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The Wilmington Chapter NRHS Official Newsletter
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April 17, 2008 MEETING NOTES

President Phil Snyder called the meeting to order at 7 PM and by the end of the night attendance had swelled to 19 members and guests. The minutes were read by Vice President Ron Cleaves in the absence of Secretary Dan Frederick and approved as read as was the Treasurer's Report as read by Ralph Stevens. There was a short report from National Director Tom Posatko and news of a CSX train and juveniles playing on the railroad tracks that afternoon at Naamans Road. Publisher Greg Ajamian handed over another $26 check from the sale of Richard Hall's books. Dave Warner provided details for the upcoming Lindenwald Shop Tour Trip.

After the break we were treated to a slide program by Mike Burkhart that started with the Chesapeake & Albemar (VA to NC) just one week ago. Then the main program covered 1999-2000 starting in Port Clinton, Buffalo, and Scranton. We saw Palmer and Springfield, Mass, an MTA P-32, Syracuse, Binghamton, and Williamsport. Closer to home we saw Philadelphia, Norristown, the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, New York City's "Red Birds," Cape May, and Lebanon, PA. It was another of Mike's great slide shows.

From The Editor

Twas another busy couple of months, which delayed this newsletter numerous times - but here it, is! I have already started work on the next mega-issue, so we will be supporting the Post Office again soon.

NEWS BITS 

• Steam Pioneer George M. Hart passed away April 17, 2008 in Lehighton, Pa. George was the founding Director of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (1969-1983) and an active participant in railway preservation, having owned and operated Rail Tours, Inc., and served as President and Treasurer of the Stewartstown RR. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of railroad history and if it were not for his efforts in 1970s, the PRR Historic Collection would have been broken up forever. From Railway Preservation News via Ed Mayover.
   
• UP announced plans to install 1,600 video cameras on its locomotives this year. A UP spokesman said that the cameras record views of tracks, crossings, and signals in front of a train, and help the railroad in its investigation of accidents, trespasser strikes, and grade crossing crashes. The spokesman said that it had begun installing cameras on locomotives in 2005 and has so far equipped more than 4,000 locomotives with them, representing approximately 85 percent of UP's locomotive fleet. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 01FEB2008 via Ed Mayover from: UP Corp., Progressive Railroading)
   
• High winds blew several cars of an NS intermodal train into Sandusky Bay near Sandusky, OH. An NS spokesman said that eight to twelve containers and the cars they were on went into the water as the train was crossing a bridge, and that wind gusts in the area had reached speeds of up to 58mph. The spokesman added that the one track of the two-track main line reopened later that day while the containers and cars were being recovered. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 01FEB2008 via Ed Mayover from: Sandusky Register)

Two months after a train derailed and dumped cargo containers into the Sandusky Bay, Norfolk Southern started pulling the pieces out today. Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband said his company worked with the U.S. Coast Guard and Ohio Department of Natural Resources to decide how to remove the dozen empty containers.   "We've been anxious to remove those containers for quite some time,  " he said.   "We just needed to be sure they were comfortable with our plan.  " The Coast Guard's Marblehead, Toledo and Detroit stations had no information regarding their removal. A spokeswoman at the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Office in Toledo was not available for comment today. A local contractor was expected to use a crane and barge to pull the containers from the water, Husband said. He would not disclose the name of the contractor or how much the project cost because he Norfolk Southern has a policy against discussing that type of information. High winds caused the train to derail from the bridge over the bay Jan. 30. (American Rail Link for April 16, 2008 via Ed Mayover from Port Clinton News Herald)
 

• AUTHORITIES PROBE COPPER THEFTS: Investigators in Cecil County said they are dealing with a copper theft problem and are concerned that someone is going to get seriously injured or killed. Detectives said that nearly $100,000 worth of copper wire has been stolen the last couple of months from the area around the Norfolk Southern rail yard in Conowingo. The Cecil County Bureau of Investigations said the thieves are going through some very desperate measures to gather as much copper wire as they can. "They've been in some of the towers, the lighting towers for the trains," said Cpl. Don Kellum. "So people are bold enough to go on the tracks or towers and actually cut them." The high-voltage wires that run along the tracks and towers contain copper inside and can fetch big bucks at the local scrap yard. "This is not just one individual or one group of individuals," Kellum said. "This is numerous individuals that are targeting copper wire sites." Cameras are installed around the Norfolk Southern yard. Investigators said they hope the cameras can help in making an arrest before someone gets hurt cutting one of the high-voltage lines. Kellum said investigators would be helped if scrap yards buying the copper would require photo identification. (American Rail Link for February 6, 2008 via Ed Mayover from WBAL-TV)
   
• PENN CENTRAL MERGER HITS 40-YEAR MARK: On Feb. 1, 1968 one of railroading's greatest rivalries came to a formal end when the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central merged to form the Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Co., better known as Penn Central. For decades the PRR and NYC dominated the territory between New York and Chicago/St. Louis and ranked Nos. 1 and 2 among American railroads in almost all significant categories. At their peak in the early 20th century, they were proud, prosperous industrial powerhouses. But by the mid-1950s size was becoming more liability than virtue, and the two roads announced merger talks in November 1957. Central, more attuned to the changing times than Pennsy, cooled on the marriage in 1959. The ailing giants then sought alliances with other roads, the PRR with the expanding Norfolk & Western, the NYC with the Chesapeake & Ohio/Baltimore & Ohio system. Denied federal regulatory approval of these mergers, Pennsy and Central returned to the table in 1962. Regulators approved the combination in 1966. Despite the decade-long gestation period, the two roads were ill-prepared for merger. Their corporate cultures clashed. Computer systems were incompatible. NYC people resented the dominant role of the PRR in the new company. The roads' contrasting house colors, red and green, became a metaphor for their disharmony; PC's black was neutral, but reflective of the downbeat spirit of the enterprise. Inclusion of the bankrupt New Haven Railroad in 1969, a condition of the merger, further handicapped the PC, which itself plunged into bankruptcy on June 21, 1970, 28_ months after its creation. Penn Central's spectacular collapse - the largest U.S. business failure in history at the time - was echoed by failures of other Northeastern railroads. With the fate of the industry hanging in the balance, the government-backed Consolidated Rail Corp., or Conrail, took over PC and the other bankrupts on April 1, 1976. Pursuing efficiencies its predecessors couldn't or wouldn't, Conrail became strong and profitable. On June 1, 1999, Conrail was divided between Norfolk Southern and CSX with, broadly speaking, former PRR lines going to NS and former NYC lines to CSX. Thus, 40 years after an ill-fated merger ended their corporate identities, the two greatest railroads of the classic era are, after a fashion, still with us today. (American Rail Link for February 6, 2008 via Ed Mayover from Trains News Wire)
   
• AMTRAK TRAINS STUCK AT SNOWLY DONNER PASS WITH NEARLY 400 RIDERS: Nearly 400 people were trapped Friday when two Amtrak passenger trains were stranded in the snowy Northern California mountains after a large snow plow fell through the tracks, officials said. Amtrak's California Zephyr passenger trains were stranded near Donner Pass around 2 p.m. after a large plow being used to clear the tracks fell through a walkway and blocked the trains' path, according to Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero. One train started in Emeryville on its way to Chicago, and the other was on its way back. Romero said late Friday that Union Pacific was bringing in a crane to clear the large snow plow from the trains' path. She expected the tracks would be cleared by 4 a.m. Meanwhile, the westbound train was being pulled back to Reno and the 165 passengers onboard would be put up in a hotel overnight. The eastbound train could not be moved, however, and Romero said the passengers would sleep in their seats or in reserved sleeping cars for the night. (American Rail Link for February 6, 2008 via Ed Mayover from AP)
   
• Gov. Eliot Spitzer says the state remains behind the massive renovation plan known as Moynihan Station in Manhattan, despite being about $1 billion short of its rising price. It would relocate Pennsylvania Station, the Madison Square Garden arena and Manhattan's James A. Farley Post Office around new businesses, shops and hotels. Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, however, says the project along with other nearby mega projects - including expansion of the Javits Convention Center, and extension of the No. 7 subway station - are failing and might not be fixable. Plans call for a rebuilt Penn Station to offer natural light pouring in and a "grand public space" resembling Grand Central Terminal in a new, rezoned business district on Manhattan's far West Side. The Moynihan Station plan would named for the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The development agency said the new station and Madison Square Garden would be built by 2011, and the remaining commercial and mixed-use development would be built by 2018. (American Rail Link for February 20, 2008 via Ed Mayover from AP)

The optimistic vision of a glittering new mini-city on Manhattan's far West Side is in danger of dying from uncertain funding, risky financing and lack of coordination, a Daily News investigation reveals. The dream - some critics call it a pipe dream - envisions a neighborhood built over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's West Side railyards, a relocated Madison Square Garden, an elegant new rail hub to replace dingy Penn Station and a commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River. All of these projects are in various stages of development, but despite billions spent by the city, state and developers on studies, land acquisition and architects, no one has figured out who will pay for all of it, or how.

