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Railroad Newsline for Friday, April 13, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

BNSF ASSISTS IN THE FIRST EXCURSION OF THE ROYAL HUDSON

Photo here:

[www.bnsf.com]

Last week, the City of White Rock, British Columbia, announced the return of the Royal Hudson, a locomotive that was first used in 1929 by Canadian Pacific Railway and later became known as the Royal Train for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

Over the years the Royal Hudson’s condition diminished until efforts were made to revitalize the locomotive. Sunday, April 15, the Royal Hudson will make its first appearance since 1999 thanks to the BNSF Railway Company and the West Coast Railway Association.

BNSF will provide a pilot crew as the train will operate on BNSF mainline from Vancouver to White Rock, BC. BNSF and employees are being recognized as a major sponsor of this community celebration and have received tremendous praise from the White Rock community officials as well as enthusiastic residents.

The Royal Hudson steam locomotive is a favorite attraction in British Columbia. More than 20,000 people are expected to be on location when the Royal Hudson makes its debut at White Rock’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.

"The Royal Hudson is a world-renowned icon for British Columbia and has a great history with White Rock," says Mayor Judy Forster. "Our city was built on the railway industry so it will be fitting to commemorate our golden anniversary with the arrival of the Royal Hudson." - BNSF Today

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SUPPORTERS, OPPONENTS VOICE OPINIONS ON TEXAS STATE RAILROAD LEGISLATION

AUSTIN, TX -- Groups of people who came to voice their opinions for legislation related to the future of the Texas State Railroad waited until late Tuesday night and early into Wednesday morning to testify before a Texas House committee looking at the issue.

Supporters and opponents of House Bill 3113 waited until nearly midnight Tuesday to begin testifying on the bill, authored by state Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana.

Earlier on Tuesday many of the same people testified in a meeting of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources when it heard Senate Bill 1659, the companion bill to HB 3113.

The identical bills would create the Texas State Railroad Operating Authority, an entity to which the railroad could be transferred from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which currently operates the tourist train.

The operating authority could then lease out operations of the railroad, which runs between Rusk and Palestine, to a private operator.

Cook testified before the House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism late Tuesday that the bill would "ensure the long-term success of the railroad."

The financially-strapped railroad is currently slated to become a static display come September.

Supporters of the bill, including those with the current Texas State Railroad Operating Agency, which was formed to evaluate the option of finding a private operator to run the train, testified about the benefits of transferring the train to an "authority" to lease out operations of the train.

The current locally-created "operating agency," which would be replaced by the state-created "operating authority" as is laid out in the legislation, has chosen American Heritage Railways to operate the train if the state approves that idea.

American Heritage operates the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado and the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in North Carolina.

Steve Presley, president of the operating agency and a Palestine city councilman, told committee members the legislation would save the railroad "once and for all."

Allen Harper, owner of American Heritage, also spoke at this hearing, telling committee members of his desire to preserve historical railroads.

Opponents of the bill, including Dr. Michael Banks of Jacksonville, president of Save Texas Parks, expressed concerns about the bill.

Banks has said the railroad could be funded and operated for the next two years with $7.6 million attached to House Bill 1 by State Rep. Chuck Hopson, D-Jacksonville.

"Parks and Wildlife wants to keep the railroad ... to me this is the solution. Why give the railroad away?" he said.

Max Bennett, of Weatherford, also an opponent, said the basis for the bill no longer exists. He also said the recently-signed contract between the operating agency and American Heritage is "giving the railroad away."

He pointed to the operator's potential ability to earn percentages of ownership of the railroad as a "serious matter."

Bennett also called into question the reputation of American Heritage and its owner.

Palestine Mayor Dr. Carolyn Salter, who was the last witness to testify, quickly defended the legislation and American Heritage, which she called "one of the finest operators in the country."

She said the state cannot operate the train at anything other than "an average level," but with a private operator, there is the potential to a have a "world class" operation.

Members of the House committee questioned witnesses about the funding needed for the possible transfer of the train to the authority and who would own the assets of the railroad.

Committee Chairman Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, indicated during the meeting that some questions raised by the opponents of the bill needed further consideration. Hilderbran also indicated he had originally thought the operating authority would own and control the railroad.

According to the contract between the operating agency and American Heritage, at the end of every year, if the number of total riders on the railroad meets or exceeds a certain threshold, the agency will transfer to American Heritage an undivided 12.5 percent of the ownership interest of railroad personal and real property.

Work continued Wednesday in Austin to answer committee members' questions raised by the testimony heard in Tuesday night's hearing.

Both bills were still pending in committees on Wednesday. - Megan Middleton, The Tyler Morning Telegraph

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RAIL SUICIDES ANYTHING BUT PAINLESS FOR TRAIN CREWS

EAST CHICAGO, IN -- For rail engineers like Pat Smith, death is an inevitable part of the job.
'It's not a matter of if you are going to kill someone, but when,' said the Cleveland, Ohio native and employee of railroad CSX Corp.. Normally jocular and talkative, Smith, 45 with snow white hair, looked away, swallowing.

