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Railroad Newsline for Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

DM&E MAKES WHISTLE STOP IN PIERRE

PIERRE, SD -- Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railway president Kevin Schieffer took time during Monday's visit to the Pierre and Fort Pierre Rotary Club to dispel what he says are the myths surrounding the railroad's expansion through South Dakota.

"We weren't just sitting out in a corn field one day and came up with this idea to build this extension on our line," said Schieffer. "It came about because the electric and utility industry came to us."

According to Schieffer, when the expansion idea was brought to the DM&E, projections from the utility industry showed a lacking rail service, needed to move its product.

The expansion will bring the DM&E to Class I freight classification and will make the DM&E the first railroad to reach that distinction in almost 50 years.

A Class I railroad, as defined by the Association of American Railroads, has an operating revenue exceeding $319.3 million.

Also fueling the project is its "big picture" effects, said Schieffer, since the rail is in a unique position to actually gain marketshare from the trucking industry.

"That pendulum has swung for the first time in the last 10 years. The cost of gas and energy prices have escalated so much that railroads are much more efficient than trucks, and they're much safer than trucks," said Schieffer. "(The railroad) is a mode of transportation that is experiencing something of a renaissance on the national level."

And while many opponents of the DM&E's project have been vocal about the problems that may be created by the expansion, Schieffer said it's the congestion on interstate highways, largely brought on by trucks, that has created significant transportation problems across the country.

Schieffer also explained the national significance of the project in light of the diminishing amount of railroad track across the country during a time when demand for more rail service is increasing.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, freight traffic will grow more than two-thirds by 2020, which is why the Association of American Railroads announced in March that U.S. Class I freight railroads would spend more than $8.3 billion in laying new track, buying new equipment and improving railroad infrastructure this year.

According to AAR, this is a 21 percent increase from last year and shatters the previous record for infrastructure spending in one year.

Schieffer said one of the unique advantages to making improvements to the DM&E rail line is that it is the only railroad to have access to all Class I railroads and is the largest contiguous Class II railroad.

DM&E's revenue has grown from $50 million a year to $250 million a year, which is something that Schieffer attributed much to the state's ethanol and bio-fuel facilities.

Schieffer said DM&E has gone from carrying just 280 carloads of ethanol to 5,000 carloads this year.

But despite the increase in revenue, opponents of the loan, some of whom attended Monday's meeting, have argued that DM&E still has no way to repay the $2.3 billion loan it is currently seeking from the federal government, especially since no confirmation has been made that the railroad has secured any new customer contracts due to the extended rail line to the Powder River Basin.

"I can't disclose if any contracts have been signed just yet, but I can tell you that if we don't have any contracts, we won't draw on the loan. It is no mystery whether or not (the loan) will get paid," Schieffer said.

Schieffer also confirmed the railroad hopes to begin construction soon on the new line from Wall to Wyoming.

"And next will be from Wall to Pierre," he said. - Kate Turnbow, The Pierre Capital Journal

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BNSF PROVIDES COMMENTS TO STB ON DM&E/IMRL'S SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL APPENDIX

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FORT WORTH, TX -- In a filing made Monday, December 11, to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), BNSF Railway Company said that if the STB authorizes DM&E to haul Powder River Basin (PRB) coal along the former I&M Rail Link's (IMRL) line, it could cause substantial additional delays to time-sensitive BNSF trains at Savanna, Illinois. BNSF's transcontinental main line between the Pacific Northwest and Chicago crosses the former IMRL line at grade at Savanna enroute to the Chicago Gateway, where delays could be substantially increased by the addition of PRB coal trains regardless of what route into Chicago is used by DM&E.

BNSF also said in its filing that the STB should study whether DM&E's proposed shipment of PRB coal into Chicago over the former IMRL lines could have other environmental impacts not addressed in the Environmental Appendix filed by DM&E and Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad Corporation (IC&E), successor to IMRL, on November 8, 2006, including impacts to air quality and transportation systems, as well as noise, all of which could be faced by each community situated along the former IMRL lines in Iowa and Illinois. BNSF also said commuters traveling into Chicago on the region's Metra operations could experience impacts from DM&E's mile-long unit coal trains which operate over the same lines as Metra commuter trains.

To access BNSF's comments please go to:

[www.bnsf.com]

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI), BNSF Railway Company operates one of the largest North American rail networks, with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, carries the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough low-sulphur coal to generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at [www.bnsf.com]. - BNSF News Release

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BNSF REINTRODUCES PACIFIC NORTHWEST TO MEMPHIS SERVICE

FORT WORTH, TX -- Responding to continued customer interest, BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) Tuesday announced it will reintroduce international intermodal container service from the Pacific Northwest to Memphis beginning in January 2007.

