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Railroad Newsline for Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

SIERRA RAILROAD TO OFFER V&T PREVIEW RUN

CARSON CITY, NV -- Virginia & Truckee Rail fans will be able to ride its steam locomotive on Memorial Day -- long before it gets to Carson City in 2010.

The state board in charge of reconstructing the 18-mile railroad from Carson City to Virginia City approved a deal with its operator Monday to run the McCloud No. 18 in Sacramento and Oakdale, California.

Sierra Railroad operates the excursion Sierra Railroad Dinner Train in Oakdale, CA, and the Sacramento River Train. The Sacramento company was awarded the contract to operate the V&T by the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway in late 2006.

The commission purchased the locomotive for $420,000 from the McCloud Railway Co., which operated near Mount Shasta in Northern California. The locomotive has been in storage there since.

"It's not doing any good in storage," said Commissioner John Tyson. "It's costing us money to keep it in storage."

Robert Pinoli, vice president of tourist operations for Sierra Railroad, said for the three years the locomotive is operated in Northern California it will build anticipation for the V&T.

The company could paint an advertising billboard on the tender's side.

"We welcome that cross marketing and co-mingling of brands," he said at the Monday afternoon meeting.

They will operate it from spring to fall. The train is expected to cost $1,500 per 40 miles to operate, Pinoli said.

"Rail fans will have their interest piqued if they can ride the V&T engine for a summer on the Sacramento River Train," said Chris Hart, president of the entertainment division. The No. 18 will operate in Sacramento for a year and Oakdale for the remaining time.

The next time tourists will get an opportunity to ride the No. 18 is in 2010, when it pulls up to a train depot off Highway 50 East along the reconstructed V&T Railway.

In its first year of operation, the V&T is expected to make 360 trips with 73,000 passengers and net $420,000, according to Sierra Railroad.

To get tickets

What: The No. 18 on the rails in Sacramento and Oakdale, Calif.

When: Spring and fall operating schedules, to be decided

Cost: About $45 per adult, $20 per child. Ticket sales could start by next month

For information: Call Sierra Railroad at 800-866-1690 from 08:00 to 20:00 daily.

- Becky Bosshart, The Nevada Appeal

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CONCERNED RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT TO MAYOR; CITIZENS ASK EISNACH TO DUMP DM&E

PIERRE, SD -- Concerns over the possible expansion of Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad already have led one homeowner to sell her property near the rail line.

Lyn Nelson, Pierre resident, sold her property at Capitol and Prospect avenues because she said she didn't want to keep land near the tracks if the DM&E expansion does come to fruition.

"I think it's the worst thing we could do in South Dakota, is put a train right through the Capital city," Nelson said.

Nelson, and four other women, shared their concerns about the project with Pierre Mayor Dennis Eisnach Monday.

The rail company recently was denied a $2.3 billion loan by the Federal Rail Administration; however representatives have said DM&E will instead seek private funding for its planned expansion project.

Eisnach, and state Reps. Tim Rounds, R-Pierre, and Ryan Olson, R-Onida, all have said that although the project would be good economically, DM&E should build a rail bypass around Pierre if plans move forward.

However, the Surface Transportation Board has not required DM&E to build a bypass around the town to complete the project if the company is able to find a funding source, Eisnach said.

"I have really struggled with this whole thing," Eisnach said. "It's just been totally overwhelming to try to figure out what is the realistic thing to do. And the realistic thing is probably not the right thing."

The mayor said he would like to see a bridge for the tracks built near Polk Avenue regardless of whether or not DM&E expands its line.

"We need another grade separation where we separate the traffic from the railroad," Eisnach said. "The only one we've got is one where trucks can't even get under the bridge. And even our fire truck, ladder truck just barely fits under there."

He also said that even if DM&E started construction on its line tomorrow, it still would be three years before the first coal train came through town, and an additional five to six years before they were running the planned number of trains on the track.

Nelson said she doesn't know how the project could be stopped, but she doesn't think officials should be encouraging DM&E to proceed if it means the tracks will have to go through Pierre.

"Well I think we can all use the railroad, but not right down through the center of town," Nelson said.

Eisnach disagreed.

"Should I just say to (DM&E) 'I don't want to talk to you guys, I don't want to deal with this?' I didn't think that was the responsible thing to do," Eisnach said. - Crystal Lindell, The Pierre Capital Journal

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UNION PACIFIC URGES MOTORISTS AND PEDESTRIANS TO TRAVEL SAFELY THIS SPRING

OMAHA, NE -- For thousands of families and college students, the months of March and April signal holiday vacations and Spring Break trips. Union Pacific Railroad reminds motorists and pedestrians to use caution during this busy time, which encompasses St. Patrick's Day (March 17), Spring Break, Passover (April 3) and Easter (April 8).

Union Pacific urges travelers -- motorists and pedestrians alike -- to take the extra time and use caution when crossing railroad tracks and at grade crossings, and to please stay away from railroad property.

It is essential to practice safety at highway-rail grade crossings and to heed the warnings of automated crossing gates, flashing signals, stop signs, yield signs and crossbuck signs. When traveling near the railroad, please remember these important safety guidelines:

• Never walk along tracks and only cross tracks at designated pedestrian roadway crossings when on foot.

• Observe and obey all warning signs and signals.

• At a multiple track crossing waiting for a train to pass, watch out for a second train on the other tracks, approaching from either direction, before proceeding.

