May 5, 1995
NOW ON THE WEB AT: http://www.aimnet.com/~stevesln/twmenu.html
and/or
//pisces.ucsd.edu/www/railroads/track_warrants/trackwarrants.html
==========================================================================
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From the creator of FLIMSIES (which is still the best!)
Steve Sloan
Send News to: Stevesln@aimnet.com
Send Correspondence to Steve to: Stevesln@aol.com
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APACHE RY
ALCo Alert! Apache has decided to put up for highest bid all Alcos on their roster. Railfan & Railroad reports a Spring 1996 date as when the replacement power (rumored to be 4 axle mid-hp EMD's) will be in place. The CMO of Apache reports replacement power could be running by end of this summer. Century Locomotive out of New York will be placing bids in early June/July and it is expected the units will be gone by summers end. Nothing is written in stone in regards to a final date so never the less, shoot 'em!-Bill Shippen, Mike Collins
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ATSF
Another SD75M sighting on the Stockton Sub: a westbound at Muir on Saturday, April 29 at 1206 pm was powered by 206 5818 5978
Gerry Salsig, Martinez CA
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May 2 10:30 Glen Frazer Westbound 609-98 899 train
May 5 9:30 Christie Westbound 5150-CSX8364 (SD40-2) SCHRI (I think)
To my knowledge, this is the only CSX unit ever to go through Franklin Canyon.
Until next time,
Eric Blasko
==========================================================================
I was up at Tehachapi yesterday, quite a bit of action. Here are some things that I thought you might be interested in.
Sante Fe 206 was in Bakersfield most of the day. It left eastbound as lead unit about 4:30. Consist was 206, 5978, 5818, 4029, 5088 and 5074 on a general freight. As you mentioned in your report the week earlier, a ten unit light engine move went east in the afternoon, sorry, no numbers for you.
There were about 6 SP SD70M's around Bakersfield during the day. Two came out to Bena and were with a tunnel as a helper set. On a couple of units (9822, coupled to 9823 and 9814 coupled to another SD70M as I recall) they had the power-by-the-mile decals on the cab.
I was speaking to a conductor on a Santa Fe freight and he said that with the BN merger they expect to be running 11 more trains a day over Tehachapi. He also mentioned that Santa Fe may be double tracking from Barstow to Mojave in the future. Interesting and exciting if true, we'll have to wait and see.
Tim Harris TimH@Purchasing.Caltech.Edu
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AMTRAK
To answer a question in Issue #1, I've heard the official milepost for the new Oakland station in Jack London Square is 7.2.
Fred Holmes
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There are at least six (6) new California Cars in service as of May 3. On this date, both Capitol trainsets had 3 California Cars and one Ex-Santa Fe Hi-Level Diner.
Fred Holmes
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BURLINGTON NORTHERN
TACOMA, Wash.--May 2--Burlington Northern agreed Monday to expand its freight carrying capacity in the Pacific Northwest. The BN rail lines are full in the Northwest and sometimes congested at a time when both ports are growing rapidly, Tacoma and Seattle port officials said.
The two ports negotiated the agreement with BN. In return, the ports will back BN's bid to merge with the Santa Fe Railroad.
The ports of Seattle and Tacoma combined handle the second-largest container cargo volume in North America - behind Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. - and rank 10th in the world, according to Containerisation International, an industry publication. Hong Kong ranks first.
But the Tacoma-Seattle success depends on being efficient "gateway ports," moving Asian cargo quickly over good rail connections to customers with just-in-time inventories in the Midwest and East Coast.
"The trains drive the system," Port of Tacoma commissioner Pat O'Malley said. "You can have growth in China, but if you can't get the trains to work, it won't make a difference here. We sell speed."
Slow rail service means shipping lines will call elsewhere, and maritime commerce in Puget Sound will decrease.
Both ports, along with The Boeing Co., are the major drivers of Washington's trade industry, which employs one out of five workers in the state - 500,000 out of a 2.5 million-person work force, according to state figures.
Officials from both ports feared that if BN doesn't act soon, Seattle and Tacoma won't receive the full benefits of huge Asian trade growth.
Port of Seattle spokeswoman Janet Pelz said both ports are worried about the pending merger between the BN and Santa Fe "working to the detriment of Seattle and Tacoma" by focusing all BN railroad capital to the Southern California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, now served by the Santa Fe and other railroads.
Monday's agreement says BN will "respond to market demands" by increasing capacity to haul freight between Puget Sound and Chicago and south along the Interstate 5 corridor.
The railroad could reopen its route over Stampede Pass as part of that response, but that would take years. That line has been closed since 1984. The railroad also says in the agreement it could improve rail travel over the northern mainline that traverses Stevens Pass by increasing speeds, improving sidings and providing better train control. Both ports will support the railroad in obtaining the necessary government approvals to achieve the upgrades.
"We're looking at all the (upgrade) possibilities, but there are no decisions yet," BN spokesman Richard Russack said Monday.
BN chairman and chief executive Gerald Grinstein, who signed the agreement, emphasized BN's involvement in a prepared statement:
"BN is committed to making appropriate investments and operating improvements to accommodate future market demand for freight rail service within the Puget Sound gateway," he said.
The railroad and ports agreed to form joint committees to address mainline capacity, port access, ship-to-rail service and coordination of passenger rail issues.
