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Railroad Newsline for Thursday, May 24, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 –2006

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RAIL NEWS

TRAIN BEER CLEANUP CHUGGING ALONG

Photo here:

[mas.scripps.com]

Caption reads: A train car full of suds -- the kind you drink not wash with -- derailed near Interstate 25 and 38th Ave. this morning. There were no injuries and it wasn't clear what brand, either, although it did have the appearance of Rocky Mountain spring water...(Courtesy CBS4)

DENVER, CO -- Beer and asphalt spilled out of rail cars near downtown Denver early today after a string of 34 freight cars crashed into parked locomotives, derailing four of the cars and damaging others.

No one was injured and nothing got into waterways, said Steve Forsberg, a spokesman for BNSF Railway. The railroad’s mainline operations were not affected.

Forsberg said a switch engine was assembling a train about 04:30 hours when the crew lost control of the 34 cars, and they rolled downhill into two stationary locomotives.

A tanker car carrying Coors beer overturned and spilled its contents onto the yard, Forsberg said. Another car carrying asphalt was damaged and leaked.

Forsberg did not know how much beer and asphalt spilled.

The parked locomotives were heavily damaged, and an unknown number of freight cars were also damaged. Cost estimates were not immediately available.

Forsberg said it could take more than 10 hours to clean up the spill, remove the damaged rail cars and locomotives and repair any damaged track.

BNSF is based in Fort Worth, Texas. - The Associated Press, The Rocky Mountain News

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BNSF ISSUES PRB COAL UPDATE FOR MAY 23, 2007

PRB Mines Increase Loadings

BNSF’s average daily train loadings in the Powder River Basin (PRB), including Wyoming and Montana mines, are increasing as mines load more coal following weather and other issues earlier this month. For the 10-day period May 11-20, 2007, BNSF loaded an average of 53.3 trains per day in the PRB, compared with an average of 49.9 trains per day May 11-20, 2006.

For the first 20 days of May, average daily BNSF train loadings in the PRB stand at 49.2 trains per day, compared with an average of 50.4 trains per day for the same period in 2006. Mine issues resulted in the loss of an average of 6.3 loading opportunities per day during the first 20 days of May 2007.

Year-to-date through May 20, 2007, BNSF has loaded a total daily average of 48.8 trains per day in the PRB, up about 1 percent from the 48.4 trains loaded through the same period in 2006. The increase in average daily train loadings this year has been limited by mine loading issues.

Systemwide, BNSF has loaded a total of 108.6 million tons of coal through May 20, 2007, approximately 2 percent above the 2006 year-to-date total of 106.5 million tons.

Campbell Subdivision Maintenance Blitz

More than 200 people today, May 23, 2007, are completing a three-day intensive maintenance program on BNSF’s Campbell Subdivision, which serves six northern Wyoming mines. The project included four surfacing crews, two rail crews and an undercutting crew.

Crews resurfaced the entire 10-mile subdivision between Campbell and Eagle Butte Junction, undercut more than 2-1/2 miles of track to remove dirt and other materials that might foul the ballast, re-laid 2-1/2 miles of rail, replaced two turnouts and rehabilitated one double-track rail/highway grade crossing.

This approach to track maintenance allows BNSF to focus resources on a given location and complete maintenance work while removing the track from service for less total time than it would take to do the same number of projects individually.

Electric Power Sector Coal Stocks Continue Year-over-Year Increase

Electric power sector coal stocks increased between February 2006 and February 2007 by 28.2 million tons (26.8 percent), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration monthly report released May 11, 2007.

Comparing the current month to the same month of the prior year, total electric power sector coal stocks have now increased for 14 months in a row.

Stocks of subbituminous coal, the type produced in the PRB, grew by 17.8 million tons between February 2006 and February 2007 (from 46.2 to 64.0 million tons, a 38.6 percent rise). - BNSF Service Advisory

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UNION PACIFIC REPORTS PROGRESS IN REDUCING LOS ANGELES AREA EMISSIONS

Union Pacific Wednesday reported a significant milestone in its efforts to reduce air emissions from its operations in the Los Angeles area. Over the last seven years, UP has reduced overall emissions in its Commerce, LATC (northeast Los Angeles) and Mira Loma yards by 28 percent while accommodating unprecedented growth in the volume of goods and materials moved through the yards.

The railroad achieved these reductions using a combination of new technology, operational changes and new equipment and working closely with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in a cooperative effort to improve California's air quality.

Union Pacific will further reduce its emissions in the future. Since the 2005 baseline year evaluated in the CARB's health risk assessments for UP's Commerce, LATC and Mira Loma yards, the company has already achieved more than a 17 percent reduction in emissions. By 2010, those same facilities evaluated in the CARB's Health Risk Assessments will achieve a 30 percent reduction in emissions, from 2005 levels. Taken together with projected emission reductions of an additional 25 percent over the next 10 years, UP expects to achieve an overall emissions reduction of approximately 55 percent for the period from 2005 to 2020 at these three yards.

"Union Pacific is committed to improving the environment by reducing diesel emissions," said Bob Grimaila, vice president, environmental and safety for Union Pacific. "Rail transportation is by far the most environmentally friendly method of transporting freight. Over the past several years, we've made significant progress in modifying our operations to reduce emissions. With improved technology and successful test programs, we've been able to reduce emissions significantly. We intend to build upon this progress in maintaining our role as an environmental leader in the transportation industry."

The genesis of these reductions was the Union Pacific's cooperative effort with CARB, beginning with a commitment in 1998 to bring the most advanced and least polluting technology to the South Coast first. This 1998 Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, has already achieved major reductions, and will reduce locomotive NOx emissions in the South Coast by more than 65 percent by 2010.

Beginning in 1999, Union Pacific worked with CARB to prepare the first ever comprehensive health risk assessment of an operating rail yard. The findings of this study were summarized in the Roseville Rail Yard Study (CARB 2004) regarding the J.R. Davis Yard in Roseville. Based on the success of that project and the identification of effective emission reductions measures, CARB brought the two California Class 1 railroads -- Union Pacific and BNSF Railway -- together to sign a memorandum of understanding in 2005.

The 2005 MOU calls for the implementation of beneficial mitigation measures study at other major California yards to further reduce emissions.

