in for a heck of a fight," Reinhardt said.

Although advocates said the rail line's demise in the mid-1980s was only partly related to low ridership, the route suffered from fewer passengers during its last years. From its beginning in 1975 through 1984, the line -- which ran out of the Amtrak station in St. Paul -- had shown a monthly profit only once. That came in August 1983, when it carried 19,000 passengers, a spurt that came after news reports speculated that the rail service would soon be eliminated.

"It wasn't because of the passenger load [being] the problem, it was these other side issues," insisted Ongaro, referring to the rail line's problems two decades ago. A preliminary analysis, he said, "shows it will make a profit." - Paul Levy and Mike Kaszuba, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

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REPORT: FEWER ACCIDENTS AT ILLINOIS RAILROAD CROSSINGS

There were fewer accidents at Illinois railroad crossings last year -- but they were just as deadly.

Despite that, Illinois' top train safety expert said he believes he sees reason to be encouraged in the statistics.

The Illinois Department of Transportation reported that each of the past two years, 60 people died. The overall number of accidents dropped, from 243 to 226, as did the number who died in crossing accidents, from 31 to 23.

The rest were trespassing elsewhere on railroad property.

Illinois ranked second or third in the nation in all such statistics, but the safety education program of the railroad industry, Operation Lifesaver, said Illinois is second only to Texas in the miles of track railroads operate.

Texas led the nation in all categories.

"You hope that a number of people will understand (the dangers) from the education part," said Operation Lifesaver Illinois Director Chip Pew, an IDOT employee. "To some extent you have to use some engineering to modify some behavior. But certainly if you have to get to the point where you're affecting someone in the wallet to keep them alive and keep them safe, we have to be willing to do that."

Pew said some communities don't begin to take safety around railroads seriously until someone dies. But Pew said he is pleased that an increasing number of Illinois communities are ticketing those who dash and drive around downed gates.

Under state law, violators are punishable by a $500 fine, and Pew said the fine is stiff enough to make many people think twice.

He said enforcement efforts have been particularly successful in a number of suburbs, and singled out efforts in Villa Park, Lombard and Cary. In Cary, he said, police ticketed 19 people for disregarding crossing gates on one recent day.

"Those are people who have been violating active signs and signals in some cases for 10 and 15 years and have gotten away with it and have almost forgotten that what they're doing is against the law and potentially dangerous," he said.

He said proof that enforcement has made people think twice can be found in the statistics.

Pew said that in 2005, a dozen pedestrians died when they walked in front of trains. Pew said last year, there were only four "pedestrians" -- and said all were riding bicycles.

Nationally, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported a 5 percent drop in the number of accidents at crossings, but an increase in crossing deaths by 1.4 percent. Deaths involving trespassers elsewhere on railroad property nationwide increased by 14.5 percent.

Pew said the statistics are clear: trains don't stop on a dime and can't change lanes the way cars do. He said pedestrians, motorists and bicycle riders all have the ability to stop short far more easily.

"Railroad safety really hasn't changed since the beginning of railroading," Pew said. "We're just asking people to use common sense." - Bob Roberts, WBBM-NewsRadio780, Chicago, IL

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UP TRAIN STRIKES TRACTOR, LEAVES FARMER DEAD

VARNER, AR -- A farmer whose John Deere tractor was caught on railroad tracks a mile and one-half south of Varner, Arkansas was struck by a northbound Union Pacific freight train and killed about 14:40 Friday.

Lincoln County Coroner Jimmy Hawkins pronounced the man dead at the scene but declined to release his name until next of kin are notified. He was believed to be a Lincoln County farmer.

“I saw the train coming and the tractor sitting on the tracks,” said David Davis of Star City, who witnessed the collision as he was driving on U.S. 65, which runs parallel to the railroad track. “I heard what sounded like an explosion and I saw the wheels come flying off the tractor. Then I called 911.”

It appeared that the farmer, who was reportedly working for Clinton Gasaway Farms of Gould, was hauling a land plane and heading east through a rail crossing.

At the scene parts of the tractor were scattered over a wide area of the east side of the tracks, while the bright yellow plane was on the west side.

“The man on the tractor died,” said Joe Arbona, a spokesman for the southern region of Union Pacific Railroad. “The crew is pretty shook up.”