The BN lines run south to the Columbia River Gorge as well as over the Cascades through an eight-mile-long tunnel under Stevens Pass. But the BN shares the southern route with Union Pacific and runs a maximum 24 trains a day through the Cascade tunnel.
A recent state study predicts that container cargo volumes of both ports will double in the next two decades and grain tonnage will increase 66 percent. Sixty-five percent of Tacoma's cargo moves in containers; more than 85 percent of Seattle's moves in containers.
BN hopes to receive federal approval for the merger with the Santa Fe in August.
TACOMA, Wash.--May 1, 1995--A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) has been signed today by the Port of Tacoma, Port of Seattle and Burlington Northern Inc. (BN) that will keep rail freight capacity between Puget Sound and Chicago as well as along the north/south Interstate 5 corridor responsive to market demands, and states that both ports support the pending merger between BN and Santa Fe Pacific Corp.
Taken together, the two ports rank as the second largest "load center" for containerized cargo in the United States. More than 2 million containers annually move, largely on rail, through the ports. "The partnership among BN, the Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle for more than 75 years demonstrates a mutual commitment to ensure that the Puget Sound region maintains a viable, competitive rail system in relation to other West Coast ports," said Port of Tacoma Commission President Patrick O'Malley.
Port of Seattle Executive Director Mic Dinsmore said, "This MOA illustrates how well the ports can work with the private sector to ensure continued economic health for the region. We believe the merger between BN and Santa Fe will contribute to enhancing mainline rail capacity and access between intermodal terminals to accommodate future increases in demand for rail freight service."
"BN is committed to making appropriate investments and operating improvements to accommodate future market demand for freight rail service within the Puget Sound gateway," said BN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gerald Grinstein. "Seattle-Tacoma has been and will continue to be a critical linchpin in BN's franchise. We look forward to working more closely with both Port Commissions to address mainline capacity, port access, grade separations, intermodal service and capacity, while we support the region's desire to expand commuter and intercity rail services." In a recent study completed by the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Washington Public Ports Association, the importance of a competitive rail infrastructure was underscored: "Rail mainline access requires special consideration...to ensure the competitive gateway positions that the Pacific Northwest now enjoys."
The study predicts that container traffic through Puget Sound is expected to more than double to 4.5 million containers (20-foot equivalents) by the year 2015. The other major type of cargo that moves via rail through Puget Sound ports is grain. The study predicts that Midwest corns exports, for example, could grow 66 percent, exceeding 10 million metric tons by 2015. Under the MOA, special joint committees will be set up by mid-year to address the issues outlined by Grinstein.
"Brian P. Kreimendahl" <73163.2700@compuserve.com>
************************************************************************* CAL-NORTHERN
CAL-NORTHERN 'N THE BEETS - CFNR is moving beets from Dixon, on the Cal-P, to the Spreckles Sugar plant at Sugarfield, in Woodland. This operation started about two weeks ago according to reports. Beets will start loading at Delevin on the West Valley for movement to Holly Sugar at Hamilton City seven days a week, and reports indicate it will start up soon. CFNR has not confirmed these plans with me, I'm just passing along information from an employee, who has been a good source in the past.
-Bill Shippen
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CANADIAN NATIONAL
MONTREAL, May 5 -- Calling it "a historic day for Canadian National Railways," CN President and Chief Executive Officer Paul M. Tellier today welcomed the tabling of legislation enabling the federal government to privatize the railway.
"We are looking forward to working with the Minister of Transport to ensure that this initiative succeeds," said Mr. Tellier.
Citing the company's successful cost-cutting and productivity enhancement program, Mr. Tellier said he was "very encouraged by the fact that CN's productivity rate was up 8% in 1994. It shows the commitment to excellence Canadian National's people will bring to this new challenge."
In 1994, CN realized profits of $245 million, compared to a loss of $79 million in 1993. In the first quarter of 1995, CN recorded a net income of $124 million, an improvement of $122 million over the same period last year.
SARNIA, Ontario, May 5 -- Canadian National President and Chief Executive Officer Paul M. Tellier today hailed the railway's new St. Clair Tunnel as a major step forward in the company's drive towards improved competitiveness.
Speaking to more than 800 guests and officials participating in the tunnel's official inauguration, Mr. Tellier noted that this improved link between Canada and the United States will shuttle eight more trains a day between the two countries, reduce the running time between the Atlantic port of Halifax and the midwestern railway hub of Chicago by 24 hours and improve asset utilization.
"All of this productivity is customer focused and customer beneficial," said Mr. Tellier.
The 27-foot-diameter tunnel under the St. Clair River can accommodate multilevel auto carriers and doublestack container cars. Canadian National already offers doublestack capacity on its main lines from coast to coast.
Also on hand for the ceremony, held near the Sarnia portal of the new tunnel, Canadian National Chairman David McLean explained, "By speeding up and increasing the flow of goods between suppliers and producers, this tunnel will add to the competitiveness of our rail customers on both sides of the border and represents the largest and most important border crossing for goods passing between Canada and the United States."
Canadian National is Canada's largest rail carrier and the fifth largest railway in North America in terms of freight volume. Earlier this week, Mr. Tellier announced that CN recorded a net income of $124 million for the first quarter of 1995, an improvement of $122 million over the same period last year.