Hudson Yards: That's the city's name for a planned new district west of 10thAve., complete with office and residential towers, parks and its own subway stop on an expanded No. 7 line. The 33-acre district, much of it over the railyards, was rezoned in 2005, and the five developers picked by the city are to submit revised proposals in a second round of bids tomorrow.

Expanding the No. 7 line is considered crucial to the success of the new neighborhood, but the project already has been scaled back to cut costs, a move that throws another wrench into the grand plan. In his State of the City address last month, Mayor Bloomberg said the No. 7 extension was so crucial that the city "refused to wait for the MTA" and in December "broke ground on the first new mile of subway track the city has funded since the 1950s." That's the rhetoric. The reality is less optimistic.To begin with, the city puts the cost of the expansion at a deceptively low $2.1 billion - a figure it set in 2003 and hasn't budged from despite skyrocketing construction costs. The MTA, which considers the proposed Second Ave. subway line a greater priority, has refused to pick up the tab. A $1.1 billion tunneling contract has been awarded, but to save an estimated $450 million, the city abandoned plans to put a station at 41st St. and 10th Ave. That means the line will run from Times Square to 34th St. and 11th Ave. without a stop - a decision that "puts at risk several million square feet of potential commercial and residential development" in the Hudson Yards, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. "Development follows mass transit." If builders lose interest, New Yorkers could be saddled with billions in debt. The city is funding the project from the sale of $2 billion in bonds. Interest from the bonds is payable from city appropriations; the principal will be met by revenue from payments in lieu of taxes by developers. (American Rail Link for February 27, 2008 via Ed Mayover from NY Daily News)
 

• PENN STATIONS' BURIED GLORY: John Turkeli leads a monthly tour of the remnants of the old Penn Station for the 34th Street Partnership. Like wayward ghosts trapped in a transportation time capsule, hints of Pennsylvania Station's past grandeur linger amid its drab present - if you know where to look. The last bits of the brilliant Beaux Arts station, demolished 45 years ago, are obscured by file cabinets, wine racks and baggage counters. They're mostly ignored by the 550,000 daily commuters. But to folks like John Turkeli, a glimpse of decades-old glass brick or a vintage brass rail is enough to conjure visions of the breathtaking original on its opening day: Nov. 27, 1910. Turkeli, a longtime train buff, chugs through the station like an engine rolling down a well-worn track, pointing out long-hidden totems of Penn Station's glory days. "I don't know anyone else who's spent as much time at this station," says Turkeli, who leads a monthly Penn Station tour for the 34th Street Partnership. He's found every remote remaining fragment of the marble and pink granite station, despite the best efforts of "progress" to eradicate their presence. Turkeli smiles as he ducks inside the kitchen at Zaro's Bread Basket, where a small stretch of the station's original brick floor survives in an unmistakable herringbone pattern. There's even more, in even less plausible locations:
   
  • Overlooking a wine rack inside Penn Wine & Spirits is a segment of vintage glass bricks, once a floor and now a ceiling.
  • Across the hallway sits a storage room, its cracked and stained marble floor a remnant of Penn Station's once ornate men's room.
  • An Amtrak baggage station at the far southwest end of the station holds a piece of the last track indicator left from architects McKim, Mead & White's creation.
  • On the stairway to Track 17 of the Long Island Rail Road, a woman rushes for the 12:49 p.m. to Port Washington, oblivious to the detailed work to her right: a pair of decorative steel arrowheads, rising up from decades-old glass-wired windows. "All of this was done by hand," Turkeli says, as if studying the craftsmanship for the first time. "The amount of money you'd have to spend now to create Penn Station is mind-boggling. "When Penn Station opened beneath its 150-foot glass vaulted ceiling, it was hailed as an architectural masterwork. The exterior was decorated with 85 marble columns, each weighing 35 tons; the interior was modeled after the Roman Baths of Caracella. But in 1963, the grand old building was torn down. Its remains, grace turned garbage, were dumped ignominiously in the swamps of Jersey . The most prominent surviving pieces of Penn Station stand facing Seventh Ave., virtually invisible to the hordes rushing for seats on their trains or into Madison Square Garden. A 5,700-pound eagle, fashioned from pink Tennessee marble, stares dolefully at a nearby taxi stand - the last statue from a flock of 22 that once nested here. At the entrance to 2 Penn Plaza rises a statue of Samuel Rae, the Pennsylvania Railroad's vice president. Its original Penn Station home was opposite a statue of railroad president Alexander Cassatt, which has since found a place in the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Much of the building's other sculpture is lost."The Pennsylvania Railroad did make an effort to save as much artwork as possible," Turkeli says. "But not enough people cared." Inside Penn Station, remnants of the old station are as difficult to spy as stress-free commuters. But at the west gate of NJ Transit tracks 5 and 6, an original brass-and-iron staircase still leads to the platform. Its survival, Turkeli says, is simple economics: It was too expensive to tear out during a mid-'80s renovation. There are classic plaques and pictures of the old Penn Station scattered throughout the building. But the biggest piece of nostalgia sits in a cramped office, hidden by chairs, cardboard boxes and twin filing cabinets: a 300-pound, baseball-shaped clock that once hung in the station's main room. Its two hands are missing, and the decades-old timepiece looks every year of its age. To Turkeli's eyes, it remains a thing of beauty. "Wouldn't it look great hanging out there?" he asked with a wave toward the station. (American Rail Link for April 23, 2008 via Ed Mayover from NY Daily News)
     
• Amtrak passengers will have to submit to random screening of carry-on bags in a major new security push that will include officers with automatic weapons and bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling platforms and trains, the railroad planned to announce Tuesday. The initiative is a significant shift for Amtrak. Unlike the airlines, it has had relatively little visible increase in security since the 2001 terrorist attacks, a distinction that has enabled it to attract passengers eager to avoid airport hassles. Amtrak officials insist their new procedures won't hold up the flow of passengers. The new procedures draw heavily on measures being used in the New York City subways, Rooney said. That model has been upheld in court challenges, he noted. Amtrak plans to roll out the new "mobile security teams" first on the Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston, the railroad's most heavily used route, before expanding them to the rest of the country. The teams will show up unannounced at stations and set up baggage screening areas in front of boarding gates. Officers will randomly pull people out of line and wipe their bags with a special swab that is then put through a machine that detects explosives. If the machine detects anything, officers will open the bag for visual inspection. Anybody who is selected for screening and refuses will not be allowed to board and their ticket will be refunded. In addition to the screening, counterterrorism officers with bomb-sniffing dogs will patrol platforms and walk through trains, and sometimes will ride the trains, officials said. Amtrak did not provide figures for the program's cost, but said its total security budget -- including police, security strategy and emergency preparedness -- is about $60 million. The railroad has about 400 security personnel, including about 300 sworn police officers. Amtrak's previous passenger screening consisted of sporadic identification checks by train conductors, which the railroad says it plans to continue. Passengers also are required to show ID when buying tickets from station agents, though there is no such requirement from passengers buying tickets from self-serve kiosks. The Transportation Security Administration is also expected to continue sporadic deployments to stations around the country. (American Rail Link for February 20, 2008 via Ed Mayover from AP)
   
• Service was restored on Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven lines into and out of Grand Central Station at about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday after a building collapse in Harlem caused a stoppage of more than one-and-a-half hours (American Rail Link for March 5, 2008 via Ed Mayover from Newsday)
   
• Automated safety barricades typically reserved for directing traffic are being tested in a unique pilot program at a suburban railroad crossing to see if they can deter drivers from crossing train tracks when the gates go down. The barricades activate and rise out of the ground when a train passes. Previous technology used static barriers to discourage drivers from crossing tracks. Cameras will monitor driver behavior, and results will be submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration, says K. Michael Bedore, rail capital programs manager for the Michigan Department of Transportation. The barricades, called delineators because they rise from the ground to mark boundaries, have been placed in Van Buren Township, about 30 miles west of Detroit. The area sees about 10 trains pass through each day. The system features yellow delineators installed at the center line that go back 100 feet from the crossing, red delineators parallel to railroad gates and cameras that monitor driver behavior made active by passing trains. (American Rail Link for March 5, 2008 via Ed Mayover from AP)
   
