Track Warrants

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Issue No. 28
September 16, 1996

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EDITORIAL

ALTAMONT

IF YOU BUILD THEM WILL THEY COME?

The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission voted Thursday, September 5, to buy eight passenger cars for a proposed commuter rail service even though the commission still doesn't have money to operate the trains or track to run them on. The commissioners say the move could save more than $5 million.

They opted to buy rail cars now to hold down costs -- $16.6 million now versus more than $21 million later. They hope to begin commuter rail service by early 1998. Placing a later order would delay arrival of the cars to mid-1999.

Rail commissioners said their vote also sent a signal to Alameda and Santa Clara county officials that they are serious about getting the commuter trains rolling.

The rail commission is in negotiations with the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads for the right to use tracks between Stockton and San Jose. Negotiations are likely to continue until November or December, said Stacey Mortensen, commuter-rail program manager.

BNSF

BNSF TODAY

FORMER BN PRESIDENT DIES
Sept10--Thomas J. Lamphier, who served as president of Burlington Northern Inc.'s Transportation Division in 1979, and retired in 1981, passed away Sept ninth. He was 72. Lamphier joined the railroad in 1949 as a chainman in the engineering department for the Great Northern Railway Company, a BNSF predecessor.

BNSF COAL LOADING RECORD
Sept09---BNSF ends week Saturday with coal loading record. Despite heavy ongoing track maintenance, BNSF wrapped up a record week on Saturday for coal loadings, with an average of 51.1 coal trains loaded per day during the week.

Saturday had the highest loadings of the seven-day period, with 53 coal trains loaded in the Powder River Basin and five loaded at mines on the Santa Fe Lines. That number was just one short of the year's high of 59 combined daily loadings, which occurred Aug. 29.

Last week's accomplishment was particularly exceptional because it was accomplished with high service levels, and it occurred while heavy track maintenance was scheduled. Coal cycle times averaged 113 hours for the week, against a plan of 117. Lower cycle times -- the time it takes to load a train at the mine through unloading at the destination electric facility, and the return of empties to the mine for reloading -- represent better service.

Contributing to Saturday's accomplishment were favorable weather and available power and crews, says Tom Kraemer, vice president, Coal and Agricultural Products Operations.

BNSF SELLS COULEE CITY, PALOUSE AND OROVILLE LINES
BNSF today announced it has sold 277 miles of track in eastern Washington and northern Idaho to the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad Inc. The company also announced today the sale of its Oroville Line, a 131-mile stretch of track in north central Washington, to a RailAmerica, Inc. subsidiary, Cascade and Columbia River Railroad Company (CCRR).

Coulee City, Palouse Lines

The properties sold to the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad include the 108-mile Coulee City branch line, which extends from north of Cheney, Wash., to Coulee City, Wash.; a 47-mile branch from Palouse, Wash., to Bovill, Idaho; and a 122-mile branch line from south of Marshall, Wash., to Arrow, Idaho.

Included in these segments are the Moscow, Idaho, to Arrow line, which was abandoned and has been out of service since 1984, and the Harvard, Idaho, to Bovill line, which is currently embargoed. The lines were offered for sale last April as part of BNSF's ongoing asset evaluation program. BNSF is considering the sale of approximately 4,000 miles of light-density lines over the coming years. The Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad Company is part of the family of companies started by WATCO in 1983. The opportunity for additional rail car movements, primarily of wheat and lumber products, made this an attractive acquisition for the WATCO group of companies.

Wenatchee-to-Oroville Line

Effective today, CCRR commenced operations of the Oroville Line, with traffic on this line being interchanged at BNSF's Wenatchee yard. CCRR has established its general offices for the new railroad at Omak, Wash. The line, which extends from west of Wenatchee, Wash., to Oroville, Wash., was also offered for sale last April.