'And when it happens, you're totally helpless,' he said.

Every year hundreds of Americans die in accidents with trains operated by people like Smith, either in their cars or other vehicles at rail crossings, or on foot on the tracks.

Improved safety has helped reduce vehicle-related rail crossing fatalities to 365 in 2006 from 1,115 thirty year ago, but the number of pedestrian deaths has fluctuated during that period. Last year, 525 pedestrians died on the tracks, up from 373 in 1976, according to Federal Railroad Administration data.

Whether due to recklessness or suicide - no firm numbers exist on rail-related suicides - U.S. railroads say the impact on crews is overlooked by the public. The companies have set up support groups to help railroad staff cope with the trauma.

Pat Smith's tale is not uncommon. Back in 1999, when he was working for U.S. railroad Norfolk Southern Corp., he said he was hauling a long coal train near Cleveland when a woman stepped onto the tracks.

Smith hit the brakes, but was moving downhill at over 30 miles an hour - a loaded coal train can take a mile to stop in those conditions - and he sounded the horn. The woman ignored it. Just before the train struck the woman, Smith's conductor told him she had a middle finger raised in an obscene farewell gesture.

Smith could not shake the memory of that tragic incident, so he moved on to CSX and a different train route.

'You never forget something like that,' he said. 'If she wanted to kill herself, why did she have to involve me?'

Dennis Biegel, senior road foreman for CSX's Chicago division, said some crews simply can't cope with a fatality.

'Some people simply never come back to work,' he said.

'SUICIDE ALLEY'

On this recent day, Smith was heading east with a 10,000 foot (3,050 meter) train hauling containers full of consumer goods. He passed through the industrial corridor surrounding East Chicago, Indiana, some 25 miles southeast of downtown Chicago.

At 10 out of 12 consecutive rail crossings - all with gates down, lights flashing and bells ringing - one or more cars darted over the tracks, even though Smith's train was barreling toward them at 45 miles an hour or more.

The blue collar town of East Chicago is so notorious for reckless drivers that its nickname is 'Suicide Alley,' Smith said.

'This is pretty typical,' he added, as a car crossed so close in front of the locomotive that everyone inside flinched in unison.

For those unlucky enough to hit a car or person on the tracks - or even to witness a dramatic near-miss - the major U.S. railroads have programs to help. They rely on veteran crew members trained to recognize signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Symptoms include depression, aggression, insomnia, flashbacks and alcohol or drug abuse as a person struggles to cope with what they have been through.

'Peer support programs encourage sufferers to get the help they need, or even to overcome psychological barriers to getting help,' said Dr. Robert Ursano, professor of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Ursano has helped review Union Pacific Corp.'s peer support program.

Harry Stewart manages the railroad's volunteer peer support supervisors and received help himself in 1989 after his involvement in a fatal accident in a remote area in Texas when he was an engineer.

'My colleagues helped me understand that while I played a part in the accident, I was not responsible for it,' he said, noting that was when he decided to counsel others.

Volunteer supervisors are also trained to spot crew members suffering from trauma, but in denial, and if necessary, to prevent them from operating trains weighing thousands of tons.

'It's hard telling someone 'you can't work today', but ultimately this is a public safety issue,' said Steve Forsberg, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp..

The main aim of these programs is to 'put crews back in control of their situation,' said Chuck Wehrmeister, Norfolk Southern's vice president for safety. Some railroads, such as CSX, help crews find work elsewhere if they can't get back on a train.

Peer support programs have helped the railroads overcome a 'macho attitude by a lot of people who would normally refuse outside counseling,' said Barry Beder, executive vice president of Health Resources in Woburn, Massachusetts, which provides psychological support for Norfolk Southern employees.

'A program based on talking to people who understand what they're going through is definitely a good thing,' Beder said. 'There are other industries or services out there that could do worse than adopt something similar.' - Nick Cary, Reuters

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LOCOMOTIVE SPENDS A SHORT TIME IN ITS FUTURE HOME

Photo here:

[www.nevadaappeal.com]

Caption reads: The McCloud Railroad No. 18 sits on the back of a truck on the road to Oakdale, California. (All photos by Shannon Litz/The Nevada Appeal)

CARSON CITY, NV -- The showpiece of the Virginia & Truckee tourist railway - a 90-ton locomotive - rolled in and out of Carson City on the back of a flat bed truck Tuesday evening.

And then it got stuck at Woodfords, California. The locomotive will be used on a tourist railroad in Oakdale, California, after sitting in storage for several years in a small town near Mount Shasta, California.

Photo here:

[www.nevadaappeal.com]

Caption reads: The flat bed truck carrying the locomotive parked on the side of Highway 88 near Woodfords.