President and CEO Paul Tellier attributed the railway's improved performance and financial turnaround to the three-year productivity- enhancement and cost-reduction program launched two years ago.
"Brian P. Kreimendahl" <73163.2700@compuserve.com>
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Abandonments Department...CN Rail stopped serving the following locations in New Brunswick effective April 28: Camp Gagetown, Fredericton, Imperial Oil, Lincoln, Lincoln North, Lincoln South, Oromocto, Covered Bridge, Cross Creek, Durham Bridge, Marysville, Penniac, South Devon, Stanley Junction, Sutherland, Taymouth and Taymouth Pit
Al Tuner, dannyb@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET
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METROLINK San Diego Sub Trackwork Proceeding:
The following trackwork activity has been noted in the past few weeks on the Santa Fe's San Bernardino Sub and Metrolink's (and San Diego Northern) San Diego Sub.
Mission Tower - The reinstallation of the "53" lead continues at a very slow pace. The lead was removed a number of years ago when passenger business hit a low point. This will increase capacity through the interlocking plant and double track access for the San Diego sub. A "triple sized" equipment cabin has been installed on the north side of the tracks near Signal Bridge #1. This houses the new interlocking equipment for the Safetrans CTC dispatching system. >From the recent article in Trains, the old Mission Tower will be replaced in 1996...hate to be the dispatcher that gets this added to his board.
San Diego Jct - Just south of Mission Tower and the connection of the lead into LAUS and the San Diego line down the west side of the LA River. A few weeks ago, one of the two tracks that proceeded north from San Diego Jct to Mission Tower was removed; a new switch was installed and concrete ties are being placed. I think that this is one of the first phases in rehabiltating the "Industry lead" into the second main track between Mission and Redondo.
Los Nietos - The old team track on the South track was removed in the past couple of months; it had been used a few time lately to store MofW equipment. The wooden dock still remains, though. New wooden ties are being installed on the South track in this area.
Santa Fe Springs - The siding of Wilshire has been removed and a new siding is being constructed with high speed switches on the North track for the new Norwalk Metrolink station.
Fullerton - The third main track between Basta and Fullerton is not in service yet. The pedestrain overcrossing at the depot is still under construction; one can only hope that the yellow rust prevention coating gets painted over when they're done. Actually, the stair cases may provide some interesting elevation at the depot, assuming that they don't get ghetto grilles.
East Anaheim - The siding is in use, but the crossing gates aren't set up to allow trains to proceed normally through the siding. Thus, trains have to stop and flag about 12 crossings when they're stuck in the siding.
Orange - The second main track was completed through the station area up to CP Howe. However, the old main line is now being rehabiltated, so there is currently no sidings between East Anaheim and Santa Ana.
Tustin - The highway underpass was delayed for a couple of months by the terrible rains this winter. Work continues on preparing the installation of double track between CP Aliso and Irvine, with switch fabrication underway at CP Aliso.
Irvine - A new two track through yard has been built off the North track, presumeably the storage track for the Riverside - Irvine trains.
CP Avery - The end of double track heading into San Juan Capistrano, a MONSTER road overpass is being built (I know, its not really trackwork).
Las Flores - A new siding has been installed, but is not yet in service because of a major signal system upgrade that is underway between San Onofre and Fallbrook.
Stuart - The old 1200 foot siding north of Fallbrook is seeing an amazing amount of activity of late. Since Metrolink is going to be evicted from their storage yard in Fallbrook by the Marines, a new storage yard between the I-5 and the tracks is under construction. Only the grading of the roadbed sub base is complete. A new grade crossing to a Marine Corps road is being built to the site.
Depots at Carlsbad and Solana Beach are still under construction. The Solana Beach depot will probably be three months late.
Ron Lehmer
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SIERRA PACIFIC COAST RAILWAY This new railroad company which recently purchased the Sierra Railroad and will resume freight operations over the ex-SP line in the Santa Cruz Mountains between Santa Cruz and Olympia, has indeed acquired three F-units. All three (one "A" unit and two "B" units) are ex-Bessemer & Lake Erie units and now have 645-series prime movers and dynamic brakes. One of the "B" units has an operators cab at one end that allows it to be used as an independent unit for limited speed operations. The units are currently being repaired back in Ohio and Pennsylvania and could be in California sometime this summer.
Tony Johnson
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SOUTHERN PACIFIC
As of 16:30 on May04, SP had 25 AC4400CWs on the property, numbers SP100-124. Five of the units (103 105 107 111 117) are bad order with various problems.
MK5000C SP 501 is out of service at Denver with a bad order computer module. SP 502 is at San Antonio for two weeks of testing by Southwest Reasearch Institute. It will be used in local service. SP 503 was on the ROGJM-02.
Locomotives current listed as retirement candidates are SP 4430 4354 4353 3408 2473 3822 7403 7773 4434 6314 6639 3836 5300 3320 6674 5104; SSW 7771; DRGW 3004 3083 3023 5329 3024 3069.
