 |
Railroad Newsline for Saturday, 04/28/07
Author: Larry W. Grant
Date: 04-28-2007 - 03:13
Railroad Newsline for Saturday, April 28, 2007
Compiled by Larry W. Grant
In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006
RAIL NEWS
BNSF COAL TRAIN DERAILS NEAR DOUGLAS, WYOMING
DOUGLAS, WY -- The BNSF Railway Company reopened track Thursday that had been damaged the day before by a coal train derailment, a company official said.
The four-locomotive BNSF train was southbound between Shawnee Junction and Guernsey when 20 of the 128 loaded hopper cars -- each carrying 110 tons of coal -- came off the line shortly after 15:10 hours Wednesday, according to BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas.
No one was hurt and delays were minimal, but coal was spilled and coal cars were damaged, Melonas said. The damaged track was reopened by 07:00 hours Thursday, he said.
The train had left Jacobs Ranch mine earlier in the day and was headed for St. Johns, Arizona, he said.
The maximum speed where the derailment occurred is 49 mph. Preliminary investigations showed the train was traveling below the maximum speed, he said. - The Billings Gazette
AT THE THROTTLE: NNRY MUSEUM GETS TWO NEW OLD PASSENGER CARS
ELY, NV -- The museum has received a donation of two railroad passenger cars and recently the cars were delivered to us in Ely. These cars are ex-Ontario Northland (ON) cars and ran in passenger service in Canada. I don't have the complete history of the cars, but after they left the ON, they wound up on a tourist railroad in Ohio. The tourist railroad went bankrupt and needed to liquidate the cars. A former board member purchased the cars for us. He purchased the cars, but it was the museum's responsibility to transport the cars to Ely and this was a challenge.
Photo here:
[www.elynews.com]
Getting the cars here would turn out to be a monumental undertaking. First we need to get the cars ready to move from Ohio to Nevada. The cars needed to be inspected and meet all FRA and AAR rules and regulations. And this had to be done from afar depending on contractors. And of course, funds were incredibly tight. Where we were gifted the cars it was our responsibility to get the cars to Ely. Estimates for getting the cars here ranged up to $50,000. The big expense would be getting the cars from the railroad track to Ely because the Nevada Northern track was not in service from Shafter to Ely.
Photo here:
[www.elynews.com]
So why did the museum need to spend money on more passenger cars when most of our trains don't sell out and we have plenty of other pressing projects? Two reasons. First, historic coach 5 is now in service and it had been used for excursion train service in the past. But its time as an excursion car is over. At 125 years old this wooden car is not suitable for daily passenger service. And our excursion schedule has mushroomed where in some months we do operate daily trains. And every time Coach 5 goes out, you can hear the wood being stressed, the car creaks and groans as it goes down the road. So now the car is reserved for special events and functions and we use it maybe only eight times a year.
Photo here:
[www.elynews.com]
Secondly, our existing coaches have a dirty little secret. The couplers between the cars are not normal couplers. They are electric interurban couplers which will not couple to the couplers on any of our other equipment. And to make matters worse, these cars a semi-permanently coupled together. So if one car goes down, they both go down. And there is a FRA rule that states, for a passenger train to leave its home terminal 100% of the air brakes will function before departure.
We had a Polar Express train last year, it was about 50% sold out. The crew was doing its customary brake check and the air brakes on one car would not set up. We did everything. We used all of our tricks and nothing was working. The train could not leave without all of the air brakes working. And there was no quick way to separate the cars and send only one car. So our only option was, to either get the air brakes to work or issue refunds. Luckily at the last minute, all of the air brakes did set up and then it was off to the North Pole.
During the summer season, every Saturday night the railroad offers a specialty train. Since we don't have dining cars the excursion coaches magically transform into dining cars. (Well not magically, it's the combined efforts of three or four sweaty individuals. And then in the morning the reverse happens. The tables come down and the seats go back in place and whalla, you have an excursion coach.) Needless to say this is a lot of work that needs to be done every Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. With the new coaches, we can leave the current coaches set up as dining cars and we do not need to go through the transformation every weekend.
The short version is, if the existing coaches ever went out of service, the railroad would be without a way of carrying passengers. And if the excursions were to go down, then the museum would take a sizeable hit in revenue.
Then looking towards the future, our most popular trains do sell out. So now we are able to add coaches to these popular trains, which allow us to carry more people that generates additional revenue per trip. Our overall goal is to maximize revenue per trip be it either by carrying more passengers per train or using less cars per train. For these new cars will allow us to use only one passenger coach for lighter trains rather than hauling two coaches as we currently do. And of course you never want to look a gift horse in the mouth.
So now we have doubled out excursion fleet. We'll be able to set up the dining cars and leave them use the excursion cars as needed and save our historic cars for very special occasions.
And the newer cars are newer than our current coaches by about thirty years. Once the tracks do open up to Shafter these coaches could head out on the Union Pacific Railroad. That is the way they came in. The cars went by rail from Ohio to Ogden Utah. From Ogden to Ely they came by truck. Now they're back on the rails and we're getting the first car ready for excursion service. This will only make our future brighter. - Mark Bassett, The Ely Times (Mark Bassett is the Executive Director of the museum. He can be reached at the museum (775) 289-2085; by e-mail: director@nnry.com; or by first class mail at: 1100 Avenue A, PO Box 150040, East Ely, NV 89315.)
ALASKA RAILROAD, BOROUGH REACH EARLY AGREEMENT
The Fairbanks North Star Borough would drop its opposition to a railroad reroute on Fort Wainwright Army post under an agreement with the Alaska Railroad Corp.
The agreement, tentatively penned by borough and railroad officials, would also commit the organizations to jointly study a larger project aimed at rerouting all future train traffic south and around the city of Fairbanks.
If approved by the Borough Assembly, the agreement -- contained in a memorandum of understanding -- would go far to settle a dispute between local officials and the railroad, which is set to reroute track on the Army post starting this summer.
The Fort Wainwright project will eliminate road-to-rail intersections on the post. But local policy makers had worried it would also cement the railroad’s presence in residential neighborhoods, and the Borough Assembly had formally opposed the project in February until railroad planners paid more attention to a larger “southern bypass” realignment plan.