• Do not be fooled; the train you see is closer and moving faster than you think. If you see a train approaching, wait for it to go by before you proceed across the tracks.

- Mark Davis, UP News Release

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FREIGHT TRAIN DERAILS

Photo here: [www.examiner-enterprise.com]

DEWEY, OK -- No one was injured in a train accident that occurred in Dewey, Oklahoma late Monday afternoon, officials told the newspaper today.

"No one was injured in the crash," Dewey Fire Chief Tom Smith said this morning.

He said the accident, which occurred at approximately 17:00, involved five RK&O railroad cars and was in the area just north of Ninth Street.

"One had sand in it and the others were carrying concrete," he said. Smith added that one of the cars near the tail end of the train contained hydrochloric acid.

"That one was upright and unharmed," he said.

The accident is being investigated by the railroad.

"They have full responsibility to clean up and repair the tracks," Smith said of RK&O.

"From what they are saying about the preliminary investigation, it was a bad rail that caused the accident," he said.

Smith estimated the trail had "probably 30 cars total."

The accident, however, did not affect local traffic.

"They were able to unlock the affected cars and separate them from the rest of the train. The streets were unblocked within 10 minutes," Smith said.

Cleanup on the area was to have begun Tuesday morning. - Tim Hudson, The Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise (ED NOTE: Does anyone out there know what the “RK&O” stands for? I Googled the stew out of that during my lunch hour on Tuesday and came up dry. – lwg)

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POLICE INVESTIGATE BUYERS, SELLERS AS METAL IS SNATCHED BY THE FISTFUL

Photos here: [seattletimes.nwsource.com]

EVERETT, WA -- Ken Thode says he is not a thief, even though he was caught ripping out a mile and a half of copper wire from a state highway project under construction near Auburn, Washington last month.

Thode sees himself as an environment-friendly opportunist. Armed with wire cutters and an electrical continuity tester, he claims he made $200 a day selling "scrap metal" to recyclers who asked few questions.

"It's really amazing you can dig up this metal that's worth so much money," said Thode, a fisherman from Puyallup.

Apparently Thode is not alone: A rash of metal thefts plaguing road projects, home builders, telephone and power companies, even railroads, is escalating from nuisance to scourge.

Based on police and news accounts, it is estimated that millions of dollars have been stolen statewide in the past six months. Stadium goalposts, guard rails, light poles, sculptures, even a 3,000-pound brass propeller taken from a front yard, have disappeared. The state Department of Transportation alone estimates $115,000 in losses since November. Phones in West Seattle briefly went dead late last month after thieves struck.

In a search for culprits, police and state lawmakers are looking just as hard at the buyers of scrap metal as they are at the thieves themselves. Without unscrupulous recycling yards paying quick cash, police say, wire thieves would lose their main buyers.

Stung by bad publicity, legitimate recyclers are cooperating with police and offering tips about suspect customers and other recyclers. But the owners of recycling yards, which number about 35 in the Puget Sound area, have also lobbied hard in Olympia against a bill passed by the House last week that bans cash sales bigger than $30 and delays all payment for 10 days.

Rep. Dawn Morrell, a sponsor of one bill, said her phone line was flooded earlier in the session with irate recyclers.

"I didn't understand why the recyclers weren't stepping forward to be a hero here," said Morrell, D-Puyallup. "Their excuses were pretty amazing. I keep wondering, 'Why can't you be part of the solution?' "

Sorting out what is stolen, and who is buying, however, is a problem that bedevils police and the industry.

"It's just frustrating," said Jay Sternoff, vice president of Pacific Iron and Metal, a large recycler in Seattle. "They [police] want us to ask every person, where is their source of material. The response is always that it came from grandpa's garage who died five years ago.

The [sellers, or scrappers] don't want us to know, for fear we'd go around them. And the thieves lie."

The rash of thefts is driven by a spike in copper prices -- due in part to demand from builders in China -- and, police believe, thieves seeking money to feed drug habits.

Last month, Thode became a poster child for brazen wire thefts, police say. He was arrested at 03:30 after being spotted wearing an orange safety vest and hard hat near a state job site where wire had been ripped out of electrical junction boxes. After being released from jail, he was arrested again this month with a van full of copper wire that police deemed suspicious.

He said the wire found in his van was scraps that were part of a DOT demolition project. "I'm ignorant of what I could take and could not take," he said. "If you find a $100 bill on the ground, can you take it or are you supposed to leave it there?"

The Washington State Patrol's answer: Thode is expected to be charged this week with possession of stolen property.

Goalposts for sale

In late January, a customer called Brad Rinker's recycling yard on North Aurora offering to sell aluminum football goalposts, allegedly salvaged from the Kingdome.

It struck Rinker as absurd: He had salvaged all the metal from the Kingdome, which was demolished in 2000. And Seattle police had alerted recyclers that goalposts had been stolen from West Seattle Stadium.

"I've been in this business 30 years and have seen thieves," said Rinker, owner of NW Metals and Salvage. "But what's different now is how blatant they are."

The thefts come as the recycling industry in Washington is booming. Since 2002, recycling of copper and aluminum has quadrupled, to 122,000 tons a year. Recycled iron also has quadrupled, to 975,000 tons annually.

Rinker buys mostly from individual scrappers, then bundles loads and sells to larger yards, which in turn sell to smelters. That makes it impossible to track stolen metals once they make it into a scrap yard, said Seattle Police Detective Sam DeJesus, who is investigating a series of metal thefts.

