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Railroad Newsline for Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

SACRAMENTO TRESTLE FIRE REVIVES MEMORY OF PIONEER ENGINEER

Going under the railroad overpass on Highway 70 as one enters Marysville from Oroville, California, few drivers have ever looked at the small inscription on the concrete abutment which reads Binney Junction. If it had not been for the fire that destroyed the railroad trestle at Sacramento a few days ago, probably Binney Junction would still be unknown except to an historian or two.

Suddenly, Binney Junction is in the news because the Union Pacific has had to reroute many of it trains across this historic overpass. No doubt Andrew J. Binney, for whom the overpass is named, would be pleased with this recent notoriety. He was an engineer of importance in California, having built the levees that protected Sacramento from flooding, plus numerous other projects in Marysville and southern California. He and his brother Charles came across the Plains to California in 1849.

Andrew's fame spread to Oroville in the 1860s when he built the fourth railroad in California from Marsville to Oroville called the California Northern RR. An obscure monument on Myers Street near the site of old depot memorializes the achievement.

When dedicated in 1864, a special passenger car brought many notables to Oroville, including Emperior Norton of San Francisco.

It was only appropriate that a wild celebration followed in the streets and saloons of Oroville.

Later, the line would be acquired by Marysville banker Norman Rideout, who also bought Oroville's first bank, which continues today under the auspices of Bank of America. Later, Binney's railroad was acquired by the Southern Pacific RR which continued to operate the line as a spur to Oroville. Finally the line was abandoned except where the trestle connected it to the Southern Pacific and now Western Pacific lines.

Members of the Binney clan are buried in the Old Oroville Cemetery, a daughter of prominent Oroville jeweler Amos Howard having married the son of Andrew's brother Charles. The Howard home still stands on the corner of Pine and Robinson streets and recently a beautiful sidewalk clock was erected in front of the site where his store once stood.

Note: The Union Pacific RR is detouring its trains from Reno at Roseville north through Sheridan, and Wheatland to Marysville, where they cross over the Binney Junction overpass and then proceed south to Sacramento. Trains coming to Sacramento from the south cover the route in reverse. - Jim Lenhoff, The Mercury-Register, The Chico Enterprise Record

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END OF LINE FOR RAIL TOWER: HISTORIC ELVAS STRUCTURE HAD ROUTED REGION'S TRAIN TRAFFIC; PARTS OF IT WILL BE PRESERVED

Map here:

[media.sacbee.com]

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A piece of history vital to transportation in Sacramento, California is a shadow of its former self, a gutted ending to about a century of service to the railroad.

The historical structure called the Elvas Tower, unremarkable in appearance but noteworthy for its importance to railroading, is no longer needed, having been replaced by computers.

Railroad employees in the tower threw switches to direct trains on tracks. The Elvas operator also activated signals so that train engineers would know to slow or stop or go ahead.

Plans to move the little tower, which in its heyday was manned 24 hours a day, never materialized.

The relocated tower was to stand in a future railroad technology museum in the downtown railyard, said Paul Hammond, director of public programming for the state Railroad Museum.

But the museum does not yet have title to the property where the tech museum would be situated.

So, windows, signs and artifacts have been salvaged by the California State Railroad Museum crews to be used for a future Elvas Tower replica building.

The building also was measured and photographed for replication. A Union Pacific spokesman Friday said he did not know when the shell of the building would be torn down.

The top of the two-story Elvas Tower can barely be seen by motorists traveling along the Capital City Freeway.

Deactivated in 1999, it was the last "interlocking control tower" in the north state.

Interlocking towers were key components to the railroad's movement of freight and passenger trains for much of last century.

Once, 25 towers stood like sentinels across the state, and hundreds of small ones across the nation were strategically placed where tracks met.

Tower operators sent trains down the right tracks, sort of like the traffic controllers of the rails. Up to 30 trains per shift moved past the windows of the old Elvas Tower. Now the tower operators' work is done in computer-equipped offices in the Roseville train yard.

The Elvas Tower, built sometime between 1907 and 1911, is across the freeway from the old city dump and the rail bridge trestle that burned earlier this month. It sits in the middle of a triangle of tracks.

Through its west windows, workers could see the Sacramento skyline. The Elvas junction is just 3.5 miles from downtown near the neighborhoods of east Sacramento and River Park. From about 1880, the spot was busy with Southern Pacific trains from San Francisco, the Sierra, Oregon and the San Joaquin Valley converging on Sacramento.

When the Elvas Tower was retired, the floor was worn linoleum and the blinds were torn.

The building, 11 by 16 feet at its base and about 30 feet high, is a mess now. Vandals have wreaked havoc with spray paint, and the museum staff and railroad have stripped the structure of its guts.

The California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento was given the building by the Union Pacific Railroad and had plans to move it.

To relocate the building, organizers wanted to saw off the second story and move it.

But that didn't happen for several reasons, including lack of a place to relocate it in the downtown railyard and also because there was still some live signal wiring inside the tower.

"We couldn't take the building down right away because it was an active link with Omaha, (Nebraska)," the headquarters of Union Pacific Railroad, said Alan Hardy, manager of the railroad museum track programs.

Railroad historians say that from the Civil War, railroad lines had control towers -- elevated structures where an operator could sit and see in all directions. The operator could control signals and switches to guide the movement of trains.

Eventually, "mechanical interlocking" systems were developed. The elaborate devices in the tower had control levers that operated switches and signals so trains could not be placed in conflict with each other.

The interlocking equipment at the Elvas Tower was in a large wooden box with many moving parts. In time, the devices were outfitted with electrical relay systems. Around the late 1980s, some tower functions were computerized.