"By working closely with our customers on service design, BNSF is pleased to offer its ocean carrier customers and their shippers another North American gateway for goods moving between Asia and the rapidly growing Southeast market as well as the rest of BNSF's expansive intermodal network," said Fred Malesa, vice president, International Intermodal Marketing. "Expanded market coverage from the Ports of Tacoma and Seattle, coupled with improved velocity, are just a few of the advantages customers will enjoy with this service."

To further support its customers' interest in this market, BNSF continues to increase capacity and improve efficiency on its route between the Pacific Northwest and Memphis as well as make facility expansions in the Pacific Northwest and Memphis.

In addition to Memphis, BNSF also serves Chicago, St. Paul, Denver and Omaha from the Pacific Northwest. - BNSF News Release

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BNSF ISSUES UPDATE ON WEATHER RELATED CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS

The severe winter weather and signal outages in Illinois over the past week and continued increased volumes have contributed to delays on traffic moving throughout Illinois.

These conditions created a backlog to be processed through the Illinois network. Locomotive and equipment also became imbalanced as normal traffic flows were interrupted. The terminals are now fluid and we will continue to work off the delayed volume to and from our interchange partners.

We expect to see operations improve through the week and into the weekend. In the meantime, customers may experience delays of 24-48 hours on local and interline traffic throughout Illinois. - BNSF Service Advisory

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BNSF ISSUES WEEKLY PRB COAL UPDATE FOR DECEMBER 12, 2006

Average Daily PRB Train Loadings Exceed 2005 Total for 45th Week of 2006

Average BNSF Railway Company daily train loadings for the Powder River Basin (PRB), including Wyoming and Montana mines, totaled 52.4 trains per day the week ended December 10, 2006, compared with an average of 41.3 trains per day for the week ended December 11, 2005. Various mine issues reduced loadings an average of 3.1 trains per day for the week ended December 10, 2006.

BNSF's average daily PRB coal train loadings have exceeded the 2005 total for 45 of the 49 weeks of this year. The week ended December 10, 2006, was the 39th consecutive week in which BNSF's average daily PRB coal train loadings have exceeded loadings for the same week of 2005.

Year-to-date through December 10, 2006, BNSF has loaded a total daily average of 49.6 trains in the PRB, up 10.2 percent from the 45.0 average trains per day loaded through the same period in 2005.

Systemwide, BNSF has loaded a total of 270.0 million tons of coal through December 10, 2006, up 10.6 percent from the 2005 year-to-date total of 244.0 million tons.

Electric Utility Coal Stockpiles Up

The Energy Information Agency (EIA), a unit of the U.S. Department of Energy, says that electric utility coal stockpiles of 125.6 million tons in September - the latest month for which figures are available -- were up 27.9 percent compared with a year earlier. That's the ninth month in a row in which total electric power sector coal stocks have increased in comparison to the year-earlier month. September 2006 stockpiles were also greater than stockpiles in September 2004, before the weather issues of May 2005 affected PRB coal loadings. More information on coal movements is available in a news release from the Association of American Railroads at [www.aar.org].

PRB Construction Projects Update

New second main and yard lead trackage is being placed in service this week in the Donkey Creek/Rozet area of Wyoming. The new second main track on the east leg of the wye at Donkey Creek will provide better access to and from BNSF's Campbell Subdivision, which serves six mines at the northern end of the PRB. Also being placed in service this week is the west lead for the Donkey Creek Yard, a new six-track yard completed by BNSF earlier this year.

Trains have begun operating over six miles of new second main track between Bayard and Degraw, Nebraska. Full operational benefits of the additional trackage will be realized later this month when installation of additional turnouts and signal work are completed.

Click [www.bnsf.com] to view a map showing key coal capacity expansion projects completed in 2006 and planned in 2007 in Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota. Please note that the projects include grading in 2007 for trackage that is scheduled to go into service in 2008. - BNSF Service Advisory

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UP TO COMPLETE TRAIN SPEED INCREASE EAST OF BIG SPRING, TEXAS

SPRING, TX -– Due to recent track maintenance projects, Union Pacific Railroad will complete the maximum train speed increase announced in November of 2005 in the remaining one mile segment of track east of Big Spring.

