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Railroad Newsline for Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS[/b]

[b]FRA APPROVES BNSF OPERATION SYSTEM

FORT WORTH, TX -- Federal regulators gave BNSF Railway Co. the green light Monday to begin using a computerized system that warns train operators of hazards and can automatically apply the brakes.

Joseph R. Boardman, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, called it "the beginning of a new era of rail safety."

BNSF said the electronic system would use global positioning and relay information such as speed limits and switch positions to a computer screen inside the locomotive cab. The computer will send warnings to the crew and start braking if the crew doesn't respond correctly.

The freight railroad has been testing the electronic system on a 135-mile stretch of track in Illinois since October 2004. With a waiver from the railroad agency, BNSF and Wabtec Corp. had installed the system on 50 locomotives that operated between Beardstown and Centralia, Illinois.

This spring, BNSF expects to begin using the system on a 300-mile corridor between Fort Worth and Arkansas City, Kansas, over track it shares with Union Pacific Corp. freight trains and Amtrak passenger trains.

BNSF, a unit of Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., must meet conditions set by regulators before it can install the train-management system on other parts of its network. The company said most of the conditions cover record keeping, operations testing and reporting.

BNSF Chairman and Chief Executive Matthew K. Rose called it a significant safety milestone for the rail industry.

The network "is the first approved automatic control system that prevents train collisions and over-speed accidents, meeting the criteria of one of the National Transportation Safety Board's most wanted list," Rose said.

BNSF operates on 32,000 miles of track in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. It is the second-largest U.S. freight railroad behind Union Pacific. - The Associated Press, The Houston Chronicle

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ELECTRICIAN SAYS MILITARY EXPERIENCE PREPARED HIM FOR BNSF CAREER

When Darrell Justice graduated from high school and joined the U.S. Army, he knew he had found the perfect match. Soon after his military career ended, he found another with the BNSF Railway Company.

Justice, electrician, Amarillo, Texas, was no stranger to military life. His father spent 22 years in the Army, and Justice was involved in his high school's ROTC program.

"I was only planning on doing it for a couple of years," he says of his military service. But he spent 11 years in active duty before serving in the Reserves the past nine years. Justice was able to draw upon his experience with the Army to fulfill a role as an Army military school instructor and the past four years as an Army Reserve drill instructor.

He joined BNSF in April 1997 as a laborer. He was impressed with the BNSF's relationship with military personnel. "When I started, about 60 percent of the people I worked with were military," he recalls. "They were either still in the Guards or former active duty. I blended right in."

Another reason the adjustment to rail life was easy was due to BNSF's emphasis on safety. In the Army, working with a variety of weapons requires diligently following safety procedures. Whether dealing with military weapons or a locomotive, procedures at both jobs drive home the safety message.

"The message doesn't just end when we get off work," he says. "We're around it all the time whether we're drilling or working on a locomotive. It's a great way to stay safe no matter where you're at."

Justice says his experience with BNSF has been great. He talks regularly to BNSF employees who also are part of his Reserve unit. He said each talks highly of their treatment while finding balance between the military and railroad careers.

"BNSF supports everything we do," he says. "It's great to know they will do everything they can to work with our military schedule. They have no idea how much that means to us." - BNSF Today

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TRAIN DERAILS IN CLAIBORNE PARISH, LOUISIANA

ATHENS, LA -- A Louisiana & North West freight train derailed near the Claiborne Parish town of Athens Monday morning, sending two tank cars carrying chlorine off the tracks.

Neither car was leaking and no injuries were reported

Louisiana State Police Trooper Doug Pierrelee said the train was traveling over a small bridge when the bridge collapsed.

The two tank cars fell about eight feet. One wound up on its side on the track and the other went off the tracks and into a small creek, Pierrelee said.

Law enforcement officers were on the scene south of Louisiana Highway 518 late this morning and railroad crews were headed to the accident site to clean up the derailment. - KTBS-TV3, Shreveport, LA

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CASPER COUNCIL TO WEIGH RAIL SERVICE STUDY

CASPER, WY -- Members of the Casper City Council are set to consider Monday whether they want to pay for a study that would look at the possibility of extending passenger railroad service to their city.

The $4.4 million study will look at establishing rail service all along the Front Range. The proposed service would run from Albuquerque, New Mexico, north through Denver, and on through Cheyenne to Casper.

Casper would be asked to put up $50,000 for its share of the study. Cheyenne would also be asked to pay that much.

The Rocky Mountain Rail Authority wants funding for the study to be in place by the summer of 2009. The authority says that rail service could be established by the year 2016. - KGWN-CBS5, Cheyenne, WY

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KANSAS CITY ETHANOL FIRM GRAINS GRANTS FOR PLANTS IN ILLINOIS, IOWA

KANSAS CITY, MO -- Kansas City-based Alternative Energy Sources Inc. Monday said it has received grants of $994,500 for proposed 110-million-gallon ethanol plants in Kankakee, Illinois, and near Ogden, Iowa.

In Illinois, the Kankakee County Board recently voted to approve an $850,000 grant for road improvements for the Kankakee Regional Industrial Park, the proposed site for the plant Alternative Energy plans to have in operation by fall 2008.

In Iowa, the Department of Transportation has approved a total award of $239,000, including a grant of $144,500 and a loan of $94,500, both to be used for Union Pacific railroad infrastructure. The Iowa plant also is expected to be in operation by fall 2008.

Alternative Energy plans to start construction on both plants by late spring.

A third plant is planned for Greenville, Illinois. - The Kansas City Star

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ENGINEER ON A FAST TRACK

Photo here: [www.amarillo.com]

Caption reads: Arron Sims enjoys his job as a BNSF Railway Company engineer. Amarillo Globe-News Photo by Henry Bargas.

AMARILLO, TX -- The thrill of being in control of a 4,400-horsepower engine and moving 19,000 tons at around 70 mph has Arron Sims hooked.

