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Railroad Newsline for Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

BNSF ISSUES DERAILMENT UPDATE - HECTOR, CALIFORNIA

As an update to an advisory concerning the derailment of BNDS Railway Company train S LPCLHA1 19 at Hector, CA on December 22, 2006, both main tracks have been restored to service.

Traffic volumes on the service region remain high, and train flow will be monitored to maintain fluidity.

Customers may experience delays up to 48 hours on traffic moving through this corridor. - BNSF Service Advisory

AUTHOR USES BOOKS TO TAKE READERS TO RAILROAD HEYDAY

Photo here: [mas.scripps.com]

Caption reads: Local railroad enthusiast and author Steve Goen holds a copy of his new book "Miss Katy in the Lone Star State: Volume One- The Good Old Days (1942-1960)" in front of a locomotive in the Wichita Tillman and Jackson rail yard. Photo by Jeffrey Haderthauer/Times Record News

Another Jeffrey Haderthauer photo here:

[mas.scripps.com]

WICHITA FALLS, TX -- Nearly 50 years ago, author Steve Goen rode his first passenger train.

In Christmas 1956, Goen's parents brought the 3-month-old from Austin to Dallas by way of the Katy "Texas Special," and then from Dallas to the city depot by way of the Fort Worth and Denver's "Texas Zephyr."

Fascinated with trains, Goen grew up watching them from his backyard and going to the now-lost depot with his grandfather. As a young boy, he rode the Texas Zephyr on Sept 11, 1967, the last day the train serviced Wichita Falls.

"The Zephyr was fantastic," he said. "It was first class all the way. It started that way in 1940 and remained first class all the way until the end. Not like a lot of railroads which allowed their passenger trains to dry up, wither and die."

The Zephyr was a well-ridden train, Goen said, and there's no reason it shouldn't still be running today. The trip to Fort Worth only took about two hours, and he said that the train's route to Colorado was much better from Amarillo to Denver than the present highways of today.

There was a time, Goen explained, that Americans everywhere depended on railroads to get from point A to point B. But with the advent of the interstate highway systems in the 1950s, many regions started turning to cars.

"I don't know if the country turned its back on the railroads or the railroads turned its back on the country," he said. "There were a lot of people who would have patronized the railroads had the service remained what it one was."

In 1995, Goen decided to write a book about the Fort Worth and Denver, one of his favorite passenger trains. The project grew out of a quarterly newsletter called The Texas Zephyr that he published for several years at the area railroad museum.

From an early age, Goen began to document the history of regionally based passenger trains with research and a collection of photos, conductors' hats, dining car ware and so forth.

"I wanted the book to be all color photography, so the public could really see what the trains were like." The first book was so popular that he followed it up with a title on the Texas and Pacific. The second book went out of print within a year.

He has written eight total books on railroad lines that served Texas. The time frame of the books usually begins in the early 1940s. This coincides with the advent of color photography and the peak of American passenger trains that were from the end of World War II to 1956.

On average, it takes Goen about two years to produce each title. The books are usually 128 pages and feature about 300 color photographs complete with histories and extensive captions.

Goen prints 2,000 copies of each title, and the first three books are already out of print.
The Texas and Pacific book regularly brings $250 to $300 on eBay, he said.

His newest book details the Katy railroad from 1940 until 1960. In one section, Goen writes how the Katy put Wichita Falls on the map. Basically, Wichita Falls and Henrietta both had two railroads, but Henrietta was growing and Wichita Falls was not.

"It was because Henrietta had the Katy, and we didn't," he said. "The Katy connected to points East, to St. Louis and then points east." The intriguing story of how Wichita Falls lured the Katy to the area was critical to its then future and now its history.

Growing up, Goen watched the Burlington trains from the backyard of his grandparent's house, near the North Scott Street overpass. As he became older, he would slip out the back gate, walk to the tracks and watch the southbound at 13:00 and northbound at 17:00.

His grandfather also used to take him to the depot "to really get to see the trains up close and personal," he said. On Saturdays, they would go the hamburger place at the union station and sit at the counter and have nickel bottles of coke and 20 cent hamburgers "dripping in grease."

"You could always tell when the train was coming because of the activity," he said. "People would move the baggage carts out, and the mail trucks would show up. People would start saying their goodbyes to each other. They would change the crew and the conductor and brakeman and engineer here."

Along the way, Goen met many railroad men. "I kind of idolized those guys as a kid, and it's sad that one by one we're losing them."

Goen said his was the last generation to know what it was like to grow up in Wichita Falls when it was a big railroad mecca, to see the Fort Worth and Denver and the Katy in their hey day.

"I feel very fortunate that I did get to witness all of that."

One of the things he's tried to do with his books is to use photography and history to take readers back to the great years of the railroads and the depot back in the passenger train era.

Along with his books, Goen has also delivered many lectures in the last 15 years about passenger trains, but none was bigger than last March 18th when he did a three-hour program at the George Bush Presidential Library.

Goen grew up in Wichita Falls with his grandparents. He was an only child.

