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Railroad Newsline for Monday, June 25, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

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SHE'S BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD

Photo here:

[www.register-mail.com]

Caption reads: When Betty Bunch started work with the railroad she thought would stay only long enough to pay for some landscaping at home and buy her husband a set of golf clubs. She's been with the company for 28 years. Today she's a service track engineer for the BNSF Railway Company. (Kent Kriegshauser/The Galesburg Register-Mail)

GALESBURG, IL -- In 1979, Burlington Northern was looking to hire minority women.
Betty Bunch, 38 at the time, was the only person to apply, and became Galesburg's first black, female railroad engineer.

"If it hadn't been for that clause, I don't think I would have gotten hired," Bunch said. "I was in the right place at the right time."

When she began working for the railroad, Bunch thought she'd only stay long enough to pay for some landscaping at her home and buy her husband a set of golf clubs.

Some of her friends told her not to take a job on the railroad and thought she wouldn't be able to stick it out.

Twenty-eight years later Bunch is still working as a service track engineer, now for the BNSF Railway Company, and plans to retire on Feb. 9, 2011.

The Union Pacific Railroad was the first railroad to hire women, according to the American Railroad Women Web site. Union Pacific introduced registered nurse-stewardesses on Aug. 21, 1935, to help female travelers with children and to assist the elderly on cross-country treks.

Other companies such as Southern and Eastern railroads soon added women to their crews, but not just as nurses.

Tom Golden, a retired BNSF railroad conductor, said his mother, Blanche Golden, was one of the first women to work on the railroad in Galesburg during World War II.

"She worked at the old round house," Tom said. "She was a hostler and moved the engines around. Most of the guys were gone (to the war), and the guys that were there knew why the women were there so they pulled together."

Golden didn't learn of his mother's secret occupation until he got his own railroad job in 1966.
"I came home and told her I worked on the railroad, and she said, 'I did that,' " Tom said. "I thought it was pretty neat that I was doing something she had done. We both thought, it didn't matter if you're a man or a woman, if you can handle the job then you deserve the job."

But for Bunch, the male railroad employees' attitudes towards her have shifted over the years.

"When I first went on, women weren't too much accepted at that time," Bunch said. "The men were standoffish. Me being the only lady, there was no one else to talk to, so most of the time you were by yourself. Still, now, a lot of times I'm by myself.

"They've changed their attitude toward me a lot. Now the young men and women look more to me as a mother or grandmother."

Cindy Godsil was hired on the railroad in 1976 and said she has worked in several different capacities. She is currently a control operator.

For Godsil, a third-generation railroad worker, the railroad was in her blood.

"It's a way of life for my family, it's my sense of normal," Godsil said. "That's how you hired on back then."

Godsil said she's never felt unaccepted because she was a woman.

"They never said just because you were a woman you couldn't be an engineer or a conductor," she said. "If you wanted to, you could. Over the last 20 years there have been more women coming onto different jobs."

When Godsil started 31 years ago she made $35 a day. Now, she makes around $300 a day.
"That was making good money for a woman back then, very good money," she said.

Because of her railroad job, Bunch was able to support her two daughters through college and hopes to help pay for her grandson's college as well.

"It's about the best thing going right now," she said. "Not many other jobs are paying a decent wage."

In a town where factory closings have limited jobs for many people, railroad jobs are very attractive.

"If you wanted to stay in Galesburg, the railroad is your best bet as far as money and insurance," Godsil said.

The railroad allowed Stephanie Martinez, 23, to stay near her family and provide a secure financial future. Martinez graduated from Knoxville High School in 2002 and joined the Army.
When she came back, she attended a BNSF Railway career fair that changed her life.

"I never thought I'd work on the railroad," Martinez said. "But it was a career opportunity. I mean, in Galesburg, you just don't turn that kind of thing down."

After attending a conductor program at the National Academy for Railroad Sciences in Kansas City, Kansas, Martinez started working. She's a third-shift yardmaster.

"I never thought at 23 I'd be making $70,000 a year," she said. "It's the only job I've ever had that I never wanted to quit."

But working the railroad can also have its disadvantages, like odd shift schedules and long hours.

"I couldn't always be with my kids or go to their activities," Bunch said. "I finally have Fridays and Saturdays off, but it took 20 years to get there."

Family can't always come first.

"It's a different way of life," Martinez said. "You don't just have the job, your family has the job, too. Everybody takes a part, I just get the check."

But despite its pitfalls most women on the railroad wouldn't work anywhere else.

"It's the only job I've ever had that I never wanted to quit," Martinez said.

"It's a real good job for women to have. It still is," Bunch said. - Cigi Ross, The Galesburg Register-Mail

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RAILROADS PROFITING FROM HIGH OIL PRICES

Photo gallery here:

[origin.sltrib.com]

Nobody likes the rising price of oil better than U.S. railroads.

As the cost of crude soars to near $70 a barrel, rail is gaining a competitive edge after losing ground to trucks for half a century. Even as automotive plant closings and reduced U.S. housing construction have contributed to a 4.4 percent drop in train shipments this year, investors that include Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn are flocking to railroad shares, betting that higher oil prices, surging Asian imports and congested highways will boost long-term demand.

''Earnings and stocks could quadruple within five years, which makes the stocks a bargain today,'' said Snehal Amin, a partner in London-based TCI Fund Management LLP.

Rail shipping volumes grew to a record in 2006, boosting shares and earnings at the four biggest operators: Union Pacific Corp., Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. The Standard & Poor's 500 Rail Index has tripled since March 2003.

As the price of oil climbed 37 percent in five months from Jan. 18, shares of Union Pacific, the biggest U.S. railroad company, gained 24 percent. Shares of CSX, the third-largest, rose 26 percent. ''Railroads typically are about three times more fuel-efficient than trucks,'' said Jason Seidl, a New York-based analyst at Credit Suisse.