The museum now has the Elvas Tower historic interlocking console in its possession for future placement in a replicated tower. - Bill Lindelof, The Sacramento Bee

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RAIL PLANS RATTLE NEIGHBORS: A HUGE UNION PACIFIC HUM NORTH OF BRIGHTON, COLORADO DOESN'T SIT WELL WITH RURAL RESIDENTS

Photo here:

[www.denverpost.com]

Along Weld County Road 4-1/4 - Lucky Zolman sputters in frustration when he thinks about Union Pacific Railroad putting a 640-acre switching yard and freight hub a few hundred yards from his home.

"We don't need that here. We can't live with the noise," said Zolman, 62, who moved to the quiet dead-end lane 31 years ago.

Union Pacific is studying the costs and impacts of relocating its intermodal freight operation, where containers are loaded onto trains from trucks, and its switching yard, where rail cars are switched among trains, from central Denver to a 2 3/4-mile-long and a third-of-a-mile-wide swath of land between Brighton and Fort Lupton.

The freight operation is currently located near East 40th Avenue and York Street, and the switching yard is on 36th Street.

The Regional Transportation District needs the railroad's facilities in Denver for its FasTracks commuter- rail lines, including the train to Denver International Airport.

RTD has agreed to pay the railroad $10 million for the relocation study and another $30 million to acquire land for the new rail yard.

It's possible RTD also could pay the $100 million or more that Union Pacific is expected to need to build the new freight hub and switching yard.

"Our philosophy going into public-private partnerships is that we pay for things that benefit the railroad, and public entities pay for things that benefit communities," said UP spokeswoman Kathryn Blackwell.

Complex's impact studied

If RTD did not need the two Denver rail yards for FasTracks, Union Pacific would not be moving, she added.

Vicki Kramer Bilak, whose family has owned land along County Road 4-1/4 for 103 years, said if Union Pacific's huge complex is constructed just down the lane from her house, the diesel fumes, noise and truck traffic will be intolerable.

"It's too close. There is no way you can live next to something like that," she said.

Map here:

[extras.mnginteractive.com]

UP's study is looking at possible impacts the rail yard would have on noise, air quality and traffic. Preliminary results will be completed by September. They should indicate whether the project is financially feasible and whether impacts can be mitigated, Blackwell said.

Union Pacific opened a new $100 million, 360-acre intermodal freight yard near Dallas about 1-1/2 years ago that is a model for what the railroad would like to operate here, she said.

The proposed UP operation in Weld County would be nearly twice as large as the one near Dallas because it would include a major switching yard as well.

Intermodal refers to the transfer of freight containers between trains and trucks. Rail cars are moved from one train to another at a switching yard.

The Texas facility can handle 365,000 over-the-road trailers and containers a year, Union Pacific said.

As many as 700 trucks go in and out daily.

Fort Lupton is eager for the economic gains the UP rail yard might bring to the small community, said City Administrator Jim Sidebottom.

The yard would be "a new state-of-the-art, high-tech" operation, "not dirty and noisy like the old ones," he said. The city expects that trucking companies, warehouses and manufacturers would locate nearby to serve the rail yard.

Ft. Lupton to annex land

Still, Fort Lupton also is waiting to determine the environmental impacts.

"We want to know where the traffic is going to go," Sidebottom said. "I don't want this going through town."

For the project to proceed, land that Union Pacific needs for the rail yard would be annexed into Fort Lupton, and the city would provide water and other utilities, Sidebottom said.

Michael Olds and his wife, Diana, live north and west of where the UP yard would be and have a 3-1/2-acre horse-boarding and -training operation.

They live now with the main UP north-south line that brings at least 15 trains a day by their horse pens, but Michael Olds said "industrial activity will compound exponentially" if the rail yard is built.

"Why would they want all of this so close to a population center?" he asked.

Don Truax, another resident on County Road 4-1/4, lives several houses closer to the proposed rail yard than Bilak and Zolman, and UP has offered to buy his land for the project.

"They just came in without asking and said, 'We want your property,"' said Truax, who thinks the railroad low-balled him with its offer.

"I said, 'What if I don't want to sell?"' Truax said, adding that UP's agent claimed the railroad has been around since the 1800s and can "condemn" the land of someone who holds out.

The railroad does have the power of eminent domain but uses it very sparingly, Blackwell said.

"It is absolutely the last thing we ever want to think about," she said. - Jeffrey Leib, The Denver Post

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HISTORY COMES TO LIFE ON KETTLE VALLEY RAILWAY

PENTICTON, BC -- Bringing the past to life in a haze of rumbling steel and piping steam, the Kettle Valley Railroad's historical passenger train is a sight that has brought tears to the eyes of some and has left others in awe.

In his 15 years being an engineer for the Kettle Valley Railroad, Brad Coates has seen a variety of reactions to the steam engine rolling into the station. One of the more vivid memories is one of an 85-year-old man standing at the platform.

"We pulled into the station and he was standing there with a cane and there were tears coming out of his eyes," explained Coates. "He used to work with steam engines, and he hadn't seen one in a long time - it was really neat to bring that to him."

And it's clear how watching the steam engine train roll into the station could transport a person back in time.

Sitting still in its bay as it gets ready for the season ahead, the old engine harkens images of a simpler age, when locomotives were the mainstay of transportation and Canada's terrain had yet to be managed by crossing highways and byways.

The beginning

A four-hour drive from Penticton to the Lower Mainland is something taken for granted in the age of the automobile.

But just over a century ago the rugged terrain of B.C., and the lack of infrastructure, presented hurdles that hindered the province's economic expansion.

It was such a grave concern that the promise of a rail link between the Pacific coast and the rest of Canada prompted B.C. to join Confederation in 1871, and the Canadian Pacific Railway was laid in 1885.