"It's not like the typical crime where someone steals a stereo, which can be tracked via serial number," he said. "These items are, for all purposes, innocuous. There's no way to identify wire stolen from a telephone pole once it gets to a recycler."

Police also have found evidence that thieves are using staging areas - the wire-theft version of a chop shop - to strip wire and melt down metal into unrecognizable form.

Aiming for cash sales

Since 1971, recyclers have been required to take down sellers' driver's license numbers and vehicle plates. Seattle and other police agencies also circulate "no-buy" lists of people convicted of property-related crimes.

It's not a foolproof system. Serious thieves use aliases. And recyclers, including Rinker, admit they haven't always checked the no-buy list. "To me, this whole issue is overblown," he said of metal thefts.

The bills in Olympia take aim at thieves seeking a quick buck, banning unauthorized sales of such items as manhole covers, beer kegs and guard rails, and requiring payment to be held for 10 days. The bills allow recyclers to be criminally charged and fined up to $2,000 for a second violation.

Sternoff, of Pacific Iron, says the payment restrictions are poorly conceived and could lead to a drop in recycling. "We are a very large industry that has perhaps contributed more to reducing greenhouse gases than any other industry," he said. "We don't want to go backward."

Police and recyclers have a common complaint, though: weak criminal sentences.

Last year, four people were caught stealing 15 miles of copper wire worth $190,000 from a railroad bed in Grant County. That caused 30 trains to be delayed over 10 days, according to railroad police. Despite the damage, three of the thieves got just a month in jail, which was then suspended. A fourth, who had a criminal record, got four months.

One job site, three thefts

In December, Everett Builders, a family-owned contractor, was nearly finished with a 2,400-square-foot duplex near Arlington. The night before drywall was hung, thieves ripped out half the wiring.

The contractor installed deadbolt locks, 6-foot fences, heat and motion sensors. But thieves struck twice more, taking the rest of the wiring, then stealing construction equipment. Total loss: $12,000.

Everett Builders eventually hired nighttime security, at a cost of $18 an hour, said co-owner Pat Mann.

"We're starting our 50th year in business, and we've never ever experienced a theft and never had to report to our insurance company," said Mann. "Three thefts in the space of a month for one project is incredible."

Thode, the metal scavenger caught at the DOT job site last month, said his career, for now, is on hold. He believes he is on a "no-buy" list and doesn't want to test his luck.

"I'm kind of embarrassed to leave the house," he said. - Jonathan Martin, The Seattle Times

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BNSF CONTINUES TO SPUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Economic development along railways of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. resulted in investments of $1 billion and the creation of 4,000 jobs in 2006, the company announced Monday.

In 2005, its subsidiary BNSF Railway Co. contributed to investments of $1.3 billion and the creation of 7,000 jobs. BNSF Railway Co. was instrumental in the location of 114 new facilities and the expansion of existing facilities during 2005.

In 2006, 107 new facilities were located in areas served by the rail company. These facilities include ethanol plants in California and Minnesota; produce distribution centers in California, Illinois, Kansas and Texas; and lumber yards in California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington. Other companies located along BNSF lines in 2006 include facilities for building products, fertilizers, plastics and aggregates.

BNSF (NYSE: BNI) also assisted Wm. Bolthouse Farms, supplier of fresh carrots, with the location of a new refrigerated distribution facility in Hodgkins, Illinois.

Vann Cunningham, BNSF assistant vice president for Economic Development, said the company is proud to help companies manage their distribution operations.

"The ability of businesses to respond to rapidly changing market conditions is key to their continued success, and to the success of the communities in which they operate," he said in a statement.

BNSF Railway operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, BNSF Railway Co. operates an intermodal facility at Shelby Drive and Lamar in Memphis. - The Memphis Business Journal

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SUPPORT FOR RAIL CORRIDOR

DARLINGTON, WI -- Two Lafayette County committees support a rail corridor between Monroe and Mineral Point, Wisconsin.

Economic Development Committee Chairman Verne Jackson said his committee voted to recommend the county board support the idea when it meets March 19.

The Lafayette County Finance Committee voted Monday to support the economic committee's recommendation.

Benefits of the proposal include more jobs for Lafayette County at possibly two new ag-related businesses, Jackson said.

A concern, he added, is the cost to the county.

Ken Lucht from Wisconsin & Southern Railroad estimated the total cost to Green, Lafayette and Iowa counties could be about $4.5 million. Lafayette County has the most land where the railroad would be located and could end up paying the lion's share of the cost.

Jackson said the county board as a whole will have to look at the issue and decide if it wants to support the project.

Dwayne Larson, who serves on the finance committee, said the county would definitely benefit from ag-related businesses.

"Being the most rural county in the state, I think it would help us," he said.

But how much the county has to pay could prohibit some board members from supporting the plan. He said the county might have to go to referendum to see if taxpayers would want to increase the county's tax levy to help pay for the corridor.

However, because of the county's reliance on agriculture, he thinks taxpayers would support the idea.

"Of all the referendums, I think this would have the best chance of passing," he said. "Of course, that's just one man's opinion."

Larson said the biggest hurdle for the project might be state funding. He said the state would have to pay about 80 percent of the project and said he didn't know if the state would be willing to pay that amount.

A rail corridor would be done in three phases. The first phase would go from Monroe to Gratiot; the second from Gratiot to Shullsburg; and the third from Shullsburg to Mineral Point.