Arbona said the victim was “at an angle facing the northbound train,” which was headed towards Pine Bluff.

Investigators were on the scene Friday afternoon, he said.

“We’’re still trying to find [his] next of kin,” Arbona said later Friday, explaining that the train was traveling between 40 to 50 miles an hour, under the speed limit of 60. Arbona said the victim was “a person in his 30s.”

“The crossing had stop signs,” Arbona said, explaining that the “crew went into emergency mode but it couldn’t stop in time.” The investigation is continuing.

Arkansas State Police troopers were working the scene Friday afternoon along with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and the Grady Fire Department.

Arbona said the Lincoln County train wreck was one of two that occurred in Arkansas Friday. Two people died earlier Friday in Greene County when their truck collided with an oncoming Union Pacific train, the Arkansas State Police reported.

George W. Dickerson, 73, and Alvin White, 65, both of Paragould, died in the collision in on U.S. 49 between Paragould and Marmaduke. The State Police reported Dickerson drove his 1984 Chevrolet truck onto the railroad tracks when a train was approaching. The train struck the right side of the truck and both Dickerson and White, who was a passenger, were pronounced dead at the scene. - Larry Ault and John Whipple, The Pine Bluff Commercial

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'RAILS ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI'

What a keen sense of timing. In the midst of a flap over a new bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis, historian and urban planner Robert W. Jackson gives us the tale of another St. Louis bridge brouhaha: the problems and pitfalls surrounding the Eads Bridge, which finally opened July 4, 1874.

As one Chicago paper reported the next day, "The child is born: procreation was painful, the period of gestation was fearfully long, and the pangs of parturition most acute. Delivery, however, has been safely accomplished, and the miniature world of St. Louis breathes easier."

The bridge was the brainchild of James B. Eads, who had to fight the steamboat and ferry industries, balance railroads against one another and convince skeptics that, yes, a safe bridge could be built of that newfangled material, steel.

Jackson's book tells it all. And that's the big problem with "Rails across the Mississippi." This book tells it all, in arcane detail and long-winded prose. Here's a sample sentence:

"The election came at a time when Scott had to direct all his attention to an attempt to save the Texas and Pacific Railroad, thus making it difficult for him to prevent the new leadership of the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railway from nullifying a certain agreement between that company, the Kansas Pacific Railroad, the Chicago and Alton Railroad, and the Pennsylvania Railroad that had been in place since the reorganization of the North Missouri Railroad."

Sigh … Readers who want to grasp this book in all of its complexity might first lay hands on advanced degrees in civil engineering, corporate finance and the history of 19th-century American railroads.

Still, "Rails across the Mississippi" has its rewards, for example, page after page of engineering drawings, done with 19th-century precision. The book offers some nice character sketches — of the eccentric Eads, of course, and of people such as rival bridge builder Lucius Boomer, whose marvelous name was attached a century later to a bar in Laclede's Landing, in the shadow of the Eads Bridge.

The bridge still stands as a thing of beauty, with its triple arches and majestic masonry. But at book's end, author Jackson delivers a conclusion so familiar to St. Louisans who count on a civic turnaround from such projects as the St. Louis Centre: "In economic terms, it never really worked very well as either a highway bridge or a railroad bridge."

Ah, well. At least it's prettier than the Poplar Street Bridge. - Harry Levins, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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CLEANER COAL PLANNED FOR TEXAS

The companies that offered to buy TXU Corp. want Texas to know they are serious about building cleaner coal plants.

On Friday, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Texas Pacific Group announced that they will build two coal gasification plants in Texas and that they will include technology to capture and store greenhouse gas emissions.

The announcement from the private-equity firms and TXU is a turnaround for the Dallas power company. For the past year, TXU has been working on 11 traditional coal-fired plants and has said the cleaner gasification isn't yet proved to be reliable with the types of coal TXU uses.

That stance helped fuel a public outcry against the state's largest power company that pushed the buyers to cut the coal program.

"The investors want to move quickly to show that we're committed to utilizing and exploring new technology for future generation," said Jeff Eller, chief executive of Public Strategies Inc., which represents the buyers. "We've got to earn our stripes every day."

The announcement came on the same day that Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, filed legislation that offers tax breaks to integrated gasification combined cycle, or IGCC, plants because of their environmental benefits.