Following in the footsteps of his father, who has been with BNSF Railway Company for more than 30 years, Sims drives engines and sometimes spends birthdays and holidays speeding along miles of track. Sims joined the railroad eight years ago when he was 19 after a year of college. Sims said the retirement benefits and the horsepower have made it a great career.

Q. What kind of training goes into becoming an engineer?

A. "You first have to be a conductor, which takes a 13-week intensive training course that establishes your seniority. Then you bid on engineer classes, and the oldest bidders get in. The engineer training is a six-month course. While studying, you learn to run a train through on the job training. Then there are biannual exams for conductors. Engineers have to take triannual exams, simulator runs and also take the biannual (exam) that the conductors take. We also have to have a yearly check ride by a road foreman of engines. You learn every time you go to work.
Christmas day I learned to never leave your Christmas cookies unattended in the depot."

Q. Do you get nervous coming into an intersection or driving through populated areas?

A. "We know that the signal system on the crossings works, but we do see people run the gates usually more than once on every trip. That does make us nervous. I know that people are in a hurry, but we can't stop on a dime. It may take a heavy or fast-moving train up to two miles to stop. Please be careful when crossing the tracks."

Q. Do you ever worry your job will be outsourced to a computer?

A. "I hope that does not happen for many reasons. Nobody wants to lose their job. The RCO (remote control operated) engines didn't make engineers happy because they cut jobs like the self-checkout lines at the store. Technology will come, but safety is the issue for the public and the employees. I guess someone else will decide that for us."

Q. What do you see that normal motorists don't see while traveling?

A. "I have seen all kinds of wildlife from deer to mountain lion to elk and black bears. Countless sunrises and sunsets in many beautiful places. Sometimes after an all-night trip, the sunrise is not a welcome sight. Snow and thunderstorms are seen from a train like nowhere else.
"Most people don't drive much in either, but the trains don't stop."

Q. If you left in a train from Santa Fe toward Amarillo traveling 80 mph at 14:00 and a train left Amarillo toward Santa Fe at 15:00 traveling 90 mph, how long before the two trains meet?

A. "I don't know, but they will definitely make better time than I do. If they're not Amtrak, they might be fired when they get there.

"Or at least have a big speeding ticket from the (Federal Railroad Administration)." - Sean Thomas, The Amarillo Globe-News

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McCOMB RAILROAD MUSEUM PLAQUE STOLEN

McCOMB, MS -- A bronze plaque that contained a historic route map of the Illinois Central Railroad has been stolen from the McComb City Railroad Depot Museum and officials are hoping they get it back.

The theft was discovered on Dec. 28. Police have asked the public for help in finding it.

"It's a piece of the city's history," said museum board member Bob Bellipanni.

Bellipanni's grandfather, Jake Bellipanni Sr., served as a conductor for the rail system.

Affixed to a piece of granite that weighs about 450 pounds, the plaque is 10-1/4 inches in diameter and was given to McComb in 1951.

"It looks like they had a crowbar and popped it out of the rock," Bellipanni said.

A circular plaque that documented the 100th anniversary of the railroad also was mounted to the granite. It was not damaged.

"It doesn't appear that they messed with the other side at all. It really (doesn't) make sense," Bellipanni said.

When the city initially received the monument, Bellipanni said they didn't have a place to put it because of its size. So officials decided to display it near McComb High School. About two years ago, the monument was moved to the railroad museum and placed by the train display.

Since the theft, the monument has been moved again. Now it's housed inside the depot, which is locked at night.

Bellipanni said the depot has been the target of vandalism in the past, but nothing of this magnitude. He said vandals have previously spray-painted the engine and boxcar. And last year, windows were smashed out of the train wrecker.

"I have no idea what was on their minds," Bellipanni said. "Why would anybody take something that had significant value to the city of McComb and its people?" - The Associated Press, The Hattiesburg American

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THE TIES BETWEEN THE RAILROAD, PENINSULA

SAN MATEO, CA -- The "Big Four" of railroad fame is a story of all of California, if not the nation, but it also has its local angle. Huntington, Hopkins, Crocker and Stanford were men who became famous for their part in completing the transcontinental railroad back in 1869.

In the process of expanding their railway, they did buy the San Francisco to San Jose line that had been built here, but the Peninsula connection really grew after the men became rich and famous. Huntington never became part of our social set, but the other three, or their families, did.

As was customary in those early days, San Franciscans who became wealthy often built their country estates down here in San Mateo County. Leland Stanford, of course, not only was a railroad millionaire, but he also became governor of California and then U.S. senator. He bought the Gordon Farm at the edge of Santa Clara County.

His acreage extended into both counties, and he established an extensive horse farm there. He was an avid horse breeder. His interest in studying the leg movement of horses led to the invention of what would someday become motion pictures.

Although extending into the neighboring county, his place was considered to be in Menlo Park, as that was the nearest railroad station. Now, of course, we know the farm that became Leland Stanford Junior Memorial University is considered to be in Palo Alto, although some of the property does extend into San Mateo County. Stanford felt Menlo Park was too rowdy a town for a proper university, so he thought the new community more suitable for the school.

The Hopkins family did not buy property here until after Mark Hopkins, the railroad man, was dead. His widow purchased the Lapham mansion, Thurlow Lodge, in Menlo Park and gave it to their adopted son, Timothy, as a wedding present. Timothy and his wife, Clara, lived there, and Timothy often commuted to work in San Francisco. The home was damaged in the 1906 earthquake, and after that, they resided in San Francisco. When they visited here, they stayed briefly in a small cottage on the estate. Upon Timothy's death, the property was willed to Stanford University.

It was the Crockers who were to leave a large extended family in our county. Again, it was the second generation who settled here. William Henry Crocker had a summer place in Burlingame. When he decided to make the Peninsula his home, he had "New Place" built to meet his needs for a primary residence.

He had married a Sperry heiress in 1886, and founded his own dynasty. His brother, Charles Frederick Crocker, purchased the Howard family mansion, Uplands I in San Mateo, when the Howards were upgrading to a newer home.

Charles Frederick had married into another prominent local family, the Eastons. When the children grew up, his son, Templeton Crocker, built a new home called Uplands II for his bride.
The old house was moved and transformed into a school.