The Lafayette County Board meets at 19:30 Monday at the Lafayette County Courthouse.

A new rail corridor will take the place of the current Cheese Country Trail, but a new trail would be built nearly parallel to the rail line. - Brian Gray, The Monroe Times

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AMTRAK TO HOST WORKSHOPS ON PLANNING FAMILY REUNIONS

It's all about maintaining family unity -- the family reunion. Everyone enjoys attending, but for the person or team given the task of coordinating the event, it can be a challenge. That's why Amtrak is holding an Amtrak Family Reunion Planning Workshop, designed to provide family reunion coordinators with the tools and insight they need to host a fun-filled and unforgettable family reunion.

• What: Amtrak Family Reunion Planning Workshop

• Where: Thurgood Marshall Center Trust
1816 12th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009

• When: Saturday, March 24, 2007, 13:00 - 15:00

• Representatives from American Legacy magazine will lead the workshop. Sessions will include the history of family reunions; researching genealogy; organization and planning; financing; and travel & tourism partnerships. Amtrak will provide information on its services, group travel and other discounts.

According to the Travel Industry Association of America, 34% of U.S. adults, which is nearly 72 million people, travel to a family reunion every year, usually during the summer months. One in five travel to a reunion annually with more than half -- 52% -- held in the home of a family member. African-American family reunions are some of the largest gatherings, often attracting 200 or more family members.

"We know hundreds of families are currently planning their summer family reunions, and we want them to consider Amtrak when making their travel plans," said Darlene Abubakar, Amtrak's Director of National Advertising and Promotion. "With service to over 500 destinations across the country and special fares available for kids, seniors and large groups, Amtrak is the best option for family reunions, large and small."

Workshop attendees will receive a Family Reunion Planning Guidebook that will provide helpful tips on planning a family reunion. They will also receive a canvas bag containing other promotional items. For more information, and to sign up for the workshop, please visit [www.amtrakfamilyreunions.com]. - Karina Romero, Amtrak News Release

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TRAIN CHUGS, BUGS STUDENTS

CHICO, CA -- The deafening squeal of the train's horn can be heard throughout Chico, Califronia many times each day. It rolls through town car by car, street by street and in the wee hours of the night. When the train's horn isn't blaring, students can be heard cursing the train.

As much as the train bothers some students, others choose to live near the tracks.

Sophomore John Power dislikes the train because of the noise and thinks that there may be a solution.

"They should move the train outside of town," Power said. "I assume that they honk the horn for safety, but the light should be enough."

Freshman Charles Springer thinks the horn is needed at major intersections but not every 50 feet, he said.

Freshman Eric Georges said he thinks the train is a disturbance.

"I joined a group on Facebook denoting how bad it is," Georges said. "The fact that some of them have the horn on for five, six and seven seconds is really bad. They have to understand that the tracks are right in the middle of a residential area."

Freshman Harry Levy said the train is really close to his room and complained that it's loud.

"My window faces the train," Levy said. "It's terrible."

Junior Greg Given doesn't like the train when it makes him late, but he has never been disrupted by it in the middle of the night, he said.

"It's only bad when I get caught by it, and it's going, like, two miles an hour," Given said.

Freshman Lauren Balch said the train's horn helps with safety.

"You know it's coming because it goes 'choo-choo,'" Balch said. "That's how you know not to get hit." (ED NOTE: "choo-choo"????)

Senior Jeff James, who used to live in Oakwood Apartments, said that while the train is obnoxious, it is no worse than living next to Highway 99.

"It would shake our whole place," James said. "It never bothered me though. I would sleep through it."

Freshman Alfred Edwards thinks the horn is the worst part of the train.

"The train is really annoying when you're on the phone," Edwards said. "You can't hear anything."

Sophomore Christina Gonzales, who lives on West Sacramento Avenue next to the tracks, is not a fan of the train.

"It's annoying, and it comes right when you're watching TV. The honker is very loud, and you have to turn the TV up really loud," Gonzales said. "When it comes, hang on, and put your seatbelts on." - Jeff Kell, The Chico State Orion

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FIREFIGHTERS BURN OFF FUEL FROM DERAILED FREIGHT TRAIN

ONEIDA, NY -- Firefighters emptied three derailed CSX fuel tankers into a pit Tuesday and set the fuel ablaze to help clear the scene so federal officials can begin their investigation into the cause of Monday's freight train derailment.

The derailed tankers containing liquid propane were emptied because they were too unstable to move, said Oneida Fire Chief Don Hudson.

The burn-off will likely generate heavy smoke and flames for up to two days, but local residents will not be in danger, said Hudson and CSX spokesman Robert Sullivan. Sullivan added that it might be necessary to empty more tankers, but officials won't know that until they finish examining all the toppled cars.

Firefighters were on standby at the scene while a private company was monitoring the air quality throughout this upstate New York community 20 miles east of Syracuse. If anything goes wrong, firefighters also have 700 gallons of foam on site to douse the fire.

"If there is any problem whatsoever, we will shut the operation down. But everything is proceeding on time. We are looking good. We are confident this is the way to go," Hudson said.

The 80-car freight train was traveling east from Buffalo to the Albany area Monday morning when 28 cars jumped the tracks. At least five 80,000-gallon tanker cars -- two carrying liquid propane, two loaded with liquid petroleum and one containing the solvent toluene -- caught fire or exploded in the wreck, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.