Tony Johnson
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AC4400's...A correction, the numbers were 102, 103, 104 and 106. Wednesday evening we saw 3 more units: 107, 108, 110. They were set off in Rockport Yard and taken from SEEL for later delivery that evening. Got the corrected numbers after I got my pics back. Was so excited seeing them that I lost my sense of accuracy :) They are strange looking beasts. On the conductor side they have a huge electrical cabinet sticking out. Also the speed lettering is smaller and sits lower on the side than the other units.
William J. G. Frey, ek207@cleveland.Freenet.Edu
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I was up at Tehachapi yesterday, quite a bit of action. Here are some things that I thought you might be interested in.
The Oil Cans were interesting. The helpers had a UP Dash 8-40CW and an SD40-2 in the consist.
Tim Harris, TimH@Purchasing.Caltech.Edu
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SPRINGFIELD TERMINAL
Springfield Terminal continues to suffer from the lack of reliability in its motive power pool. ST "symbol" train PODH (Portland, ME to the D&H) came into Fitchburg on Tuesday, April 18th with two exD&H GP-39-2s and exConrail GP-40 #339. The crew reported that #339 was isolated "because there was lube oil sprayed all over everything in the long hood" Fortunately, there was no fire. ST local ED-5 with GP-7 #13 on the lead struggled into E. Deerfield Yard with a six car train - the main generator breaker was tripping for every five minutes or so.
Goodbye Old Friends Department:
Four GP-7s/9s are on the new scrapping track in E. Deerfield. Two are in the all blue scheme, one has the blue/black & white paint (the all blue probably wore off) and one is in Guilford colors - GP-7 ST #14.
Intermodalism Department:
Priority CP/D&H/ST intermodal train continues to be combined with general merchandise train POED west of Ayer. Despite its priority schedule, the combined train continues to swtich all the local yards west of Ayer including E. Fitchburg, Gardner, etc. The intermodal consist is typically 15-25 cars of TOFC and/or COFC. This train is ST's only intermodal train in MA.
Rumor has it that the large scale scrapping operations at N. Billerica are the result of an ST/United Parcel Service lease of the old Billerica shops for use as an intermodal facility. Apparently the proximity of the UPS headquarters in nearby Chelmsford is a major factor in this rumor.
Fossil Fuels Department:
Bow coal train NESE Extra travelled through the Hoosic Tunnel yesterday with brand new, smell the paint, Conrail SD-60I #5604 on the point. Also in the consist of the many NHPX bathtub hoppers was SD-50 #6805, SD-60#6842, C40-8W #6176. This may be the train that people are speculating about in Rochester (?) This train runs 3-4 times per week - its routing is subject to whoever is successful in getting the contract. The coal train is bound for the Merrimack Power Station in Bow, New Hampshire. BTW, this is an old power station and is one of the most polluting stations in New England.
Track Maintenance Department:
As unbelievable as it continues to sound, ST continuies to perform tie replacement and other maintenance activities in District Three west of Fitchburg and east of Deerfield. There are many piles of NEW ties with a few piles salvaged ties stacked along the right- of-way. Maintenance equipment is currently stored at Gardner on the lead leading to the remains of the passenger station canopy.
Disclaimer: Well, as you may be aware, I am not connected to ST in any way and all these postings are the results of my observations and should be treated that way
TTFN,
Pete Terwilliger
terwilli@yankee.com
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UNION PACIFIC
CHICAGO--May 5--Less than two weeks after it took over Chicago & North Western Transportation Co., Union Pacific Railroad said Thursday it will close four North Western repair shops and shift their work elsewhere.
Three of the shops are in Iowa and the other is in suburban Milwaukee. About 380 employees at the facilities will be offered transfers before school re-opens next fall.
The railroad's shops in the Chicago area will lose 9 jobs, as some maintenance work done at North Western's facility on Chicago's West Side will be moved. The bulk of the work there is done for the Metra commuter service and will not be affected.
But the west suburban Proviso shops at Northlake will gain an undisclosed number of jobs from Marshalltown, Iowa, which will lose 98 locomotive-repair jobs. Some of these jobs also will be transferred to North Little Rock, Ark., and Kansas City, Mo.
Three dozen jobs at a freight-car maintenance shop at Cudahy, Wis., will be transferred to similar facilities at Belvidere, Janesville, Wis., and DeSoto, Mo.
Hardest hit will be Clinton, Iowa, which will lose 230 jobs at the freight car, wheel and locomotive parts shops as its work is spread out to facilities in DeSoto, North Little Rock and Pocatello, Idaho, Union Pacific officials said.
Thirteen jobs at the North Western freight facility in Council Bluffs, Iowa, will be transferred to a nearby Union Pacific shop.
Union Pacific officials said they had given representatives from various unions 90 days notice of the proposed transfers as required in the contracts.
Union Pacific acquired the C&NW in a $35-per-share tender offer April 24. Early last month, Union Pacific offered buyout packages to various North Western executives at the company's Chicago headquarters.
Brian P. Kreimendahl <73163.2700@compuserve.com>
==========================================================================
Wagons East, Wagons West - The "Fab 3" ran westbound on Friday, Apr28th deadheading down the canyon in the rain. Jan Austin and I were at Oroville awaiting their arrival putting up with rain and a few wierd bums who could not figure out why someone would be taking pictures of trains.I told them I was shooting a new label for "Night Train", a competitive wine drink to the more famous Ripple, found in finer alleys everywhere! UP was kind enough to run quite a few trains while we waited, one of interest was a wb pig with a UP wide-cab and a MKCX ex-Santa Fe F-45! The E's arrived near 4:30 and stopped at the depot to drop a few VIP's, running 2 hours off the scheduled time due to slow orders and many trains. Another quick stop was made at the Oroville yard to detrain some staff and pick-up a few riders.