"Through our work with CARB, we've been able to analyze our operations to determine the most efficient ways to reduce emissions by focusing on specific areas of our very complex system and yard operations," Grimaila said. "The key to reducing emissions in rail yard operations is to identify the sources of emissions and make changes - through practical and effective technology or operational modifications - to the functions that have the most impact on the community and the environment. We're taking a comprehensive approach to emission reduction that we hope will be the model for the entire rail industry."

Union Pacific has reduced emissions through the following efforts:

· Fleet Turnover, Reducing Emissions - Since January 2000, UP has purchased more than 2,600 new fuel-efficient locomotives that comply with new, stricter USEPA Tier 0, Tier 1 and Tier 2 standards. At the same time, more than 1,700 older units were retired, and another 1,800 locomotives were overhauled (remanufactured) to meet the stricter standards.

· Auto Start-Stop Installations - UP now has more than 3,000 locomotives, or 35 percent of its fleet, with computer-controlled devices that limit engine idling to only the time necessary to ensure safe and reliable operation. Approximately 75 percent of the locomotives permanently assigned to the Southern California area are now equipped with this technology.

· Fuel Efficiency Improvements - Through fleet turnover and other improvements, UP has achieved more than a 12 percent improvement in fuel efficiency since 1995. Lower fuel consumption means fewer emissions.

· Fuel Quality - over 99 percent of all fuel dispensed into locomotives in California is Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD), which is much cleaner than regular diesel used in many other applications.

Building on this momentum, Union Pacific has used the data from air modeling studies for several of its LA-area rail yards to identify the main sources of emissions and focus efforts to achieve further reductions. These changes include:

· Increasing use of Smart Start technology to reduce locomotive idling

· Modernizing cargo-handling equipment

· Acquiring new transportation refrigeration units

· Reducing waiting time for trucks loading and unloading at rail yards

· Continued purchase of new low-emission line haul and switcher (Genset) locomotives

· Continue to rebuild older locomotives with better performing components

· Aggressively conserving fuel through increased employee training

· Developing and implementing technological and operational changes to streamline yard operations

· Systematically evaluating opportunities for improving performance that result in reducing emissions

Future actions the company will take to reduce emissions include:

· Expanded use of technologically advanced yard locomotives such as Genset or Hybrid locomotives

· Expected reduction of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions by as much as 80-90 percent

· Expected fuel consumption reduction of 16 percent

· By the end of 2007, Union Pacific expects to have more than 60 Genset locomotives operating in Southern California rail yards.

- Kathryn Blackwell and Mark Davis, UP News Release

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GEORGETOWN LOOP RAILROAD DELAYS SEASON OPENING

GEORGETOWN, CO -- Business owners said they are upset over delays in opening the popular Georgetown Loop Railroad. Many shops and restaurants depend on tourist money brought in by the railroad.

The Georgetown Loop traditionally opens Memorial Day weekend, but the main locomotive is being refurbished and won't be ready until next month. A back up engine is having mechanical problems.

"Obviously it's not a good thing for us, or for the town," Georgetown store owner Gary Haines said.

The train is now scheduled to begin running on June 15. Business owners hope the delay won't hurt them.

"A lot of people from all over the country come up and ride the Georgetown Loop Railroad," store owner Gary Haines said. "It's about an hour ride and they also have the mine tours. It brings us a little bit more revenue when we do have that running."

"Well, of course everyone's disappointed," store owner Carol Curran said. "We look forward to the Loop opening up, but you know these things happen."

Curran said there is still plenty to do in the area.

"The museums will be open, the Hotel De Paris, the Hamill House and the Energy Museum," Curran said.

The business owners hope this weekend's Historic Georgetown and Mining Days Festival will still draw in the crowds with the other activities. - Andrea Lopez, KCNC-CBS TV4, Denver, CO

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RAILROAD EMPLOYEE INJURED BY PASSING TRAIN

TUSCOLA, IL -- A Union Pacific railroad employee was listed in critical condition this morning after a railroad accident in Tuscola on Monday.

According to James Barnes, director of media information for the Union Pacific Railroad, railroad employee Tim Chambers, 56, was at work at 00:09 hours at 920 E. U.S. 36 in Tuscola when the incident happened.

Douglas County Sheriff Charlie McGrew said that, while he doesn't know Chambers' hometown, he is from Texas. Barnes refused to give Chamber's hometown, citing federal privacy laws.

According to a sheriff's report, Tuscola firefighters, a rescue crew and sheriff's deputies were called to the scene at 00:15 and arrived a few minutes later.

McGrew said railroad workers told deputies Chambers was checking a train when another southbound train passed by him.

"The force of the southbound train going by pushed him into the train," McGrew said. "He was blown into his own train, causing his injuries."

Chambers was taken by helicopter to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, where he was listed in critical condition this morning.

Barnes said he could not provide more specific information about what Chambers was doing at the time of the incident.

Both McGrew and Barnes said no other persons were injured.

"The incident in under investigation," Barnes said. "Whenever there is an incident involving an employee, we perform our own investigation."

McGrew said the sheriff's office doesn't typically investigate work-related injuries unless there is reason to believe there was criminal activity.

Barnes said regular operations have resumed for the railroad on the Tuscola line. - The Urbana/Champaign News-Gazette

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NORTH PLATTE FAMILY LANDLOCKED WHILE UPRR REPAIRS UNDERWAY

NORTH PLATTE, NE -- If you’ve ever felt frustrated waiting for a long train to clear a grade crossing, then pity the Clint Schafer family.

The Schafers are wondering just how long it will be until they can get to and from their home again.

A Lincoln County District Judge ruled Wednesday that the Union Pacific Railroad had the right to close the only road that leads to the Schafer’s home, farm and bed and breakfast for an undetermined time to repair the tracks.

Judge Don Rowlands ruled that there was sufficient remedy for any loss of their corn or alfalfa crop or revenue from their bed and breakfast with a lawsuit in court.

Rowlands gave the Schafers 180 days, long after the growing season has ended, to amend the lawsuit against the railroad to collect damages.

North Platte attorney George Clough, who represented the Schafers, said there was “no question” that they would sue for damages next fall.