The majority of residents were allowed back in their homes by Monday evening. But a state of emergency remained in effect for a half-mile radius around the scene and eight homes remained under a mandatory evacuation order, said Madison County Fire Coordinator Joe DeFrancisco.

Sullivan said CSX would provide compensation to those displaced by the accident.

The fire also led to the closing of a 23-mile stretch of the nearby New York State Thruway for nearly five hours Monday and the suspension of Amtrak passenger service between Syracuse and Albany. Amtrak service remained stalled Tuesday and passengers were being bused around the detour.

No one was injured in the accident or by the toxic smoke, authorities said.

Robert Evans of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen told The Syracuse Post-Standard that he had spoken with the engineer and the conductor since the accident. Evans said the derailment occurred as the train was crossing over from one track to a parallel track. Uneven tracks likely caused the cars to become off-balance and tip, he told the newspaper.

The toppled cars continued sliding down the tracks, the metal frames scraping along the rail as one or more of the cars was ripped apart and a spark ignited the explosion, Evans said.

Evans said the engineer and the conductor knew of the derailment before the explosion and had plenty of time to activate brakes on the rear cars. A radio-controlled sensor on the freighter detected the derailment and shut off the engine's fuel switch, he said.

Evans estimated that the train was traveling less than 30 mph at the time of the accident.

Federal investigators have not said what caused the accident, or determined whether the derailment or explosion occurred first. Nor have they identified the crew or commented on their actions.

Sullivan also declined comment, saying the cause remains under investigation.

A seven-member team from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the accident scene Tuesday to begin its investigation. NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said it could be a year or more before the agency has a final answer.

"We have to wait and make sure it's safe for investigators to get on scene," Holloway said. "Once that has been done, we will document and examine cars, look for any failures in the structure of the tank cars, look at the track and look at the wheels of the car. We'll look for anything that can give us an idea of what happened."

Authorities have recovered the black boxes from both locomotives, he said.

The accident is the fifth derailment involving CSX in New York since December, prompting calls from U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer for a federal investigation into railroad safety across the state.

"(The) accident should be a wake-up call," Clinton wrote in a letter to Federal Railroad Administration chief Joseph Boardman. "We cannot continue to treat these derailments as isolated incidents."

Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation released data showing train accidents across the country declined for the second year in a row, falling from 3,236 in 2005 to 2,834 in 2006. The number of accidents fell from 105 to 89 in New York state. - The Associated Press, Newsday

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OFFICIALS: AREA READY FOR TRAIN DERAILMENT

ONEONTA, NY -- Could something like Monday's train derailment in Oneida happen in Oneonta?

It already has, and the aftermath was even worse.

Thirty-three years ago, a Delaware & Hudson freight train derailed in Emmons, causing a fire among the wreckage. Ensuing explosions injured 56 people, mostly volunteer firefighters. The blasts were so violent, a train car was blown across the Susquehanna River.

With Interstate 88 and Canadian Pacific Railway's tracks cutting through Oneonta, accidents during the transportation of hazardous materials are identified under the All-Hazard Mitigation Plan as the single greatest disaster risk to the city.

The fact these types of hazmat incidents outrank flash floods, landslides and winter storms is an indication of how seriously the city takes them, Mayor John Nader said.

Two of the people who were on the scene of the Feb. 12, 1974, Emmons train derailment said the lessons learned that day were seen in the response to the Oneida derailment.

Both derailments involved propane tankers that caught fire and exploded.

"It was a fire like you have never seen before in your life," said Bruce Endries, who was a photographer for The Oneonta Star taking pictures at the scene. "It was like a bomb going off. More or less, that's what it was."

Endries was knocked down by the blast.

"You can't fight a fire like that," he said. "You have to let it burn."

Roy Althiser was working nearby and volunteered to help the dozens of responding firefighters who rushed to the scene. He suffered two broken legs when a tanker exploded.

"It was pretty horrendous," Althiser said.

The response that day by firefighters was "get in and put the fire out," said Althiser, who today is Otsego County's Communications Director.

But a more measured approach would be taken for a similar incident today as emergency officials would weigh the risks and benefits of trying to extinguish a hazmat fire, Althiser said.

"That same incident today would have been handled a lot differently," Althiser said.

The city of Oneonta is as prepared as any city its size can be, Nader said.

"We have a reasonable idea of what travels through by train or by truck on I-88," Nader said.

The city's emergency response plan is up to date, said Oneonta Fire Chief Robert Barnes.

But in a crisis, he said, first responders can't take time out to review a plan.

"The critical decision making is going to happen right there," Barnes said.

The ranking officer on the scene from the police or fire departments could begin evacuating people immediately, he said.

Knowing what materials may have spilled, leaked or caught fire could be a matter of "life and death," Barnes said.

If emergency officials don't know what they are dealing with, the first concern is to keep people, including first responders, away from the scene, Barnes said.

Coordination with CP Rail, the successor to Delaware & Hudson, has been smooth over the years, Barnes said.

Emergency officials would immediately be in contact with the railroad to establish what a derailed train was carrying.

"They would more than likely be calling us," Barnes said.

The city keeps a catalogue detailing hazardous materials and the best ways to deal with each.
The eventual radius of any evacuation would depend on what the hazardous material is and how much is involved, Barnes said.

The Sixth Ward, which is at the same level as the tracks, as well as the Rose Avenue area would be particularly vulnerable during a train derailment involving hazardous materials, Barnes said.