• No one was hurt when the landslide took out the Union Pacific Railroad's main track through the Cascades south of Eugene, but it has severed a key rail link between Los Angeles and Seattle. The slide spans 3,000 feet. The railroad has dispatched about 200 workers to clear toppled old-growth trees, shore up the hill, and rebuild the tracks. It will be late this month at the earliest before the rail line is restored, Union Pacific has said. Meanwhile, 15 freight trains that used the line now detour through Bend, Ore., and Salt Lake City, causing delays of one to two days. Large freight movers in the Northwest report that delays in getting empty rail cars have held up shipments of some materials to California. Amtrak's Coast Starlight between Seattle and Los Angeles has been suspended, disrupting travel for about 1,400 daily passengers.Amtrak restored a portion of the service in February between Los Angeles and Sacramento. On Friday, Amtrak said it would add bus service between Sacramento and Portland, with stops in the Oregon cities of Medford, Eugene and Salem. Amtrak Cascades service still runs between Eugene and Vancouver, Canada. Amtrak expects to relaunch the Coast Starlight in May. Union Pacific engineers were alerted to the Oregon mudslide when a signal indicated a section of track had been knocked out. The size of the Jan. 19 slide on Coyote Mountain -- a remote area north of Chemult and about 15 miles east of Oakridge -- shocked engineers. The railroad company estimates it covered 20 acres and was 200 feet deep -- a total of 2.3 million cubic yards. Complicating matters, about 700,000 board feet of old-growth timber fell, turning the track rebuilding effort into a logging as well as excavation operation.Helicopters clear stumps and fallen trees. More than 125 pieces of equipment, such as excavators and haul trucks, manipulate huge loads on the site. Working 12-hour shifts, crews have carted off 625 train-car loads of loose dirt and silt and have moved 211 train-car loads of logs. In turn, they bring in rocks to stabilize the zone. (American Rail Link for March 19, 2008 via Ed Mayover from LA Times)
   
• MUDSLIDE DERAILS AMTRAK TRAIN IN CONNECTICUT: Amtrak planned to resume its normal train schedule between Hartford and Springfield Tuesday morning after a derailment forced service to be suspended Monday. The train was headed to Springfield when a mudslide knocked it off the tracks at about 10 a.m. Monday, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said. The company was forced to suspend service in the area for the rest of the day. None of the six passengers on the derailed train was injured, Cole said. A van dropped them off in Springfield. The company also arranged for buses today that transported commuters from Springfield to Hartford, where they could then take a train to New Haven. Cole said crews are still investigating how much damage the rails and the train, consisting of an engine and two coach cars, sustained during the incident. (American Rail Link for March 5, 2008 via Ed Mayover from Hartford Courant)
   
• Contractor selection is scheduled to take place in coming months to refurbish the Amtrak station in Wilmington, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported. The renovation will take place in two phases. The first phase focuses on the exterior and includes new waterproofing at track level, platform restoration, stairway improvements, the addition of Americans with Disabilities Act-acceptable entrances, and the restoration of the station's exterior facade. Crafted of red brick and terra cotta, the former Pennsylvania Railroad station sports a clock tower and window arches in the style of the Gothic Romanesque revival. The second phase calls for upgrading bathrooms, heating systems, and escalators. Passenger flow through the building should improve with the renovations, along with lighting, overall visibility and access to ticketing. "Somewhere in the development of most cities there is an architectural icon that points out the history and pride of the city. In Wilmington it truly is the railroad station," Jim Tevebaugh, an architect with Tevebaugh Associates and president of the Friends of the Furness Railroad District group told the Journal. His firm designed the 450-car parking deck adjacent to the station. The Pennsylvania Railroad built the station in 1908. Renowned architect Frank Furness designed it and the adjacent Pennsylvania Building (which housed the offices for the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad) and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Water Street freight depot. In 2007, the station served 704,387 passengers. . (March 7, 2008 via Ed Mayover from TRAINS News Wire)
   
• A quick-thinking MBTA commuter rail engineer slammed on the brakes seconds before a runaway freight car - rolling uncontrolled from a siding onto the main track - smacked head-on into his train yesterday near Canton Junction, injuring as many as 150 passengers. There were about 300 commuters onboard the 4:40 p.m. train out of Boston's South Station, bound for Stoughton, when the bulkhead freight car crashed into it at 5:20 p.m., causing broken noses, twisted ankles, neck and back injuries and several facial cuts, witnesses and fire officials said. The runaway CSX freight car rolled nearly three miles from the siding to where it crashed into the train, MacMillan said. CSX Transportation spokesman Gary Sease said their crew put it on the siding about five hours before the crash.  "It was a car that we had placed there at a customer's request earlier in the day,  " Sease said. It was too early to say if the rail crew had properly placed the car's handbrake, put chocks in place beside the wheels, and put a derail device in place that would push the train off the tracks if the brakes and chocks failed. A rail safety source said those measures are required when leaving a car at a siding. (American Rail Link for March 26, 2008 via Ed Mayover from Boston Herald)
   
• The MBTA filed suit yesterday against CSX Transportation and the Cohenno lumber company of Stoughton , accusing them of failing to take several basic safety steps to secure a freight car that got loose and crashed into a commuter train in Canton last month. The 19-page lawsuit marks the first time since the March 25 crash that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has publicly laid out its theories on what caused the 112-ton freight car to escape from the Stoughton lumber yard, barrel down 3 miles of track, and ram into an MBTA commuter train, injuring 150 people. The suit claims that workers for CSX, who had delivered the car to the lumber company earlier that day, failed to set a hand brake on the freight car while it was stored at the yard on a side rail. The suit also claims that CSX workers failed to close and lock a steel gate that separates the lumber yard from the commuter rail tracks and that they failed to place a chocking device next to the car's wheels. Such a device would have prevented the wheels from rolling down the steep rail. Even after the car got away, the suit claims, it could have been stopped by another device, known as a "derail," that sends cars off the tracks before they reach the main rail line. But the derail was not set properly by CSX workers, the suit asserts. The suit also alleges that Cohenno workers were moving the freight car in question, lost control of it, and allowed it to roll down a steep grade and onto the main passenger tracks. The crash occurred during the heart of rush hour. (American Rail Link for April 23, 2008 via Ed Mayover from Boston Globe)
   
• The engineer of Train 917 saw the runaway freight car barreling down the track toward his stopped train Tuesday night, but he did not jump. Ronald Gomes' split-second decision to stay in the train cab so he could radio for help has train officials calling him a hero.   "I'm somewhat in awe of his professional discipline, and I'm extremely proud,  " Gerry DeModena, the general road foreman for the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Co., said Wednesday.   "I would call his actions heroic, and those of the crew.  " Gomes, 61, conductor Richard Platt, 44, both of Rehoboth, and assistant conductor Christopher Leaman, 39, of Marshfield, were on board the Stoughton-bound commuter train during rush hour Tuesday when it was hit by a runaway freight car filled with lumber. All three suffered minor injuries, but only Gomes was hospitalized. He was released Wednesday morning after being treated for facial injuries. Gomes has worked on freight, passenger and commuter trains since 1969. Following protocol, Gomes stopped the train after track signals alerted him at 5:13 p.m. of a signal problem ahead. Gomes did not yet realize the problem was triggered by the freight car, which had rolled onto the tracks three miles away at 5:10 p.m.

At 5:14 p.m., the boxcar passed through the grade crossing at Canton Center and triggered a red light on the cab's control deck that alerted Gomes of an object on the tracks. Seconds later, he saw the car heading toward him and, following protocol, radioed in to ask permission to put the train in reverse.   "He could have opted to climb off the train, but he didn't. He held his post,  " DeModena said, noting that action was not required.   "Ronny stayed in the cab to call and give his position.  " The impact of the car   "slammed the engineer all over the cab,  " DeModena said.   "(Gomes) got up, covered with blood and got back on the radio and called with his position to get help for the passengers.  " When he spotted the oncoming freight car, Gomes alerted the conductors so they could warn the passengers to brace for impact. Without that warning, DeModena said,   "I think it would have been far more disastrous.  " (American Rail Link for April 2, 2008 via Ed Mayover from Enterprise.com)

• Monroe County sheriff's deputies don't know what motivated a group of teens to apparently place a 3-foot-wide boulder on railroad tracks near Chili Avenue in Chili Monday evening, shortly before a two-mile-long freight train plowed into it. But authorities believe all five teens had a role in the incident, which caused damage to one of the train's engines and blocked a portion of two roads for hours while the wreckage was cleared. Sheriff's deputies have charged each teen with felony counts of second-degree criminal mischief and interfering with a railroad. (American Rail Link for March 26, 2008 via Ed Mayover from Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
   