Not only did B.C.'s coastal markets want to send their goods east, but within the province there was a need to open up the Southern Interior to the coastal regions, explained Jo Ann Reynolds, marketing manager for the railway.

The Kootenays and the Okanagan were rich in resources that were in high demand- the Kootenays with its silver, and the Okanagan with its fruit.

But, what the CPR provided wasn't efficient for those regions. Of concern to those in the South Okanagan was that CPR trains would stop at Vernon's Okanagan Landing. Once there, they would transfer supplies and travelers onto Okanagan Lake sternwheeler ships, like the S.S. Sicamous, and travel south to Penticton.

It was a slow process, and that's where the idea for the Kettle Valley Railway came in.

Specifically, the stretch from Midway to Hope was targeted and that's where the railway spanned.
Survey work began in 1910 from Midway to Penticton and Penticton to Merritt.

At the time, it was also decided that the line should also go through the Coquihalla Pass and work began on that subdivision a year later.

Between 1910 and 1915 Andrew McCulloch, who at the time was 51 years old, was hired on as chief engineer of the development of the KVR.

Reynolds explained that McCulloch's ability to manage the task has astounded people for nearly a century.

"They call it McCulloch's miracle," she said.

Reynolds explained that the project got underway in 1910, and in five years McCulloch laid 510 km of track allowing for the first passenger trains to be put in operation.

One of the specific areas of trouble was the Trout Creek bridge, which was completed Oct. 25, 1913.

It is the highest bridge on the original Kettle Valley line and the third largest of its type in North America

Upon completion, the railway "changed the face of the Interior when it brought minerals and fruit to coast and then into the world market."

End of the line

B.C.'s extreme weather, and the rise of more efficient modes of transportation are what eventually rendered the KVR obsolete, said Reynolds.

Rockslides, washouts and snow made the Coquihalla subdivision too costly and inefficient, and in 1959 it was shut down.

Air travel and automotive travel were also fast becoming more economical and efficient, Reynolds said, adding people "could drive where they wanted to go faster."

Eventually it was realized that the KVR's express service was too pricey to keep alive and by 1964 the final passenger run was made in 1972 the Carmi subdivision from Midway to Penticton was closed - although freight continued to run from Okanagan Falls to Spences Bridge until 1989.

Rebirth

Although operations rolled to a stop in 1989, the Kettle Valley Railway Society was formed shortly after to keep a part of the region's history alive.

"Official operations began in 1995," said Reynolds. "We started with two ticket booths and a couple of porta potties - we've come a log way since then."

Much of the track was lifted within a few years of the last train pulling through, but the Kettle Valley Steam Railway Society preserved a 16 km stretch from the Trout Creek Bridge to Faulder.

"We are only one of 18 recreational railways in B.C.," explained Reynolds, noting she loves being a part of the society that's preserving a bit of history for generations that never saw anything like the steam engines the society have.

"For many young people it's their first experience on a steam engine," she said.

Coates has also enjoyed bringing a piece of history back to those who ride the rails.

"Kids nowadays see these things in book, not running," he said. "It explains our history to them."

As any one of the 24,000 passengers who rode the rails last year can attest to, the journey is packed with interesting aspects of history, fun and a scenery above and beyond what many see regularly. Passengers start their journey on Princeton Summerland Road and finish on the historical Trout Creek Bridge.

Once on the train, passengers are treated to a discussion that notes some of the finer historical aspects of the once heavily traversed route.

Riders will learn about the pioneers of the area, a famous train robber that rode the rails before them, and they will be treated to a stunning view of the region. There are also live musical performances, train robberies and wine trains to keep people entertained.

The ride

The trains at the KVR stopped being a realistic form of locomotive travel long before the lines were ripped up, but to help passengers get on an authentic trip back in time the society purchased the 3716.

Photo by Kathy Michaels here:

[web.bcnewsgroup.com]

Reynolds said the locomotive was built originally in 1912 by Montreal Locomotive Works.

For many years the train traveled through the Kootenays, and ran many miles in the Crowsnest area of southern B.C. and Alberta. By 1966, the train was saved from the scrap heap by City of Port Coquitlam and by 1975 it was refurbished to its original glory.

From there it worked as a Provincial Museum train touring the province and once made a trip on the Kettle Valley in 1977. It was later featured in several movies.

When the KVR society decided to expand, they set their eyes on the steel monument to a time past, and Coates was instrumental in the process.

"We brought the engine here in 2003 from North Vancouver," he said adding that they've leased it from the provincial government for a dollar.

To get it to Summerland, crews had to head there, disassemble the train, and package it onto five semi trucks.

"It was a great project to take on," he said. "I really like the old antique equipment - these things helped build our country and it was neat to get this operational again."

Although the train is just shy of 100 years old, Coates said he foresees a long life ahead of the machine.

"It's built well, there's a lot of steel and as long as it's looked after it will last a long time," he said, adding "it was amazing what they could do back then."

The other train docked at the station and ready to roll is the 1924 Shay. Known for its ability to negotiate sharper curves the Shay is much smaller than the 3716.

For many years it found its home at the Forest Museum but in 1987 the Friends of the B.C. Forestry Museum took a shine to it and fixed it up.

Volunteerism

The KVR Society is in need of volunteers to keep this region's history alive.

"Right now we are dwindling in numbers, said Reynolds. "Many volunteers who have been with for many years and they want to take a break."