When the buyout firms made their offer of $45 billion for TXU, the companies made a pact with some national environmental groups to build only three of the traditional coal plants, to cut pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and to invest in coal gasification technology.

The buyers have started on a couple of those promises before shareholders even vote whether to accept the deal. Already TXU has suspended its applications for air permits for eight of the conventional plants.

Now, the buyers will issue a so-called "request for proposal," asking IGCC technology vendors to bid to build two plants in partnership with TXU. The IGCC plants wouldn't replace any of the conventional coal plants TXU wants to build.

IGCC is a process of pressurizing coal to turn it into a gas that is burned in a power plant.
The process prevents some pollution from forming. The resulting carbon dioxide could be captured and stored, though such technology hasn't yet been used commercially on a power plant.

The TXU plants would use Texas lignite and Powder River Basin coal from Wyoming, the two coal types that TXU uses. Company executives have said for the past year that they couldn't use those types of coal with IGCC.

As recently as last month, TXU officials said the technology hasn't been proven to be reliable for those types of coal.

The buyers haven't decided where they might build the plants, or when.

Nor could they say how much the plants might cost. IGCC experts say the technology costs about 20 percent more than conventional coal technology, excluding carbon emissions equipment.

TXU spokesman Tom Kleckner said building the plants would take about six years, but the company won't have a start date until it evaluates proposals from vendors.

Demonstration Plants

The idea is to set up a partnership with vendors to build "commercial demonstration plants."

The partnership could involve sharing the investment and risk of the project and might include some money from the state or federal government.

The vendors would get the opportunity to show that their technology works reliably using two types of coal that haven't been used as extensively on IGCC as other types.

TXU has long said IGCC technology just isn't reliable. In early February, Mike Greene, the head of TXU Power, said the technology isn't ready for TXU's commercial operation.

"We continuously look at IGCC. I've been looking at it for the last 15 years or so," Mr. Greene said during a deposition that was part of the permitting process for some coal plants that the buyers would shelve.

He said IGCC is "not ready for prime time" because the technology integrates gasification with a combined cycle power plant.

Separately, the two technologies work well, but they are difficult to integrate, he said.

"The engineer in me says these things are really neat because they have a lot of design characteristics that should be good. The power plant operator in me says these things are really hard to make work," Mr. Greene said.

Groups that opposed TXU's coal plans – environmentalists, politicians, consumer groups, business leaders and rivals – have been chattering about the company's reversal.

While many were pleased to see the buyers moving quickly on IGCC, some pointed out that the company still wants to build three of the dirtiest plants that were in the original plan.

"They've actually moved a little faster than I anticipated," said Jim Marston, Texas director of Environmental Defense.

He helped negotiate the environmental pact with the TXU buyers, along with the David G. Hawkins, director of Natural Resources Defense Council's Climate Center.

"The company is recognizing that if you're going to plan a new coal plant, you've got to include carbon dioxide capture as part of the planning from the beginning. Of course, the old company didn't do that with its previous 11, and they don't seem to be willing to revisit the three that they have deep in the process," Mr. Marston said.

Oak Grove

The TXU buyers still want to build a coal plant at the Sandow location and two at Oak Grove.

Oak Grove's two units, using conventional coal technology, would put out as much smog-causing pollution as 350,000 cars and more mercury than all eight of TXU's suspended new coal plants combined, said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen's Texas office. Converting Oak Grove to IGCC would dramatically slash those emissions.

"This is a huge step forward, but if they're really committed to promoting this technology, we call on them not to build the Oak Grove plant and to utilize that site for gasification," he said.

State hearing officers recommended in August that the commissioners reject Oak Grove. That proposed two-unit plant faces a permit vote by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality after the state Senate confirms H.S. "Buddy" Garcia to fill the commission's vacant third seat.
The Senate nominations committee approved Mr. Garcia on Wednesday.

TXU's decision to drop eight of its 11 proposed coal-burning units doesn't directly affect the Oak Grove permit. However, plant opponents fear that TXU's reduced coal plans would make it politically easier for the commissioners to approve Oak Grove.

The TXU plants wouldn't technically be the first IGCC plants in Texas. But they might be the first to use coal.