He is married and has two daughters. Kari is 17 and a junior at Rider. Katy (named after the train) is 10 and a fifth-grader at Fain.

Growing up, he wanted to work for the railroad but later went into music after starting to play trombone in junior high. He received his bachelor's in music education at Midwestern State University and served as a band director in several area communities.

He earned a master's in music composition and also worked as a music composer. For the past six years, Goen has volunteered at MSU's music department with the jazz band and wind ensemble three days a week.

Goen also coaches a softball team, the Texas Tornadoes.

His next book will be the second volume on the Katy beginning in 1961. In the future, he will write about the Rock Island Line, the Santa Fe, the Frisco lines and several more that served Texas.

"I am going to produce as many as I can," he said. "After Texas, I want to do railroads in Oklahoma."

His last five books are in print and available through the author. - Richard Carter, The Wichita Falls Times Record News

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RAILROAD PROPOSED TO LINK OAKLAND & STANISLAUS

MODESTO, CA -- A group of public agencies is working to build a railroad that would shuttle passengers and freight between the Port of Oakland and the west side of Stanislaus County.

The proposed rail line would carry freight containers from ships at the Oakland port to the Crows Landing Air Facility, where they could be loaded on trucks for delivery through the Central Valley and beyond.

Once the rail corridor is established, commuter rail service could be extended through the west side of Stanislaus County.

The group is hoping to secure funding from a variety of sources including the state.

Discussions on the railway started about 10 months ago and include the Port of Oakland, Alameda, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties and other agencies. - The Associated Press, KOVR-CBS13, West Sacramento, CA

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INJURED HAVRE RAILROAD WORKER IS AWARDED MORE THAN $300K

HAVRE, MT -- A railroad worker alleging the BNSF Railway Company made false statements about his injury claim has been awarded more than $300,000 by a jury.

George Treperinas of Havre filed a report with the railroad in 2001, saying he would require extensive medical care for a neck injury suffered on the job, said his attorney, Erik B. Thueson. In a lawsuit, Treperinas said BNSF then fired him on grounds the report was dishonest and made for personal gain.

BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment today.

Treperinas was out of work until 2003 when an appeals board ordered that he be returned to his job, Thueson said. In the meantime, Treperinas underwent therapy and surgery on his neck and was unable to pay his bills.

After an eight-day trial, the Billings jury that considered Treperinas’s suit against BNSF awarded $300,000 in punitive damages for the attack on his credibility, plus $30,000 to compensate for stress he endured while unemployed, according to a statement from Thueson.

Jurors also awarded Treperinas about $55,000 for BNSF’s contributory negligence in the injury itself, Thueson said.

In addition, the jury asked BNSF to send Treperinas a letter of apology.

“This letter should address the mistreatment, misjudgment and attacks on George’s character,” the jury’s ruling said.

“Mr. Treperinas is happy that the full story has finally come out, clearing his name,” Thueson said. “He hopes that the jury’s verdict will provide some level of protection for his co-workers, who he believes should have a right to report their injuries without the fear of discipline or losing their careers.” - The Associated Press, The Great Falls Tribune

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BUDGET INCREASE EXPECTED FOR TEXAS STATE PARKS

AUSTIN, TX -- Expect more money for parks -- but also infighting among lawmakers, controversial measures to transfer control of some properties to the Texas Historical Commission and changes in how the state funds the Texas State Railroad.

That's the word from Capitol observers, who say that the beleaguered Texas parks system will get plenty of attention once lawmakers convene for the 80th Texas Legislature. But also expect smaller political brush fires and plenty of controversy, observers say.

"I think you'll have some good conditions to improve [parks] ... but there are some obstacles out there, so I want to be cautious," said state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, a longtime advocate for more parks spending. The Texas Legislature convenes Jan. 9.

A Star-Telegram investigation found inoperable vehicles, shuttered facilities and reduced services throughout the 600,000-acre system. The problems accrued, along with a long maintenance backlog, during a decade in which lawmakers redirected millions of dollars originally dedicated to parks for other purposes.

Parks also received plenty of news coverage during the recent gubernatorial race. All that, plus a budget surplus, adds up to a good legislative session for parks, observers say.

"After the flurry of pre- election publicity, parks are going not only to have a lot of attention [this session], but they'll be very well-treated," said Harvey Kronberg, who edits the online Quorum Report.

Park options

Lawmakers will almost certainly consider lifting or removing the cap on how much revenue parks get from the sales tax on sporting goods. The legislature dedicated that tax to parks in 1993 but since then has redirected most of it to other purposes.

"Get the money to the parks department where it should have been going for the last 13 years -- that would be the most important thing they could do," said Beth McDonald, president of Texans for State Parks.

"The current state of disrepair ... is because [of] the lack of funding from the last several legislatures," she said.

Hilderbran, who chairs the House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism, says he will file two or three bills related to parks, including one addressing the funding issue. He said he'll also file legislation to transfer 21 historical sites from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to the Texas Historical Commission.

The proposal has been pushed by Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, although some park advocates oppose it.