Union Pacific will gradually increase train speeds in the short segment from 40 mph to 70 mph for certain freight trains and 79 mph for Union Pacific passenger trains. The gradual increases of five mph per week will begin on December 18 until the new limits are reached on January 22.

Although the only crossing located within the segment is N. Midway Rd., the change is expected to improve public traffic flow and grade crossing safety as statistics show that more highway-rail grade crossing collisions occur at slower train speeds. At the same time, slower train speeds can cause traffic delays as trains occupy crossings longer. - Joe Arbona, UP News Release

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PROPOSAL WOULD INCREASE RAILROAD FINES

PIERRE, SD -- The civil penalties against railroads for violating federal rail safety regulations could be substantially increased under a proposal announced recently.

Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman said the proposed agency policy would double the current guideline civil penalty amounts for most violations.

The proposed changes in fines were made in an effort to encourage railroads to focus on safety compliance and to improve the rail industry's overall performance, according to Boardman.

Currently the proposal is up for public comment until Jan. 4, and from there a final rule will be set.

"We looked at over 2,000 regulations in rail safety that cover everything from track, hazardous materials, crossings, reporting accidents when they happen, to drug and alcohol testing to equipment," Steve Kulm, director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Federal Railroad Administration, said.

Kulm said, in fiscal year 2005, the FRA collected a total of more than $8.5 million in civil penalties for violations of federal rail safety regulations.

The BNSF Railway Company, the only major railroad that travels through South Dakota, paid more than $1 million in fines.

The largest amount of fines, across the board, was imposed because of hazardous materials transportation issues, and the second largest category of fines included safety appliance regulation infractions.

Hazmat regulations include the proper packaging of hazmat rail shipments and the proper notification to train crews of hazmat rail shipments.

Safety appliance regulations include handholds, ladders, a train's power brake system and maintenance and employee qualifications to operate such.

Kulm said the proposed change to the fines is the first time in nearly 20 years that the FRA has completed a comprehensive review of all regulations to change the guideline amounts for typical violcations.

The regulations were reviewed using a five-point severity scale that takes into consideration the likelihood that a rail accident or graver consequences will occur as a result of failing to comply.

Kulm said the current minimum fine, $500, and the current maximum fine, $11,000, will remain in tact.

"Within that range Congress has given us the authority to up the maximum amounts for most all violations, and we can go beyond the maximum amounts if circumstances warrant it," Kulm said.

At the low end of the scale, the guideline penalty amount would be $1,500, and at the high end of the scale, in which a violation is extremely likely to result in an accident or incident, the guideline penalty amount would be $8,500. Willful violations would range from $2,500 to $11,000, and the current statutory maximum of $27,000 for grossly negligent violations or for patterns of repeated violations would remain unchanged, according to a release sent by the FRA this week. - Kate Turnbow, The Pierre Capital Journal

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ALASKA RAILROAD REMOVES CONTAMINATED SOIL

The Alaska Railroad plans to move contaminated railroad ballast to Fairbanks for thermal processing as part of its cleanup of a spill last week. An estimated 1,200 gallons of diesel fuel spilled onto tracks December 3rd when a locomotive hit a rock north of Girdwood. The rock gashed a hole in the fuel tank of the lead locomotive near Bird Point and the train came to a stop about a half-mile away.

The railroad on Friday excavated a 75-foot trench on the tracks most affected. The trench was three feet wide and four feet deep. Contaminated material was loaded onto open freight cars that can tilt and dump their contents to the side. The freight cars are in Anchorage waiting for approval from the Department of Environmental Conservation for the trip to Fairbanks.

The contaminated ballast will be taken to Organic Incineration Technology Incorporated in Fairbanks for thermal processing. Railroad spokesman Tim Thompson says the excavation and backfilling with clean ballast took less than a day and normal operations were not interrupted. - The Associated Press, KTVA-CBS11, Anchorage, AK

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CITY TALKS OF TRAIN STATION REBIRTH

PHOENIX, AZ -- For more than two decades, the city has eyed the potential of Phoenix's Union Station. With all of its space and its Mission Revival architecture, the 1923 rail-passenger center could be a city centerpiece filled with shops, restaurants and artists, officials have proposed.

That vision never came to fruition.

The last train carrying passengers pulled out of the station in the mid-1990s. In recent years, the station has been inaccessible to the public. There's a security fence ringing the building because Sprint owns it and stores equipment in it.

But lately, with the renaissance of downtown Phoenix, Sprint and the city's Historic Preservation Office are talking about what is the best use for the building.