• Ford Museum buys local locomotive - One of two, rare electric locomotives that for years sat rusting along state Route 7 in the town of Milford is getting prepped for one last ride on the rails. A temporary building was erected last week around a GG-1 purchased from the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society by The Henry Ford, one of the nation's premier history and culture museums. The locomotive is being cleaned of asbestos by contractors and will have its transformer removed, said Bruce Hodges, president of the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society. The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Mich., has the Rosa Parks bus, the Wright Brother's bicycle shop and Abraham Lincoln's chair from the Ford Theater among its collection. It also includes Greenfield Village, which has nearly a hundred buildings dating from the 1600s to the present, many of which are staffed with costumed interpreters. The GG-1 purchased by The Henry Ford is one of 16 surviving examples of a locomotive class of the Pennsylvania Railroad that originally numbered 139 engines, said Christian Overland, vice president for museums and collections at The Henry Ford. Most of the GG-1s were sold for scrap, but the one purchased by The Henry Ford, PRR 4909, and a sister-engine that remains with the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society, PRR 4917, are among the survivors. The nearly 80-foot-long locomotives weighing nearly 240 tons debuted in the mid-1930s at the apex of steam power and helped usher in a new era in railroad locomotives, Overland said. That era lasted until the mid-1980s with the decommissioning of the last GG-1s, Overland said. "That's unheard of in the world of locomotives," Overland said. The GG-1 will be restored to the deep burgundy with gold pinstripes the locomotive was originally painted with as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad fleet, he said. GG-1s, which were powered by overhead high-voltage power lines, were built primarily for passenger service, but many were eventually used for freight hauling. The museum will be displaying the locomotive indoors next to one of two surviving Alleghany steam locomotives as a part of its transportation exhibit, Overland said. The GG-1 will also serve as part of the museum's exhibit on designers. Raymond Loewy, who contributed to the design of the GG-1, was a well-known industrial designer, Overland said. His work includes corporate logos, including Exxon and Shell, the interior of the Concorde passenger jet, several models of locomotives and passenger cars and household appliances. Overland said the museum is hoping to have the locomotive transported via rail to Michigan by June. But he said the restoration work could take several years and will be subject to successful fundraising campaigns. The Henry Ford paid $15,000 for the GG-1, Hodges said. A large temporary building was erected to create a negative atmosphere during the asbestos-removal process, Hodges said. The locomotive's transformer will also be removed by a crane and that is why the GG-1 was moved to where it sits now, Hodges said. Amtrak is believed to have flushed out all the PCB-laden oil that surrounded the transformers when the locomotives were decommissioned, Hodges said. The Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society had wanted to do the restoration itself, Hodges said. But even though the society didn't have a hand in the actual restoration, Hodges said, he was pleased to know it had a role in saving the GG-1 from the scrap-heap by giving it a home for many years. (from By Jake Palmateer Staff Writer From The Oneonta New York Daily Star Published: March 31, 2008 COOPERSTOWN JUNCTION via Ed Mayover)
   
• Chapter Member Richard Hall called to inform me that the GG-1 going to Dearborn is PRR #4909 which later became AMTRAK #4932. The other unit that will stay in Cooperstown is PRR #4919 which became Conrail #4934 which spent some time on the Wilmington & Western in Marshalton, DE. According to Richard, there are a total of 16 remaining GG-1s that escaped the scrapper's torch.
   
• In other news from Richard Hall, new Northeast Regional logos are due to start appearing on Amfleet cars on the NE Corridor in June 2008.
   
• A judge upheld a $24 million award to two teenage trespassers who were severely burned when they touched overhead catenary while climbing on top of a freight car in Lancaster, Pa., the Associated Press reported. The jury assigned 70 percent of the blame to track owner Amtrak and the rest to Norfolk Southern. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Stengel said it was unreasonable to leave the freight cars parked under catenary for four days in a populated area with power turned on and no warning signs posted. He also wrote that graffiti should have tipped Amtrak off that somebody was trespassing on the cars. "If these boys had fallen off a ladder, É end of discussion," said plaintiff attorney Joseph Ruda. "But it's another thing to say that they should be electrocuted for climbing on top of a parked train." Amtrak and NS intend to appeal the judge's decision. (American Rail Link for April 9, 2008 via Ed Mayover)
   
• A railroad bridge crossing the swollen Mississippi River at Burlington remained closed Friday, a day after it was struck by a grain-filled barge. The BNSF bridge is a main rail for freight and passenger traffic and has disrupted schedules for more than 100 trains, said BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg. "We can't reroute that many trains," he said. The bridge was closed early Thursday morning after several barges broke away from a staging area upstream. Three barges struck a pier on the U.S. Highway 34 bridge that connects Burlington and Gulfport , Ill. While the train bridge remained closed, the highway bridge, also called the Great River Bridge , was closed for more than 12 hours before reopening by mid-afternoon on Thursday. The Coast Guard was investigating how the barges broke free, but Lt. Cmdr. Tim Whalen said it appeared the level of the river -- more than five feet above flood stage -- and the swift current and debris in the water were contributing factors. (American Rail Link for May 5, 2008 via Ed Mayover from AP)
   
• The perennial tug of war over Amtrak funding is under way, with Congress and the Bush administration once again at odds over subsidies for the passenger rail service. The Senate recently passed its version of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, which would authorize $14.4 billion for Amtrak over the next five years. The House version of the bill emerged last week, sponsored by Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont.President Bush's 2009 budget request calls for cutting Amtrak funding by $535 million, or 40 percent. In announcing the House bill, Rehberg said it is critical that the federal government lay the groundwork to provide ongoing funding for Amtrak's Empire Builder train that services Montana Amtrak's Empire Builder serves as many as 140,000 Montanans annually and contributes $3.2 million in wages for the Montana economy, Rehberg said. Direct spending by Amtrak travelers in Montana is estimated at more than $5.3 million annually. "Many of my House colleagues don't understand that you can't just get on a bus to travel across northern Montana ," said Rehberg in a prepared statement. "Instead, we rely on Amtrak. This bill will help ensure this essential service isn't lost." The passenger-rail bill would provide money to maintain and upgrade the entire rail network and help to pay for salaries, health care, overtime, fuel costs and facilities. Amtrak operates more than 300 trains on 21,000 miles of track nationwide. In December 2007, after months of wrangling, Congress OK'd $1.325 billion for Amtrak as part of its fiscal 2008 omnibus spending package, a 2.4 percent increase over the previous year, but $255 million less than Amtrak requested. The deal included $30 million to reimburse states for capital costs of improving existing intercity passenger rail service and providing new service, with the federal share limited to a maximum of 50 percent of a project's cost. The National Association of Rail Passengers, the largest citizen-based advocacy organization for train and rail-transit passengers, applauded the fiscal 2008 package. "Congress yet again rescued Amtrak from an administration starvation budget," association executive director Ross Capon said on the group's Web site. The association now is urging its 23,000 members to contact their congressional delegations and voice their support of the Senate and House versions of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act. "The bill provides for common-sense Amtrak reform and operational improvements," Capon said ... and "provides for capital assistance for states and development of state rail plans." (American Rail Link for May 21, 2008 via Ed Mayover from Kalispell Daily Interlake )
   
• Amtrak announced that it would suspend train service between New York, NY and Boston, MA on its Northeast Corridor Line from Saturday, June 14 to Tuesday, June 17. The suspension is to allow critical work to be completed on the new bridge on the line spanning the Thames River near Groton, CT. An Amtrak spokesman said that passengers will be able to ticket between New York and Boston on those days via Springfield, riding the   "Lake Shore Limited  " between Boston and Springfield, MA, and then changing trains to ride between Springfield, New Haven, CT, and New York. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 04APR2008 via Ed Mayover from NARP)
   
• Two passenger car makers received large orders. Siemens Corporation received what it said was its largest order ever, to build 55 light rail vehicles for Denver , CO's Regional Transportation District. Siemens valued the contract at $184 million. Also this date, Rotem USA Corporation announced that it had received an order from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to build 75 bi-level commuter rail cars. Rotem valued the contract at $190.2 million and said that it would deliver the first of the ordered cars by 2010 and the last of them by 2012. The 75 bi-levels will increase the number of such cars in MBTA's fleet to 215. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 08FEB2008 via Ed Mayover from Progressive Railroading)
   
• The New York City Transit Authority announced that its 2007 subway ridership totaled 1.56 billion passengers, the highest annual total since 1951. NYCTA said that weekday subway ridership now averaged more than 5 million, adding that its subway and bus ridership together totaled 2.3 billion, the most since 1969. Also this date, the Long Island Rail Road announced a   "modern-day ridership record  " of 86.1 million passengers in 2007, up 4.9 percent from its 2006 total and the highest annual ridership since 1949. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 08FEB2008 via Ed Mayover from NYMTA, Railway Age)
   
