Railfanning California in theThe 195019505s were excit­ ing times for railroad en­ thusiasts in Southern California. Diesel power was replacing steam on the Union Pacific, South­ ern Pacific, and Santa Fe, and railfans were quickly discovering the allure of railroad photography. Pentrex takes you back to the 1950s era to enjoy Southern California railfanning at its best. Our tour takes you from Cajon Pass - where you'll see doubleheaded steam freights - to a ride through Tehachapi Pass behind a Cab Forward. You'll catch the action at many other hot spots, including Beaumont Pass, Los An­ geles Union Passenger Terminal, Southern Pacific's Glendale and Burbank Junctions, and Santa Fe's Elsinore Branch. The amazing vari­ ety of motive power includes 4-8-4s, 2-10-2s and Cab Forwards. Diesels include EMD E and F-units, SD-9s, Alco PAs and FAs, Fairbank Morse C-Liners, Baldwins and more! Each frame of original 16mm fIlm has been computer enhanced and color corrected, and authentic sound effects have been added scene by scene. These vivid images, great sound effects, and fantastic subjects add up to one of the most appealing vintage railroad films you've ever seen! 1 Hour 20 Minutes #SOCALHS

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August 1995 No. 381

FEATURES

The Heart of SP's24 Golden Empire Though the Central Valley's importance to Southern Pacific has waned, the trackage through Stockton and Sacramento has become a key link in the 1-5 corridor. Steve Schmollinger

Steve Schmollinger

34 DEPARTMENTS Images: Classic SP Editorial Four noted photographers share some of their favorite views of the Southern Pacific, 8 a tribute that spans the years from the 1950s through the early 1980s. PRN Letters Fred Matthews, Gordon Glattenberg, Herbert Johnson, Brian Jennison 7 Expediter 8 Santa Fe 14 CP Rail System 18 Amtrak/Passenger 18 Regionals 20 Burlington Northern 22 Short Lines 44 81 Transit Cascade Crossing 82 Southern Pacific Lines Forget Tehachapi, forget Donner; Southern Pacific's line over Oregon's Willamette Pass 84 may be the most mountainous mountain railroad in the West. Kansas City Southern Daniel J. Sheets 88 Union Pacific 88 CN North America 70 The Information Super Railroad 71 The Last Word 72 PRN Classifieds 74 PRN Advertising Index 74 The54 Cruz ABOVE: SP's LACFX passes Stockton Tower, April 1995. Street trackage, seaside running, spectacular trestles-Southern Pacific's Santa Cruz COVER: In October 1984, SP Alco PAs lead the west­ Branch to Davenport, Calif., is one of the most memorable branches you'll ever see. bound Mail Tl'ainthrough Palisade Canyon on the paired Sean Zwagerman track west 01 Carlin, Nev. Gordon Glattenberg photo

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EDITOR: Don Gulbrandsen Western railroad of choice ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Brian Solomon ASSOCIATE EDITOR : Carl Swanson strictly superficial stan­ EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: Mac Sebree dards is to do so in the CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Mike Abalos, wrong context. The history Greg Brown, Elrond G. Lawrence, Wayne Mongel; Dick Stephenson of the Southern Pacific is a rich, complex drama with ART DIRECTOR : Tom Danneman many players, Theodore Ju­ PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Dean Sauvo!a dah, the Big Four, William ADVERTISING MANAGER: Richard Gruber Hood, E.H. Harriman, D,J. Russell to name just a few. The growth of the SP and the settlement of the West, particularly California, are parallel. Today's SP is part RAILROAD COLUMNISTS

of this great railroad legacy. AMTRAK/PASSENGER-Dick Stephenson Early on, SP thrived, 444 Piedmonl Ave. #128, Glendale, CA 91206 but in recent times it has AT&SF-Elson Rush just survived. But where P.O. Box 379, Waukesha, WI 53187 Three GEs lead a westbound at Yuba Pass, Calif. The SP faces BURLINGTON NORTHERN-Karl Rasmussen others would have given severe grades throughout its system. Brian Solomon photo I 1449 Goldenrod SI. NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55448 up, the SP has held on, CN NORTH AMERICA-Mike Cleary against the worst nature 1395 W. Jessamine #206, St. Paul, MN 55108 n autumn 1989 I moved to California and man offer. Through fierce snow, C&NW-Michael W. Blaszak from the East. On the trip west, I had floods, earthquakes, depression, war, and 211 Soulh Leitch Ave., 1..1 Grange, IL 60525 some time to explore the Western rail­ severe unrelenting competition, SP has CP RAIL SYSTEM-Karl Rasmussen 11449 Goldenrod St. NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55448 roading scene. I spent a few days following stuck it out. On a good day in the best of I ILLINOIS CENTRAL-Greg Sieren the Union Pacific where I had the opportu­ times, the SP has it rough. When one looks 6117 S. 31 St. Apt. 12, Milwaukee, WI 53221 nity to witness the 844 haul revenue at profile of the SP, one will find more KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN-Michael Hasbargen freight. I visited Archer and Sherman hills. mountain grades and more tunnels than 1718 King Eider Dlive, West Lafayette, IN 47906 I explored the Rio Grande operations in any other railroad. SP's operations reflect MEXICO-Clifford R. Prather P.O. Box 925, Santa Ana, CA 92702 Colorado and Utah. Once in the Golden its constant struggle to move traffic ON-LINE COORDINATOR-David C. Warner State, I made several trips to the Feather through rugged territory. All across its sys­ [email protected] River Canyon. All were rewarding experi­ tem are helper grades-more than any oth­ [email protected] ences. Then, I made an exploratory trip to er Western railroad. As a result, SP's oper­ REGIONALS-Dave Kroeger 5720 Johnson Ave. Sw, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404 Southern Pacific's Donner Pass. r had been ations are some of the most complex and the most interesting of all Western rail­ SHORT LINES WEST-Wayne Monger warned, 'Donner doesn't see many trains,' 1409lillman St., Suisun City, CA 94585 and 'SP never washes its locomotives,' but roads. Traditionally, SP maintained multi­ SHORT LINES MIDWEST-Bob Thompson away I went. I arrived in Colfax at dawn ple routes in many of its primary corridors. Route 6, Box 207, Paris, TX 75462 just in time to watch a One would also be hard SP/SSW-joseph A. Strapac heavy eastbound with four pressed to find a Western P.O. Box 1539, Bellnower, CA 90707 units on the point, and two railroad with a greater ar­ SP (D&RGW)-Richard C. Farewell 9729 W. 76th Ave., Arvada, CO 80005 ray of distinctive attributes on the rear, grind up "Many who TRANSIT-Mac Sebree around Cape Horn. This than the SP: Tehachapi IIIII NW 19th Ave., Vancouver, WA 98685 was raw railroading-run 8 see the SP today loop, the Salt Lake crossing UNION PACIFIC-Wayne Monger and go! By the end of that and more below-sea-Ievel 1409lillman SI., Suisun Cit)', CA 94585 November day I was running than any other CompuServe 73563,2652 hooked, and more than six dismiss it American railroad; in years SUBMISSIONS: Articles, news items and photographs are welcome and should be sent to our \Visconsin editorial of­ months passed before I past SP had cab-ahead flee. When submitting material for consideration, include re­ made a serious effort to ex­ prematurely for steam articulateds, Day­ turn envelope and postage if you wish it returned. PACIFIC RAILNEWS does not assume responsibility for the safe return plore another railroad's op­ light passenger trains and of material. Payment is made upon publication. erations. How could any­ multiple interurban electric the wrong EDITORIAL ADDRESS; Submit all photos. article submis· thing top the SP? As far as empires. SP's locomotives sions and editorial correspondence to: I was concerned, SP was were for many years in­ PACIFIC RAILNEWS,P .O. Box 379, Waukesha, WI 53187 reasons" (414) 542·4900, FAX; (414) 542·7595 the Western railroad. I ex­ stantly identifiable by their CompuServe: 76307,1175 America Online: Pentrex plored and learned the SP, unique lighting package. Submissions sent via UPS, Fed Ex or similar courier: first Donner, then the Cal-P, The list goes on. PACIFIC RAtLNEWS.223 Wisconsin Ave., Waukesha, \VI 53186 Sure, Southern Pacific has had its share the Siskiyous, the Coast, the Tehachapis, Magazine Subscription Sentice: Address all correspondence re­ and Beaumont Hill. The more I experienced of hardship, but to this day it survives. Still garding subscriptions (including new orders and renewals) to: these are tumultuous times and each day I the SP, the more it fascinated me. Pacific RailNews wonder if SP will make it to the next. But If you have not experienced Southern P.O. Box 17108 Pacific in person it is difficult to fully ap­ until that day when we add SP to the list of North Hollywood, CA 91615-7108 preciate. Furthel� many who see the SP to­ lost names I will hold the SP highest re­ For all subscription problems and inquiries call: day dismiss it prematurely for the wrong gard. Enjoy it while you can! (800) 210-2211 outside the U.S. (818) 793·3400 reasons. Today's SP is only part of a fasci­ Brian Solomon © 199j Penlrex, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in nating story, and to judge the railroad by whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

G· August 1995 READERS RESPOND Letters

CINW Tribute a Hit For this Minnesota boy, the June PRN was tion, just as this magazine is. To assume that one of the best coverages you've done-and anyone that spends time in the "cyber rail­ If you were surprised by the "ultimate stealth there have been many winners! Each well­ road" is missing the point of railfanning is merger" ... well, figure you must have known I written section, with appropriate photos, com­ excluding an available source for more rail­ about it a couple of months in advance. The pleted a facet of the story, and the result was road knowledge. I have never worked for a June issue-covering the "last granger" truly a sparkling dissertation. railroad, but I have access to thousands of (C&NW)-is absolutely fantastic. You must've people that have. We all want to learn more worked night and day to get the excellent arti­ Don Olsen about our hobbies, and the information that cles, photos and layout put together so fast. A Catenary Video Productions can be gleaned from an old engineer talking major plus: the super Ted Rose watercolors. The San Francisco, Calif. in a newsgroup is invaluable. To me, sun­ cover is worth framing-the issue worth saving shine and diesel smoke blend seamlessly forever as a souvenir of a favorite fallen flag. Your tribute to Chicago & North Western with my keyboard and scanner. brought many memories of my days as a KCS Oh, and one more thing. Stephen Cole Charles S. Larrabee sales representative in Minneapolis between tells the "guys" to "chill." Though I don't Seattle, Wash. September 1973 and June 1976. mind being included with "the guys," it is im­ The Alcos in southern Minnesota and pOl'lant to acknowledge that not all rail fans A quick word of thanks for the superb feature South Dakota, the F-units on the former CGW are guys. Female railfans may be less com­ in the June issue on the C&NW-one of the and M&StL main lines, the two RS-2s at Ran­ mon, but we do exist. I've been standing by best articles ever published in the railfan dolph, still painted, lettered and numbered the tracks for 15 years now, usually getting press. It, more than anything else so far, CGW, were just a few of my discoveries while odd looks from passersby and the (mostly) brought home the sad realization that my traveling my territory. male train crews. Still, such subtle discour­ hometown (Appleton, Wis.) railroad is vanish­ Thanks for devoting the entire issue to its agement could never make me go home when ing. But the photo essays brought back many memory. I hope and pray PRN never has to do I had to stay to see just one more go by. happy memories of time spent on the "Can't & the same for Kansas City Southern. Never Will," as it was called by Appleton Junc­ Adelita Balsalobre tion crewmen. The most vivid is of the ex-Katy Gerald A. Hook, Regional Director of Sales 7641 3,[email protected] "Baldwin Geeps" that replaced the Baby Train­ Kansas City Southern Railway masters in the mid-1970s on the Appleton Baton Rouge, La. Flats switch job. It was almost as if the road wanted to keep fans happy by continuing to What Does Cut It? run unique power. While Ed Ripley's Last Word in the June PRN certainly highlights a very important issue, I Jon Pullman Porter don't think it goes far enough in its treatment Carl...SELLING RAILROAD Loucks TIMETABLES Sunnyvale, Calif. of the subject. For example: P.O. Box 484, North Haven, CT 06473 If 90 percent on-time "doesn't cut it" for "How old were you when you became interest­ the rail customers mentioned in the article, PUBLIC TIMETABLE SPECIAL: ed in trains?" Although some fans may have what does? The historyof your favorite road told in timetables. developed their rail interest gradually, I was There are major differences between the Three system timetables, one from the 1940's, "inoculated at birth," and truthfully respond truck and rail modes. What service quality lev­ one from the 1950's and one from the 1960's. to that question with, "as far back as I can re­ el is rail actually capable of producing under Choose from ATSF, ACL, B&M, B&O, CB&Q, member." It's interesting to observe how many the most well-intentioned management? C&EI, C&NW, C&O, CV, D&RGW, D&H, DL&W, fans have the same response, and to note Te d If rail can theoretically deliver acceptable IC, L&N, LV, MILW, MP, NH, NYC, N&W, PRR, Rose's reminiscences touch on the same point. levels of quality, can this be done without cap­ SLSF, SOU, UP, WAB, WP. I vividly recall visiting my grandparents in a ital expenditures of such magnitude as to de­ Each set, three timetables ...... $20 little town in southel11 Minnesota at Christmas, prive intermodal of a sufficient cost advantage at age five. They lived on a busy street, which I over faster truck service? Any six sets of three n's each, 1 B Timetables...... $BO was forbidden to cross, but three blocks down Certainly railroads can and should do bet­ the hill, both the M&StL and "the Omaha" ter, but I doubt the whole "reliability gap" is EMPLOYEE TIMETABLE - STARTER KIT were visible, and I sat so long on the curb due to trucking company management being For the new collector, ten Employee Timetables, watching the trains that I sometimes came in less focused on cost containment and share­ hours of interesting reading. One each from with frost-bitten extremities. My mom none­ holder retUl11S than their railroad counterparts. ATSF, SP, UP, ICG, Seaboard, Southern, CSX, too-gently rubbed the affected areas with snow, NS, BN, C&NW ...... AII ten for$50 while speculating why on earth I didn't have the Peter Nicholson, Managing Consultant . sense to come inside before getting so cold. w.G. Richmond & Co. EMPLOYEE TIMETABLES .. Well, any dedicated train watcher leal11s early Wilmette, III. ATSF· System 1992 ...... $15 on that the rewards are worth some discomfort! BN - Northern Corridor 1993 ...... $20 Many years have rolled by since those days, A Word From One of the "Guys" CNW . System 1992 ...... $20 but its interesting to find that the phenomenon As technology advances, so does railfanning. CSX • Baltirnore Div 1993 ...... $15 or fascination with trains is alive and well, and There are a myriad of reasons why people CR· Dearborn Div 1991 ...... $12 transcends generations. Apparently, the same choose railfanning as a hobby, and assuming NS· Lake Div 1992 ...... $12 basic love of railroading continues to exist in that we all are there to "smell the flowers" NS· Piedmont Div 1993 ...... $12 our society-undiminished by time or technolo­ (Stephen Cole in the June issue) is wrong. I sao Line· System 1989 ...... $15 Up . System 1992 ...... $20 gy. Many of us old-timers enjoy passing on our read with eagerness each article in PRN that memories and experiences by whatever means concerns the Net; I would like nothing else Any Five Above Just...... $50 we excel at-mine happens to be reviving the than to sit by the tracks and record what I New Catalogue Issued Monthly past by transferring films to video tapes. see on a laptop. The Internet is only informa- Sent with each order or SSAE

Pacific RAILNEWS-7 BREAKING NEWS l{pedite,.

percent of his body. lnvestigators from the Federal Railroad Ad­ ministration and the National Transportation Safety Board ini­ tially concluded that a partial crown sheet failure had occurred due to insufficient water in the boiler. Why the water had dropped to such dangerously low levels has yet to determined. The following day provided a spectacular wreck on a tourist rail­ road in Nevada-fortunately, an­ other incident in which no passen­ gers were killed. At 1 :30 p.m., a Nevada Northern Railway Muse­ um excursion train departed the East Ely depot bound for Keystone Junction. Minutes latel; a runaway flatcar loaded with ties crashed head-on into Alco-built 2-8-0 No. 93 at a speed of 30 mph. The level-headed crew dropped the fires in the locomotive and rushed to the aid of passengers. Sixty of the train's lOa passen­ Jamie Miller gers were hurt; four required an An SP-BN business train skirts San Pablo Bay at Pinole on June 28, 1995, on its way from Oakland to Napa, overnight stay in the hospital, Calif., to inaugurate new trash train service. The trains will run from Napa to a dump site at Roosevelt, Wash. but none were seriously injured. The runaway flat was owned by the Northern Nevada Rail­ Reality Hits as Rail number of key commodities we A Disastrous Weekend road, a relatively new short line formed to serve a new copper Business Slows Down honestly did not expect to see the for Tourist Trains kind of slowdown we're seeing." At concentrator under construction the same time, UP was stung by a near Ely. Contractors were up­ After years of record growth that drop in intermodal loadings, and a On Friday, June 16 and Saturday, grading a portion of the line and must have made most railroad failure by all its commodity groups, June 17, the American tourist preparing to build new trackage managers feel downright giddy, a excepting grain and lumber, to train industry was rocked by beyond Keystone Junction at the downward economic cycle has meet tonnage projections. Santa Fe headline-grabbing accidents at time of the incident. Reportedly, started to rear its ugly head. As a experienced modest growth the different ends of the country. On a work crew lost control of one result, many major railroads have first half of the yem; but failed to Friday evening, ex-Canadian Pa­ of four tie-laden flats (they may seen business fail to reach projec­ achieve its goals; as a result, some cific 4-6-2 o. 1278 was hauling have been attempting to move the tions, and they've been forced to car with a front end loader) and economize by eliminating train it rolled out of a spur onto the starts, storing surplus motive main line, where it started to pick power, and laying off employees. up speed. Witnesses reported ationwide, Conrail has been the "We honestly did not pacing the car from an adjacent hardest hit. In mid-June, Big Blue highway at 60 mph; four miles eliminated nearly 600 jobs, and expect to see the kind of downhill, it smashed into curved stored 54 locomotives. Nearly 10 tunnell, losing half its load and percent of Conrail's motive power slowdown we're seeing." half its speed, but remaining on fleet (2,lOa units strong) is stored SP Chairman Jerry Davis on the downturn in business the rails. One-half mile later it or leased out. encountered the steam train. In the West, Southern Pacific Number 93 and two coaches has seen the biggest slowdown. In were damaged in the wreck, as May, SP experienced nearly a 4 per­ of the 1,000 employees added in a dinner train on the Gettysburg was the tunnel. Nevada Northern cent increase in carloadings over 1994 have been furloughed. Railroad when a boiler explosion chose to cancel its operations 1994 thanks to a jump in coal busi­ Not all the news was gloomy engulfed the locomotive in a pending the outcome of an inves­ ness, but other commodities in the rail industry as Burlington cloud of smoke and steam. For­ tigation and assessment of dam­ dropped precipitously, most no­ Northern and Kansas City South­ tunately, none of the lOa-pius ages. The biggest damage from tably chemicals and plastics. As a ern both enjoyed booming traffic. passengers were injured though this weekend may be an in­ result, SP dropped 500 crew starts BN, getting ready to merge with the three-man crew wasn't so creased level of scrutiny from per week in June. New SP Chair­ Santa Fe, has enjoyed a big jump lucky. All survived, but 48-year­ state and federal agencies who man Jerry Davis explained, "We in grain-hauling revenues thanks old Jim Cornell-co-owner of have traditional paid little atten­ still believe the economy will have to Asian export traffic, as well as the railroad-was critically in­ tion to the normally quiet tourist a soft landing, but in the case of a strong intermodal business. jured wi th burns coveri ng 60 train industry. a-August 1995 • • • • FACT FOLDER • : Special SP Edition

SP Helper Districts To manage its helper opera­ tions SP maintains 15 helper crew pools. Listed are the crew IDs and their territory.

BKHLE-Tehachapi helpers, Bakersfield to Mojave, Calif. DUHLE- Dunsmuir, Calif., to Worden, Ore. • RVHLE-Colfax helpers, • Kay McCammond Sid McCammond • Colfax to Norden, Calif. • GUHLE-Cuesta Helpers, LEFT: The runaway flat car involved in the Nevada Northern accident seen moments before impact with • San Luis Obispo to Santa the excursion train near Ely, Nev., on June 17. RIGHT: The aftermath o. the Nevada Northern accident at Ely, Nev. : Margarita, Calif. • WCHLE- Beaull1ont hill, Green Line Opening Set The $718 million Green Line east-west line runs from Norwalk : Loma Linda to Indio, Calif. is the third rail transit line to to Redondo Beach, running much • WCHLEI-Beaumont hill open in L.A., and its development of the way in the center of the • overflow. Los Angeles' Metropolitan Tran­ hasn't come without controversy. newly constructed Century Free- • WCHLE2-Dike helpers, sit Authority has announced that A debate over automated opera­ way. An end-to-end trip will take : the Green Line light rail will be­ tion (ultimately dropped) and a about 35 minutes; trains will stop West Colton to Hiland, Calif. • EUHLE-Eugene to Cascade gin service Aug. 12, 1995. The "Buy American" fl ap over the at the 14 stations about every 7 y, • opening will be highlighted by cars (Sumitomo of Japan got the minutes during rush hour. The • Summit, Ore. two days of free rides for the contract anyway) made headlines, Green Line connects with the • SKHLE-Truckee helpers, • public on the opening weekend, but couldn't derail the project, Blue Line light rail at Imperial! Lawton, Nev., to Rocklin, and a 25-cent introductory fare • which was approved in 1984 and Wi lmington station in south cen- Calif. available until the end of August. started in 1991 . The 20-lll i le, tral L.A., and it comes close : HLHLE-Helper to Soldier • • Summit, Utah. • GWHLE-Glenwood Springs • to Tennessee Pass, Colo. • • GJHLE-Moffat helpers for • mid-train coal service. • DSHLE-Joint line helpers, • • Denver to Palmer Lake, Colo. • PHHLE-Phippsburg helpers : for Craig Branch coal service. • MNHLE-Minturn to Ten- • nessee Pass, Colo., and east. • • • Note: Helpers may travel be- • yond these limits as needed. • • • SP Steam Fact • SP had eight types of 4-8-4s, • • classed GS-J through GS-8. • The initials GS stood for, at • various times, General Ser­ • • vice or Golden State. These • TimHensch locomotives are best known • • by the popular 4449, a GS-4, A weed sprayer using RoadRailer equipment works C&NW's Omaha line at Agate, Minn., on June 3, 1995. • one of 28 built by Lima.