"We're waiting for chain restrictions to be lifted," said Robert Pinoli, vice president of tourist operations for Sierra Railroad.

A load the size of this locomotive cannot be moved with any snow on the ground. The estimated cost of moving the locomotive from McCloud is $12,000. That cost was steadily increasing.

The McCloud Railroad No. 18 black locomotive and its tender are on loan to Sierra Railroad's tourist rail in Oakdale. 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 No. 18's operation on the Sierra Railroad Dinner Train and the Sacramento River Train are meant to generate interest in the future V&T. The 18-mile railroad from Carson City to Virginia City is expected to begin operating in 2010.

Photo here:

[www.nevadaappeal.com]

Caption reads: Julius Pignataro of Pioneer, California, carries 2-year-old Cassandra to look at the locomotive parked on the side of Highway 88 near Woodfords Wednesday afternoon.

The route the truck took through Nevada from McCloud, California, was the result of plenty of planning, said Pinoli, but also some government intervention.

California's transportation authority would not allow the truck to take Interstate 5 to reach Oakdale, which is 80 miles southeast of Sacramento. Instead, the truck was instructed to take Highway 395 down and then Highway 88 into California.

"One of the things Caltrans looks at when routing big pieces of equipment, or trucks with equipment, are thoroughfares that are not heavily traveled," Pinoli said. "Though you can't convince me that hitting Reno at 5 p.m. isn't a bad idea."

The McCloud No. 18 ran on the Shasta Sunset Dinner Train near Mount Shasta. - Becky Bosshart, The Nevada Appeal

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STEEL ARRIVES FOR NEXT TWO V&T PARTS

CARSON CITY, NV -- Rails for the future reconstructed Virginia & Truckee Railway are piling up at a storage site in Carson City, but it will be about a year before any of them are spiked into place here.

The 11-track miles of 119-pound rail are being stored at Drako Way until they are ready to be hammered into place on the right-of-way from American Flat to the outskirts of Carson City. Project officials expect to bid this job out in May.

That doesn't mean Highway 50 East commuters will be seeing railroad workers any time soon. Track near the highway probably won't be laid until May 2008, said Gary Luce, a senior engineer with Geocon Consultants, who is working on the project.

The $2.4 million rail purchase was approved by the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway in January. The project is funded by private and public monies.

When the Carson City depot is completed, the final price tag for the entire project is expected to be $54 million. Much of that amount has already been allocated and raised, but project boosters are still about $18 million short.

Rock Smith, superintendent of the Western division for A&K Railroad Materials Inc., said the rail came form the Modoc line, which used to be a Sierra Pacific track from Alturas to Wendel, California. Some 112-pound rail will be coming from Arizona and Washington.

He estimates workers will be hauling rail for the next 10 days, using three trucks at 24 tons per load. - Becky Bosshart, The Nevada Appeal

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HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL TOURS RAILROAD TEST CENTER

PUEBLO, CO -- The chief Homeland Security officer for mass transit safety called his trip Wednesday to Pueblo an "eye-opening experience."

Jay Cohen, undersecretary for science and technology in the Department of Homeland Security, toured the Transportation Technology Center with Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who has been working to bring the research facility into a homeland security consortium.

Salazar had invited Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, but Cohen said he came as Chertoff's personal representative.

His decision to visit could even be a better fit as Cohen is in charge of subway and transportation safety.

Officials at the center also have been trying to create an $18 million subway tunnel simulator, made of a series of concrete arches, in which emergency workers could train to handle tunnel and subway accidents and terrorist attacks.

Cohen said that he liked the idea of having a tunnel simulation. "We have tunnels that are 100 years old," Cohen said. "I'm looking for ways we can do that experimentation without disrupting the use of those tunnels."

The center already brings in thousands of first responders annually to take its emergency response training classes that simulate train, truck and barge accidents.

The center is a for-profit subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads, an industry group that took over the former Department of Transportation facility in the 1980s. It performs research for the rail industry and government agencies, working on safety issues as well as improving the efficiency of locomotives, rail and rolling stock. Cohen said that prior to his visit Wednesday, he had no detailed knowledge of the center. "It's clearly a very mature and sophisticated facility," he said during his tour.

That tour included a visit to the Emergency Response Training Center and witnessing an impact test staged for a commercial customer of the center. One of the more spectacular services the center stages is impact tests, crashing cars together or into stationary obstructions or a concrete wall to test the effect on both passenger and freight cars.

Cohen toured the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing and saw how technology developed at the center detects cracks in wheels and Communication-Based Train Control testing to improve rail safety.

He said he was impressed with the practical aspects of the work done at the center and said that young people need to see that there are real-world applications for math, engineering and science.

Fresh from watching a real rail car used in an impact test, he said, "We're in a crisis today in science, engineering and math. Children in middle schools are turning away from math because it's hard. I grew up with Lionel trains but now so much of what we do is micro. This captures your imagination."