Hilderbran said the transfer might not save any money for the state, but "it's more about getting the best focus and attention and care for the sites and to get the mission alignment better." Park advocates have said the transfer could dilute funding for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

That controversy and a few others aside, Hilderbran predicts fairly smooth sailing for parks during the 80th Texas Legislature. He said that both parties have expressed support, although lawmakers may haggle over specific parks properties in their districts.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst also wants more funding for parks, although the Republican officeholder has not been specific. Dewhurst presides over the Texas Senate.

"How much [new money] is very much to be determined along with the appropriate way to provide those resources," said Rich Parsons, a Dewhurst spokesman.

Other issues

Fireworks are also expected over the Texas State Railroad, which needs millions of dollars in upgrades. Hilderbran said lawmakers will probably consider changes in how the state funds the railroad, although that doesn't mean the state is cutting off support.

Instead, the state may partner with local entities, Hilderbran said.

Many local park advocates fear that the state will privatize the 100-year-old railroad, which runs between Rusk and Palestine.

Providing more controversy for the Legislature is Eagle Mountain Lake, the 400-acre Texas Parks and Wildlife Department property that for years has been coveted by Tarrant County developers. During a news conference in September, Gov. Rick Perry announced a deal in principle to preserve the lake property as parkland by selling it to the Tarrant Regional Water District.

But the water district needed several million dollars to fund the deal. A private organization is trying to raise the money.

David Hooper, president of Save Eagle Mountain Lake, said his group will jump into the legislative fray if it looks like the deal is collapsing. But he is optimistic.

"We keep an eye on the process and will continue to do so until it becomes a park," he said.
State Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, also is optimistic. He said he expects an announcement on Eagle Mountain Lake funding as early as next month. - R. A. Dyer, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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HAULING IT IN: TRAINS BUSY FEEDING COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- The path to power in Colorado Springs involves 300 miles of track that connect coal mines to two of the city’s electricity-generating plants.

Trains take that winding path four to five times a week so that Colorado Springs can flip on its lights, computers, televisions and other gadgets.

The trains sometimes meander at a snail’s pace — other times they rival highway traffic at 60 mph — from the city’s primary coal supplier in northwestern Colorado to the coal-fired power plants.

The coal is shipped on diesel trains that Colorado Springs Utilities leases from Peabody Energy, owner of the two mines that provide the local supply.

To help engineers and conductors navigate the mountainous terrain of the railway route, Union Pacific railroad educates them on a locomotive simulator, according to railroad spokesman James Barnes.

Hauling coal can be tricky because it’s so heavy, Barnes said.

“We work closely with the mines to ensure proper loading and closely monitor track conditions, since continuous hauling of heavy coal trains increases wear and tear on tracks,” he said.

Before a train leaves Twentymile coal mine near Oak Creek, the conductor and engineer discuss instructions they receive from a dispatcher regarding the train’s route, timetable and cargo. During the run, conductors use two-way radios and mobile phones to communicate with dispatchers, engineers and conductors of other trains.

Trains may need to take an alternate route if there’s an obstruction or defect on the rails, Barnes said, and weather can affect travel time.

That makes arrival far from an exact science.

Coal trains pull into town two to three times a week at Martin Drake Power Plant in downtown Colorado Springs and twice weekly at the Ray D. Nixon plant south of Colorado Springs.

Scott Grove, a materials section leader in the Martin Drake yard, watches a train’s progress on the railroad company’s Web site so he can predict when a load will arrive.

Years ago, coal systems specialist Matt Johnson got phone calls at home at 2 a.m., telling him to come to work to unload a coal train. Now they’re unloaded in daytime hours for safety reasons, just one of the many changes that has made Johnson’s job with Colorado Springs Utilities much better.

“I certainly don’t miss being on call 24 hours a day,” said Johnson, who has worked at the city-owned power plant for 23 years.

Johnson is one of about 10 workers in the yard at Martin Drake, recognizable by plumes of steam emitted from tall cooling towers.

Johnson’s favorite part of his job is when a train arrives. He hops aboard the locomotive to take over for the railroad conductor.

“In here, you’re out of the noise and dust,” Johnson said, while controlling the train’s computer from the conductor’s seat.

“When I started we didn’t have any computer technology. Automation is incredible — all I have to do is punch in what I want and the computer on the train does it by itself. Before, you used more power and more brakes; now the locomotive does it itself.”

Each train has 105 to 120 cars that carry 112,000 to 114,000 tons of coal. It takes up to seven hours to unload a train at the power plant, which, like the mine, operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Johnson sits in the locomotive during unloading, communicating by radio with other utilities workers and inching the train forward so each coal car can release its load from the bottom into a large hole in the ground. Sometimes Johnson has to get out and shake the cars to release all of the coal or shovel coal that misses its mark. Coal on the tracks can cause a train to derail, he said.

“A lot of things can go wrong, so we do a lot of troubleshooting,” Johnson said.

Computers in Grove’s office give real-time accounts of exactly what’s going on at every stage, such as how much coal is being dumped where and how coal from the two mines is being mixed together.

“We used to do it all by hand,” Grove said. “With a computerized system, we can do more with less and work smarter, not harder.”