Pacilic RAILNEWS· 9 l{peditep

Dick Gruber Dave Kroeger

LEFT: BN's Executive Fs are returning to Galesburg from Yates City, III., as part of the Galesburg Railroad Days Celebration on June 24, 1995. TOP RIGHT: On May 17, C&NW's Executive Fs meet the UP Es at Cheyenne, Wyo. UP moved the North Western cabs from Oelwein, Iowa, to Cheyenne for safekeeping. ABOVE RIGHT:Restored Chicago Great Western FP7 11SA seen during its dedication at the Hub City Heritage Museum in Oelwein, Iowa, on May 29, 1995. to-but doesn't reach-Los An­ and stop at Casa Grande, connect­ that promises to benefit highway rebelled, passing an amendment geles International Airport on its ing with downtown Phoenix via a interests and automaker , but that maintained the status quo. west end. Free shuttle bus service 45-mile bus trip. The change could which gave mass transit and Am­ Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), wi I I connect A viation s ta tion come as early as Septembel: trak a good kick in the pants. The not a friend of Amtrak, pulled the with airport terminals. L.A.'s oth­ The SP line west of Phoenix national rail passenger carrier was bill, saying no labor reform, no er rail transit lines-the Red and hosts three to four freight per day, allocated $628 million, about Amtrak. "It is quite clear that the Blue-are already quite success­ but there is little on-line business; $165 million less than current lev­ future of Amtrak is in jeopardy," fu l, carrying around 53,000 pas­ the future of this semaphore­ els, but an ongoing political spat Shuster stated. "There is simply sengers pel' day. equipped trackage is questionable, has seriously threatened Amtrak's no point in resuming considera­ as SP could easily reroute Phoenix­ fu ture. The House Transportation tion of a bill that does not contain Phoenix to Lose Amtrak? L.A. trains south to the main line Subcommittee had been crafting a real reforms." via Picacho, Ariz. controversial reauthorization bill Without reauthorization, Am­ Reports from Southern Pacific and for the railroad that would initiate trak would run out of money Sept. Amtrak sources indicate that the What Next for Amtrak? labor reform for the carrier, per­ 30, 1995. Consequently, some con­ Sunset Limited will probably not mitting Amtrak to contract out servative Republican lawmakers be calling on the Arizona capital On June 30, a \-louse of Represen­ maintenance work and sharply re­ have suggested that Amt1'ak devel­ after this fall. The train will likely tatives committee approved a duce severance payments. A block op a contingency plan for the or­ move to the Gila line to the south, $12.2 billion transportation bill of GOP and Democrat lawmakers derly shutdown of the railroad by

10· August 1995 Oct. 1. Amtrak President Tom Downs has stated that the labor re­ forms would undermine too many existing contracts and severely dis­ rupt Amtrak operations. Obviously, labor unions representing Amtrak workers are also opposed to the changes. At press time, no resolu­ tion to the crisis was evident, but the two sides had until July 12 to find a compromise to save Amtrak.

Narrowly Avoids MKBankruptcy

Just a few years ago, Morrison Knudsen was touting itself as the company that was going to revive America's dead rail passenger car manufacturing industry. Now, the storied engineering and construc­ tion concern-and wannabe force in the rail industry-is barely cling­ ing to survival, and many problems can be traced to its rail business. On June 30, MK announced that it had sidestepped yet another brush with Chapter 11, and had come to an agreement with its bankers for a new credit line extending through the end of the year. Under the leadership of former Brian Solomon Chairman William Agee, Morrison On June 22, 1995, Extra 281 passes Vernon Marsh near Mukwonago, Wis., on the Wisconsin Central. Knudsen won about $1 billion in rail car orders from transit agen­ The restored Milwaukee Road 4·8·4 was en route .rom Minneapolis to Steamtown's opening in Scranton, Pa. cies , but the company had trouble delivering products on schedule, and started to suffer huge losses. 83% Mismanagement by Agee has been blamed for many of the problems; he was forced out by MK's board Stock Index this past winter. For the remainder • Stock Prices June 1, 1995 of the year, MK will try to stabilize itself financially; this will likely in­ • Stock Prices July 1, 1995 clude selling off its 65 percent stake in MK Rail. Meanwhile, the State of Cali­ fornia has declared Morrison Knudsen in default on its $2 15 million contract for building the 1 13 California Cars. A series of nagging problems has delayed de­ livery of the cars; only a dozen are in operation, while 55 others are in various stages of production. Forty-seven commuter cars (the equipment delaying expansion of L.A. Metrolink service) have been delayed by the financial problems of Mafersa, the Brazilian firm supplying shells for the cars. New Yo rk's Metro-North and Chicago's Metra are also awaiting MK-built equipment delayed by the firm's financial woes. PRN

Pacific RAILNEWS -11 SPECIAL REPORT �pedite,.

All photos these pages, Sean Zwagerman

In early June, California Oregon & Pacific reopened the line over Siskiyou Summit. On June 7, 1995, one of the first northbound trains climbs Bailey Hill near lilt,Cam. Following a precipitous drop in traffic, Southern Pacific closed this historic mountain crossing in August 1992 as a cost-cutting move.

Siskiyou Line's South End three years. Posted on the cross­ customers and therefore the suc­ pany Rail-Tex. Others remain for Reopened bucks, the damp and wind-blown cess of the new railroad. On June now in the faded colors of the sign read "THE TRAIN IS COM­ 5, it took severa I hou rs for the Burlington Northern, stenciled ING June 5, 1995. Please Look­ train to scale the summit and shat­ with the abbreviations of their for­ It was the morning of June 5, Listen-Live." Below these words ter the stillness at Colestin; on the mer homes, Texas and Northeast­ 1995, and there were signs that was a picture of a locomotive let­ other side of the mountain the ern and Missouri & Northern something unusual was stirring in tered "Central Oregon & Pacific." rails were slick and the sand in the Arkansas. Leaving MedFord, the the Siskiyou Mountains. An un­ About 35 miles north of this locomotives was wet, so men were Hauler begins its long, steady as­ seasonable cold front brought lonely mountain road crossing, sanding the rails by hand as the cent out of the Rogue Valley to high winds and freezing rain to five locomotives and 14 cars crept train labored up the 2.8 percent Ashland. Then the real climb be­ this region of northern California southward out of Medford-the grade near Steinman. gins. In the 14 serpentine miles and southern Oregon. The days first Freight train over the Siskiy­ But after the inevitable compli­ between Belleview and the sum­ should have been warming as they ous since 1992. This portion of cations of day one, Central Ore­ mit at Siskiyou, the lightest grade lengthened toward the summer the Siskiyou line, from Medford to gon & Pacific has started running is 1.8 percent, the steepest a pre­ solstice, but on this day a light the SouthernPacific connection at trains over the Siskiyous as confi­ cipitous 3.1 percent. The thunder snow dusted the trees near Siskiy­ Black Butte, is the final link in the dently as if it had been doing so of the locomotives carries up the ou Summit. High in the moun­ trackage now opera ted by the For a century. Around 9 a.m., a canyon to Siskiyou half an hour tains at Colestin, along a winding Central Oregon & Pacific. Track­ three-man crew guides four or five before the train arrives, fading in dirt road, another sign of change work and late snows delayed its locomotives and the Montague and out as the Hauler negotiates marked a forgotten grade crossing opening by more than a month. Hauler out of Medford. Some of tunnels and horseshoe curves. on Southern Pacific's Siskiyou The successful operation of this the units shine in the standard red Once over the summit and out Branch, a line unused for the past line is critical to the satisFaction of and gray of CORP's parent com- of tunnel 13, the Hauler has an

12.August 1995 ABOVE: Near Siskiyou Summit, the southbound Hauler climbs across the wall Creek trestle.mGHT: On June 8, 1995, thesouthbound Hauler passes Union SWitch & Signal semaphores on the former Siskiyou at Talent, Ore.

eight-mile descent of greater than COIP Reopens 2.0 percent as it weaves through Colestin, around the Gregory Siskiyou Pass Loops, and along Cottonwood Creek to the old stagecoach station of Cole at the state line. Still ahead, after the train gets a brief tague, exchanging empty boxcars switcher No. 20 sat idling in Mon­ running start up the grade out of for the loads left earlier by the tague, as the crew waited to shake Hilt, comes Bailey Hill, four twist­ Hauler. The southern end of the hands with the CORP employees ing miles down a precarious 3 per­ Siskiyou line traveled by the Weed who rolled into town on the Mon­ cent grade into Hornbrook. After Switcher features several miles of tague Hauler's second run. Local crossing the Klamath River, the steep grades between Black Butte newspapers in Ashland and Weed tracks follow the course of Willow and Edgewood, a fine bridge have welcomed the railroad's ar­ Creek canyon around Black Moun­ across the Shasta River south of rival. And all along the line, peo­ tain and on into Montague. Arriv­ Montague, and Mount Shasta ple look up from mending fences ing in town about 1 :30, the crew soaring above the entire region. or cutting trees, bucking hay or drops off the loaded cars and cou­ Though the length of the herding cattle to watch the trains ples onto the empties. After a southbound Montague Hauler once again roll through Siskiyou short walk to the store for lunch to grew steadily through the first County. Twice during the first go, they climb back aboard for the week, the 14-car CORP train of week, the two CORP trains met in return trip to Medford. June 5 was just a shadow of the Montague, bringing local residents Sometime in the afternoon, a MERVM, the SP-era Medford-to­ out of their homes and businesses horn again echoes across the Shas­ Roseville manifest. Every day, to talk with their neighbors and ta Valley, as the Weed Switcher eight or more locomotives would watch the trains, trains bringing approaches Montague from the strain to pull and shove half a mile not just valuable lumber along the south. The two-person crew on of lumber cars over this historic rails but an intangible sense of this job, originating in Weed, mountain pass. But for now, the community and connection. The makes the short trip to Black shadow is real enough, to lumber symbols of prosperity and conti­ Butte in the morning with the companies frustrated by the nuity-rain, sunlight, and the -- CBVTRAlOREGON & PACIAC loads from the previous day's lengthy northern detour their sound of a train in the distance­ -- CO&P TRACKAGE REACTIVATID Hauler, then returns to switch the products have been taking, and to revitalized the Siskiyous and the -- SOUTHBIN PACIAC web of spurs into the lumber mills observers thrilled by the reincar­ Shasta Valley on June 5. -- YREKAWESTERN at Weed. Around 1 :30, the train nation of this spectacular line. On MAP BY DEAN SAUVOLA AND BRIAH SOLOMON leaves Weed for the run to Mon- Tuesday, June 6, Yreka Western's Sean Zwagerman

Pacific RAILNEWS.13 NE W BOOKS! RAIL NEWS Santa Fe

Katie Danneman

Santa Fe continues to operate a lew 01 its Warbonnet-painted FP45s. In May, an eastbound passes through scenic Abo Canyon east 01 Sais, N.M. with two GEs leading and No. 93 trailing.

LOCOMOTIVES ing the 227 to its Corwith power-by-the-hour shop, where it was spotted June 12. The 225 Second SD75M Order Begins and 226 arrived later in the week, but were held out of service until Santa Fe and EMD Just weeks after Santa Fe's first order for 25 could complete the necessary paperwork. Electro-Motive Division SD75M locomotives The 225 was subsequently selected for dis­ was completed, EMD began delivery of the play at Galesburg Railroad Days on June 24- second order for 26 units (225-250) by send- 25. Santa Fe seemed surprised by the speedy

NEVADA NORTHERN SPECTACULAR ATSF, BN & MRL SEPTDIBER 30·0CTOBER I, 1995 LOCOMOTIVE DIRECTORY 1995 Nevada Northern is the last Bonanza Nevada mining railway in the old west. This 90-year-old line has survived along A single line roster of locomotives owned and on long term lease as of May 31. 1995. Entries Include RIN. BIN. with the original classic equipment. Join BID. Previous RIN, and other data particular to a given us for a grand weekend as we bring back model or number series. Technical ratings and perfor­ the glory days of this wonderfu l mance data for each model. 170 ha� tone photographs represent various modell/number series. shortline.

This reference prepares lIle rai�n for lIle ATSF-BN ···HIGHLIGHTS ··· merger as more and more units end up in mixed consists • Baldwin No. 40, a 4-6-0 & Alco No. 93, on each oIhe(s railroad. And when lIle merger occurs a 2-8-0 will be used plus Ako RS 3's. and older models and leased units are purged from lIle • Charlers on Ihe KeyslOne & Hiline roules. roster, IIlls bookwill stand as lIle primary reference of how • Many pholO run-bys plus workshop visilS. lIlings were before lIle IMInt tookplace. For MRL fans, it reflectslIle lates! in MRL power. Postdata to your slides • Classic solid ore Irain pulled by No. 93. quickly and easily. 5-112"xB-112" Perfect bound soft cover • Passenger-fre ighl-mixed consisls. allows use In the field and lIle home library. 142 pages. • Doubleheader. $22.9S(Includes 4th Class P&H) BUY 3 Books from this ad and get PRICE $299 FREE - Appalachian Crossing - 64pp, SPOUSE 50% OFF 110 iIIus. ($ 12.95 Value) !! Immediate DeliveryGuaranteed ASK FOR OUR NN � Dealer Inquiries Welcome <= INFO PA CKET TRA INS UNLIMITED, TOURS (91 6) 836-1745 FAX (916) 836-1748 P.O. BOX 1997, PORTOLA, CALIFORNIA 96122

14-August 1995 delivery of these three units-they had been merger, Santa Fe traffic west from Dallas will Here's a decision the customer probably re­ expected to arrive in August for the start of eventually be diverted onto the B route be­ grets: On May 20 ADM routed 75 carloads of the peak traffic season. tween Alliance and Amarillo. grain at Hutchinson, destined for East St. Louis, Keeping track of the 20-cylinder EMD lo­ During the produce packing season in June off SP and onto the competing Santa Fe-Gate­ comotives the railroad sold to Morrison Knud­ and July, Santa Fe is running eastbound inter­ way Western route. ADM's East St. Louis flour sen, subject to the obligation to lease them modal symbols P-RICH I (Richmond-Chicago) mill was perilously short of grain and the cus­ back during peak periods, is confusing even to and P-FRCH I (Fresno-Chicago) to carry Cali­ tomer feared SP couldn't deliver before the sup­ Santa Fe people. Clarifying last month's re­ fornia fruit to Eastern markets. The railroad ply ran out and forced a shut down. Santa Fe port, there are 44 locomotives involved in this expected 1,000 perishable loads per week dur­ called grain extra G-HUES 1-20 and 73 carloads program. Of these 44, Santa Fe turned back ing the peak packing weeks. Every effort is be­ went wheeling east behind units 2333, 2886, 34 to MK on May 15: SD45s 5348, 5349, ing made to deliver these trains to Conrail be­ 6373, 2963 and 5378. But at 8:40 p.m. the next 5353, 5355-5359, 5361 and 5364-5376; and fore the late-night cutoffs maintained by that evening, May 21, this train derailed 31 cars and F45s 595 1, 5964, 5966, 5971, 5973, 5974, carrier for eastward movement. three locomotives on the GWWR at Blue 5978 and 5985-5989. Ten of these are stored Trains serving the new Harvard Ramp at Springs, Mo. Santa Fe had a chance at two more on the Santa Fe at Barstow, while the other 24 Marion, Ark., include UPS shooters 698 and ADM grain moves if it did a good job with this are at the MK plant in Boise, Idaho. They will 896 and eastbound Richmond-Birmingham P­ one, but we would guess these stayed on the SP. reenter Santa Fe service Aug. 15. The last 10 Rl BH 1. New train P-BHCV I from Birming­ MK locomotives will remain active through ham to Clovis was established on June I, oper­ CHICO CHATTER the summer to pay off horsepower-hours ating Sundays only. Another Trucking Alliance Forged owed Santa Fe by MK: SD45B 5501 and F45s Train M-BETE I (Belen-Temple) was abol­ 5954, 5957, 5961, 5967, 5977, 5979, 5980, ished on May 6. Its traffic now moves on Santa Fe announced a joint marketing agree­ 5983 and 5984. trains H-BEAL I and H-BATE I. ment with Bulkmatic, Inc., a truckload hauler Santa Fe laid up 12 GP7s in storage at Ar­ Also on May 6, Stockton-Barstow trains M­ based in Griffith, Ind., on May 8. Bulkmatic gentine Yard starting May 26: 2055, 2091, STBA 1 and M-BAST I were combined with lo­ will use Santa Fe's intermodal service for long­ 2095, 2103, 2107, 2109, 21 13, 21 19, 2123, cal L-VA III to operate between Richmond distance movement of plastics, flour and other 2131, 2137 and 2145. These units had been and Barstow as the M-BARII and M-RIBA I. commodities in Bulkmatic's trailers. serving as yard locomotives in Argentine, At Fullerton, Calif., the new south main is in Amarillo and Temple, and on Gateway West­ INCIDENT REPORT place and being used by Santa Fe freights. Pas­ ern trains. Santa Fe expects to return them to Detours, Derailments and Disasters senger trains won't use the line, though, until service this fa ll. the new elevator-equipped walkway across the OPERATIONS High water washed out one bent of a nine-bent tracks is completed. Work on the second main bridge on BN's Tu lsa-Avard line on May 26. track is proceeding west of West Riverside. UP Changes Rules on Baird Sub B detoured one Santa Fe haulage train, Mem­ The city of Barstow is about half finished phis-Clovis P-MECV 1-25 (operating as B I with the restoration of the Casa del Desierto Effective May 27, UP reduced maximum train 77), via Oklahoma City and Quanah, Texas, to Harvey House at that location. However, it length on the Baird Subdivision between Amarillo. Other Santa Fe trains serving Mem­ needs help to make the interior an authentic re­ Sweetwater and Tower 55 (Fort Worth), phis and Birmingham were held back until BN production of the way the building looked in its Te xas, to 6,500 feet. UP told Santa Fe, which returnedthe bridge to service on May 27. prime. If you can provide detailed photographs has trackage rights over this line for Dallas­ Crew shortages on its UP trackage rights or memories concerning the interior, including California trains, that it might accept trains up route between Pueblo and Kansas City caused light fixtures, carpeting, and fans, call Marlowe to 6,700 feet in a pinch, but these would be SP to detour two trains per day via Santa Fe Kuseth at (619) 256-3531, ext. 3221. subject to "excessive delay. " This action may between those points during the week of May Th anks to L.S. Wa lters, Ed lion Nordeck, increase the number of Santa Fe movements 22. One of the detours, a coal train behind SP O. R. Bixler and Slarpacer. diverted to the old Santa Fe route via Brown­ AC4400CWs 155, 156 and 157, continued to wood and Cen-Tex Rail Link. After the BNSF Joliet on Santa Fe rails May 29. Elson Rush 1�IAR" \ SANTA FE'S WAYNOKA SUB 2 hrs See what may be the last video look at SF's 107.5 miles of the Belen C/O between We llington, KS and Waynoka, OK ...... 529.00 SANTA FE'S PANHANDLE SUB 2 hrs Features 205 miles of the Belen C/O between Waynoka, OK and Amarillo, TX ...... $29.00

UP'S COUNCIL BLUFFS SUB ... 3 HRS, 8 min.. 539.00 'Two tape set, 54.00 S/H. Counts as , tape for multi tape discount. BN FT. scon SUB ...... 2 hrs, 529.00 SANTA FE'S MARCELINE SUB ...... 2 hrs, 529.00 SANTA FE'S EMPORIA SUB ...... 2 hrs, 529.00 BN ST. JOE LINE ...... 2 hrs, 528.00 UP COFFEYVILLE/CHEROKEE SUBS ..... 2 hrs, 528.00 SP's HERINGTON (KS) SUB ...... 2 hrs, 528.00 TRAINS OF KANSAS CITY VOL 2 ...... 2 hrs, 529.00 UP MARYSVILLE SUB ...... 2 hrs, 528.00 UP ACROSS MISSOURI ...... 2 hrs, 528.00 -Titles - Narration - Music -Recorded in HI-8 and Professional SVHS -Available in VHS only -Add 52.00 S/H for each tape -MO residents add 6% sales tax -If ordering 2 or more tapes, deduct 51 per tape.

MAKE CHECKS/MONEY ORDERS PAYA BLE TO: I MO-KAN VIDEO 425 Leslie Drive, Independence, MO 64055 I Pacific RAILNEWS -15 RAIL NEWS CP Rail System

objectives, 40 percent of current revenues are collected from trans-border and intra-U.S. busi­ ness. Labor productivity is up 40 percent over the past five years, although the CUITent operat­ ing ratio remains at 92 percent. Management has set the goal of 85 percent for this figure by the end of 1996, which will require substantial regulatolY changes and plant rationalization. The success of CP Rail is strongly tied to the fortunes of CP Ships, which in tum is linked to the Port of Montreal. Owning the shortest transportation route between the Midwest and Northern Europe is a big plus for CPo Sub­ sidiary Canadian Maritime has increased its loadings by 40 percent in the past two years, and the recent acquisition of Cast Group will allow CP to build a billion dollar shipping con­ cern four times the size it had in the mid-1 980s. Strong rail traffic growth is expected to continue this year, estimated in the range of 7 percent, compared to the extraordinary 9 per­ cent growth recorded last year. These increas­ es are particularly notable in view of the 47- day strike on Soo Line last year, and the strike Blair BioI Kooistra in Canada earlier this year. The 19-day strike reduced CP Rail's operating income by $30.9 CP Rail SD40-2F 9000, one of 25 such locomotives on the system, leads a westbound potash train million. For the first quarter of the year, how­ along the Thompson River west of Thompson, B.C., in May 1995. ever, CP Rail's net income increased from last year's $17.2 million to $27.4 million. In a commitment to future business growth, capital CORPORATE NEWS must be improved, networks and facilities must expenditures will exceed $600 million in be restructured, labor flexibility must be en­ 1995, more than double the rate for the past Restructure, Reform and Rationalize hanced and more significant policy and regula­ five years. This higher rate is expected to tory reforms must be accomplished. While CP continue for the next three years as well. In its report to stockholders in early May, CP Rail has the third largest railway in North Amer­ In addition, CP has placed its remaining lines management outlined its near-term objectives. ica in terms of trackage, it is only seventh in east of MontTeal on the market. Two hundred­ Summarized briefly, services and operations terms of revenue ton-miles. Indicative of future twenty miles of line extending from Montreal

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Pacific Limited, Union Pacific Steam & Diesel Excursions NEW!! - The five 1994 U.S. the '7'0IUf &� n Sep. 2, 3, '95 Omaha-Kansas City-Salina postage locomotive stamps individually framed, with short the p�" Sep. 15 to Oct. 8 Denver to Portland "� 0& history of each locomotive. Overnight and boarding stops at; Laramie-Rawlins-Rock Springs-Pocatello-Boise-Baker City­ Beautifully finished in red oak frame. Wallula-Spokane-Portland-Bend-Butte with one day round-trip Spokane to Bonners Ferry Allsegments powered by; UP Challenger steam locomotive #3985 and/or E9 diesels Dealer Inquiries Invited short segments available Eastbound and Westbound, Denver-Portland & Portland-Pocatello Send SASE to:

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16.August 1995 across southern Quebec and Vermont are on the gl"OUp of units should cover any MLW fa ilures block, with a sale expected this summer. Two of as well as the expected transfer of Helm the prime candidates to purchase the line are SD40-2s in the 6365-6370 series to Dakota, CHOOSERAILROADFROIv1 THESE VIDEO SELECTIONS SPE ...CIAl! Iron Road Railways and Bangor & Aroostock. Minnesota & Eastern this summer. The 6365 DULUTH WINNIPEG Ik P�CIFIC - A system-wide CP management is also reportedly interested in has already been shipped to Montreal for over­ look at theDW&P and lis connecling RR. 100min · purchasing Conrail's 215-mile "Southern Tier," haul and paint prior to its new assignment. Regular Price $38.95 ...... SALE $34.95 the f011l1er Erie Railroad main line between Buf­ Soo SW I 200s 1207, 1209, 1211. 1220 and DAKOTA MINNESOTA Ik EASTERN · A system· falo, N.Y., and northern New Jersey. 1222 will be shipped to Weston Shops in Win­ wide look at theDM&E In Minnesota & South nipeg for conversion to slugs for use in Toron­ Dakota. 101 min · Reg. Price $38.95 SALE $34.95 CIkNW IRON ORE ROUTE · OPERATIONS to. Retired C-424 4236 was renumbered to Upper Michigan ore operations: RR. mines, toconije plant, ship loading. 1100, and has been mated with SD40-2 6043 96 min · Regular Price $38.95 ...... SALE $33.95 More Trackwork on the River Line as a control car on intermodal trains 528 and T1WNS OF ALGOMACOU NTRY · the AIgomo 529 between Detroit and Toronto. C-424 4213 Engineering work began on CP's River Division Central Railway plus connecling RR's. CP Roll WC. was renumbered to 1102 and is working with 98 min · Regular Price $38.95 ...... SALE $33.95 between Hastings, Minn., and La Crosse, Wis., GP38-2 3096 out of Toronto. ALCOS IN THE CORN BELT · A look at the a daylight work window was established after As of early June, nine six-axle M LWs re­ IndianaHI ·Rall . Kankakee BeaveNille & Southem. Memorial Day. This project has had a signifi­ mained active, with three others out of service 100min · Regular Price $38.95 ...... SALE $33.95 cant impact on schedules between St. Paul and pending disposition (M-636s 47 10, 4723 and FOX RIVER VALLEY RR . A former C&NWline in SE Chicago, although the early summer months are 4738). Forty C-424s are active at this time, Wisconsin,now port of theWC. 100 min · Regular traditionally one of the slower traffic periods of with 10 units retired this year (only the 4249 Price $38.95 ...... SALE $33.95 A the year. [t is hoped that trackwork, which in­ was retired prior to 1995). The unique RSD-17 ALCOS ON THE GBIkW. system·wide look at the Green BayWestem & & connecling RR's. 100 cludes new welded rail will be completed by 892 I has been retired because of worn trucks min · RegularPrice $38.95 ...... SALE $33.95 Labor Day and the start of the grain season. and related undercarriage problems. LTV STEEL ORE LINES · mining RR in North Eostem CP completed its new crew facility in The GP40 rebuild program at Shoreham has Portage, Wis., this spring and demolished the Minnesota · F9's . A1cos & Baldwin, Ship loading. 90 only two graduates thus far, the 4607 and 46 18. min · Regular Price $38.95 ...... SALE $33.95 former Milwaukee Road depot. The 4602 was erroneously reported as a rebuild, In other schedule modifications, CP has with former Milwaukee 2003 still gracing the YOUR MULTIPLE TAPE DISCOUNT changed its deployment of trains 370 and 371 rails in its distinctive 'bandit' scheme. Units between St. Paul and Glenwood, Minn. To re­ 2014, 20 16 and 2026 are undergoing surgery in 2·TAPES $61 .95 4·TAPES $1 15.95 duce terminal congestion in the Tw in Cities, Minneapolis at present, while the 2045 and 3·TAPES $89.95 5·TAPES $139.95 370 now handles industry cars bound for Min­ 2064 were returned to road service in May with­ WisconsnResIdents Add5% Soles Tax SHIPPING: 1 Tape· $4.00/2 ·$5.00/3 & Up·FREE neapolis destinations as well as Wisconsin out the benefit of a cosmetic makeover. Central interchange and Shoreham intermodal Thanks to Mike Blaszak, Mike Cleary, CP loadings. Conversely, 371 often originates at Limited, PI. Gratz, Fred !-!yde and Peter Humboldt Yard in Minneapolis, with through Phillips. cars moved west from St. Paul on the Hum­ boldt Transfer. Symbol 580 has been extended Karl Rasmussen again to Chicago, serving as a bypass train for �iET5';iiif· P.O. Box 217 . ALTOONA,WISCONSIN 54720 traffic from the Portal and Noyes gateways. MOTIVE POWER Leasers Hold Out Until GEs Arrive

As operating personnel await the delivery of new GEs later this year, CP continues to rely up­ on a fleet of leased locomotives that as of early June reached 200 units. While some Conrail and Helm units have been returned to their owners, CP has agreed to lease 16 locomotives from Morrison Knudsen, most of which were previ­ ously on the SP. As of early June, SD40 94 13 and SD45s 9511, 95 15, 9523, 9526, 9532 and 9536 were on the property, with SD45s 950 I, 9502, 9508, 9520, 9528, 9534, 9538, 9539 and 9541 expected by the end of the month. This

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BOOKS · VIDEOS A voided sample check with changes clearly marked. NAME ______Historical Society Magazines 3.1. A deposit slip 2. This order form completely filled out Daytime phone number: ( �. New and Used Checks are personal size and are top bound. One part deposit 4. For your protection checks ,,:::Cit! b-esCC"h ip--'-p""""ed t""'o te -he""' pri""-nte-'-d a-:dd-res-s u""-n te-s s 1468 Lee St . . Des Plaines, IL!ill 60018 � slips and check register are FRfE with each order. we are instructed otherwise. 708/297-2118 · Fax 708/298-4976

Pacific RAILNEWS -17 BOOKS ON EASTERN RAIL NEWS The RouteRA Of PhoebeILROADI Snow...... NG...... $24.95 by Shelden S. King Pennsy K-4's Remembered...... $ 6.95 Amtrak/Passenger by Frederick Kramer Electric Trains To Reading TerminaJ...... $17.95 by Wes Coates Zephyr) The Handsomest Trains In The World...... $15.95 BEST OF THE WEST sent, No. 6 (the eastbound is towed down to the depot in the mid-morning for by Greenberg & Kramer Coast Starlight Enhanced The Morristown & Erie Railway...... $ 8.95 loading, and No. 5 is towed back to the by Bob Pennisi coach yard in the afternoon after unloading. 26 Miles To Jersey City...... $ 8.95 Amtrak boosted the image of, and enhanced Those Capitols that no longer run through to by Pete Komelski the ambiance on, the Coast Starlight starting San Jose are also towed to the depot for Lehigh Valley Railroad Passenger Cars...... $13.95 May 26, when the consist was expanded to in­ loading, so it isn't immediately clear why the by Mickey & Warfel clude the Pacific Parlor car (a first class San Joaquins cannot be similarly handled. Railroad Stations Of New England Today lounge car), a third sleeping car, and a num­ Given the number of trains originating in Vol. 1 The Boston & Maine...... $ 7.95 ber of service perks. First class passengers en­ by Mark Beauregard. Oakland or Emeryville, it ought to be possi­ TIleNortheast Railroad Scene series joy complimentary continental breakfast, ble to have a stand-by Amtrak switch crew to (a brief look before Conrail) wine-tasting featuring local products, fresh handle all these moves. by Bob Pennisi flowers and a gift on departing (an embossed Meanwhile, the Capitols were not going to Vol. 2 The Lehigh & Hudson River...... $ 4.00 coffee mug, candy jar or clock). New menus run in push/pull mode until the food service Vol. 4 The Erie Lackawanna ...... $ 6.50 have been devised, and other improvements versions of the California cars were received Vol. 5 The Jersey CentraJ...... $ 6.00 will be coming in a few months. from Morrison-Knudsen. Although the trains Vol. 6 The Penn Central ...... $10.00 Working to make the Starlight the premier Change At Ozone Park ...... $18 .95 are presently using ex-Santa Fe El Capitan train in the West may help offset ridership de­ by Herbert George food service cars, apparently there is some clines and poor on-time performance. South­ concern that the brakes on these cars are in­ ern Pacific, which operates the train over compatible with push/pull operation. 1,100 miles of its trackage, is making a con­ certed effort to get the train back on time. SHORTS During the first month of the new program, timekeeping improved significantly, with a San Diegan Extension to StO? number of on-time arrivals. Work is under way toward extending one OAKLAND San Diegan per day from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo in October. Caltrans is New Depot Opens working with SP to build a layover facility at SLO. While all of the new stations may not The new Oakland depot offered an open be ready by opening day, work is progressing house May 20-2 1, and the new station offi­ in Grover Beach, Guadalupe, Surf and Goleta. NEWThe Hard BOOK Coal Carriers !!! - Vol. 1 cially opened for business on May 22. Unfor­ These are cities that Amtrak's Coast "First Generation Geeps" by Gerard Bernet...... $19.95 tunately, the San Joaquins were initially un­ Starlight does not serve. With the extension An 80 page book with 11 color plus 119 B&W photos of able to use the station because Southern Pa­ it is expected that California cars will debut GP-7, GP-9 & GP-18 locos of the CNJ, DL&W, Erie, cific refused to allow them to be backed up in Southern California. RDG, LV and EL. The book contains complete roster out of the coach yard and through busy Jack With the service cutbacks Amtrak has re­ info and detail data on each road's nnits. This is the London Square to the new depot. Pending moved from service and retired about 160 first in our series of books on the "Anthracite" carriers. resolution of this matter, the San Joaquins Others will be coming soon. Heritage cars. Additionally, about 35 high­ continued to originate at Emeryville. At pre- mileage F40s have been stored at Beech Grove; some from the 200-series had been as­ Hard Cover Books: signed out West for a long time. The fi rst group (200-229) are almost 20 years old and We are now handling total distribntion ofTri-State FIRST -CLASS RAILROAD PINS™ at the end of their service lives. Railway Historical Society books: Send S.A.S.E. fo r our catalog The Lackawanna Railroad in Northwest New Jersey Th anks to Ed Von Nordeck, Bill Fa m7el; by Lowenthal & Greenberg ...... $39.95 P./. Gratz, Don Bain, arlo Elfes, Brian Jenni­ Down Along The Old Bel-DeL...... $35.00 son, Chuck Halbrook and Shirley Stretch. by Warren Lee Dick Stephenson Photographs each Our catalog lists over...... 5500 different $2.50 steam, diesel, electric & trolley photos printed on 8x10 paper. The catalog also lists books of other publishers, videos and misc. railroadiana. Catatog.... $1.00 (free with order) Shasta Rail Group presents the 1990 - 1994 Southern Pacific Locomotive Roster (new catalog each March) - ORDERING INFORMATION: Coverage includes all pertinentdata on each unit including dispositions on locomotives Orders under $25.00add $2.00 postage& handling no longer on the system. Our Roster Subscriber Services include Roster Updates and New Jersey residents add 6% sales tax a Pre-Publication Discount on our 1995 Southern Pacific Annual, due in early 1996. (minimlllll $4.00) Foriegn orders add 10% for shipping ORDER YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TO THE SP ROSTER TODAY! 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18.August 1995 l video ·tapes at great prices! Rai from McMillan Publications S� � SUtee 1977

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Yesterday and Today . $15.75 REVELA TlONAUDIO VISUA L Algoma Central Railway . $23.95 Monongahela Railway . $23.95 Caritas Chronicles (two-tape set) . $41.95 CP Rail Conquers Rogers Pass . $23.95 New York Central Odyssey-Vol 1 (2 tapes) $59.95 THREE D'S RAIL VIDEOS CP Rail North of Superior . $23.95 New York Central Odyssey-Vol 2 (2 tapes) $59.95 Southern Pacific-South Texas Hot Shots . . $27.95 CP Rail's Big Alecs . $23.95 Nickel Plate and AC& Y . $23.95 TRA INS MAGAZINE CP Rail's Rogers - The Last Pushers . $23.95 Pennsylvania Railroad .. $31 .95 On Location - Cajon Pass .. $25.95 REVELA TION AUDIO VISUAL Rio Grande Odyssey (2 tapes) . $59.95 Penn Central .... $23.95 Rock Island Railroad . $31 .95 Rails on Vancouver Island . $23.95 Santa Fe Odyssey - Vol 1 (2 tapes) . $59.95 MIND'S I PRODUCTIONS Silver & Blue (VIA Rail) ...... •.. $23.95 Santa Fe Odyssey - Vol 2 (2 tapes) .. $54.95 Alaska - Steel Rails Midnight Sun . $30.60 To The Northern Lights (Churchill) . $23.95 Santa Fe Odyssey - Vol 3 (2 tapes) . $42.95 Alaska II-Where Trains Fly & Eagles Soar . $23.40 Towers: CSX's Living Relics ...... •.. $23.95 Steam in the 50's · Vols 1 and 3, each . $27.95 Alaska III - Giants in the Dark . 530.60 VIDEO RAILS (Pentrex) Steam in the 50's - Vol 2 . $1 9.95 OVERLOOK STATION Amtrak · The Surf Line ...... $23.95 The Way West - Vols 1 and 2, each .... $31 .95 Red Alcos, Green Mountains . $23.95 Battle for Donner Pass ...... $21.95 Union Pacific Odyssey - Vol 1 (2 tapes) . $54.95 PENTREX Beaumont Hill . . ..$23.95 Union Pacific Odyssey · Vol 2 (2 tapes) .. $54.95 Across Donner Summit . $28.95 Blue Mountains · Vols 1, 2 and 3, each . $23.95 GREG SCHOLL VIDEO PRODUCTIONS Across Marias Pass . $28.95 Cab Ride - Amtrak's Surf Line . $15.75 America By Rail ...... $1 9.95 Alaska Railroad . $31 .95 Cab Ride - Beaumont Hill ...... $15.75 Cab Ride Over Kicking Horse Pass . $23.95 Amtrak's Auto Train ...... $28.50 Cab Ride - Cajon Pass ...... $15.75 Cab Ride Through the Rockies Amtrak's Northeast Corridor-Vols 1 & 2, ea . $28.95 Cajon II ...... $23.95 Volurnes 1, 2 and 3, each . $23.95 Amtrak's Northeast Corridor - 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and Canadian 2921 Two Paths Drive 500 TItles in Stock U.S. • MasterCard Write for free list Credit Card Holders • Visa Woodridge, Illinois 60517-4512 Order Toll Free • Discover Illinois residents 1-800-344-1106 • American Express 24·Hour FAX 1·708·910·6791 Mon-Sat 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Sun 1:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Central Time add 6·3/4% tax Vo ice 1·708·910·6242 RAIL NEWS Regionals

GATEWAY WESTERN Q Tower Dispute Settled

On June 1, Gateway Western management breathed a big sigh of relief when a mile of disputed track in the St. Louis area finally car­ ried its first revenue traffic-more than three years after it was constructed. The track, near Q Tower in East St. Louis, departs the joint GWWRISouthern Pacific trackage to west, loops back to the east and crosses the GWWRISP and the Terminal Railroad Associ­ ation of St. Louis (TRRA) before connecting with Conrail and CSX trackage east of Q To w­ er. The problem was the TRRA crossing; the St. Louis terminal carrier-jointly owned by BN, CSX, IC, S, SSW and UP-contested GWWR's right to use the new crossing over its tracks in state and federal courts and be­ fore the ICC. TRRA lawyers have argued that Gateway's new Eastern connection would threaten TRRA's survival-though GWWR counters that TRRA has projected only a 3 percent drop in revenue resulting from the loss of GWWR business. The GWWR/TRRA crossing is built on land owned by GWWR and actually revives a former crossing torn out several years ago. GWWR received approval from the ICC last fall to operate the crossing, but TRRA's legal maneuvering successfully kept trains off the new track until a May 31 temporary restrain­ ing order in federal court gave Gateway the green light. The two railroads were due back in court to settle the permanence of GWWR's access, along with compensation to TRRA. GWWR has also fi led another suit against TRRA to recover its extra costs during the time the track wasn't used. Gateway Western President Reilly McCar­ ren would like to use the new connection to improve intermodal service to Kansas City from points in the East. GWWR plans to re­ open its K.C. intermodal ramp (closed since 1990) and hopes to soon offer 12-hour inter­ modal service between East 5 1. Louis and Kansas City. Building a premium intermodal base would be a welcome development for a regional that was battered by the floods of 1993, and will likely lose traffic in 1995 when its current benefactor, Santa Fe, seals its merg­ er with Burlington Northern.

Thomas B. Norman WISCONSIN CENTRAL On June 12, 1995, a VIP charter is seen west of Cyr, Mont., on the Montana Rail Link. Later Algoma Central Changes this summer, the will run between Sandpoint, Idaho and Billings, Mont. Montana Rockies Daylight Wisconsin Central has added an alphabetic prefix to freight trains on the Algoma Cen­ tral; they are as follows: AL, mainline freights AP, regular passenger trains; ASNOW, snow train; AY, yard assignments; and is new sleeper "Glacier Park" 10 rooms, 16 beds, ESELS · LOCOS - TROLLE AORE, ore trains between Steelton and full dining. lowest private rail costs DISCOUNT PRICES - FREE SHIPPING Michipicoten. On the passenger side of For details and availability send 51 to: - Ovcr 600 Ti ties - things, several ex-VIA FP9As will arrive later ADVANCED VIDEOS this year. They will be cannibalized to make TRANS-I P. o. BoxALPINE 5027, Helena, & MTSIE 59604RRA I BOX 588Z, KENSINGTON, MD 20895 seven opera ting locomotives, which wi ll

20· August 1995 wear Algoma Central colors. Several former cause of trains falling down on schedules along ment wi th Iowa Interstate. Reportedly, UP Algoma Central freight units have made trips UP's busy Nebraska main. However. two unusu­ wants to send as many as four trains per day into the U.S. al detours were run that were not UP trains. On over the IAIS to ease crowding on its east-west Finally, once commuter service is up and May 18. IAIS ran CP Rail train 430 west from main line across Iowa. UP has a long history running between Antioch and Franklin Park in Rock Island to Council Bluffs to avoid a derail­ with IAIS's former Rock Island main, notably early 1996, WC will add a fourth dispatcher's ment clean-up on the CP in southern Iowa: Soo the I 960s-era attempt to merge with Rock Is­ desk in Stevens Point. units 750. 743 and 60 17 led the way followed land to gain control of this line, and 1989's op­ by 93 cars. When the train arrived at Council tion to purchase the railroad, acquired as an in­ DM&E Bluffs, it went south on UP's Falls City Sub. On surance policy when C&NW became em­ May 23, IAIS ran a UP NPASE train from broiled in a nasty hostile takeover bid. Dakota Flooding Washes Out Line Council Bluffs to Des Moines, powered by UP Thanks to Keith NUl/brock, Sonny Sellers, 3495 and 4299, and CSX 8552. This train used Mike Udelhoven, Cindy George, NORTH weather and flooding damaged Dakota, Wet C&NW rails after Des Moines, running north WESTERN LiJlllTED, Fred /-Iye/e, Lance Wa les, Minnesota & Eastern trackage and hampered on the Spine Line to the east-west main. Kevin Angel, Allan I-iunt, TRA t'FIC WORLD and railroad operations in South Dakota this A report in the DES MOINES REGISTER in Paul Michelson. spring. Track was reported out-of-service be­ late June indicated that Union Pacific was in­ tween Mansfield and Northville because of wa­ terested in formalizing a trackage rights agree- Dave Kroeger ter over the rails. Maintenance gangs installed surface drainage pipe east of Wolsey after a section of track washed out. As a result of the flooding, track speeds were forced down to 10 mph or slower between Huron and Pierre. For the very best In "Arm Cha� In better news, South Dakota Governor Bill Railroading"yau can·t beat the Janklow has authorized a bill for the state De­ most researched boaKS on the market today from Four Way. parhllent of Transportation to acquire and im­ West Publica.tions. Great for prove facilities owned by the DM&E from near Rail Historians and Modelers Wessington to Box Elder, along with the Onida alike. To be Included In our reg· Branch. The trackage would later be leased back ular mailing drap us a letter or to DM&E, which would continue as operator. card today. Be sure to Include your name and address. - Dealer Inqu�les Invited - IOWA INTERSTATE Detours, Detours, Detours

Union Pacific (C&NW) detours on the Iowa In­ ----:r-PU(J.()/L-WBLICA�wexc-TIONS terstate were hit and miss during the month of POBox 1734-PN May. Many days, detours would be canceled, be- La Mirada, CA 90637

Now THERE IS A HANDY RESOURCE BOOK THAT PRESENTS TECHNICAL ASPECTS WITH THREE D'S RAIL VIDEOS PRESENTS Southern Pacific A FEELING FOR THE JOY OF _ _ • - - • STEAM LOCOMOTIVES. South Texas Hots hots Come along with us through south Texas on one of the most saturated lFKRKNG single track mainlines in the United States. In 105 minutes you'll see .A PA § § I[ 0 I\' iF 0H. over 80 trains, many hotshots at 70 mph. You'll see some trains with one unit, some with as many as ten. Our trip takes you over the diverse STEAM Texas landscape from the flatland at Englewood Yard in Houston, westward to Columbus where rolling hills are encountered all the way to Kirby Yard east of San Antonio. Highlights of this action packed video include: HIGH SPEED TOFC/COFC AUTO AND PARTS TRAINS By DARRELL T1LCOCK MANIFEST AND "Q" SERVICE A HANDBOOK WRITTEN By A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE FIREMAN MULTI UNIT ROCK TRAINS THE NOVICE 8: VETERAN MILITARY EQUIPMENT MOVES STEAM LOCOMOTIVE DEVOTEE

--- TO _ INSPIRE DEPTH 8: MEANING To AICLC COAL TRAIN THEIR STEAM ENCOUNTER AMTRAK SUNSET LIMITED ILLUSTRATED BY ERIC DUN'" Yo u can't afford to miss this video. It's vintage Southern Pacific at its EXPLICIT COMPONENT PHOTOS best. Filmed in Omnivision VHS. Available in VHS only. METICULOUS ARTWORK, 52 PGS. SEND $7.95 PLUS $1 .50 S&H TO: Send check or Money Order To: $3195 add $300 shipping, $100 each THREE D's RAIL VIDEOS additional tape. Area map and symbol Switch Stand Publishing P.O. Box 57867 4 reference included. Texas residents C( X Webster, TX 77598 �c �, 94510 add 7.25% sales tax. '!.> �� � �! Phone 71 3-286-4646

Pacific RAILNEWS.21 RAIL NEWS Burlington Northern

Trains 20 and 21 (Seattle-Birmingham) have been removed from the Central Coal Conidor and now operate via St. Louis, Minneapolis and the former Northern Pacific main line across North Dakota and Montana. The routing for No. 24 has also been altered, operating rrom Portland to Memphis via Denver. Train 44 (Seattle-Memphis) also operates via the Tw in Cities, departing on Saturdays and Sundays. With these changes, trains 13 and 14 were dropped between St. Louis and Minneapolis, although the numbers have been recycled to provide service in other corridors. Number 13 now departs Minneapolis for South Seattle on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, while No. 14 moves auto racks out of Portland for Chicago, Tuesday through Saturday. With this change symbol 34 has been abolished, al­ though o. 14 still moves empty intermodal equipment east to Chicago as required. A more significant change finds eastbound Sea-Land container trains 8 and 10 renum­ bered to 50 and 52, while Evergreen trains 26 Craig Williams and 28 are now designated 54 and 56. Be­ cause of these changes, train numbers 8 and 9 During June, Santa Fe assigned a number of locomotives to shore-up horsepower-hour debts have been designated to move intermodal traf­ owed to ON. On June 10, 1995, FP45 90 led ON No. 4 eastbound, seen at Plum River near Savanna, III. fic between Seattle and Spokane. In an early example of the new concept plan, BN moved 50 cars of Evergreen doublestacks through OPERATIONS train renumberings during May. The alter­ Minneapolis in nine hours on May 20, using ations also reflect changes in the market, as train numbers 54, 54AD and 56. Inter modal Schedules Reorganized Burlington Northern experienced a drop in In a minor manifest schedule change, o. intermodal loadings during April, with a 238 now originates out of Minneapolis, replac­ To improve the performance of its long-haul slight recovery during May. Some schedule ing the former Train 809 between that point intermodal trains between the Midwest and changes may reflect long-term plans in prepa­ and Willmar. Local 31842 now operates daily the Pacific Northwest, Burlington Northern ration for BN's integration with Santa Fe except Sunday out of Willmar, working as far implemented a series of route changes and schedules later this year. east as Northtown as required. CORPORATE NEWS Challenging UP for Oklahoma Coal Move