Legislation to add the center to the homeland security consortium has passed the House of Representatives but Salazar said it was meeting resistance in the Senate from other facilities concerned that adding another site will reduce their funding. To deal with that, it's been suggested that another 3 percent be added to the money allocated for research. - John Norton, The Pueblo Chieftain

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RAILROAD CROSSINGS NOT ISSUE OF SAFETY

Your article on railroad crossings was very interesting and covered an important topic as the Valley continues to grow ("Railroad crossings criticized," Sunday).

The only problem was that the article omitted some important facts.

The railroads were established long before many of the roads that now cross them, and, yes, the railroads are private property that you cross because they agree to let you cross.

There are two factors, not one, when it comes to crossing the railroad. The first is safety. This is provided by the installation of gates and signals that the railroad is willing to support to the tune of $16 million.

The second factor is convenience. This is provided by the installation of overpasses, which if we, the public, elect to do, then we should be willing to pay the cost of installation.

Let's not forget the additional $2.5 million in crossing pavement that the railroad is willing to pay. This will allow us to race over the crossings with less discomfort and at a higher speed.

I worked for 20 years in safety at Union Pacific and Santa Fe railroads. Not once did I see an accident at a gated and signaled crossing, except where a driver violated the law, ignored the warnings and skirted the gates, or the driver was going over the speed limit and crashed the gates, striking the train.

Let's face it: This issue is not a matter of safety; it is a matter of convenience. - Michael Cook, Glendale, AZ, Letter to the Editor, The Arizona Republic

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BOARD DECLINES TO HELP RAILROAD RECOVER MILLIONS

WILLITS, CA -- The board of supervisors has declined to move a finger to help the NCRA recover $5.5 million.

At issue was whether or not the county would send a letter to State Senator Pat Wiggins thanking her for introducing SB 861 into the state senate. SB 861 would make available 5.5 million dollars of federal funds, which are currently in a special account in Sacramento and earmarked for the NCRA.

The funds originally were borrowed by the NCRA from the Federal Highway Administration in 1996 to enable it to acquire the southern portion of the line. In 1999, the FHA asked for the funds to be repaid and in July of 2000, with the help of then state senator Wesley Chesbro, funds were set aside in the state treasury in Sacramento, with the intention that they would be given to the NCRA so it could repay its debt to the FHA.

While this was happening, the NCRA approached Congressman Mike Thompson and asked him to push for legislation which would forgive the debt. Thompson did so, but that provision did not become law until early 2005.

Then, in early 2005, Chesbro submitted a bill to the state senate that would have released the funds to the NCRA, since the federal debt had been forgiven. The bill passed the senate but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it in October 2005, saying that the money would be better spent elsewhere. But since that time, Chesbro and NCRA officials have been talking to Schwarzenegger, and California voters have passed Proposition 1A, which authorized the state to sell $20 billion worth of bonds for transportation projects in the state.

Now the current state senator, Pat Wiggins, has just submitted SB 861, which is a repeat of the old Chesbro bill and which again seeks to release the $5.5 million to the NCRA.

According to NCRA Executive Director Mitch Stogner, the money would be used for subsurface environmental clean-up in nine rail yards and also for addressing "right of way" issues that have bubbled to the surface along the 316 mile long semi-abandoned line, such as cleaning up homeless encampments, addressing fire hazards such as weeds and grass, and fixing road crossings that need repair.

Opponents of the bill and of the railroad claim that SB 861 would also provide more than $1 million for administrative costs for the railroad. At Tuesday's board meeting, this aspect of the spending provisions in the bill raised several negative comments from members of the public, including attorney Ron Kuns of Willits, who asked the board not to send the letter of support because of what Kuns called "lack of accountability" in the railroad's administration.

Kuns said that he had been looking all over for financial records of the railroad, and that he keeps getting the runaround. "They told me they were in a locked metal building in Cloverdale but when I called Cloverdale they said they were gone and they didn't know where they were,"
Kuns said. "I don't know where the records are. Nobody seems to know where they are."

The issue provided an opportunity for supervisor John Pinches to inveigh against the railroad, which has not operated since November 1998. "This is just more money to fund the attorneys and the bureaucrats," Pinches said. "This is just a dream. Already, more than $200 million of the taxpayers' money has been poured into it. When is it gonna stop?

"How can you tell the CTC (California Transportation Commission) board members that you want 'em to fund the Willits bypass when today, we send this letter to say that we want this railroad as a top priority? If I was a CTC member and you did that, I'd ask myself, 'What do those folks want?'" Pinches said.

Pinches' vituperation was countered by that of David Colfax, who is a member of the NCRA board and who said that the railroad has made progress over the past year. He also reminded the board of comments made earlier in the day by Congressman Mike Thompson, who said that it has been estimated that dismantling the railroad would cost $2 billion.