Automated conveyor belts move the coal. Some gets dumped into the yard.

A pile of about 100,000 tons, or a 30-day supply, stays outside, Grove said. The plant burns about 3,000 tons of coal per day. - Debby Kelley, The Colorado Springs Gazette

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TRAIN DEPOT CLAIMS ITS HISTORY

LOUISIANA, MO -- The Louisiana Chicago and Alton Railroad Depot in Louisiana has recently been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

"This building was chosen because of the design and historic association with railroad transportation in Louisiana," said Tiffany Patterson, National Register coordinator for the State Historic Preservation office.

"It was reviewed in January 2005 and had to go through several sets of revisions for documentation that had to meet our standards to take place over a year," she said. "The listing advisory board reviewed the nomination in May 2005, and it was placed on the register in June 2006."

With two depots torn down in Pike County, one in Clarksville and the Burlington in Louisiana, Anita Ludwig began a mission to save the building. She purchased the property in 1999, and in 2001 had it placed on the most endangered list, then started working on getting it on the register.

"I bought this building so it could be put on the National Register as a historic treasure," said Ludwig. "There are still people around Louisiana that remember taking the train out of the depot and have a lot of memories of when it was used. I had people wanting to buy the building, but I wouldn't sell it because I was afraid someone would stop the process."

Ludwig said the depot, featuring two large waiting rooms, a baggage room and office, is "a good-sized building. Most of the old woodwork is intact, although some doors have been replaced. The benches are gone and the wood plank flooring is loose in places, but the foundation and structure is sound. We are very pleased with what has happened here, but still have a long ways to go."

Ludwig, former chairwoman of the Louisiana Historic Preservation Committee, said the depot would be a good place for a transportation museum.

Designed in the mission architectural style by Matthew Porter McAffee of Hannibal, and constructed in 1907, the depot served Louisiana and the Pike County area into the 1960s. The building is typical in design and layout of depots built across the United States at the turn of the century, but was unique for Louisiana.

Its stucco finish and Spanish revival-influenced architectural details stand out among Louisiana's traditional brick commercial architecture, according to the Missouri State Parks and Historical Sites Resource Center.

The structure goes back to the days when railroads were the primary transportation modes and depots were community gathering spots. Trains took men to war and brought them home again.
They allowed politicians and performers to meet small-town America. Whole towns were built around railroad access, and when the trains left, those towns lost their zest.

During its heyday in the 1910s and 1920s, as many as 23 trains stopped daily at the depot. This constant stream of trains made the building a center of activity and trade in the community. Though train traffic dwindled in the 1950s, the depot remained in operation until 1967.

With the two waiting rooms, each with its own restrooms, the station once had segregated men's and women's seating sections, a reflection of the times.

The National Register is the federal list of historic buildings, structures, sites, districts and objects that are significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering and culture.

"This is presenting a lot of recognition for properties, especially in small towns where the history of the town is keeping it going," Patterson said. "It provides a lot of incentives for a town or property to be listed authentically as a historic place.

"Now that the building is listed, it is available for federal tax credits for rehabilitation. It says that the federal government has determined that this is a preservation, and that says something." - Margie Clark, The Hannibal Courier-Post

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TRAINS EQUAL FOND MEMORIES FOR PENNSYLVANIA MAN

DALLAS, PA -- Ray Conrad breaks out his model train set for Christmas and marvels at his prized piece -- a 1941 Lionel locomotive with four cars.

Behind the sturdy craftsmanship of the decades-old train that circles his Christmas tree are memories — and history. Before Conrad was born, Conrad’s parents bought the train for his brother on Dec. 8, 1941.

They almost didn’t.

Minutes before their scheduled appointment at the train shop, they learned the nation entered World War II in response to the Pearl Harbor attack the day before. The parents went to the shop and declined to make the purchase amid worries about how the war would affect their finances.

A salesman, however, told them the war would likely halt Lionel’s train production because unnecessary use of metals and rubber would be prohibited. The Conrads spent $17.95 for the train set, more than their $12 per-month rent. The train has been set up around Conrad family Christmas displays ever since — this being the 65th anniversary.

“I can’t imagine a Christmas without a train,” Conrad said recently from his Overbrook Road home.

He began setting up the train when he was 8 years old in 1952, while his brother, Lou, was serving in the Korean War. Lou later settled in California and Conrad kept the train.

Conrad, a 61-year-old self-employed owner of Conrad Electrical Construction, calls himself a “train buff.”

“I just love trains in general. The old train holds all the family sentimentality, though,” he said.

The antique train includes a black locomotive engine hauling a coal car, a Shell tanker, a gondola and a Pennsylvania Railroad caboose.

Each year it gets cleaned and oiled. Every three or four years, Conrad takes it to a train shop for maintenance.

“It’s a little erratic because of its age. But it works better than I would expect a 65-year-old train to run,” Conrad said.

The train was appraised 20 years ago, and Conrad said he was offered $6,000.

“God only knows what it would be worth today,” he said.