Mayor Jim Whitaker said the agreement, which would split the long-planned track realignment project into three phases, would leave the borough and railroad to work together to secure between $3 million and $5 million needed for an environmental study of the potential southern bypass.
Assembly members, meeting at a Thursday work session, expressed heartburn with the draft agreement between the borough and the railroad. But Whitaker said the borough has “gone to the mat” for the community’s needs, and identified the agreement as the best deal possible.
Chief of Staff Bob Shefchik noted the deal would let the railroad proceed with its short-term Fort Wainwright project while committing it to pursue a long-term realignment.
Military and railroad officials have identified around $25 million for the Fort Wainwright reroute project, Whitaker said. While local officials, eyeing the possibility of using that money for a larger realignment, had previously questioned whether it was specifically bound to work on Fort Wainwright, Whitaker said he now thinks it would take an act of Congress to redirect the funding, an act that he didn’t sense would receive support.
“I (had) disputed that,” Whitaker said of the railroad’s assertion that the money could only be used for a project on Fort Wainwright. “I was wrong.”
Borough officials had considered meeting Sen. Ted Stevens this week to discuss the railroad situation, Whitaker said, but dropped the idea after receiving signs that a meeting “might not be productive.” - Chris Esheman, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
TEXAS STATE RAILROAD BILL OK'ed BY SENATE
AUSTIN, TX -- The bill that could make it possible for a private operator to run the Texas State Railroad passed out of the Texas Senate on Thursday.
Further approval from the House and the governor is needed before the bill would become law in September.
Senate Bill 1659 creates the Texas State Railroad Operating Authority, a seven-member governmental entity composed of citizens of Palestine and Rusk - the two cities the tourist train runs between.
If approved, the operating authority would be the entity to oversee and lease out operations of the Texas State Railroad to a private operator if the state relinquishes its control of the train.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials have said without additional funding, the expensive railroad would be turned into a static display come September.
The authority's creation is an alternative to allowing the train to become a static display, state Sen. Robert Nichols, who authored the Senate bill, has said.
"Today, we are one step closer to saving an irreplaceable Texas treasure," Nichols on Thursday said in a prepared statement. "By giving a local entity the authority to find an alternate operator for the Texas State Railroad, we can keep the train running even if Parks and Wildlife does not receive funds for future operations."
Nichols, R-Jacksonville, said community leaders "deserve credit for their hard work and developing an innovative strategy to preserve an important part of our state's heritage."
Nichols told a Senate committee earlier this month that current Parks and Wildlife projections show the train may need $45 million over the next 10 years to continue operations. He said the railroad is ranked outside Parks and Wildlife's normal operating budget, behind a list of $290 million for other issues.
Steve Presley, president of the Texas State Railroad Operating Agency, an entity created by an interlocal agreement between the cities of Rusk and Palestine to look at the possibility of a public-private partnership to keep the railroad alive, said by phone Thursday they are pleased the bill passed out of the Senate
"We're all excited that it's continuing to move along ... and that our representatives are getting together to help us save the railroad," Presley, also a Palestine city councilman, said.
Opponents of the legislation have said they want the Texas State Railroad to remain with Parks and Wildlife and believe the money has been requested to make that possible. They have also expressed concerns about the price of tickets if a private operator runs the train.
One of those opponents, Michael Banks, president of Save Texas Parks, said by phone Thursday the passage of the bill out of the Senate was expected.
"We're still anticipating maybe some help from the House side of things," Banks, a Jacksonville dentist, said. "We're not ready to give up."
He said they are still hopeful for state funding.
Daniel Mahoney, chief of staff for state Rep. Chuck Hopson, D-Jacksonville, said Hopson has requested $7.8 million to fund the Texas State Railroad for the next two years under Parks and Wildlife. That request is in the form of a rider to the House budget proposal.
Details of what will actually be in the budget will be hammered out in a conference committee, however.
There are other requests for funding related to the railroad in the House and Senate, but those are for the transfer of the railroad to the operating authority.
Alicia Phillips, a spokesperson for Nichols office, clarified that the items included in the budget proposal on the House side are often more of a "wish list" rather than in the Senate where the budget proposal includes only a few exceptional items.
Mahoney said Hopson wants the railroad to remain a state park, but if there is not money there for that to happen, "we want to make sure the authority works."
Essentially, there are two tracks being pursued to save the railroad -- continued state operation and the creation of the operating authority for the lease of the train to a private operator.
"Everybody's goal is to keep the wheels turning," Mahoney said. - Megan Middleton, The Tyler Morning Telegraph
RESTORED RAIL DEPOTS OPEN IN DICKINSON, TEXAS
DICKINSON, TX -- It’s like a snapshot from another time.
The city’s Historic Railroad Center opens Friday, preserving two railroad depots from Dickinson and League City, Texas, both of which are more than 100 years old.
The city and its historical society start weekend festivities today celebrating the opening of the center, which took many years of fundraising, planning and restoration work.
At least 1,000 people are expected to attend the celebrations, which run through Sunday, said Jeannie Theilemann, museum and tourism director.
Kerry Neves, president of the Dickinson Historical Society, said the museum, at 218 Farm-to-Market Road 517 W., is a mark of pride for the entire community.
“You’ll see the window where the man looked out at the track to see if trains were coming and really get a sense of what it must have been like,” he said.
“We’ve finally got it restored and ready after seven years, and I think people will be excited and impressed.”
The Dickinson and League City railroad depots illustrate the evolution of North Galveston County, as well as the travels and travails of the pioneers who originally settled in this area, city officials said.
The new museum’s buildings are chock full of nostalgia.
Inside Dickinson Depot -- side-by-side with League City Depot -- is a lifelike statue of the stationmaster, his eyes so piercing one would almost expect him to speak. On his desk is a Royal typewriter.
Both depots contain several old lanterns and replicas of old lanterns and various other memorabilia from the era.
“Lots of people have donated parts to the museum,” said Diane S. Doty, the society’s publicity chairman.
Near the stationmaster is a statue of Minnie Owens, Dickinson’s first schoolteacher, her hands clasped and smiling.
Inside the League City building is an 1870 three-wheel handcar that was once used to inspect train tracks. Manually moved, it could go up to 18 mph.
Also in the League City depot is the waiting room where blacks were forced to sit separate from whites during the segregation era.
Dickinson Depot originally was placed along railroad tracks not far from state Highway 3 and FM 517 East. It was part of the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad Line, one of the earliest railroads in Texas.