Shares of Union Pacific trade in the $118 range, BNSF is around $87, CSX shares are at $45 and shares of Norfolk Southern are around $55.

Credited with having ''built America,'' railroads were once key to U.S. westward expansion and economic growth. The first transcontinental railroad was completed with federal backing in 1869, linking the western and eastern halves of the country with a mechanized transportation system for the first time.

Almost a century later, railroads started losing out to trucks after the interstate highway system was begun in 1956. Trucking gained further when interstate speed limits were raised in the late 1980s.

Trucks carried 69 percent of domestic U.S. freight in 2005, up 3 percentage points from 1994, according to the American Trucking Association. Railroads moved 13 percent, down 2 points in the same period, while planes, pipelines and waterborne vessels accounted for the rest.

Higher oil prices suggest the trend may be reversed.

''We expect the rails, after 40 years of ceding volumes to the highway, to take back market share over the next 10 years,'' wrote Edward Wolfe, a New York-based analyst at Bear Stearns & Co., in a May 7 report to investors.

Although trucks offer a cost advantage on most short hauls and can reach places not accessible by rail, they consume about four times as much fuel to move a shipment as a train does, according to U.S. Energy Department data. Shipping rates are about five times higher for trucks than trains, said Amin of TCI, which is the fifth-largest shareholder of CSX.

The price of oil has jumped about 80 percent in the past three years. The Energy Department has predicted the commodity may rise as high as $100 a barrel by 2030.

''There's no question that trucking is less competitive now than it was three or four years ago,'' Amin said. ''Unless oil prices are going to fall, and fall substantially, they're not going to be more competitive.''

Rail shares rose more than twice as fast as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index in the five years to May 31, while trucking stocks lagged behind the S&P 400 Midcap Index by 61 percent.

Congestion and labor costs are also hurting the competitiveness of trucks.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials cited highway congestion as a main reason why logistics costs rose to 9.5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2005, from 8.6 percent in 2003 - the biggest increase in 30 years, according to the Council of Logistics Management.

''The gap in service levels and traffic times is only moving in favor of the rails,'' said Satish Jindel, president of Pittsburgh-based SJ Consulting.

Although truck drivers earn less on average than train operators, railroads use less labor per shipment than trucks, according to TCI.

Railroads are getting a double benefit from the rising price of oil, because it's also driving up domestic demand for coal and ethanol as energy sources. Both commodities are carried mainly by rail, as are corn and fertilizer, used to produce ethanol.

Union Pacific credited ethanol-related shipping for a 24 percent surge in first-quarter profit this year. The railroad's agricultural shipping revenue grew by 8 percent in the quarter as farmers planted the most corn since World War II, and chemical shipping revenue, including finished ethanol, rose 9 percent, Chief Executive Officer James Young said.

Surging imports from Asia are another booster for rail. The goods arrive on container ships to the U.S. West Coast and move inland by rail and truck. U.S. imports from China have more than quadrupled in the past decade.

Helping trains grab more West Coast port traffic is the increased number of rail lines that reach port terminals, said Paul Bingham, a Washington-based economist at Global Insight Inc. At the same time, congestion is increasing the time it takes for trucks to enter and exit ports.

Railroads also appear to be responding to pressure from new shareholders to improve returns.

In addition to CSX, TCI bought stakes in Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, the fourth-largest U.S. railroad. Amin told rail executives and others who attended a transportation conference in May in New York that CSX and other railroads should increase their debt and raise prices as means to return more cash to shareholders.

Since Amin spoke and met with management, CSX said it will raise prices as much as 7 percent this year, and Norfolk Southern said it may expand a share buyback program it announced in March.

Other investors include Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which disclosed an 11 percent stake in Burlington Northern in April, making it the railroad's biggest shareholder. Berkshire was also among the 10 biggest shareholders of both Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern as of March 31, a filing showed.

Billionaire Icahn, who often uses his influence as a large investor to press for changes at companies to boost share prices, bought a $122 million stake in CSX, a May filing showed.

A slowdown in the U.S. economy could still derail the industry's growth. Proposals in the U.S. Congress, supported by some railroad customers, may also repeal current antitrust exemptions for rail operators, giving customers more power to negotiate lower prices. None of it has stopped railroad shares from advancing. -Angela Greiling Keane, Bloomberg News, The Salt Lake Tribune

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BALLOT MEASURE SOUGHT ON FINES FOR STOPPED TRAINS

RIVERSIDE, CA -- If a train blocks vehicle traffic in Riverside -- including police cars, fire engines and ambulances -- the railroad company responsible should pay a hefty fine, Councilman Frank Schiavone said.

How about $100,000 for starters and $10,000 for each minute the train doesn't move?

Schiavone wants to put this proposal before the city's voters in November.

The City Council's Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to review the proposed ballot measure Monday afternoon.

It would amend the city charter -- the city's constitution -- to prohibit trains from blocking street traffic and would slap the punishing fines on the railroad companies for every violation.

"It gives the people of Riverside ownership" in this issue, Schiavone said Friday.

"It's their way of telling the railroads 'We've had enough.'"

Union Pacific Railway spokesman James Barnes said a company official would attend Monday's meeting.

"We need to go and listen to what the city has to say" to understand officials' concerns, he said.

BNSF Railway Company spokeswoman Lena Kent said she was unaware of stopped trains being a problem on BNSF tracks in Riverside but said her company would prefer to work with city officials rather than see a measure go on the ballot.

Riverside resident Justin Bailey, 29, said he's ready to vote for the measure now because halted trains have held him up far too often over the years.

"That train track is not for them to stop and block all the traffic trying to get through," he said.