Conrad has two sons, 36 and 34, and a daughter, 32. The younger son usually sets up a train. Conrad says he’ll likely become more active in designing his train scenes now because he has two young granddaughters who visit on Christmas.

Holding up the locomotive, which weighs a few pounds, Conrad starts recalling some memories of the train.

One time in the family’s Sambourne Street, Wilkes-Barre, apartment, he and pals cranked the speed up a bit too high, causing a derailment.

“That train actually flew off the track and through a plaster wall once. We just were making it go too fast,” he joked.

Or there was the time when Conrad had measles, was looking to get warm and laid down over a vent in a second floor room. Looking through the vent, he could see a portion of the train track. He watched the train go around for hours.

“I’ve never got tired of watching it. I’ll never get tired of trains,” Conrad said. - Robert Kalinowski, The Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice

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ETHANOL PLANTS TRY TO MARKET BYPRODUCT

The rapid expansion of the ethanol industry is being felt far from American shores. It's also helping boost Asian imports of distillers grain.

The U.S. Grains Council is working to expand markets for dried distillers grains with solubles, or DDGS - a byproduct of the alternative fuel used as high-protein livestock feed - in Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and China, said Cary Sifferath, the council's Japan senior director.

"If we can find export markets for it, we can keep export prices up," Sifferath said recently by telephone from his office in Tokyo. "Most corn board members are very keen for us to keep working on that."

When ethanol plants turn corn into fuel, the process uses only the starch, which is about 70 percent of the kernel. The protein, fiber and oils left behind are concentrated into distillers grain.

A 56-pound bushel of corn produces about 2.8 gallons of ethanol and 17 pounds of distillers grain, according to the American Coalition for Ethanol.

The wet distillers grain can be sold locally, but it also can be dried to increase shelf life, allowing it to be shipped longer distances.

Turning wet distillers grain into DDGS involves separating the liquid from the mash, partially dehydrating that liquid into a syrup and adding it back into grain.

Ethanol plants nationwide produced 9 million metric tons of distillers grain in 2005, a 23 percent increase from the 7.3 million metric tons produced during the previous year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. With the huge increase in ethanol plants coming online, that number is expected to far surpass 10 million metric tons in 2006, industry experts said.

Most of the distillers grain exported from the United States in 2005 went to Ireland, Mexico, Spain, Canada and the United Kingdom, according to the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service office.

Brian Jennings, executive vice president of the Coalition of Ethanol, said the industry has traditionally focused less on finding markets for ethanol's byproduct than the corn-based fuel itself.

"But now the industry is very cognizant that distillers grains are a critical piece of the puzzle, and they're working to do the research and development to make distillers grains more digestible and more acceptable to all livestock diets," he said. "So it's not just beef and dairy cattle, but there's also emphasis now on swine and on poultry." - The Associated Press, The Omaha World-Herald

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CHRISTMAS 1906 HOAX: SUGAR FACTORY EYED IN SCAM

Photo here:

[www.billingsgazette.net]

Caption reads: The front page of the Dec. 27, 1906, Gazette tells the tale of local law enforcement officials setting a trap to catch an extortionist threatening to blow up the new sugar factory.

BILLINGS, MT -- Late Christmas night 1906, Yellowstone County Sheriff Adams concealed himself on the vestibule at the back of a Burlington Pullman car as the train chugged its way west toward Livingston.

Armed with a shotgun and a revolver, he peered into the bitter winter night watching for a red lantern he expected to see somewhere near Columbus. That was where he guessed an extortionist who threatened to blow up Billings' new sugar factory on State Avenue would be waiting for the payoff.

In the week before Christmas, factory manager Edmond Simmons received a letter demanding $25,000 in $20 bills. A few days later, a man named F.H. Smith woke Deputy Lavelle at 03:00 to report that he had overheard six men talking at one of the local hotels about a plan to extort money from the factory.

"Don't try to cause me any trouble for by God I will blow her up and go to hell," the letter warned.

Its instructions were explicit. No police or newspapers were to be notified. A company representative was to board westbound No. 43 and watch for the appearance of a waving lantern behind the train. That would be the signal to throw the money onto the tracks.

Simmons didn't know what to make of the threat and went to the sheriff, who kept it quiet enough - except for the Gazette representative who accompanied him and two other lawmen when they sneaked onto a sleeper car standing alone in the Billings rail yard. As No. 43 readied to continue her journey, the coach carrying the posse was attached to the rear.

When the train pulled into the dark night, sheriff-elect J.T. Webb moved onto the vestibule and positioned himself in the corner opposite Adams. Deputy Lavelle sat between them. Railroad detective R.H. Goddard joined them at Laurel.

The plan was to drop a bag filled with fake bills when the red light appeared. The train would be immediately stopped and the officers would apprehend the criminals.

"If they really meant business it was thought they would display the red light near the bluffs about two miles east of Columbus, or at an equally advantageous spot some 14 miles west of Columbus," the Gazette reporter in on the ambush wrote the next day.

They shivered as the train wound its way through Columbus and passed the areas they had judged most advantageous to criminals bent on an easy getaway. No red light appeared then or as they passed through Big Timber.