Can’t go home again

UP planned to close Game Trail Road, in Lincoln County between North Platte and Hershey, for temporary maintenance. That road is the only access Schafer and his family have to their residence, farm and game preserve.

The railroad also plans to close Lincoln Patterson Road (Hwy. 56) and Wild Rose Road.

The Schafers aren’t sure how long UP plans to keep the road closed, but it could be up to a week. They were worried since they received no official word from the railroad about when the closure will take place or how long.

The Schafers were granted a temporary restraining order preventing the repair and closing May 11. A hearing was held Wednesday.

In their lawsuit, the Schafers said the only word they received is from Lincoln County Roads Superintendent Dwight Englert, who told them the closure was to begin Wednesday May 16 and continue at least through Wednesday May 23. They also saw a small posting on the bulletin board at Gary’s Super Foods in Hershey.

And that, according to Clough, is not proper notification.

Schafer is a podiatrist who also ranches off Game Trail Road between North Platte and Hershey.
Schafer’s land is less than a mile south of Highway 30.

To get there, Schafer must cross a UP grade crossing.

The lawsuit says Game Trail Road is the only way the Schafer family can get to and from the land. If the railroad closes the grade crossing, there is no way in or out.

Schafer’s lawsuit said he and his family would suffer irreparable damages if the crossing is closed without arrangements made for alternative access.

As of now, Schafer says, there is none.

Schafer’s lawsuit also said that the damages would include loss of use of his property and damages by not being able to perform necessary scheduled farming and harvesting operations from a lack of access and will interfere with his and his family’s employment without interruption.

Schafer’s lawsuit also says the railroad’s closure of the only road to his house will damage his bed and breakfast by preventing him from providing accommodations to people who want to use it.

In fact, the lawsuit says, Schafer has already had to cancel reservations people made during the time of the prospective closure since he couldn’t assure them they could come and go from the preserve as they please.

The law

The railroad is replacing track along 8 miles of track in the area.

According to UP attorney Raymond Hasiak, 200 workers and equipment that cost the railroad more than $400,000 a day to lease is sitting idle, waiting to begin work while the lawyers wrangle.

The Schafers said the Nebraska Department of Roads has jurisdiction over Game Trail Road and that state statute indicates that “the railroad track owner shall be responsible for coordinating all necessary detours, traffic control and temporary crossings.” The rule further provides that the design, application, installation and maintenance of detours and temporary crossing shall be of specific required standards.

The lawsuit says the railroad is required to place signs two weeks in advance of a closure notifying the public of the dates of the closure and the expected duration of the closure. He said no such sign or notice was posted anywhere near the crossing as required.

“The only signs the Schafers ever saw was on the bulletin board at the grocery store,” Clough said.

In the hearing May 16, Clough argued that the closure to Schafer’s property caused harm because he is currently planting corn and expects to begin to harvest alfalfa within the next week or two.

“Planting time is upon us,” Clough said. “We’ve had a wet spring and if we wait, we risk losing the crop in a fall freeze.”

Clough also said Schafer could be called into the hospital and would need to get there quickly.

Clough argued that the use of the railroad’s access road was not an option because there would be equipment 16-feet wide on the one-lane road and it would be impassable.

“The repair train is more than one mile long and only repairs about a mile of track a day,” Clough said. “Using the railroad’s right-of-way is not an option since the road will be filled with loaders, backhoes and other equipment.”

Clough argued that it is the railroad’s responsibility to notify residents properly when access to their homes will be interrupted, and to provide a detour.

Hasiak argued that Schafer has discussed the repair with the railroad’s contractors as early as three weeks ago and that he had plenty of notice.

Hasiak also argued that Schafer had access to his ranch through the property of his neighbor to the west, William Brunz, until Brunz realized that providing access for Schafer would benefit the railroad. Brunz then rescinded permission for Schafer to use the property to access his own.

“We find that rather disingenuous,” Hasiak said.

Hasiak said Schafer had longstanding permission to use the railroad’s right-of-way from UP agent Bob Morrison.

And Hasiak said the contractors have even agreed to provide a shuttle car for the Schafers to use until the repair crew moves away from the Game Trail Road crossing.

“He would only have to park on one side and walk 50 to 75 feet on the other, then take the shuttle car provided to reach his home,” Hasiak said.

Hasiak said the tracks in the area are a significant public safety issue since soda ash from the rail cars has shorted out the electrical system. He said that puts cars and other trains at risk since signals could be interrupted.

“And it could cause more trains to be parked on the crossing there than necessary,” Hasiak said.
“If there is irreparable harm, it is not on the doctor, it is on the railroad,” Hasiak said. He said delaying the work costs UP $14,000 per hour.

Hasiak asked the Schafers to put up $1.75 million in bond should the temporary restraining order become permanent.

They had posted a $50 bond when they filed the lawsuit. It was returned after the hearing.

Rowlands ruled that since there was an adequate remedy through the courts for the Schafers, the maintenance could begin. - Frank Graham, The North Platte Bulletin

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DO OR DIE TIME FOR THE TSRR

Do or die: We must support current plans for the Texas State Railroad or see the train shutdown

These are critical days for the Texas State Railroad. As the 80th Legislature comes to an end, we must finalize a way to keep the train running or it will be converted to a static display in September. The good news is that the Legislature has already approved an authorization to let a partnership of the cities of Rusk and Palestine lease out operations of the railroad.

Understandably, some would rather see the train continue to operate as a state park. Unfortunately, this appears to no longer be an option. Even if the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department receives every cent of the sporting goods tax, its plans to shutdown the Texas State Railroad will not change.

From day one as your state senator, I have pursued funding for state operation of the Texas State Railroad. However, knowing what a challenge that would be, I also supported the efforts of local leaders to find an alternate operator for the train. Now in the final days of the legislative session, we have two options: an alternate operator or a static display. At this point in time, to advocate against the transfer of the railroad is to argue for its demise.

I thank all the citizens of East Texas who have worked so hard to keep the Texas State Railroad running, and I encourage all those passionate about the train to come together and support those laying a groundwork to keep the train open for generations to come. The partnership between Rusk and Palestine is not the best option to save the train; it is the only option.