Since becoming a public company in 1992, RailAmerica has been actively pursuing the acquisition of rail lines throughout the United States and Canada. In commenting on the acquisition, Gary O. Marino, chairman, president and CEO of RailAmerica, said, "This marks our first acquisition of a rail line in the west and our first rail line purchase from BNSF. We look forward to expanding our relationship with BNSF, one of North America's leading rail carriers, and we are looking forward to our partnership in providing rail freight service to this important region of Washington state. We are confident that we can significantly increase the traffic base on this line, which will benefit the local and regional economy by expanding markets for products originating on the CCRR with dependable, efficient, long-haul services through BNSF."

The CCRR marks the ninth railroad acquired and operated by RailAmerica, a multi-modal transportation company headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla. Including CCRR, RailAmerica owns shortline railroads totaling more than 600 route miles in Michigan, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Indiana, Texas and Minnesota. The company also owns Kalyn/Siebert, Inc., a specialty truck trailer manufacturer, and Steel City Carriers, Inc., a Canadian-based motor carrier.

NEW REGULATIONS AFFECTING THE MOVEMENT OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Sept05---On Sept. 1, BNSF joined the rest of the rail industry in complying with new regulations affecting the movement of hazardous materials (hazmat). The regulations are part of the Department of Transportation's (DOT) effort to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on the industry without compromising safety.

The changes primarily affect placarding and shipping paper requirements. Residue placarding requirements have been removed, and placard notation and endorsement are no longer required. The removal of the residue placard requirements will allow shippers to put permanent placards on tank cars. Highlights of other changes are:

• Tank cars containing a residue of hazardous materials will not display the residue placard but will require the load placard.
• DOT 113 tank cars transporting Class 2.1 (flammable gases) must have flammable gas placards with the white square background.
• Emergency response telephone numbers will not be required for limited quantities and some other designated hazardous materials.
• Inlets and outlets on tank cars that have interior heater coil pipes may be left open or closed during transportation.

The changes will have little effect on the way train crews determine if a train has hazmat cars. That information now will be found under the basic description on the shipping papers. The changes have no effect on the placement of residue hazardous materials tank cars in a train. These tank cars still must not be placed nearer than the second car from the engine or occupied caboose.

Compliance with the changes currently is voluntary but will become mandatory on Oct. 1.
From BNSF Today, via James Czarnecki

TO BE TWO SCHEMES?

It'll probably be two paint jobs on the BNSF.. but then.. Notice that Fred Frailey never mentions the BN executive colors.. hmmm..
Cheers,
Harry

I have it on the very highest authority within BNSF (mano y mano) that there will be TWO paint schemes for this railroad: The Santa Fe's traditional warbonnet scheme (which he thinks is a valuable commercial asset) and the newly introduced one that incorporates former GN (and, my source insists, NP) colors (and a color scheme he personally encouraged to be tried). Beyond that, my deep throat (whom we may call Highest Authority) sees no logic in continuing other color schemes, such as the pre-merger Santa Fe blue-and-yellow and BN green and white. Highest Authority notes that the BN colors were indistinguishable from corn stalks and thus not much of a warning out in Middle America. At the very highest level of corporate management in American railroading, sentiment has a way of entering in.
excerpts from a posting by Fred F. via the railroad list via Harry K. Wong

CONNECTOR TRACK IN SERVICE

The connecting track that goes from BNSF's BN track from Amarillo to Fort Worth to the ATSF main from Kansas City to Texas appears to be in sevice now. I observed the tail end of an intermodal train coming off of the track onto the BN main on 9/2. The signal and trackwork had been going on for a couple of months and it was rather interesting seeing this movement.
Jerry Storrs Jr.

FILLMORE & WESTERN

STEAM TRAIN

The Fillmore & Western is going to operate a steam train on September 14 1996 in downtown Fillmore California. The town is celebrating its recovery from the 6.6 Earthquake of a couple of years ago. For more Info call them at (805)524-2546.
John Gartman

METROLINK

THEN THERE WERE THREE?