The various Crockers continued to intermarry with other socialite families, and Crocker descendants are still to be found here. While the railroad story of The Big Four has been a saga for many historical studies, the family histories can be found right here in our own back yard. - Joan Levy, The San Mateo Daily Journal

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RENOVATION OF HISTORIC MUSKOGEE DEPOT DISTRICT GETS ON TRACK

MUSKOGEE, OK -- Placement of Muskogee's depot and freight district on the National Register of Historic Places may provide a financial incentive for developers to rehabilitate its buildings, officials said.

Developers can receive a 20 percent tax credit for restoring a historic building for commercial use. But Linda Moore, executive director of the Three Rivers Museum, said the structures must have a purpose that brings people to them.

Two buildings that have been restored in the district represent the last of Muskogee's depot buildings.

One of them, the Spanish-style Midland Valley Depot built in 1916, houses the Three Rivers Museum. More than 12,000 people come each year to chase memories of horse-drawn carriages, a Model T Ford Runabout, Muskogee's skyline circa 1912, the cotton business and history of the railroad.

The other depot belonged to the Frisco Railroad and now is the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Inductees include Leon Russell, Woodie Guthrie and Merle Haggard, Vince Gill and Toby Keith.

The music hall building is not fully developed, but museum officials hope to gather more artifacts from some of the big names.

Tish Callahan, the city's assistant city planner, said it is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. The inductees want to see how well the museum takes off, but the museum cannot get going until the stars get behind it.

Several of the buildings are dilapidated or vacant. Besides the museum and music hall of fame, one building in the district is occupied. Allied Van Lines operates out of the old Muskogee Transfer & Storage Co.

The fireproof warehouse once had an operating railroad that ran through it.

The old offices for the Midland Valley Railroad sit across the street from the museum, gutted and burned. The building once was condemned and occupied by vagrants, but the city decided to acquire it with the hope that it could be rehabilitated.

"It would be nice to find a use for it," Moore said. It has the same keystone-shaped architectural features as the Midland Valley Depot. - The Associated Press, The Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise

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TRANSPORTATION ISSUES LOOM IN AUSTIN

AUSTIN, TX -- Should railroads pay higher taxes or fees to cover the cost of moving freight lines out of congested Texas cities?

That's one of many transportation-related questions sure to be debated during the legislative session beginning Tuesday in Austin.

An interim committee has spent much of the past two years doing homework on some of the issues likely to come up. Here's a sample of recommendations (whether the Legislature will follow them is anybody's guess):

Rail relocation: Put up to $1 billion into the relocation fund approved by voters statewide in November 2005.

Potential sources: a 20-cent-per-gallon tax on rail diesel fuel; a fee on goods unloaded at freight terminals; a fee charged to railroads based on tonnage and miles traveled across Texas; a sales tax paid by rail freight buyers or shippers.

"Somewhere between the striking of the golden spike in 1869 and the 21st century, Americans' increased reliance on vehicles that travel on asphalt has pushed the railroad to the back of the transportation pack. And now we need it more than ever," House Transportation Committee members wrote in an interim report.

Utility relocation: Charge utility companies a leasing fee and hold it in escrow until the money is needed to pay for relocation of utility lines in road projects. Stop allowing utilities to be reimbursed for placing lines along interstates.

Airports: Consider a tax on aviation fuel, in part to subsidize general aviation. Stop funding general aviation airports with the gas tax.

Land use: Expand the Texas Department of Transportation's ability to buy land options where roads are planned in the long term. Give counties broader power to plan transportation corridors.

Rental cars: Allow credit unions to sell used rental cars on credit union property, a practice banned since 1985.

Full report and link to featured items and interim reports, [www.house.state.tx.us] - Gordon Dickson, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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HOWELL WENT BANANAS AFTER RAIL CARS BECAME STRANDED

EVANSVILLE, IN -- THIS DAY IN 1937:

Jan. 8: River stage was 32.1 feet at 07:00. The forecast was for rain changing to snow and colder temperatures.

Bananas! That's something David Witherspoon will never forget about the flood of '37: "You never saw so many bananas in your life. They gave them away. You ate banana cake, banana bread, banana pudding."

The rail yard in Howell, the close-knit railroad community southwest of Reitz Hill, was jammed with freight cars stranded here by rail beds too soft to run on. Evansville's rabbi blessed the meat, but after a while there wasn't enough ice to keep all the meat and produce refrigerated.\

"We were so young (he was 9) we didn't understand the seriousness of it," Witherspoon says, recalling a Coast Guard tongue-whipping after he and several friends were caught rafting in backwaters.

Howell, a town of 2,000 with its own Front Street of stores, eateries, a railroad depot and hotel, had become isolated from Evansville by a river that crested on Jan. 31, 19 feet above flood stage. The low-lying area of Ingleside (along Barker Avenue between Howell and Evansville's Reitz Hill) had water up to the eaves of many homes. Howell was on higher ground.

Howell had its share of mom and pop grocers, "but everyone bartered and did what they could for each other," Witherspoon says. "This community and Union Township were a family, so close if you had a headache and didn't have time to take an aspirin, someone else would take it for you."

Farmers seeking refuge in Howell slaughtered some of their animals near the Howell United Methodist Church, a refugee center. Typhoid shots were given at the drug store, doctor's office and Methodist church.

Furnace coal wasn't a problem.

"There were over 100 coal cars sitting there stranded, or you could walk the tracks and pick up all the coal you needed," says Witherspoon, the youngest of nine children.

He chuckles, recalling the evening the Coast Guard decided to store two of its boats inside a feed store's big doorway across from the Methodist church.

"The water rose and the next morning they couldn't get the boats out of the building,"he says. - Rich Davis, The Evansville Courier & Press

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ROLLING INTO THE PAST IN OLD-TIME DINING CARS; AMTRAK BUDGET CUTS FORCING MOST TRAINS TO GO WITH PREFAB-STYLE SERVICE

WHITEFISH, MT -- It's snowing lightly, and the predawn darkness hides everything. But a bright beacon can be easily seen. The double wail of a distant horn pierces the quiet. Amtrak's Empire Builder is pulling into the Alpine-style railroad station in this old West town on the outskirts of Glacier National Park.