BN will now compete directly with UP for the contract to move low-sulfur coal to Public Ser­ vice of Oklahoma's plant in Oologah. Building a new 12-mile spur to the plant from BN's main line connection at Claremore cost $24 .(fj. �;jORIGIN.� AL. 1946

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22. August 1995 million (including 44,000 ties, 187 truckloads FLOODING tions in one day noted the first week of June. of 131-pound rail and 200,000 tons of ballast On May 20, for example, the G05NT depart­ and sub-ballast); the line was dedicated on Mississippi Closes Line Again ed Northtown with l06 loads powered by April 28. The utility expects to recoup its in­ M RL SD45 364 and SD40-2s 7007/8 100. vestment quickly as the result of stiff competi­ Hoping to avoid a disastrous summer of In an effort to keep priority UPS traffic tion between the two carriers. flooding similar to 1993, BN has rallied its moving on schedule, BN has issued a bulletin The volume of intermodal traffic moving engineering forces to shore up lines adjacent requiring four SD40-2s or a pair of the SDs through the Port of Tacoma was up 12 percent to the Mississippi River in Missouri that were and an LMX B39-8 on trains 2 and 4 between for first quarter 1995 over the same period last inundated in late May. As of May 27, 1995, the Northwest and Chicago. year. For the combined Puget Sound port facili­ 95 percent of the former Frisco route between The speed restriction in place through ties, 2.4 million 20-foot equivalent units were St. Louis and Memphis from Rush Island to Sauk Rapids, Minn., since mid-February (a re­ handled in 1994, and the amount is expected Cape Girardeau was flooded, and eight miles sult of a derailment involving train No. 34) to double by 2015. The ports also expect grain between West Alton and Machens were cov­ has finally been lifted, as new welded rail was shipments to reach lO million metric tons by ered by high water. Though maintenance installed at the location during May. the same year. Despite the projected growth, crews were prepared for this round of flood­ I n an effort to conserve crews and motive BN has yetto commit to a strategy for handling ing, repairs were to be completed 10-12 days power, BN has been operating long manifest increased traffic in the Pacific Northwest. after the flood waters subsided. trains upon occasion. Such was the case on Coal traffic projections on the Central Cor­ Persistent rains in North Dakota created June 4, as No. 207 departed Northtown with ridor continue to escalate, with daily move­ more problems for BN, as the vital New Rock­ 158 cars powered by GP28M 1594, GP38-2s ments between Alliance and Broken Bow, ford Cutoff between Fargo and Minot was im­ 236312367 and EMD SD40-3 2000. The head Neb., expected to average 45-50 this year, 53- paired with 43 slow orders relating to ground­ 64 cars were shorts for St. Cloud (no local 54 next year and 66-68 by 2000. It is antici­ water in the railroad subgrade. Over-zealous 31810 on Sunday), while 74 cars were des­ pated that this busy line segment will be en­ undercutting of the grade in recent years may tined for the yard in Dilworth, Minn. tirely double tracked within the next 10 years. have led to this particular set of problems. By Illinois Central SD40/SD40As continue to This year's grain carloadings may be signifi­ May 25, the number of speed restrictions had wander on BN, as the 6004 was noted in Min­ cantly reduced by wet weather in the Southern been reduced to nine. neapolis on May I I, while the 60 13 trailed BN Plains and portions of the Midwest. Portions of SD40-2 8129 and B30-7 AB 4026 on No. 208 Nebraska sustained up to a foot of rainfall dur­ OPERATIONS into Northtown on May 26. While Santa Fe ing May, and many fields were not yet planted units are commonly mixed on BN trains, re­ on Memorial Day. Harvesting of winter wheat Food, UPS Trailers on the Move built GP20 3049 was a surprise visitor on the crops in northern Texas and Oklahoma was also point of No. 18 at Staples, Minn., on May 27. delayed this year, with combining expected to A jump in grain prices allowed BN to enjoy an Thanks to Mike Bartels, Mike Blaszak, begin during the first week of June (or when unusual quantity of food products moving Mike Cleary, P.f. Gratz, Terry LaFrance, Mike fields dry out). BN has spotted grain hoppers on from grain elevators in Minnesota elevators to Robertson and TRAFFIC WORLD. sidings in this area, preparing to move the crop the Pacific Northwest. Symbol G05NT was upon harvesting to distribution terminals. heavily used during May, with up to three sec- Karl Rasmussen

'0' SCALE modellers can now have the best of these awesome EMD "SD70M" series locomotives in December of 1995. Along with the SP "SD70M" Overland will also be producing the Burlington Northern "SD70MAC," the Atchison, To peka & Santa Fe "SD75M" and the EMD Leasing "SD70M." Each of these exquisite handcrafted brass models by Ajin Precision of Korea will be powered by a Pittman can motor and have . roller bearIngs on all axles. Each will be factory and lettered, and equipped with lights. Mardan Photography

PacifiC RAILNEWS ·23 24. August 1995 Pacific RAILNEWS.25 west. Important secondary mains con­ polCes of the nected many smaller cities: Martinez and Tracy were connected by tlie Mococo Golden Wheel line; Tracy and Fresno were linked via Los Banos by the West Side line; and Davis and Te hama were connected via n years past, SP had many Jines that Williams by the West Valley line. 1n re­ covered most of central California. cent times, SF consolidated it..s Central Main lines connected the huge yard at Valley trackage by leasing the West Val­ IRosevi lle with Stockton, Fresno, and ley and a portion of the West Side to the Los Angeles to the south, Tehama, Eu­ California Northern. Meanwhile, the gene and Portland to the north, and Mococo Line has been mothballed indef­ Davis, Martinez, and Oakland to the initely for through traffic.

28. August 1995 With the ,Mococo Line under wraps, 'the shift in traffic away from the Centli,al several hot freights make the Oakland­ Corridor, the Hot Line is not as busy as it L.A. run by using the Cal-P from Oak­ once was. land to SacramelJto, then turning sbuth­ On a winter night in 1995, amidst a ward onto the Va lley Line, using the swiding fog at Anfelope, SP 9642 West south leg of the wye at Elvas Tower in awaits its crew (above). The previous Sacramento. The northern leg of the wye summer, a pair of SD7QMs haul a '1Jl ani­ heads to Roseville; Roseville marks the fest from Oregon through Sheridan, 20 beginning of East Valley line that leads to miles railroad east of Roseville on the Oregon. The line between Elvas and the East Valley Line (opposite page, botfom). west end of Roseville yard at Antelope is In autumn 1983', when the Cal-P was a known as the "Hot Line;" it was once the bu ier railroad, 4333 West meets a\1 east­ busiest line on the SP system. Because of bound at Dixon (opposite page, top).

Pacific RAILNEWS·27 I'" ,:;;:� -�' -;:- Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Railroad, built by Claus Spreckles and company with �yCrossings the single 'purpose of breaking SP's stran­ n the 10 miles between Lathrop and EI glehold on the valley, built its Jine through Pinal, SP's track crosses those of its ri­ town. Lastly, the Western Pacific built par­ vals three times. The most famous of allel to the SP, crossing it at EI PinaL Later Ithese diamond crossings is 2.5 miles south the SF&SJV became Santa Fe's Valley line, of EI Pinal at Santa Fe's Stockton To wer. while WP was merged into UP. The tower sits in the southeast corner of In the presep.t as well as in memories, SP's intersection with Uncle John's road . the tower crossing carries an uncommon SP was the first railroad built through mystique. A radio conversation between a Stockton-as part of the original transcon­ train anCi Jhe tower might go like tinental line that continued westward over this-with an SP train calling for p'ermis� ' , Altamont Pass. Following the Sp, the San sion to cross the busy diamonds: ;" ,.ok"'·' '''

28· August 1995 "Santa Fe Stockton To wer, SP 8617 Santa Fe 609 West (opposite page,

We st. " inset) might just be the train rattling the "Santa Fe Stof;kton To wer. " . diamonds that the tower op@rator spoke . "SP westbound, Santa Fe To wer. SP west­ off. The SF eastbound IS out of sight bound, please. " around a curve, and the westbound is 'Tll have to hold you fo r a fe w minutes .. holding 'at the interlocking signal. behind sir. I've got a Santa Fe going through the us. After the westbound San Joaquin plant; and both Amtraks are due in about (opposite page, main photo) rolls across five min1Jfes. " , the junction-its P32s an� Sc(;}lcbIite visi­ "Santa Fe Stockton T() wel� SP 9800 East, ble in front of the tower-the two SPs will we copied that. We 'll hold here fo r both continue the show. At EI Pina1, a UP east­ Amtraks. Anything after that?" bound (aboiVe)', .surging 'forward, hugs "No, 1 should be able to get you through SP's maih (visible in the foreground) for after Amtrak. " one-half mile before crossing it.

Pacific RAILNEWS-29 Through the· 1970s, .8 joint A1'&SF­ WP-BN rOldtil'lg over the Inside Gateway moved a considerable amount of tJ:affic, wing largely to the direction of ex­ presenting a challenge to SP's mare-di­ pansion in the 19th century, rail­ rect path. However, in the' 1990s it is· '0 . roads in the weste,m U.S. are mostly only SP's superior r,oote that has �n­ east-west affairs. Most 0f the hot revenue dured the test of c0mp€hition. ·1\:8 B"N traffidn the U.s; today flows in this direc­ and Santa Fe prepar�d· for marriage in tion, but because of SP's northward expan­ 1995, SP saw an opportunity to expand sion to Portland, Oregon, and its route its territory. It hoped to gain a foothold over the Tehachapi' Mountains south to Los in the lucrative business moving iro'll Angeles, me common east-wes� movement Washington State by seek�n g trackage has not been' the only important traffi(i; pat­ rights over the B from Portland tQ tem in SP's celebtated history. Of the big Seattle as a condition of merger. SP's re­ Westem roads, only SP has a direct, truck­ quest was denied by ttte 1nterstate Com­ competitive route along the West Coast. merce Commission, and the merger pro-

30· August 1995 Pacific RAILNEWS-31 � ntelope herder, SP 9803 We st. " , ��Antelope herder, go ahead 9803. " "Yeah, we're ready to depart out 'ihe bypass. " "OK, come Qn up and we'll getcha out of here. rue got an east man coming out of Sacramento, ' but J'lL hold him 'til you get -through. " "Thankyou. We 're on the move! "

e hollow, high-pitched scream of EMD 710s fills the air at Antelope as 9803 West passes under the long shadow of a signal bridge. The failing sunlight is just strong enough to cast an orange' hue on the huge nose of the locomoti:ve's comfort cab, both the heac!llight and ,ditch tights blazing like the floodlam s at a twilight baseball game. The copductor) 'anli engineer are still set­ ling in and\acquainting themselves with ttheir charge. 'On tre drawbar is neither hot pig or container traffic, nor is it the smooth roll of a unit train of either coal or wheat. The train is a mi�ed manifest of lumber and other traffic. Assigning precious new power to such marginal trains on a regular basis might seem somewhat questi on­ able-unless, of course, such trains are clearly adding to SP's bottom line or to SP's reputation as a reliable on-time carri­ er. In, a few minutes, the end-of-train de­ Vice fades into the dusk. In 1995, with new power on-line and tJiaffic to haul, SP's Golden Empire is still on the move-but where is it headed? Will It be absorbed by a more vibrant ca):rier like UP? Will pieoes of it be spun off to a Jiegionili like California Northern or sold to Caltrans or Amtrak? Will SP merge with an Eastern road-thus changing the whole complexion of raih:oading in central Cali­ fornia? Moreover, is it sunrise or sunset for this historic portion of the once-proud SP? Given how fa st change seems to be occur­ ring in the industry, all these questions are relevant, and answers probably aren't far down the road. PRN

32-August 1995 Pacific RAILNEWS.33 •••••••••••••••••• • ••••••••••••••••••••• Images fred matthews' sp

1111photos these pages, FredMatthews

red Matthews photographed South­ Class I carriers on the Pacific Coast, ern Pacific operations extensively in and the Bay Area featured heavy SP F the steam-to-diesel transition peri­ steam later than other areas. As opera­ od. Southern Pacific's steam operations tions were converted to diesel, SP held on longer than those of the other transferred steam locomotives to Oak-

34-August 1995 Photo courtesy Sundance Publications

tives. While SP operating personnel of­ ten refered to the ACs as Mallets, SPs term was inaccurate as the locomotives were not true Mallets but simple articu­ lateds. Southern Pacific steam opera­ tions ended on Oct. 19, 1958, though steam remained in use on some affiliat­ ed lines until 1959. The last common carrier narrow gauge west of the Rio Grande in Col­ orado was SP's three-foot-gauge Carson & Colorado, which ran from Mound House near Lone Pine, Calif., to Mina, Nev. Abandonment of the narrow gauge began in 1932, but 70 miles of the line were active until April 1960, when SP abandoned this curious, re­ mote segment of its system. Seen south of Owenyo, Calif., an SP train heads for Keeler on July 17, 1959 (above). land for service. On Nov. 17, 1956, In 1958, a set of SD9s wearing SP's AC-10 No. 4222 leads an extra west­ "black widow" paint passes a pair of bound at Port Costa, Calif. (main pho­ Harriman era lower quadrant to). SP rostered 40 AC-10s, one of sev­ semaphores on the Siskiyou line at eral classes of cab-ahead steam locomo- Montague, Calif. (opposite page, inset).

Pacific RAILNEWS.35 n 1958, SP began looking for a way to simplify its paint schemes. I In those experimental times, SP E9 6048 briefly wore the SP "black widow" freight scheme-it was the only E-unit ever painted this way. On June 8, 1958, the uniquely painted E9 leads an E7B and an Aleo PA with the Lark at Dayton A venue Tower at Taylor Ya rd in Los Angeles (above). Six weeks after this photo was taken the SP debuted its scarlet-and-gray paint and one of the units so adorned was the 6048, making this color pho­ to exceptionally rare.

On Jan. 15, 1966 a trio of GP35s leads a westbound at Ferrum, Calif., past the Salton Sea (left). The man-made Salton Sea was inadvertently created at the turn-of-the-century when a diversion of Colorado Rivel� designed to irrigate the Imperial Va lley, raged out-of-control fi lling the below-sea-Ievel Salton Sink. SP was forced to relocate its main line sever­ al times to avoid the rising water; eventu-

30- August 1995 ally the railroad assisted in the effort to number boards on locomotives for train stop the flow of the Colorado. number, rather than locomotive num­ The Russell era saw a decline in pas­ ber, a practice that lasted later on the senger service on the SP. On May 10, Peninsula Commute service. 1964, a two-car train No. 1 (above), Two GP9s lead a westbound across running as the consolidated Golden the Suisun Bay Bridge on Sept. 11, 1956 State and Sunset Limited (the trains (following pages). In the early 1960s the were combined at EI Paso), makes a sta­ bridge that carries 1-680 was built adja­ tion stop at West Palm Springs, Calif. cent to the railroad, making photographs Until the mid- 1 960s, SP reserved the at this location more difficult.

Pacific RAILNEWS-37 '/ .

...... � .. ges .. . · · · · �.;�. � : �.� . Ima h ;; b j.; h · s··

All photos these pages, Herb Johnson

n May 1969, Southern Pacific FP7 cant location because it was the origi­ 6447 leads the Pacific Railroad So­ nal terminus of the Big Four's I ciety's Centennial Special, pausing transcontinental railroad. at Sacramento, Calif., en route to In October 1972, a GE U33C leads a Utah for the 100th anniversary of the helper set westbound through Walong completion of transcontinental rail­ at the Te hachapi Loop (top right). Be­ road (above). Sacramento is a signifi- tween 1968 and 1975 SP invested

40. August 1995 fornia and points east, but very rarely strayed north or east of Roseville. De­ spite their numbers, the GEs did not perform well when compared to their EMD counterparts; while many six-axle EMDs from that era remain in service today, all the GEs have been retired. Speaking of six-axle EMD power, new SP SD45 9009 lays over at Ro­ seville, Calif. , in May 1969 (below). SP had the largest all-time roster of lo­ comotives powered by EMD's 20- cylinder 645 prime mover and SP still maintains more of these locomotives than any other railroad. In the 1980s SP rebuilt many SD45s at its Sacra­ mento shops and subsequently renum­ bered the locomotives in the 7400 and 7500 series.

heavily in six-axle GEs, ordering more than 200 U30Cs and U33Cs. Taylor Yard was the home shop for SP GEs until the late 1970s when the GEs' base was relocated to Pine Bluff, Ark. The six-axle GEs were frequently used in heavy freight service in southern Cali-

Pacific RAILNEWS-41 " """"" ' ' Ima ges""b ';; �'�' 'j';��' i; ';�',';' s �

All photos these pages, Brian Jennison

ear Taylor Yard, on Sept. 22, westbound through Niles Canyon on 1980, an SD7 with a transfer the original Central Pacific main via Al­ N move starts across the Los Ange­ tamont Pass (opposite page, bottom). les River as a mainline train arrives SP preferred to route this train, which from the east (opposite page, top) . This hauled cement loads to a facility in Fre­ view was taken near Dayton A venue mont, over the Altamont Pass line Tower from the winding road leading to rather then sending it on either the Mo­ Elysian Park in Los Angeles. coco line or the Cal-P line. By taking On Nov. 2, 1980, SP 4360 leads an the mountain crossing, SP saved a crew MJOAL (Mojave to Oakland unit train) and the train had far less distance to

42. August 1995 travel. The cement loads and the east­ evening sun, many changes lay on the bound empties were the last regular horizon for SouthernPacific (main trains using this historic route in early photo). SP purists bemoan recent al­ 1983 when mud-slides and washouts terations in the SP paint scheme and closed the line to through traffic. SP the removal of the marker lights, gy­ never repaired the Altamont Pass route rating head lights and red warning and abandoned it in the mid-1980s. lights on SP locomotives. The "classic On Aug. 13, 1982, when this east­ SP" is fading off into history, though bound, skirting San Pablo Bay at the railroad remains an independent Pinole, Calif., caught the glint of the force in the West. PRN

Pacific RAILNEWS-43 44. August 1995 •

The most mountainous mountain railroad in the We st?

By Daniel J. Sheets

t's a warm, summer night in the Oregon Cascades, LEFT: An eastbound not a cloud in the sky-no sign of a st01111 in sight. descends Southern The stars are shining and the moon is full. At Odell Pacific's Cascade I Lake, off Oregon Highway 58, the sound of water crossing between lapping against the lake shore and the splashing of Fields and Wicopee, kokanee salmon is heard. It's time to retire to your sleep­ Ore., on Aug. 11, ing bag, glance up at the stars fa ll asleep. The wind is 1987. James A. still. Without warning, you awake to what sounds like a Speaker photo clap of thunder rolling down the mountain. It's not. The ABOVE: In the 1950s ground shudders and the Douglas fir trees sway to the an SP AC-G leads a storm of power. Your ears distinguish a high-pitched loaded train near whining and short, continuous spurts of metal wheel Oakridge. Walt barreling down on metal rail. It echoes across the lake. Paschelke photo, The sound of the storm all but runs you over, the crying courtesy Tom Dill of dynamics suddenly drops to a murmur and then si­ lence. Was it an evening thunderstorm? No, it was the SP bringing a heavy train over the Cascades.

Pacific RAILNEWS-45 Jamie Schmid

SP in the Cascades line on Dec. 17, 1887, it was obvious that another route is railroading in a Historical Context would eventually have to be located. cloud. Passing The Cascade line, like many Southern Pacific ventures, In 190 I Edward Henry Harriman assumed control of through tunnel 1 0, a has a complex and convoluted history. The first main the Southem Pacific empire. Harriman saw great poten­ westbound crosses line to Oregon from California was not SP's Cascade tial in the SP system and he implemented many improve­ the Noisy Creek line but rather the Siskiyou line, located further west. ments to its properties. This vision included plans for a The Siskiyou was a flawed route completed in haste by new line to Oregon, and to bring Harriman's plans to bridge between SP affiliate Central Pacific. CP had elected not to use the fruition SP incorporated the Oregon & Eastern Railway Frazier and Cruzat­ survey of the Siskiyou's original builder, the Oregon & with the sole purpose of building a new main line. te, amidst typical California Rail Road, and instead opted to employ SP Though Harriman died in 1909, many of the programs he Oregon weather on Chief Engineer William Hood to provide an alternate so­ set into motion continued to change the face of Western July 17, 1983. lution. The results of this rush to complete a through railroading for years. By 1909 tracks had been completed route to Portland was a sinuous, steep mountain cross­ to Klamath Falls, Ore., from the junction with the ing, featuring 3 percent grades, rather then the O&C's Siskiyou line at Black Butte, Calif.-though portions of planned route that would have featured more favorable this segment were poorly constructed and would later be 2.2 percent grades. Even at the completion of the Siskiyou rebuilt as the Black Butte cutoff. The Cascade line was

46· August 1995 LEFT: The rising sun illuminates the east switch at Cruzatte, viewed from the top of tunnel S. BELOW: An eastbound drifts downgrade at mile­ post 559.7 near Wicopee on Sept. 28, 1988. In the au­ tumn, the ever­ green forests of Willamette Pass are accented by spots of deciduous color.

also known as the Natron cutoff, the name stemming from the town of Natron, Ore., located along the route. Until 1910, Natron was at the end of a branch that would later become the northern portion of the Cascade line. In building this significant mountain railroad, SP had to SUlmount considerable political and geographic obstacles. Difficulties came from competing railroad ventures by the Hill interests and problems stemming from the separation of Harriman's Union Pacific and Southern Pacific empire. In addition, construction challenges resulted from the rugged nature of the telTain traversed. Work on the Cas­ cade line was suspended in 1913 when the SP was saddled with fe deral antitrust lawsuits regarding its control of the Central Pacific. These suits delayed several important pro­ jects, including the conshuction of the Natron cutoff, for nearly a decade. In 1923 the courts decided that the SP Jamie Schmid

Pacific RAILNEWS-47 Inset ScaleL­

o

PRIMARY FOREST ROUTE -fill-� FOREST ROAD -@it- SECONDARY FOREST ROAD .. FOREST CAMPGROUND SP MAIN X FAILED EQUIPMENT DETECTOR �B!""+i�_iiii'" CREEK � STATE ROUTE DAM CONTOUR INTERVAL 300 FEET ��

MAP BY DEAN SAUVoLA, DANiEl J. SHEETS, BRIAN RUTHERFORD AND BRIAN SOLOMON

and CP could coexist and SP, now under the helm of tance was superseded by the Cascade Chainnan Julius Kruttschnitt, resumed work on the Cas­ line it remained as a secondary SP route cade line. By 1925 tracks were complete on the portions of for many years. SP sold the Siskiyou to Rail­ railroad between Black Butte and Cascade Summit (eleva­ Tex's California Oregon & Pacific subsidiary in De­ tion 4,840 feet) and between Oakridge and Eugene, Ore. cember 1994. The last 44 miles of railroad from Oakridge to Cascade Summit, with its 3,600 foot ascent of Willamette Pass, was the most difficult portion to construct. Makingthe Grade Finally, Harriman's dream was realized as the Cas­ The Cascade line, with its long steep grades, has always cade line was officially completed on Aug. 7, 1926, after required the use of helpers to assist heavy trains. In years of construction and an exceptional expenditure of more than $39 million. The line opened to local freight service on Sept. 1, 1926, and was not fully serviceable until the spring 1927, when through passenger service was introduced. The Cascade line, with 29 tunnels, snowsheds and numerous steel trestles, was a vast improvement over the older Siskiyou line. In comparison to the Siskiyou, the Cascade displays a much higher level of engineering, and a substantial improvement in rail service. The Cas­ cade route is 25 miles shorter than the Siskiyou line be­ tween Black Butte and Eugene and the ruling grade on the Cascade line is 1.8 percent (with compensatation for curvature) versus 3.1 percent on the Siskiyou. (The as­ cent to Cascade Summit is the longest continuous grade on the SP system-a short downgrade between Colfax and Long Ravine on the westbound ascent to Donner Pass in California prevents the more famous grade from claiming the title.) Although the Siskiyou line's impor- James A. Speaker