Riverside has 27 train crossings and faces more and more trains traveling through the city as international trade grows at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Efforts to prevent trains from stopping in the city -- including an informal agreement under which Union Pacific Railroad agreed not to stop their trains in Riverside -- haven't succeeded, Schiavone said.

Just last month he was stuck for 22 minutes on Brockton Avenue at the Union Pacific crossing because of a stopped train.

But what galled him as much, if not more, than the wait, he said, was that railroad officials contacted by Assistant City Manager Michael Beck at the time denied they had a train stopped in Riverside.

"I said, 'That's it!' " Schiavone said. "That prompted me to make an effort to take it to the voters."

He sees it as particularly important for police cars, fire trucks and ambulances to have the freedom of movement that stopped trains prevent, he said.

Schiavone admits the legality of the proposed measure is an open question.

"This is uncharted territory," he said.

His proposal is one of many that city officials have advanced in recent years over frustration with trains.

Last Tuesday the City Council agreed to spend $297,000 to buy and install 11 video cameras to monitor 11 railroad crossings.

The cameras will send video footage to the city's new traffic management center to help officials react when trains block street traffic.

Councilman Steve Adams came up with Operation FreeFlow, which includes a proposal for an industry-supported voluntary tax of $10 on every shipping container loaded onto a train or truck at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

It could generate tens of millions of dollars for infrastructure improvements, including overpasses and underpasses at Southern California train crossings, Adams said.

In early 2005, Councilman Ed Adkison suggested the city place signs at train crossings advising drivers that more and more trains will be passing through Riverside and that if they want overpasses or underpasses built they should call senators and members of Congress to come up with the hundreds of millions of dollars needed.

Overpasses and underpasses now cost $25 million to $50 million each. - Doug Haberman, The Riverside Press-Enterprise

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PERRIS TRAIN DEPOT UNDERGOING RESTORATION, COULD REOPEN BY END OF YEAR

Video clip here:

[www.pe.com]

PERRIS, CA -- Sunlight shines through a roof of worn shingles onto a historic site that has been part of Perris for more than a century.

Since May, things have been moving at full steam with the restoration of the historic Perris Train Depot.

Closed since 2002, the depot started getting its face-lift after the City Council awarded the construction contract to Montclair-based Gamut Construction in April. The project is expected to cost between $1.5 million and $2 million.

"We're (touching up) the bricks. We're retrofitting the structure, and most importantly, we're making sure that it's structurally sound for when they open it up to the museum," said Mark Scarlatelli, president of Gamut Construction. His company has restored several Queen Anne-style buildings in Northern California.

The train depot, built in 1892, is on Fourth Street between C and D streets. It was given to the Orange Empire Railway Museum when the Santa Fe freight agency closed in 1969.

The Perris Valley Historical and Museum Association used the building until it moved out five years ago to make way for the building's renovation. If all goes well, the depot will be ready for reopening sometime at the end of the year.

"We're excited. We're moving forward, and we're now working on getting the exhibits ready," said Beti An Hynes, an association volunteer.

The association received a $20,000 grant for cultural and historical preservation.

"Part of the funding for this project comes from a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation a number of years ago," said Dave Stuart, special project manager for the city.

The depot is on the National Register of Historic Places.

"But the majority of the funding comes from the Perris Redevelopment Agency and so it's been contributed by the city of Perris. It's what makes it possible. The (federal) grant never would have paid for everything that needed to be done."

The city has $1.7 million in redevelopment money available, along with about $400,000 in grants to complete the project.

Workers have already lifted the inside flooring, started cosmetic work and are retrofitting the building to withstand earthquakes.

The depot still has many of its original windows, which are art glass. Any that are broken are being carefully removed and replaced. Worn bricks are also being replaced.

"As mortar is exposed to the elements over the years, especially the older brick-and-mortar type, it tends to deteriorate because of the certain kinds of minerals that were in the mortar at that point," he said.

Scarlatelli also said workers had to remove more than 3 tons of hazardous waste, namely bird droppings that had accumulated on the roof and inside the building through the years.

The workers have found some little treasures, including a train ticket stub dated 1899 that was under the flooring.

"When you're opening walls and opening up floors, there are a lot of unforeseens," said Scarlatelli, adding that the biggest challenge has been acquiring some missing pieces and re-creating them to resemble pieces from the late 19th century.

"Windows have obviously deteriorated over the years, and we have to go through and rebuild some of them to make certain they are part of the same architectural era."

The names of pioneer families still remain on the freight-room walls, and workers are being careful not to paint over them.

"We're working to keep as much of the original fabric of the building as we can. Any time we have to replace something, we try to find an exact replica," Stuart said. - Leezel Tanglao, The Riverside Press-Enterprise

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UP 844 REKINDLES CANTEEN SPIRIT

NORTH PLATTE, NE -- As part of Union Pacific's “Corn Belt Rocket” steam locomotive excursion through the Midwest, the No. 844 - the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific Railroad - is supporting a modern-day canteen project.

In the canteen's heyday between 1941 and 1946, more than 6 million servicemen and women traveling through Nebraska during World War II received the hospitality of North Platte residents. The North Platte Canteen became famous when volunteers met every troop train with sandwiches, coffee, cookies, cakes and other homemade goods during stops there.

In this “reverse” canteen project, volunteers in North Platte are once again honoring those serving in the military. They are doing this by loading a variety of food, toiletries, books and other donated items into a baggage car on a train being pulled by the No. 844, also known as the Living Legend.

The train will be unloaded in Fremont at 10 a.m. Monday by Army Reserve personnel and loaded into a RC-135 transport plane at Offutt Air Force Base for delivery to U.S. troops serving in the Middle East.

“As Union Pacific prepares to celebrate its 145th anniversary on July 1, this is yet another memorable event in the history of this great railroad,” said Cameron Scott, general superintendent of transportation services at Union Pacific's Bailey Yard in North Platte - the largest railroad classification yard in the world. “We are inspired to see that the Canteen spirit is alive and well and are proud to support our troops, including active-duty reservists who work for Union Pacific.”