Officials evacuated areas a mile around the blast in Oneida, which included most of the downtown area of the city of 10,000, according to The Associated Press. Up to 4,000 people live in the affected area, though the evacuation was mandatory only for homes closest to the blast.

With Oneonta's downtown a short distance from the tracks, an evacuation of a similar-sized area in Oneonta would be a huge undertaking, Barnes said.

Officials would use electronic media such as TV, radio and The Daily Star's website to get the evacuation notice out, Nader said.

Door-to-door notification would also be used.

Depending on the circumstances, people could be evacuated to Oneonta's Southside or, more likely, to the campuses of Hartwick College and the State University College at Oneonta using school buses and Oneonta Public Transit, Barnes said. Uphill and upwind is preferable in dealing with a hazmat evacuation.

Oneonta Town Supervisor Duncan Davie said he is confident in the ability of the Oneonta Fire Department and West Oneonta Fire Department to handle incidents of this magnitude.

"I have no doubt that if we had to evacuate people, our first responders would do it well," he said. - Jake Palmateer, The Oneonta Daily Star

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RAILROADED INTO RAILROAD AGREEMENT

OLEAN, NY -- Rail authority members have no right to blatantly give tax breaks concerning making the north-south Buffalo line into a short-line operation. It is a profit-making operation with good income in Erie County and Pennsylvania.

One customer in Cattaraugus County is no reason to give them a free way to avoid taxes and then, through grants, end up getting their track fixed by tax money.

Norfolk Southern Railway knew what it got when the line was purchased out of Conrail and, due to neglecting it for so long, now Norfolk Southern won't have to take responsibility to fix it with its own assets. Railroads are making record profits these days but still look for ways to have their cake and eat it, too.

I am glad county officials are speaking out about a raw deal that has us also extending tax abatements on the east-west line as the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad states the line needs more work on rails, cross ties and beds. No wonder, as they are running 100-car coal trains on it, beating up what work has already been put into it.

That's a great deal for the railroad to have no maintenance concerns. Tax money will do the trick!

A friend of mine works in maintenance for Norfolk Southern out of the Olean yard and he as well as many others will be forced into long drives or moving out to keep working towards their pension. This does not benefit our area one little bit.

The Buffalo line needs as much or maybe more rehab than the Corry, PA, to Hornell line did.

I certainly plan to voice my opposition to the proper officials and I hope others will, too, once they understand the scope of this scam. The good people of Western New York cannot afford any more of these ridiculous antics. - Letter to the Editor, David W. Hall, Olean, NY, The Olean Times Herald

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TRANSIT NEWS

SACRAMENTO EXPRESSES DESIRE FOR STREETCARS

SACRAMENTO, CA -- Call them trolleys or streetcars; they are quaint, nostalgic and about to make a big comeback.

The plan is to make the phrase 'just hop on the street car' a household phrase in about four years.

Six months ago Regional Transit began looking at ways to bring in a $50 million fleet of new streetcars to run from midtown, across the river, into downtown and then onto West Sacramento.

The focus will be on providing service to passengers where light rail and cars leave off.

"I don't want to take my car here downtown. There's just no parking, there is no parking here," says Terry Delgado. She works downtown and often uses light rail to run errands downtown.

And she says forget about getting on a bus. "Buses, you know you always have to worry about a schedule; you know they are really not frequent."

Mike Wiley of Regional Transit agrees buses are not the best choice for that kind of application.

He says streetcars were a perfect fit for downtown Sacramento for four decades until they were torn out by a company called National City Lines.

"National City Lines was a company owned by General Motors and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and they introduced the competition which was buses." said Wiley. He adds the routes have not been determined but will likely extend from the 18th Street area in midtown and run back and forth between West Sacramento, stopping every few blocks and reaching locations light rail cannot.

Wiley says Portland Oregon's system is one to be modeled for what Sacramento has in mind. - Dana Howard, KXTV-TV10, Sacramento, CA, courtesy Coleman Randall, Jr

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LIGHT RAIL STUDY WINS NATIONAL AWARD

FAYETTEVILLE, AR -- An award-winning regional-planning project offers Northwest Arkansas a mass transit model that supports economic development and environmental sustainability.

The University of Arkansas Community Design Center with Washington University in St. Louis has won an American Institute of Architects Education Honor Award for taking on a thorny regional planning issue: light rail. Studios at both universities explored how light rail and associated transit-oriented development could ease traffic gridlock, spur downtown revitalization and check sprawl in Northwest Arkansas.

"If Northwest Arkansas is still relying on fossil fuels by 2020, that will be the death knell for further economic development. By then, business will go to those areas using renewable energy sources, because ultimately, that will be cheaper," said Stephen Luoni, director of the Community Design Center. Creative, cutting-edge businesses also factor in quality of life in their decision-making: "People want affordable downtown housing, which transit-oriented development would foster. And they're tired of sitting in traffic," he said.

Though critics express concern about the estimated cost to build a light rail system, doing nothing could cost more in the long run.

"Seventy-five metro areas are planning or already have built light rail systems," Luoni said. "To be economically competitive and environmentally sustainable, our region needs to rethink energy and transportation issues."

The project launched last spring with three UA studios involving 40 School of Architecture students and four professors: Luoni, Aaron Gabriel, Gregory Herman and Tahar Messadi. Visiting professors Eric Kahn, a Los Angeles architect with expertise in scenario planning, and William Conway, a Minneapolis-based architect and urban planner, partnered on the project, as well.