Anyone interested in learning about some of the ways they can take part in the historical railway can call 1-877-494-8424

All Aboard - Chief Engineer for the Kettle Valley Steam Railway, Brad Coates, is preparing the locomotive for the season ahead. The first event of the year begins next month and the trains are in great shape for the season. - Kathy Michaels, The Penticton Western News

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HATTIESBURG PUTS OLD TRAIN DEPOT ON RIGHT TRACK

Photo here:

[www.clarionledger.com]

Caption reads: Tim Broome works on the Hattiesburg Train Depot's fountain. The depot is to be completed by late April. (Photo by Henrietta Wildsmith/Hattiesburg American)

HATTIESBURG, MS -- There's nothing more charming for Libby Carroll than the thought of watching her daughter Katie walk down the aisle in a stately Southern building with deep roots in history.

And despite some recent worries that the dream wouldn't materialize, she is excited the newly restored train depot in downtown Hattiesburg will be open in time for the early May wedding.

"It is just such a beautiful and unique building with such historic value. It seemed like the perfect place," Libby Carroll said. "It is an exquisite hall. They kept the flavor and really most of the original work. It's hard to believe it's a train depot at all."

The building, which represents a combined $10 million investment on the part of federal and municipal government, is scheduled to open in late April under the new Hattiesburg Intermodal Facility banner with two public events.

The first is a $100 ticket black tie event on the evening of April 20 with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony in conjunction with the April 21 Spring Art Walk.

The gala event will include music by Vasti Jackson and the Meistersingers as well as a formal recognition of the individuals who made the restoration possible, said John David Williams of Fearless Entertaining, a co-chairman of the event steering committee.

The real purpose is to show off the building and its unique charm.

"The train depot is such a beautiful building that has been put back in such a beautiful shape," Williams said. "We are really highlighting its structure and the architecture that helped make Hattiesburg what it is."

Lhay Thriffiley, who is opening the Avalon Sewing Company just southwest of the depot on the same weekend, said she is excited about the new traffic it will create and the potential for downtown.

"Revitalizing downtown is all about nostalgia. We can take these places that are full of history and memories and invite people to come in and enjoy them again," Thriffiley said. "Obviously, it will be great free exposure for me. Every event the depot hosts will bring crowds of people right across my front door from Main Street. Most of them will be ideal potential clients for me."

When the celebrations die down, the building will go immediately into its normal operation mode as transportation hub by day and event headquarters by night, said Christine Brown of the Metropolitan Planning Organization and Kevin Jordan, the city's new manager for the facility.

Brown, who heads up the transportation end, will move her small office beneath the main staircase at City Hall to the depot beginning in early April. And she will begin coordinating the city's transportation needs from those offices.

"This will be the primary station for city bus services, but our long-term goal is to have providers such as Greyhound or charter bus companies use this as a pickup and drop-off point," Brown said. "We want this to be the place where people can come to get any service they may need at any time."

She said the MPO currently is discussing how it can expand its bus routes and reach new residents. Brown also said she will contact local taxi companies and limousine services in hopes that they will see opportunities to use the depot.

Meanwhile, Jordan, who started with the city last week, will coordinate the incidental events such as the Carroll wedding and see to the day-to-day maintenance of the 97-year-old structure.

"It will be a lot different than the other buildings I've worked in because it is a historic building," Jordan said, noting that he helped manage the Hattiesburg Lake Terrace Convention Center before starting private business as a traveling event planner.

"In Atlanta they have a lot of older homes that have been converted to what I call party palaces. These kinds of buildings certainly need more care than newer buildings," he said. "But I think for Hattiesburg, this is top of the line. Just the historic value and ambiance of having trains go by adds a lot to an event."

While prices for renting the building have not been set by council, Jordan said they are "very reasonable."

And in addition to having ample space, the depot offers a full catering kitchen.

Depot officials are not attempting to compete with existing businesses, Brown said.

"We've done research to make sure this would not hamper other business," she said. - Reuben Mees, The Hattiesburg American, The Jackson Clarion Ledger

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DEPOT DREAM

Photo here:

[www.dailyinterlake.com]

Caption reads: Wes Tintinger of Columbia Falls would like to move this building, the original Columbia Falls train depot, back near the train tracks at the north end of town. He then wants to transform the depot into a historical museum. (Jennifer DeMonte/Daily Inter Lake)

COLUMBIA FALLS, MT -- Wes Tintinger thinks big.

He's a "glass half full" kind of guy, and that's why he's charging forward with a project that some might consider a long shot, or at the very least a tall order.

Tintinger, 70, of Columbia Falls, wants to start a historical society in the town. Then he wants that organization to secure a plot of land from the railroad. And then he wants to move the original train depot back to the tracks at the north end of Nucleus Avenue.

Time is of the essence, not just because he's not getting any younger, he said, but also because the owner of the depot building, Larry France, wants to sell the structure and its accompanying property this spring.

The stucco depot, built at about the same time the railroad came through Columbia Falls in 1905, was moved in three pieces in the 1950s to the southeast corner of Nucleus and U.S. 2, where it was first used as a logging-truck shop.

Linc France, a longtime Columbia Falls community leader who died in 2005, bought the depot in 1965. He raised his family in one end and ran an auto-repair shop in the other end of the historic building.

"It worked really good for us," said Larry France, executor of his father's estate. "Dad liked the fact that he was able to get up and go right to work. He loved that place."

France said doesn't see a problem with moving the 117-by-28-foot structure, since it's been moved once already. The building appears sound, though the decorative cornices have weathered.

He has a price in mind for the highway-frontage property and building, and if he can sell the property for enough money, he said he'd be willing to donate the depot to the historical society once it's formed.

TINTINGER HAS submitted the paperwork to the Montana Secretary of State's office for a nonprofit historical society, and is soliciting prospective board members. He's contacted the office of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., for help and has circulated petitions to gather signatures of supporters.