When the train pulled into Livingston at 5 the next morning, the men decided the threat to the sugar plant was merely a hoax that took them away from their families and warm fires on Christmas night. They hopped a train home an hour later.

Lavelle, who had been searching for his informant, F.H. Smith, since their initial conversation a few days earlier, caught up with Smith Dec. 28 and hauled him off to jail. Lavelle said that he smelled a rat from their first conversation. Smith told The Gazette that he would have nothing further to say.

Messing with the sugar factory, the city's pride and joy, was a matter to be taken seriously. The behemoth on the city's South Side had just been completed and everybody who was anybody had been escorted through. Delegates to a December teachers' convention visited the factory. Investors from the Hi-Line hoping for similar developments there took the grand tour and marveled at the thoroughly modern facility. Every farmer, businessman and ladies group for miles around dropped in to check out the plant.

It wasn't the only new facility in the works in 1906. The YMCA was going up on North 29th Street and the Masons were preparing to invest $75,000 in a temple at North 28th Street and Third Avenue North. A new opera house was under construction on North 28th adjoining the Stapleton Block. It would be the finest in the state for a price tag of $60,000.
Photo here:

[www.billingsgazette.net]

Caption reads: A historic photo shows the Treasure State-YMCA building. Arthur Salsbury photo from the Bob Fears collection at the Western Heritage Center.

Billings, launched when the Northern Pacific arrived just 24 years earlier, was on its way. An estimate in December put the population at 11,000 people. "It is expected by the first of next August that this number will be increased at least 3,000 people more," The Gazette reported.

Railroads were crisscrossing Montana with mainlines to almost everywhere. In the middle of December the Milwaukee Road estimated it would have 20,000 workers in Montana by summer building 600 miles of track from Ekalaka to Saltese in Missoula County. It would traverse the open farm country between the Great Northern in the north and the Northern Pacific in the south. In another development, hundreds of men were already constructing a line that would take travelers and goods between Great Falls and Billings.

At Christmas time, the passenger cars were packed with people coming to Billings to shop and homesick immigrants headed East for the holidays. In November alone, nearly 10,000 railway tickets were sold in Billings. December promised even more travelers.

Trains were the life's blood on the last frontier, but in December 1906, it seemed to many, including The Billings Gazette, that the railroads were trying to suck the last drop from the communities they had created.

As winter racked the Northern Plains from the Dakotas through Montana, a fuel crisis blamed squarely on the railroad reached desperate proportions. The railroad, thanks to generous land grants from the government, owned much of the coal and controlled the only way to get it to market. But trains carrying coal that winter were scarce.

Some of the railroads blamed a shortage of train cars, arguing that railcar manufacturers couldn't keep up with the demand of rapidly expanding rail lines. The claim was viewed with skepticism. The public seemed convinced the shortage was more about railroad profits than about a dubious car shortage.

On Dec. 15, The Gazette reported that North Dakota farmers were becoming so desperate they were burning outbuildings to keep from freezing. The folks in Glenburn, N.D., asked the governors of North Dakota and Minnesota to use state militias to get coal trains moving. Farmers in Oklahoma stopped a Sante Fe railroad train and helped themselves to 100 tons of coal.

In Montana, Helena didn't have enough coal to run its gas plant. Coal deliveries were being rationed in Billings. The railroad's popularity sunk further when it was learned that one local dealer had three cars coming from Wyoming mines, but the coal was confiscated by the railroad for its own use.

The Gazette's editor, normally a booster of all things commercial, railed against the railroad monopoly in a Dec. 15 editorial.

"Everywhere people are compelled to stand by and see car after car of coal pass their doors, while they themselves are wondering how they are to keep from freezing. Everywhere prices have been advanced until it has become a serious problem to the moderately well off how they are to meet them, let alone the poor, who have the foolish habit of getting cold and wanting their food cooked."

Fuel considerations aside, Billings seemed poised for a merry Christmas. Billings was home to several thriving department stores advertising sales and late hours for shoppers' convenience. Cut glass and leather were the fashionable gifts of the season. Merchants reported their strongest sales ever.

Cold weather got the festivities started early. By Dec. 7, the Yellowstone River was frozen over and large parties of skaters were seen headed in that direction. A Christmas Eve grand carnival was being readied at the Coliseum Skating Rink. Old timers lamented the lack of enough sleighs to take advantage of a generous snowfall. The snowfall, however, delayed most trains coming in from the west for hours, if not days, and occasionally created gridlock at train stations across the Northwest.

Plenty Coups, chief of the Crow, accompanied by Running Water, Hits the Pipe, Johnny Brave Boy and Afraid of His Face bought sleeping car tickets for a trip west to visit Nez Perce friends at Lapwai, Idaho, The Gazette noted. He expected to return in mid January and bring many of his friends with him.

Associated Charities of Billings was preparing for a Christmas Eve distribution of gifts and turkey feasts for the city's "worthy poor." The community planned to make Christmas merrier for its children, the sick and the people who worked on Christmas Day.