During the next day and a half, it will be my task to sample the scenery and critique the food service before heading to Colorado to do the same on the California Zephyr. For a kid who grew up with a Lionel train set and lived near a train switching roundhouse, this is a dream assignment.

It will turn out that the scenery hasn't changed much -- though the food has. The menu on all but a few trains has gone from old-time custom-grilled steaks on nice plates and table linens to microwaved mac and cheese on plastic plates and paper tablecloths.

But first, a little background.

In recent years, Congress, which underwrites Amtrak to the tune of $1.3 billion a year, threatened to pull its subsidy unless the railroad did something about reducing food costs. The dining car was losing far more than it was taking in.

"The average was just over $2 of cost for every dollar of revenue," says Brian Rosenwald, Amtrak's senior director of customer service.

"Not a great business model," I add as we stare at a tumbleweed racing just outside the observation car.

"A very bad business model," he agrees.

Amtrak has been drowning in a sea of red ink for years, and expensive labor is one of the reasons. Rosenwald says the average Amtrak food service worker earns about $20 an hour and another $10 to $12 an hour in benefits. That's far more than a typical restaurant worker earns.

Of course, the average restaurant worker can go home at night -- not so with those on the train.

Still, the costs are high. Something had to be done. So Amtrak designed what it calls "streamlined dining service," which eliminates a cook or two in the galley and another food handler in the dining car above. Disposable plastic cups, glassware and plates eliminated the need for a dishwasher. Other cost savings include tablecloths that look like cloth but are made of paper.

And then, there's the food.

All but two of Amtrak's 16 overnight trains now stock pre-packaged frozen food. Some of it can be microwaved or heated up in a water bath. Other items can be "finished" on the grill.

Some of the traditional dining car entrees are now off the menu, like grilled-to-order strip steaks and the traditional railroad breakfast of sunny-side-up fried eggs. It takes fewer chefs to cook pre-made omelet mix and French toast.

There are still fresh flowers on the tables and real silverware, but the cutbacks have allowed Amtrak to go to a four-member dining car crew from six employees on many trains.

Chef Steve Randles says he misses the old days.

"Yeah, a lot. You see, we're professionally trained chefs, not warmer-uppers" he says.

He then reaches into the freezer and pulls out one of the new entrees.

"Mac and cheese: It'll be microwaved," he says.

What do passengers think? It depends on whether they recall the "good old days" of "classic training." One older passenger told me he missed fried eggs and bacon and couldn't understand why they were no longer on the menu.

"How much more work is frying an egg, as opposed to making an omelet?" he asked.

The answer is, quite a bit. Once again, it's about prepackaging the ingredients and limiting choices.

Another, younger passenger didn't seem to mind.

"The French toast is fine," she said.

But she did grumble a little about the plastic glass full of orange juice.

"Kinda' cheap," she said.

One of Amtrak's affable public relations directors, Marc Magliari, understandably defended all things Amtrak as he accompanied us on our two train journeys. But he was quite outspoken when the question of congressional threats to eliminate food service subsidies came up.

"We cannot do away with dining service on long-distance trains," he said. "In many ways, food service is the very heart of the train experience. It's the step beyond just getting you there."

Passengers on the Empire Builder could not agree more.

"It's well worth the extra money," said one man as he cut into a steak.

The Empire Builder (Chicago to Seattle) and the Auto Train (from Louton, VA, to Sanford, FL) are the only trains still living in the past and offering the full, traditional dining car service.
For that, they typically charge 10 percent more than other Amtrak overnight trains.

"Yes, it costs more than the other trains," said an Empire Builder passenger. "But look at what we get."

She pointed to real china and stemware -- not to mention a fancy desert (chocolate bundt cake finished with an "elegant white chocolate drizzle").

A couple hours earlier, a wine-and-cheese tasting event was held, featuring regional wines and a choice of domestic cheese. One of the favorites was a creamy blue cheese from Faribault, Minnesota.

And guess what? The Empire Builder is the most popular of all Amtrak trains -- which begs the question: Why not keep the traditional menu and service alive on the other trains and simply charge a little more?

Magliari said Amtrak was looking at the Empire Builder "model" to see if other trains might follow, but it seemed doubtful. Congress wants even deeper cuts.

"The projected annual savings is just around $15? million," said Rosenwald.

"The goal wasn't to get it down to break even or make profit," he added, and quickly noted that another $11 million in cuts is expected this year.

As for my preferences, I'd take the Empire Builder any day of the week. There is something about the elegant style of a full service/full menu dining car that deserves to be preserved.

Perhaps I remember too many old movies such as "North by Northwest," where Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint flirted shamelessly after ordering brook trout ("a little trouty" says Saint, "but quite good.").

Come to think of it, maybe it's about the romance of the rails as much as it is about the food.

Speaking of which, there is no better way to see the Rocky Mountains than from the "sightseer lounge car" on the California Zephyr. The spectacular mountain passes and valleys cannot be enjoyed from an automobile racing down Interstate 70 -- at least not without risking an accident.

Yes, trains are slower. But occasionally, that's a good thing -- and a good thing for those who live in remote areas that are not serviced by the airlines.

Now if they could just restore the service and menu to the 60-year-old Zephyr, some of us old rail fans could have our cake and eat it too. - Bill Redeker, ABC News

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JUDGE APPROVES SETTLEMENT FOR SERIOUS INJURIES IN SC TRAIN WRECK

COLUMBIA, SC -- A judge on Monday approved a settlement that would pay thousands of dollars to residents, mill workers and first responders who suffered serious injuries when a train derailed two years and released a toxic cloud over the town of Graniteville, South Carolina.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Seymour gave approval to a preliminary settlement reached by railroad owner Norfolk Southern and plaintiffs' attorneys.