Colfax then moved that the letter in support of SB 861 be sent, but not one supervisor would second his motion. No other motion was made, and the item was allowed to die.

Contacted by The Willits News, Stogner said that he is planning to "make another run at the board, because I don't think they understand the significance of the bill, what it does and where the money is coming from.

"If somebody says, 'Don't give it to the NCRA,' what they are really saying is, 'Give it to other parts of the state,' and that means, 'Give it to Southern California,'" Stogner said. - Mike A'Dair, The Willits News

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TC&W RAILROAD NAMES WEGNER PRESIDENT

GLENCOE, MN -- The Twin Cities & Western Railroad Company has promoted Mark J. Wegner to president, effective May 1. He succeeds William F. Drusch, who has served as president since 2001 and retires after a 38-year career in railroading.

Wegner will also serve as president of Minnesota Prairie Line, Inc., a TC&W affiliate. He has been executive vice president and chief operating officer of the TC&W and MPL since April 2006.

The Twin Cites & Western, a 229-mile regional railroad based in Glencoe, began operations in July 1991. It operates between St. Paul. and Milbank, SD. Minnesota Prairie Line operates between Norwood and Hanley Falls, MN. The Minnesota Valley Regional Railroad Authority owns the 94 miles of track.

Wegner has 16 years of rail experience and joined the TC&W in 1991 as accounting manager. He was promoted to TC&W's comptroller in 1993 and assumed additional responsibilities as senior vice president and general manager of Minnesota Prairie Line in July 2002. He became senior vice president and general manager of the TC&W in November 2003. - Terry Davis, The Hutchinson (MN) Leader

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ODOT RELEASES FLYOVER CONCEPTS TO THE PUBLIC

Photo here:

[www.oregonnews.com]

Caption reads: As people mill around looking at maps with possible options for the Highway 138 East corridor, James Williams of Roseburg fills out a comment card during the open house put on by the Oregon Department of Transportation at the Douglas County Library Wednesday evening. (Michelle Alaimo/News-Review photo)

ROSEBURG, OR -- Three flyover concepts that would dramatically change the streetscape of southeast Roseburg have made the cut of seven finalists picked by the Oregon Department of Transportation as potential alignments of Highway 138 through the county seat.

Members of the public got their chance Wednesday night to mill around and look at ODOT maps of the seven potential projects as well as other ideas that had been introduced and summarily rejected.

The seven ideas that made the cut range from doing nothing to building a swooping viaduct that would take off from Harvard Avenue at the Douglas County Health Department and soar over the river, the island, the railroad and Stephens Street before landing on top of The News-Review building and continuing east on a widened Odell Avenue east of Fulton Street.

Another option involves widening the Washington Avenue bridge to four lanes and designating Oak Avenue to local-use only. Another has ODOT extending Rose Street to Diamond Lake Boulevard and using Rose instead of Stephens for Highway 138.

ODOT planner Mike Baker said if nothing is done, and exponential growth occurs through 2030, ODOT's model shows nine intersections between Spruce and Fulton streets "failing," that is, not meeting the desired capacity levels of ODOT engineers.

Installing a bridge on Portland Avenue was rejected because it fell outside the scope of the project, which stopped at Mosher Avenue, and a further analysis of its effect on the Mill-Pine Historic District would be necessary.

Several ideas were left out because they would demolish the historic Floed-Lane House, the neighborhood along Northeast Jackson Street or sever downtown from the city.

Federal law requires that park land and historic buildings not be destroyed by a highway project unless no other feasible alternative exists.

Photo here:

[www.oregonnews.com]

Caption reads: Art Swanson of Roseburg examines one of the concept maps that the Oregon Department of Transportation had on display for the Highway 138 East corridor solutions study. (Michelle Alaimo/News-Review photo)

"To use federal money, we can't hit these things unless there's nothing left to do but that," said John Raasch, a National Environmental Policy Act project manager for ODOT.

One flyover option, initiated by the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, would create three viaducts where the railroad would actually pass over the new Diamond Lake Boulevard extension, Washington, Douglas and Oak avenues.

Raasch said CORP suggested this idea because the tracks are already as low into the floodplain as the Federal Emergency Management Agency allows.

One of the stated goals of the project is to provide a route where motorists would not be stopped by the four or five trains that pass through Roseburg daily.

While some local residents were excited about ODOT's plans for the city, others were skeptical or downright opposed.

"I just hope we're going to be conscious in regard to the waterfront," said David Bush, who is looking to open up the river for development and draw tourism to Roseburg. "It's a diamond in the rough."

"If we talk about getting away from oil-dependency ... (the flyover) is not the direction we want to go," said Stuart Liebowitz, leader of the Douglas County Global Warming Coalition. "It will totally alter the face of Roseburg, and it's overly expensive and unnecessary."