I did not see the Saturday trip but it was obvious by the weather that Sunday would bring problems. Adam Clegg confirmed by phone Saturday night that the UP Trainmaster made the decision not to allow the operation to Portola due to numerous slow orders and a general fear of having 700 people trapped in the canyon in case something did go wrong. Rain pelted the canyon and caused several trouble spots although no major trouble occured. A wise choice, I'll say.
Plans went ahead to run the train to Niles Jct. and back instead of no trip at all. Departure occured at 8:30 for Niles with a remarked decrease in passengers. Ticket holders were allowed a full refund or this trip with a discount towards the September 1996 trip (with 844?). The local Albertsons was cleared of pastries in anticipation of no meals later in the day. Food (and the damn rain) became the chief problem as no large amounts of food could be found on such short notice. The folks at Kentucky Fried helped a little but it was not the hardy meal everyone enjoyed in Portola the day before. One photo run-by was held and in general everyone seemed to be in good spirits, although a little hungry. Hal Lewis did his usual outstanding job in the face of all these problems and UP did their best, too.
UP ran a wb shortie stack with CNW7001 all by her lonesome about an hour before the Sunday arrival at Oroville, which was very near the 12 hour law, she arrived at dark with a light rain. The train was quickly cleared and cleaned and then deadheaded back east. Fellow foamer Bill Fraiser and I paced her east out of Oroville in the dead of dark (and, of course, pouring rain) for a few miles, drinking in the sight of glowing portholes and lite domes. Could of been 30 years ago, thanks Pacific Limited Group and Union Pacific!-Jan Austin, Bill (Why is that bum wetting on my tripod?)
Shippen, Adam "Ant" Clegg & Bill Fraiser
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TRACK WARRANTS
========================================================================== **YOUR DAY IN THE WEST!**
WE BRING YOU APRIL 29th First!
==========================================================================
An electronic newsletter about railroading, published on a weekly basis.
Special editions a piece of cake for hot news!
Yes it's time has come!
This newsletter will be all text and distributed only via E-mail. It will be text only so it can be sent to anybody running any system. It will carry railroad news from the US-Canada-Mexico and *IT* *WILL* *BE* *FREE.* (But I may ask for VOLUNTARY contributions to defray the cost of the service I am using and the Web Site I hope to build here.)
I will ask that all news submitters please break up your news by railroad.
There will be minimal editing, it won't be FANCY but it will be FAST. It will be the quickest news source short of being there.
Send this to all your friends!
*************************************************************************
FREE AD:
Flimsies
The NewsMagazine of Western Railroading
is edited by Bill Shippen
Flim4449@aol.com
FLIMSIES HAS ENDORSED *TRACK WARRANTS*!
*************************************************************************
JIM BOYD
JIM BOYD OKAY - Jim Boyd had a triple bypass surgery on Apr20th and is reported to be in good shape. He will be able to do light work soon, and with luck will be out railfanning soon. Hang in there Jim!
*************************************************************************
FIRST ISSUE COMMENTS
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 1995 18:06:33 -0400
From: "L-Soft list server at CUNYVM (1.8b)"
Your message dated Fri, 28 Apr 95 15:02:58 PDT with subject "Track Warrants,
Issue #1" has been successfully distributed to the RAILROAD list (441
recipients).
==========================================================================
I already have issue No. 1; do you care if I upload it to the Railfans
and Trains echos on fidonet? (provided I can figure out how, that is!)
It's a great newsletter.
Thanks--
Allen Brown
==========================================================================
To: ssloan@sparta.sjsu.edu
Subject: Re: replys
Mime-Version: 1.0
-------------
Original Text
>When responding to a long message please don't just hit the reply button.
>That resends the original message to the entire list. We don't need to
>receive a lengthy original message 2, 3, 4, etc. times.
>
>Thank you
----------
did I do it again???
dog-gone thang
Steve
---------
I'm just getting to send messages from last week. I don't think you've
done it recently.
--------
(whew-Steve)
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WEBBERS:
See http://www.wpi.edu/~elmer/ or
http://www.mcs.com/~dsdawdy/cyberoad.html for an article (with pictures)
about the move from Edaville to Portland.
==========================================================================
I don't know how you build a link, but these are two links at the same
site that you should try out. The "operators" will connect "TRACK WARRANTS"
to their pages and you'll have a much wider audience!
http://www.mcs.net/~dsdawdy/Switch/switch.html
http://www.mcs.net/~devanno/interlk.html
You'll also enjoy reading the stuff already there. It will take days, and there
is always something new, of course.
Gary Kazin (PBMA)
*************************************************************************
TRAIN REC (REVISITED) DEPARTMENT
REC Railroad [<<<---rec.railroad and The Railroad List, which you go
on to talk about, are two different things.
Rec.railroad is a Usenet newsgroup; (I know you knew
that).]