No. 844 is scheduled to arrive about 5 p.m. Sunday at the UP depot at 10 S. Main St. in Fremont. The train will be open for tours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday

For more information about the Corn Belt Rocket tour, visit UP's Web site at www.up.com. Enter the word “Steam” in the search box on the homepage for a shortcut to the map of the steam locomotive tour. - The Fremont (NE) Tribune

ED NOTE: Cilck on the following link to view the North Platte Canteen's excellent web site:

[npcanteen.net]

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DM&E TRAIN DERAILS IN IROQUOIS

IROQUOIS, SD -- Crews with the Dakota Minnesota and Eastern Railroad continue to clean up after a train derailment early Saturday morning.

The westbound train derailed in Iroquois, South Dakota which is about 20 miles east of Huron.

Officials with the DM&E say 12 cars left the track six of those cars were loaded with rock the other six were empty. The clean up will continue Sunday.

Officials say the cause of the derailment has not been determined. No one was hurt in the accident. - Dan Nelson, KELO-TV, Sioux Falls, SD

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RAILROAD HAILED FOR PAST, FUTURE IMPORTANCE

GALESBURG, IL -- The 30th annual Railroad Days kicked off with a low-key ceremony Friday evening outside the Galesburg Railroad Museum and attended by about 35 people, including a few waiting for the next Amtrak train.

But if the dry weather is a portend for the weekend, no one will care how many people heard the words of welcome.

"What started as an open house for Burlington Northern employees has grown into Galesburg's premier summer event," said Mayor Gary C. Smith before reading the proclamation made the weekend event official.

"The railroad is the heart and soul of this community and the area around it," he added.

State Sen. Dale Reisinger, R-Peoria, said he had a sudden brainstorm before taking the microphone. He mentioned the inability of the Illinois General Assembly to agree on a state budget.

Perhaps, he said, the 118 state representatives, 59 senators and governor should be placed on a train and driven around the state of Illinois.

"Nobody could get off the train until we had a budget," he said with a laugh.

Reisinger said the railroad is a big part of Galesburg's past, but it should be considered a valuable part of its future, too.

That sentiment was echoed by State Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Gilson, who said the railroad will continue to provide jobs for the city.

Railroad Days, he said, is a way to honor and thank the BNSF Railway Company for what it does for Galesburg.

"It's also a way to thank all the wonderful railroad workers who take pride in their work," he said.

Mike Godsil, president of the Galesburg Railroad Museum board, spoke briefly to point out that board members and others volunteered their time to prepare the old Pullman car which was put on site near the museum in April.

"They put in many hours of time and talent," he said.

Before ending the brief ceremony, Bob Maus, president of the Chamber of Commerce, presented plaques of appreciation to Ron Hatch, who has used his artistic skills to provide the official Railroad Days poster for many years, and Jamie Bjorkman, longtime chairman of Railroad Days.

The event continues in downtown Galesburg through Sunday. - Ron Jensen, The Galesburg Register-Mail

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CELEBRATION OF RAILROADS DATES WAY BACK BEFORE 1970s

Photo here:

[www.register-mail.com]

Caption reads: This undated photo shows an early edition of the CB&Q depot on South Seminary Street in Galesburg. (Courtesy of Galesburg Public Library)

GALESBURG, IL -- Galesburg residents may have celebrated their first Railroad Days when a train pulled into the city Dec. 7, 1854. In a short period of time the population swelled and the economy prospered. The CB and Q Railroad became Galesburg's largest employer in 1854 and once again holds that distinction.

The first apparent formal celebration to honor Galesburg railroading occurred in 1935. The occasion was to publicize the enormous economic impact of the railroads locally and throughout the United States. The event was kicked off with a night parade in downtown Galesburg that included over 6,000 marchers and vehicles. CB and Q conductor R.T. McGaughey led the parade riding a stallion. Band units were furnished by Murga Groto, Elks, West Burlington Railroad, Galesburg High School and the Round House Clown Band.

During the 1935 celebration, public tours were provided through what was billed by George Griggs, CB and Q division superintendent, as the largest switching yards in the world. Twelve special observation rail cars allowing 800 passengers per inspection trip were provided.
Exhibition of rail equipment next to the North Seminary Street Depot included four types of locomotives, gas electric passenger units and an air-conditioned day coach. Over 200 merchants displayed railroad memorabilia in their store windows.

During 1974 and 1976, the Burlington Northern Railroad held open houses of the local facilities.
Shortly thereafter, Galesburg Chamber of Commerce Executive Director George Warren formed a citizens committee to establish an annual tourist celebration. The Chamber Trade Area Development Committee proposed an annual citywide Railroad Days Celebration. The committee consisting of Elizabeth Calderon, William Meier, Harold Shipman, Sally West, Tom Wilson, Jack Larson, Roger Pontifex, Elizabeth Willson, Edna Tenhaff, Michael White, Jon Scaramella and Dean Worley met and planned for over a year to establish what was billed as Galesburg's "first citywide" Railroad Days Celebration that has survived for over 30 years.

Robert Reed of the Dick Blick Company designed the official Railroad Days logo for a stipend of $50. Committee members White, Meier and Pontifex designed the first brochure. The event was kicked off on June 17, 1978, with ceremonies at the old historic depot on North Seminary Street. Dignitaries participating in the opening ceremonies included Thomas Lamphier, president of the Transportation Division of Burlington Northern; Eugene Craven vice president of the Chicago Region of Burlington Northern; Harold Shipman, Galesburg terminal superintendent; Galesburg Mayor Robert Kimble; Sen. Kenneth McMillian; and state Reps. A.T. Tom McMaster and Clarence Neff.