Baker could only guess at the cost of the project, but he said the most minor intersection improvements would start at $15 million while the largest flyover project would run more than $150 million or more. The city of Roseburg would probably be expected to pick up 25 percent of the cost, he said.

"We would be looking for a substantial contribution from the city of Roseburg," Baker said.

If developments were made to add capacity to Highway 138 through Roseburg, the Exit 124 interchange may also need upgraded.

Of the six options presented, two would prohibit development at the former Douglas Community Hospital site on Harvard and two would widen Harvard Avenue out to seven lanes, three in each direction plus a turn lane.

ODOT will now give detailed analysis to the remaining options and come back with details at the next open house in June. - Chris Gray, The Roseburg News-Review

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SECTOR SNAP: RAILROAD EXTEND RALLY

Railroad stocks regained their momentum Thursday as investors viewed billionaire Warren Buffett's recent purchase of a large stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. late last week as a vote of confidence in the whole industry.

"This week's rally is due to one man," said Randy Cousins, transportation analyst with BMO Capital Markets in Toronto.

Buffett's investment engine, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., disclosed in a regulatory filing Friday that it bought 39 million shares of Burlington Northern, or a 10.9 percent stake. CNBC reported Monday that Buffett also bought stakes in two other unidentified North American railroads.

Investors betting on which companies those might be, drove up shares prices sectorwide.

"Buffett has presumably made his acquisition in BNI because he sees a long-term secular opportunity in the rail stocks," due to better fundamentals in the business, Cousins said.

Shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe jumped $4.16, or 4.8 percent, to $91.81 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Union Pacific Corp. hit a new 52-week high of $112.10 before slipping back to $110.58, up $4.17 or 4 percent. Norfolk Southern Corp. shares added $2.62, or 5 percent, at $54.48.

The Dow Jones Transportation Index, made up primarily of railroads and airlines, gained 83.85 points to 5,053.87, up 1.7 percent.

Railroads' gains came amid a rise in the broader market Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 47.22 to 12,531.84 by early afternoon.

Although overall railroad volumes have been weak recently, longer term trends in railroads' international intermodal, coal and grains businesses look positive, said Salvatore Vitale, transportation analyst with Calyon Securities USA Inc.

On Thursday, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday that freight traffic on U.S. railroads declined 5 percent in the week ending April 7. Cumulative volumes were down 5 percent for the first 14 weeks of the year, the trade group said.

Railroads reporting weekly volumes to AAR account for 89 percent of U.S. carload freight.
The railroads' weak spots have been the housing and auto markets - as well as domestic intermodal business, in which rail competes with trucking, Vitale said. - The Associated Press, Forbes

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TRASH TRAINS LEAVE BEHIND PRIVATE ITEMS

SANDUSKY, OH -- One person's trash is another's potential identity theft, said a Sandusky, Ohio resident who found a medical form among debris blown off a Norfolk Southern train.

Sandusky residents this month have launched a new round of complaints about papers and trash blowing off railroad cars carrying refuse to Ottawa County. A railroad spokesman said Norfolk Southern learned of the concerns this week and will investigate potential problems.

The Sandusky City Commission this week discussed a petition signed by 92 city residents who say the trash trains sitting on the tracks ''are attracting rodents'' when the rail cars sit on sidings along North and South Depot streets.

The cars have since been shuffled to a siding in Sandusky's west end as they wait to enter Ottawa County.

Holly Hardecker, a frequent walker in the St. Mary and St. Joseph cemeteries, said she found a medical form that traveled from the East Coast to the local cemeteries and she believes was blown off the trash-filled train cars.

The paper, with several sheets folded in half, had a name, address and other numbers on it, Hardecker said. But it was the location that sparked recognition for Hardecker.

The form came from Bayonne, NJ., and Hardecker said she immediately recalled the Atlantic port from her days stationed at Fort Dix, NJ, in the Women's Army Corps.

''That's why it stuck out in my mind so much,'' Hardecker said. ''This was in the cemetery and you wouldn't exactly find that blowing around. It was a couple of pages folded over. They weren't rained on or anything like that. They were very readable.''

The trains start in northern New Jersey and head for the Ottawa County landfill, said Rudy Husband, spokesman for Norfolk Southern railway. The trains are meant to carry construction debris and have a web of netting on top to prevent items from falling out, he said.

The company learned of complaints from Sanduskians only this week, Husband said.

''The material that is in dispute is construction debris, there's nothing organic about it,'' Husband said. ''We're working with the origin point as well as the destination to figure out exactly what's going on. It's all in the process of being investigated.''

The city staff will work with the railroad company to find a solution, said Sandusky Law Director Don Icsman. Assistant Law Director Michael Kaufman will speak to the railroad's legal counsel about the issue, he said.

The railroad company will try to speed up the rate at which the cars are emptied to move the trains along more quickly, Icsman said.