It is sad that Texas State Railroad will no longer be an operational state park. However, I am optimistic that local citizens will seize this opportunity to invest in this piece of history in their own backyard. I ask that you join our efforts to preserve this Texas treasure. - Robert Nichols, The Jacksonville (TX) Daily Progress (Senator Robert Nichols represents Senate District 3 which includes the Texas State Railroad.)

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PARKS BUDGET READY TO BE RAISED; NUMBERS FALL SHORT

AUSTIN, TX -- Once upon a time, OK, about two weeks ago, I gave the pessimistic prediction that no matter what was coming out of the mouths of politicians in Austin, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was not going to get $100 million-plus to spend on parks.

I hate to say I told you so, but well ... I told you so. The House and the Senate are still working out the final numbers. However, the Senate has taken the lead in this issue, and while the House had voted to lift the ceiling on the infamous sporting goods tax, they appear more than willing to follow the senators’ more tight-fisted suggestions.

Reports last week were that a budget compromise could up the parks department’s annual budget from $56 million to close to $85 million. However, as is often the case in Austin political things aren’t as they always seem. Hang around and watch that money disappear.

Part of that $85 million would have to come from the department itself, most likely in the form of increased entrance fees. The initial concern is that parks may soon be charging kids to raise what some have said would be about $8 million of the $85 million.

There have also been some suggestions that the department needs to hit the streets and beg for grant money and donations from foundations and other sources. Maybe corporate sponsorship such as the Coca-Cola Battleship Texas or Wells Fargo Enchanted Rock might add revenue.

Don’t get me wrong, $85 million annually is a chunk of money. The problem is that the parks are in such a state of disrepair, both fiscally and physically. It is way short of what is needed for the department to climb out of a chronic hole that has been created by legislative actions and non-actions for decades. The non-action has been the lack of sufficient funding. Those actions have been a long list of mandates from pay raises to park locations that have been handed down through the years without funding.

Part of that $85 million must also go into a local park fund that is doled out to cities and counties. There goes another chunk.

Texas ranks 49th in per capita state park funding.

Just across the border Arkansas has been creating a gem of a state park system. It is only an eighth of the size of Texas in park acreage and only about half the number of facilities, but Arkansas’ staff is similar in size and its budget is double what TPWD currently is allowed to spend on parks.

How does Arkansas do it? With a dedicated sales tax that goes into the park system and is not siphoned for other state operations. The payback: the Arkansas state park system is opened to its citizens for free.

Two weeks ago I suggested for its own good that maybe parks needs to be separated from fish and game. My thought was parks might get more attention from a commission that is more interested in its situation and has more time to spend on solving its problems. I suggested the Department of Commerce’s tourism division. Surprisingly, parks employees wrote saying they would not mind being a part of Department of Transportation. Then there is also the idea of making parks its own agency. There would be smaller agencies within the state government, and making it a stand-alone department would be a return its roots prior to the 1960s.

There is already a clue in the legislature that this isn’t a bad idea.

The department is continuing to hold a fire sale on properties it can’t support. In recent years it has transferred parks from the state system to local agencies. The list includes sites as diverse as the Gov. Hogg Shrine Historic Site in Quitman and the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredricksburg. It appears that the Texas State Railroad will soon join this list.

Also being jettisoned are 18 historic sites that are being moved from parks to the Texas Historical Commission. Legislation was wrapped up on a bill approving the transfer last Friday.
Included in that list are Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site near Alto, the Starr Family Home in Marshall and the Sam Maxey Bell House in Paris.

The kicker is that the Historic Commission is going to receive 6 percent (about $7 million) of the sporting goods sales tax money that TPWD has fought so hard for since the 1990s. It is also requesting an additional $33 million in funds for capital repairs to the sites.

“They’re underdeveloped and not taken care of to the degree we think good stewards would do,” said Larry Oaks, executive director of the Historical Commission. That is a jab that is going to be felt in the side of TPWD staffers, but should in fact be deflected toward legislators.

If they get the funding, look for the Historical Commission to get more historic sites from the department, and more of the funding in the future.

I will never understand the arrogance of this and legislatures from the past that have capped a fund that voters approved. If funded, TPWD could do just as well with the parks and historical sites as any other state agency. The truth, it appears, is it will never receive all the funds whether it is because of arrogance, ignorance or hard-headedness.

Looking at the molly coddling the Historic Commission is receiving is proof that the money and support is there, it just isn’t with TPWD in charge. - Steve Knight, The Tyler Morning Telegraph

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STUDENTS LINE UP TO RIDE THE RAILS

Photo here:

[www.bakercityherald.com]

Caption reads: Conductor Phil Handzel punches the train ticket of Treiquella Osborne, 10, a fourth-grade student from Monument. The Sumpter Valley Railroad is hosting 19 school groups -- nearly 700 students -- this year for field trips. The railroad opens to the public Saturday. (Baker City Herald/Kathy Orr)

Karen Spencer can't stop thinking about gold.

And cabooses.

And the narrow-gauge railroad that will, in less than a week, deliver hundreds of school-age children to the Sumpter Dredge State Heritage area.

"We have 700 to 800 kids in six days," Spencer, park ranger at the Sumpter Dredge, says as she watches her current charges browse through the gift shop.

On Monday, the Sumpter Valley Railroad stoked up the historic steam locomotive to transport students -- a group from Monument and one from Riley -- from McEwen Station to the Sumpter Dredge.

After a tour of the engine, the youth climbed aboard to settle in either the coach car or the caboose -- both heated by woodstoves to ward off the wintry chill.

The SVRR will host 19 school groups this year by the time the railroad opens for the season this Saturday. While many come back year after year -- Amity, Milton-Freewater and Baker schools, to name a few -- about seven are making their first trip aboard the historic train.

During the ride to Sumpter, as the train rumbled though dredge piles and budding willows, Conductor Phil Handzel gave the students a bit of history about the railroad.

A railroad track was built from Baker City to McEwen by 1891, and made it to Sumpter by 1896.
Hauling logs was the train's main purpose.

"Passengers and freight were really a sideline," Handzel said.

The railroad ceased operation in 1947.

More than 20 years later, in 1970, a group of Baker County residents formed a non-profit organization to revitalize the historic railroad.