Rail tours of the Galesburg yard were afforded visitors on double-deck coaches. Shipman told participants that 106 trains passed through the local railyard daily, the equivalent of a train every 13 minutes. In addition, 2,300 locomotives were serviced in the roundhouse monthly. The Galesburg facility was considered the largest independently owned railyard in the United States.

Other events offered in 1978 included a Galesburg Historical Society Antique Block Party, music by the Knox-Galesburg Jazz Ensemble in Park Plaza, a community sing-along at Central Congregational Church, an art fair in Standish Park and open houses at the Carl Sandburg Birthplace and Old Main on the Knox College campus. Choral Dynamics presented "Heritage of Galesburg" at Knox College's Harbach Theatre. The Galesburg Model Railroad Club displayed operating railroad models at Sandburg Mall.

Members of the Chamber Trade Area Development Committee and Burlington Northern officials proclaimed the inaugural citywide celebration a huge success. It was estimated that over 25,000 were in attendance for the two-day event from 28 states and several foreign countries. It is interesting to note that a carnival was not offered the first year. Future celebrations included bed races, bike races, go-cart races, basketball tournaments, auto shows and street vendors.

The past heritage and anticipated future of railroading in Galesburg seems well worth an annual celebration. - Tom Wilson, The Galesburg Register-Mail

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RAILROAD DAYS CROWD NOT WHAT IT ONCE WAS

GALESBURG, IL -- Railroad Days is still one of Depot Hobby Shop's busiest times of the year. The shop's location near the Amtrak depot helps.

"We get quite a few people from the trains who stop in and look," manager and owner JoAnn Black said. "It used to be on Railroad Days, we'd be down here until 10 at night."

Black says Railroad Days is more spread out these days, which doesn't help the store located at 180 S. Seminary St.

"We get more in" during Railroad Days, she said. "It's not like it used to be."

Still, not only are there model trains and supplies at the hobby shop, there are stories galore when enough railfans stop by. For one thing, model train fans can compare likes and dislikes.

"A lot of people like the kits," Black said, "where you have to put them together, and others like them ready to run. ... We have one customer who likes to make his own cars out of brass pieces."

The HO-scale model trains are the most popular these days, she said. And, not surprisingly in what always was a Burlington rail town, those models remain the best sellers.

"There's other ones we get in from time to time, but the Burlington seems to go best," Black said, "and sometimes the Santa Fe."

There's even a car from the old Rock Island Line.

Coming from a railroad family herself, Black enjoys hearing customers come in and swap stories.
"There used to be a hobo that came in every year," she said. "New York Ron. It was always fun to see him come in. There used to be a young man, when they had the (special) train from Chicago and he was a red cap. You wonder what happened to them. You'll probably never know.

"That's what's always been nice, the people," Black said. "People stepping in and telling their stories."

This is a family business, with Black's husband, George, and their son, Rob, work at the hobby shop. And, even if it seems some children would rather play video games than build model train sets, with scenery and miniature towns the little trains fly past, Galesburg is, in the final analysis, a railroad town.

"Customers that come in with their children and they might be 4 years old, (but) they can tell you the railroad logos," JoAnn Black said. "I think it starts when they're little."

There's no denying, however, the store, once jammed with products for hobbyists, especially model railroad supplies, has a bit of a sad, empty look to it now. However, the rail industry, once all but declared dead, now sends hundreds of product-gorged freight trains through Galesburg each day, and the number of passengers riding Amtrak continues to increase. Perhaps the rebirth of the railroads will help Depot Hobby Shop return to its glory days.

Galesburg's more-than-150-year rail heritage led the U.S. Congress to pass a resolution designating it as the official home of the National Railroad Hall of Fame. Plans are being drawn up, money is being raised, and many residents look forward to what organizers say will be a "national icon," to be built in Kiwanis Park, on the east side of town. JoAnn Black is one of the people looking forward to that day.

"I'm hoping we'll get more people in when the Hall of Fame comes in," she said. - John R. Pulliam, The Galesburg Register Mail

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SUPERVISORS LOOK TO CLEAR UP CARSON CITY'S IDENTITY CRISIS

CARSON CITY, NV -- Could words and imagery about the V&T Railroad or other local attractions capture imaginations and benefit the city financially?

The Carson City Board of Supervisors wants to see someone give it a try. They've allowed the city's Redevelopment Authority to spend $32,500 -- half the cost for a consultant -- to help the Capital City establish a clearer identity to lure more tourists and investment.

"A train runs through it!" joked Supervisor Shelly Aldean.

Roger Brooks, Destination Development, would develop a "brand" for the city, along with a development and marketing action plan that could be adopted by businesses and be used in advertising and other marketing efforts to increase awareness about the city.

That amount is half of the $65,000 total that will be paid to Brooks for his work. The remainder would come from the Carson City Convention & Visitors Bureau, if its board of directors approves the idea, said Candace Duncan, executive director of the bureau.

"We have a lot of the pieces, but we need someone to put it all together," she said.

Brooks has conducted research for the city related to its attractions, such as its historic structures and lively arts community, said Joe McCarthy, the city's redevelopment manager.

"Heritage tourists," he said. "They have the money in their pockets."

Duncan said she's partial to focusing on the future Virginia & Truckee Railway, an 18-mile tourist railroad being constructed to run from Gold Hill to Carson City. She's not alone in her enthusiasm for the project, but the struggle to get it built has been long and well chronicled.

"What if we build a brand for a nonexistent railroad," Aldean asked.

"It better happen," replied Mayor Marv Teixeira, who is also a member of the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T. "It is what nobody else has, and nobody else has it."

The expected date of completion of the railroad is 2011, Teixeira said.