Early on Jan. 6, 2005, a Norfolk Southern train veered off the main track onto a spur, rear-ending a parked train whose crew failed to switch the tracks back to the main rail.

The wreck ruptured a car carrying chlorine and released a poisonous cloud over the tiny mill town, killing nine people and injuring 250. Some 5,400 people were evacuated.

Under the settlement, those who sought medical attention soon after the wreck would receive anywhere from $10,000 up to several hundred thousand dollars, depending on how close they were to the accident site, the seriousness of injuries and treatment time.

"A lot of people want to put this behind them," plaintiffs' attorney Joe Rice said.

On Saturday, the second anniversary of the derailment, a candlelight vigil was held at the wreck site. About 70 people also gathered at a separate ceremony at the University of South Carolina in Aiken for prayers and songs.

It's the second class-action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern approved by Seymour. In 2005, the judge approved a lawsuit for property damages and minor injuries.

The Norfolk, Virginia-based company has paid claims to roughly 3,700 people and expects about 760 more to qualify for this most class-action suit, spokesman Robin Chapman said. There are still more than 100 lawsuits pending, though all but two of the wrongful death cases have been settled.

The railroad has paid roughly $41 million in claims and other expenses, Chapman said. - Seanna Adcox, The Associated Press, The Columbia State

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TRANSIT NEWS

GAINING STEAM, FINALLY: CTA'S SKOKIE SWIFT MAY GET LONG-SOUGHT OLD ORCHARD STOP

SKOKIE, IL -- Talked about for four decades but with nothing accomplished, an expansion of the Skokie Swift rapid transit line could hardly have moved any slower.

But with the long-sought addition of a new downtown station on Oakton Street looking like a sure thing, Skokie officials believe the time might have come to extend the Swift, also known as the Chicago Transit Authority's Yellow Line, to a new train station near Old Orchard mall.

Any extension is still years away at best, but with CTA officials going to Skokie this week for a site survey, village leaders say they have never been more optimistic.

"It's long-range, but it's more in the realm of possibility than ever before," said Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen, who estimated the cost of the Old Orchard extension at $100 million. "The success we've had in one area perhaps breeds a little bit of optimism that we can succeed in the second one."

The CTA's last expansion in the North Shore was in 1964, when it began running the Swift on the tracks of the old North Shore railroad, which made its last run in 1963.

Proposals to extend the line go back to at least 1965, Tribune archives show, when the Skokie Valley Transportation Council, an ad hoc committee of North Shore towns, recommended an Old Orchard stop.

In 1985 a Tribune editorial warned that suburban traffic would worsen and asked, "Whatever happened to the plans to extend the Skokie Swift from Dempster Street to Old Orchard?"

Until recently, not much.

But in 2003 Skokie did a study that helped persuade the CTA to include the project in a request for federal "New Starts" funding earmarked for congestion-easing transit projects that year. Now the agency has launched a formal study process, and consultants will travel to the village to get a tour of what has changed since the '03 study.

"We've worked hard to push for support among congressional delegations and others to get on this list and to work to secure funding," said CTA spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler.

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who pushed for funding of the CTA study, spoke confidently.

"When the first project is complete [at Oakton Street], we'll go all the way to Old Orchard," she predicted. "I think this is going to be an enormous boost to the local economy."

For now, the Skokie Swift runs non-stop between Howard Street in Chicago and Dempster Street in Skokie, with about 2,500 riders a day boarding at Dempster.

The $15 million stop at Oakton, near the Illinois Science + Technology Park, could debut as early as 2008.

Three possible sites

Skokie planners have identified three possible sites for an Old Orchard station: on the west side of the Edens Expressway, where the old North Shore line used to run; just east of the expressway, next to Niles North High School; and in the mall's parking lot, near Bloomingdale's.

The line would probably need to be elevated or laid out in some way to keep the trains from crossing busy thoroughfares at street level, especially Dempster, said Steve Marciani, the village's planning supervisor.

Officials believe demand for the added stop is strong, as Skokie stores, hotels and businesses located north of Golf Road employ more than 11,000 people, he said.

The new line would whisk shoppers, employees and others to Westfield Shoppingtown Old Orchard, the Cook County courthouse and other nearby office and retail developments.

"The whole corridor is very busy," Van Dusen said. "A lot of employers have told us they would like it because they pick up their employees at Dempster."

At Old Orchard, the idea went over well among workers, managers and shoppers.

Carrie Dunham, manager at The Limited, said not having a viable rapid transit system makes it difficult for her to recruit workers who don't live nearby.
Many of her employees live in Chicago but would prefer working at The Limited store at Water Tower Place because they can ride the CTA to work, Dunham said.

"I think [the extension] is a good idea," she said. "We don't have public transportation out here. There's a bus, but it stops at a certain point and stops running at night."

The Yellow Line doesn't only shuttle people from Chicago to the suburbs. Philip Luu, 17, said he lives in Skokie but rides the Yellow Line to Chicago to hang out with friends and volunteer.

Because the train doesn't stop near his school, Luu, a senior at Niles North, takes a bus to Dempster, then rides the Swift to Howard. There, he switches to the Red Line, which carries him south into the city.

The Yellow Line extension would eliminate the bus leg of the journey, which Luu said he would welcome, especially in the winter or when buses are running late.

"That would really be nice," said Luu's friend Mohini Ghale, 18, of Skokie. "We'd have a straight line to the Red Line and to go downtown."

Skokie, meanwhile, "would like to see public transportation because it takes cars off the road," Van Dusen said. "Anything we can do to ease congestion is a good thing."

Funding issues remain

The extension's estimated cost would include engineering studies, equipment and land acquisition, Van Dusen said.

The $100 million estimate is for an above-ground line, he said, and tunneling would bump it higher.

It's too early to worry about exactly how to fund the project, village officials said, but it's clear the federal and state governments would have to pick up the lion's share of the tab.

Before the CTA can secure federal funding, the agency must demonstrate that a formal process of planning and design has been followed.