In September, Houston-based Tondu Corp. applied for a state permit to build a 600-megawatt plant in Corpus Christi. Another Houston firm, Hunton Energy, said last month that it wants to build a plant in Fort Bend County. Both plants would use petroleum coke, a byproduct of oil refining.

And TXU's biggest rival, NRG Energy Inc., said it wants to build an IGCC plant in Texas, if the state or a municipality could help with the cost in some way for the first few plants. The company is building an IGCC plant in New York in a public/private partnership.

A bill filed by Mr. Averitt to give IGCC plants a tax break would fit NRG's condition.

"We've been working hard to dispel some of the myths that emerged about IGCC in Texas, as we've been working through our own generation plans here," said Thad Hill, president of NRG Texas. "I'd say we are certainly glad that TXU is no longer discrediting IGCC technology and is really coming to our view." - Elizabeth Souder and Randy Lee Loftis, The Dallas Morning News

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SCHOLAR TAKES A LOOK AT MYSTERY OF GURDON LIGHT

ARKADELPHIA, AR --[/b] The Gurdon Light -- fact or fiction?

Dr. Charles Leming, chairman of the physics department at Henderson State University, recently made a presentation that explored various possible explanations for the mystery.

The Gurdon Light has been the topic of three television programs, Leming said,
including "Unsolved Mysteries" and "The Other Side," both broadcast on NBC, and "The World's Scariest Places" which aired on Fox's Children's Channel.

Those who have seen the light say it is seen along a railroad track off Highway 53 south of Gurdon, Arkansas. The railroad was constructed in that area in 1910. It runs between Gurdon and Norman.

There are several explanations for the light, including swamp gas, and geological theories about pressure on quartz, which emits energy. Others say the light is actually the ghost of a railroad man who was murdered along the tracks in 1931.

Leming is not sure of any theory. In research done years ago by a student, people said they recalled seeing the light before 1931, which would debunk the ghost theory.

Others claim the light is merely the headlights reflecting off vehicles on nearby Interstate 30. But since the light was seen prior to the interstate's construction, that can't be the case, he said.

Leming said he and his wife saw something one night while looking for the Gurdon Light. "It wasn't actually a light," he said. It was more of a misty, foggy image that appeared between him and his wife. "I looked at it and then asked her, 'Did you see that?'"

Even after seeing the image, Leming still attributes it to one or more natural phenomena, which include swamp gas, foxfire, atmospheric optics and earth lights.

Swamp gas is produced by rotting plant materials, which could be present at certain times of the year, Leming said. Foxfire is a light which is emitted by a fungus that grows on decaying wood, and could also be possible in that area.

Atmospheric optics can "produce things you don't expect," Leming said, such as the mirages that appear in extreme heat and humidity, or rainbows in the sky. He presented a photograph of the setting sun that showed bands of light that appeared to be circling beside the sun. Those are also examples of atmospheric optics, he said.

The last theory is that of earth lights, Leming said. Earth lights are often seen just before an earthquake, when pressure shifts in layers of the earth. Pressure exerted on quartz can cause a release of energy, often as light. "That's why we wear quartz watches," Leming said.

A more simple example of this is triboluminescence, which can occur if a wintergreen breath mint is crushed in a dark space. "I think (the Gurdon Light) is a combination of all of the above," Leming said.

The Gurdon Light is more visible in the fall, he said, because the trees are leafless, giving a better view. The light is also more visible on a dark night.

However, one of those attending the lecture claimed the light is visible year round. "I've seen it many times, all times of the year," said Billy Tarpley, director of development at HSU.

Tarpley is a Gurdon native and claims to have seen "the light" on many occasions, including spring and early summer. "It's very popular around graduation time," he said. [b]- Donna Hilton, The Pine Bluff Commercial

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TRANSIT NEWS

LIGHT RAIL MAKES STOP IN SANTA MONICA

SANTA MONICA, CA -- With the deadline for input fast approaching on April 2, Santa Monica residents this week took their first close look at a life-changing light rail line scheduled to pull into their neighborhoods from Downtown Los Angeles by 2015.

More than 150 people turned out at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Tuesday evening to hunch over 20-foot-long aerial photographs of the city and offer their input during the third of four Westside stops made by transit officials before they begin an environmental review of the $800 million project next month.