The station was named after John Dickinson, one of Stephen F. Austin’s “Old Three Hundred” original settlers who once owned the property, according to officials.
Many travelers came to know the area as Dickinson, even though several other names were tried, they said.
Members of the Weed’N Wish Garden Club decided in 1967 to purchase Dickinson Depot and moved, restored, renovated and maintained it as an area community center and museum.
The depot was moved to its present location and, about the same time, the Garden Club members were offered League City Depot. Keen to preserve history, they accepted.
During the late 1990s, the club donated the land to the city of Dickinson, which formed the Dickinson Historical Society to raise funds to help with restoration.
Ultimately, with the help of many supporters and $1.08 million awarded by the state, the city was able to completely restore the deteriorating buildings.
It took several years, but the center now has a community meeting facility, a visitor center, a future museum, a gift shop and a bicycle rest stop.
Offices for the Dickinson Historical Society and North Galveston County Chamber of Commerce also have been created.
The gala kickoff event takes place Friday night from 19:00 to 21:30 hours at the Dickinson Amegy Bank of Texas, off Termini Drive, with the society’s fifth annual Night of Wine and Roses. Wines will be tasted; appetizers will be served; and jazz music will be played. Guests also can bid on auction items.
The festivities continue Saturday with a grand opening ceremony at the Historic Dickinson Railroad Center from 14:00 to 17:00 hours.
Celebrations conclude Sunday with an open house and site tours from 14:00 to 17:00 hours. - Ben Tinsley, The Galveston County Daily News, KHOU-TV11, Houston, TX
A TECHNICAL COLLEGE TAKES NOTE FROM BNSF AND JCCC NARS PROGRAM
Who knew when the BNSF Railway Company and Johnson County Community College (JCCC) first partnered in 1986 it would be such a success. As part of its agreement with BNSF, JCCC built the Industrial Technical Center on campus to house BNSF's national training programs and provided additional office and classroom space for the college, which was expanded in 1991.
Wichita (KS) Area Technical College (WATC) board members recently learned about what BNSF has done for JCCC and are geared to replicate the program for Wichita's local aviation companies.
WATC board members took a tour of the classrooms and laboratories that are part of the BNSF program that trains 25,000 students a year – some of them for BNSF and some as entry-level workers for other Class 1 railroads and 535 shortlines.
NARS, which also serves as BNSF’s Technical Training Center, is the largest railroad training facility in the United States and is located at JCCC in Overland Park, Kansas. The NARS program offers something for everyone and is recognized as a leader in the preparation, certification and continuing education of railroad professionals.
NARS Web Site Wins National Award
JCCC’s National Academy of Railroad Sciences Web site won two awards last week:
• Summit Creative Awards for the "Best Recruitment Web site" (national award)
• Dallas/Fort Worth Interactive Marketing Association of Excellence in Interactive Marketing Award for "Most Effective Customer Acquisition" Web site (regional award)
To visit the site, follow this link:
[www.railroadtraining.com]
- BNSF Today
TOURISM FUTURE PEGGED ON RAIL AND ART
CARSON CITY, NV -- Tourists will be lured to Carson City by the future Virginia & Truckee Railway and the arts community, a tourism expert said Thursday.
This comes after a seven-month effort and $10,000 invested in a tourism assessment and public discussions. About 50 participants in a workshop at the Plaza Conference Center focused on the economic generator that will attract 200,000 riders a year.
"Railroads are sexy," said Roger Brooks, president of Destination Management, of Olympia, Wash. "I think the V&T Railroad can be a really great brand for you."
A steam locomotive will traverse reconstructed rail along the historic right-of-way between Virginia City and Carson City by 2010.
This brand will blend Carson City's Western ambiance and history, said Brooks, an expert who has helped create successful tourism brands for many communities.
"I think it could work," said Darla Bayer, a production coordinator at Channel 10, who attended the six-hour workshop. "We need something that will bring the whole town together and a goal that we all could work toward. This will make our town bigger in popularity."
Bayer is also linked to Carson's arts side through her association with the Brewery Arts Center. She foresees art contests and theater linked to the V&T.
A local artist and a nonprofit foundation have already started planning.
The Northern Nevada Railway Foundation is sponsoring the Railway Reflection International Art Expo at a gallery in the State Library and Archives building from July 17 to Aug. 17, 2008. Artist Steven Saylor said this could attract 30,000 people already in the area for Artown and Hot August Nights, both in Reno. Art sales at the event will raise money for the V&T construction.
"It's just tying in the element of the V&T, which is going to be operating in three years, with the local art community," said Stephen Lincoln, a foundation member.
The group also plans a train film festival in the same month.
In addition to diversions such as this, Carson City must also expand its dining and downtown entertainment to keep tourists here longer, Brooks said.
"You saved a ton of money because you narrowed it down to two key areas -- art and rail," he said, while pointing to a list of ideas generated by the group.
Bringing in another consultant to pick the city's lure could've cost about $5,000.
"I think they have found the right hook for this community," said Peter Barton, director of the Nevada State Railroad Museum, which is in South Carson. He said the museum could organize a major annual, weeklong railroad festival that could attract 50,000 tourists after the V&T is completed. - Becky Bosshart, The Nevada Appeal
ARIZONA SEEKS NEW CHECK ON EMINENT DOMAIN
Spurred by controversy over Union Pacific's expansion plans, a bill approved by the Arizona Senate would require new state regulatory oversight of use of eminent domain by railroads to acquire property.
The Senate voted 26-0 on Thursday for the bill, which now goes to the House. The House originally passed the bill when it dealt with an unrelated topic.
Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific and Fort Worth, Texas-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the other major railroad operating in Arizona, oppose the bill.
Supporters include agricultural groups and land owners of property in two areas being eyeballed by Union Pacific for planned or possible projects.
One is near Picacho Peak in Pinal County where the railroad wants to build a new switching yard off a stretch of its Sunset Route mainline. The second is a possible new spur line that might cross farmland near Yuma to reach Mexico to serve a proposed new seaport.
A cotton farmer now leasing state land at the Picacho site objects to possibility of being evicted, and there is also concern about an underground water-recharge facility operated by the state under the farmer's fields. Meanwhile, Yuma-area farmers say their operations and their crops could be damaged economically and environmentally by the line to Mexico and exhaust from trains running on it.