"Now there's momentum for something to happen," said Barbara Stocklin, the city's historic preservation officer.

From the beginning, Phoenix's Union Station was designed to be a high-profile building in the city's core, Stocklin said.

"Downtown is at a crossroads and Sprint is at a crossroads - that's always good," Stocklin said.

"If Sprint's interested in doing something else, it's good timing."

Sitting on Harrison Street at Fourth Avenue, the station borders the southwestern fringe of downtown's warehouse district. Over the past several years, the district has slowly reinvented itself with a handful of galleries, restaurants and lofts.

"You could do just about anything with the station," Stocklin said.

It could be restored for its original use, she said, as a commuter rail station and a transportation hub with buses and taxis.

Four hundred and seventy-five feet long and 110 feet at its widest, the station has the potential to become a destination place, said Brian Kearney of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, and could easily be a home for restaurants, a museum, galleries and retail.

Many Union Stations across the country have been demolished, but just as many cities have found ways to renovate and reuse the buildings. The name - Union Station - was created as a common name when the Southern Pacific railroad and the Santa Fe railroad consolidated their passenger depots into one "union" station.

Examples of how cities that have adaptively reused their stations are:

• Kansas City's Union Station is a science museum and Amtrak terminal, and has restaurants and shops.

• St. Louis's Union Station has a light-rail stop outside and has a shopping mall and hotel.

• Temple, Texas, has converted its rail station into a transportation museum and Amtrak stop.

• Dallas' Union Terminal is now a transportation center for Amtrak, light rail and commuter rail.

• Los Angeles' Union Passenger Terminal still services Amtrak, as well as heavy commuter rail, and has restaurants and shopping.

• Tucson's rail station is now an Amtrak stop, museum and retail center.

• Flagstaff's rail station is now an Amtrak stop, regional tourist bureau and car-rental station.

Many of these conversions, Stocklin said, have been accomplished with federal transportation enhancement funds, a required set-aside program from federal highway dollars since 1991.

These dollars are still available, Stocklin said, and could potentially be used for a conversion of Phoenix's Union Station as well.

Phoenix's is on the city's Historic Register.

"The best thing is they've (Sprint) maintained the building," Stocklin said. "They've been the steward of the building." - Angela Cara Pancrazio, The Arizona Republic

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HISTORIC LOCOMOTIVES STILL HOUSED AT RAIL YARDS

SACRAMENTO, CA -- The ambitious plan to re-develop the Rail yards area of Sacramento will be debated Tuesday night at the City Council. One big issue is not what to bulldoze, but what to save.

They're the big buildings just to the East of Old Sacramento. But in the 1800’s, it was the technology center of the West.

The shops of the Central and Southern Pacific Railroads were the largest employer in the central valley for eight decades.

Complete locomotives were designed and built here for the transcontinental railroad.

There were 4,000 employees, about a third of Sacramento's workforce.

Inside the huge warehouses, and not open to the public, are about a hundred locomotives and rail cars.

Many of the rolling pieces of history are now being restored. This daylight diesel has been brought back to life. But many more are waiting for their fate.

The million pound steam locomotive has been stripped of its chrome and braves the rust outside.

The rail yards have a 130 year working history.

They opened in 1869 and ran continuously until the last locomotive was overhauled there in 1999.

Related video at: [cbs13.com]

- John Iander, CBS-13, Sacramento, CA

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NORTH STAR RAIL INTERMODAL LLC BIRNGS CONTAINER-BASED SHIPPING TO SOUTHWESTERN MINNESOTA FOR EASIER EXPORTING OF AG PRODUCTS

MONTEVIDEO, MN -- North Star Rail Intermodal LLC (NSRI), Edina, MN, will break ground Dec. 13 for a new terminal in Montevideo, MN that will allow farmers, processors, and ethanol producers in Western Minnesota and the Eastern Dakotas to ship their products overseas by container.

The new system will enable producers to lower their shipping costs, while preserving the increased value of specialized agricultural products because they are sealed into containers, rather than being mixed together in bulk with lower-value products.

NSRI will begin offering the new transport system this spring.

Farmers, processors and ethanol producers today must truck their products to the Minneapolis/St. Paul intermodal hub, where it is transloaded into containers to gain access to international markets.

NSRI extends the benefits of container-based shipping to communities throughout western Minnesota and eastern North and South Dakota, providing a reduction in shipping costs that NSRI estimates at as much as $10 per ton – a saving that would go to the producers.