But first they had to find the locomotive and cars that had been sold to various railroads from Alaska to South America.

"They had to go out and find everything," Handzel said.

The first to return was the No. 3 Heisler locomotive, which was found in Cascade, Idaho, in 1971.

A couple flat cars were brought in during the next years, and in 1977 the White Pass & Yukon Railroad gave the SVRR engines No. 19 and 20 -- but it took $25,000 to bring the locomotives to Eastern Oregon, and $300,000 to rebuild.

And everything was done by the power of volunteers.

"What you're seeing is thousands of hours of volunteer work," Handzel told the kids.

And anyone can become a member -- and volunteer -- of the Sumpter Valley Railroad.

"All you need is enthusiasm," Handzel said.

Gold fever

When the train pulled into Sumpter, the tour groups disembarked and learned about a different history — mining for gold.

To get the kids ready for their lesson in gold panning, Spencer asked this question:

"What do you yell when you find gold?"

"Yee-haw!" came the reply.

Spencer grinned, then said that sounds more like a cowboy than a miner.

"You say ‘Eureka!'" she said, then encouraged the youth to give a practice yell.

When the Monument students finally got to dip pans into tubs of icy water to find gold and garnets -- under the instruction of volunteer park host Norm Swanson -- they were too busy searching for flakes of yellow to shout that word.

Treila Osborne, who teaches first and second grade at Monument, carried stones from the students' pans to Swanson.

"Um, looks like a rock, just a rock," Swanson said after taking a close look at the chunk of gravel in Osborne's palm.

Gold panning, Swanson told the kids, is kind of tedious work.

"Can you imagine standing in a river and doing this all day long? Man, that'd be terrible," he said.

You can ride the Sumpter Valley Railroad from McEwen to Sumpter or Sumpter to McEwen -- it just depends on where you want to buy the tickets.

Here's a tip for this weekend when hundreds of people will flock to Sumpter for the Memorial Day flea market: park at McEwen and ride the train to Sumpter to avoid weaving a car through the crowds.

And this year, for the first time, the historic steam train will be able to cross Austin Street in Sumpter and passengers can disembark at the Sumpter Depot.

Though the depot has been in place for three years, the permit to cross Austin Street was not complete until October 2006.

"This'll be the first season the train actually services the depot," said Karen Spencer, park ranger at the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area.

Austin Street is 3-1/2 miles of trails that wind through the tailings and ponds. - Lisa Britton, The Baker City (OR) Herald

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TRAINS, AIRCRAFT TO SHUTTLE FOOTBALL FANS

Photo here:

[media.star-telegram.com]

ARLINGTON, TX -- North Texas' winning 2011 Super Bowl bid included dazzling new ways to move people around the Metroplex during the week of the big game. Among them: temporary passenger rail service in Arlington and the use of Bell Helicopter's V-22 Osprey to ferry people to and from events.

"I'm trying to create a World's Fair atmosphere for the game," said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. "You can come by car, shuttle bus or two trains."

The council of governments is negotiating with Union Pacific Railroad for the use of tracks parallel to Division Street in Arlington, making it possible for people to take a train to the stadium from downtown Fort Worth or downtown Dallas. A special train platform would be built on a railroad spur near Stadium Drive, just south of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, about a five- to 10-minute walk to the football stadium.

The Trinity Railway Express, which runs from Fort Worth to Dallas on tracks just north of Arlington, also would be used throughout the week.

Bell Helicopter has agreed to provide commercial versions of the V-22 during game week, Morris said. It's not known whether the tilt-rotor aircraft will be available to the public or just to VIPs, or whether they would be allowed into restricted air space on Super Bowl Sunday. But they'll be there in some capacity.

Shuttle bus lots will be set up at places such as Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie, and buses will have a lane only for their use on area freeways and side roads.

"Those buses will be behind cones or Jersey barriers to get to their destinations without queuing up in traffic," Morris said. Automobile commuters will lose a lane.

Super Bowl shuffle

Much of the road work that will help traffic flow is expected to be completed by 2009.

A new Texas 161 toll road parallel to congested Texas 360 is under construction and scheduled to be complete by 2010. The toll road will connect to the President George Bush Turnpike, making it possible for people as far away as Plano and Garland to cut 15 minutes or more off their trips to Arlington.

Interstate 30 is getting a facelift, including median TollTag lanes stretching from Dallas to the stadium, and new bridges at Arlington's entertainment district. The contractor will have incentives to finish the Baird Farm Road overpass by 2009.

On Texas 360, the Division Street overpass will be rebuilt, providing access to the stadium from the east. The project includes a new railroad bridge, which will have room for a commuter rail line. - Gordon Dickson, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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CABOOSE IS BOUND FOR GLORY

Photo here:

[images.stltoday.com]

Caption reads: Alex Knoll carries plywood past the 33 year old caboose that his father, Ed, is moving from Betty Bullock backyard in Alton to his farm in Fults, Illinois. (Odell Mitchell Jr./St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

ALTON, IL -- With its red paint fading and wooden exterior crumbling, the 1900-era caboose in Betty Bullock's backyard was a long way from its glory days.

Operators long ago stopped resting on its floor; hitchhikers haven't skimmed a ride off its back in decades. And until Tuesday, it hadn't moved for three decades.

On that day, the rail car took what may be its final trip atop a flatbed truck headed south to Monroe County.

The caboose is expected to find new life -- and regain a bit of its turn-of-the-century luster -- on a farm near Fults, where it will be restored.

The full-size caboose had been a fixture in Bullock's yard in Alton since 1974. She got it from a friend who had a railroad contracting business and turned it into a private clubhouse.

"It was just something I wanted," she said. "It was fun. All the neighborhood kids used to play in it."

Bullock and her husband moved to Alton from Missouri in the early '70s, and the caboose came with them.

When it first arrived, it was the scourge of the neighborhood and became a hot topic at City Hall. Eventually, it was accepted. By some, even adored.

As the caboose was carted off Tuesday, several neighbors and friends watched and waved goodbye.

But now, Bullock's children are grown, and the once-shiny caboose that filled her boys' imaginations had been taking up space in the backyard. This train had passed her by.

Her son Sam Bullock helped it move on. He placed an ad on the website craigslist.com offering the caboose for free to anyone willing to haul it away. He was flooded with offers, he said.