When initially proposed in the Senate, the bill would have required that railroads obtain approval from the state Corporation Commission to use existing eminent-domain authority to compel land sales.
Union Pacific objected that the requirement to obtain state approval conflicts with federal law giving exclusive authority to approve railroad projects to the Surface Transportation Board.
In an attempt to deal with the railroad's objection, the Senate earlier this week to delete the requirement to obtain state approval. Instead, the bill requires a railroad seeking to use eminent domain to hire experts to brief the Corporation Commission on economic, natural resource, water and other possible impacts and to allow the commission to suggest alternatives.
On a different front, Corporation Commission members have expressed unease about Union Pacific's plan to add a second track to the Sunset Route across southern Arizona without converting any at-grade crossings to underpasses or overpasses. That expansion is intended to accommodate additional train traffic to and from Pacific Ocean ports. - Paul Davenport, The International Business Times
KC NEWS CONFERENCE UNVEILS KCS' NEW HERITAGE PAINT SCHEME
KANSAS CITY, MO -- On April 27 at Union Station Kansas City, the Kansas City Southern Railway hosted a news conference and photo opportunity to unveil its new heritage paint scheme for new locomotives. Speakers at the event were KCS chairman and CEO Mike Haverty and Kansas City, Missouri Mayor-Elect Mark Funkhouser. Also attending the event were local media, civic officials, some KCS officers and members of the Kansas City Southern Historical Society.
The new heritage paint scheme of vibrant red, yellow and Brunswick green (which looks black), is a tribute to the Southern Belle passenger trains that ran between Kansas City and New Orleans from 1940 to 1969. The paint scheme celebrating the company's rich heritage now appears on some KCSR and KCSM locomotives and all PCRC locomotives.
Mr. Haverty also commented on the company's aggressive capital investment program in the U.S. and Mexico, whereby KCS' subsidiaries have committed to purchase 30 Electro Motive Diesel (EMD) SD70ACe locomotives and 100 General Electric Transportation System (GETS) ES44AC locomotives. The first 30 ES44AC's were delivered to KCSM in December 2006 and January 2007. The remaining new locomotives will be delivered to KCS' subsidiaries throughout 2007 and 2008.
KCS' subsidiaries also signed a letter of intent to purchase an additional 80 locomotives from GETS, all of which would receive the heritage paint scheme. The company also committed to purchase 1,050 covered hopper rail cars and 150 covered coil rail cars, which will receive a paint scheme complementary to the heritage theme. Photos of the new locomotives and rail cars are now available in the Photo Gallery in the Media section of [www.kcsouthern.com]. - KCS NEWS
GOVERNMENT RENEWS FOCUS ON CROSS-NEVADA RAIL LINE TO NUCLEAR DUMP
LAS VEGAS, NV -- The Energy Department is refocusing plans for a cross-Nevada railroad to a national nuclear waste repository, after an Indian tribe said it won't let radioactive waste cross its reservation, a top Yucca Mountain official said.
A north-to-south railroad corridor that would have crossed the Walker River Paiute reservation in Mineral County no longer will be considered, Ward Sproat, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, said Wednesday.
The department will instead focus on completing studies of the so-called Caliente rail corridor, a 319-mile route that would be built from eastern Nevada across the state to the Yucca Mountain repository at a projected cost of more than $2 billion.
Sproat made his comments during a presentation in Washington, DC, to a conference organized by the U.S. Transport Council, whose members are tied to the shipping of nuclear materials.
Sproat, the Energy Department's Yucca project chief, said it was too late to remove the 280-mile Mina corridor from an environmental impact study the department expects to make public in October.
He said the Mina route could have been cheaper and faster to build, but said planners now expect the decision will favor the Caliente route.
The Walker River Paiute tribe announced April 17 that it was withdrawing from environmental studies of the Mina route, named after a site south of Hawthorne.
The tribe's participation was key to Energy Department plans to use existing railroad rights-of-way through old mining districts to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Bob Halstead, a transportation consultant to the state of Nevada, said the Energy Department might face difficulties trying to develop the east-west Caliente route.
Halstead said planners face several engineering challenges along the route, plus resistance from some ranchers and from the sponsors of a monumental desert art exhibit in Garden Valley.
The Energy Department plans to use the rail line to ship materials to Yucca Mountain, where it plans to entomb at least 77,000 tons of the nation's most radioactive waste in tunnels.
Congress picked the Yucca site in 2002, with plans to open it in 2010. But budget cuts and questions about quality control have stalled the Energy Department schedule for seeking an operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. - The Associated Press, The Casper Star-Tribune
CRASH KILLS SPIRIT LAKE OFFICIAL
SPIRIT LAKE, ID -- Spirit Lake, Idaho City Councilman Steve Gaddum was killed Thursday afternoon when his SUV collided with a train on the Rathdrum Prairie.
Photo here:
[www.spokesmanreview.com]
Caption reads: Spirit Lake City Councilman Steve Gaddum was killed Thursday after his SUV collided with a train past the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and Meyer Road. (Kathy Plonka The Spokesman-Review)
The crash occurred just before 15:00 hours between Lancaster Road and Wyoming Avenue where the Union Pacific rail line crosses Meyer Road.
Gaddum, 64, was heading north on Meyer Road in his 1996 Land Rover, and the train was westbound, Idaho State Police Capt. Wayne Longo said.
Longo said the Land Rover struck near the train's engine, but it took the train nearly a half-mile to stop. The SUV suffered extreme damage and Gaddum – who apparently wasn't wearing a seat belt – was ejected from the vehicle, Longo said.
There were no other passengers.
Gaddum, who was retired from the U.S. Navy and had lived in Spirit Lake 18 years, was elected to the City Council in 2005.
In an April 5 story in The Spokesman-Review, Gaddum said of Spirit Lake: "We have growth, and we're trying to manage it while maintaining the quality of life we've had in this town."
Spirit Lake Mayor Roxy Martin said Gaddum's death was a loss to the entire community. He volunteered with a variety of organizations, including the Spirit Lake Food Bank and the Chamber of Commerce.
"He loved Spirit Lake and wanted to make this a nice place," Martin said.
The State Police asked anyone who witnessed Thursday's crash to contact the agency.