"With the massive amount of imports into this country, we have an excess of containers that need to go back to foreign markets," said Craig Damstrom, president and CEO of NSRI.

"NSRI offers the shipper an efficient system to export their product in those ‘back-haul’ containers to Asia and Europe,"

"Containers give the shipper added value by allowing them to control the quality of their product to the final destination," Damstrom said.

He added, "NSRI will bring world markets to rural Minnesota, while making local industry more competitive here and abroad."

NSRI is using an intermodal technology from Massachusetts-based RailRunner.

It allows shippers to load their product into standard international containers at the NSRI terminal from either hopper trucks or railcars, or to load the North Star Rail Intermodal product directly into containers at the elevator or processing plant.

Using RailRunner’s Terminal Anywhere technology, the containers can then be put onto the Twin Cities and Western rail line at the new Montevideo terminal, avoiding the need for lengthy highway transport, while keeping the products in the containers they were originally loaded into until they reach their ultimate destination.

The North Star service will enable shippers to do three important things.

(1) Shippers will be able to move large amounts of distillers grains in containers, rather than in traditional hopper cars.

Containers carrying this byproduct of ethanol production, a feed for cattle, hogs and poultry, are much easier to unload and clean, dramatically reducing the transport cost.

(2) Shippers can sell identity-preserved (IP) grains and grain products.

By moving from the farm or elevator in containers and not being aggregated with other products, these grains and grain products can retain their unique pedigree – of type, nutritional or chemical characteristics, and growing methods – and their higher market values.

(3) Shippers will be able to sell other value-added agriproducts.

High-quality produce of various sorts can be sold at higher prices if it is not mixed in with other, lesser grades in transport, but rather is shipped in sealed containers.

The aggregate 2007 export transportation market value is estimated at $550,000,000 in Western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota and South Dakota and is expected to rise to $650,000,000 by 2011.

NSRI will offer regularly-scheduled, reliable container-based transport service to farmers, growers and processors at per-ton prices competitive with bulk grain shipping to international ports in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

North Star’s scheduled container service will allow farmers to commit specific acreage to overseas customers a year or more in advance, enabling them to secure markets and customers at higher prices and margins.

The system will link to the Canadian Pacific Railway in Minneapolis and, thereby, to international markets through Vancouver, BC, and Montreal, QC.

NSRI has partnered with Hapag-Lloyd Container Lines to manage the delivery of the containers to their ultimate destinations.

The terminal is to be located on the former rail yard of the Milwaukee Railroad outside Montevideo.

The location provides easy access to U.S. Highway 212, as well as Minnesota Highway 7 and U.S. Highway 59.

The initial installation is expected to create five or six jobs, with potential future growth coming from the increased export business the terminal helps generate. – grainnet.com

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DONNER ICE SUPPLIED THE CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY

TRUCKEE, CA -- Truckee’s cold winter weather was welcomed by almost everyone as the year 1900 dawned. Not only did residents look forward to winter sports, but the local ice industry also depended on below-zero temperatures. This industry brought thousands of dollars of business to Truckee at a time that lumber had declined and tourism was seasonal and sparse.

One of the ice companies that took advantage of the sub-freezing conditions was the Donner Ice Company. Though its life was short, it contributed greatly to the Truckee economy while it lasted.

Back in 1872, Truckee butcher Joseph Marzen Sr. needed ice to serve his new slaughterhouse, on what is now West River Street, and for his downtown Truckee butcher shop. He had just purchased the meadow land between the Truckee River and Donner Lake. Donner Creek wound its way through these meadows that had previously seen emigrant wagons roll through, and many set up overnight camp.

Ice harvesting had been tried on the east end of Donner Lake by the Sitka Ice Company in 1868. But Donner Lake was a little too deep for good ice formation, and frequent windstorms broke up the ice pack several times before it could be harvested.

Marzen built a small pond on Donner Creek above the Central Pacific railroad trestle, near present day Highway 89. He built an icehouse with walls a foot thick and filled with sawdust. Marzen harvested the ice when it reached a foot thick and stored it in the house until he needed it during the summer.

It was common for Truckee businesses to have their own small ice operation, rather than depend on the larger ones at Boca, Prosser Creek or in the Truckee River canyon. Marzen harvested about 500 tons a season if the weather cooperated. He continued to operate the small ice harvesting operation into the 1890s.