Ziegler said the extension proposal is in its earliest stage, known as alternatives analysis. In this phase, engineers study "traffic generators"--where people live, where they go and how they get there--as well as possible routes, station locations, ridership estimates, costs and what other transportation options are available.

The analysis takes at least two years to complete and is one of four the CTA has in the works, along with proposed extensions of the Orange and Red Lines and creation of a new downtown Circle Line. - Dan Gibbard and Andrew Schroedter, The Chicago Tribune

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SAN JOSE'S CONVENTION CENTER LIGHT RAIL STATION RE-OPENED

SAN JOSE, CA -- A newly renovated and improved Convention Center light rail station re-opened Monday morning in San Jose after three months of construction, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority spokeswoman Lupe Solis said.

The light rail station was closed Oct. 16 to allow construction crews to level the station's platform with the street. The renovations will make it easier for passengers in wheelchairs and with strollers to get on and off trains, Solis said.

Convention Center Station is located on San Carlos Street in downtown San Jose.

As part of the same VTA retrofitting project the Santa Clara light rail station, which has platforms on First and Second streets, closed last week for five months of renovations. - Bay City News Service, The San Jose Mercury News

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COMMUTER RAIL LINE IS TOP BUSINESS PRIORITY

MILWAUKEE, WI -- Making the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line a reality is the top priority for 2007 in the Racine County business community, area business leaders say.

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority is considering a local sales tax to help pay for the proposed commuter train line extension from Kenosha.

Authority members are expected to vote Tuesday to ask the Legislature to authorize the new sales tax. Other funding options being discussed include property and gasoline taxes.

Under the sales tax plan, the three-county authority would be able to levy a 0.05% tax - or 5 cents on each $100 purchase - to cover the local share of building and operating the KRM Commuter Link, which would connect Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee and its southern suburbs.

Federal and state aid and passenger fares would pay most of the train line's $237 million construction cost and $14.7 million-a-year operating cost.

The authority also would ask the state to give each of the three counties the option of levying up to 0.45% more in sales taxes to replace property tax support for local public transit systems.

If lawmakers agreed to both the train and bus taxes and Milwaukee County opted for the maximum bus tax, the sales tax on most items would rise from 5.6% to 6.1% when the new taxes are added to existing state, county and stadium taxes.

A 0.05% sales tax in the three counties is expected to raise $8 million a year.

Gordon Kacala, executive director of the Racine County Economic Development Corp., said the KRM commuter rail project is among the top three priorities for 2007.

"We have talked about how important it is to extend commuter rail. Now we're going to have to come to some agreement on a method to fund it," Kacala said.

Roger Caron, president of the Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce, said extension of commuter rail is one of the three main areas his organization will continue to pursue in 2007.

Kacala and Caron also cited work force issues as critical for the coming year.

"We want to continue to address the pool of the unemployed and also with helping employers find employees with the needed skills," Caron said.

Kacala said he expects to see more development along Highway 36 near and around Runzheimer Park in the Burlington-Waterford area.

"That corridor will continue to be hot for economic development," he said.

Mount Pleasant is expected to make decisions on development along I-94 and Highway 20, he said.
Caron said there will continue to be strength in manufacturing and durable goods in Racine through 2007.

"Expectations are it may slow a bit, but the strength will continue," Caron said.

It was a good holiday season for Racine-area retailers, and expectations are that the strength will continue, he said.

Like the rest of the country, real estate is the only area that has slowed, and that may also continue into 2007, Caron said.

For RAMAC, priorities for the new year also will include continued work on improving the performance of the public school system and addressing the cost of health care for businesses, Caron said. - Jennie Tunkieicz, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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GETTING MILEAGE OUT OF PROXIMITY

MILWAUKEE, WI -- A wave of downtown condo construction led Lamonte Cranston Cook to open a luxury home furnishings shop in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.

But a lot of Cook's customers have come from a place that is shouldering a bigger role in the economic future of Milwaukee, and all of southeastern Wisconsin.

"Milwaukeeans are good about spending at the high end," Cook said. "But people from Chicago are less likely to quibble over price."

People from Chicago, and its affluent northern suburbs, are buying waterfront vacation condos in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha and spending money at local shops and attractions. A larger share of Chicago-area residents are moving permanently to southeastern Wisconsin, especially near the state line in Kenosha County, and are commuting to jobs in northern Illinois. More Chicago-area businesses are expanding northward, and an attempted takeover of Midwest Airlines is being driven partly by Mitchell International Airport's easy access for travelers from the northern Chicago suburbs.

Some Wisconsin natives have long viewed with disdain Milwaukee's relative closeness to the Windy City. The FIB acronym and the phrase Chicago-style politics are not compliments.

But new homes and businesses continue to fill some of the undeveloped gaps between the two cities. Although Milwaukee and Chicago likely will retain their separate identities - no rooting for the Bears in the playoffs - there's a growing sense among many business and government leaders that southeastern Wisconsin should better exploit the economic ties with northern Illinois, home to the nation's third-largest metropolitan economy (after New York and Los Angeles).

"Two hours to the south is 8 million people," said Gordon Segal, chief executive officer of the Crate & Barrel home furnishings chain, based in suburban Chicago. Segal also owns a vacation home in rural Walworth County.

Some are eager to create a commuter rail line that would run from Milwaukee to Kenosha, where it would connect with Chicago's Metra commuter rail system. Others have additional ideas, including steps to transform swatches of southeastern Wisconsin into affluent bedroom communities for professionals working in Chicago and its suburbs.

Photo here: [graphics.jsonline.com]

Caption reads: Photo/Rick Wood. A Metra train lumbers into Kenosha from Chicago. The creation of a commuter rail system would help reduce the figurative distance between southeastern Wisconsin and Chicago, some leaders say. Better rail links also might make Milwaukee more appealing to professionals who see Milwaukee and Chicago as one mega labor market.

"Milwaukee can gain from these border effects by being near Chicago," said Don Nichols, a retired economics professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Milwaukee's closeness to Chicago, with its global identity, also can help as southeastern Wisconsin tries to attract business investment from throughout the nation and the world.