Once the organization has solidified, he hopes to get the depot declared a historic building and wants to pursue grant funding for its renovation.

Several local groups, including the Columbia Falls Uptown Merchants Association, support the project.

"We are definitely enthused," said Barbara Jenkins, president of the merchants association. "We're giving him full support. Everybody's excited about it."

The association is working toward revitalizing Columbia Falls' historic main street, and "a museum is a no-brainer," Jenkins said.

Tintinger has a spot in mind for the depot, on an acre or so of land west of the historic Shay engine near the railroad tracks. A second depot was burned down as a training exercise about a decade ago, but BNSF Railway Co. won't allow the original depot to be placed on an existing foundation, he said.

It was Tintinger's love of model railroads that got him interested in the project in the first place. A retired bricklayer, he is president of the Flathead Valley Model Railroaders and would love to find a permanent place to set up model railroad displays.

He envisions building a basement on which the depot could be placed, and using the lower level for trains and the main floor as a museum. Space could be made available for the Chamber of Commerce, too, he added.

Tintinger said the Big Sandy Historical Society has a museum in its old depot similar to what he hopes for Columbia Falls.

"There's no shortage of artifacts to put in a museum," he said, adding that many residents have indicated they have historic items to donate to a museum.

Jenkins said she, too, has talked to many people who have photographs and historic memorabilia suitable for a museum.

It will take the support of many Columbia Falls organizations to get the depot project going, Jenkins acknowledged.

"We want all of us to come together to pool resources and ideas," she said. "We're all learning how to do this."

Anyone wanting to get involved with the project may contact Tintinger at 892-5953. – Lynnette Hintze, The Kalispell Daily Inter Lake

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MORE PEOPLE RIDING AMTRAK IN ILLINOIS

CHICAGO, IL -- Amtrak ridership continues to show sharp gains in Illinois -- and officials don't simply attribute it to gas prices.

"We've had 150,000 more Amtrak passengers in Illinois since late October," spokesman Marc Magliari said Saturday. "That's the size of a couple of downstate cities."

Speaking to a join meeting of the National Association of Railroad Passengers and the Midwest High Speed Rail Coalition in Chicago, Magliari said the difference is that trains now run morning and night on the Carbondale and Quincy routes, with five round trips a day on the St. Louis line.

The jump in ridership coincided with the introduction of the new trains, which began service on Oct. 30.

Coalition Executive Director Rick Harnish said giving riders a choice of travel times makes all the difference.

"People have been telling me for some time that they want to ride the train," he said. "Now it's time for the federal government and the states to provide those kinds of options."

Ideally, Harnish said, he would like to see a passenger train every two hours on the Chicago-St. Louis corridor, and five times a day linking Chicago and Champaign.

Magliari said any expansion of that size will require Amtrak to purchase additional equipment, but said that could be covered by a bill pending before Congress that would create a $100 million pool for the states to invest into railroad infrastructure.

Shorter term, Magliari expects negotiations to move quickly on proposals to restore Amtrak service for the first time since 1981 linking Chicago with Rockford, Galena and Dubuque, and said studies are due later this year on the potential for trains to the Quad Cities and Peoria, which last ran in 1978 on the old Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R.R.

Neither Peoria nor the Quad Cities has ever had Amtrak service.

Several routes are under consideration between Chicago and Rockford, with huge differences in the potential costs for the track and signal upgrades needed to make the lines safe for passenger trains. Harnish said he favors a Rockford route that's an extension of the Metra Milwaukee District West Line, and said Amtrak service should be a precursor to a Metra extension.

Amtrak has hosted a series of meetings with Rockford-area officials in the past few years, and has said that does not oppose operating beyond its six-county service area if costs are underwritten. It also is negotiating with officials in Wisconsin to restore commuter service between Kenosha and Milwaukee, with trains operating through from Chicago. - Bob Roberts, WBBM-Radio780, Chicago, IL

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ENGINEER CHARGED IN FISH KILL DERAILMENT

Criminal charges have been filed against the engineer of a speeding freight train that derailed going down a treacherous stretch of track off Keating Summit in rural McKean County, Pennsylvania last June, resulting in a chemical spill that polluted 30 miles of pristine streams and killed thousands of fish.

The engineer, Michael Seifert, 45, of West Seneca, New York, tested positive for opiates and an anti-anxiety drug following the accident, according to the criminal complaint filed yesterday and the official Federal Railroad Administration report.

Mr. Seifert was charged with two felony counts of risking a catastrophe and recklessly endangering another person, a second-degree misdemeanor. McKean County District Attorney John Pavlock, who filed the charges, said his investigation into the accident remains open and additional charges are possible against others involved.

An affidavit of probable cause said Mr. Seifert was "under the influence of controlled substances" at the time of the derailment. And the federal accident report, obtained by the Post-Gazette through a Freedom of Information Act request, states that the engineer's "recent or chronic use of unauthorized opiates and benzodiazepines may have contributed to the accident."

According to the seven-page accident report, the half-mile-long Norfolk Southern freight had been speeding on its way from Buffalo to Scranton June 30, and was traveling 76 mph when 32 of its 46 freight cars jumped the track. The speed limit on the extreme downhill grade is 15 mph.

Three tank cars ruptured, spilling 42,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda or lye, into Big Fill Run and Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek, and Driftwood Branch.

All aquatic life was killed in the first eight miles of Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek and dead trout, bass, carp, catfish, sunfish and suckers were found throughout more than 30 miles of the streams in McKean and Cameron counties, 120 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The federal report did not specify the illicit drugs detected in the blood and urine of the engineer, and the FRA would not elaborate. The general effects of opiates -- a group of drugs that includes opium, codeine, morphine and heroin -- include sedation and slowed reflexes.