The UA students did not design the light rail system per se. Instead, they focused on regional development and transit-oriented district schemes that would support light rail.

"We wanted to engage students in a chess game of the world, and bring back a set of possibilities to the studio," said Kahn, who was the 2006 E. Fay Jones Chair in Architecture.
The students traveled to Dallas, Minneapolis and Los Angeles to study light rail systems there, researched demographic and economic trends, and explored possibilities for growth with abstract models and mapping exercises. At the final critique last May student teams presented regional development scenarios that ranged from a financial valley with Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt as anchors to a summer Olympic City that utilized University of Arkansas sports facilities and nearby rivers as venues.

Work continued last fall with an urban design studio at Washington University in St. Louis, where Stephen Luoni was the Ruth and Norman Moore Visiting Professor. Nine graduate students built on the theoretical foundation erected by UA students, developing transit-oriented neighborhoods anchored by mixed-use train stations at three key sites in Fayetteville: Drake Field, Dickson Street and the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

This marks the third year in a row that the community design center, an outreach of the UA School of Architecture, has won education honors from the AIA.

Award jurors noted that "this is an effective use of scenario planning with legible, impactful graphics that can be shown to the community."

Luoni is currently seeking grants to publish a book on the project that he plans to distribute to politicians and planners throughout the state.

"Eighty years ago, Northwest Arkansas was a classic transit-oriented development," Luoni said, referring to the Arkansas-Missouri railroad that links the four major cities in the region. "The infrastructure is there, let's reuse it - the benefits would be enormous."

Founded in 1995, the University of Arkansas Community Design Center has provided design and planning services to more than 30 communities across Arkansas. The center's planning has helped Arkansas communities and organizations secure nearly $62 million in grant funding to enact suggested improvements. In addition to revitalizing historic downtowns, the center addresses new challenges in affordable housing, urban sprawl, environmental planning, and management of regional growth or decline. The design center also offers hands-on civic design experience to students who work under the direction of design professionals. For more information on the design center, visit the center's Web site at [uacdc.uark.edu]. The center's Planning Primer: Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Life Styles & Ecologies may be downloaded at [uacdc.uark.edu] Primer Book-small.pdf.

The transit-oriented development study is one of many sustainable initiatives spearheaded by the University of Arkansas. To learn more about green research and project development at the university, visit [sustainability.uark.edu].

For more information on the AIA education award, visit [www.aia.org]. - Stephen Luoni and Kendall Curlee, School of Architecture, University of Arkansas Daily Headlines

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UTA GETS EARFUL FROM RIDERS WARY OF ROUTE CHANGES

Photos here:

[www.sltrib.com]

Transit honchos have loads of work to do if they're going to convince Karl Smith and Wendy Bybee that the biggest bus route overhaul ever in Salt Lake County will do anything but make their lives more difficult.

The Taylorsville residents, both blind, were among hundreds of county residents who confronted Utah Transit Authority representatives Monday afternoon during an open house at the Salt Lake City Main Library, demanding to know how the changes will affect them.

It was the fourth such open house in a series of 10 and by far the most contentious, UTA officials acknowledged. "People are hungry for information," said Joe Olsen, a UTA analyst and statistician and former bus driver.

The No. 1 question: How will it affect me?

The redesign is based on routes that run every 15 to 30 minutes and fast service from the suburbs to downtown Salt Lake City. It's planned as an urban mass transit system focusing on better service for those who regularly use buses most and getting more suburbanites on buses by limiting the number of stops.

UTA's current 117 bus routes will be trimmed to 57 to eliminate redundancies, officials said. The goal is to increase Salt Lake County ridership, now at 57,000 on an average weekday, by 12 percent during the next three years.

By the end of Monday's 2-1/2 hour open house, UTA had received more than 200 comments, with many people taking home forms to fill out later.

While the open house was scheduled to start at 16:30, by 16:00 more than 100 people were lined up to register and view an explanatory video. From there, attendees went from exhibit to exhibit to talk -- sometimes nearly forehead-to-forehead -- with the UTA planners who have been working on the redesign for five years.

The reticent didn't get immediate attention. "It seems like mass chaos," said Sugar House resident Linda Lindstrom, a Veterans Administration hospital worker. She just wanted to know what was in store for her when the route changes go into effect in August.

"There aren't enough UTA people here," she said. "I can't get anybody to talk to me."

The UTA people were surrounded at their easel stands by people shouting questions about how many routes would be eliminated and why did it seem that UTA was choosing commuters over people who absolutely depend on the bus.

Virtually all of those who attended, like Smith and Bybee, said their new routes would be worse than the ones they use now, unless UTA refines the plan to accommodate them. Since announcing the plan in mid-February, UTA has received thousands of similar comments.

Bybee works as a teacher's aide at Millcreek Elementary near 3900 S. 1100 East. She already takes two buses to work, and fears the new plan will add a bus and put more distance between stops.

"I'm going to have to walk a lot farther, or get someone to drive me," she said.

Smith said he thought UTA General Manager John Inglish was too devoted to the idea of park-and-ride lots to help commuters. Trouble is, Smith said, "we don't drive."

Debbie Grizzle said she came to the hearing to represent the residents of the Terrace Apartments at 1810 S. Main. Now, the bus stops in front of the apartments, which houses elderly, frail and disabled people. The new plan would require them to travel at least two blocks to get to a bus stop.

And that, Grizzle said, could mean the difference between life and death. "They won't get their medical needs met because they don't have the strength to walk [to the new stop]," she said. "People in wheelchairs, who need oxygen, people with no limbs."