"There are a lot of people in China, Japan and Europe who don't necessarily know Milwaukee or Wisconsin. But chances are they've heard of Chicago," said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.

Strength in numbers

To understand southeastern Wisconsin's stake in the Chicago area, consider perhaps the main driver of economic strength: population growth.

From April 2000 to July 2005, Wisconsin's population increased by 3.2%. But in southeastern Wisconsin's two border counties with Illinois, the population grew at much faster rates: 7.3% in Kenosha County and 6.5% in Walworth County, according to Census Bureau figures. Of the five remaining counties in the region, only Washington County grew at a comparable rate.

Also, look at that growth's source.

In Washington County, home to Germantown and other developing suburbs, a large share of the new homes are drawing families from Milwaukee County, where the population declined by 2% from 2000 to 2005. That was good for Washington County, but it didn't create a net gain for southeastern Wisconsin.

Kenosha and Walworth counties, however, draw much of their growth from Illinois, said Ken Johnson, sociology professor at Loyola University in Chicago.

Those Illinois migrants, many of them moving from Lake County, IL, to Kenosha County, are attracted by lower housing costs, said Johnson, who studies Chicago-area population trends. They are mainly middle-class families with children.

"These are the people who are going into the PTA, be the coaches of the softball team, and are active as volunteers and in government," Johnson said.

They include Josh and Jackie Orr, who moved in October from Grayslake, IL, to the Tyler's Ridge development in Kenosha. Josh, 28, commutes to his job in Gurnee, IL, while Jackie, 26, stays home with their daughter.

The Orrs moved to the Chicago suburbs two years ago from Charlotte, NC. They came to the Midwest because of a transfer for Josh, a manager with United Propane & Energy Co. Wisconsin's lower housing costs and good public schools attracted them to Kenosha. To buy a similar three-bedroom home in northern Illinois, for a comparable price, the family would have had to move to the McHenry area, northwest of Chicago, Josh Orr said. His commute would have been more than an hour, instead of the 15- to 20-minute ride he takes.

Life in Wisconsin reminds the Orrs of Charlotte, where they both grew up. "Once you cross the border, it seems the pace slows a little bit," Orr said.

More growth projected

The Orr family and others have boosted Kenosha County's new-housing starts, from 628 in 2000 to 736 in 2001, and well above 800 each year since, according to census data. Even in 2005, when new-housing starts dropped 16.3% statewide, Kenosha County posted a 1.5% increase.

The growth will continue. Kenosha County's population, estimated at 159,677, is projected to grow 4.6%, to 167,099, by 2011, according to Claritas Inc., a market research information firm.

The county's median household income is expected to increase 10.7%, from $55,262 to $61,200, during that period.

By contrast, Milwaukee County's population is expected to decline, by 0.3%, and median household income is expected to increase 8.2%.

The newcomers also bring entrepreneurship.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is seeing an upswing in commercial loan activity in Kenosha County, said Patrick Rea, regional administrator for the SBA in Chicago. The agency's lending in Kenosha County more than doubled from 2001 to 2006, compared with a 75% statewide increase during that same period.

Curt and Jane Dukes and their three school-aged children live in Glen Ellyn, IL, but recently purchased a lot in the Town of Dover, in Racine County, where they're building a home. They plan to move there this year, and they also will start a business to rehab vacation lake homes in Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties.

The Dukeses became acquainted with southeastern Wisconsin when they drove one of their children to a summer camp on Browns Lake, near Burlington. They bought a vacation home and eventually decided to become full-time Wisconsin residents.

Compared with those in the Chicago area, people in Wisconsin are "not as uptight," Curt Dukes said. And the schools in Burlington, which the Dukeses' children will attend, are "top notch," he said.

Dukes said he will keep his job as a sales rep for a telecommunications provider, which requires him to travel out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. But, from his home in Dover, he also will have the option of flying out of Mitchell International.

Lure of lake, community

Chris Rintz was among the first developers to understand southeastern Wisconsin's appeal to suburban Chicago residents.

In 2000, his firm, New England Builders Inc. in Skokie, IL, began marketing the HarborPark condo development planned for the site of Kenosha's former Chrysler Corp. automobile plant, overlooking Lake Michigan. By 2005, all 351 units had been sold - 70% of them to northern Illinois residents. The lure of the lakefront and the promise of a re-emerging community were among the main draws, Rintz said.

Other developers have created single-family subdivisions in Kenosha and the neighboring community of Pleasant Prairie.

Thanks to higher demand, homes in the Kenosha area tend to carry values 10% to 15% higher than comparable homes in Racine, said Karl Ostby, president of Kenosha-based Southport Bank.

The wealth generated by that growth is felt in Kenosha, where new museums are among the expanded cultural attractions, and in Pleasant Prairie, which boasts LakeView RecPlex/ IcePlex, a modern, publicly owned recreation center that includes a pool, fitness center and ice rinks. Retail growth in the Kenosha area has been heavy, fueled by the influx of new residents.

Along with full-time residents, an increasing number of Illinois residents are buying condos in southeastern Wisconsin for weekend getaways.

Chicago retiree Jim Jones and his wife recently bought a condo in St. Francis, overlooking Lake Michigan. They plan to use it frequently for visits to family members who live here. Jones said Milwaukee offers a lot of attractions - minus Chicago's overwhelming traffic.

"We've been to the fests, fairs, the zoo, the whole bit," Jones said about Milwaukee. "It's a small Chicago. You can actually enjoy the city, without being bombarded by it."

Lamonte Cranston Cook is among the Milwaukee retail operators who've seen increased business from Chicago-area customers. Cook said his shop, Cranston, has drawn close to 40% of its sales from northern Illinois residents since it opened two years ago. The store also draws a fair chunk of business from Kenosha County residents who work in northern Illinois, Cook said.

Karin Hembrock's interior furnishings business, From Afar, draws at least one-third of its business at its Walker's Point store from northern Illinois.