The brand and related marketing tools probably wouldn't be rolled out any time soon, possibly not until 2010. This likely would include promotional materials that businesses could display.

"We want to get the community to know about it, then be excited about it," she added. - Terri Harber, The Nevada Appeal

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TRAIN-TREEHOUSE A BOY'S DREAM CASTLE

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Peter Rader, a screenwriter and sometime builder of one-of-a-kind play structures, peppers his speech with words such as "magic" and "fantasy" — just what the lucky kids in his Nichols Canyon neighborhood want to hear.

For 8-year-old Ben Tzudiker, the fantasy was a treehouse -- an elusive dream, considering his family's yard had limited space and no trees strong enough to support such a structure.

But Ben also was obsessed with the 1927 Buster Keaton silent film "The General," the story of a Confederate train engineer in pursuit of his beloved (a locomotive, naturally).

After walking the property with Ben, Rader incorporated the two wishes into a single vision: a train-treehouse.

Set off the home's deck, the multilevel structure blends into the landscape. It is an enchanting place, where fantasy speeds along through Rader's unconventional use of ordinary hardware-store materials.

A suspension bridge connecting the deck to the train is made from lumber and heavy airplane cable.

The door to the train is an attic vent. Galvanized sheet metal riveted with roofing vents forms the body of the train and serves as a tunnel to the "treehouse," a raised, free-standing structure built amid the trees but not actually in one. An oscillating roof exhaust fan painted black simulates a smokestack.

Corrugated metal siding paired with trellis panels give the three-story exterior a scrappy, hand-built look.

To finish it off, Rader connected a train store whistle to an air pump so Ben can blast real sound. Working headlights and a bell add to the sensory experience.

Rader, the son of an architect, fell into his secondary profession (http://www.fortsandfantasies.com) out of necessity. His children Matteo, 8, and Luca, 5, needed a place to play on the hillside lot where he lives with wife Paola Di Florio.

"Both my kids are not the kind of kids that would climb things or take physical risks," he says. "So I thought, why not create a structure where they feel embraced and safe?"

Rader started with a prosaic store-bought structure and elaborated with decking, a crow's nest and a captain's wheel. After adding a tower, his first hyphenated work, a pirate ship-castle, was born.

Blocks away, in the home of Linda and Angus Wall, Rader created a pirate ship for sons Quinn, 8, and Jake, 4.

The boys were specific, Rader says. They initially wanted a pirate ship, but as construction unfolded, their fantasy became a 45-foot-long half-pipe for skateboarding.

"What makes me excited about building these is the kids requested these structures," Rader says. "They specifically described them to me. I want the kids to feel like they contributed."

Seeing children having fun is satisfying and thrilling.

"These years, when kids are little, are so precious," he says. "They have a job just like we do, and their job is to explore their environment and experience things on a sensory level and a fantasy level. It's like writing. It's like software for their brain." - The Los Angeles Times

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GHOST SEARCHERS TO PROBE U.S. HOTEL

Photo here:

[www.theunion.com]

NEVADA CITY, CA -- When "Robber Baron" Charles Crocker visited the Sierra after the Gold Rush, he often bunked at the U.S. Hotel in Nevada City, California, according to the proprietor.

Step into the second-floor room facing Broad Street, and you may get a whiff of something the famous railroad tycoon left behind -- or at least, some people think so.

"Very frequently, you come in this room and smell cigar smoke for no reason," said owner Katie Bennett.

With a strict no-smoking policy, Bennett has never been able to find the perpetrator. She says it's the ghost of Crocker, who loved his stogies.

Bennett believes other ghosts, orbs and strange occurrences have occurred routinely since she started running the B&B with the red door above the Fur Traders five years ago.

Sound ridiculous? A group of people calling themselves skeptics aim to catch the spirits on tape.

Photo here:

[www.theunion.com]

This Sunday, the NorCal Paranormal Investigators from Sacramento will stay at the U.S. Hotel all night to record whatever they may see.

"We're probably the biggest skeptics," lead investigator Doug Carnahan said. "That's why we do our documentation, and we debunk a lot of stuff."

He cited one case where a ghost supposedly was turning lights on and off, according to a woman. Alas, it turned out to be bad wiring.

Though calling himself a skeptic, Carnahan got interested in the early 1980s when, he said, a ghost was pushing him around -- literally -- in his Fremont apartment.

One of the NorCal Paranormal team members is Teresa Dell, a psychic who became interested in the U.S. Hotel after allegedly running into spirits at the B&B during a stay last December.

One came during a shower "where I was tapped on the back of the thigh," Dell said.

Others occurred when she got out of the shower and when she was toweling off.

"If this were not real, I would not be so deeply involved in it," Dell said.

Ghost tour

The supposed presence of sprits doesn't surprise Mark Lyon, who has been taking people on ghost tours of Nevada City for years and collecting stories since childhood.

"There are more ghosts per block in Nevada City than any other place I've been in my life," Lyon said.

Other sites include the Doris Foley Library, the Nevada Theatre "and the most haunted of all," Firehouse No. 1 on Main Street, he said.

Lyon hears his best stories from people who take his tour. One man told him of sleeping in a room at the U.S. Hotel when he felt his wife cuddling up to his back.

Then the man opened his eyes and saw that his wife was sleeping in front of him. "Whatever had been cuddling up against his back wasn't there," Lyon said. - Dave Moller, The Union (Grass Valley, CA)

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WILD POLICE CHASE NETS TWO SUSPECTS

PLEASANTON, CA -- Two suspects are in custody today after a wild police chase in Pleasanton, California during which officers were cut off by a freight train, the suspects drove a stolen car through the crossing arms and tossed two handguns out the window as they sped away.

They might have gotten away but for one thing -- it's the second day of the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, so there are extra cops on duty. Officers on the other side of the train simply picked up the chase and nabbed the suspects.