The "benzos" are psychoactive drugs considered minor tranquilizers, and when legally used can treat anxiety, insomnia, seizures and muscle spasms.

Mr. Seifert was a resident of West Seneca, NY, near Buffalo, at the time of the derailment. He moved several months ago and could not be reached for comment.

The drug test was negative for the only other train crew member, conductor Stevan V. Rogers, 36, of Buffalo, who recently had been promoted to the position and had worked for the railroad for eight months.

According to Rudy Husband, a Norfolk Southern spokesman, all railroad operating personnel are subject to random drug testing, but those tests are not performed when trainmen report for daily duty.

Both men were dismissed by Norfolk Southern shortly after the accident. The dismissals were appealed by Mr. Seifert and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and also by Mr. Rogers and his union, the United Transportation Union. Hearings on the appeals have not been scheduled.

Cole Davis, a BLET general chairman who is representing Mr. Seifert in his dismissal appeal, said his client was fired for operating his train too fast and nothing was said in the dismissal hearing about his client's use of any drugs.

"I know nothing about any positive test for drugs," Mr. Davis said. "And I'm sure if he had done that the railroad would have been obligated to charge him with it."

According to the report, the two-man crew failed to apply air brakes as required when the train crested Keating Summit shortly after 08:30 hours that Sunday, "which allowed train speed to increase rapidly beyond safe and posted track speeds."

The report found that the crew also failed to immediately apply an emergency braking system as required when the train exceeded the maximum authorized speed by more than 5 mph through nine curves on the 2.6 grade from Keating Summit. The "2.6 grade" means a 2.6-foot drop in 100 feet of track -- the second-steepest grade in the state.

The derailment ripped up 1,400 feet of track and cost Norfolk Southern more than $2 million in equipment and freight losses.

Neither the engineer nor the conductor was injured. Up to 40 nearby residents were evacuated as a precaution because one of the derailed tank cars contained chlorine, a poison inhalation hazard. It did not rupture.

But the derailment caused massive environmental damage in the fishing streams, adjacent wetlands and groundwater that will take years to repair and recover. The state Department of Environmental Protection has levied civil penalties totaling $8.9 million against Norfolk Southern, and ordered the railroad to conduct a massive cleanup of the site, which is continuing.

In addition to those penalties, which Norfolk Southern has appealed to the state Environmental Hearing Board, the DEP also may seek stream damage penalties under the Pennsylvania Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act.

Freda Tarbell, a DEP spokeswoman, said the railroad is continuing to do emergency, interim cleanup of the derailment site and was recently granted an extension until May 18 to complete that phase. She said Norfolk Southern must submit an environmental assessment report by April 30 to identify groundwater contamination at the site and in the 11 miles down Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek to the Driftwood Branch. - Don Hopey, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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K-4 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE SET TO ROLL

ALTOONA, PA -- More than 10 years after its restoration began in Scranton, the K-4 steam locomotive should be getting its wheels back under it in about a month, said Scott Cessna, chief executive officer of the Railroaders Memorial Museum.

It's a signal the end may be near.

Work has been rolling along faster since December, when the museum fired longtime crew chief Bill Frederickson and replaced him with assistant Mike Tillger, who has proven better at delegating responsibility and managing people, resources and time, Cessna said.

The museum also has helped to keep it moving by monitoring the project more closely with operations director Neil Walker, spending two or three days per week at the Steamtown National Historic Site to help Tillger motivate the crew, Cessna said.

While the K-4's return date has been the subject of repeated predictions that have not panned out, Cessna said he "would love to see it back in July."

The crew has attached the outside and most of the inside sheets and is ready to install flues and tubes, he said.

Tillger soon will travel to Washington, D.C., to settle paperwork issues with the Federal Railroad Administration over a steam dome repair made several years ago that was the subject of lingering controversy.

The museum will be scheduling the use of a "drop table" for the wheel installation.

Tillger declined to predict when the crew would get the wheels installed.

Meanwhile, the museum is advertising for bids this week to complete the quarter-roundhouse in the museum yard to shelter the locomotive and other rolling stock. The museum expects to award the contract soon after opening bids April 17.

The job will take until about the end of the year.

Workers have been removing excess dirt piled up in the yard as a result of construction of a pit for a turntable and the laying of track and sending the dirt for disposal to a landfill.

It's too contaminated for clean fill but not contaminated enough to require hazardous-materials handling, Cessna said.

To avoid the predicted cost of hazardous waste disposal, the museum originally planned to landscape the dirt into hillocks, believing they would help visitors get varying perspectives on the rolling stock.

But the museum needed so much track laid to handle the rolling stock that it left no room for the hillocks, Cessna said.

The quarter-roundhouse project will cost $2.8 million to $3.1 million.

The museum has received a $1.6 million federal transportation enhancement grant for the K-4 and yardwork, a $1.6 million state Redevelopment Capital Assistance Grant, another federal transportation enhancement grant for $2 million and a matching Redevelopment Capital Assistance Grant for $2 million.

The state has not confirmed that second Capital Assistance Grant, Cessna said.

State Rep. Rick Geist, R-Altoona, obtained all the grants for the museum. - William Kibler, The Altoona Mirror

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TRANSIT NEWS

ROBBERS SHOOT THREE OUT-OF-STATE STUDENTS AT DENVER LIGHT-RAIL STATION

Photo here:

[mas.scripps.com]

Caption reads: Blood-stained bricks mark the location of a 5 a.m. shooting Sunday at the light-rail station at 25th and Welton streets in Denver. Three out-of-state students were taken to Denver Health Medical Center suffering from various wounds. (Photo by Javier Manzano/The Rocky Mountain News)

DENVER, CO -- Two masked robbers who shot three college students from out of state early Sunday at a downtown light-rail station may have committed a string of other recent holdups, police said.