Longo said he didn't know how fast the train or Land Rover was traveling. Trains typically travel through the intersection -- marked with cross-bar signs -- at 40 to 45 mph, he said.
The train crossing was one location ISP focused on during recent emphasis patrols, Longo said. There have been a number of train-related accidents in recent months.
"It's not been a good year," Longo said.
A Liberty Lake man struck the side of a train near Idaho Road and Prairie Avenue in January, suffering minor injuries. That same week, a 24-year-old Athol man was struck by a train and killed while walking home from a bar.
Two men were killed in September at a Hayden Avenue train crossing. - Taryn Brodwater, The Spokane Spokesman-Review
TRAIN DERAILS IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS
BUSH, IL -- A 75-car Union Pacific train derailed near the Williamson County community of Bush, Illinois Thursday afternoon, causing detours in traffic along Illinois 149 for roughly two hours.
Photo here:
[www.southernillinoisan.com]
Caption reads: Illinois Department of Transportation workers and Union Pacific train personnel make calls to inform home offices of a train derailment near Hurst Bush Thursday. (CHUCK NOVARA / THE SOUTHERN)
Thirty-eight cars carrying stack boxes jumped a broken piece of track near the Illinois 149 crossing about 12:10 hours, said UP spokesman James Barnes.
None of the cars overturned and none were carrying hazardous materials. Barnes said the majority of cars contained automobile parts on their way to Detroit from Houston.
Alan Gower, director of the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency, said his department stood down during the incident because there were no hazardous materials present and the county sheriff's department, in conjunction with UP and Illinois Department of Transportation crews, had the situation under control.
"There wasn't a need for a multi-jurisdictional response to it," Gower said.
Sheriff Tom Cundiff said deputies directed traffic until about 14:00 hours, when crews got the train cars back onto the track and cleared the crossing.
Thursday's incident was the first train derailment in Southern Illinois for 2007 but the second time a UP train has derailed on the stretch of railway in the last six months.
In December, 21 cars of a UP train spilled off the track north of Zeigler in Franklin County, dumping non-hazardous chemicals. About 70 homes were evacuated for 12 hours during clean up. - Caleb Hale, The Carbondale Southern Illinoisan
TRANSIT NEWS
SOUND TRANSIT TO LOOK INTO BNSF LINE
SEATTLE, WA -- Sound Transit is positioning itself to perhaps take over the Eastside's soon-to-be-abandoned Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway line someday, for future transit use with a proposed bike trail.
The agency's governing board on Thursday voted to study that corridor as part of the huge "Roads & Transit" ballot measure, headed toward a regional vote in November.
King County is already trying to acquire the 40-mile BNSF line, from Renton to Snohomish, in a deal involving BNSF and the Port of Seattle, in which the Port would take over the county's airport (Boeing Field).
But if that deal falls through, Sound Transit might step forward. In one of several tweaks to its regional plan Thursday, transit officials gave themselves the option of buying rail property, if funds are available.
The existing route is single-tracked, so it couldn't be used for transit as is, said board member Julia Patterson, a Metropolitan King County Council member from SeaTac. In the short term, population density and transit ridership at the BNSF line would be weak, so the money to launch a new line would be better spent building Sound Transit's proposed east-west line beyond Overlake, Patterson said.
Railway artist J. Craig Thorpe, of Bellevue, warned the transit board that a rail line is unlikely to return if the board hesitates and the tracks are yanked out for a bike trail, or if BNSF sells the land piece by piece. "To tear out a rail to make way for a [future] rail system is unconscionable," he said. "It speaks to the extent to which we've become a throwaway society."
In other tweaks, Sound Transit extended its light-rail proposal to 164th Street Southwest, instead of stopping in Lynnwood, and lengthened a proposed Capitol Hill streetcar route by six blocks in Seattle, to Aloha Street near Broadway.
Other recent tweaks include stretching the light-rail proposal farther south to the Tacoma Dome, instead of stopping at the Port of Tacoma.
Sound Transit now proposes 50 miles of new light rail, in addition to the 16 miles now under construction from Westlake Center to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and a planned three-mile tunnel to Husky Stadium.
To the east, the ballot measure includes a route from Seattle to Overlake, via the Interstate 90 floating bridge and downtown Bellevue.
The ballot package, to become final in May, calls for $23 billion for transit extensions and $14 billion in highway projects through 2028, and bond payments for years afterward. If finance costs and inflation are omitted, the transit spending totals $10 billion, the road plan $9 billion.
To the east, the ballot measure includes a route from Seattle to Overlake, via the Interstate 90 floating bridge and downtown Bellevue.
Microsoft will support the upcoming campaign, said Jim Stanton, a community-affairs manager for the company, headquartered at Overlake.
An earlier plan frustrated some officials because the north line stopped at Lynnwood, and the south line missed downtown Tacoma. But the agency now assumes it will receive more bonding, federal aid and fare-box money to fund longer routes.
Officials won't decide until at least next year whether the route will reach downtown Redmond. - Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times, courtesy Dick Seelye
RAIL RUNNER OPENS DOWNTOWN BERNALILLO STATION
View related video at this link:
[kob.com]
BERNALILLO, NM -- After months of delays, the first trains began rolling in and out of the new downtown Rail Runner station on Friday.
The station had been delayed for months by winter weather and a manufacturer’s backlog of actual rails.
Bernalillo town officials, who spent $10 million on the project, are hoping that the downtown station will bring visitors -- and money -- to the historic village.
The station is at Railroad Track Road, just east of Camino del Pueblo, Bernalillo’s main drag.
There is free parking at the station, but there are only 23 parking places, reflecting the fact that the station is easily within walking distance of most people in Bernalillo.
August Myers of the Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments says that one of the advantages to the new station is that it has a siding.
Myers says that will allow trains to pass each other when the commuter rail system is extended to Santa Fe.
The Rail Runner currently has seven stops – Belen, Los Lunas, Albuquerque’s South Valley, downtown Albuquerque, the city’s North Valley, the downtown Bernalillo station and north Bernalillo off of highway 550.
Later this year, officials plan to add stops at Sandia and Isleta pueblos. Service to Santa Fe is expected to begin in late 2008. - KOB-TV4, Alburquerque, NM
NEW DEPOT SPURS BIG DREAMS
ORLAND PARK, IL -- The architecture of Orland Park's new Victorian-style train station may hark back to the village's roots, but officials said it holds the key to the town's future.