The excitement in normally tranquil Pleasanton began at 12:40 p.m. when a motorist called 911 to report seeing a man with a handgun in a car near Walgreens on Santa Rita Road at Valley Avenue, said police Lt. Bob Lyness.

Officers found the 1999 white Dodge Intrepid -- it turns out it had been stolen -- backed into a parking spot outside the drug store. It pulled out as police approached, then sped away and refused to stop for the officers, Lyness said.

As the Dodge approached railroad tracks on Santa Rita Road at Main Street, the crossing arms descended because a freight train was approaching. The driver crashed through the arms, narrowly missing the train, Lyness said. The police cars behind him were caught by the train, but police who happened to be on the other side of the tracks picked up the chase.

The suspects reached speeds of 85 mph on Foothill Road, where they threw from the window what police later discovered was a .40-caliber automatic pistol and a BB gun, Lyness said. The driver lost control of the car and spun out as he approached Muirwood Drive.

"He lost it. He went up the shoulder, and it tore the back bumper off the car on the dirt," Lyness said. "It bottomed out."

The driver put the car in reverse and "tapped into" a police car behind him. Officers used their cars to box him in, killing the engine, Lyness said.

Police arrested Ronald Edward Duncan, 35, of Pleasanton and Kristal Ann Delong, 19, of Castro Valley.

Duncan was booked on suspicion of recklessly evading police, auto theft, possession of burglary tools, possession of a gun in a car, possession of a gun by a parolee and parole violations.

Delong was arrested on suspicion of possessing a gun in a car and possession of burglary tools.

"It worked out beautifully," Lyness said. "Nobody got hurt, that's the number-one thing. Who knows what they were up to with those guns." - Henry K. Lee, The San Francisco Chronicle

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UP WORKER WHO FELL WILL GET $942,000

OMAHA, NE -- On its face, it was your run-of-the-mill slip-and-fall case -- the sort of lawsuit that is filed at least once a week in Omaha.

But this slip and fall generated a windfall for a North Platte, Nebraska, man.

A Douglas County jury this week ordered Union Pacific Railroad to pay $942,000 to a conductor, Terry Sigler, 56, for the knee injuries he suffered after falling on ice in a parking lot of a hotel where Union Pacific had paid for him to stay.

Sigler's attorneys, Richard Dinsmore and Jayson Nelson, said much of the award for Sigler could be attributed to lost wages. Sigler had worked for the railroad for nearly 40 years and made about $90,000 a year. In closing arguments, Dinsmore suggested that jurors award Sigler, who has severe arthritis and needs a knee replacement, enough money to let him retire now.

Nine years at $90,000 a year would make up much of the jury award, Dinsmore said. Medical expenses and pain and suffering would make up the rest.

High six-figure judgments are rare in slip-and-fall cases, but this case was different. It fell under the Federal Employers Liability Act -- which holds employers like Union Pacific liable for even slight negligence in providing a safe workplace.

In this case, Dinsmore said, Sigler worked as a conductor on a rail line from North Platte to Missouri Valley, Iowa.

Union Pacific contracted with a Super 8 motel in Missouri Valley to house its workers.

As Sigler was returning from dinner the night of March 7, 2002, he slipped on a patch of ice and fell. He tore several ligaments in his right knee, Dinsmore said.

He underwent orthroscopic surgery and later returned to work. However, the knee degenerated to the point that a doctor diagnosed him with profound arthritis in his knee, Dinsmore said.

"His job requires him to do a lot of walking on uneven surfaces," Dinsmore said. "Well, his knee was bone on bone. You can only imagine what kind of pain he had to endure."

Attorneys for Union Pacific had argued that Sigler caused the fall by failing to avoid the ice.

But Dinsmore said the sidewalk and parking lot weren't well-lighted -- and the motel had failed to act on earlier reports that lights needed to be replaced.

The silver lining for the railroad: Union Pacific requires its contract hotels to have insurance to cover such costs, Dinsmore said.

The jury's award falls underneath the $2 million maximum on the insurance policy, Dinsmore said, so Union Pacific's bottom line won't take a hit.

As for Sigler, the award brought tears to his eyes.

On top of his job, Dinsmore said, Sigler has had to care for his wife, who suffered a stroke in recent years.

"I'm happy for him," Dinsmore said. "He's just an extremely hard worker. Now maybe he can retire." - Todd Cooper, The Omaha World Herald

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TRANSIT NEWS

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A PEEK INSIDE BEACON HILL TRANSIT TUNNEL

Photo gallery here:

[seattletimes.nwsource.com]

SEATTLE, WA -- When future light-rail trains stop at Beacon Hill, the commuters there won't find tracks on the surface. Instead, they'll ride an elevator to meet the trains deep underground.

A Sound Transit contractor, Obayashi Corp., recently finished excavating the new station site, 165 feet beneath the hilltop, as part of a $2.7 billion, 16-mile route from downtown to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, to open in late 2009.

"It is probably the most challenging construction project along the whole Link light rail line," said transit-board member Larry Phillips, a Metropolitan King County Council member from Seattle, said during a tour Sunday morning. "The methods used to mine out this station have never before been used at this depth. We are standing here in an engineering and construction marvel that will be known throughout the world."

Beacon Hill's watery soils, deposited by ancient glaciers, are prone to caving in.

So workers had to dig the giant, arch-shaped station holes just 4 or 5 feet at a time, install steel braces against the dirt (and sometimes, add a wire mesh lining), then spray concrete to shore up the curved wall, said Sound Transit resident engineer Rick Capka. Finally, a stronger concrete wall and waterproof lining will be added.

Portland's light-rail system has a deeper station at Washington Park, west of downtown, but it was carved from rock, an easier job.