Thinking big

By 1890, California’s agriculture industry had expanded, largely due to the availability of fast freight trains that could take produce to the East Coast. These fruit trains needed icing to keep the produce cool on the way east during the summer and fall harvest seasons. The only way this was possible was to cool the lightly insulated railcars with Truckee ice.

After a false start in 1887, Marzen formed the Donner Ice Company and started construction on a larger ice pond in 1894. A new rock and earthen dam was constructed by Reno contractor, James Mayberry, who in 1887, had built a similar dam at Donner Lake. It flooded an area of about 150 acres, in the area now occupied by Interstate 80.

Part of Marzen Meadows contained the site of the Graves, Reed, Murphy and Breen family cabins, and so the east end of the meadow was also known as Donner Meadows. In 1894, Marzen sold a one-acre plot of land to Truckee author and Donner Party historian Charles McGlashan: this included the Breen family cabin site and eventually the Donner Monument.

During the ice pond and dam construction, artifacts of emigrants who camped on the meadows were found, possibly even those of the nearby Graves family shelter, in which one of the scattered groups of the Donner Party tragedy tried to survive the winter of 1846-47.

A modern business

When complete, the Donner Ice Company was the largest ice pond in the mountains, at least until other ponds were expanded at Boca and Prosser Creek. The first season, all the ice was loaded directly onto railcars and shipped to other locations further east on the Southern Pacific. A rail spur from the main line facilitated fast movement of the ice.

In November of 1895, 100 men were at work building a new timber-framed ice house on the south side of the pond. The 300-foot long structure contained a patent elevator, the only one of its kind on the West Coast. It had a capacity for hoisting 70 blocks of ice a minute, and could be raised as the ice house filled up. The yearly harvest varied from 15,000 to 25,000 tons.

In late fall, the pond was flushed and refilled, and the workmen waited for cold weather. Once the ice started to form, it had to be kept free of snow. The hope was for very cold weather, below zero if they were lucky, that would thicken the ice to a foot thick. Not every year was successful. A heavy series of snow storms or a warm rain could spell disaster for the season.

On the other hand, a cold spell might produce two crops in a winter, with the excess stacked outside the house, to be shipped out to other ice houses as soon as possible. In 1902, a late January cold snap that hit 28 degrees below zero allowed the company to harvest the cheapest and fastest crop in the Truckee River basin.

The harvesting operation was almost perfect in execution, a well rehearsed dance of horses, men and machinery. Only the clearest ice was wanted, as it lasted the longest. Snow had to be plowed and scraped off to the sides of the pond. Horses would pull ice cutters and then plows along to score the pack into neat rectangular blocks.

Men with long saws cut the strips into 16-foot long cakes, which were then pulled on the water over to the elevator. At the bottom, the cakes were broken into 2-foot square cakes and up they went on the endless chain into the house. Once inside the house, they were stacked a layer at a time until the house was full. Then the ice was covered with sawdust and the doors closed tight.

Life at the pond

Almost from the beginning, the local management of the ice operation was in the hands of William Blinn. He ran the crews in all seasons and was the manager up to the end of the ice harvests. Another well-known employee was Frank Williams, who kept detailed records on the weather, ice production and the many visitors to the ice camp.

The nearby village contained living quarters for up to 150 men, who were needed to quickly harvest the ice during the winter. A smaller crew was employed during the summer to load out the ice onto railcars.

Not every day was work. Trout were planted and year-round fishing was a popular pastime. A small boat was always in use during warm summer days. Ice skating and cross country skiing from Truckee were very healthy winter activities. Observers of the harvest operations sometimes reached as many as 200 guests, who rode sleighs from Truckee and marveled at the tightly choreographed movements.

The dangers of working in the business were many. A carpenter was killed as ice houses were being erected in January 1896. Falls from bridges, the elevator, railcars, and the roofs were very common. Ice pick and picaroon stab wounds, saw cuts and axe wounds were treated regularly by Truckee doctors. Sanitation wasn’t the greatest, and frequent episodes of illness swept the crew.

1904 was a notable year. Twenty-one feet of snow fell during the winter, a telephone line was built from Truckee, and five employees were held up and robbed of their earnings while heading to Truckee to celebrate the end of the harvest.

New corporate owners

By 1903, the ice was contracted to the Continental Fruit Express and the Armour Car lines, who used it to cool railcars going east. They stopped bringing full fruit trains down the Donner ice spur and instead, loaded all of the trains at Truckee. The ice from Donner Creek was filling more than a dozen boxcars a day during the summer shipping season.