48· August 1995 1" Cascade Subdivision Overview

CO&P-CALIFORNIA, OREGON & PACIFIC

On June 22, 1986 a set of light helpers heads east past Odell Lake near Cascade Summit. Helpers normally cut on at Cascade Summit following a 1" westward shove. miles1.5

Pacific RAILNEWS.49

Above and left photos, Scott Bontz

1927 shortly after the Cascade line was complete, SP OPPOSITE PAGE: An finished the new Eugene yard. To day, the 363-acre facili­ afternoon west­ ty is the largest classification yard in Oregon and SP's bound (heading geo­ principal center of operations in the state. Train crews, graphically south­ locomotives and helpers are all based out of Eugene. east) climbs to­ Historically, helpers were based out of Oakridge at the wards tunnel 21 base of the steepest portion of the Cascade ascent, but near McCredie the Dexter line change around Lookout Reservoir, which Springs on Sept. 19, added a short rise in the Cascade clim b, has made it 1994. ABOVE: A more practical for helpers to work out of Eugene. The main working toward Cascade summit is consid­ westbound's mid­ ered westbound, despite the fact that for most of climb train helper works the tracks are heading geographically southeast-this toward tunnel 11, confusing arrangement adheres to the standard SP prac­ between Frazier and tice of measuring all distances from the Ferry Building Cruzatte on Sept. Blair Biot Kooistra in San Francisco. Thus a train climbing 'the hill' out of 19, 1994. LEFT: The Eugene would be called a 'westman' by the crews. Cascades grades Generally helpers either leave Eugene yard ahead of Everyday trains climbing the hill require the assis­ are no match lor tance of helpers. In general temls, trains weighing more the "westman" they are to assist, or if the helpers are this big puller, seen than 5,000 tons normally require helpers. SP's helper use already on the hill they drop down to meet their train has become more conservative in recent years. Tradition­ at a siding designated by the SP dispatcher. Typically, at tunnel 11 on Aug. ally, a typical 9,000-ton train would have three modem when the helpers are cut in at Dougren, the train is 28, 1991. six-axles on the point and five similar units placed mid­ split in two and the head end locomotives pull the first train. These days, the prevailing philosophy finds a typi­ half of the train up past the crossovers beyond the Ore­ cal train climbing the hill with two or three six-axles on gon Highway 58 bridge. The crew positions the helpers the point and just three or four mid-train. Helpers may in front of crossover, flips the switch back from siding be placed on the point, mid-train or on the rear depend­ to mainline running and shoves back to couple to the ing on the weight and make-up of the train. The most back half of the train. common arrangement finds the helpers placed mid-train, Once coupled with the back half, the helper engineer making the Cascades one of the few places left in the shoves forward to couple with front half. When the train country where manned mid-train helpers are a daily oc­ is assembled, an air test is performed and the head-end currence. Helpers are commonly cut in at Dougren, and engineer calls the train dispatcher, then waits for a clear occasionally Judkins or Fall Creek Junction. signal to proceed up the hill. Working together, the

Pacific RAILNEWS-51 takes an SP westbound two and half to three hours to climb the "hilL" Helpers are usually cut out at either at Cascade Summit or Crescent Lake. Once done with their shove, the helpers drop back down the main line light to start the whole helper cycle once again.

Modern Dispatching on a Mountain Railroad The Cascade line is a relatively busy stretch of railroad. In an average 24-hour period 16-18 freights and Amtrak Nos. 11 and 14, the Coast Starlight, wind their way over this rugged mountain pass. Light engine moves to ferry helpers back downgrade and other essential, non-rev­ enue trains also traverse this principle SP mainline grade. In summer, the Forest Service's mandated water train can be found working the line to minimize fi re danger. In winter, spreaders and f1angers work to help keep the line clear. It is not unusual to find a work train out on the line mid-week. The person responsible for di­ recting traffic on the hill and keeping the line fl uid is SP WS68, the train dispatcher in Denver. Like most SP main lines, the Cascade line is equipped with Centralized Traffic Control, a remote system where the dispatcher has direct control of absolute signals and power switches, and the movements of trains are gov­ erned by signal indication. SP was early to embrace CTC and a number of its main lines featured CTC installations by the end of World War II. However, the Cascade line was a somewhat later installation, implemented in 1954. As with the majority of Southern Pacific CTC systems, the Cascade line features Union Switch & Signal search light hardware. The astute fan will make an effort to cap­ ture on film the traditional search lights before SP re­ places these signals with more modern color lights-a change that is being made systemwide. Before the CTC was installed, trains on the Cascade line were operated by timetable and train order. In those days train order stations were located all along the Cas­ cade line between Eugene and Crescent Lake, while dis­ patching offices for the Cascade Line at Portland, Eugene and Klamath Falls. Following the CTC project, SP con­ solidated its Oregon dispatching offices at Eugene yard. Jamie Schmid In 1989 SP made a regional dispatching consolidation by moving all of Western Region dispatching desks to Ro­ A KFEUM (Klamath head-end and helper begin the grind up the 0.8 percent seville, Calif. [n August 1994 SP consolidated all of its Falls-Eugene mani­ grade. Railroad cars creep ever so slowly as the head­ dispatching desks to a single ofrice in Denver. Now, from fest) is eastbound at end units pull out the slack before the helpers begin to the third floor of the new Southern Pacific offices at Heather on May 19, shove. The mid-train units slam forward and push the 1860 Lincoln Street in the Mile High City, trains are dis­ 1988. Seen above cars in front of them while hauling the remainder of the patched across the far-flung SP system. However, for the the train are the train in tow. In the struggle to tackle the grade, passing train climbing the grade in the Cascades, it makes little automobiles on Highway 58 are buried in a storm of concrete snowsheds difference whether the dispatcher is just down the line or black diesel smoke. It's all uphill from here! The meat of between tunnels 10 1,200 miles away as long as the job is done safely and ef­ the grade begins at Oakridge, and continues to Cascade ficiently. A dispatcher can clear a signal in the Cascades and 11, which this Summit. This is 44 miles of pure hill and even the best­ as easily from Denver as he can from Eugene. eastbound passed maintained locomotives strain on their way up. through 35 minutes At Pryor, railroad west of Oakridge, the average earlier. speed of most westbound helper trains drops to 20-25 Enjoying the Cascades mph. West of the west switch at Heather-the loca­ One way to experience scenic splendor of the Oregon tion of the often-photographed Salt Creek Bridge-the Cascades and operating drama of SP's Cascade line is railroad crosses the high steel trestle over Highway with a scanner, a few friends, and a reliable vehicle. An 58, and swings south and away from the highway in early start-5 or 6 in the morning-is the best way to its ascent of the mountain. Heather is the beginning of go. Ty pically, the busiest day on Cascade line is Satur­ one of the most fa scinating portions of the Cascade day. Often, it's worthwhile to swing by Eugene yard be­ route. Between Wicopee and Cruzatte the railroad fore heading out. With the motive power situation in a transverses 15 of the 19 Cascade line tunnels, several state of flux these days, you never know what may tight curves, various bridges, and "snow shed alley" await you. Could there be SD70Ms are on the point of on its way to the summit. ear the summit at Aber­ train and set of DASH 9s as helpers? Probably not, but nethy-where the deepest snow can be found in the one can dream. At any rate, if you have the burning de­ winter- is tunnel 3, the last on the line. Listening to sire to hit the yard before heading out, take Interstate a heavy train exit tunnel 3 on its push for the summit 5, exit on west Beltline Road and then drive five miles is a tremendous show of sound and smoke. I t normally to the Northwest Expressway exit and take it. The

52· August 1995 Daniel J. Sheets

Northwest Expressway runs parallel to Eugene yard. In the early morningit' s not unusual to see one of the hot pig trains changing crews. Don't waste too much time at the yard; head up the mountain to where the action is. Reverse course for 1-5 and take the interstate south to Highway 58. From High­ way 58 it is simple to access many locations to watch trains and take photographs. Leaving Eugene, Dougren, where helper are put on west trains, is the first place to stop. This is an interesting place to hang out and watch the railroad operate. Ye t, the best show lies upgrade. The main line around Lookout Reservoir will see some 50-60 mph running. Be careful if you're following a train, the Oregon State Police do not appreciate high-speed chases-besides the best mountain railroading is down the road a stretch. Heather is a fun place to experience a train storming upgrade or winding down the hill with dynamic brakes howling. Heather is easy to access on foot or by car-be­ cause the bridge crosses Highway 58, you can't miss it. Long after a westbound train passes, the sounds of it climbing can be heard for miles. The more adventurous fan may wish to explore the network of gravel forest Daniel J. Sheets roads in the area, many of which eventually find their way to the tracks. A good place to start is the 5884 road time to setup. Wa tching a westbound train climb TOP: On April 15, that leaves Highway 58 from the south side just past through Tunnel 3 is a real treat. It's the last tunnel on 1995 a three-unit Salt Creek bridge. Some of the best railroading in the the line, easy to get to-take the west Odell Lake ac­ helper works up Cascades lies off the beaten path; just use care when cess-and it's well worth the effort. through Cruzatte on driving these roads as their condition can vary greatly Any number of SP mountain crossings are better its way to the Sum­ and they are frequently traveled by logging trucks. known than the Cascade line, but once you visit you'll mit. ABOVE: Amtrak If you are not interested in venturing beyond the wonder why this fa ntastic rail line has remained in ob­ in the Cascades. The pavement there are other enjoyable options. It is easy to scurity for so long. Well, the secret is out: The Oregon L.A.-bound beat a westbound freight to Tu nnel 3 at Cascade Sum­ Cascades are one of the greatest railroad locations any­ Coast mit. The railroad winds up over Willamette Pass, while where in the West; the spectacular mountain scenery, Starlight is between Highway 58 takes a more direct route. There is plenty of cosmic weather conditions and dramatic railroad opera­ Lookout and WesUir time to get to a good photo location near the summit in tions are hard to beat. PRN on April 22, 1995.

Pacific RAILNEWS·53 ,

Text and photography by Sean Zwagerman

PREVIOUS SPREAD: he sun rises above the eastern slope of the Gabilan lantern. The damp air supports the beam of a headlight The Santa Cruz local Mountains, bringing the jagged outline of The Pin­ casting along a row of boxcars, black and brown and crosses La Selva nacles into dramatic silhouette. Below and to the shining from the night's rain; they roll past on their own trestle at Manresa, Twest lies the Salinas Va lley, without warmth or color. in eerie silence. The form of a battered locomotive ap­ Jan. 17, 1986. The fog weighs like a cold, heavy blanket on the broad pears, faded gray and streaked with ru st. A rectangle of ABOVE: A heavy train valley, the quilt of fields, and the arched backs of the la­ fresh paint covers over the words "Southern Pacific" as borers. As the morning lightens, shapes begin to emerge if the railroad is ashamed to claim the old switcher as of cement cars out of the mist in shades of gray and muted colors: rails one of its own. Its metallic heartbeat brings the scene to leaves Davenport on of silver and rust; a freight station with peeling gray­ life, and the sudden slamming of the boxcars shakes the Jan. 18, 1985. green paint, its moss-covered roof swayed beneath the earth, waking the landscape from its foggy sleep. Loco­ fog; the dim outline of a switchman, ghostlike with his motive 3836 is piecing together this morning's Soledad

SP's Santa Cruz Branch

- SOUTHERN PACIFIC TRACKAGE - SANTA CRUZ, BIG TREES & PACIFIC RAILWAY STATE ROUTES

56. August 1995 Local, assembling boxcars and refrigerator cars for the valley's packing houses. From the far end of Salinas yard, a set of three locomotives rolls slowly down to­ ward the east end and stops in front of the station. The hostler appears hauling a bucket of ice up onto the lead unit and then disappears back into the depot. The Soledad Local evaporates into the fog as it rattles out of town, and stillness settles again on the yard. "Are you the engineer?" the conductor asks me as I walk into the station. Honesty and better judgment get the upper hand on the boyhood fantasies that came to mind, and [ answer that [ unfortunately was not the engineer. "Oh. 'Cause we don't have an engineer for the Santa Cruz, and they're supposed to be sending somebody down. I thought maybe you were him." "[ wish I was," [ respond wistfully. The expectation on the faces of the railroad men gives way to indiffer­ ence as they realize [ am just a photographer. I return to my car and wait. And wait. And worry. "What if no one shows up, and they annul the run?" But like fish­ ing or cheering for the Mets, train watching is a hobby for the patient and hopeful.

EVENTUALLY, THREE MEN come out of the station and hoist their bags onto GP40-2 7631. They climb aboard and ride down to the west end of the yard, where they couple the locomotives onto a long string of coal cars. The hostler's voice comes over the radio, "Highball the air test, 763 1." Soon the Santa Cruz Local is under way. About 20 miles of main line connect Salinas with the beginning of the Santa Cruz Branch at Watsonville Junc­ tion. Train 763 1 West passes trucks loaded with lettuce and strawberries on the parallel highway. Not slowing at all as the train blasts through the peeling, rusting town of Castroville, whose grand arch declares "The Artichoke Capital of the World." Rows of the low, spike-leafed plants become a blur of radiating lines as the train passes Del Monte Junction and the Monterey Branch at 60 mph. Near the old siding of Elkhorn, the Coast Line dips briefly below sea level at milepost 114, then fo llows the winding course of Elkhorn Slough toward Watsonville. Here the fog releases its icy hold on the morning, and steam rises from the water in the hazy sunlight. A distant horn and the beating of wings on water announce the ap­ proach of the train, which appears from around a corner and rolls across the slough on a long trestle. After wind­ ing through a short, narrow canyon, the local emerges in­ to the broad expanse of the Pajaro Va lley and nears the Leaving Watsonville, the tracks arc northward away SP 7632 leads the east end of the yard at Watsonville Junction. Entering the from the roads beyond rows of cabbage and Brussels eastbound local, yard limits at Watsonville the Santa Cruz local contacts sprouts. (As is often the case on the Southern Pacific, the hauling coal for Dav­ the Monterey local using the radio. compass needle and the railroad timetable point in oppo­ enport, on Beach "Santa Cruz Local calling the Monterey Local. Where site directions on the Santa Cruz Branch concerning Street in Santa Cruz, you guys at?" "east" and "west." Throughout this article. directions will between Casino and "We're on Walker Street." refer to compass directions.) From here. the Santa Cruz Santa Cruz yard, on "Which way are you going?" Local will travel 30 miles westward to the tiny coastal Nov. 18, 1994. "Into Watsonville. Where are you?" town of Davenport, along one of the most beautiful and "We're just coming onto the branch." historic rail lines in CaliFornia. Millions of board-feet of "Okay, we'll get out of the way for you." redwood have traveled spidery narrow-gauge trestles down the canyons of the Santa Cruz Mountains, then THE SANTA CRUZ LOCAL leaves the Coast Line at Wat­ along this route to Wa tsonvi lle Junction and beyond. sonville Junction and crosses the Pajaro River into the Now the only lumber on the branch is an occasional box­ town of Watsonville. In 1873, the citizens of Watsonville car of wood delivered to a lumber company in Santa opposed the construction of a railroad connecting their Cruz. After the 1940 closure of the original South Pacific town with Santa Cruz, but relented the fo llowing year, Coast route over the mountains from San Jose, Southern provided the trains stayed off Main Street. More than 120 Pacific's Sun Ta n Special began using the Santa Cruz years later, the trains still honor the town fathers' wishes, Branch to take summer tourists to the beaches. Today, it as the Santa Cruz Local moves slowly down the middle of is the huge Lone Star cement plant at Davenport that Wa lker Street, a few blocks west of Main. Past the Del keeps the trains rolling along Monterey Bay. Monte Cafe and the old depot, the train curves into the The right-oF-way just west of Watsonville was a chal­ yard at Watsonville where GP38-2 48 1 1, the Monterey lenge to the men that engineered the Santa Cruz Rail­ Local, switches the packing houses alongside the branch. road in February 1875. The cuts near San Andreas

Pacific RAILNEWS· 57 When the local was Ranch filled with mud after winter rains. A long trestle switching to be done at Davenport, the crew does not get based in Wat­ would have to be built across Harkins Slough. Steep back to Watsonville Junction before its 12 hours expires. sonville Junction, it grades would be unavoidable over Ellicott Hill. These It is rather important that the Santa Cruz Local make it would often start days, the trestles are solid, erosion is not a problem. But back in a timely mannet� because the locomotives are usu­ down Walker Street it takes all 9,000 h.p. on today's local to haul the coal up ally put right onto the Santa Clara Tum that leaves Wat­ in Watsonville the 1.4 percent grade over the hill into Ellicott. sonville Junction in the evening. Therefore, a relief crew From Ellicott, the line runs parallel to San Andreas meets the local either at Aptos or Capitola to take the shortly after sun­ Road for about two miles before crossing over the road train to Davenport and then back to Watsonville Junction. rise, as seen here at Manresa, one of the most dramatically scenic spots on Jan. 9, 1987. along the line. The train curves out onto a bluff overlook­ WITH A NEW CREW IN CHARGE, the Cruz is soon ro lling ing Manresa Beach, then crosses high above the dunes on across the spectacular bridge over Soquel Creek above La Selva trestle. Below the right-of-way, the fine white the beach town of Capitola. Its hom blasting to frighten beaches of Monterey Bay stretch northward for miles be­ the pedestrians who often walk across the bridge, 763 1 fore dissolving into the coastal mist. The local disappears moves slowly onto the ivy-tangled trestlework on the east around a bend into a grove of wind-bowed cypress trees. end. An omate and delicate-looking steel span, built to re­ At the old logging town of Aptos, the line bends place the original wooden bridge soon after the line was southward across the steep, narrow canyon of Aptos completed in 1876, carries the train high above the creek. Creek on a short bridge flanked by redwood trees. The local travels past the backyards of Capitola and So­ West from here, the redwood needles that cover the quel, rolls downhill to a bridge over Woods Lagoon, uphill right-of-way give way to eucalyptus leaves as the train to the old station site of Seabright, and downhill again winds downgrade through the woods of New Brighton through a deep cut to the San Lorenzo River bridge. The Park on a tight S-curve, then skirts the coast again train is now in downtown Santa Cruz, milepost 120, above New Brighton Beach. marked in the Southern Pacific timetable as Casino. Here "Car 602 calling the Santa Cruz Local, come in was the destination for the trainloads of summer touri ts: Santa Cruz." The Santa Cruz Boardwalk, with its warm beaches, carni­ "Santa Cruz." val rides, fishing piet� and nightly entertainment at the Co­ "Yeah, where are you guys?" conut Grove. The roller coaster profile of the Santa Cruz "We're in Capitola." Branch pales in comparison to the harrowing slopes of the "Okay, We'll be right there." It is almost noon, five Giant Dipper, the Boardwalk's fine old wooden roller hours after the crew came on duty in Salinas. (The train coaster that towers above the branch. doesn't actually leave Salinas until around 9 a.m.) Be­ From here the local travels for several blocks down tween Watsonville Junction and Santa Cruz, trains are re­ Beach Street, past the palm trees and the Mission-revival stricted to 10 or 12 mph. Consequently if there is a lot of architecture of the Santa Cruz beach front, and ducks be-

58· August 1995 neath an old trolley bridge as it leaves the street trackage. Past the Santa Cruz wye, site of the weed-covered yard and the forlorn and forgotten Santa Cruz depot, a steep 1.3 percent grade carries the local out of its namesake city and on toward Davenport. Years ago, the line from Santa Cruz to Davenport was called the Davenport Branch, while the Santa Cruz Branch headed north up the San Lorenzo River canyon past the histOtic station of Big Trees to Felton and Olympia. This was all that then remained of the rugged and beautiful South Pacific Coast route over the Santa Cruz Mountains. All service beyond a tannery just north of Santa Cruz had actually ended years before the route finally disappeared from the employee timetable in 1985. That ye81� the line from Felton to Santa Cruz was LEFT: A coal train in revived as the Santa Cruz, Big Trees, & Pacific, a tourist the middle of Beach railroad that also hauls the occasional freight car. Street in Santa At Orby, the railroad serves a large Wrigley's plant. down Beach Street in Santa Cruz, past the green neon Cruz ties up traffic The line to Davenport has welded rail and the Santa sign at the Coconut Grove, past the palm trees silhouet­ on the morning of Cruz Local practically flies along at 30 mph after cross­ ted against the pink glow above the Pacific. To night, the Oct. 12, 1994. ing the large wooden trestle west of Orby. This can fog will once again envelop the Salinas and Pajaro val­ BELOW: The Santa come as a rude surprise to the photographer lulled into leys. The westerly wind will pile sand against the tracks Cruz Local, high relaxation by the train's gentle pace between Watsonville at Manresa and Davenport. Rust will color the rails as if above downtown and Santa Cruz. the line were abandoned long ago. But there have been Capitola, crosses The branch seems to get even more beautiful as it ap­ trains along Monterey Bay for 100 years, and soon the proaches Davenport. The line has an undulating profile as echo will again be heard of locomotives struggling up Soquel Creek in it lises and dips along the sandy hills above the Pacific, Ellicott Hill with the Santa Cruz Local. PRN October 1994. often within view of the rugged coastal cliffs. Unfortu­ nately gaining access to the tracks can be difficult, and train speeds only give the photographer time to walk in and set up at only one or two locations between Orby and Davenport. The hidden coves along this stretch of coast­ line are popular with surfers and sunbathers, so there are many obscure trails leading from Highway 1 across the tracks to the water; groups of Volkswagen buses parked along the highway are a good sign of access.