• In a notable act of railway vandalism, thieves in the Czech Republic stole a four-ton iron railway bridge. The single-track bridge located on an out-of-service rail line near the Western-Bohemian town of Cheb . Police said that the bridge had apparently been removed from the line sometime between mid-December and the present. The police also said that thefts of metal to be cut up and sold for scrap had notably increased of late in the Czech Republic , but that they hadn't seen anything   "of this magnitude.  " (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 22FEB2008 via Ed Mayover from Earth Times, wire services)
   
• An exhibit opened in the New York City Transit Museum annex in Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Metro North Railroad. The exhibit reviews the 25 years since Metro North took over commuter rail operations north out of Grand Central from the former Conrail in 1983. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 22FEB2008 via Ed Mayover from The Gothamist)

Two new museum exhibits were announced that will highlight the history of railroads. In Kansas City , MO , the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art announced the exhibit,   "Art in the Age of Steam,  " featuring photographs, paintings, prints, and drawings of steam-powered trains around the world. The exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins runs through January 18, 2009. In Tacoma, WA, the Washington State History Museum will host   "The West the Railroads Made  " exhibit, offering what it said would be a   "fresh look  " at what the railroads created as they moved westward in the 19th Century. The exhibit at the History Museum runs through January 24, 2009. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 22FEB2008 via Ed Mayover from Trains)

• The Port of New York and New Jersey's Port Authority Trans Hudson subway line gave free rides to passengers this date to mark its 100th anniversary. Service on the line, which was built by the former Pennsylvania Railroad as part of their New York Terminal Project of the early 1900s, started February 25, 1908 when then-President Theodore Roosevelt pressed a button that turned on the electricity in the line's tunnels. The line, which operates between Newark, NJ , Hoboken, NJ, Lower Manhattan and Midtown Manhattan, was taken over by the PANYNJ in 1962. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 22FEB2008 via Ed Mayover from Newark Star-Ledger , New York Times)
   
• The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration proposed what it called   "sweeping and revolutionary changes  " in standards for construction of railroad tank cars carrying poison inhalation hazard (PIH) commodities. The proposed rules require such cars to be equipped with puncture-resistant protection that is strong enough to prevent penetration at speeds up to 25mph for side impacts and 30mph for head-on impacts. They would also set a maximum speed limit of 50mph for any train with a PIH tank car and a temporary speed restriction of 30mph for all such cars traveling in dark territory that don't meet the puncture-resistance standard. As customary, the FRA invited public comment on the proposed new rules. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 04APR2008 via Ed Mayover from Baltimore Sun, FRA, Progressive Railroading)
   
• CSX announced that they were beginning work on a new $4.5 million dispatching center in Huntington, WV. CSX announced last year that they would decentralize train dispatching, much of which is presently centralized at a Jacksonville, FL facility. A CSX spokesman said that other new dispatching centers will be located in Baltimore, MD, Cincinnati, OH, Florence, SC, Nashville, TN, and Atlanta, GA, additional to dispatching centers already in service at Calumet City, IL, Indianapolis, IN, and Selkirk, NY. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 04APR2008 via Ed Mayover from CSX Corp.)
   
• The Museum of the American Railroad, presently located in Dallas, TX's Fair Park, announced that it will move to a new 12.3-acre site in suburban Frisco, TX. The museum, which has been at Fair Park for about 50 years, draws about 30,000 annual visitors and includes in its collection a Union Pacific   "Big Boy  " steam locomotive and a Pennsylvania Railroad Class GG1 electric locomotive. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 04APR2008 via Ed Mayover from Dallas Morning News, Trains)
   
• Metro North Railroad announced that it will put new train schedules into effect on its Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven Lines on April 6. The new schedules add 67 trains each week, representing 4,439 trains operated weekly by MNRR, which a spokesman said represented a 35 percent increase in scheduled trains on these lines since 1983, when MNRR took over train operations from the former Conrail. The spokesman noted that ridership is growing most rapidly at its northernmost stations, among them Poughkeepsie, NY, Wassaic, NY, and New Haven, CT. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 04APR2008 via Ed Mayover from New York Times)
   
• New York media noted the 100th anniversary of the completion of tunnel boring for the two rail tunnels built by the Pennsylvania Railroad under the Hudson River between Manhattan and Northern New Jersey. The two tunnels, in operation since completion of the PRR's multi-year New York Terminal Project in 1910, are now used each weekday by 104 Amtrak trains, 337 New Jersey Transit revenue trains, and 39 NJT non-revenue trains. Later in the week, various organizations, including the National Association of Railroad Passengers, called attention to a recent change in plans to build two additional rail tunnels between New York and New Jersey. NARP urged reconsideration of the change, which will have the tunnels terminating in Manhattan at a separate and smaller station at 34th Street, instead of also connecting with existing Pennsylvania Station terminal trackage. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 11APR2008 via Ed Mayover from NARP, New York Times)
   
• The Maryland Transit Administration announced that it would purchase 26 rebuilt Class GP-40 locomotives for its MARC commuter train services. An MTA spokesman said that the locomotives were being purchased from the Utah Transportation Authority and rebuilt by Motive Power of Boise, ID. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 11APR2008 via Ed Mayover from MARC)
   
• Delaware state officials noted their success in creating artificial reefs to shelter sea life using retired New York City subway cars. Officials said that, in the area off the Delaware Coast where the cars were dumped, now known as "Red Bird Reef" after the class of subway cars, marine food per square foot has increased 400-fold in the last seven years and there have been more than 10,000 fishing trips to the site since 1997, up from fewer than 300 trips that year. Officials added that the program may be a victim of its own success; New York State has announced that, pending federal update of the state's reef permits, it will reserve all future retired NYC subway cars to create artificial reefs where New York State borders the ocean. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 18APR2008 via Ed Mayover from New York Times)
   
• Amtrak advertised for sale the Rohr Turboliners refurbished by New York State for Empire Corridor service. The ad, which was posted in publications including Progressive Railroading, advertised seven trainsets, "three of which have been overhauled and stored in Delaware [and] four of which are in various stages of overhaul and stored in New York," all with "direct drive gas turbines and associated spare parts inventory." Originally built and operated in the 1970s, the trainsets were refurbished at great cost by New York State earlier this decade, but operated only briefly before Amtrak took them out of service due to failures and high operating costs, which precipitated a $477 million lawsuit by the state against Amtrak that was eventually settled for a much lesser amount a few months back. (Dave Mears Weekly Rail Review-Week Ending 18APR2008 via Ed Mayover from Progressive Railroading)

• Norfolk Southern Corporation and 10 New York-based short line railroads have created a program to convert short-haul truck movements to rail. The "Empire Link" allows the short line railroads to market the excess rail freight capacity on NS' Southern Tier main line between Binghamton and Silver Springs, N.Y., as well as on branch lines between Corning and Geneva, and between Waverly and Ludlowville. "With the high price of diesel fuel, the Empire Link is an attractive option for shippers currently trucking freight in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey," said David Lawson, Norfolk Southern's vice president industrial products. "The Empire Link provides our New York short line partners with the tools and resources to design and offer rail transportation services that are truck-competitive in lanes that are less than 500 miles." "The recent collaboration of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association's Eastern Region Short line members and Norfolk Southern is one of the most creative business initiatives to come about in the last 15 years," said Rich Timmons, ASLRRA president. "We expect positive results for shippers, communities, and big and small railroads alike. If the Empire Link performs as we anticipate, it could serve as a model for future Class I and short line business arrangements." The 10 short lines participating in the Empire Link are the Bath and Hammondsport Railroad; Central New York Railroad Corp.; Finger Lakes Railway; Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad; the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway Corp.; Ontario Central Railroad; Owego & Harford Railway; Rochester and Southern Railroad; Wellsboro and Corning Railroad; and Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad. (NS Press Release)
   
• Service Alert: Acela Express and Regional Temporary Service Cancellation Affecting Boston-New Haven-New York Service Beginning June 14 through June 17 - For four days, beginning June 14 through June 17, Amtrak will replace the movable span of the 90-year-old Thames River Bridge, located between Groton and New London, Conn. To accommodate this project, service cancellations will be made affecting travel between Boston, New Haven and New York. This is the final stage of a multi-year project designed to improve the reliability of the bridge, reduce the chance of operational failures and minimize train delays. Starting May 1, more information on this project will be available on Amtrak.com. During this four-day track outage, Amtrak will also perform a maintenance "blitz" between Boston and New Haven that will provide passengers with a smoother ride and significantly improve the reliability of the railroad. [from http://www.amtrak.com via Ralph Stevens]
   
• BNSF Railway Co. marked a historic event in Wyoming . The railroad placed into service 21 miles of fourth mainline in the Powder River Basin (PRB) - the world's longest stretch of quadruple mainline devoted exclusively to freight service, BNSF believes.