Four years ago, Hembrock opened a second store, in the Chicago suburb of Winnetka, which has helped push more Chicago-area residents to her Milwaukee location. Her Illinois customers tell her it's easier to drive from the northern Chicago suburbs to Milwaukee than to downtown Chicago. Once they're here, they can combine shopping with a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum or other attractions, she said.

Businesses make move, too

Along with homeowners, businesses have been migrating from northern Illinois to southeastern Wisconsin.

That trend actually dates back nearly 20 years, when Wispark LLC, the real estate development division of Wisconsin Energy Corp., began marketing its 2,300-acre LakeView Corporate Park, in Pleasant Prairie. Today, around half of the companies doing business in LakeView relocated or expanded from northern Illinois.

From 1987 through 2004, Kenosha County landed 8.2% of the out-of-state business expansion, relocation and start-up projects tallied by Forward Wisconsin, the state's public-private business marketing agency. Polk and St. Croix counties, near the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, were No. 1 and No. 2 on the list, respectively, each landing 11% of business recruits.

Dane and Milwaukee counties were No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, each with 7.5%. Minnesota generated the most projects, followed by Illinois.

Chicago-area companies such as the Jelly Belly Candy Co. and hospital equipment-maker Hospira Inc. moved to LakeView, east of I-94, just two miles north of the state line. Those businesses cashed in on lower land and power prices, and they tapped into a large labor pool made available when Chrysler shut down its Kenosha assembly plant, said Jerry Franke, Wispark president.

Businesses expanding northward include Uline Corp., a shipping and packaging supplies distributor in Waukegan, IL.

Uline in June announced it would lease a 300,000-square-foot distribution center at LakeView.
The company since has decided to double the facility's size. The distribution center opened recently with 75 employees, said Dick Uihlein, chief executive officer of the family-owned company.

Uline looked at locations in Lake County, IL, but didn't find sites large enough to accommodate the new building, Uihlein said. That led the company to LakeView, which also creates an easier commute for Uline employees who live in Kenosha County.

Lately, other southeastern Wisconsin developers have been marketing their buildings - some as far north as Oak Creek - to northern Illinois companies.

"In the next 10 or 12 years, you're going to have Milwaukee and Chicago meeting," said Peter Ginn, Milwaukee regional manager for First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. in Chicago.

The businesses that have shifted from Illinois into Wisconsin generally bring blue collar jobs, with a recent focus on distribution centers. Those large buildings typically create relatively small numbers of jobs for their size.

The preliminary plans by global pharmaceutical-maker Abbott Laboratories Inc. to expand into Pleasant Prairie could radically change that picture by bringing thousands of professional jobs from a suburban Chicago company.

Closing the gap

But it's the possible creation of a $237 million commuter rail system that carries the most potential to reduce the figurative distance between southeastern Wisconsin and Chicago, according to some business and civic leaders. The service would run on existing railroad tracks from Milwaukee to Kenosha, where it would link with Chicago's Metra rail system.

Better rail links would make the Milwaukee area more attractive to professionals who would view Milwaukee and Chicago as one large labor market, said Dan Weinfurter, owner of Capital H Group, a Chicago-based human resources consulting firm.

People could choose to live in Milwaukee, with its lower costs and fewer hassles, while pursuing careers in either Milwaukee or Chicago, with its much greater range of job opportunities, said Weinfurter, a Wauwatosa native and Marquette University graduate.

That larger labor market is especially important for families in which both parents have professional jobs in an economy that is becoming more specialized, said William Testa, vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Those views were echoed by developer Scott Fergus.

Fergus is creating the $185 million Pointe Blue, a 430-unit condo development overlooking Lake Michigan, just north of downtown Racine. He envisions people living there and taking the train to their jobs in Chicago and its northern suburbs.

The rail service, by linking with Metra, also could whisk northern Illinois residents to Mitchell International, home to Midwest Airlines. AirTran Airways is pursuing a hostile takeover of Midwest. If it acquires the airline, AirTran vows to greatly boost the number of flights from Milwaukee while lowering business class fares by as much as 30%.

The lower fares, and greater number of destinations, would draw travelers from northern Illinois who'd rather not deal with the hassles of O'Hare International Airport, said Kevin Healy, AirTran vice president of planning and sales.

That growth at Mitchell International - driven by Chicago-area travelers - in turn would help the Milwaukee area draw more businesses because its air service would be more extensive, he said.

"You'll have one big burst and then consistent growth after that," Healy said. - Tom Daykin, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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FLATS FIXED; TRAINS GET BACK ON TRACK

WHITE PLAINS, NY -- Metro-North Railroad no longer has a flat-wheel crisis.

The railroad has been back in business with a full complement of trains since Christmas.

From just before Thanksgiving until then, riders endured rush-hour rides with one-third to one-half fewer cars, which left them packed so tightly in the aisles that conductors sometimes couldn't get through to collect tickets.

"We are back to normal, and we've been back to normal since Dec. 18," railroad spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said.

That's not to say that every car is in service; just that enough are. The railroad always has some cars out of service for routine maintenance or cleaning, detailed cleaning, and required safety checks.

At its worst, 200 M7 railroad cars, Metro-North's newest, were off the tracks, aggravating commuters on the Harlem and Hudson lines who were packed like sardines. The overcrowded conditions eased as the railroad repaired its wheels, but the flats took a month to fix.

Crews at the railroad's New Haven, Croton-Harmon and North White Plains yards worked around the clock to true more than 950 sets of wheel axles to restore the equipment.

Trueing, or rounding the wheels, is a time-consuming process. Each train car has eight wheels, and it took up to 90 minutes to true each wheel.

The railroad is still working with the manufacturer of the M7s, Bombardier Transportation, to determine how to prevent a recurrence next fall.

The M7s were more crippled by flats than any other type of rail car Metro-North has. Wheels go flat when they slip on leaf residue and the brakes are triggered, perceiving a problem and causing a flat.

With so many computerized and complex systems in the M7s, railroad President Peter Cannito has said it could take the rest of this month to find the exact cause and a solution. - The White Plains Journal News

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THE END