With a yellow line running a few blocks north of the Freeway depicting the proposed rail route and four red dots marking possible transit hubs, the maps gave residents a realistic view of what life may be like with a railway running in their backyards.

Photo here:

[www.surfsantamonica.com]\\

Caption reads: Residents ponder proposed light rail line. (Photos by Olin Ericksen)

"I'm pleased with the turnout because the idea of the scoping meetings is to get the public out to make them aware of the projects that we are undergoing and the transit alternatives in the area," said Joel Sandberg, director of engineering and construction for the Exposition Construction Authority.

It will be Sandberg's job to oversee the extension of the proposed rail line from Culver City to Santa Monica, the second leg of a light rail line that will link the beachside city to Downtown Los Angeles.

Ringing in at $680 million, the first leg from the Los Angeles core to Culver City is already under construction and should be completed in 2010.

"We think based on the experience of other lines already built, that it will be a significant change for the community to have an alternative to driving for the first time in about 50 years," said Sandberg.

Yet not all in the area welcome the change.

Some residents in the nearby Cheviot Hills area have already voiced their opposition loud enough that two routes are currently being considered to bring the project into Santa Monica.

"We are certainly getting a lot of strong opinions both ways," said Sandberg.

The upcoming March 15 meeting could see a showdown between those who want the rail to head straight into Santa Monica and those who want it to bypass Cheviot Hills on a longer, more expensive route down Sepulveda and Venice boulevards.

Tuesday’s meeting in Santa Monica in Santa Monica, while well-attended, was low-key.

Scores of local residents praised the work and said they were eager to see the transit line offer Santa Monicans an escape from Los Angeles' legendary crushing freeway traffic and clogged surface streets.

A handful, however, worried that the line would impact their quality of life.

"Look at it, I'd be completely boxed in," said 30-year resident Gary Drun, pointing to the map as he spoke with one of scores of planners stationed at tables to answer questions. "I'd have the freeway on one side and the light rail on the other."

Drun is concerned that the light rail could be a noisy addition to the constant hum of freeway and draw traffic to the proposed station near his home at Cloverfield Boulevard, just south of Olympic Boulevard.

"I can only imagine the traffic that it's going to suck into the neighborhood," he said.

Photo here:

[www.surfsantamonica.com]

Caption reads: Consultant and urban planner, Lisa Padilla, answers questions.

In addition to the proposed Cloverfield station, MTA officials are considering placing stations at Exposition Boulevard and Bundy Drive and Exposition Boulevard just adjacent to the 405 freeway.

The final stop on the rail line in Santa Monica would be at Fourth Street and Colorado Avenue at the Sears building the City bought last year just four blocks east of the pier entrance.

"These are possible locations out of those previous studies done six years ago, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will be the station location after these studies are conducted," Sandberg said.

Transportation officials also are considering a station outside the City's borders just east of the 405 Freeway on Sepulveda.

Among those who attended the meeting were representatives of the Pico Neighborhood, which saw many of its black and Latino residents and businesses uprooted when the I-10 Freeway was built four decades ago.

"One reason we have (LA Voices) here early on is because we want the community to feel they do have a say in what's happening," Father Mike Gutierrez, the pastor of St. Anne's Church, said of the interfaith group that attended the meeting.

While Gutierrez is encouraging Pico residents to get involved and help shape the process, he believes times have changed since City officials tore apart the neighborhood over the strong protests of longtime residents.

"What happened 40 years ago, that mechanism just worked that way 40 years ago," he said.

The area, Gutierrez said, could actually benefit from light rail if planners are sensitive to the community’s needs.

"In the end, it's going to make traffic better in the Pico Neighborhood," he said.

Photo here:

[www.surfsantamonica.com]

Caption reads: Project timeline.

Construction of the light rail line likely won’t have a major impact on the neighborhood, transportation officials said. That’s because the line would run parallel to the freeway, largely along the same public right of way through Santa Monica's light manufacturing district used by the old rail line.

Already, developers are gearing up for arrival of the new trains, officials said.

"We found that in the last four or five years that developers are very interested in building what's called transit-oriented development," Sandberg said.

In addition to weighing in on where to place the rail line and its stations, local residents expressed interest in moving the final station closer to the beach and establishing rapid trains.