''It's a problem,'' Icsman said. ''We're just getting the burden of it. We're not getting any of the benefit. It's a contract between Ottawa County and New Jersey and we're in the middle.''

Hardecker said she sympathizes with the residents along the Depot streets in Sandusky. Those homes are located closer to the tracks than her own.

She did not keep the healthcare papers she found in the cemetery.

''You try your best to protect your identity and then you have someone along the way that undoes your best efforts,'' Hardecker said. ''I figured by my tearing it up, it's done for.'' - Richard Payerchin, The Lorain Morning Journal

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AMTRAK LAUNCHES NEW WHISTLE STOP COMMUNITY WEBSITE

WASHINGTON, DC -- Seeking an outlet to share the numerous, heartwarming stories it regularly receives from passengers, Amtrak has launched a new website for travelers to share their train travel experiences. Christened Whistle Stop, the site, found at whistlestop.amtrak.com, includes feature stories on Amtrak routes with photos taken from the train along those routes.

The first three feature stories on Whistle Stop focus on three of Amtrak’s most popular long-distance routes: the Adirondack (Montreal – New York), the Empire Builder (Chicago – Portland/Seattle) and the Southwest Chief (Chicago – Los Angeles). These features are first-person travelogues by professional writers that provide readers with detailed descriptions of what passengers may experience when traveling on these trains. The first-hand accounts of life on board include descriptions of the sights to be seen from the train as well as activities on board the train.

For those wishing to share their own stories of rail travel, the Rider Memories section allows users to post their own accounts of adventures on the rails with the ability to also attach pictures. The best stories submitted will be posted on the Whistle Stop site for others to read.

“This new site provides customers an opportunity to communicate with Amtrak, sharing not only their travel stories, but also suggestions for types of content they find useful and interesting,” said Kathleen Gordon, Amtrak’s Senior Director, E-Commerce. “This will allow us to see the Amtrak experience from the customer’s perspective.”

The Whistle Stop site will also include articles that highlight Amtrak’s environmental initiatives, demonstrating Amtrak’s efforts to protect the environment and the positive impact of train travel.

Other tidbits and trivia will also be included, and future plans call for the development of travel tips, activities for family travel and expanded destination information. New ideas for the site will be welcomed, allowing the site to grow and evolve based primarily on input from users. - Amtrak News Release

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TRANSIT NEWS

GOVERNOR MAKES NIGHT SURPRISE ON LIGHT RAIL

SACRAMENTO, CA -- On a recent Monday night, a black SUV pulled up to Sacramento's nearly empty 13th Street light-rail station, and out stepped an eager man in cowboy boots, slacks and a jacket with the California emblem on the shoulder.

As his security retinue stood by and a handful of passengers gawked, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fed dollar bills into a fare machine and pocketed a train ticket.

Schwarzenegger -- who finds himself amid controversy for his proposed shift of transit funds to balance the state budget -- had come for a low-profile night ride on commuter rail.

Regional Transit police weren't informed. Neither were the news media. No RT executives were there, just two rail supervisors who had gotten word minutes before.

A Schwarzenegger spokesman later would say the ride, taken with a couple of staff members, was personal and not directly connected to the state budget debate.

"He is just a curious person, interested in new things," Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said. "There is really not much more to say about it than that."

Awaiting the 21:05 train for a 20-minute ride to the Watt/Manlove station where his security crew would pick him up, Schwarzenegger said he'd been wanting to do this since he came to Sacramento.

"He told me he had ridden the trams in Austria as a child and this gave him a nostalgic remembrance of his home," said Thomas "Ted" Dunn, an RT supervisor who rode with him. "He wanted to ride just like a regular individual."

What Schwarzenegger thinks of public transit has become a major question this year.

In his January budget, Schwarzenegger proposed shifting $1 billion in gas tax funds away from transit to help fill the state budget deficit.

The move caused an uproar from transit executives statewide, who argue the governor shouldn't disregard them as he positions California to combat global warming.

In Sacramento, the governor's proposals could reduce RT's state funding by up to $22 million, budget officials said.

Faced with what RT executive Beverly Scott called a brewing fiscal "Armageddon," the RT board this week eliminated several planned bus service expansions in Natomas and Arden Arcade, and froze spending at last year's levels.

Scott did, however, leave Schwarzenegger a thank-you-for-riding message inviting him "to use us frequently." She said she hopes his March 26 ride suggests he could change his mind about transit funding when he revises his budget in May.

"I keep telling myself somehow he is getting bad advice," Scott said.

Schwarzenegger spokesman McLear declined to say whether the governor would rethink that aspect of his budget proposal.

"There is a lot of speculation involved in that question," McLear said. "I'm not sure we are there yet."

RT's Dunn said the governor asked questions during the ride about how light rail works, and didn't talk politics. He spent much of it in the operator's booth for an upfront view.