Bullock wanted a good home for the caboose that he played in as a boy and partied in as a teenager.

"It will be strange not having it," Sam Bullock, 32, said.

Ed Knoll, a train enthusiast from Ladue, is the new owner. The caboose's new home will be on his son's 150 acre-farm in Fults -- "up on a hill, overlooking a pond," he said.

He has original drawings of the caboose and plans to remake it in that image.

"It will be as close to authentic as possible," Knoll said.

In the early days, the caboose was pulled on freight trains on the New York Central Railroad. Knoll said he used to play with New York Central cars as a kid.

"Now I can have the big one," he said.

The move took months to plan. Bolin Services Inc. of Florissant handled the transport.

"Never moved a railroad car," one truck driver said Tuesday.

Knoll's two grown sons helped him set up the move.

What does his wife think?

"She thinks I'm crazy," Knoll said. - Nicholas J.C. Pistor, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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PACIFIC NORTHWEST PORTS ENCOURAGED TO WORK TOGETHER

PORTLAND, OR -- The Pacific Northwest's wide open spaces, sparsely peopled but thick with mountains, make it an attractive place but also a difficult place to conduct trade.

The successes thus far have relied on local ports primarily as a link in the larger global supply chain. About 70 percent of international cargo coming into the region is intermodal:
transferred to trains heading toward bigger inland markets such as Chicago, rather than put on trucks.

That dominance of discretionary cargo -- which can use any port as its entry point so long as it gets to the destination city -- makes the Pacific Northwest ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Portland highly susceptible to the caprices of the market: If costs rise beyond a certain point, then shippers simply dial another port along the coast.

The remoteness and relative lack of population density may turn off shippers looking to eke profits out of economies of scale, but they have also given the ports of Tacoma, Portland and Vancouver, Washington, an added bonus found wanting in Seattle and Southern California: land.

That is why the Pacific Northwest's slack performance last year puzzled industry leaders debating the future of regional rail-borne trade at the Northwest Intermodal Conference earlier this week, presented by Marine Digest & Cargo Business News and sponsored by the Port of Portland.

"With currently underutilized facilities and larger expansion potential, why is Southern California growing faster than the Pacific Northwest?" asked Marine Terminals Corp. Chief Executive Doug Tilden.

Last year, intermodal cargo jumped 13 percent through the Southern Californian ports while slipping 3 percent through the ports of Tacoma and Seattle.

The answer, many industry leaders said, is that it is more convenient and cost-effective to ship through ports with large local markets, and there are enough smaller ports angling for a niche that competition for scraps is fierce.

Plenty of like-sized alternatives to Seattle, Tacoma and Portland are available: to the north, Vancouver, BC, and soon Prince Rupert, and to the south Oakland, California, and the Mexican port of Ensenada.

The best hope for the Pacific Northwest, conference speakers said, is to work together.

That is a difficult charge in an industry sliced and diced a thousand ways: importers, exporters, shippers, carriers, truckers, railways, terminal operators, freight forwarders, brokers, stevedores and all of the connective tissue in between.

But if the Pacific Northwest wants to capture some part of the doubling in West Coast trade volumes expected by 2020, Seattle and Tacoma port officials said, private sector partners will need to band together with the public sector to improve the underlying infrastructure that supports intermodal trade: the train tracks between the Northwest and the Midwest.

Seattle has been lucky, to a degree. The main rail company serving the Pacific Northwest, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, is investing heavily in the Seattle International Gateway yard next to the stadiums south of downtown.

Fred Melesa, BNSF's vice president of international intermodal marketing, said the installation of wide-span cranes would help the SIG yard, as it is known, triple its lift capacity to 1 million lifts.

Part of the reason they are investing here, he said, was the expectation of a 38 percent increase in the region's population by 2030. But, he said, BNSF's investments in its Logistics Park in Chicago should also be seen as investment in the Pacific Northwest.

Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF appeared bullish about the region's prospects; Union Pacific cited growth in trade from China, limited truck and highway capacity, regional growth and energy prices as tipping in the Pacific Northwest's favor. It is part of a national boom for the rail operators surfing the wave of international cargo; high demand has allowed them to raise their rates to buy new rail cars.

But in the Pacific Northwest, as elsewhere in the country, the railroads have dug in their heels on their territories; BNSF controls most of the regional market and is now likely to receive $25 million from Gov. Chris Gregoire for the crowning of Stampede Pass to allow double-stacked trains to run through the tunnel.

It is also a relatively rare occurrence when a public agency invests public dollars in a private facility for the benefit of one company, and it is still up in the air what the state might require from BNSF in exchange.

Some hope that BNSF will be compelled to allow Union Pacific running rights on the Stampede Pass line, which would loosen the stranglehold BNSF has on much of the Northwest market and its rail rates while allowing more cargo to flow through the region.

Stampede Pass is currently used for overflow from BNSF's main east-west lines, Stevens Pass and the Columbia River Gorge routes. BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said the company runs an average of six or seven trains in a 24-hour period on its Stampede Pass line.

Jeannie Beckett, the Port of Tacoma's senior director of inland transportation, said the port has been trying to encourage competitive rail rates by makings port investments "neutral" or of equal value for competing rail companies. - Kristen Millares Bolt, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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ARCATA SELLS HISTORIC LOCOMOTIVE TO TIMBER HERITAGE ASSOCIATION

Photo here:

[www.eurekareporter.com]

Caption reads: The Timber Heritage Association added this historic locomotive to its collection after purchasing it for $1 from the city of Arcata. (File photo)

ARCATA, CA -- The Timber Heritage Association will officially add another historic locomotive to its collection, for the bargain price of just $1.

Last week, the Arcata City Council responded to a request for assistance from the volunteer-run THA by authorizing city staff to draw up an agreement for the sale of the city’s Shay No. 7 locomotive for $1.

With the transfer of ownership, the THA will assume responsibility for the locomotive’s relocation from its current home in the THA’s Glendale storage yard to the historic Hammond Roundhouse in Samoa.