Work was often done at night with electric arc lights powered by a steam-powered generator, lighting up the whole valley from Donner Lake to Truckee. The steam engine also powered a water pump for flooding the top of the ice with a thin layer of water to freeze each night.

Through the 1906 to 1910 period, constant improvements were made, making the plant as efficient as possible. New machinery, a new icehouse, and a new concrete dam were added, doubling the capacity. Most of these were funded by the new corporate owners, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and its subsidiary, The Pacific Fruit Express Company.

They even erected a white wooden cross near the pond, marking the location of the Graves family cabin. The cross would last a few decades, until replaced and relocated by modern development.

The end of the line

As often happens in Truckee history, fire ended the plans and dreams of the company. On Dec. 21, 1910, just as the ice was forming, the ice houses were set on fire by either arson, or by an accidental fire, and the dry wooden buildings went up in flames. The smoke alerted the Truckee Volunteer Fire Department, which attempted to reach the scene.

Snow-covered roads made it impossible to fight the fire. The Southern Pacific fire train couldn’t get to the plant until the rails were re-laid on the spur. By then it was too late to save anything. The icehouse, the elevator and all other machinery were destroyed. Footprints in the snow led toward the railroad tracks, but railroad detectives who investigated could find no trace of the suspects.

Ice was harvested a month later, but the house was not rebuilt, and ice harvests became sporadic. The pond remained, and became a favorite spot for picnics, fishing and swimming in the summer, and ice skating in the winter. Ice company officials used the pond as an ideal summer resort location. In the 1920s, several Hollywood movies were filmed in Marzen Meadows and on the pond.

The ice industry continued in the Truckee River basin until 1926, when the advent of commercial refrigeration ended the business. - Gordon Richards, The Truckee Sierra Sun

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TRANSIT NEWS

HERE'S YOUR LIGHT-RAIL LINK TO SAN FRANCISCO

SACRAMENTO, CA -- Headed to San Francisco for some Christmas shopping? Planning a spring trip to a Giants game? Or maybe considering flying out of the San Francisco or Oakland airports?

With last week's opening of a Regional Transit light-rail line to the downtown train depot, more Sacramentans may find it convenient enough now to leave the car in the garage and ride the rails to the Bay Area.

You can basically hop a light- rail train in your neighborhood and transfer at the depot to one of the frequent Capitol Corridor trains bound for the Bay Area.

Capitol Corridor trains run between Auburn and San Jose. Stops include Rocklin, Roseville, downtown Sacramento, Davis, Emeryville (with transfers to San Francisco), and Oakland.

It's not particularly hard to take the train. Some even say it's fun. Here are few insider tips:

Timing the trains is pretty easy. Light-rail trains typically run every 15 minutes. (Watch out in Folsom, where they take off every half-hour, and close up shop earlier in the evening than other light-rail lines.)

Light-rail trains stop at the depot just a few feet from the Capitol Corridor platform.
Unfortunately, you have to go into the depot to buy a ticket from the machine or the booth.

Better news for people arriving in Sacramento on a Capitol Corridor train and transferring to light rail: The Cap Corridor conductor gives out free transfers if you ask. So, you just step directly onto a light rail at its platform.

The light-rail trains at the downtown depot all run on the "Gold Line" to Sunrise Boulevard in Rancho Cordova. Every other one also continues on to Folsom. Check the destination sign at the front of the train.

If you want to take the light-rail "Blue Line" toward Meadowview, you have to board the Gold Line train and switch at some point downtown. The last switching opportunity before the two lines diverge is at the 16th Street station.

For more on light-rail schedules and start and stop times, you can check the RT Web site:

[www.sacrt.com]

While you're at it, the Capitol Corridor Web site is: [www.capitolcorridor.org]

There, you'll see that Capitol Corridor trains leave Sacramento for the Bay Area 16 times a day on weekdays. On weekends and holidays, there are 11 trains.

The cost depends on how far you are going. A ticket to San Francisco costs $21. (No reserved seats.) The train takes you to the Emeryville station, where you transfer to a Capitol Corridor bus that makes several stops in downtown San Francisco.

But, there is another way to get to S.F.: You buy a $16 Capitol Corridor ticket from Sacramento to Richmond, then transfer there -- simply by taking an escalator -- to BART. The BART train to most downtown San Francisco stations costs $3.80. (It costs $6.15 to get to San Francisco airport from the Richmond BART station.)

The BART Web site is: [www.bart.gov]

You can buy BART tickets in the Capitol Corridor train "cafe" car.