They also prefer raised platforms, parking near the stations and connecting the line to existing transit systems, such as the Big Blue Bus.

Some also said they would like to see an economic impact report prepared to gauge the rail line’s effect on local residents.

Council member Pam O'Connor, who was recently elected as the MTA board’s first vice chair, said the proposed project -- which officials are seeking Federal and State monies to fund -- has come a long way.

"It's been fun seeing it come from a twinkle in the eye of people to where it is today and where it will be when the shovel hits the dirt," O’Connor said. - Olin Ericksen, The LookOut News

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UTA GETTING EARFUL OVER FARES STRUCTURE

SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- Proposed changes to a complicated system that incorporates 25 individual fares to ride Utah Transit Authority buses and trains already are getting negative reviews more than two weeks in advance of public hearings.

Added to the thousands of responses UTA now is collecting during its ongoing series of hearings on a massive bus route overhaul, the immediate reactions to forking over more money for a ride reveal growing anxiety about the mass transit agency's goals, especially among those most dependent on buses.

"I'm not happy about the fares at all. We have a lot of low income people who are going to be affected," said Linda Hilton, a spokeswoman for the low-income advocacy group Crossroads Urban Center.

Her colleague, Bill Tibbetts, director of the Utah Anti-Hunger Action Committee, is hanging brightly colored notices around downtown Salt Lake City alerting passers-by of the fare changes and urging them to attend Monday's UTA open house at the City Library on the route changes.

"There are going to be some positives but there are going to be some people who have trouble," he said. "I really don't see why they're doing a fare increase at the same time [as the route change]. We're mainly just encouraging people to go and find out how it's going to affect them personally."

Tibbetts said paratransit service in particular deserved a close analysis because the route changes will mean more physically limited people will be farther from the nearest bus stop. That could mean more people will need FlexTrans bus rides, just as the fares are in flux.

UTA's proposed three-year fare increase plan includes changes to current fares and sets the costs of riding FrontRunner commuter rail, scheduled to open in 2008.

The agency's overall goal is to continue to get 30 percent of its revenues from the fare box, improve service for those who use the system the most and increase bus ridership by 12 percent.

Public hearings about the fare increases will be conducted in UTA's six-county service area beginning March 27.

Meanwhile, the agency has held three open houses on its bus route redesign -- with seven more to go -- and has received thousands of comments, largely from naysayers. Those changes are scheduled to be effective August 27. Justin Jones, spokesman for UTA, acknowledged the alarm surrounding both the redesign and the fare increases.

"We always hear from all our special interest groups re fare increases. There is a true concern regarding their fixed incomes," he said. "In every instance so far, we have listened to the public and made changes." - Patty Henetz, The Salt Lake Tribune

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LIGHT RAIL WILL BE A MONEY PIT

Light rail between Minneapolis and St. Paul will be an eternal money pit subsidized by the taxpayers of Minnesota and a waste of federal taxpayer dollars.

It will not reduce congestion on I-94.

It will lose money every year like the Hiawatha Line.

It will replace current bus service that already uses University Avenue.

It will narrow, congest and eliminate lanes of traffic on University Avenue.

It will create another traffic-light cycle delay.

It will introduce new noise to the corridor with the honk of the horn and the ding of the bell at every intersection.

It will not burn fossil fuels directly, but will run on electricity generated by Xcel Energy.

It will look pretty snazzy on the travel pamphlets at the airport!

Fool me once, shame on you — fool me twice, shame on me. Do the taxpayers a favor and visit your local hobby store. - Dale Bending, Woodbury, MN, Letter to the Editor, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

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LAGNIAPPE (Something extra, not always railroad related, usually for Saturday’s only. I am including this special Lagniappe on Monday because it follows-up on another Laginappe article on the same subject carried in Saturday’s “Railroad Newsline.” I wanted to share this article today because I am afraid the links to the related graphics might be gone if I held it for next Saturday. – lwg)

A BIZARRE MALADY THAT HAS BEES VANISHING

Like readers of a mystery novel with a cast of millions and half a dozen murder suspects, beekeepers across the country are rushing to figure out why their honeybees are disappearing.

Lance Sundberg has spent his life beekeeping and runs Sunshine Apiary in Columbus. He is used to normal yearly losses of about 20 percent of his bees, and then three or four years ago he started noticing more dead bees and -- even stranger -- missing bees.