To subscribe just send an E-mail to LISTSERV@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU and say
"subscribe listserv." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not quite. The text of your message should read:
SUB RAILROAD Your Name
^^^^^^^^^^(substitute *Your* Name, of course)
Otherwise, an interesting first issue. Good job.
BTW, I find the RR List much easier to browse via the Usenet Newsgroup:
bit.listserv.railroad
That way I can see all of the threads together in alphabetical order;
(that's the way my reader is configured). It's not fully two-way yet,
so *postings* to the Railroad List should still be made via e-mail to:
railroad@cunyvm.cuny.edu
Have fun.
Peter
==========================================================================
I got the newsletter OK...
You might want to check, however:
it's = IT IS
its = BELONGING TO IT
(there *isn't* any its' [BELONGING TO MULTIPLE "IT"s?])
Other than that it's fine, will look forward to its future issues.
\\/illiam Lindley
(It isn't its' but is it its, or isn't it its, or is it it's or isn't it? I dunno, I guess it is. Kinda like an "Its It Bar," or is it "It's It Bar." Sigh, I wonder if CTC Board has these dilemas--Steve.)
==========================================================================
The first "Track Warrants" was great. I read the first issue sitting by the
Lava Hills, east of Amboy, on the ATSF Needles Sub last Saturday.
Thanks,
Brian
==========================================================================
Small world--two persons on this little RR list by the same name and both inter
ested in real trains. My vantage point is CONRAIL in the Albany, NY area. Whe
re is your venue?I'd like to receive your newsletter. Exactly what types
of information are you looking for? I assume you are familiar with Al
Tuner's fairly regular "The News from Here" news digest? Good Luck.
Steve Sloan
==========================================================================
EDITORIALS
To railfans in general:
Imagine that you have a time machine which will allow you to visit the Western
Pacific during its last years, with solid WP consists on most trains. That
would be fantastic but, of course, impossible. We have, however, the
opportunity to see the Santa Fe in its last months. Solid red-and-silver
consists, which occur every day all over the system, will likely be scarce once
the merger with BN happens. In a year or two, guys will be chasing solid sets
of red & silver to the ends of the earth due to their rarity. So watch 'em and
shoot 'em NOW.
I've basically decided to photograph every Santa Fe train that I can now. The
word is that the merger may be complete as early as October, so this is possibly
the last spring for the Santa Fe. The grass is green in Franklin Canyon (and on
Tehach), and will be for 6-8 more weeks. After that it will be brown for the
rest of the year. By the time the grass is green again, all the locomotives
will be, too.
One can only speculate what the motive power scene will be like after the
merger. The BN has lots more locos than the Santa Fe, unfortunately too many of
them SD40-2's. It is logical to expect that the Santa Fe 600's and 800's will
be assigned to Powder River coal service, and thus will vanish from California.
The 500's, 300's and 100's will probably remain on the 199/189/899's, mixed in
with LMX's, BN GP50's and (hopefully) cabless boats.
Everything else will have mostly BN SD's & GP's with some Santa Fe SD's & GP's
thrown in.
So, with an uncertain future ahead, get out to the Santa Fe tracks and dig it
for the awesome railroad that it is.
Eric Blasko
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I signed off the Railroad List. I decided I want my lunch hours back. BUT-I do want your news, even if you contribute to the list. Those of you who have the time to browse the list and see news there please feel free to forward it to me. I will contact the author before I use it. I think it is only right to get the author's permission to use it, of course.
If you have news you want to post to the list, please feel free to send it there and to me. I don't mind some duplication as there are a lot of readers here who are NOT on the list.
This summer after classes are over I MAY sign on again. I got 97 E-mails off the list one day...
(Filling my mailbox with things like battles over whether or not the SD40-2 is a good locomotive... Gosh if it wasn't, why do you think so many of 'em were built? I wish the railroads woulda liked C630's half as much!)
A very special thanks to all of you who sent news and/or notes. It is good hearing from all of you. How about having a get together potluck/barbeque/outdoor slide show some day this summer. In the bay area, perhaps at or near my home in San Jose CA. We could call it Summerail. Everydody could bring something to cook and an 80 tray of slides and we could go to town. Let me know what you think of the idea.
Steve
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TRIPPING
The UP Es were a "wash" for me. I got one shot Saturday in shitty weather around Table Mountain (and that was video) and decided I had better shots last year and packed it in. Instead I hung out at the Oroville depot and shot video of freights - lotsa traffic but the weather was still shitty.
I stopped shotting long ago in really lousy weather (unless its snowing) because I never want to pull out those kind of shots to show anyone. Sunday, of course, was a total wash.
"KPR918D"
==========================================================================
A TRIP TO THE FEATHER RIVER CANYON
by Jeff Aley
Thanks to many people on The Railroad List and rec.railroad, I was
able to learn that Union Pacific's excursion train, pulled by their E9's
were scheduled to travel through the Feather River Canyon (in northern
California) last weekend.
Due to personal schedule conflicts Saturday, my friend Tom and I
went on Sunday.
There was much rain on Saturday (at least for around here), so
Sunday seemed a better time anyway. Sunday's forecast: mostly cloudy, a
few scattered showers, increasing in late afternoon / early evening.