In the latest case, the men shot their victims even after the men had given them their money.

The three students, who are expected to survive, were waiting for a light-rail train at 25th and Welton streets at about 05:00 when they were shot, said Denver police spokeswoman Virginia Quiñones.

She said they had attended at a concert nearby at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St.

The suspects fled on foot after shooting one victim in the neck, another in the chest and a third in the back.

The students were transported to Denver Health Medical Center. Their ages, conditions, names and hometowns were not released by police Sunday.

Witnesses told police that the trio complied with robbers' demands for their wallets and money.
"This is extremely serious because of the brazen act," Quiñones said.

Quiñones said it was "disturbing" that the students were shot even after they complied with the robbers' demands.

"Usually, when you shoot at someone, you don't shoot to injure. You shoot to kill," she said.

Sonny Jackson, a Denver police spokesman, said in a news release that the two men may be connected to three other early- morning robberies where they "confront the victims on the street or at a bus stop or train station."

Sunday's shooting was the only one that happened at a bus or light-rail station, said RTD spokesman Scott Reed. Still, Reed said, RTD will increase its security patrols.

Five hours after Sunday's shooting, Anthony Withers, 49, was waiting for a train at that same stop. The Denver native said he's watched that part of the historic Five Points neighborhood change for the worse.

He said he wasn't surprised by the shooting.

"Gunshots happen when there is nothing to do and plenty of time to do it in," he said.

The two suspects are described as black men wearing ski masks or blue bandannas. One is between 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-4, about 180 to 190 pounds, and possibly has a pockmarked face. The other is between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10, about 180 pounds with short black hair.

The first and second robberies happened about 05:10 and 05:20 Friday, at 541 E. 14th Ave. and 1402 Pearl St., respectively. The third robbery happened about 01:55 Saturday at 1085 Colorado Blvd.

In the 14th Avenue case, the robbers shot a victim from a blue Honda with tinted windows, police said. No report on the condition of that victim was available Sunday.

"In each of these cases, the victims either were shot at or shot," Quiñones said.

Anyone with information can report tips confidentially through Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867). - Ivan Moreno and Julie Poppen, The Rocky Mountain News

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LIGHT-RAIL ROUTE VISION MUTATES: JURISDICTIONS FACE OFF OVER LAND AS STA PREPARES TO BUY MORE

SPOKANE, WA -- The future of a 10.5-mile stretch of former railroad right of way through Spokane Valley is continuing to be debated four months after Spokane County voters rejected further studies of a light-rail system long proposed for development on that land.

Map here:

[www.spokanejournal.com]

The county, which owns most of the right of way, still considers the long, narrow strip of property crucial to meeting long-term transportation and sewer-system needs. For now, though, it's trying to resolve a dispute with the city of Spokane Valley over part of that right of way, which is located mostly within that city's boundaries. It has offered a compromise under which it would retain ownership of some of the land the city covets, protecting it for future county-related uses, but that also would turn over part of it to the city to use for a desired street extension.

Spokane Valley has issued a counterproposal under which it still would take over complete ownership of the stretch of right of way within its borders, but would dedicate part of that right of way for future mass transit needs.

Those proposals were exchanged by letter long after Spokane Valley filed litigation with Spokane County Superior Court in December, asking the court to grant the city ownership of the right of way from University Road to its eastern boundary, at Hodges Road. A pre-trial date of May 25 has been set to hear the matter, and a trial date has been set for June 4, says a spokesman from the Spokane County Clerk's office.

Susan Meyer, CEO of the Spokane Transit Authority (STA), says there currently are no plans for any form of mass transit other than light rail to run through that corridor. Yet, the previously discarded option of running a bus rapid transit line through the corridor will be reconsidered at next month's STA board of directors' meeting, she says.

The STA board voted in January to discontinue preliminary engineering work on the envisioned light-rail system, per county voters' wishes, yet left open the possibility of such a system being developed someday by setting aside $5 million for possible additional right of way acquisition. The purpose of that acquisition would be to expand the entire right of way, which becomes as narrow as 55 feet in some areas, to the 100-foot width that STA considers necessary to accommodate Spokane Valley's road needs plus a future mass-transit corridor.

County Commissioner Todd Mielke estimates that buying the remaining needed right of way would cost the STA, or other agencies as well, up to $12 million in today's dollars, and obviously more than that if more time passes until the land is bought.

In last November's election, voters rejected two advisory light-rail propositions. One asked whether STA should conduct a study on how to pay for the $263 million project, and the other asked if STA should use its existing resources to pay for preliminary engineering and design for the light-rail line.

Shortly thereafter, the city of Spokane Valley filed its lawsuit against the county asking Spokane County Superior Court to grant it ownership of a 5.5 mile piece of the right of way from University Road to its eastern city limits. The city already owns a mile of that right of way, between Dishman-Mica and University roads, which the county deeded to the city when Spokane Valley incorporated in 2003. Mielke says that transfer of ownership was mandated by state law because there was an existing roadway there.

Overall, the Milwaukee Road right of way that was to be the backbone of the light-rail system is an 11.5 mile piece of land that extends east from near the intersection of Dishman-Mica and Sprague Avenue, in Spokane Valley, to 1.25 miles west of the Idaho state line.

The entire 15.5-mile route that was proposed for light rail, and that still could be considered as a future mass-transit corridor, stretches from near the STA bus depot, at 701 W. Riverside in downtown Spokane, into Liberty Lake.