The Metra station near 143rd Street and Southwest Highway has been serving commuters for about a month.
"It's going to be a centerpiece for Metra, and it will be the heart of Orland Park for a long time to come," said Trustee James Dodge, who joined officials from the regional transportation agency for a formal dedication of the station Thursday morning.
Completion of the $3 million depot is the linchpin for an adjacent mixed-use development that would bring condominiums, restaurants, retail outlets, offices and recreational space.
Village officials hope the area, known as the Main Street Triangle, becomes a destination for area residents and turns into the downtown that Orland Park has never really had.
The architectural style of the condominiums and commercial buildings would mirror the train station, which is a tribute to the town's founding in 1892 along a new railroad link between Chicago and St. Louis.
The town's first train station was named Sedgewick.
"Some have thought Orland Park was named Sedgewick, after the train station," Mayor Daniel McLaughlin, who could not attend the dedication, said in a prepared statement. "That wasn't the case. The town took its name from the township, which was formed in 1850."
The station, which includes a 1,600-square-foot interior waiting area and a covered outdoor waiting area with two 465-foot platforms, came to Orland Park as part of a large improvement program by Metra to handle increased ridership along its Southwest Service Line. New facilities also have been built in New Lenox and in Manhattan.
Thirty trains destined for downtown Chicago stop at the new Orland Park station, more than double the number that served the old depot a few blocks to the west. Ridership has increased by 17 percent along the line with the new stations, Metra Board Chairman Carole Doris said.
"This is a very important time for public transportation," Doris said at the dedication. "You know what the price of gas is now and the state of our expressways. It's good for the region, it's good for your town and it's good for the environment."
Next month village officials will field proposals from residential and commercial developers to begin filling in the other pieces of the Triangle.
Dodge said officials have long wanted to create a downtown area that paid homage to Orland Park's history, adding that the new train station offered the opportunity to do just that.
"Vision and timing came together pretty well on this one," he said. - Carmen Greco, Jr., The Chicago Tribune
LIRR CLOSING THE GAP AT MANY STATIONS
NEW YORK, NY -- Nearly 70 percent of the Long Island Rail Road's widest gaps have been fixed, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief executive Elliot Sander said yesterday.
The railroad has addressed 105 out of 154 spots where train doors open onto platforms, and where gaps exceed 10 inches; those gaps either have been narrowed to less than 10 inches or eliminated by keeping doors closed, Sander said at an MTA board meeting in Manhattan.
The LIRR plans to reduce an additional 30 of its widest gaps by the end of September, railroad officials said.
However, Sander said 19 gaps on platforms at the Syosset and Flatbush Avenue stations cannot immediately be fixed.
The state's Public Transportation Safety Board issued a report on the gap problems of the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad on April 18 and gave the railroads 60 days to respond.
At the meeting, LIRR and Metro-North officials said they would submit a written response by June 18 and will give an oral report at the safety board's July 18 meeting in Albany.
The railroad began fixing gaps after the death of a Minnesota teenager and a Newsday survey that found gaps as wide as 15 inches at some stations.
Sander announced yesterday that starting in July, all public meetings of the MTA board and its committees will be on the agency's Web site, mta.info.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer's Executive Order No. 3 requires state agencies to begin webcasting all public meetings in July, said MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin. The project will cost $50,000 for equipment plus $100,000 per year to provide the service, Soffin said. - Jennifer Maloney, Newsday
LAGNIAPPE (Something extra, not always railroad related, for Saturday’s only)
SALTON SEA: QUALITY OF LIFE AT STAKE
Photo gallery here:
[www.thedesertsun.com]
Leaving the Salton Sea to its own demise could cost the Coachella Valley, Imperial County -- and arguably much of Southern California -- its quality of life.
"If the Salton Sea dries up, it's going to be a big dust bowl," said Nicole Gilles, executive director of the Brawley Chamber of Commerce.
"And that's not something we can afford. Nor does anyone want that."
Later this month, state officials will present a plan to shrink the sea and create a wildlife habitat to protect migrating birds and fish.
Without the fix, the sea will shrink anyway because a water deal is leaving less water to farms and agricultural runoff, the sea's primary source. But officials say the shrinkage will leave the lake bed exposed around the rim and create major dust issues.
The state's plan, costing more than $6 billion, would not only maintain a sea but also control the dust from any exposed playa, or lake bed.
But it's far from a sure thing. Even if state lawmakers approve Secretary of Resources Mike Chrisman's recommendation, there needs to be years of studies to determine if what's on paper will work.
Plus local advocates have the monumental task of getting state and federal lawmakers to set aside the needed funding. While no one is advocating against the sea, per se, it's hard to say if there will be enough votes in favor of setting aside dollars for it.
Despite the battles ahead, restoration backers argue the region's future hinges on this plan. Otherwise, they say the Coachella Valley and Imperial County will encounter air quality, tourism, economic development and wildlife woes.
"People in the Coachella Valley have no idea what the impact would be," West Shores Chamber of Commerce president Ron Spears said of not acting. "Property values here would be worthless. The air quality impact, you can't build a gate high enough to keep that dust out.
"This place would be terrible."
Air quality could hit life-threatening levels
The Coachella Valley and Imperial County fail to meet the federal and state standards when it comes to particulate matter in the air, according to the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, which studied the Salton Sea.
A small dust particle that lodges in the lungs, PM10 is linked to asthma, bronchitis and other lung diseases.
And as the sea shrinks, and the lake bed is exposed, experts predict the emissions will get worse.
"Unlike an oil spill or a levee breaking, the gradual, at times imperceptible accumulation of slights and damages and injuries to the sea will not be immediately apparent, though ultimately they too will be catastrophic," Pacific Institute researchers wrote in "Hazard: The Future of the Salton Sea with No Restoration Project."
"Eventually the problems at the Salton Sea will constitute a crisis."
No one knows for certain how much dust -- or PM10 -- would gust off the dry lake bed. Restoration plans would require officials to keep the lake bed wet or covered so it doesn't blow.
But they still have to figure out what methods will work.
Even better-case scenarios predict it could be as bad or worse than Owens Lake. The dry lake, nestled in the Sierra, was the source of major dust storms and air quality issues for years until mitigation efforts began in 2000.