On May 14, the Class I placed the track into service under the "super highway" concept, which calls for completing mainline track first and adding universal crossovers later to make the new trackage available sooner.

This section of the PRB line - a portion of which BNSF shares with Union Pacific Railroad - averages from 132 trains to 150 trains daily during peak periods. The addition of the fourth track will boost capacity to about 200 trains per day, BNSF said. (from Progressive Railroading via American Rail Link for May 28, 2008 via Ed Mayover)

• AMERICAN FINANCIAL GROUP SUES AMTRAK: American Financial Group says in a lawsuit that Amtrak stopped trying to buy back shares of its stock and has made itself worthless. Cincinnati-based American Financial Group has sued Amtrak in U.S. District Court because officials shut down stock negotiations in January. Congress told Amtrak to buy back all its common stock by 2002 but hasn't yet finished the deal. The last known offer came in 2000, for 3 cents a share. American Financial Group owns about 5.2 million shares of the troubled railroad. The suit says the company has made bad decisions and its stock is now worthless. American Financial Group says it wants $52 million and interest. An Amtrak spokesman said Friday the company hadn't reviewed the lawsuit. The rail line is heavily subsidized by Congress and loses about a $1 billion a year. (AP via American Rail Link for May 28, 2008 via Ed Mayover)
   
• The Feather River Rail Society welcomed the latest addition to its collection of historic railroad equipment at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola on May 17 with the arrival of Central California Traction Company (CCT) caboose #24.CCT 24 was built in 1927 for the Atchison , Topeka , and Santa Fe Railroad, where its original road number was ATSF 1547. It was acquired by CCT in 1967 and was the last caboose used by their railroad, finally retiring from regular service in 1998. It was acquired by the Feather River Rail Society through an equipment trade with CCT in 2007. Its last journey over what once were the rails of the Western Pacific saw it arriving at its new home in Portola on May 16, 2008. (Reno Gazette-Journal via American Rail Link for May 28, 2008 via Ed Mayover)
   
• A television reporter and cameraman for station WFSB-TV were arrested May 22 by Metropolitan Transportation Authority police at Union Station in New Haven, the New Haven Register reported. MTA police arrested reporter Leon Collins and his cameraman for criminal trespassing in what a Metro-North spokesman described as a restricted area. WFSB news director Dana Neves said the two were working on a story about Metro-North's upgraded service. M-N spokesman Dan Brucker said the two were in a prohibited area clearly marked "employees only." (Trains News Wire via American Rail Link for May 28, 2008 via Ed Mayover)
   
• The "Walkway Over the Hudson" group broke ground yesterday on a $30 million project to overhaul the long-dormant ex-New Haven Railroad bridge over the Hudson River. The bridge will serve as an elevated hiking trail and a state park. State, federal, and private money is funding the rebuilding effort. The Poughkeepsie Journal reported the walkway group wants to get the work done and open the bridge to the public by September 2009, in time for the 400th anniversary celebration of Henry Hudson's exploration of the river that now bears his name. The state is planning a historical observance called the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial. The Poughkeepsie Bridge is a steel cantilever single-track bridge spanning the Hudson between Poughkeepsie and Highland , N.Y. It was completed in 1889; New Haven successor Penn Central closed it after a 1974 fire. (Trains News Wire via American Rail Link for May 28, 2008 via Ed Mayover )
   
• The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) recently issued 38 grants totaling $10.2 million to help fund freight-rail infrastructure improvements. The grants are part of the agency's rail freight assistance program.PennDOT now has provided more than $10 million for the assistance program for three-straight years. Pennsylvania ranks fifth nationally in freight-rail trackage with more than 6,000 miles.

Among the grants, PennDOT will provide:

• $700,000 to Kinder Morgan to replace and repair track for an outbound train loading yard at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex;
• $500,000 to RESCAR Inc. to rehabilitate its rail yard at a rail-car repair facility that serves the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad;
• $499,995 to the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad to rehabilitate track at four locations;¥ $463,250 to York Railway Co. to rehabilitate track at various branch lines;
• $357,000 to the Aliquippa and Ohio River Railroad to rehabilitate a mainline and replace a bridge deck;
• $321,429 to Pennsy Supply Inc. to rehabilitate yard track at a quarry along Norfolk Southern Railway's Harrisburg Line;
• $223,569 to SMS-Penn Jersey Rail Lines Inc. to construct a double-ended siding in the Penn Warner Industrial Park;
• $208,006 to the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad to rehabilitate track on the Pocono mainline;
• $194,750 to the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Co. to replace crossties and bridge timbers in the Pittsburgh Subdivision;
• $159,250 to Oil Creek & Titusville Lines Inc. to rehabilitate a bridge and construct track; and
• $75,000 to the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad to extend a tail track serving a stone unloading facility.[from http://www.progressiverailroading.com via Ed Thornton]
   

• The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) recently awarded grants totaling $5 million for five freight-rail projects. The state provided the funds through its rail freight capital budget/transportation assistance program. PennDOT will provide:

• $2 million to CSX Transportation to construct track to complete a wye connection between three mainline routes in Philadelphia;
• $1 million to Pennsy Supply Inc. to construct track for its bulk aggregate loading facility at a quarry located on Norfolk Southern Railways' Harrisburg Line in North Annville;
• $1 million to Northumberland County to rehabilitate and build rail infrastructure to serve the Moran Industries distribution center on NS' Buffalo Line in Watsontown;
• $500,000 to the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Co. to repair a rail bridge in its Pittsburgh Subdivision; and
• $500,000 to the Redevelopment Authority of Luzerne County to rehabilitate the Susquehanna River Bridge operated by the Luzerne & Susquehanna Railroad Co. and reestablish rail service to Diamond Manufacturing. (from Progressive Railroading http://www.progressiverailroading.com via Ed Thornton)

• CSX Transportation is establishing a new dispatching center at its division headquarters in Huntington, with approximately 80 train dispatcher and related positions being relocated here, CSX Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer Michael J. Ward announced today. Ward added that CSXT is spending about $4.5 million to create the dispatching center at the railroad's Huntington Division headquarters. Construction is scheduled for completion in late May and the center is scheduled to begin operation in August.
   
• CSX Transportation Inc. (CSXT) has announced facility expansions and enhancements at its Erwin, Tenn., facility as the railroad moves forward with an initiative to further improve the delivery of coal and other freight. Erwin, the former headquarters of the CSXT predecessor Clinchfield Railroad, is an important gateway for coal trains operating from Appalachia to receivers such as electrical power utilities. As part of an expanded project focused on improving bulk freight service including coal and grain, approximately $6 million in track and structure work will be performed at the Erwin terminal during 2008. This work will accommodate a growing volume of coal and some grain trains that will be using distributed power at the rear of those trains. In addition, about $3 million will be spent on communications and technology upgrades in the region to support distributed power, and eight additional employees will join the Erwin locomotive team. Distributed power refers to locomotives placed in the middle or rear of the train and controlled by the engineer from the lead locomotive. By "distributing" the power through the train, handling over mountainous territory is improved, more rail cars can be added, and fuel efficiency is increased. Those longer trains require the construction of longer yard tracks. Later this month, demolition of the current car inspector facility will begin to make way for extended yard tracks and a new car inspector facility. In addition, several power switches will be installed in the terminal, which enable trains to move through the yard more fluidly and don't require workers to get off to manipulate them. The locomotive servicing facility also will receive upgrades to expedite its work. CSXT's purchase of new locomotives this year includes a specification for equipping them for distributed power.
   