THE UTILE TOWN OF DAVENPORT has a varied history as a railroad hub. The Ocean Shore Railroad built the first line from Santa Cruz in 1905. It wasn't long before the com­ petitive Southem Pacific built a parallel line; the Ocean Shore long ago vanished with scarcely a trace. (Delaware A venue in Santa Cruz once carried the Ocean Shore h'acks, and some of the old right-of-way remains along the bluffs.) In the mountains above Davenport, the San Vi­ cente Lumber Company operated about 10 miles of pre­ cipitously steep and twisting trackage from 1908 until 1923. And the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company ran its own quarry railroad from 1907 until the late 1960s. Just north of town, SP's rails disappear into a mound of earth, between faded signs reading "end of the line." Here in Davenport the ghosts of history seem to come alive; the grand vision of the Ocean Shore, a railroad connecting Santa Cruz with San Francisco, was doomed from the start by the rugged and unstable geography and finished by the 1906 earthquake. For the Ocean Shore, this was indeed the end of the line. Beneath the wheels of a modern diesel locomotive, the rusting brittle rail bears the inscription "Carnegie 1898." The centuries flow together and recall, for a moment, an Ocean Shore 4-4-0 on a high trestle, the San Vicente's Shay winding down the canyon, the cement company's saddle-tank Porter working deep in the quarry. But ghosts they are; only the cement plant, now owned by Lone Star, re­ mains. Without it, the Santa Cruz Local would not make the thrice-weekly run to Davenport. Without it, the San­ ta Cruz Branch would likely not exist at all. The local brings carloads of gypsum and about 30 cars of coal per week to Davenport and hauls out loads of bulk cement. On this day, an air leak delayed the train's departure from Davenport by more than an hour. The sun sets ear­ ly here in November, and it is dusk as the train returns

Pacific RAILNEWS.59 Th e RAIL ROADPR ESS

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E&lS TARANTULA OMNITRAX Oconto Falls Line Purchased Rebuilt Texas DOT Will Acquire, Move Lines Wichita Locomotive Business Booming

Escanaba & Lake Superior recently pur­ In a recent ru ling, the Interstate Commerce Omintrax's Wichita, Kan., shops have 33 ex­ chased Chicago & North Western's former Commission declared that the Texas Depart­ Rio Grande/Southern Pacific locomotives slat­ Oconto Falls line, 5.45 miles between Stiles ment of Transportation is free to acquire and ed for rebuilding. The locomotives will be junction and Oconto Falls, Wis., 25 miles relocate two lines owned by Tarantula Cor­ painted in Omnitrax's blue, white and yellow north of Green Bay. E& LS had been operat­ poration 's Ft. Worth & Western without fur­ paint scheme. Prior to rebuilding some of the ing the line, which was going to be aban­ ther ICC permission. This action is related to locomotives are in service on Omnitrax-owned doned by C&NW, under a reroute order since TXDOT's planed expansion of Interstate short lines Central Kansas and Kansas South­ 1991. With the assistance of Wisconsin's De­ highways 30 and 35W, that intersect not too western. Some former C&NW locomotives are partment of Transportation and various coun­ far from Tower 55. The lines affected are also on the property. ty and local agencies, funding has been ob­ used by FW&W for car storage and inter­ Omnitrax's three Chicago-area short lines tained to rehabilitate the line. The work is change with Union Pacific. The ICC ru led are currently testing crossties made from re­ being performed by R.D. Long Company, and that it had no jurisdiction in the case be­ cycled plastic. Nine-hundred of the ties, is slated for completion in August. cause Ft. Worth & Western's operation made by Eaglebrook Products of Chicago, would continue after line relocation, and no have been installed on sections of Chicago MAGMA ARIZONA shippers would be affected. Rail Link, Chicago, West Pullman & South­ ern, and Manufacturers junct'ion Railway. The End Nears SOUTH DAKOTA The black-colored ties are made of high-den­ sity polyethylene, weigh 85 Ibs. and cost $70 Regular operation on the Baldwin-powered Rains Wash Out Dakota Short Lines each. They are easier to drive spikes into Magma Arizona Railroad were suspended at than wood ties, and also hold track gauge the end of May: sporadic operations and a Heavy spring rains wreaked havoc on South well. Trains have been limited to 10 mph op­ likely shutdown were predicted thereafter. The Dakota short lines. The most severely affected eration over track with plastic ties, but no 28-mile short line, owned by Magma Copper was Dakota Southern Railway which operates a problems have been encountered in support­ Company, connects with the SP at Magma. portion of the fonner Milwaukee Road line to ing loaded 100-ton hoppers. After evaluating Ariz. MA had been operating just two days per Rapid City between Mitchell and Kadoka, S.D. the wear and tear from winter, Omnitrax week, serving a peralite (a volcanic rock used Dakota Southern reported water over the rails may install more ties, keeping them in place by gardeners) mine at Superior. The remaining in five places between Mitchell and Presho, and for a fi ve-year test period. The ties have a MA Baldwin will reportedly be stored or sent a washout west of Mt. Ve rnon. potential service life of 75 years. to sister road San Manuel Arizona. The Sisseton Milbank Railroad, located in Thanks to Keel Middleton, TIIAFFIC the northeast corner of the state, reported satu­ \!VOIILD. FLiMSIESf, PI. Gratz, Tim Reidinger ROCK ISLAND rated roadbed conditions, with water standing and Keith Nuttbrock. on both sides of the track, on its entire line. The A Piece of the Rock to Rise Again? worst flood conditions located at Peever Slough. Bob Thompson

A grassroots group dedicated to saving the former Rock Island line between Owensville and Leeds junction, Mo., have reached an agreement with General Railway Corpora­ tion, which wants to purchase the line and operate it. Owned by Southern Pacific's St. Louis Southwestern since Rock Island's shut­ down, this segment of Rock Island had been forsaken for trackage rights on parallel Mis­ souri Pacific trackage. STRICT (Save the Rock Island Commit­ tee), a group made up of shippers, business executives and elected officials, was successful in convincing the ICC to revoke approval for SSW's parent Southern Pacific to abandon the line. STRICT is suing SSW for SSW's alleged failure to maintain and operate the line. If SP and GRC can successfully negotiate a deal, STRICT will drop its lawsuit.

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Pacific RAILNEWS-Sl RAIL NEWS Tr ansit

LOS ANGELES A few examples in the report: each station of-way of a former Southern Pacific rail line, should be built to a standard (rather than cus­ curve into the airport property and out again MTA Wants a No-Frill Pasadena LRT? tom) design. Savings: $25 million. Move the to terminate at Millbrae Avenue along the Cal­ storage/maintenance yard from downtown Train commuter rail line. Nowhere has the h'end toward gold-plating new L.A. to Pasadena and save $20 million. Sim­ BART says the new line would add 96,000 rail lines been better than Los Angeles, where plify trackwork, substations, radios. Saving: passengers a day to its system. bureaucrats and politicians have been accused $35 million. Simplify construction to industry The underground airport station would be of wasting millions of dollars on the Blue and standards, eliminate hundreds of subcontrac­ located near the International Terminal. The ter­ Green lines and more recently have loaded up tors, extra management layers . Savings: a minus would be an intermodal station with Cal­ the Pasadena Blue Line with costly planning. whopping $100 million. Train, a decision certain to bring new business The recriminations now come amidst a It will be interesting to see if the MTA to that agency as well. In all, five new stations drastic scaling back of L.A.'s future rail heeds the advice of its transit peers. would be created, including a second BART- Cal­ prospects, and finally a backlash seems to have train intermodal station at San BrunolTanforan. hit. A new MTA report says officials could save SAN FRANCISCO Only $209.3 million of the funding hasn't $175 million and open the financially troubled been authorized by federal, state and regional Pasadena line three years early by cutting All Aboard for SF International agencies. However, the new GOP Congress bloated design and construction plans. won't be a pushover for the balance due. Originally planned to open in 1997 at a cost Both BART and San Mateo County Transit of $84 1 million, the 13.6-mile LRT line has had District directors have given final approval to PORTLAND its opening date pushed back to 2002 and the the extension of the rail system directly into the price tag has hit nearly $ 1 billion. The MTA ad­ San Francisco International Airport by 1999 at New Operator Named for 'Trolley' mits that something drastic must be done. a cost of $1.3 billion. Much, but by no means Already, delays are costing $2 million per all, of the financing is lined up. It would be the A rock and mud slide and a contract dispute month, and the delays are caused by uncertainty, single most dramatic expansion of Bay Area threatened to shelve operation of the heritage confusion and arguments. At $73 million pel' transit since the opening of BART itself. Willamette Shore Trolley this yem; but the "trol­ mile, the Pasadena line is twice as expensive as The eight-mile extension would start at the ley" (actually an electric car towing a diesel en­ lines in Denver and St. Louis. The Long Beach recently completed Colma passenger station gine generator) now has a new operator and it Blue Line also came in at twice the going rate. and go south through San Bruno on the right- was hoped to have it open again on July I.

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These striking Southern Pacific General Electric built " AC4400CW" units began arriving on the SP in mid- 1995. They are AC-powered and the first of that to be delivered to the SP. Each of these fine is exquisitely handcrafted in brass by Ajin Precision of Korea and will be factory painted and lettered, in the colorful gray and red "winged" nose-shield and, and equipped with lights. Reserve a model today at your friendly

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82· August 1995 The scenic, 6 jI,-mile operation utilizes a One route would extend 34 miles from one-time Southern Pacific freight branch that downtown St. Louis to the suburb of Pacific, anta Fe Pictoria hosted electric suburban trains until 1929, using either the Union Pacific (ex-Missouri Pa­ and connects the edge of downtown Portland cific) or the nearly parallel Burlington North­ LLS LK with the suburb of Lake Oswego. It hugs the ern (ex-Frisco) main lines. The other would go shore of the Willamette River and traverses 42 miles south to the vicinity of Crystal City. the front yards of several upscale homes. Again, a separate set of parallel UP and BN Before service can resume, the Oregon De­ lines would be used. partment of Transportation must clear away There has not been a downtown railroad the mud slide and inspect the aging wooden station for years, except for the ill-located trestles. When it does reopen, the operator "Amshack" near the former Union Station. Bi­ will be the non-profit Oregon Electric Railway State plans to build a new intermodal station Historical Society, the group that opened it in near Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis 1987 and briefly operated it then. Cardinals, for commuter trains, Amtrak and The latest change came about after Lake buses. It would be adjacent to a handy Oswego failed to agree with Gales Creek En­ MetroLink LRT station and also fairly close to terprises on a renewal of last year's operating downtown office buildings. Variety of action and places on the contract. GCE used ex-San Antonio Public Santa Fe including Cajon Pass, Service car 300, but OERHS said it probably CHICAGO Tehachapi Loop, and the mainline to would employ its own former British Chicago. Video shot over a 3-year Columbia Electric Railway interurban 1304. It Circulator Runs Into Trouble span. Older units such as F45's plus will have its own generator trailer. GM and GE warbonnet-painted Wi de A short extension at the Lake Oswego end Political trouble between Chicago Mayor Cab units. Even trains with and a longer one to bring the trolley closer to Richard Daley and !llinois Governor Jim cabooses. All color with live audio Edgar may have sunk the $775 million central downtown Portland are planned. and some narration. circulator light rail project, practically on the 60 Minutes $29.95 DENVER eve of its groundbreaking. Federal and local funding, covering two-thirds of the cost, had Ridership on a Roll been promised, but the state legislature failed Southern Pacific to come up with its share. This despite the fact Pictorial Denver's new light rail line continues to carry a that Edgar is a Republican and the legislature hefty 13,000 weekday passengers, and would is controlled by the GOP. carry more if there were more cars. Regional Edgar later blamed Daley for failing to Transportation District officials believe that the come to Springfield and lobby for the circula­ figure might be 16,000 if more suburban bus tor. Larger issues, such as the third Chicago lines were fed into the system, but when that airport backed by Daley but opposed by the was tried at the outset, the cars became over­ airlines, and a crisis over state funding for lo­ loaded and the buses resumed going downtown. cal schools, may have distracted the mayor. LRT ridership is good for a system only 5.3 There may be efforts to revive the LRT pro­ miles long and operating 11 cars. Six more are posal, but success hinges on better coopera­ on order. Interestingly, the cars carry 10,000 on tion between Chicago and downstate. Saturdays and 4,300 Sundays. System ridership, Th anks to Steve Morgan, Charles Vercelii, including buses, has jumped 7 percent this year Jim Wa lke!; Los ANGELES TIMES, SAN FRANCISCO Variety of action and places on the over last, outpacing population growth. Also CHRONICLE, Linda Hancock and Bob Rynerson. Southern Pacific including Cajon helping out is the success of a new SkyRide ex­ press bus to the new Denver International Air­ Mac Sebree Pass, Tehachapi Loop, Donner Pass, port. This line carries about 2,000 per day. and others. Video shot between 1989 and 1994. Great coverage of the Oil ST. LOUIS Train assaulting the famous Tehachapi loop more. All color Commuter Rail Plans Advance & with live auclioand some narration. Minutes $29.95 In addition to its successful MetroLink LRT, 60 Bi-State Development Agency plans a pair of lilT-SHIRTS commuter rail lines and has hired Booz-Allen Southern" & Hamilton to lead a consortium to plan the routes and pick a financing plan. rOCltlC�l '

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Colo., to Herington. Rio Grande received trackage rights on this line as a condition of the UP/MP/WP merger, but UP has had little incentive to increase speeds-SP's traffic con­ stitutes 98 percent of the traffic on the line. SP has alrea.dy announced a track upgrade project on the 447-mile route that will increase speeds and reduce crew districts from three to two. The acquisition of rights on the Santa Fe from Topeka to Kansas City, received as part of the impending BN-Santa Fe merger, should fu rther speed transit into Kansas City. SP will now be able to vacate UP's busy Marysville Sub east of Topeka (originally Rock Island trackage rights acquired with the Tu cumcari-ICC. "Cotton Rock" pur­ chase). And east of Kansas City, SP will have the option of using the speedy Santa Fe main for intermodal traffic bound for Chicago. As its part of the deal with UP, SP will gi ve up Grant Tower in Salt Lake City, which con­ trols where the Rio Grande, UP's Provo Line

Heath M. Klug and the ex-WP main all come together. Before this change, SP's Helper-Roper Dispatching On June 11, 1995, new GE AC4400CWs lead an SP KPEYC westbound over the Hoisington Sub at desk had Grant Tower as a side board. The new Bison, Kan. The dispatching and maintenance of this route were recently conveyed to SP by UP. arrangement may cause delays to SP trains de­ parting Roper Yard for the West, but this is little consequence; Rio Grande had previously given MOTIVE POWER SP is continuing to run its 9800-class up its own line to Ogden in favor of trackage SD70Ms as intended in the "1-5" COlTidor; the rights on the UP, so SP trains have been at the GE CW44ACs in Colorado Coal Service drag freights are assigned a road lash-up of two whim of UP dispatchers north of Grant Tower. of these units to take advantage of their low­ SP's new fleet of CW44ACs (GE AC4400CWs), speed lugging capability. Now that the new SUNSET ROUTE numbered 100-302, which began arriving on IOO-ciass a.c. locomotives are showing up on the weekend of April 22, are being used initially Colorado coal trains, some of the 8100-c1ass Douhle-Tr acking Update in Colorado coal service with Denver as their DASH 9s are running on the Sunset Route. maintenance base. The standard lash-up on Work continues on the double-tracking project loaded coal trains is five units-two on the OVERLAND ROUTE between Mescal and Cochise on the North point with a three-unit mid-train helper. Union Line, east of Tucson, Ariz. Contractors have Pacific's takeover of Chicago & North Western Improvements to Speed Trains graded the entire 40 miles, and a second track has resulted in some interesting run-through is in between Sibyl and Dragoon, thereby power on SP grain trains: the I-BKDVG-IO SP has taken a significant step to solve transit eliminating the former siding of Tu lly. The (Bakersfield-Denver) was seen on Donner Pass time problems on the Overland Route to make crossover and classic cantilever signal bridge on May II behind C&NW DASH 9s 8668 and it more competitive with the Union Pacific. In at Dragoon has been removed. 8720, plus AT&SF 5064, UP 3629 and SP June UP announced that SP will take over dis­ At least 10 Harriman era, Union Switch & 4809. The C&NW fleet is being scattered to the patching, maintenance and crew assignments Signal, Ty pe B lower quadrant semaphores re­ far reaches of the system, including use oFf-line. on UP's ex-Missouri Pacific line from Pueblo, main on the No. 2 Track east of Vail, Ariz. In

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84. August 1995 several places replacement signals have been back to SP at West Colton. The ore ends up at station. The work should be completed in 1996. installed, but are not yet in service. Although smelters in Magma, Ariz., or Separ, N.M. Thanks to Brian Jennison, Dave Burton, the No. 2 Track is the eastbound track, unless SP has reinstated a Kobe Turn to work Brad /-fell man, Joe Kerr, Vic Neves, Ken there is a westbound in the picture, dispatchers eastbound out of Minturn, Colo., and handle Ardinger, Gary McClain, 1-1.A. Thorne, Orlo will often run eastbounds on the No. I Track local business, including the Asarco load-out ELfes, 1-1. W Farewell, the Joint Line turn-and­ between the Vail Crossovers and Mescal Junc­ at Malta. The turn works Monday and Thurs­ burnspecialist and the SP Information Center. tion, so it isn't always a guarantee to set up for days starting at 6 a.m. a photo at a semaphore on Track 2. Fortunate­ Joe Strapac and R.C. Farewell ly, the Sunset Route is busy enough that east­ VINTAGE POWER bounds frequently have to use the No. 2 Track. Grande Units Fade Away SP has been fleeting as many as seven to 10 RAIL INVESTMENT SERVICE trains in either direction. Currently the west­ bound fleet gets out of EI Paso in the morning. The combined Rio Grande/SP roster is taking For free research reports on investment opportunities in Ihe i l SeclDr, please call K. Eric Crook loll free: on a decidedly gray tone as D&RGW units 1-800-827 -6766 OPERATIONS are being sold off. Virtually all the EMD first­ or writeRa to K. Eric Crook, Corporate Services Specialist generation units are gone; the only examples New Backhaul Coal Trains ===DEAN WITTER REYNOLDS=== INC. left are six SW 1200s. 889 Harrison Ave., 2nd Floor The 567 engine survives only in a few �I Riverhead, NY 11901 At any given time, there are usually six loaded GP30s and GP35s; otherwise, the entire fleet taconite trains running westbound on the SP is powered by 645-series prime movers. Nine system. To generate backhaul revenue from GP30s have been stricken from the list, leav­ the returning trainsets, SP is soliciting coal NEW BOOK! ing only 15 on the roster. D&RGW GP30s business in Utah and Colorado. As a re sult, 300 I, 3013, 3019 and 3026-3028 were re­ the Cameo Mine, east of Grand junction, Co­ cently sold to OmniTrax. Ready To Read Now! lo., has reactivated its loadout and SP has just two GP35s, 3044 and 3045, remain in Southern Pacific in the West, Part 1 started shipping one unit train of coal east­ service. GP35s 3029-3043, 3046-3047, 3049 The Hard Road to Promontory ward from there each week; the contract is and 3050, retired in December 1993, were sold By Wesley Fox targeted for one train per day. Cameo coal is to OmniTrax, as were SD9 No. 5305, GP40s routed eastward over Tennessee Pass; it is 3055, 3057, 3070 and 3144-3 145, and SD45s eventually transferred to CP and forwarded to 5315, 5332 and 5335. Interstate Power at Camanche, Iowa. After un­ Denver & Rio Grande Western SD45s loading, hoppers are returned to SP's taconite­ Soud1ern Pacific 5319, 5327, 5337 and 5338 went through service pool. Backhaul coal tonnage has also in this the 125th MK's rebuild program and are now SP 8678, become available at the Savage mine load-out anniversaly of 8680, 8682 and 8684-albeit driven by 16- on Utah's Pleasant Valley Branch. The Chica­ the driving of cylinder engines. go-bound trains are symboled SVCHC. the Golden Spike. The SP recently acquired new westbound coal SHORTS tonnage at the expense of UP, symbol UTLBC. book covers Coal is loaded on the Utah Railway at Wattis, New Hot Train on the Overland the SOUlhern Pacific from Utah, and transferred to SP at Provo. Trains Sacramento, run via Donner Summit to Metro Stevedore in The ink wasn't dry on the june PRN before California LO Long Beach. Empty hoppers are routed north, Southern Pacific changed its eastbound Over­ Ogden, Utah. depending on backhaul tonnage availability, to land Route hot symbol yet again: as of mid­ PhoLOgraphs from the last fifteen years Richmond, Calif., for loading with imported April, the OAGjF (nee OADVF, RVCHX, are intermixed with the history of this coke coal, which is destined for Geneva, Utah. OACHT) began running as the OANSF (Oak­ portion of the fa med Overland ROUle. The targeted frequency for UTLBC is at least land-Norfolk Southern forwarder). In addition five trains per week. to carrying pigs and stacks out of the Bay A new "dirty-dirt " train is running from Area, this train also carries empty trilevel auto 080 pages, 132 B/W photos Beaumont, Calif., to Sunnyside Mine, Utah. racks bound for the NS. (Loaded auto racks oHardbound; 8:'1,xII Symboled as BESUH (Beaumont-Sunnyside run west in the KCOAF) Empty racks had hazardous), the operation utilizes copper con­ been carried on the RVNSM via the centrate hoppers. After unloading, the hop­ Tehachapis and Sunset Route. Colorado$34_95 residents add 7.3% tax pers are cleaned and loaded with copper con­ Union Switch & Signal has been contracted DEALER TERMS AVAILABLE centrate ore at the Kennecott copper mine in to provide a computerized control system that FOX PUBLICATIONS the Salt Lake Valley. Loads are turned over to will allow operators at SP's West Colton Yard to P. O. BOX 740655 DEPT. P the UP at Provo and routed via Las Vegas control all elements of the yard from one work- ARVADA, CO 80006

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NEW PRESIDENT ty. Among rail enthusiasts, Haverty is best During his four years at the helm, Ed­ known for his 21-year affiliation with Santa Fe wards guided KCS through the largest ex­ Haverty Ta kes the Helm and his role in the reintroduction of its leg­ pansion in its history, including a doubling in endary red-and-silver warbonnet locomotive mileage with the addition of the MidSouth On May 15, Kansas City Southel11 Industries paint scheme. He is also largely responsible for properties in 1993. President Landon H. Rowland announced the the partnership between Santa Fe and mega­ unexpected retirement of KCS Railway Presi­ trucker J.B. Hunt-likely to be a tremendous GRAIN dent George W. Edwards Jr. and replaced him asset as KCS continues to flex its developing with former Santa Fe leader Michael R. Haver- intermodal muscles in the Deep South. Unit Tr ains Strain the Main

An avalanche of grain from Chicago & North Western at Kansas City-translating to a 75- car train almost daily-has forced C&NW to loan KCS two pairs of SD50s or SD60s to as­ sist in handling this tonnage. This new traffic is primarily export grain headed to Mississip­ fr om PGE pi River ports, but the enormous poultry in­ dustry served by KCS also accounts for the tremendous grain volume. In fact, unit trains are now employed to transport grain bound for on-line feed mills. KCS adopted train numbers in the 700-series to identify these all-grain movements. These movements are primarily southbound loads, with empties commonly returning on any Kansas City­ bound train. However, dedicated northbound empty moves also occur. There are exceptions to this pattern. Two loaded northbound trains that recently depart­ ed New Orleans bound for Reserve, La., and were then interchanged with the IC for deliv­ ery to the Cargill transloader. The first train was delivered by Norfolk Southern at New Or­ leans on April 7, and the second, delivered on April 9, would normally have been routed from Kansas City via the KCS, but shortages of power and crews KCS forced a reroute via UP to New Orleans, then to Reserve via KCS on the following day.