Sunday morning was cloudy and dry, so we jumped in my car and
headed up I-80 for Truckee. We caught a glimpse of an SP freight through
the trees, but didn't get to see what was on the point. There is still
plenty of snow in the Donner Pass region; the snow sheds appeared to be a
worthwhile investment. From I-80, a train could be seen waiting for
departure westbound out of Truckee.
From Truckee, we turned north onto CA-89 and headed up to Portola.
We arrived in Portola ~11:30 to find an eastbound changing crews in the
Portola yard. Power included a GE widecab (8-40C?), a ConRail unit, a NS
unit, and another UP unit (SD40-2?). These were on the point of a stack
train.
We proceeded to the Portola RR Museum. Upon arrival, I enquired
about the E9's and their scheduled arrival time. I was informed that due
to the recent rains, the canyon was considered too dangerous, and that the
excursion train was cancelled. I later discovered that the train had
instead been re-routed to go south (RR west) from Oroville to Oakland or
Milpitas. The bottom line: no E9's in the canyon today. :(
Stayed a few hours in the museum climbing on everything,
studying the UP CA-3 and CA-5cabeese, etc. etc. I
noted that they now have some sort of electric
locomotive with a pair of pantographs on top. It looks as if a steel
trestle has collapsed on top of the locomotive! :)
While in the museum, a westbound stopped, changed crews, and
departed for the canyon. I was discussing the motive power with Tom when
I noticed that the third unit was UP 3300 -- the "United We Stand" unit!
I made sure that Tom whipped out his camera and got a photo of this red,
white, and blue locomotive.
A while later, another westbound changed crews, then pulled
forward to the signal at the west end of the Portola siding. There it
sat. And sat. We figured that it was waiting for an eastbound to pass.
Finally, another westbound came up to change crews. This was a strange
train: only one unit on the point, and that unit was a C&NW (ex-CNW?)
widecab, pulling a handful of loaded TOFC cars. The TOFC train pulled
past the waiting train (a manifest with 3 UP engines) and continued down
the line.
We decided that it was chase time! We jumped in the car and
headed west on CA-70. First stop: Clio trestle. A quick check of our
Rail Fan Guide showed that a quick jaunt down 70, then a left towards
Blairsden, and another left "at the Clio sign" just past Graeagle brought
us to the famous trestle. Now, of course, it was raining. We missed the
TOFC train, but climbed up the dirt road to track level (on foot) in hopes
of catching the manifest. A quick check of the signals just east of the
trestle showed that the track was already set up for another westbound
movement, and the board was green. Several damp moments later, the
manifest appeared. Photos were taken.
As soon as FRED had passed, we scrambled back down the hill to the
car, and proceeded to the not-so-famous Williams Loop. Excellent
directions in the Rail Fan Guide showed that there was a dirt road that
takes you right into the middle of the loop. A peek through the lower
tunnel showed a green signal for our manifest train. Westbound trains
travel clockwise on the loop, starting on the upper track and winding
their way down to the lower. We hoped that our manifest would be long
enough to cross over itself. The train appeared, and we took photos of it
going over the bridge. The front door of the locomotive was open, and
there was someone sitting in the doorway with a camera.
We needn't have worried about the train being long enough. The
train crossed over itself, and continued to do so for quite some time. It
was quite spectacular being surrounded on all sides by a single train!
Now I know how people feel at Tehachapi.
After the last cars had passed, we climbed back up to the car and
drove on to Keddie Wye. We arrived to find an eastbound waiting in the
siding at Keddie for our westbound to pass. We set up shop directly over
the tunnel, overlooking the Wye. Our train eased slowly onto the wye,
giving us plenty of time to take photos. We tried running to the other
side of the tunnel to catch the locomotives again passing between the two
tunnels that are there (only a few hundred yards apart), but arrived after
the locomotives had plunged into the second tunnel.
Now it was just a matter of getting back to the car and chasing
the train through the canyon. Because of the recent rain, the river was
very violent, and there were many, many waterfalls -- beautiful! We found
a few opportune spots to pull off and grab a few photos. Tom also took a
few pix of the lumber mill (abandoned?) in the canyon. It has an
old-fashioned sawdust burner, and all kinds of neat little buildings --
ideal for Tom's model railroad.
After a few more photos, we decided that it would be dark soon,
and the rain was getting to be too much. We drove the rest of the way
without waiting for our train. Too bad -- there were some spectacular
photos to be had, due to the huge waterfalls and the raging river. Next
time, perhaps.
We passed an eastbound near the western end of the canyon, and
caught up with the TOFC train shortly thereafter.
After that, dinner in Oroville, and the journey home. I hope we
remembered to remove the lens caps from the cameras... if the photos turn
out, perhaps I'll digitize a few and post them somewhere. It's a pity we
didn't get to follow the E9's, but we had a good time anyway.
==========================================================================
The following is a list of trains on the dispatchers sight (used for crew
calling) for the morning of 4/29. The times are estimated times for the crews
to be called except for the "in route" times which are departure figures. Not
all of these trains may have run and other trains were added later as the day
unfolds. This should give you an idea of the tempo here in my general area
(Central TX) on CTC Board's Photo day.