At the end of last year, the Glendale property was sold, leaving the THA without a home for its timber artifacts and steam locomotives. It negotiated a short-term lease with the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District for the Samoa roundhouse, but the relocation process has been a lengthy one, and the Glendale property owner is getting “anxious,” THA President Marcus Brown told the City Council last Wednesday.

The five steam locomotives, including the Shay No. 7, are the last items to move, he added, because they’re physically the most difficult -- and consequently the most costly, carrying an estimated price tag in the neighborhood of $30,000.

On Monday, THA board member Gerry Tomczak said local construction firm Mercer-Fraser Co. agreed to arrange and complete the move, probably within the next several weeks.

“We have had significant community support for all of our projects,” he said. Mercer-Fraser was also involved in the original construction of the railroad, he noted, making its involvement in this stage of its history that much more meaningful.

The Shay No. 7 locomotive, a 50-ton steam engine built in 1918, was purchased by the Arcata and Mad River Railroad in the early 1940s to haul logs and lumber out of Korbel and on the 10-mile Northern Redwood Lumber Co. railroad.

A little more than a decade later, the Simpson Timber Co. donated the Shay No. 7 to the city of Arcata, which has since then retained ownership of the engine — except for its three-year stint as a tourist train in the early 1970s. The locomotive was displayed in a city park before it was housed in a storage building (which subsequently burned down) and finally lodged in its current resting place.

The THA has taken responsibility for painting the locomotive and “keeping the rust at bay,” Tomczak said, but full operational restoration of the engine could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The group would like to work toward its restoration, he added, as well as toward the creation of a public museum and even a tourist train around Humboldt Bay. To that end, it hopes to negotiate a long-term arrangement with the Harbor District.

“What we like about Samoa is the synergy of being with the Cookhouse and the Maritime Museum,” he said.

The sheer number of local items in the THA collection make it unique, Brown told the council; other communities often purchase artifacts and engines from outside of the area.

But here, he said, “It’s all our local history.”

The council -- with the exception of Councilmember Alex Stillman, who abstained because of her involvement in the THA Advisory Council -- unanimously agreed the project was a worthy one.

“We think that the number 7 Shay locomotive is a significant portion of our history and we definitely want to preserve that,” Tomczak said. - Rebecca S. Bender, The Eureka Reporter

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AMTRAK BLAMES UNION PACIFIC FOR DELAYS

KANSAS CITY, MO -- Amtrak resumed full service from Kansas City to St. Louis on Wednesday, but only after scolding the Union Pacific railway for not adequately clearing its tracks for passenger trains.

The Missouri Department of Transportation and Amtrak took the unusual step Wednesday of calling out Union Pacific, blaming Amtrak service interruptions on the way Union Pacific handled flooding on another of its Missouri tracks.

“Amtrak passengers have been shortchanged this month, having to endure slow service and canceled trains because Union Pacific is not providing sufficient track access,” said Rod Massman, railroad administrator for MoDOT.

“Union Pacific has certainly had a challenging month, but rail passengers have been treated like second-class citizens while UP’s freight schedule has used nearly all available track time.”

Union Pacific spokesman James Barnes said Wednesday that Union Pacific was surprised by the relatively “naive assessment” and “strident tone” reflected in the statements issued by MoDOT and Amtrak.

“We would hope going forward that any communications during such challenging times can be more conciliatory and reflect greater understanding of the enormity of the obstacles that had to be overcome to restore service,” Barnes said.

MoDOT said Amtrak service was disrupted because Union Pacific sent heavy traffic over its track through Sedalia after flood damage to its freight-only route farther north.

As a result, Union Pacific diverted 25 to 30 trains a day onto the tracks that Amtrak uses to get to St. Louis through Sedalia and Warrensburg.

Massman said problems arose when Union Pacific wouldn’t give Amtrak trains priority as required by federal law. Amtrak faced delays of four to five hours.

Barnes said Wednesday that Union Pacific takes its commitments seriously.

“This outage had a huge impact on both passenger and freight service, and our employees worked very diligently to restore service as efficiently and as safely as possible,” he said. “Their efforts to overcome disruptions caused by Mother Nature benefit both freight and passenger service.” - Brad Cooper, The Kansas City Star

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CN RAIL CEO SAYS RAIL INDUSTRY WILL LOOK OUTSIDE CORE BUSINESS FOR FUTURE GROWTH

TORONTO, ON -- Thinning options for North America’s railway industry could mean that major rail companies will look outside their core business to expand, according to the president and CEO of Canadian National Railway Co. (TSX:CNR).

Hunter Harrison told the beginning of a two-day analyst conference on Wednesday that he believes CN Rail would benefit from being able "to control more of the links in the logistics chain."

He outlined a lack of synergy in the rail industry.

"You’ve got one person doing the loading and unloading. You’ve got another railroad switching it," he said in a speech. "Those models don’t work because everyone is trying to accomplish something different."

Harrison, who said he will retire in three years, predicted that the changes will reach the rail industry in several years, though he doesn’t expect CN Rail to be "doing something tomorrow."

"I can see this company post-Harrison doing a lot of exciting things like this and I certainly would support it as a shareholder," he said.

In the short term, Harrison said there are still "niche acquisitions" in the railway industry that he’s interested in, despite a shrinking number of possible acquisitions.

"Are the opportunities at one point gonna dry up? Yes. I don’t know that there’s going to be a new railway built," he said.

"If we can acquire one at the right price we would still be in that market." - The Canadian Press, The Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal

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TRANSIT NEWS

POWER RESTORED TO METRORAIL AFTER BRIEF OUTAGE

HOUSTON, TX -- Power to MetroRail was restored this morning after a brief outage between the Preston Station and Ensemble Station. Passengers were transported by bus between UH-Downtown and Wheeler Station until power was restored.

Metro was investigating what may have caused the outage. - The Houston Chronicle

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HIGHLINE LIGHT RAIL ON BALLOT

Photo here:

[www.highlinetimes.com]

Caption reads: The proposed Sound Transit 2 package would extend light rail from SeaTac through Des Moines, Federal Way and Fife to the Tacoma Dome, where it would connect with Tacoma's existing light rail system. (Photo courtesy of Sound Transit)

SEATTLE, WA -- Highline figures prominently in the Sound Transit 2 package proposed recently by the agency's board of directors.