Va ncouver to Plince George pliority freight. No. 23. climbs the 2.2 JX:1l:Cnl Pavilion Mountain gl1ldc at Pavilion. OPERATIONS nOl111 or Lilloocl, B.C. 011 September 1. 1973. W. R. Hoopel: to BC RA IL Traffic Explosion Continues Following the success of the book Nicholas Morant's Canadian Pacific (copies are The systemwide traffic explosion continues. again available for a limited time), Footprint Publishing of Revelstoke, British While the recent arrival of leased and rebuilt Columbia, is pleased to announce the October 1995 release of the book British locomotives has eased a tight power supply, Columbia Railway, from PGE to BC Rail by J. F. Garden. crew shortages are still a problem. All divi­ sions on the railroad are scrambling to han­ A complete and revealing history of the Pacific Great Easternas it evolved to become dle additional tonnage, with the Northern the highly successful British Columbia Railway is presented in this 456 page volume, Division making changes to cope with the along with 466 photographs by of North America's finest lensmen. Former CEO 33 most significant increases. and President of the railway, M. C. "Mac" Norris, who guided the railway as it Just a few years ago, traffic between matured from the struggling PGE to the profitable BC Rail, expresses his thoughts in Kansas City and Shreveport only consisted the foreword. Here is a book thaI shouts to be placed in everyone's railroad library. of general freights 5 and 6, expedited freights 9 and 10, and northbound train 2, a BEFORE SWITMBER 30, 1995, SEND: Regular dealer discounts arc available on the pre-pub­ Port Arthur-Kansas City movement, later ap­ lication price till September 30. 1995 . ..lJld the normal pearing on the north end as a Shreveport­ $74.50 Cdn (64.95 + 5.00postage + 4.55 GST) price thereafter. $55.95 US (49.95 + 6.00postage) Kansas City connection from Port Arthur called train 82, and the southbound Kansas AlTERSEPTE\>lBER 30, 1995, SEND: NICHOIA� MORAm'S CANADIAN PACIFIC City-Shreveport counterpart of both, train 81. Since early May, a new train No. I has $90.55 Cdn (79.95 + 5.00postage + 5.60 GST) $90.55 Cdn (79.95 + 5.00postage + 5.60 GST) $75.95 US (69.95 + 6.00 postage) $75.95 US (69.95 + 6.00 postage) been handling expedited K.C.-Port Arthur tonnage. Train number 2 has also reappeared

To order. send a personal cheque or money order to: on the north end, often with extra sections. Trains 5 and 6 continue to operate as before, 1830 VOE 2S0 frequently in multiple sections. Many of the Footprint Publishing, Box Revelstoke, B.C. extra northbound sections include empty

66-August 1995 grain hoppers from the crush of grain sent heavy KCS traffic and clearing a clogged inter­ south from Kansas City. change track, the UP train fi nally backed Pentrex Proudly Presents! Southbound train 5 has operated with as through the interchange, and continued on its many as six sections, with some sections oc­ trek to Little Rock. caisionally originating at Pittsburg, Kan. Trains 8 J and 82 continue to operate daily, NEWS BRIEFS with occasional extra sections. Even the hot trains 9 and 10 are operating at maximum KCS Files to Invade IC Te rritory tonnage, with an occasional extra section! When you add the grain traffic, the pring­ KCS has filed a petition with the ICC seeking time increase in soda ash from UP (trains 3 the approval for construction of a new nine­ \ and 4), and the increased summertime de­ mile line from the main near Gonzales, La., into mand for coal in the south, the Kansas City­ the Geismar industrial area, now served exclu­ to-Shreveport section of the KCS is hot. Case sively by Ie. Petro-chemical giants located in in point: the 8 a.m. line-up for May 22 indi­ the industrial corridor will have a choice of rail cated 22 road trains in motion between systems, stimulating competition for the lucra­ Kansas City and Shreveport- J 4 southbound tive tonnage. Completion of' the new line is ex­ and eight northbound-not including the vari­ pected within 12 to J 8 months after approval. ous locals puttering about. In late 1993, McElhany siding south of Because of this traffic bonanza, those locals, Neosho was shortened, subsequently finding or dodgers, as KCS prefers, have been strug­ space for long southbound trains and Second gling to find time on the main to complete their District short tonnage was becoming difficult. "The Greatest Railroad tasks. Local activity on the Second Subdivision Since the "pruned" trackage had not yet been is also quite heavy. Because the two jobs be­ removed, a simple reinstallation of a manually Mo vie Ever Produced" tween Pittsburg, Kan., and Watts, Okla., were operated switch at the old south end of the sid­ often running out of time before completing ing produced 9,000 feet of additional storage their work, a new dodger was established based space. The new storage track will be used pri­ ow you can own the at Siloam Springs, Ark. This new weekday job marily for grain loads bound for feed mills at N Cecil B. DeMille classic. works industries and feed mills between Watts Anderson and Decatur. At the same location, and DecatU1; Ark., allowing the regular dodgers improvements to the team track will allow log It's the story of the to focus on the Pittsburg-Decatur area. loading, a new movement headed for Ashdown, struggle to build the first Ark. Initial volume will be three cars weekly. transcontinental rail­ DETOURS Trains 7 and 8 running across the new Dal­ road, and it's packed las-Atlanta corridor are continuing to swell with fantastic railroad­ Floods Send UP Over KCS with increasing J.B. Hunt traffic. On heavy ing action. Everyone traffic days, as many as J 30 containers and should have a copy at Heavy rains in the Kansas City area on May J 7 trailers have been noted. As previously report­ caused operational difficulties on several rail ed, the typical two-unit four-axle power set this incredible low routes, including UP and KCS. The Little Blue was increased to three units, but a recent price! River flowed out of its banks in the Sheffield sighting of three six-axles on an eastbound area, and south near 23rd Street, briefly closing train 7 at Sulphur Springs, Te xas, demon­ • Was $29.95 .tdJ UP's Coffeyville Subdivision. The majority of UP strates that anything combination is likely to traffic moved via BN trackage rights to Paola, appear-at least west of' Vicksburg. Existing • Now From Pentrex - $1&_9It then via the normally northbound-only ex­ information indicates that six-axle locomotives • New Digital Remastering MoPac route between Paola and Wagoner, Okla. do not operate east of Vicksburg. The KCS route also briefly succumbed to high Thanks to Lowell McManus, Charles • Special Feature - Includes water at the north end of Blue Valley siding forc­ Pitchel; Mike and Chris Palmieri, Nick Iiuth, Original Theatrical Trailer ing temporary storage of arriving northbound Chris Cuss, Leroy Brandenburg, Mike Mur­ Hours Minutes in SP quality trains at Blue Valley and Grandview sidings. ray, Michael Matalis, Steve /-lill, William Ert­ . 2 16 KCS handled a loaded UP Fort Gibson, man, Dr. Robert I-/annen, Don Bailey, Cene Cecil B. DeMilles's UNION PACIFIC, star­ Okla., OGEX coal train between Kansas City and Nathan Bailey, Danny johnson, David and Sallisaw, Okla., arriving for interchange via /-Iurt, Wa rren and Tillie Caileff, MISSISSIPPI ring Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Rob­ the UP connection during the late afternoon of RAIL NEWS, KANSAS Cny STAll, the KCS/-IS, ert Preston, Brian Donlevy, and the Union May 18. A second detour train sent south from and the KCS Railway. Pacific Railroad. Black & white, not rated. Kansas City appeared at Sallisaw mid-morning Two Hours 16 Minutes #UPMOVIE $14.95 on May 20, and after three hours of dodging Michael Hasbargen * * * * * * * Check or Money Order VisaIMasterCard SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Discover/American Express Please add $4.00 Shipping per order, plus $ 1.00 for each additional tape. Canadian customers add 55.00 ship­ ping per order, plus $1.00 for each additional tape. All other foreign customers add $10.00 per tape. California residents please add 8.25% sales tax. Post Office Box 7261 Chico. CA 95927-7261 Order Line: Fax 916-894-7359 51 800-9 50-9333 ���:iI9���:�;:::�� 24 HoursA Day FAX 818-793-3797 L IJV1 Hotline 805-499-5574

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OPERATIONS UP began shifting trains from Addis Yard approved construction of UP's proposed new (outside Baton Rouge) and Avondale Yard bridge to Mexico over the Rio Grande west of Livonia Now Lousiana Hub (New Orleans) into the new facility. The tran­ Laredo, Texas. UP shares the existing interna­ sition was completed on May 8, 1994, when tional bridge at Laredo with Texas Mexican Over a decade in the making, Union Pacific's the Addis yard clerks closed up shop. They re­ Railway. In 1993 the single-track bridge car­ new hump yard at Livonia, La., officially opened ported to work at Livonia the next day. ried about 100,000 cars, and delays at the on May 9, 1994. This year, the Facility has be­ Livonia Yard is nearly five miles long. It has bridge are legendary. come UP's operational hub in Louisiana. Livo­ four arrival tracks, four departure tracks and UP's new double-track line to Mexico nia Yard is located along the former Texas & Pa­ 22 classification tracks. The yard was originally would branch off the former International & cific main line in Pointe Coupee Parish, about designed with a 27 -inch mini-hump, but that Great Northern at the new Port Laredo Yard, 115 miles west of New Orleans. At Livonia, the proved inadequate and the hump crest has 12 miles north of Laredo. Port Laredo classi­ Houston line of Missouri Pacific's Former Gulf been raised significantly. fies northbound trafFic and handles intermodal Coast Lines branches off the T&P, which heads In March 1995, UP revamped its opera­ shipments that often move by truck south of westward to Shreveport and Dallas. tions to make Livonia Ya rd its hub for the border because of unreliable service from Livonia Yard's history goes back to 1981, Louisiana traFfic. Trains operate to and from Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico. The new when MP decided to purchase 555 acres of Chicago, Houston, Freeport/Angleton, Texas, 1,169-foot bridge would be built 1.7 miles property along the T&P main For construc­ Bloomington, Texas, Fort Worth and Little from Port Laredo. Another nine miles of line tion of a new yard. While some of the own­ Rock. Livonia classifies cars to and from local would have to be constructed on the Mexican ers unsuccessfully Fought MP's acquisition in industries, New Orleans propel� and CSX and side of the river to link the bridge with the court, the railroad was acquired by UP. UP NS connections at New Orleans. Generally FNM system. Once the project is completed, delayed construction until it could determine Livonia originates and receives two to three UP would route about 90 percent of its traffic whether the Chess ie-Seaboard and Norfolk New Orleans trains per day for CSX and NS, onto the new bridge. & Western-Southern mergers would divert which bypass Avondale Yard . Ultimately, UP hopes to bid on long-term traffic away from New Orleans. By 1992, UP concessions to operate the FNM main line from decided to proceed. CROSS-BORDER TRAFFIC Laredo to Mexico City, and perhaps other lines During 1992 and 1993 UP hauled 4,983 as well. Bidding may take place by the end of I �O-ton carloads of fill material to Livonia to New Laredo Bridge OKed 1995. Bringing FNM's main line and operations raise the site of the yard out of its swampy sur­ up to UP standards should unlock Mexico's po­ roundings. When that work was done, track­ Secretary of State Warren Christopher an­ tential for increased rail freight traffic. laying proceeded quickly. By mid-April 1994, nounced on May 16 that the United States had COMMUTER Air Tr ain to DlA? �ENTENNIAL The new Denver International Airport is so far from downtown Denver that a cab ride STAT E easily can cost $40. To provide a cheaper transit alternative, the city of Denver wants T:R

88. August 1995 Previously, Denver's Regional Transporta­ tion District board showed no interest in this proposal, preferring to target available capital money toward expansion of its light-rail system. In May, though, the RTD board considered a resolution to work with the city in finding pri­ vate money to augment the inadequate public funds available to fund consttuction of the Air Train route. Whether Air Train ever gets off the ground is unlikely, though, due to declining fed­ eral funding of mass transit startups. MERGER C&NW Assimilation

Tw o North Western SD38-2s, 6653 and 6654, took a one-way trip from their long-time home at Proviso Yard to North Platte in late May. Un­ like sister 6650, which was painted and renum­ bered UP 2806 at Little Rock before entering service at North Platte, these two units were not repainted before the move. During May and june UP locomotives of ev­ ery description invaded the far corners of the North Western system. Particularly unwelcome James S. Belmont on the C&NW are UP's B-unit SD40-2s. Prior to the merger, these units were rarely used on WhoOpS! At Lake Point Utah, Union Pacific Local XLUC55 is seen retrieving containers that had been North Western lines; now they are fairly com­ mistakenly placed on the APLA destined for L.A. The containers were bound for Oakland, not L.A. mon, though the Proviso hostlers don't appre­ ciate their lack of creature comforts. C&NW GP50s have been removed from Most C&NW employees in the Chicago branch lines. Reportedly, Davidson was im­ coal train consists and sent south to operate headquarters decided to apply for the buyout pressed by both the condition of the Iowa over former MP territory. In their place UP is as­ UP offered rather than take their chances on branches and C&NW's economical opera­ signing B23-7s and locomotives leased from sticking with the larger carrier. Some of these tions in grain territory. Norfolk Southern. C&NW GP40s 5509 and people, though, may be kept on the payroll in­ Following the end of maintenance projects 55 13 and GP7 4344 were pulled from the to September, as the UP takeover has generat­ on the transcontinental main line, UP stopped Boone dead line and shipped to Proviso and ed a considerable amount of paperwork. detouring eastbound trains over Iowa Inter­ then North Little Rock in mid-june. Union Pacific Chairman Dick Davidson state between Council Bluffs and Des Moines UP is receiving 1,000 new 5,127 cubic spent the week of May 28-june 2 touring the effective May 31. foot, 286,000 lb. capacity covered hoppers Chicago & North Western system by busi­ Thanks to Mike and Chris Palmieri, from Tj'inity Industries. Some of these cars, ness car and hi-rail. Davidson's inspection Ivlichael M. Bartels, foe Piersen, Bill God­ wearing UP gray paint and numbers 89350- train operated from Omaha to Chicago, then man, Allan /-Iunt, /-Ieath R. /-Iovland, NOIITN 90349, entered service on the former North to St. Paul via Butler and Adams, Wis., and WESTEIIN LiMITED and TNE BULL SHEET. Western, hauling Iowa grain in the Marshall­ Mason City, Iowa, via the Spine Line. David­ town and Sergeant Bluff areas. son then hi-railed most of C&NW's Iowa Michael W. Blaszak

Power • Vintage SP.

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Pacific RAILNEWS.G9 RAIL NEWS eN North America

112: Winnipeg-Toronto. Departs Winnipeg 4:30 a.m. Tues.-Sun. 114: Calgary-Toronto. Departs Calgary 10:45 p.m. daily. Departs Winnipeg 8:30 a.m. daily. 116: Edmonton-Toronto. Departs Edmonton 3 a.m. Tues.-Sun. 122: Vancouver-Winnipeg. Departs Vancouver 7:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 126: Edmonton-Winnipeg. Departs Edmonton 4:50 a.m. Tuesday. 162: Vancouver-Toronto. Departs Vancouver 8:30 a.m. Sunday; Evergreen doublestacks. 204: Vancouver-Montreal. Departs Vancouver 2:40 a.m. Tues.-Sat. 218: Vancouver-Toronto. Departs Vancouver 6:30 a.m. daily.

Westbounds 101: Montreal-Vancouver. Departs Winnipeg 9:45 p.m. Wed.-Mon. 111: Toronto-Winnipeg. Arrives Winnipeg 7 p.m. Wed.-Mon. 115: To ronto-Calgary. Departs Winnipeg 12:30 a.m. Thurs.-Tues. 117: Toronto-Edmonton. Departs Winnipeg Blair Biot Kooistra 5 p.m. Wed.-Mon. 121: Winnipeg-Vancouver. Departs Winnipeg Looking like a scene conceived by CN's public relations department, new DASH 9-44CWL 2518 2 a.m. Mon.-Sat. leads a westbound past rock slide fences in the Thompson River Canyon west of Seddall, B.C. 163: Toronto-Vancouver. Departs Winnipeg 9:55 a.m. Monday. Evergreen doublestacks. 203: Windsor-Vancouver. Departs Winnipeg pea red on the magazine since it was intro­ CORPORATE NEWS 5: 15 a.m. Thurs.-Tu es. duced in 1992. Unfortunately, the launch of CN North America Disappearing 21 1: Toronto-Winnipeg. Arrives Winnipeg the ad campaign, which had been booked for 8 p.m. daily. some time in advance, coincided with the 215: Toronto-Calgary. Departs Winnipeg On March 20, CN launched its first major start of this spring's strike-though the strike 3:25 a.m. daily. television campaign in 10 years with an ad probably communicated the importance of 219: Toronto-Edmonton . Departs Winnipeg entitled "On a new course for the future." railroads to the Canadian economy more than 9 a.m. daily. The ad, conceived by CN's public relations any ad campaign ever could. departmen t, shows severa I scenes from CN announced a profit of $124 million for across Canada including a DASH 9-44CWL the first quarter of 1995, up substantially from MOTIVE POWER locomotive and train with the St. Clair tunnel the $2 million profit from the same period in More CN Units Can Lead in U.S. in the background. The ads appear to pro­ 1994. The operating ratio also fell three points mote the future with the familiar CN "noo­ to 91 percent, but much of the profit was Recently, much progress has been made to en­ dle" logo only. Coincidentally, the March is­ traced to the sale of CN Exploration oil and able most of CN's road power to lead trains in sue of KEEPING TRACK, CN's employee maga­ gas assets ($43 million) and the sale of sub­ the United States. Until recently, very few of zine, appeared in a revamped format minus sidiary Central Vermont ($39 million). CN's GP40-2W(L)s and none of the SD50Fs the CN North America logo that had ap- Nonetheless, strong gains were recorded in in­ and SD60s were equipped as U.S. leaders. As dustrial products, coal, sulfur, fertilizers, auto­ of late February, 205 of the 272 GP40-2W(L)s motive and forest products. had been so equipped, along with 19 of the 60 MOBILE GAIN OPERA TIONS SD50Fs and 35 of the 63 SD60Fs. Since the delivery of the 2400-series C40-8Ms in 1990, Tr ain Schedules Shuffled all new and rebuilt CN power has been deliv­ ered equipped to lead trains in the U.S. ANTTuned to RailroadENN BandA CN has made some major changes in priority SD40U 60 19 was released from AMF in Th e one you've heard about! train schedules. Trains that carry primarily in­ Montreal in March-the last of the 1994 SD40 • Increased range termodal traffic have been renumbered into rebuilds. AMF continues to work on rebuilding • 5/8 wave, 3db gain the 100 series, and trains that carry primarily 24 ex-UP SD40-2s acquired in 1994. Work will • Tuned lor optimum Sensitivity, 160-161 Mhz. autos and priority freight have been renum­ follow on the 1995 SD40 rebuilds, which will • Magnetic mount bered into the 200 series. Following are the be numbered 6020-6029. SD40s 5039, 511 4 current schedules for CN's 100 and 200 series and 5226 have been set aside for this program. ���:P�:G trains in WesternCanada. Th anks to James Brock, BRS- BRANCII­ Specify scanner type LINE, Ken Borg, Pete Johnson, Willie Rad­ $62 Eastbounds fo rd, Karl Rasmussen, Sean Graham-White @ ;eil;ilr;;;:;;;��� 102: Vancouver-Montreal. Departs Vancouver and TRAFFIC WORLD. 1 a.m. Tu es.-Sun., Winnipeg 7:30 a.m. Box 38881R , Germantown, TN 381 83 Thurs.-Tues. Mike Cleary

70. August 1995 RAIL NEWS The Information Super Railroad

AMERICA ONLINE baud really tests your patience, especially as considered a low-traffic area. Sorry rail enthusi­ all that pretty artwork is downloaded the first asts; if you're looking for a better forum online, Big, Easy and Cheap time you visit a forum . I'd recommend at least I'd suggest TrainNet on CompuServe. a 14,400 modem (especially if you're going to But that doesn't mean that America Online America Online (AOL), the nation's newly get into the Internet, but more on that later), is devoid of value for railfans, especially be­ crowned No. 1 online service, could very well but then again, time is cheap on AOL so un­ cause AOL is progressive with regards to Inter­ use "Big, Easy and Cheap" as its main selling less you're downloading tons of software or net connections. AOL offers an easy and inex­ pitch. But AOL hardly needs a catchy line to images, you'll never rack up that large a bill. pensive way to get on the Information Super­ pull in new customers. America Online floppies America Online's other problem is depth of highway. It is fine-tuning its World Wide Web and the promise 10 hours of free online time content. AOL is like the Platte River-a mile access; the interface is excellent, though slow, are everywhere. So fat� the strategy has paid off: wide and an inch deep. It offers a broad array and though the pages you can access are cur­ Since being founded in 1985, AOL has grown of services and forums, but you never seem to rently limited, offerings will expand rapidly to more than 3 million subscribers, and there able to get deep enough into the subject on once the software is perfected. More valuable seems to be no slowing its rapid rise to the top. AOL. This is especially true of railroad topics. and more immediately useful is AOL's ability to Besides marketing genius, why is America monitor Internet newsgroups. I subscribe to the Online so popular? Online services, being a rel­ Finding the Rail Stuff Not Easy active rec.railroad newsgt·oup. Using my AOL atively new phenomena, seem to mystify many Many railfan AOL users are shocked to discov­ interface I can read and respond to any message people, yet all they really are is a new way to or­ er that there is a Railfanning/Model Railroading posted, save them or print them, and even post ganize and present information and entertain­ forum-it's nearly impossible to find. Here's my own messages. This newsgt·oup (which may ment-not unlike other types of media, includ­ how to get to it: Typing in the keyword "Rail­ soon be reorganized, but more on that in future ing television, newspapers or magazines. AOL roading" will get you to a place called The Ex­ installments) offers wide-ranging coverage of is popular because it is the USA TODAY of the change; once there, click on the Collector's Cor­ rail topics; much of the inf011l1ation is useless, online world-it's easy to obtain and use, it's at­ ner icon. A list of folders will appear that will but some of it is also priceless. Access to this tractive to look at and it offers good variety for include the Railfanning/Model Railroading fo­ group alone is probably worth $10 per month. a reasonable price. It's the everyman online ser­ rum. But, once you get into this section, you'll Some would argue that there are better vice, great for first-time users and adequate for discover that it is nothing more than a bulletin ways to get Internet access, but when you experienced users, especially if they're pressed board, a place to post and read short messages. throw in all the other little things about for time. And, AOL is family friendly; many of Forty-seven topics are represented, but the area AOL-easy email, rail industry news from the the things that parents find objectionable about is disorganized, a real hodge-podge of mostly Business News section, reports from the Na­ online services are absent from AOL. modeling-related messages. The RR Railfanning tional Weather Service-I'm convinced that But what about rail enthusiasts? Will they folder will have the most topics of interest, but the service is a good value for railfans. If you'd find anything of value on America Online? the content is disappointing. There is no perma­ like a better rail forum, and cost isn't your ma­ The answer is yes, but finding the rail content nent archive for rail-related fi les, a serious limi­ jor concern, try CompuServe. But if you like in AOL is uncharacteristically difficult, and tation. I talked to an America Online big, easy and cheap, America Online is a good what you find may not satisfy your demand for spokesperson about the rail section and she in­ place to start exploring the online world. information, at least compared to the other dicated that there are no plans to upgrade it; services. Regardless, AOL is still a valuable the Railfanning/Model Railroading board is Don Gulbrandsen product, and well worth exploring.