===== Tyler --> Hearne 6am sight
PBSAM 1201A in route Pine Bluff - San Antonio
1MBSMF 815A DEP Blue Streak
2MBSMF 9A
MFEGT 10A Memphis - Eagle Pass, TX (Mexico Gateway)
PBSAM 1030A
===== Hearne --> Tyler 6am sight
SAPBM 320A in route
LBMFT 7A Long Beach - Memphis
SAPBM 10A
EGEST 5P Eagle Pass - East St. Louis (counterpart of MFEGT)
2SAPBM 930P
===== Dallas --> Hearne 2am sight
DASAF 445A Dallas - San Antonio connects with MBSMF @ SA
DAHOF 515P Dallas - Houston
LADAF ?
LBDAT ?
HODAM ?
DALAF 230A
===== Hearne --> Dallas 2am sight
LADAF 905A
HODAM 430P
===== Hearne --> Ft. Worth 6am sight
all in route
HEFWM 1215A Hearne - Fort Worth
CLAIC 510A Coleto Creek, TX - Axial Mine, CO mt coal
Work Train 6A
===== Hearne --> Houston 2am sight
DAHOF 1115P in route
KRBTR 1230P Kerr (on the UP near Austin) - Beaumont (Georgetown RR
rock train)
2HEHOM 1P Hearne - Houston
DAHOF
===== Houston --> Hearne 2am sight
HODAM 11P in route
HOHEM 9A
SRKRR 1110A Strang (Houston) - Kerr Rock Train
HODAM 930P
===== San Antonio --> East Sunset 6am sight
SAPBM 9A
SAPBM 9P
WCHOM 830A West Colton - Houston
Leonard Ruback <75273.566@compuserve.com>
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TAKING STOCK
Railroad Stock Report for Thursday, 4 May 1995
--------------------------------------------------------
Market Data from Wednesday, 3 May 1995
----------------
Big Board (NYSE)
----------------
Line Symbol High Low Close Previous
===================================================================
ATSF SFX 23.500 23.000 23.500 23.250
Burlington Northern BNI 59.875 59.250 59.750 59.875
CSX CSX 79.250 78.500 78.500 79.125
Conrail CRR 53.375 52.875 53.000 53.125
Norfolk Southern NSC 65.875 65.250 65.750 65.750
Southern Pacific RSP 17.125 16.750 16.875 16.875
Union Pacific UNP 56.750 56.250 56.625 56.125
Illinois Central IC 35.000 34.875 34.875 35.000
Kansas City Southern KSU 36.750 35.875 36.625 36.750
Florida East Coast FLA 74.250 73.250 74.000 73.000
Sea Container SCRA 15.375 15.000 15.125 15.375
XTRA XTR 51.125 48.625 51.125 48.625
Greenbrier GBX 14.250 13.875 14.125 13.875
Wabash Natl. Corp. WNC 31.000 30.000 30.250 30.375
Trinity Ind. TRN 38.125 37.625 38.000 37.750
Ameri. President APS 23.375 21.875 23.250 22.750
------
NASDAQ
------
Line Symbol High Low Close Previous
===================================================================
J.B. Hunt JBHT 18.375 18.000 18.312 18.250
Wisconsin Central WCLX 55.125 54.000 54.750 54.000
RailTex RTEX 28.000 27.000 27.250 27.500
RailAmerica RAIL 4.875 4.703 4.875 4.875
Providence & Worc PWRR 9.000 8.500 9.000 9.000
Delaware Otsego DOCP 10.250 10.250 10.250 10.250
Compiled by Jim Czarnecki
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PASSENGER ANNOUNCEMENT
*Public Forum on Amtrak's Future--Wed., May 3 (tomorrow) 4:00 to 6:00
Council Chambers, City Hall, Philadelphia
*National Association of RR Passengers: Region III Meeting
Sat., May 13, 9:30 to 2:00
DVRPC Headquarters, Eighth Floor, The Bourse, 5th & Market, Phila.
Registration fee of $15.00 includes lunch.
e-mail
(but they're usually accomodating to late registrants... B^)
*SEPTA Public Hearings on Operating Budget--May 15, 16, 22, 23
*SEPTA Public Hearing on Capital Budget and Plan--May 24
See the DVARP newsletter for time and place.
Several new files are in the docs directory of our web site
http://libertynet.org/~dvarp/docs/
including
amtrak.gao----the General Accounting report on Amtrak's finances
amtk_fut.txt--DVARP statement for tomorrow's forum on Amtrak's future
broadway------letter published in the _Philadelphia_Inquirer_.
nec_s95n.asc--
nec_s95s.asc--tab-delimited text files of complete NEC schedules
parse.hqx-----Macintosh HyperCard stack for converting text tables into
parse.txt-----readme for the above space-delimited schedule files.
In the amsched directory http://libertynet.org/~dvarp/amsched/
Various commuter rail schedules provided by our volunteers, including
NJ Transit, MARC, OnTrack.
In the dvrp (newsletter) directory http://libertynet.org/~dvarp/dvrp/
April edition of _The_Delaware_Valley_Rail_Passenger_.
Howzat!?! /
\ /==============\
Matthew Mitchell .===========================================.
Newsletter Editor | |S (__)(__)(__) |(__)| (__)(__)(__) S | |
DVARP, Box 7505 |__|=====================================|__|
Philadelphia, PA 19101 | |=====================================| |
215-222-3373 |__| () () |___| |_| |______| () () |__|
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