• Georgetown-Lewes, Rail/Trail Study: The study area is focused upon the State-owned Georgetown-Lewes Rail Line with investigations into storm water management, transportation connections, etc. looking at the lands immediately adjacent to the rail line. Project Need: The Eastern Sussex County area is rapidly developing. A growing year-round population needs additional transportation alternatives as traffic congestion grows more severe. While on-road facilities are being planned and built, off-road accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians are also needed, especially for vacationers who are not familiar or comfortable using shared roadway facilities. Bike and hiking trails in State Parks and other public lands are one piece of the puzzle. Another alternative suggested by the Delaware Rails-to-Trails/Rails-with-Trails Master Plan is to use abandoned or lightly-trafficked rail lines for off-roadway bike-ped facilities. Project Overview: This study looks at one such possible Rail-Trail alignment. The study is a practical look at if and how a trail can be constructed within the rail right-of-way owned by DelDOT while continuing to accommodate rail use. Consideration of adjacent landowners' concerns is a strong factor in determining an alignment, trailheads, and other key elements, including mitigation of nuisance factors. The final product will be a preliminary plan for a trail alignment or the determination that the project is not practical to pursue. Anticipated Start Date: Data collection for the project has been underway since June 2005; public workshops were held displaying the initial concept alignment on August 14-15, 2006 in Georgetown and Lewes. Anticipated Completion Date: Review of comments and updates of draft plans should be complete by December 2006. This is a planning study; no construction is planned at this time. Contractor & Cost: Johnson, Mirmiran, and Thompson; $107,000 The DelDOT website for the Georgetown-Lewes rail/trail study (from Ed Thornton from http://www.deldot.gov/information/projects )
   
• CSX is disappointed that the Legislature has failed to endorse this important investment in Florida's future. Today's legislative action means that the company's transaction with the state will not go forward this year, and regrettably, it does not appear that commuter rail will be available in Central Florida. CSX is reviewing its timeline for rail infrastructure modifications in Florida and studying other implications of today's activity. Since the August 2006 announcement of the agreement in principle with the state, CSX has focused on delivering the economic and environmental benefits promised in this far-reaching restructuring of Florida's transportation network. Despite this setback, the company, with 1,650 miles of track and 6,500 employees in its headquarters state, looks forward to continued and significant contributions to Florida's progress. [CSX News Release, May 2, 2008]
   
• A new book from Arcadia Publishing tells the vibrant 141-year story of the Wilmington & Western Railroad. Every facet of the Railroad's rich history is covered in the book's 128 pages - from its creation in 1867, through its decline in the 1920s, to its rebirth as a tourist line - the "Wilmington and Western Railroad" takes the reader through a photographic history of the Railroad, and many of the 219 photos have never been published. Railroad volunteer Gisela Vazquez authored the book on behalf of Historic Red Clay Valley, Incorporated, the non- profit owner/operator of the Railroad. The book is the latest addition to Arcadia's "Images of Rail" series, and is the first book about the Railroad from a major publisher. The book goes on sale May 5, 2008, and will be available at the Railroad's Greenbank Gift Shop, and through several online retailers. [W&W News Release via Richard Hall]
   
• The June meeting of the Delmarva Rail Passenger Association will be held on Thursday, June 5th, in the Customer Service Conference Room on the Concourse Level of the Wilmington Amtrak Station, beginning at 6:30 p.m. I must share this news..."DART regrets that this year's RAIL to the FAIR train excursion to the Delaware State Fair is canceled due to increased operating costs and budget concerns. If you have already purchased your tickets, you will receive a refund. Again, DART regrets this cancellation especially to our many long time riders who look forward to this special downstate train ride each year." The next three meetings will be held on the following dates at the same place and time: July 10th (As the first Thursday of the month, July 3rd, is at the beginning of holiday weekend, we will meet on the second Thursday in July.) August 7th September 4th [DPA Meeting notice from Ralph Stevens & Ed Thornton]
   
• On May 30 the James E. Straits Carnival train passed RG Tower in the East Side Yard in Philadelphia at 4 PM enroute to NYC and New England. It looks like they have painted their cars in a new shade of blue with white lettering. The cars may be former Southern and Norfolk Western but some possible new additions looked like former Long Island cars. [from Dave Watterson]
   
• ONE OF A KIND INTERACTIVE EXHIBIT HARRIS RAILROAD SWITCH TOWER OPENS TO THE PUBLIC. Located in downtown Harrisburg at the corner of 7th and Walnut Streets (across from The Forum) Harris Railroad Switch Tower, will officially open to the public as an interactive museum on Saturday, June 7th. Harris Railroad Switch Tower is a railroad control tower built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1930 to control all train movements through downtown Harrisburg, PA. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the tower once controlled the switches and signals that routed more than 100 passenger trains a day through the Central Pennsylvania area. The tower is historically significant because it marked the western terminus of the electrification of the Pennsy's passenger lines. It was there at Harris Tower that the venerable GG1 electric locomotives (one of which is on display in the nearby Harrisburg Transportation Center) would be removed from westbound trains to be replaced by steam and later, diesel locomotives before the trains could continue their westward journeys. The tower was used by the PRR, the Penn Central Railroad and Amtrak until closing in 1991. Upon closing, the Harrisburg Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society purchased the building and began the process of restoration. Now, after thousands of hours of work by the Chapter's volunteers the tower will be open to the public. The center piece of the exhibit is the tower's Interlocking Machine and Model Board. The Interlocking Machine is the device that actually controlled the track switches and signals and the Model Board is the lighted map of the area trackage that pinpointed the location of the trains and showed how the signals were set. We've all seen these devices in old movies where the switchmen would throw the levers to route trains onto sidings and so forth. What makes Harris Tower especially interesting is the huge amount of trackage the tower controlled. The Interlocking Machine at Harris has 113 levers and its Model Board contains more than 450 indicator lamps! What makes Harris Tower truly unique is that the entire Interlocking Machine and Model Board are operable! Visitors to Harris Railroad Switch Tower can actually operate the levers of the Interlocking Machine and see what happens by way of the lighted Model Board display, exactly as it was done decades ago. The Interlocking Machine and Model Board have been tied into a computer simulation system that is programmed with the actual Pennsylvania Railroad train schedules from the early 1940's. It was during this time - the War Years - that Harris tower was busiest. As "virtual trains" arrive in the area they are displayed by way of the indicator lights on the Model Board. It is then up to the visitor to throw the proper levers to route the trains to their correct destinations. In this way, rather than simply viewing a static display, visitors to Harris Tower can actually operate the equipment and experience for themselves what it would have been like to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad in its heyday. To the best of our knowledge, there is no other exhibit like Harris Railroad Switch Tower anywhere in the world. Located at the corner of 7th and Walnut Streets, the tower is still adjacent to very active railroad lines making Harris a perfect vantage point for youngsters and railroad buffs to view and photograph nearly 50 Norfolk Southern and Amtrak trains each day from a safe location, regardless of the weather. Harris Tower will be open to visitors of all ages on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., from June 7th through November 1st. Admission is free. For additional information or for group visits, contact the Harrisburg Chapter of the NRHS at 717-232-6221 or by e-mail at HarrisTower@verizon.net

Answer to the WHEREZIT?
(Photo provided by Richard Hall was in the last issue) was the roundhouse in Oxford, PA from an undated 1800's photo. It was on the Philadelphia & Baltimore Central Railrorad that became the Central Division of the Philadelphia Wilmington & Baltimore which in turn became the Media Division of the Philadelphia Baltimore & Washington and finally the Octararo Branch of the PRR. The location serviced about 12 trains a day and at one point, an E-6 locomotive damaged the bearing of the turntable.

COMPANY SERVICE CARS - OF THE - PW&B, PB&W, AND PRR
By Richard E. Hall

Presents a wealth of information on car numbers and history with many drawings representing the work train, wreck train, cabin, and other company service equipment of the PW&B, PB&W, and PRR which were maintained at the Wilmington Shops and / or saw service in our general area, primarily on the PW&B, PB&W main line, Media Division (the old P&BC which later became the Octoraro Branch), Delaware Division, and the former Norfolk Division (NYP&N).

Detailed lists include: Car Numbers, Tools For Maintenance Of Way Tool Cars, Supplies For Camp Trains, Materials to Equip a Pay Car, Tools & Supplies for Cabin Cars, & more.

Drawings include: Pay Cars, Business Cars, Maintenance of Way Equipment, Dynamometer Cars, Cranes, Clearance Car, hand cars, & more.

COMPANY SERVICE CARS OF THE PW&B, PB&W, AND PRR @ $26.00 each

Please makes checks payable to:
Greg Ajamian
P.O. Box 1136
Hockessin, DE 19707-5136

Your Name: ______________________________

Street Address: ____________________________

City, State, Zip: ____________________________

BOTH STILL ONLY $26.00 each postage paid [includes shipping & handling]
Proceeds support the Wilmington Chapter of NRHS

LOCOMOTIVES AND EQUIPMENT OF THE WILMINGTON & WESTERN RAILROAD
Motive Power Gems Of The Diamond State By Richard E. Hall

175 pages with over a hundred illustrations, photos, maps, tables, and much more about the ORIGINAL W&W RR (NOTE: this book is NOT about the current tourist line's equipment)

Chapter I Misconceptions, Facts & Figures
Chapter II W&W - DWRR - B&PRR Locos
Chapter III W&W - DWRR - B&PRR Rolling Stock
Chapter IV B&O Locos Used
Chapter V Delaware Western Ran to Pomeroy
Chapter VI Market St. & Car Floats
Chapter VII Misc. Notes & Photos-

LOCOMOTIVES AND EQUIPMENT OF THE WILMINGTON & WESTERN RR @ $26.00 each

Please makes checks payable to: Greg Ajamian
P.O. Box 1136
Hockessin, DE 19707-5136

Your Name: ______________________________

Street Address: ____________________________

City, State, Zip: ____________________________

SCHEDULE NOTES

Notices, announcements, schedules, etc. are provided here as a service to the members. The Chapter has no affiliation with any commercial operation, museum, or tourist line.