During the day, 30 to 40 newsboys, bootblacks and others "who may not be provided for at home" were rounded up and taken to one of the city's restaurants for an elaborate meal. Then they were treated to a performance at the Family Theater.

Businessman W. B. George purchased 120 dozen carnations that were made into bouquets and distributed at St. Vincent Hospital and to people confined to sick rooms all over the city on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day, just as it had for several years, Billings Hardware gave away all toys that hadn't sold during the Christmas season. Between the hours of 10:00 and 11:00 the store distributed more than 1,000 presents.

"Children blocked the streets of Montana Avenue for nearly two blocks, while the crowd extended south on 27th Street for nearly that distance," The Gazette reported.

Although The Gazette noted a relatively quiet holiday season, there were areas of town, mainly the "restricted district," where the celebration was a bit more raucous than in the respectable residential sections.

Men who'd spent most of the year watching sheep or wrangling cattle arrived in town to blow their holiday paycheck. More than a few habitants of the more colorful areas of town were waiting and watching for the moment when an unsuspecting victim would flash a bit of cash.

W.E. Collins, a sheepherder, staggered into police headquarters Christmas week to report that he'd been robbed of $18 cash, an Ingeroll watch worth $2 and some keys.

The Gazette reported that Collins seated himself unsteadily in a chair "for the festive sheepman had been imbibing freely of red liquor and looking upon the amber stuff in long glasses until he was not in full possession of his faculties."

Another reveler was fined $10 "for the futile effort he made to reduce the visible supply of whisky in Billings."

Henry C. Kerr, proprietor of a saloon at 2724 Minnesota Ave., found himself in deep trouble when County Attorney Wilson accepted the invitation of an informant to visit Kerr's establishment Dec. 17.

Unobtrusively making his way into the watering hole, Wilson found a crowd surrounding a roulette wheel "that whirled and rattled in lively fashion." Chips and money lay on the table as patrons waited patiently for their lucky numbers.

Wilson quietly left the saloon, went to his office and wrote out an arrest warrant.

Wild as Billings could be, it appears something had happened since the previous year to tame the city's bawdy elements. Gone from The Gazette were reports about the lusty adventures of ladies operating in the restricted district. The few mentions of these women referred to them euphemistically as "secretaries."

Advertising for the city's theaters and the vaudeville acts that frequented them were missing from the pages of the newspaper. The only theater mentioned in December was the Family Theater. A new opera house being constructed on 28th Street promised not to feature "the barnstorming productions, which are of little value or interest and seem to think that Montana is their legitimate field."

Meanwhile, city church leaders were eagerly preparing for a massive, five-day revival meeting in the spring featuring nationally celebrated evangelist Billy Sunday.

Elsewhere in the world in 1906, revolution was brewing in Russia, where winter famine raged and military men fresh from a disastrous war with Japan turned mutinous. President Teddy Roosevelt, who brokered the uneasy peace between the warring nations, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt made the first official state visit outside the United States by a sitting American president when he inspected progress on the Panama Canal.

The president was busy at home, too, trying to manage a country of 85.5 million people with a budget of $570 million. In an address to Congress Dec. 5, he railed against an epidemic of lynching, advocated education for blacks and proposed prohibiting corporate contributions to political campaigns. The indefatigable Republican also advocated a graduated income tax and a graduated inheritance tax.

A titillating sex scandal broke out in Washington, D.C., when former Utah Sen. Arthur Brown was shot and killed Dec. 12 in an apparent love triangle. Anna M. Bradley, who claimed that Brown had fathered her two young children, had followed Brown from Utah to Washington, where he was attending a Supreme Court hearing. When he came back to his hotel room, he found Bradley going through his private papers. Bradley held up a letter from another woman - the mother of famed actress Maud Adams, to whom he was purportedly engaged - and shot Brown dead after he refused to marry her.

Bradley was arrested. Brown's body taken back to Utah, where more scandal developed when his legitimate son filed the will, in which Brown said he doubted Bradley's children were his. He specifically disinherited them whether they were or not and left nothing of his $75,000 estate to their mother. Bradley's attorneys were expected to contest the will using letters Brown had written to Bradley acknowledging the children as his.

On the literary front, Upton Sinclair published "The Jungle," his expose of the meatpacking industry that shocked the nation.

Gustav Mahler introduced his "Symphony No. 6," and George M. Cohan's "You're a Grand Old Flag" became a patriotic classic.

On Christmas Eve, Reginald A. Fessenden broadcast the first music over the radio. His program included a violist.

A day after Christmas, "The Story of the Kelly Gang," the world's first feature film, made its debut on the newfangled silver screen. - Lorna Thackeray, The Billings Gazette

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TRANSIT NEWS

SACRAMENTO LIGHT RAIL FARE SCOFFERS 'BLITZED'

SACRAMENTO, CA -- Over on Regional Transit's light rail, reader Hal Silliman recently noticed something that seemed odd. Twice, he says he heard train operators announce on the speaker system that fare inspectors were about to board the trains.

His question: Why are they warning fare evaders?

Mark Lonergan, the head of operations for RT, said the agency does in fact make these announcements, but only during a particular event:

It's called a "blitz."