Metrolink has been testing it new signal system on the east side of the Los Angeles River since Labor Day weekend. Since then, SP trains on the east side of the river have had to be flagged through red signals at interlockings between Main St and Pasadena Jct after the dispatcher confers with signal personnel to verify that the desired lineup is set.

Mission Tower has fallen silent, though there might still be an operator position staffed at this time. That would leave three interlocks in LA; Terminals Tower, Redondo Jct. Tower, and Hobart Tower. Of those, I'd say that the most threatened of them is Redondo, which will probably fall when the new junction for the Alameda Corridor is built.
Ron Lehmer

SP

"THIS IS AN HISTORIC DAY FOR UNION PACIFIC," SAID DREW LEWIS...

Sept11---Union Pacific Corporation today announced that it has completed the necessary filings and transactions to finalize its merger with Southern Pacific Rail Corporation.

"This is an historic day for Union Pacific," said Drew Lewis, Union Pacific chairman and chief executive officer. "A lot of people have worked extremely hard to make this day a reality. It's a proud moment for the entire Union Pacific family, and we look forward to putting the two railroads together as efficiently as possible for the benefit of our customers."

Lewis said UP and SP will start to combine administrative functions shortly, with total implementation, including the merger of operations, taking at least two years.

The combined UP/SP system will operate 31,000 miles of track in 24 states. It will operate more than 2,000 trains each day, using 6,400 locomotives and more than 142,000 freight cars.
PRNewswire via Brian P. Kreimendahl

SP REAR-ENDER ACCIDENT AT BEAUMONT HILL

The 1LBBPX 29 with units SSW8059 SP8035 SSW9623 and SP9753 (22-0-5266-5542) was struck from behind by a light engine consist between mp560 and mp561 on the #1 track between Hinda and Beaumont CA.

The LBBPX 29 was stopped at the Beaumont crossovers for an opposing move. The light engine consist (SP8489 SP9207 SP7405) was runing eb to pickup the 1HOWCM K25 at Myoma when it crosses from #2 track to #1 track on signal indication at the Hinda crossovers.

The crew on the light engine consist mistook the indicatin of the signal protecting the rear of the LBBPX 29 as a proceed and thought the LBBPX 29 was standing on the #2 track instead of the #1 track and derailed the last car of the train (DTTX 72517). SP7405, the lead unit of the light engine move, had its fuel tank leaking and this was contained. Track damage was only two track panels worth.

Traffic was allowed to operate around the site on the #2 track. The equipment was rerailed at 19:30 Aug30 and track restored to service at 02:09 Aug31. It could have been worse.

UP PLANS FOR THE WESTSIDE LINE

Aug31---Steve--I recently read (but can't find) that UP may be considering reconnecting the Westside Line in the San Joaquin Valley to bypass Stockton, Modesto, and Merced for traffic moving to the S.F. Bay Area. Basically, it ran from Fresno to Tracy. The line was severed from Los Banos to Mendota several years ago with the CFNR took over short line operations between Los Banos and Tracy, and the San Joaquin Valley RR between Fresno and Mendota. The rails have been pulled up but crossings and right-of-way are still intact.

Do you, or does anyone, have any further information on this development? It would make sense to have a direct, straight, and considerably shorter line to take pressure off the existing main between Fresno and points north (west).
Tom Krummell Roseville, CA

THE OLD VOLKS HOME

Aug31---At 8:00 AM today, 8/31/96, an eastbound drag left bound for Donner, led by 3 D&RGW SD-40-T2 tunnel motors. 5358 on the point, followed by 5342 and 5341. All were recently scrubbed, though 5358 was sporting a light film of tunnel grunge. It might have been the trailing unit on the last westbound trip over the Hill.

There is a surprising amount of BNSF run-through power in Roseville recently, mostly BN power. Nothing from Donner, but the BN run-throughs are coming west (geographic south).

No evidence of anything related to the merger is happening at Roseville yet, but a retired acquaintance whose son works for SP and is heavily involved in the union informed me his son spent a number of days in San Francisco with his UP counterparts working on merging seniority lists and the like.