Now through end of the year Wilmington & Western Railroad Special Trains in addition to normal trains, many require reservations, see schedule at http://www.wwrr.com or call 302.998.1930

April 12, 2008 to January 10, 2009: READING RAILROAD EXHIBITION OPEN Celebrate the 175th Anniversary of the Reading Company by visiting the exhibit titled "All Aboard." From "mother hubbards" to the Rambles, this exhibit is a comprehensive history of what was once the biggest company in the world. Renowned local historian, Benjamin Bernhart is our guest curator. The exhibit will close January 10, 2009. This exhibit is sponsored by the Norfolk Southern Corp. and Mogel, Speidel, Bobb, & Kershner Law Firm. At the Historical Society of Berks County, 940 Centre Avenue, Reading, Pennsylvania 19601 , Phone 610 375-4375 from http://www.berkshistory.org/histsoc.html via Ed Thornton

Sat.-Sun., June 28-29, 2008 Great Scale Model Train Show & RR Marketplace @Maryland State Fairgrounds, Timonium9 am to 4 pm Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm Sunday, ADMISSION $7, kids 12 & under FREE, Family $14 [ http://www.gsmts.com/ ]

Norfolk Southern Exhibit Car to Tour 23 Cities. The Norfolk Southern Exhibit Car, a traveling showcase highlighting the Thoroughbred of Transportation, will tour 23 cities in 2008. The nine-state May-December itinerary for the rebuilt passenger coach will include a five-city whistle-stop train operated by Norfolk Southern to promote safe transportation of hazardous materials, as well as three special trains supporting Operation Lifesaver, the national rail safety education group. The Exhibit Car, which has hosted some 1.5 million people in several hundred communities since 1971, houses interactive displays featuring Norfolk Southern's transportation network. New for the 2008 tour is an updated locomotive simulator that puts guests in the engineer's seat in control of a virtual train. Here is the 2008 Exhibit Car tour schedule:- June 7: Manassas, Va., Manassas Heritage Railway Festival- June 14: Delphi, Ind., Heritage Transportation Festival- June 21: Roanoke, Va., Virginia Museum of Transportation African-American Railroad Celebration- July 2-7: Altoona, Pa., Railroaders Memorial Museum- July 16: Operation Lifesaver train round trip Roanoke - Lynchburg, Va.- July 31-Aug. 4: Jasper, Ind., Strassenfest- Aug. 6: Operation Lifesaver train round trip Delaware-Chillicothe, Ohio- Aug. 13: Operation Lifesaver train round trip Toledo-Bellevue, Ohio- Aug. 30, 31: Scranton, Pa., Lackawanna Railfest 2008 at Steamtown National Historic Site - Sept. 12-19: TRANSCAER Whistle-Stop Tour: Austell, Ga.; Greenville, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; Roanoke, Va.- Sept. 26-28: Spencer, N.C., Thomas the Tank Engine at North Carolina Transportation Museum- Oct. 2-5: Toccoa, Ga., Currahee Military Weekend- Oct. 8-20: Chattanooga, Tenn., Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum- Nov. 1: Meridian, Miss., Railfest- Nov. 5-23: Duluth, Ga., Southeastern Railway Museum- Dec. 5-7: Strasburg, Pa., Thomas the Tank Engine at Strasburg Railroad

Thursday June 5, 2008 meeting of the Delmarva Rail Passenger Association 6:30 PM in the Customer Service Conference Room on the Concourse Level of the Wilmington Amtrak Station

Weekend of June 7-8, 2008 The hit PBS series Tracks Ahead will shoot at the Wilmington & Western Railroad. The Railroad will be featured in the series' 7th season, which will debut on more than 200 PBS stations in the United States and Japan in late 2008 or early 2009. PBS producers will shoot the Railroad's operations in high definition, and capture every clang of the bell and screech of the whistle in digital 5.1 surround sound. Tracks Ahead is hosted by Spencer Christian, and examines all facets of trains and railroading. This is the first time in the series' 18-year history that PBS cameras will capture the beauty of the Red Clay Valley. [W&W News Release via Richard Hall]

June 15, 2008 Father's Day Picnic at the B&O Museum11-3, Non-Members: $35.00 per person + admission, Menu: Fried Chicken, Beef Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Quarter Pound All Beef Hot Dogs, Veggie Burgers, Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Chips, Pretzels, Sliced Watermelon, Canned Sodas, Iced Tea, Lemonade, and Coffee¥ Special gift to all Dads who attend the picnic Bring Dad to the museum and receive 15% off purchases at the Museum Store¥ FREE TRAIN RIDES included!!! Limited Seating Available! purchase tickets = contact Dana Kirn 410-752-2462 x 221

Thursday July 10, 2008 meeting of the Delmarva Rail Passenger Association ( DRPA )6:30 PM in the Customer Service Conference Room on the Concourse Level of the Wilmington Amtrak Station

Saturday, September 20th, 2008 The Stourbridge Railroad First Annual Railfan DayCost $100.00 includes TWO round trips with a mixed-train from Honesdale, PA to Lackawaxen, PA (one in daylight and one at night) and a box lunch. Will include a special freight consist & the regular passenger consist. We will offer a single roundtrip (either AM or PM for $50.00). All trips will feature multiple Photo Stops and Runbys. The PM trips (limited to 50 participants) will feature Night Lighting at various locations. (Camera capable of shooting on a "B" setting without flash, Tripod, Cable Release, and a flashlight required). The Stourbridge Railroad rosters one of only 2 operating EMD Model BL-2 Diesel Locomotive. (Ex BAR 54). Our second unit will be an ex MEC GP-7. There may be some other locos available to us. Tickets are available through the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, 32 Commercial Street, Honesdale, PA 18431 Cash, Check, or Credit Cards are accepted. For Reservations ONLY, call 570-253-1960 or 800-433-9008 For all other inquiries, PLEASE Write to : Central Pennsylvania Rail Corp, 200 Center Street, Tamaqua, PA 18252. All sales final, Reservations Required for the PM (Night Photo train), no alcoholic beverages allowed on the train, all excursions are subject to operating conditions and are subject to change without notice. [via Ed Thornton]

Sat.-Sun., Oct. 11-12, 2008 Great Scale Model Train Show & RR Marketplace @Maryland State Fairgrounds, Timonium9 am to 4 pm Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm Sunday, ADMISSION $7, kids 12 & under FREE, Family $14 [ http://www.gsmts.com/ ]

Passenger Department Reading & Northern Railroad Autumn Leaf Train Excursions
The trips originate from our Port Clinton headquarters, departing at 9:00am. The train travels north along the Little Schuylkill River, through beautiful mountain scenery. Next we enter the Anthracite region, pass Tamaqua, through a tunnel and over the Hometown High Bridge. We continue to our destination, Jim Thorpe, PA. Passengers have 3 and 1/2 hours to tour the historic town. The train returns to Port Clinton at about 6:30pm. These trips feature many opportunities for photographers, railfans, and sightseers. The trips to Jim Thorpe have traditionally been our best attended, with trains completely sold-out weeks in advance. These trips are sponsored by the railroad. For Pullman availability (see the Passenger Fleet section for a description) or any questions, please contact the Passenger Office at 610-562-2102, Monday-Friday, 9:00AM to 5:00PM.

• June 21, 2008: Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe and return. Motive Power: Steam Engine No. 425 All Tickets: $69.00 Departure Time: 9:00 AM
• August 30, 2008: Jim Thorpe to Pittston and return, non-stop. Motive Power: Steam Engine No. 425 All Tickets: Details to be announced. Departure Time: 9:00 AM
• October 11, 2008: Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe and return. Motive Power: Steam Engine No. 425 All Tickets: $69.00 Departure Time: 9:00 AM
• October 12, 2008: Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe and return. Motive Power: Diesel All Tickets: $39.00 Departure Time: 9:00 AM
• October 18, 2008: Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe and return. Motive Power: Steam Engine No. 425 All Tickets: $69.00 Departure Time: 9:00 AM
• October 19, 2008: Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe and return. Motive Power: Diesel All Tickets: $39.00 Departure Time: 9:00 AM
• December 20, 2008: Winter Photographer's Special Please check back for details.

CHAPTER EVENTS