That is when RT masses a team of fare inspectors at a station with the intent of checking every passenger getting off the train, and also every passenger on the train.

The announcement is made so that "people know to have your ticket ready so it goes faster," Lonergan said.

Ideally, if someone tries to bolt at the next station, there will be enough fare checkers on the platform to intercept them.

So, how many light-rail riders are cheating?

Blitzes -- which often are conducted in areas where RT believes it is having its worst problems -- lead to citations for up to 9 percent of passengers, Lonergan said.

Overall, Lonergan said, a study conducted by RT two years ago found that the fare evasion rate on light rail is above 5 percent. - Tony Bizjak, The Sacramento Bee

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KEEP TRANSIT OPTIONS OPEN ON CORRIDOR TRAIL

Map here:

[seattletimes.nwsource.com]

SEATTLE, WA -- The word conditional perfectly describes the layers of actions it will take to turn a 47-mile Eastside rail corridor through the heart of King County into a bicycle path. First A, then B, then -- well, pretty much through the alphabet.

The idea — a good one -- is a work in progress, so here is another qualification: Do not preclude future conversion of the corridor for use by mass transit. This region is desperately short of potential people-moving corridors. If an opportunity exists to get people out of their automobiles along a commuter-rich stretch from Renton to Snohomish, then keep the mass-transit option open.

The core of the deal is a land swap in which King County trades Boeing Field to the Port of Seattle for the rail corridor the Port would buy from the BNSF Railway Company. The Port would also pay to develop the corridor into a recreational trail.

Lots of cost estimates, negotiations and politicking stand between the Port of Seattle taking over the county's airport and BNSF Railway Company surrendering its rail right of way to bike riders.

The chain of events, of course, does not stop here. Gov. Christine Gregoire has $25 million in her new budget to help BNSF bore out its Stampede Pass rail tunnel so it can handle double-stacked rail containers. This desirable efficiency helps motivate the railway's mood on the rail corridor.

Do not forget the future intermodal transportation/rail site between Seattle and Tacoma. For a trade-fueled economy, the swift movement of goods to and from and through the Port is good for all players. Another condition/contingency involves Harbor Island and its logistical potential.
Everyone is looking out for themselves and looking ahead. That healthy attitude ought to be applied to the Eastside trail.

The days of moving freight over that 47 miles might be numbered. Many happy years of cycling might be in the future. But the legal and land-use options of that corridor for mass transit ought not be eliminated.

If the string of conditional events takes place in its proper order, BNSF makes out like, well, the way railroads have made out in this country forever. The company is in line to get what it needs, with no good reason to obstruct future public decisions.

The Port picks up complementary operational space to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. King County picks up a corridor with the potential of keeping the people who live and work here on the move.

The trail is a connection to our future, to paraphrase a line from a county-Port presentation. Keep mass-transit options open. - Editorial Opinion, The Seattle Times

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RAIL ON: PROPOSED LIGHT RAIL LINE TO THE WEST MUST LINK GALLERIA AND GREENWAY PLAZA WITH POINTS EAST

HOUSTON, TX -- A light rail line along Richmond Avenue and the Westpark corridor must serve two functions: It must follow a route that will win the maximum ridership, and it must link the Southwest Transit Center, the Galleria and Greenway Plaza with the University of Houston, Texas Southern University and all the points along the Main Street line.

Toward those ends, the Metropolitan Transit Agency has proposed three options. One of the routes, favored by influential U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, would bypass Greenway, win the fewest riders and cost the most. With all that to recommend it, Metro board Chairman David Wolff was right to dampen expectations that Metro would make such an impractical choice offering minimal public utility.

The other two proposed routes would run along Richmond Avenue to Greenway Plaza or Cummins before diverting to Westpark for the western legs of the line. Heeding intense political opposition, Metro discreetly ended its desire to run the line along Richmond through the Afton Oaks subdivision. Many of its well-connected and vocal residents declined to endure the convenience of rapid transit. Some will no doubt reconsider their view when they find they must make repeated visits to the Texas Medical Center, battling traffic an hour each way and paying through the nose for parking.

Avoiding Afton Oaks offers advantages other than silencing political opposition. Metro officials say diverting to Westpark before Afton Oaks reduces the project's cost and allows the trains to gain speed.

Members of Culberson's staff indicate that since some people who live or work along Richmond object to the line, Culberson cannot lend his support to the two most practical options.

Metro promises to construct the Richmond line in such a way as to spend no more than 120 days on each segment. Still, some businesses will be inconvenienced or lost, as was the case when the city dug up Richmond to improve storm sewers and prevent flooding. But no city can turn its back on all infrastructure improvements to which someone objects.

For Metro or any member of the Texas delegation in Congress to rule out rail on Richmond because of local objection would be like forgoing the expansion of the Katy Freeway because some businesses did not wish to be encroached upon. Culberson, who made the expansion of I-10 the hallmark of his first years in Congress, should be the first to see the logic of the comparison and act accordingly. - Editorial Opinion, The Houston Chronicle

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THE END