Photo here:

[www.billingsgazette.net]

"We see dead bee hives with no dead bees and nothing will live in the hive," Sundberg said.

Even the usual camp followers -- the wax moths, hive beetles and the robber bees chasing free honey -- won't go into the hive.

"If I had to guess, 40 percent of the bees along the East Coast are dead since September of last year," Sundberg said. "In the West Coast, it's 25 percent and almost everybody is on either coast."

What started as a 4-H project in the eighth grade in Bridger grew into a 24-year career for Sundberg, who has seen lots of challenges in beekeeping but none like these past four months.

Photo here:

[www.billingsgazette.net]

From June 2006 to Feb. 1, Sundberg watched his hive inventory drop from 5,600 to 3,800, probably half to mites and half to disappearing-bee syndrome. He also leases 2,000 hives from producers in other states and is one of Montana's largest beekeepers.

The culprits could be mites or other parasites, a fungus that attacks the gut, a virus, bad forage, inbreeding, pesticides or insecticides, stress, or a combination of factors. Genetically modified crops and cell phone towers are not considered potential causes at this time.

The honey is not affected.

But something is causing adult honey bees to fly away from the hive in search of nectar or pollen and not come back. After the worker bees leave, the queen and the nurse and baby bees left behind also die in what's being called colony collapse disorder.

Fly away from home?

Last November, David Hackenberg, one of Pennsylvania's largest commercial beekeepers, reported losing all but 900 of the 2,950 hives that he trucks along the East Coast from Florida and Maine. He shipped some samples from collapsed colonies to Penn State researchers and has since rebuilt his hive inventory to around 1,900 by splitting colonies and buying bees.

By February, some commercial beekeepers cited losses ranging from half to 90 percent of their bees.

"And it's as high as 100 percent in Texas and one guy in Virginia, who has 27 hives left out of 1,400 hives," Hackenberg said. "It's to the point now where we're starting to contact some crisis management people."

Now Hackenberg and Sundberg talk almost daily to each other. And they are working with scientists studying the disease and have been interviewed for several news reports, including "The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" and American Public Media's "Marketplace." Sundberg will be interviewed soon in California for a story by "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."

Photo here:

[www.billingsgazette.net]

That openness should win the pair a prize, according to Professor Jerry Bromenshenk, an entomologist at the University of Montana, who is one the scientists on four teams across the U.S. trying to find the cause.

He is surveying beekeepers and runs Bee Alert Technology, a company using bees to find land mines, among other projects.

You eat? Then you care

Some people appreciate the beauty of bees.

Some study their intricate social life where thousands of bees focus on specific tasks to keep the colony alive. In the summertime, worker bees who gather food for the hive literally fly until their wings wear out.

Some people just remember the bumblebee sting when they were running barefoot as a kid.

But everyone eats, and that means everyone should care about what happens to the world's tiny pollinators.

"One-third of the food you eat is dependent upon honeybee pollination," Sundberg said. "If that one-third doesn't happen, I don't know what will occur at the grocery store."

In just four months, the collapsing colony syndrome has spread to half of the states, including Montana, which has about one commercial beekeeper per county and an estimated 132,000 hives.

Most of the world's almonds are grown in the Central Valley in California, and pollinating this lucrative crop draws in half the country's bees and an estimated 90 percent of Montana honeybees.

To pollinate almonds in February, growers use 1,800 hives per square mile.

Andy Drange, who works with Sundberg at Sunshine Apiary and is president of the Montana Beekeepers Association, says this concentration of bees creates new stresses. "There are so many bees going to California if one has a disease, they all can get it," Drange said.

Drange got hooked on bees when he saw them swarming on huge cottonwoods near his boyhood home at Deer Creek, southeast of Big Timber. Last September, Sundberg said his bees that pollinated California avocados came home acting funny.

Some were "skipping" or jumping an inch at a time rather than flying, which could have been caused by mites, he said.

Mites and the disappearing disease cost Sundberg one-third of the 5,600 hives he manages.

If a beekeeper can't count on getting his bees back, rental fees turn into replacement costs. On the East Coast, growers used to rent hives for $36. Now prices have jumped to $90 per hive to cover the cost of buying or breeding new bees.