The east end of Roseville yard is receiving quite a bit of maintenance attention in the form of fresh ballast, and I noted this morning that a number of tracks on the east end which have been unused for more than a year are starting to be used again. I don't know if this is because of incresed SP freight traffic, or whether it is directly or indirectly related to the merger. There are fewer and fewer UP units showing up on run-through; this might be due to midwest grain harvest needs. Any insights?

The Jordan Spreaders (SPMW 3040, 3043) have been moved from a siding parallel to Atlantic Street in Roseville, and some flangers have been moved to the engine repair facility paralleling Pacific Street. No movemenet of the rotaries, though.

SD-7 1503 and 1521 are still mu'd together, but haven't been moved for a week or so. The engine compartment doors on 1503 are wide open on the fireman's side.

That's all from Roseville for Saturday, August 31. Here's to being run out of town on a rail.
Tom Krummell

GP60's

Aug30---Today the SSW GP60s were back on the Permanente Local, bringing a long-needed relief from the steady stream of GP40-2s. Units 9627 and 9700 trailed a pair of 7200s as they hauled an order of coal up to the plant.

Heading for Stockton on Saturday, hoping to bag some CNW units and maybe some BNSF engines if the gods are merciful.
Jon Porter

UP

DENVER-BASED ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS

Aug29---Union Pacific Railroad today announced that over the next two years it will integrate its Denver-based administrative functions into existing centers in St. Louis and Omaha, as part of a company- wide restructuring following its merger with Southern Pacific Rail Corporation.

Employees working at the Lincoln Street office will be offered positions in the other cities in the merged system or severance packages. Specific conditions covering union employees are subject to negotiation.

Union Pacific will maintain a significant corporate presence in Colorado where Jerry Davis, the president of Southern Pacific, will continue to be based. As a result of continued discussion with state officials, the combined UP/SP work force in Colorado will total at least 1,800 employees, depending on union agreements and labor market conditions. Overall, Colorado's current employment is approximately 3,000. SP's locomotive shops near downtown Denver will remain a key overhaul facility for the merged system's fleet of locomotives.

UP based its decision to integrate the Denver facility into the other centers after conducting a thorough economic analysis that also took into account disruption of employees' lives. Because Denver is the smallest of the three centers, UP will disrupt the fewest number of employees under this scenario.

"We must consolidate the administrative functions of the two railroads to realize the cost efficiencies of the merger," said Dick Davidson, president of UP Corporation. "The consolidation of the administrative functions is part of a company-wide restructuring."

The company conducted a cost effectiveness study of the three sites and found that Colorado was the least attractive of the three, according to Davidson. "Our analysts found that Colorado's strong economy has pushed up real estate and operating costs for business," Davidson said. "Colorado's business climate is not as competitive for consolidating companies as it was a decade ago."

Nevertheless, the railroad intends to honor all of the commitments made to the state last March, including investing more than $90 million to upgrade rail lines and facilities, and continuing to operate the lines scheduled for abandonment until upgrades are completed while assisting the state and local communities searching for alternative carriers, Davidson said.

In addition to increasing the base level of employment in Colorado that was committed to in March, he announced significant new investments in Colorado, including:

• Assisting Pueblo in its efforts to win the Association of American Railroad's Power Quality Test Facility.
• Increasing UP's continuing multi-million dollar business with CF&I Steel by up to 25 percent, based on the merged system's need and the marketplace.
• Donating historic Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad equipment to the community of Pueblo, upgrading and donating a rail spur to the Pueblo Depot, partially underwriting the rehabilitation of the equipment and using the railroad's engine maintenance crews to renovate equipment.
• Donating the right-of-way and track for the Canon City/Royal Gorge scenic route for tourism purposes plus an additional segment of right-of-way.