Next month, Sound Transit will begin to bore the northbound tunnel through the hill, after finishing the twin southbound tube this spring. The one-mile southbound segment, which includes an aerial station near Franklin High School, cost $297 million, and one man has died on the job.

Phillips said the tunnel proves Sound Transit has the know-how to deliver 50 more miles of light rail, if voters approve it this fall. But the mining is tricky enough that officials canceled a deep train platform they once promised at busy First Hill. - Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times

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DOWNTOWN PLANS ARE ON THE WRONG TRACK

FRESNO, CA -- Downtown is like that ex-boyfriend or girlfriend pleading, begging for another chance, trying to win Fresno back.

Downtown will do anything.

But Fresno is dating River Park right now and isn't really hearing it.

And Downtown can't just show up with some dying flowers and expect Fresno to come back. No, Downtown is going to have to re-earn trust, build that relationship again, put in some real work.

Or show up with a really, really big diamond. We're talking a Kobe Bryant-size diamond.
Translation: Ikea.

(Or a really, really big TV -- should Fresno, in this little game, be a man in your mind.)

But Downtown doesn't have fat rocks or plasma screens to offer. So instead, these days Downtown is offering Fresno rivers and streetcars.

That's a whammy! That isn't winning Fresno back. That's like a date to Quizno's.

Memo to the powers-that-be in this city: There is no silver bullet. There is no quick fix.

You're not just going to put something downtown -- be it a river or streetcar or a Bass Pro Shop -- and all of a sudden, everybody's gonna flock back. That's not how it works.

The downtown river -- what our mayor calls the cornerstone of his plan to fix everything -- fell apart.

On the bright side, we still have funding for streetcars!

Really? This is the best you people can come up with?

Why not a monorail and Splash Mountain? Call it Downtown Disney.

Oh wait, there's already one of those. Even Mickey Mouse can put together a better downtown plan than our Goofy city government.

Streetcars are cool. But where are they taking people? Where is there to go? Quizno's?

It's like buying a PlayStation 3 but realizing you don't have a TV.

The downtown formula doesn't seem that complicated.

People + Stuff People Want To Do = A Lively Downtown.

All this pulling grandiose ideas out of the sky -- the city is, well, reaching.

Is a river really going to change peoples' minds about downtown? You know, there's a nice fountain in front of the Dirty Olive. And streetcars? Because those trolley cars are so popular, right?

Give people the simple things. Give them places to live. Affordable places.

Give them places to shop, eat and hang out. Bars and clubs. Places to hear bands and drink beer, open late.

Give them a little of what they already know mixed with what they don't have. So when people stop at the chain restaurant to eat, they see a local bar or bakery across the way for drinks or dessert.

Make it appealing enough to draw in the chain-lovers, but make it authentic enough so that it says Fresno. These two ideas can coexist.

This is not going to happen tomorrow. Build something that attracts people. Maybe a movie theater. Then something else. Dave & Buster's?

Then something else. Some local eateries once there's foot traffic? And before you know it, you'll have -- gasp! -- a community. Crazy, huh?

Then start thinking about the cool stuff. Then wow us with streetcars.

Or really, really big diamonds. - Mike Osegueda, The Fresno Bee

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GIRL, 16, ELECTROCUTED CROSSING LIRR TRACKS

GARDEN CITY, NY -- The last day of school became a day of mourning Friday in Garden City after a 16-year-old high school student was electrocuted while crossing LIRR tracks with two friends.

Jacqueline Vincent, of Garden City, tripped and fell on an electrified third rail at 12:20 a.m. Friday in an unlit section of track between South Avenue and Cherry Valley Avenue, MTA police said. Efforts to revive her at the scene were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at 1:05 a.m. at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola.

A statement released by MTA police did not indicate in which direction Vincent was walking. LIRR and Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said they are investigating the death as they await autopsy results.

MTA officials said Vincent was crossing the tracks with two friends when she came "in contact with the electrified third rail at that location," up a hill from Garden City Middle School.

Her friends, the statement said, dialed 911 on a cell phone.

At Garden City High School, some students said they learned of Vincent's death from classmates.

"She was a good person," said Matt Hayslip, 18, who just completed his senior year. He said Vincent belonged to a group of students who played softball after school.

Another student, 17, whose mother would not allow him to be identified, described Vincent as "really nice, upbeat ... just friendly."

In a statement, Garden City Superintendent Robert Feirsen said Vincent was "a wonderful, bright, well-regarded student and classmate." He said the district's crisis response team was available to help students and parents cope. "She will be missed by the entire school community," Feirsen said.

A woman who answered the door on Friday at the Vincent family's home said Jacqueline's father declined to comment.

LIRR tracks run a few hundred feet from the Vincents' two-story, Tudor-style house, which sits in a tree-lined neighborhood of upscale homes.

In the early afternoon, platters of food were delivered to the house as family gathered.

Neighbors either declined to comment or said they did not know Vincent or her family.

Vincent was killed about a half-mile east of her house. The site, a few hundred yards west of the LIRR's Garden City station, has no fence between the tracks and South Avenue.

LIRR officials said they are considering providing more fencing along the tracks where she was apparently electrocuted. "This is a tragic accident and we must all remember, at this sad time, that the only safe place to cross railroad tracks is at a railroad grade crossing," the agency said in a statement.

The site where Vincent died is covered with tall grass and railroad ties.

The girl's death upset MTA police officers Gerald Willis and John Matarazzo, who travel to schools throughout Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn to warn students not to walk along LIRR tracks.

"One of the most typical [dangers] is the situation here: the third rail," which packs 750 volts of electricity, Willis said Friday at the accident site.

He said the LIRR's public safety program, Together Railroads and Communities Keeping Safe regularly visits Garden City schools.

"First thing you think about is ... did we go to that school?" Willis said. - Zachary R. Dowdy and Carl MacGowan, Newsday

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THE END

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