The malevolent mite

In 1985, beekeepers were hit with microscopic pests called tracheal mites, who live in a bee's respiratory system.

Map here:

[www.billingsgazette.net]

Then two years later, the Varroa jacobsoni, or blood-sucking mite, was discovered in the U.S. By 2005, this "vampire" mite killed off some up to 80 percent of the bees at some Montana operations.

Beekeepers today have to treat their bees as often as four times a year to control mites. However, this disappearing problem is far mightier than mites.

Bees disappeared under similar circumstances in the 1890s and there was another major outbreak in 1963 and 1965. Now it's worse, Bromenshenk said.

"This appears to be particularly widespread and severe," he said.

Montana was the fifth largest honey-producing state last year, harvesting 10.4 million pounds of honey. At a buck a pound, last year's honey crop alone brought $10.4 million to beekeepers.

If you calculate rent receipts for fertilizing almonds, cherries, pears, apples and the like, bees probably buzz up to one of Montana's top four cash crops.

"Beef cattle first, dairy second, hogs third and bees are right in there with the hogs," Bromenshenk said. "If we did more calculations and added in apples and the other things they pollinate, we'd be neck-and-neck and maybe even bump the hogs."

Disappearing bees/money

This week, Sundberg heads to California to fetch his hives, and if enough of his bees don't come back he could go under.

For the first time in his career, Sundberg has asked growers not to spray their crops while his bees are there. And he has postponed committing to a steady customer in Washington state.

"This is the first year I've had enough of a scare to tell a grower to wait to see," Sundberg said.

Hives that have been abandoned can be cleaned and aired out for several months, then reused, Sundberg said. But even that may be dangerous, and growers are advised to segregate colony collapse hives.

Even replacing bees is tougher.

Last year's wet weather in California made for poor quality queen bees that didn't mate properly. And queens are living half as long as previous years, severely reducing their ability to reproduce.

Then Montana's crops and flowers were blooming nicely last summer when the rain disappeared.

"I don't think I'd ever seen it this dry," said Sundberg.

His friend and employee, Drange, agreed.

"Drought means less food and more stress for bees," Drange said.

Finally, imported honey sold on the cheap is putting more economic pressure on beekeepers.

Older insecticides usually acted on an insect's nervous system. Now there's a new chemical fashioned after nicotine that goes after a bug's immune system, and Sundberg wonders if this is making bees more vulnerable to other threats.

Homing in on science

On the West End of Billings, Todd Larson is a third-generation beekeeper. He is continuing to work his bees -- he has 4,500 hives now in California -- and tries to keep up with the latest studies.

Photo here:

[www.billingsgazette.net]

"Unless we fall off the edge, we just keep getting our work done," he said. "Not that it couldn't affect us, but what can you do?"

Sundberg hired a full-time bee man to watch his hives in California and he is reporting mixed results: Some hives are adding bees as they should this time of year. Some are losing bees.

Sundberg already has kissed his sweet profits goodbye for this year. And he's taken on another risk: Ordering 1,000 packages containing some 14 million bees to supplement his hives.

"I bought more than $130,000 of supplemental bees from Australia, air-freighted them from Australia to San Francisco and trucked them to Modesto, Ca.," he said. "This is the first time I've done that."

On a record-warm March afternoon as stray robber bees slurped honey off some of last summer's hives, Sundberg and Drange explored various theories about what is threatening their way of life.

"Normally, we hate robber bees," he said. "This time, though, I'm kind of enjoying seeing some of them."

Repeated treatments for mites, the parasites themselves, chemicals, overwork with all the pollinating jobs in different states, or a combination of factors may be killing off the adults bees.

"When bees are under stress, they die," Drange said. "With the mite problem, we think we're helping them, but we may actually be hurting them."

"But if you don't deal with the mites, the bees are dead anyway," Sundberg said wryly.

Bromenshenk in Missoula said that more emergency research funding is needed.

"We're taking it out of our own hives for awhile here until we can find some resources," he said.

In the meantime, he calls study results "very, very preliminary" and emphasizes that being right is critical.

"Everybody is so anxious for an answer," Bromenshenk said. "What we've already seen among the public, beekeepers and ourselves is that the moment you mention a factor, they are off and running." - Jan Falstad, The Billings Gazette

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THE END