"Union Pacific intends to maintain a significant, long-term corporate presence in Colorado," Davidson said. "Today, we announce a new partnership with the communities of the state."
PRNewswire via Brian P. Kreimendahl

LETTERS

MORE ROADRAILER PIX

Sep09---If you want to see MORE roadrailer pix, check out Dave Hillyer's page on the web.
http://www.nlci.com/users/dhillyer/photos.htm
It has photos that are a bit surprising.
Cheers,
Harry K. Wong

SEP06

I personally would just as soon receive a notice that the current
issue of TW Online is up and ready. I find myself not even downloading
the email version and just going to the web version. Better looking,
and with live links, more interesting.

Not all of us with e-mail access have web access.
Wes Leatherock

HI STEVE

Sep05---Just a short note to say what a great job you're doing with the Track Warrants project. All the time and effort you putting into this fantastic on-line magazine is greatly appreciated.
Thanks much.
James Czarnecki

OPERATION LIFESAVER-WWW.OLI.ORG

Sep04---Operation Lifesaver, Inc now has a national web site located at:

http://www.oli.org
The rail safety group has newsletters, training material, safety statistics, and personal accounts by railroaders on highway crossing incidents. Rail webmasters can download a great little "applet" link to OL for their own page. The application features an animated crossing signal. Dress up your page and promote rail safety--check out Operation Lifesaver.
via Eric Sondeen

HELLO STEVE

Excellent work on your TW. I enjoy reading it in email. I work for Southern Pacific Railroad as a switchman in Hutchinson, Kansas. Pratt being our terminal. Are you interested in information on whats going on around here? If so I can send you email on things I hear and see for your newsletter. I know you are probably very busy with this so I thought I would check with you before I started sending you email with information you dont need or care about.
Todd Wilson

News is always welcome, always! Thanks,
Steve

FEATHER RIVER GP40 FLEET ARTICLE UPDATE

http://home.earthlink.net/~rattenne/wpgp40.htm
Sep04---Jus let you know, Frank, my WP article update featuring the omitted GP40 rosters is now online. I still a couple of minor cleanup things to do but for the most part it's done.
Ken Rattenne

"Sign Me Up"

Yes, I would like to get signed up to your E-mail service for "Track Warrants". I assume their is zero cost.

I am new to the internet, but remember your name from years back and Flimsies. I have been and continue to be a subscriber to Flimsies and the SP Review plus their Northwest Rail News.

You guys all do a good job and keep up the good work.

Also, you know Mission Tower in Los Angeles was cut over to CTC this past weekend. If you want a copy of the bulletins issued to the employees and the hand drawing of the CTC lay out, please send me your fax number.
Sincerely,
Josiah F. Jenkins

OOPS-I forgot to send you a fax #, email me again for it. Also, there is no cost to receive it but there is a cost to produce Track Warrants. I encourage donations to the cause.
Steve Sloan

LOOKING FOR THE NEW ISSUE

Sep04---I'm really itching for the next issue of Track Warrants! Where is it? I check everyday to see if it's come out yet, so my frustration is growing. Man, I don't have a life, therefore no one else gets one either. Okay, I'm just passing time. I am looking forward to the next issue though.

SIGHTINGS

SIGHTINGS FOR 9/8/96 AT HEARNE, TX
SP  DASAM         6830,6890
UP  LDNL          3542,3279
SP  KCHOQ         9282,7509,6883
SP  DALAF         9687,7527,7323,9622
UP  1MXCHZ        3717,3405,3427
SP  EGCHT         8673,6848,8084
SP  1MBSMF        9665,9688,7383,9398
UP  NLSA          684,EMD828
UP  2MXCHZ        964,927,5510(WE WILL DELIVER)
SP  2MBSMF        7324,8339
SP  LBMFT         8060,8052,8030,7554
UP  CHMXZ         5513(WE WILL DELIVER), 972,3381
UP  53LCL         3361,3652,3426
UP  52LCL         3638,3579
SP  MFEGT         8062,8074,7510,8046

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

To my friend and FLIMSIES Editor Emeritus Charlie Baden
on his upcoming marriage to Lynn Victoria Boston.

Steve Sloan

BAD NEWS

TAKING STOCK