Playing into the jurisdictional conflict is the county's main sewer line, which is buried beneath much of the right of way and serves two-thirds of the entire valley population. Bruce Rawls, the county's utilities director, says that to access the large sewer main, the county needs a 30-foot wide piece of right of way there that's unencumbered by buildings or permanent light-rail lines.

Mielke says the sewer main is the county's primary interest in the corridor for now. That sewer main would become the biggest pathway for waste water transmitted to a $106 million waste-water treatment plant the county is in the process of developing.

Spokane Valley

Spokane Valley's immediate interest in the right of way involves its desire to extend Appleway Boulevard, a key arterial, two miles between University and Evergreen roads. In its Superior Court suit, though, it's asking to be granted ownership of all of the right of way from University to the city's eastern boundary, at Hodges Road, which would amount to another 3.5 miles.

Mielke says, "They (Spokane Valley) want us to give them road right of way at no cost, " which he opposes. He says the county's proposal would give Spokane Valley ownership of the right of way it needs to extend Appleway to Evergreen. In exchange, the county wants Spokane Valley to give it ownership of a smaller chunk of right of way it owns between Dishman-Mica and University that the county wants for future mass transit uses.

Meanwhile, Spokane Valley-about four years old and already one of the 10 largest cities in the state-sees the extension of Appleway Boulevard east of University as its No. 1 priority.

Spokane Valley City Councilman Dick Denenny says, "Nothing can happen unless we extend Appleway from University to Evergreen." He says a $400,000 study found that extending Appleway to Evergreen not only would alleviate future transportation problems there, but would pave the way for development of a proposed 20-acre mixed-use City Hall complex just east of where Appleway curls back to Sprague, at University.

Jerry Lenzi, regional director of the Washington state Department of Transportation, says the state's Transportation Improvement Board is holding more than $4.2 million for Spokane Valley to tap to extend Appleway from University to Evergreen, but can't release that money until the city meets criteria for award of those funds. He says those criteria include developing a plan for the project, completing required environmental documents, and getting the project listed in the federal Metropolitan Transportation Plan, which includes urban areas of more than 200,000 population.

In its suit against the county, Spokane Valley says that receipt of those funds also depends on it gaining ownership of the property where the Appleway extension would be built.

The county's proposed compromise solution involves offering the city ownership of the 72 feet of right of way the city needs to expand Appleway between University and Evergreen. In return, the county would retain its sewer rights there, retain ownership of the rest of the right of way, and gain ownership of 28 feet of city-owned right of way between Dishman-Mica and University.
The county's proposal also suggests that the two entities agree to continue negotiations "with regard to the remainder of the property east of Evergreen."

Because some stretches of the right of way within Spokane Valley, mostly east of Evergreen, are as narrow as 55 feet, more right of way would need to be purchased to meet both Spokane Valley's needed 72 feet for a road and an additional 28 feet for a mass-transit corridor, says Meyer, STA's chief executive.

Mielke says he'd prefer to see a 28-foot wide strip of mass-transit right of way under one ownership throughout the entire 15.5-mile corridor, but Meyer disagrees.

She says the key is to acquire and maintain the necessary 28 feet of mass-transit right of way and keep it under public ownership for future development. She says she isn't concerned that the cities of Spokane, Spokane Valley, and Liberty Lake, as well as Spokane County, currently control stretches of that corridor.

Because of Spokane Valley's pending litigation against the county, city officials are reluctant to talk about the right of way. Denenny says, though, that Appleway, when built east of University, could become a two-way street and not necessarily an extension of the Sprague-Appleway couplet that exists now between where Interstate 90 crosses over Sprague and University. Spokane Valley, as part of its $400,000 study, is taking steps that could lead to converting both legs of that 2.5-mile couplet back to two-way traffic.

Glenn Miles, transportation manager of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, says Spokane County is bound by its countywide planning policies to preserve the old railroad right of way as a corridor for future transportation uses.

The county acquired the right of way in 1980 for $3.25 million. The property had been owned by the Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co., of Chicago, also called the Milwaukee Road, until that company fell into receivership. The property became known simply as the Milwaukee Road right of way.

Both Spokane County and Spokane Valley, in the former's proposed compromise solution and in Spokane Valley's written response to that letter, stated their intentions are to see 28 feet of right of way preserved for future mass-transit uses.

Meyer, of the STA, says that Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, along with about 30 private landowners, own land adjacent to the right of way that's less than 100 feet wide, mostly east of Evergreen. She says STA soon will hire an acquisition specialist to develop an acquisition strategy to buy land to expand the entire corridor to a width of 100 feet. - Rocky Wilson, The Spokane Journal of Business

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MUDSLIDE SHUTS DOWN BRITISH COLUMBIA RAIL LINE

MAPLE RIDGE, BC -- A mudslide Sunday covered the tracks of a commuter train line that serves Vancouver, British Columbia and the Fraser Valley.

Witnesses say the slide ran for about 16-meters on the banks above the tracks.

"Crews found a localized slide behind one of the homes with a fair amount of water coming out of the hillside," said Peter Grootendorst, chief of the Maple Ridge fire department.

A passing freight train was caught in the mud flow forcing officials to unhook the cars to clear the mud surrounding them.

A pile of debris and soil about four-meters high and the length of a rail car covered the tracks.
Three houses in the area were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Maple Ridge resident Maria Raynolds was told she wouldn't be able to return to her home for about four to six hours. She saw the slide start earlier in the afternoon.

"I looked over the bank and I saw the slope had gone by about a meter," she said. "It sounded like it was crackling."

The stability of the slope is being assessed and the head of the West Coast Express said Sunday he was he's confident the slide will be cleared by Monday.

Sunday saw a break from a heavy rainfall drenching the Lower Mainland for the past several days. - The Canadian Press, The Toronto Globe and Mail

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THE END