John Young, 75, said he had been riding transit since he was 5. He remembers Salt Lake City's streetcars, the electric bus on 700 East, the first beginnings of UTA. He uses the bus to get everywhere from his home near 1900 East and 2100 South -- grocery shopping, getting to the Valley Fair Mall, the University of Utah, Brickyard Plaza. Under the new plan, those places would become inaccessible to him.

"The whole mentality here seems to be on commuters," he said. His comment to UTA on the plan was succinct: "I told them it sucked," he said. "I know you can't please everybody. But you don't have to be dysfunctional, either."

Keith Bartholomew, who represents Salt Lake City on the transit agency's board, thought the crowd "exciting," and said that complaints would help UTA refine its redesign.

The change is philosophical and economical, Bartholomew said, and less amenable to political pressure to base service on tax receipts. In the past, cities have demanded service roughly proportional to the amount of sales tax they generate for transit.

"What's different now is, we're trying to provide meaningful service," he said. "We need to be smarter in allocating our resources."

Sustainability is UTA's main goal, Bartholomew added. "We can't do that with empty buses."

Lawson LeGate, senior Southwest representative of the Sierra Club, said besides being smarter economically, the UTA plan could get more people out of their cars.

"The air quality in this valley is the worst in the nation," LeGate said. "It shortens our lives."

UTA says it conducted a poll that showed half of the county's residents would ride mass transit if it were convenient for them. But people also need to get over uneasiness about actually getting on a bus, LeGate said.

Rose Park resident Glenn Reeves, who uses a wheelchair, said that when he moved to Salt Lake City from Wyoming two years ago, "I didn't know how to get on the bus."

Now, he goes everywhere. "If I can do it, anybody can," he said. "I enjoy it. I've made a lot of friends on UTA." - Patty Henetz, The Salt Lake Tribune

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BAN OF LIQUOR OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY RILES RAILROAD COMMUTERS

NEW YORK, NY -- Elected officials, police officers, and bartenders at Irish pubs are among those who are livid over a St. Patrick's Day liquor ban on New York's commuter railroads, calling the move a gross act of stereotyping and discrimination.

Anticipating an inebriated crowd commuting into and out of Manhattan to celebrate the holiday along the parade route Saturday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's two commuter railroads, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad, are banning alcohol from their property that day and into early Sunday, making the Roman Catholic feast day the sole religious holiday when bar cars are closed for business and stations and trains run dry.

"It definitely looks like stereotyping, and that's what the MTA should be faulted for," state Senator Martin Golden, a Republican of Brooklyn who is Irish, said. "Some people do get out of control, but to focus on that day, and on certain segments of the population like that, is totally wrongheaded."

Mr. Golden said the MTA should lift what he dubbed a discriminatory liquor ban that assumes Irish revelers are more out of control than other groups when celebrating their holidays.\

"We want to maintain orderly travel," a spokeswoman for the Long Island Rail Road, Susan McGowan, said. "It's a day when we have more ridership than usual, and when there can be disruptions related to alcohol." Both commuter rail lines also ban alcohol from their property on New Year's Eve, and the Long Island Rail Road also prohibits alcohol on trains and in stations in anticipation of the annual Belmont Stakes horse race.

"It's not fair that on other holidays they don't ban alcohol if they do it on St. Patrick's Day," Don Rogers, a vice president of a large New York Police Department Irish fraternal organization, the Emerald Society, said. Mr. Rogers also noted that the New York Police Department steps up enforcement of rules prohibiting drinking outside during the St. Patrick's Day parade - rules it is more likely to overlook for other parades, such as the Hispanic Day and Gay Pride parades. "Those laws should be enforced all the time, not just in this parade," Mr. Rogers said.

A police spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, said the police department does not comment on MTA policy.

Bartenders in predominately Irish neighborhoods expressed dismay over the liquor ban. "People drink on all holidays, so why do the railroads single out this day in particular?" a bartender at Woodside's Irish Pub Cuckoo's Nest, Sandy Gauneau, said.

As leaders like Mr. Golden say they want the MTA to lift the ban, more conciliatory Irish political figures, like the speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn, are lending their support to the liquor ban on the grounds that there is no dearth of drinking establishments in Manhattan open on St. Patrick's Day.

"LIRR has made a sensible decision," Ms. Quinn said. "One that will serve to minimize disruptions from commuters who may have already had one too many." Ms. Quinn herself will not be participating in the parade festivities this year. She plans to be in Dublin.

Metro-North railroad typically runs 16 bar cars out of Grand Central Terminal, and on weekdays sells alcohol on bar cars along the New Haven line. The Long Island Rail Road also sells alcohol at many of its station platforms and aboard its Hamptons-bound trains during the summer season. Both railroads allow passengers to bring their own alcohol aboard. This weekend, however, customers caught with open or closed containers of alcohol will be fined about $50.

An MTA task force is reviewing the alcohol-friendly policies on board its commuter trains, following the death of an inebriated teenager, Natalie Smead, last summer at the Woodside station. The task force will bring its findings before the board in the next few months.

Even some diehard St. Patrick's Day revelers said they see some logic to the MTA's alcohol ban. "I'm not offended by it," a bartender at Ryan's Pub in the East Village, Steven Goldrick, said. "The train should be a good opportunity to take a rest from all of the drinking." - Annie Karni, The New York Sun

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THE END