The ride was not, however, uneventful.

As Schwarzenegger disembarked at the Watt Avenue station, a drunken man on the platform headed toward him, shouting, "Hey, Arnold!"

Dunn said he and fellow RT supervisor Aswad "Oz" Hanson got in the guy's face and told him to back off. "You are not going to mess this up," Dunn told the man.

State police were about to whisk the governor into a waiting car. But Schwarzenegger instead walked back to Dunn to shake his hand and thank him.

"Well, there," Dunn told the governor, "you came out at night, and this is a taste of what it is like." - Tony Bizjak, The Sacramento Bee

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METRO: STRAY CURRENT NOT DAMAGING BRIDGES

HOUSTON, TX -- After weeks of concern, METRO Transit said an independent study confirmed that stray current leaking from its light rail system is not damaging the steel supports in the freeway overpasses it intersects.

11 News reported on this issue several times during 2006 and 2007 after METRO critic Tom Bazan expressed concern that the leaking current from the light rail line could steadily be eroding the steel rebar in the Pierce Elevated portions of Interstate 45 in downtown Houston among other locations.

Wednesday, METRO quietly released the news of the independent study on its blog.

"The independent report from V&A Consulting Engineers Inc. of Oakland, CA, national experts in corrosion control, offered good news, confirming what METRO's Jim Cody, senior director of construction, had thought all along," the blog read.

Cody went on to be quoted that "Neither TxDOT nor METRO thought there was an issue with stray current damaging the bridges with METRO's light rail system. We did the testing to go the extra step and assure ourselves that we were correct -- just to be prudent as we normally are."

METRO installed 10 testing stations along its 7.5 miles of tracks and conducted the test between March 5 and March 10. The blog said V&A Consulting Engineers, measured voltage potential between the reinforcing steel and a copper sulfate reference electrode.

"The test data indicates that operation of the light rail system is not having any detrimental effects on the overpass column reinforcing steel where the IH-45, IH-610 and US-59 overpasses cross over the light rail system," stated the report in the blog.

But Bazan remains skeptical.

"There was no rain in Houston from Feb. through March 12, so it seems suspicious that they choose a period of dry weather to test, likely after doing everything imaginable to minimize stray current prior to the tests," Bazan said in an e-mail to 11 News.

"The test points were installed in late January, and they could have tested sooner, and over more than one "dry" period," he continued. "A few days of testing, under conditions likely staged for ideal results, may not be truly representative of the stray current leakage conditions the bridge foundations were subjected to for over 3.5 years of electrified tram operation."

Now that METRO has ruled out that the stray electricity is not causing any damage, engineers will return to their original problem, trying to find and fix the leaking current from its light rail line. - Jason Whitely, KHOU-TV11, Houston, TX

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WHICH TRAIN WORKS IN THE MOUNTAINS?

EAGLE COUNTY, CO -- When the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority first pitched their plan to bring heavy trains through Eagle County, Colorado and asked the board of commissioners to join the campaign for rail transportation, they were skeptical.

But a recent decision by the rail authority about what type of train to build along Interstate 70 has made the county commissioners re-think their decision. The authority also got rid of a $10,000 membership fee, County Commissioner Peter Runyon said.

Using bigger, heavier passenger cars that require heavy steel tracks similar to the ones cargo trains run on is not a viable solution to transport people through the mountains, Runyon said. He believes light rail -- or possibly a monorail -- is what the mountain counties need.

"From what I understand, our neighboring ski resort counties don't like the idea of heavy rail either," Runyon said. "I think what we need should be considered as much as anywhere else is."

The rail authority has the final say in what type of train they will recommend be built in the region if voters approve a November 2008 tax increase for mass transportation, said the authority's executive director, Bob Briggs.

"To do this, the whole state will be asked to fund it," Briggs said. "This is an Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 plan for rail, and we have to do what makes sense for both corridors."

The rail authority will begin a study in June to decide which type of train would work best along I-70, Briggs said. The study should be complete in spring of 2008, he said.

The Eagle County commissioners have not made an official decision to join the authority, but Runyon said he believes it "makes sense" to join and he believes the other two commissioners will agree.

"Transportation is something the commissioners are very passionate about," Runyon said. "We just want to be sure we look at all the options and if the authority goes in a direction we don't like we will withdraw our support."

Types of trains:

. Light rail: A more flexible rail system that uses electrically powered rail cars geared toward cities with 1 million to 3 million people. Light rail is usually associated with more frequent stops at stations.

. Heavy rail: A moderate-speed, passenger rail service that uses longer trains and less frequent stops than light rail.

. Monorail: Vehicles that run on a single rail, beam, or tube. Some examples are located in downtown Seattle, Washington and at Disneyworld. Monorail cars generally run 25 feet above the ground and are self-propelled by electric motors.

- Alison Miller, The Summit Daily News (Frisco, CO)

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