What's the cafe car, you ask? That's where Capitol Corridor trains have freeway driving beat. You can buy wine, beer or other drinks, plus food in the cafe car, and hang out and chat with other riders. A few trains have Wi-Fi in case you have a laptop and want to check the Internet.
The freeway may still generally be faster, but with growing congestion on Interstate 80, that's no longer a sure bet.

One word of warning about Capitol Corridor trains. They run on the Union Pacific company's tracks, where UP freight trains rule. It is not unusual for a Capitol Corridor train to be late because it had to wait.

That means, if you are headed to San Francisco International Airport, you basically pick your poison: Interstate 80, where you know anything can happen, or the Cap Corridor trains, where you may suffer freight wait syndrome. - Tony Bizjak, The Sacramento Bee

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LIGHT LAUNCH: TRANSIT STUDY URGES FURTHER TALKS

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- Some form of light rail system is almost certainly in Oklahoma City’s future. The question is, how far into the future will it be?

The answer, we would posit, is pretty far.

A yearlong study of the city’s rapid transit options is finished. The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce is providing leadership on this issue, but the distance between a study and actual trackage is a long haul.

A consultant hired to study light rail options says it’s not only doable but necessary to keep up with other larger cities. Some cities smaller than Oklahoma City, such as Little Rock, Arkansas, are ahead of us in this area.

Discussions of light rail here have focused on the possible linkage of the airport with downtown and Bricktown and then on to the tourist mecca centered on Remington Park and the zoo. Such a system would cater primarily to tourists rather than function as true commuter rail.

We supported the study and now encourage city leaders to begin exploring options. What must always be in kept mind, though, is that this city offers little support for existing mass transit (buses) and the area’s sprawl and grid-system layout aren’t necessarily conducive to a true light rail system.

Three years ago, a U.S. Department of Transportation official said light rail probably wouldn’t work in this area "given the demographics and scale of development ...”

Public transit systems typically operate with heavy taxpayer subsidies. The Little Rock system, which is modest in scope, charges as little as 25 cents per rider — low enough to attract people but too low to cover costs.

On the other hand, Oklahoma taxpayers helped cover the cost of building the Washington, DC, transit system. Shouldn’t federal money "donated” from out of state be used here? It will almost have to be, in order to make this dream a reality.

We’re on board for further discussions of a light rail system, but a carload of skepticism is in order. - Editorial Opinion, The Oklahoma City Oklahoman

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PLANNERS WANT HEAVY COMMUTER TRAINS

DENVER, CO -- FasTracks planners say the only option that makes sense for rail transit from downtown through Adams County is to build heavy commuter rail on the existing Union Pacific line.

They have rejected options that were suggested by residents in the North Metro FasTracks study area that RTD look into building light rail instead, either along the west shoulder of Interstate 25 or in the center of Washington Street.

The staff working on the environmental impact study for the North Metro Corridor recommended rejecting those ideas because they were too expensive, took too many private properties and had lower ridership.

The choices were laid out for a joint meeting of local, state and federal officials and FasTracks planners this morning. The government representatives, including those from Brighton, Denver, Commerce City and Thornton, all concurred with the narrowed choices.

It could fan budding opposition by homeowners along the little-used rail line, where in some segments the backyards of single-family homes butt up against the track. UP currently operates only one short train per week, on Wednesdays, on the track.

"We haven’t ignored that there’s been a lot of public comments about the impacts along that corridor," said Joe Rocsky of URS, a project manager hired by RTD for the study. Planners will go on to evaluate of noise, vibration and property impacts as part of the study.

What’s left on the table is the original corridor selected six years ago in an earlier study – the same version voters saw in 2004 when they approved a tax increase to pay for the $4.7-billion FasTracks program.

The choice has some historical significance. These UP tracks follow the alignment of the original Denver Pacific Railroad that in 1870 linked the fledgling Denver area to the transcontinental railroad at Cheyenne.

The major remaining decision is a question that could pit Denver leaders and neighborhoods against those in Thornton.

The two remaining alternatives for the North Metro project involve using either self-propelled diesel-powered passenger cars or those powered by overhead electrical lines, similar to light rail vehicles.

Neighborhood groups in Denver have pushed for electric trains because they don’t favor handling the repair and upkeep of diesel-powered cars at the maintenance facility RTD plans on the border of the Cole and Elyria neighborhoods.

But in Thornton, the city and its residents oppose the overhead electric lines that would be needed to power electrified commuter cars. They prefer the diesel cars. - Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

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