Though data shows the air quality has improved, there are still problems today. Most of the nation's worst dust storms since 2000 happened at Owens Lake.
Even with the state's restoration proposal, there will be exposed lake bed. And millions will have to be spent, officials say, to prevent a repeat of Owens here.
Children and older adults are particularly vulnerable to the dust. In Imperial County, the childhood asthma rates already are the highest in the state, officials say. And they are three time the state average.
"When you talk to families in Imperial County, it's very common for at least one member to have asthma or respiratory issues," said Jan Cortez, a program director with the American Lung Association branch that includes Riverside and Imperial counties.
If nothing is done, and the dust particles increase, the lung problems can lead to other issues ranging from poorer athletic performance to a decreased life span.
"If people are concerned about preserving good health, they need to be concerned about the Salton Sea," Cortez said.
"You'd really have a situation where people would be breathing air that in children would cause a decrease in lung function and probably smaller lungs. Even healthy adults, their lung function could be reduced.
"It's going to affect the breathing, the growth of your lungs, you're lung capacity and your families' health."
The dust that would come along with a shrinking sea also would threaten the 500,000 acres of farms that stretch across the eastern part of Imperial County and generate a billion dollars a year in revenue.
Tourism industry at risk valleywide
In its heyday, the Salton Sea was a major tourist spot.
Starting in the 1950s, boaters flocked to the area for racing, the salinity levels and low elevation making it an extremely fast body of water. And everyone from the Beach Boys to Bing Crosby enjoyed relaxing there.
That could be restored with a revitalized sea, Salton Sea Authority officials say.
Though the water levels now make launching a boat nearly impossible, officials estimate that the sea could draw at least 3 million visitors a year for boat racing, wind surfing, skiing and other recreation opportunities.
On the flip side, argue restoration backers, not fixing the sea could diminish the billion-dollar-a-year Coachella Valley tourism industry.
"We have an international resort that is directly at risk if the sea is not restored," said Rick Daniels, executive director for the La Quinta-based Salton Sea Authority.
"We sell clean air and relaxation. If we get dust and odors, you can kiss this (tourism industry) goodbye."
Economic development: New businesses starting
Projections show the area around the Salton Sea could sustain about 250,000 homes.
But many are hesitant to invest until they know what the sea will look like.
"They're a little slow but things are starting to get active down here again," said LaVon Jaksch, owner and broker of American Dreams Real Estate in Salton City. "It's going be slow, it's going to go at a snail's pace. Everyone is waiting to find out what the final say-so is going to be."
Though most of the development has been residential, some new businesses have started to pop up.
Marilyn Widd's is one of them.
A caterer by trade, Widd, along with her husband and brother, will break ground this fall on their Seascape Empanada Eatery, specializing in the stuffed pastry meals and desserts from across the globe. Though she admits the investment might be a risk, she argues "life is a risk."
"It's beautiful area, I do have faith," the mother of five grown children said. "They're not going to let the sea die. (Revitalization) may not happen right this second, but it will happen."
No master plan has been done for the area yet, but county officials hope to bring a mixed use of housing, businesses and even a resort to the area, said Colby Cataldi, deputy director for the county's Economic Development Agency.
Dollars have already been spent on a community center for North Shore and buying property for a fire station there.
County officials haven't specified how much revenue could be brought in by development around the sea, which would be driven by the market and economy.
If a restoration plan is approved, it could bring 2,500 construction jobs to the area. Plus the economic development boom may a ripple effect on the region.
"The valley is much better off with a new, revitalized Salton Sea out there," Cataldi said. "It's something that just can't be replaced. All the way around, it works out better for the valley."
Habitat would die off
Restoring the sea would also have an impact on millions of birds and fish.
The sea is part of the Pacific Flyway, a migratory route flown by hundreds of species of birds. About 400 species stop here to rest or mate before heading on to Mexico or Central America and South America. And more than two-thirds of all the bird species in the country have been spotted at the Salton Sea.
But they would stop coming, experts predict, if the sea is left to its own demise. If no restoration steps are taken, the sea's salt levels will increase -- killing off the basic levels of the aquatic food chain.
With no food, as many as 200 million fish could die and birds would find a home elsewhere. That, in turn, would also affect the numbers of people who come to the sea and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge to check out the wildlife.
Just last November, they saw a boost in numbers after the sighting of a Ross's gull -- extremely rare for this far south -- drew hundreds of bird-watchers to the sea.
Duck-hunting also draws people from a wide area to the sea every year.
The habitat is worth saving, said Norm Niver, who has lived along the water for 30 years.
"People that come here and sit on my front porch and look at the thousand white pelicans and the shore birds (will see) I have my own habitat," he said. "We have a need for it. It's an absolute paradise."
How the Salton Sea got its name
"Salton" apparently comes from the salt-mining that occurred in the area as far back as 1815.
Excursions were made to the area every year to mine for salt for Los Angeles area residents.
When the Southern Pacific Railroad came to the basin in the 1880s, salt-mining intensified.
Records indicate a nearby train stop was called Salton, and the general area became commonly known as the "Salton Sink."
A flooding of the sink in the summer of 1891 left a body of water locals called Salton Lake, both for the locally familiar name and the water's high saline content. The much larger body of water created by a Colorado River levee breach in 1905 must have more significantly awe-struck locals, as it became known as the Salton Sea in very short order.
It's not an inaccurate name. A sea is generally defined as a large body of saltwater connected in some way to a larger ocean. But there are exceptions to this rule, commonly referred to as landlocked seas.
The Salton Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea are examples of landlocked seas not directly connected to any ocean, yet maintaining a heavy saline concentration. - The Palm Springs Desert Sun
FLUSHING AWAY TRUCKEE'S OUTHOUSES TOOK YEARS
TRUCKEE, CA -- Truckee, California's health and sanitary conditions around 1900 were nothing to brag about; in fact poor waste disposal had become such a major health problem that it was causing a multitude of illnesses in the mountain town. It would take several decades but the push to a healthy community would be won by the town leaders.
Since its evolution from a stage station in the mid-1860s through 1900, Truckee was a town of outhouses. On one hand, residents wanted the outhouse close to the warm house for winter trips, but that close proximity had drawbacks in summer that included a presence of disease-spreading flies, and the horrible odor.