If approved by voters, the Sound Transit 2 package, which carries a $10.9 billion price tag, would be financed through a regional sales tax increase of 0.5 percent, or an additional 5 cents on a $10 purchase

It would extend light rail from SeaTac through Des Moines, Federal Way and Fife to the Tacoma Dome, where it would connect with Tacoma's existing light rail system.

A Road & Transit ballot measure backed by Sound Transit and the Regional Transportation Investment District, comprised of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, will appear on the November ballot.

Transportation district projects for the ballot measure will be finalized in June.

Sound Transit 2 also would add light rail service north from the University of Washington via Northgate and Shoreline to Mountlake Terrace.

In addition, it would extend light rail across Lake Washington to Mercer Island, Bellevue and Redmond's Microsoft and Overlake Transit Center areas, and Downtown Redmond if sufficient funds are available.

The proposed light rail expansions would add 50 new miles of light rail in the region's busiest transportation corridors, operating 20 hours a day, with service every few minutes during peak times.

Stations on the line would be transit hubs where buses feed riders onto the rail system.

Sound Transit officials say the package is projected to ease pressures on the region's road network by increasing the number of people who use the regional transit system every day to an estimated 351,000 by 2030, or more than 100 million a year.

Approval of the final plan documents by the Sound Transit board is expected at a May 24 meeting. This summer the board will adopt the ballot measure that is submitted to regional election authorities.

In addition to the light rail expansions, the Sound Transit 2 plan would:

Add parking at Sounder commuter rail and ST Express bus facilities.

Fund planning studies for potential high-capacity transit extensions in future phases, which could include Downtown Seattle-West Seattle-Burien and Burien to Renton.

Build a new streetcar in downtown Seattle connecting the International District, First Hill and Capitol Hill areas.

Information on the Sound Transit 2 projects is available at www.soundtransit.org/st2. Information on the proposed Roads & Transit projects is available at [www.roadsandtransit.org]. - The Highline Times & The Des Moines News (Burien, WA)

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POSTER PROMOTES LIGHT RAIL

VANCOUVER, WA -- Nearly three dozen Vancouver businesses are jumping into the mass transit debate on the side of light rail.

Vancouver Businesses for Smart Transportation, as the group calls itself, has signed up 35 businesses that favor light rail for the planned new bridge over the Columbia River. The group also supports Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard's plan to cover Interstate 5 through downtown.

"It will make us more connected to downtown Portland, and connect Portland with downtown Vancouver," said Joanie Sather, a Wallis Engineering employee and the group's president. "But the big thing is not adding more traffic."

The bistate Columbia River Crossing task force is evaluating both light rail and bus rapid transit as a mass transit component for a proposed new bridge. The draft environmental impact statement, to be ready by the end of the year, will look at one route along the east side of Interstate 5 and another along Main Street, both terminating at a park-and-ride lot north of 39th Street.

Light rail remains an expensive and controversial mass transit option. Cost of the bridge project -- mass transit included -- hasn't been set but could reach $6 billion. Supporters hope the federal government will pay a portion, bridge tolls may be imposed as may some type of local tax, but so far, no clear source of money has been found.

A few employees at Wallis Engineering, 317 Columbia St., started Vancouver Businesses for Smart Transportation last winter. They felt light-rail opponents received more coverage in the media and wanted to demonstrate that light rail had supporters downtown. The group counts among its backers Pollard, who has been vocal in his support for light rail and the advantages of connecting to Portland's existing system.

The campaign for members was a low-tech effort, no Web sites or blogs. They merely signed up members by visiting shops downtown and in Uptown Village. They plan to lobby the Columbia River Crossing task force and the Vancouver City Council.

Members of the organization were also enticed by the offer of a poster. The image, an oil painting of a streetcar, has the company's name followed by "? supports light rail to Vancouver."

No decision has been made on a line or route, but some members hoped to see light-rail trains go north from downtown Vancouver to Uptown Village. Such a line, a member said, would bring new customers.

"I've seen it transform neighborhoods in Portland," said Chris Jochum, owner of Urban Eccentric on Main Street, a vintage clothing store. "Interstate's a good example. That whole neighborhood is alive with people and pedestrians and shops. I don't see any negative to light rail."

Cost has always been a factor among opponents. But Sather, of Wallis Engineering, said members of the organization know the cost will be high.

"It's obvious," she said. "But it's not that costly considering what Portland already put in to it. I own property in downtown Vancouver and I think it would be hugely beneficial. I'd be willing to pay for it." - Don Hamilton, The Columbian (Vancouver, WA)

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METRO-NORTH BEGINS REPAIRS ON POPULAR BAR CARS

Photo here:

[imgsrv.1010wins.com]

STAMFORD, CT -- It's closing time -- but only temporarily -- for a few of the popular, aging bar cars on commuter trains between Connecticut and New York.

The state Department of Transportation has begun refurbishing the popular train cars to last a few more years until new ones arrive as part of the next-generation fleet for Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line.

"The bar cars have always had strong support from our customers," said Peter Richter, bureau chief of the DOT's rail division.

The New Haven Line is one of the nation's last commuter railroads to offer bar-car service during evening rush-hour. The cars serve alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks and snacks and feature lounge seating.

The cars, which are more than 30 years old, have developed a strong following, including its own Web site, [www.barcar.com].

Metro-North removed bar cars from the Hudson and Harlem lines to add more seats, but Connecticut kept the rolling pubs. Last month, two of the state's 10 bar cars were taken off the tracks for repairs, Richter said. The trains will be back by early June, a spokeswoman said.

The cars will be refurbished as part of an effort to replace electrical components, floors, bathrooms and seats on the New Haven Line's oldest trains. The cars also will be repainted.

The state Department of Transportation has not determined when it will refurbish the other bar cars, Richter said. Bar car enthusiasts praised the state's decision, saying the cars need the repairs.

"Sometimes there are broken doors and broken bar sections, and people try to fix them," said Tom Skinner, a commuter from Westport and founder of barcar.com. "People try not to complain because they don't want to lose them. It seems like once they're off the tracks, they never appear again."

The first new rail cars for the New Haven Line are expected to be delivered beginning in two years, with new bar cars expected in 2012. - The Associated Press, The Stamford Advocate

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