As early as 1875, a suggestion was made to install sanitary sewers, but nothing came of it. In 1886, the first crude sewer systems were built. James Sherritt, owner of the Sherritt House at Front and Bridge Streets, and Stewart McKay, owner of the Truckee Hotel across the tracks, each installed their own crude open wooden flume sewers.
While it carried sewage away, these sluice boxes spread disease on the way and dumped the sewage directly into the Truckee River. This system only appears to have been used a short time, then abandoned.
As 1903 arrived, sickness in Truckee increased. Scarlet fever, smallpox, diphtheria, typhoid fever, influenza, and unidentified illness were of increasing concern. Local physician and Nevada County Health Officer, Dr. G. Waldo Bryant, declared a health emergency. Bryant issued an order requiring residents to clean all refuse and offal, and sanitize outhouses or face prosecution.
The order also prohibited the dumping of garbage on public or private property in town. While this policy caused much grumbling, the citizens complied and made some progress toward a healthier town.
A citizen-built system
It took an editorial by the Truckee Republican newspaper in August 1904 to get the attention of the leading citizens that the danger was real and the solution had to be found or residents would further risk more illnesses and deaths.
By early September 1904, a meeting had been held and support for construction of a sewage system was found to be very favorable, including that of Truckee saloon owner and Nevada County Supervisor John Fay. One of the political problems that had hampered Truckee for decades would need to be resolved, and that was Truckee had no government body to take on such a public utility task.
Instead a committee of leading businessmen got together, and formed the Truckee Sewer Committee. They quickly found a site east of the rail yards for a cesspool, leased it for free from the Sierra Nevada Wood and Lumber Company of Hobart Mills, and started raising funds from potential users. Money was quick to flow, and by October enough had been raised so that the sewer committee authorized John Sherritt to start buying materials for immediate construction.
Down the Truckee River, Reno newspapers realized that Truckee was serious about installing a sewer system that might threaten their drinking water, and set up a howl of protest. The Republican responded by reassuring Reno that Truckee would not foul its downstream neighbors’ drinking water, as Reno was then doing, by dumping untreated sewage into the river.
Undaunted, the committee, led by President Warren Richardson, proceeded by collecting more money and signing up more users all winter. In June of 1904, construction started on a 3,500-foot-long sewer line from the cesspool site up Church Street to Front Street. It was estimated that it would cost $1.50 per building frontage, and most commercial building owners had signed up.
Construction superintendent John Fay was able to get most of the work done during 1904, but there were difficulties. As expected, rock the size of houses had to be blasted, and smaller ones proved just as tough.
When the construction of a cesspool near the river was nearly complete, the local downstream ice companies threatened to sue, and the hole was filled in. A new cesspool site acceptable to all was chosen and the work done over.
In May 1905, the Sewer Committee filed a report that listed all funds raised and spent. It revealed that 2,450 feet of pipe had been laid up Church Street as far as the schoolhouse, but all the money raised had been spent. The cesspool had been dug, but not completed. Pipe was on hand to finish the job, but there wasn’t enough money left to pay the bill to Gladding McBean for the clay pipe.
Members of the committee had chipped in funds of their own, begged and borrowed, but needed more money to finish the system. There were several business owners that wouldn’t pay what they had subscribed until service was on line, and a few others who wouldn’t participate at all. This led to a collapse of the Sewer Committee efforts at a community sewer system.
Meanwhile, more cases of typhoid pneumonia and scarlet fever were being directly linked to the pollution of Trout Creek flowing through town.
The government solution
In November of 1905, the former committee members and others met at the Moody & Rutherford law offices, and drew up a petition to hold an election to form a new government agency for the construction and operation of a sewer system for Truckee.
The Republican boosted this new effort, reminding those who might vote no, that “the ground is now so thoroughly saturated with impurities that it is bound to make the environments of the community foul and dangerous.”
All through the first months of 1906, the campaign to create the Truckee Sanitary District was waged within the town. Though it was never in much doubt, the vote on April 2, 1906, was 60-to-17 in favor of creation of the district. A slate of commissioners were elected.
The process was slowed for the rest of 1906 with the creation of assessment rolls, the hiring of George Lewison as assessor and tax collector, the hiring of surveyor Ed Uren to lay out the district boundaries and the proposed sewer lines. Once that process was complete, then the challenge of selling bonds started. Until then, the district had little funding with which to work.
By April of 1907, the surveyor’s report was in with estimates for the tax base, the cost of construction, and the expected operating fund requirements. Another election was held in late May of 1907, with the bonds easily passing by a 115 to 30 majority. It looked like the solution to Truckee’s health problems could really begin.
Another few months dragged by while the bond election was approved by the Nevada County courts, the law firm of McGlashan & McGlashan hired to prepare and advertise the bonds for bids, and the other legal formalities. Engineering of the cesspool had to be updated as well, due to a new state law prohibiting any sewage disposal directly into any California river.
When the time came in September 1907 for the bond sale there were no bidders. Another winter the wastes of Truckee remained untreated and spread more disease. The Truckee Hospital opened in March of 1907 to deal with the illnesses and related required operations. The number of appendectomies and stomach surgeries had risen dramatically in direct proportion to the increase in pollution.
Finally in the spring of 1908, the League of California Municipalities sponsored the bond funding, solving the district’s financial woes. With the money in hand, construction actually began in August when contractor C.D. Vincent of Oakland started work. It consisted of two sumps to the east, one on either side of the tracks, and over 17,000 feet of clay pipe. Even then it served just over half of the town. The old system from 1904 was included in the new system, though most of it had to be re-installed at the correct grade.
The construction was nearly complete by November of 1908 — the biggest issue being the removal of the large rocks known as “dornicks,” uncovered in the excavation. By July of 1909, more than 110 buildings had been hooked up to the new sewer system. A few outhouses persisted for another year, but the health of Truckee was dramatically improved by the new flush system. After over 20 years of trying to solve the problem, Truckee had organized itself and accomplished a life-saving project.
Now over 100 years old the Truckee Sanitary District continues it mission of maintaining a healthy community. - Gordon Richards, The Truckee Sierra Sun
THE END
| Subject | Written By | Date/Time (PST) |
|---|---|---|
 Railroad Newsline for Saturday, 04/28/07 |
Larry W. Grant | 04-28-2007 - 03:13 |