Inexpensive and Easy to Use I like America Online because of its cheapness and easiness. The complicated pricing on Eleetrie railways earried CompuServe and other commercial services is mind-numbing. Not so with AOL. You pay not only passengers $9.95 per month and that gives you five hours Many electric railways fo und fr eight traffi c to be a profitable adjunct to their free on time; additional hours are only $2.95 each. All the goodies-email, Internet access, r.:::-:��;�engl=I operations. Learn about this important, but often overlooked, aspect special interest forums-are included in that railway through the pages of Not Only Passengers. price. No surcharges for high speed, no extra costs for prime time, nothing-it's that simple. Ease of use is AOL's other strong point. All the software you'll ever need, including up­ grades, is available online at no cost. Once you get into AOL, you'll find it the most attractive system to look at and the easiest to navigate through. Macintosh owners, in particular, will CERA Books be very comfortable with the look and feel of Make Electric AOL-everything is point and click. And Railway History email-probably the best reason for investing Come Alive in an online servvice-couldn't be easier. Up to this point, America Online must sound too good to be true. Well, it's time to talk about the negatives. The first is speed-AOL hasn't earned the nickname "America Onhold" with its blazing interface. During busy periods, activity slows to a crawl. Order # B-129 $35 postpaid (IL residents add $3.06 tax) . Free book catalog available. The faster your modem, the better: 2,400 P.O. Box 503, Chicago, IL 60690 Central Electric Railfans'Association, Pacific RAILNEWS. 71 COMMENTARY

The Last Word • • • With Ed Ripley

greatly improving its access to former BN lines. TP&W also will make a little pin money handling BNSF loose-car traffic to the Peoria area and gain an interchange with Southern Pacific at Bushnell, III. BNSF: Giving Kansas City Southel11 did a lot better. KCS had an­ noyed Santa Fe in past merger proceedings, introduc­ ing the key evidence that destroyed the Southern Pa­ cific & Santa Fe case, grabbing trackage rights Chico wanted in the UP-Katy proceeding, and competing Away the Store? with Santa Fe's chosen buyer Rio Grande in the forced sale of the SP. Still a tiny underdog despite its growth through the MidSouth merger, KCS posed a signifi­ cant threat to regulatory approval of BNSF because of its dependence on Wyoming coal delivered by BN. In return for backing out of BNSF's way, KCS added a large part of the old Frisco to its route map. After the merger, KCS will enjoy haulage rights over BNSF between the BNSF-KCS connection at Neosho, Mo., to East St. Louis, then back down the west bank of the Mississippi River to Memphis and over to a connection with the former Gulf & Mississippi (or Gulf, Mobile & Ohio if you prefer) at Tupelo, Miss. KCS also can route traffic via haulage over the direct BNSF line between Springfield, Mo., and Memphis, and can use BNSF as a haulage route to Omaha, Council Bluffs, Lincoln and St. Joseph instead of UP. Access to St. Louis is the key for KCS. Much of the chemical traffic it originates along the Gulf Coast heads for the Northeast. For KCS to achieve its longest hau I on this traffic, the cars have to move via Kansas City and over at least two other railroads to reach destination. Nowadays, shippers don't want to negotiate with three carriers to make rates, putting KCS at a disadvantage to UP and SP. After the BNSF Brian Solomon merger, though, KCS will interchange directly with Conrail and CSX, making the Octagon Route more On Feb. 25, 1995, a Southern Pacific westbound, on ON trackage rights, passes Highlands, III. competitive with its larger rivals. BNSF received haulage rights to New Orleans via KCS in return, but it's not clear this interchange will prove better than he line of nervous, pacing customers stretched Memphis for most Norfolk Southern and CSX traffic. down the aisle, out the door and around the block. But the scene wasn't the day-after­ THE BIGGEST WINNER, though, was SP. The Friendly he ghost Thanksgiving sale at the famous Woodfield shopping stood to gain the most from the TCC, as that agency Tcenter of Schaumburg, III. Instead, the action was predictably would be inclined to bulk it up to with­ Tof SPSF across the street at the suburban bunker Santa Fe stand the competition from the two Western mega­ calls home. Santa Fe wanted its merger with Burling­ giants. Santa Fe knew it, and this gave SP considerable ton Northern, and it wanted the opposition out of the leverage. While SP didn't score with its ridiculous de­ still haunts way-fast. The railroad was giving all sorts of mands for trackage rights into Seattle from both Chica­ goodies to its competitors to get them out of the ICC go and Oregon, it did emerge with some great prizes. merger proceedings, and just about everyone in line For years SP had pined for a direct route between the halls of walked away with something valuable. Kansas City and Texas. After the merger it will have Rejected suitor Union Pacific was the first to set­ two, via BNSF trackage rights from K.C. and Hutchin­ Schaumburg tle, taking home the curious consolation prize of the son, Kan., to Fort Worth. SP also will replace the com­ right to provide service to Superior, Neb. The way petition lost between Pueblo and Texas as a result of UP rhapsodized publicly over this bauble, you the merger, rolling trains on a route combining fOlmer and Rob Krebs wouldn't think its predecessors Chicago & North Santa Fe and BN trackage with SP's own ex-Rock Is­ Western and Missouri Pacific had abandoned this land line between Dalhart and Stratford, Texas. doesn't want modest market years ago, though they had. But UP Most importantly, SP will get trackage rights over was realistic about its goals in the settlement negotia­ one of BNSF's crown jewels-the ex-Santa Fe main tions, knowing that the ICC would not likely be per­ line between Kansas and Chicago. While SP's rights to risk losing suaded by arguments that the BNSF merger would are restricted to intermodal and automotive traffic, destroy the West's strongest railroad. that's not particularly significant, since trailers, con­ another ICC Cash-strapped Toledo, Peoria & Western,gasping tainers and vehicles constitute most of the business for breath, grabbed a life preserver in the form of on this largely double-track route. trackage rights over the ex-Burlington route between Access to Santa Fe's main line gives SP the poten­ merger case Peoria and Galesburg. This concession will give the tial to develop the most efficient Chicago-Los Angeles Tip-Up a direct route into a major BNSF freight hub, route in the industry. The new SP route between in-

72·August 1995 termodal terminals in those cities is about TI-IE MERGER WILL PUT the management skills 2,207 miles, versus 2,233 miles via the existing of Grinstein and Krebs to the supreme test. Santa Fe route. Moreover, SP won't have to Having promised Wa ll Street investors hun­ climb an Arizona Divide or Curtis Hill. All SP dreds of millions in savings, thi odd couple needs to do is continue double-tracking its bot­ wi ll be under pressure to deliver. Capital to tleneck between EI Paso and Colton to make pay for merger-related improvements, mean­ its line fully competitive with B SF's. while, may be hard to find. Layoffs, buyouts BNSF did get a couple of concessions in re­ and transfers within the managerial ranks, turn, including trackage rights between To peka meanwhile, initially will depress both morale and EI Paso to better serve the Mexico market, and productivity-why put out for the compa­ haulage rights between Caldwell and Eagle ny when it may cut you off the next day? Pass, Te xas, for the same purpose, and entry in­ This list of challenges would be formidable to the coal-fired San Antonio City Public Ser­ even if, by some miracle, no competitor ob­ vice generating station at Elmendorf, Texas. But tained new trackage rights through the merger. there's no dispute SP got the better of this deal. But as a result of its eagerness to deal, BNSF must also fend ofT the enlarged and resurgent Is BNSF RUNNING SCARED? The inexperienced SP and KCS. And the potential for disaster is observer wou ld likely answer no. Fast ap­ there, particularly from SP. If SP manages the proval of the merger is worth hard money to situation right, it can build tremendous traffic the applicants. BNSF projects that it will re­ volumes-and generate some profits-on its duce operating expenses by $453 million per trackage rights routes at BNSF's expense. year-mainly by eliminating 2,750 jobs-and An argument can be made that BNSF generate $107 million per year in additional would have been better ofl taking a harder line traffic. That's $560 million in total annual in the settlement negotiations. Sending some benefits, or $1.5 million for each day BN and supplicants away empty-handed wouldn't have Santa Fe can shave off the approval schedule. slowed down the ICC's timetable for deciding But that analysis is too simplistic. The fore­ the case. In fact, the merger partners rejected going figure , which B SF filed with the ICC, Illinois Central's demands outright, and the Ju­ assumed the merger would take place on the ly approval date remains the same. financial terms the parties agreed to in June It's doubtful the ICC would have awarded 1994. Thanks to UP's hostile bid for Santa Fe, SP Chicago access over the Santa Fe, since SP that won't happen. Instead of paying $2.7 bil­ already has two routes into the Railroad Capi­ lion as it had initially agreed, BN ended up tal. After all, UP also provides vigorous compe­ paying about $4 billion for Santa Fe, and the tition between Chicago and California-why is merged company will have to pay interest on another route needed? More evidence: Santa the added cost for years. Put another way, Fe wanted access to UP's Chicago doublestack UP's intervention ate up more than two years terminals in the Chicago & North Western con­ of those treasured merger savings-a bout trol proceeding to preserve existing traffic, and twice as much as the ICC handed BNSF when didn't get it. Arguably, BNSF would have done it agreed to issue a decision on the merger ap­ better by calling SP's bluff, refusing SP's track­ plication in one year instead of two. age rights requests and telling SP to grow up And the traffic growth of 1994 has petered and stop whining about what a weak competi­ • Abstracts: out. Business levels on both BN and Santa Fe tor it is. There's a good chance, in our view, the so far in 1995 are behind plan; Santa Fe's vol­ ICC would have told SP the same thing. Railroading through the ume dropped 5 percent in May from 1994 lev­ But the ghost of SPSF still haunts the halls of els. Modest increases, at best, are expected for Schaumburg. Krebs and many of Santa Fe's se­ lens 01 Brian Solomon the balance of this year. Your guess on the di­ nior managers lived through that fiasco, which rection of the economy in 1996 is as good as failed largely because Santa Fe refused to buy ) • Along the Clark Fork, mine, but I think the odds are even, at least, off its opponent railroads with trackage rights. that BNSF will be borninto a recession. Clearly Krebs doesn't want to take any chances where history and Meanwhile, a few cracks in the happy-face on losing another big ICC merger case. The risk facade maintained by the merger partners are he runs is that, by giving away the store his 10 < railroading go beginning to show. Santa Fe Chairman Rob competition, he may have unnecessarily hobbled Krebs has been effusive about the future of BNSF's own ability to compete_ PRN hand-in-hand BNSF under his leadership; he even told a Chicago-area newspaper that he foresaw an­ other merger with an Eastern carrier, making ·Weather Images: B SF a transcontinental line. But Krebs' in­ dependent act seems to be wearing thin with Mother Nature B Chairman Jerry Grinstein, who has point­ edly stated that he plans to stay on as BNSF s-- =­ Oilers a tough test lor chairman-and Krebs' boss-till June 1997. While the conventional wisdom is that the THREE CLASSIFIEDS Western railroads BN board bought Santa Fe to get Krebs to serve as Grinstein's successor, Burlington Northern management is showing signs that it AdvertiseONE oneGR classifiedEAT in threeDEAL maga­ can make the necessary tough decisions. Dur­ zines lor one special low price, only S15. ing May and June BN chopped its management ranks to the core. The message was clear to Send your typed outsiders: the current B regime doesn't need classified ad (25 �RailNews Krebs to take charge and cut costs. Whether word limit) and check for 815 to: the enormous combination of BNSF will be big pASSE�f..l!.LTRAIN enough to hold the substantial egos of Grin­ Locomotive stein, Krebs and BN's erstwhile potato chip PentreK Publishing b&Railway king, Executive Vice President Ron Rittenmey­ P. O. BOK 379 Preservation er, remains to be seen. waukesha, WI 531 87. Expires December 31, 1995.

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Closing date: maps, Delorme atlases. Send SASE for list to: Railroad joyment. For information about membership in the so­ two months before issue date. Count all numbers, name Information Service, P.O. Box 40085, Georgetown, ciety, or any of our 167 chapters in the U.S., Canada. and address. Home/office street address and telephone TX 78628. 381-382 and England, just write to the fo llowing address. To number must accompany order. Mail to: Classifieds, PASSENGER CAR DRUMHEADS, heralds, logos, join the society, send $15 ($7.50 june-july-Au­ Pentrex Publishing, P.O. Box 379, Waukesha, WI 53 187 decals, photos, matchbooks and more, for over 300 gust)-$ 19 ($9.50) outside the U.S. to: NRHS, P.O. railroads! Catalog $1 (refundable) or send $7 for sam­ Box 2221, Oak Park, IL 60303. 38 1 "WORKING FOR THE CHESSI E SYSTEM." Hard­ ples and free catalog. Trains, 3507-RN Debbie, bound, 288 pages. Inside story by retired AVP. Send LaFayette, I 47905. 380-382 $18.65 to Vandalia Book Co., Box 8392. Huntington, OCTOBER 7: Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad presents Ad Index WV 25705. 379-38 1 "Mike Double-Header" with newly restored Aleo 2-8-2T, AT SF 4-8-4 NO. 37S I -Great new book. 20 high-quali­ No. 17, and the Porter o. 5. Departing Elbe at 10 a.m., ty pages, mostly color. Profits support 3751 restoration. excursion travels to MRSR shops at Mineral, back A ...... 20 just $9.95, plus $2 SIl-l. (California orders include 80e through Elbe for lunch, then on a round-trip to Advanced Videos ...... ea. tax). Send to: SBRHS-BOOK, P.O. Box 2878, San Eatonville. Photo opportunities, special run-bys, and B Bernardino, CA 92406-2878. 376-381 shop tour are included. Coach seats $70; first class Big "E" Productions ...... 75 $100, seating is limited. Reservations required by mail CABOOSES, PASSENGER CARS and motorcars. Trans­ C or telephone. Dial (360) 569-2588, fax (360) 569-2438. port and set-up arranged. Photos, noor plans and catalog Visa, M/C and Discover accepted, or write to MRSR, Central Electric Railfans Association ...... 71 $10. Anderson Steel Flange R.R. Equipment, P. O. Box P.O. Box 92 1, Elbe, WA 98330-092 1. 380-382 Colorado Railroad Museum ...... 68 20 19, Fairfield, IA 52556. (515) 472-2020. 376-385 OVER 500 BRITISH RAIL VIDEOS from major rail o TED ROSE WATERCOLORS. Original paintings avail­ video producers. Send $3 check or money order for Dean Witter Reynolds Inc ...... 65 able or commission the artist to create custom art. Con­ brochure to john Stanberry, 2777 8th Avenue, Apt. 5, Des Plaines Hobbies ...... I 7 tact: Ted Rose, P.O. Box 266, Santa Fe, M 87504. ew York, NY 10039. 381 Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge RR ...... 15 (505) 983-948 1. 374-397 BOOKS, RAILROAD out of print. Specify interest area F OVER 20,000 different train depot photos for sale. for free catalog in that area. We buy books also! Hours 7- FLiMSIES! ...... 67 Send $1 for a list of your state. Roberta iesz, 1715 B II p.m. ET. M-F evenings. Call toll free (800) 450-4284. Footprint Publishing Co. Ltd ...... 66 Avenue N.E., Cedar Rapids, IA 52402. 372-383 Leyshon's Books Etc., P. O. Box 141 133, Columbus, 01-1 Four Ways West Publications ...... 21 CALIFORNIA RAILFAN FIELD GUIDES. Cajon, 43214. 379-385 Fox Publications ...... 65 Tehachapi, Keddie, Donner, more. Northern $12; South­ RAILROAD LOGO HAT PINS $2 each, patches $1, G ern $17; TX +8.25%; $2/01'der postage. jason Kazarian, military pins $2. Write for free list, please specify. Vic's, GNP Publications ...... 14 Box 260386, Plano, TX 75026-0386. 379-38 1 P.O. Box 90042, Portland, OR 97290. 377-382 I NEED MONEY FOR A PROJECT? Venture capital FLiMSIES! The Newsmagazine of Western Railroading. Icon Video Production ...... 69 sources are available, call (702) 747-6964 for infor­ Published twice monthly, we cover the We stern rail Identity Check Printers ...... 17 mation. 37 1-382 scene with timely coverage of news events, sometimes Izaak Walton Inn ...... 61 before the actual event! $30-24 or $ 1 0-7 issues. Sam­ J ple $1. Checks payable to: Flimsies!, P. O. Box 7261-P, J-Bar Rail Boutique ...... 63 Chico, CA 95927 -726 1. 381 Jelsma Graphics ...... 22 RAILFAN TIMETABLES: Designed like employee L timetables with all railroads, including shortlines, in one Ladd Publications ...... 68 handy book. Complete with rosters, maps, frequencies Lima Books ...... 22 and symbols. Everything you need trackside! Five edi­ Logo-Motives ...... 16 tions: CALIFORNIA $17.50, PACIFIC NORTHWEST . Carl Loucks ...... 7 (WAlOR) $14.50, ROCKY MOUNTAIN (CO/UT/NV) . $14.50, SOUTHWEST (AZ/NM) $1 1.25, INTER­ M MOUNTAIN (WY/MTIID) $13.25. Altamont Press, McMillan Publications ...... 19 P. O. Box 754-P, Modesto, CA 95353-0754. 381 MO-KAN Video ...... 15 Morning Sun Books ...... 74 SOUTHERN PACIFIC & SANTA FE: THE HISTORY OF THE SUNSET RAILWAY, hardback 8 112 x II. Photos by o Dunscomb, Whittaker, Kistler, Shaw. $29.95+$2.50 Overland Models Inc ...... 23, 62 S/H. john Bergman, 5345 W. Sunnyside Ct., Visalia, P CA 93277. 380-382 Pacific Limited ...... 16 P R L ...... 73 WANTED for the Simco Information Register: anecdotes, ACIFIC AI NEWS ...... 2, 67, 76 handy hints, jokes, favorite places, travel tips, obituaries, Pentrex ...... recipes, limericks-any topic of interest. Call 1-900-772- Pentrex Publishing ...... 4-5, 73 7479. $1.95 per minute, average 3 min., over 17. SIM­ Plets Express ...... I 7 CO, 4336 Chevy Chase, La Canada, CA 9101 1. 380-381 R

...... 70 RAILROAD VIDEOS: 2-hour VHS tapes. Vol. No. I Railcom Railroad Avenue Enterprises ...... 18 From the mid-Fifties until the end of (Soo/C WfWC). Vol. No. 2 (Soo/B ICNW/Amtrak). THE RAILROAD PRESS ...... 60 independent existence, the Frisco operated its Vol. o. 3 (BN & CI W at Rochelle), Vo l. No. 4 (Soo Rubber Railroad Stamp Works ...... 63 main lines as fa st fre ight properties, while the Line only). Vol. No. 5 (all BN). Ten percent donation of various branches and lighter-traffic lines were sales to BN & Sao Historical Societies. $25.95 each and S judiciously employed to fe ed the mains. includes 90-minute train cassette! $3 S/I-1. WI orders Greg Scholl Video Productions ...... 63 add 5.5 percent tax. Green Block Productions, 3609 Motive power purchases are outlined in roster Shasta Rail Group ...... 18 Milwaukee Street, Madison, WI 537 14. 381 fo rm in this new 128 page ali-color book, and SP REVIEW ...... 64

...... 64 operating practices over the diesel years are TtMBER TtMES: Logging railroad quarterly modeling Southwest Electronics ...... noted in photo captions and comments magazine. Scale drawings, historical photos and stories. Sunbird Train Mart ...... 65 throughout. $16 per year ($20 foreign). Timber Times, Box 219, Sundance Marketing, Inc ...... 18 Order today at the special pre-publica­ Hillsboro, OR 97123. 379-381 Sundance Publications, Ltd ...... 65 tion price of $40+$3.50 postage, $5 fo reign. Switch Stand Publishing ...... 21 CURRENT OPERATIONAL INFO and list of primary Give street address fo r UPS delivery. NJ res. railroad frequencies used in the Omaha/Lincoln, E re­ T add $2.40 tax. After 911195, price is @$49.95 gion available. For 2 page list enclose $1 plus a business Three D's Rail Video ...... 21 each. size SASE to: Darrell Wendt, 7440 james Avenue, La TLC Publishing ...... 14 Vista, E 68 128. 381 Trackside Prints ...... 69 Trains Unlimited, Tours ...... 14 Mornillg Stili Books, Itlc. PHOTOS FOR SALE. M/W equipment, track laying ...... 20 11 Sussex Court Trans-Alpine & Sierra, Inc ...... BOOK8 1KC. equipment, some freight and passenger equipment. Send Edisoll, N.J. 08820 +fi' LSASE to: Tie Gang Photo's, P. O. Box 17680, Dept. P, W San Diego, CA 92 177. 381-383 White River Productions ...... 61

74. August 1995 Railroading is facing the opportunity of a lifetime. Rail traffic on many routes is grow­ ing rapidly and nobody shows and explains these changes as well as Big "E" Pro­ ductions. Expert commentary tells the story of today's rail roading and changes over the years in the U.S. and Canada. If you are interested in contemporary operations or in seeing complete trains, we have the videotapes for you including several on the Southern Pacific. Our latest tapes were shot in professional Hi8 and edited in Betacam SP. All trains are shown in their entirety and are identified by symbol and destination.

NEW "CSX Around Rocky Mount, NC" NEW "NS at Spencer, NC" Rocky Mount, North Carolina is 235 miles south of Washington, D.C. on the Spencer, NC, on the former Southern, is 45 miles NE of Charlotte. This tape will busy, former ACL main line to Florida that hosts Amtrak's Florida trains. This show you 24 hours of action between the yard at Linwood and the junction at tape shows CSX and Amtrak trains in April of 1995 around Rocky Mount con­ Salisbury through Spencer in April, 1995, on Norfolk Southern's very busy cluding with 24 hrs. of action south of Rocky Mount. 69 min. $25.95 + $4 for Washington to Atlanta main line. 92 min. $27.95 + $4 for S&H. S&H. NEW "BN at Springfield, Missouri" NEW "NS East of Bluefield" Four former Frisco lines of the BN cross like a giant X in Springfield. We man­ The former N&W line in the Appalachians between Bluefield, WV and Roanoke aged to videotape nearly every BN train including the new ATSF trains for 24 runs some of the heaviest trains in the U.S. This videotape shows 24 hours of hrs. on the critical section of track between Teed and Nichols that all trains run NS action in April, 1995 from Narrows to Kellysville where all trains to Roanoke on in Oct. of 1994. 109 min. $23.95 + $4 for S&H. run on the same track. 111 min. $29.95 + $4 for S&H.

NEW "Conrail at Oak Harbor, OH" NEW "NS and CSX at Leipsic Jct" This videotape shows 24 hours of action in Nov. of 1994 on the busiest rail line Leipsic Junction is one of the more interesting small town rail crossings in north­ for freight in the east. On peak days, CR's line through Oak Harbor hosts 60 ern Ohio. Here the former Nickle Plate, Chicago to Buffalo main line of Norfolk trains in 24 hours. The NS Detroit to To ledo line crosses over CR at Oak Harbor Southern crosses tje former Baltimore and Ohio, To ledo to Cincinnati main line and we got the NS daylight trains also. 114 min. $29.95 + $4 for S&H. of CSX. This videotape covers 24 hours of action in Oct. of 1994 on both rail­ roads. 111 min. $29.95 + $4 for S&H.

"The Santa Fe at Lebo, KS" "SP's Kansas Funnel" See 24 hours of incredible action in October of 1994 at Lebo, 93 miles west of 24 hrs. of action in Oct. of 1994 on former RI east of Herington, KS where the Kansas City on SF main line. If you like hot trains, this is the greatest show in Golden State Route and Central Corridor (former DRGW) trains join together. this country as the red warbonnets thunder through Lebo. 90 min. $29.95 + $4 New & leased power on many trains including new ore trains. 65 min. $29.95 + for S&H. $4 for S&H.

"UP - SP River Wars I" "UP - SP River Wars II" This tape shows 24 hrs. of action along the Mississippi River around IlImo, MO, 24 hours of UP, SP, BN and Amtrak action along the Meramac River west of St. on the storied UP-SP joint line south of St. Louis in Oct. 1994. This line was writ­ Louis in Oct. of 1994. The UP-SP joint track between St. Louis and Kansas City ten about in the May, 1988 Tra ins Magazine. UP traffic at its peak level. 105 min. was written about in the June, 1988 Tra ins. The BN line is the former Frisco. 65 $29.95 + $4 for S&H. min. $25.95 + $4 for S&H.

SPECIA L - Both River Wars tapes for $44.90 + $4 for S&H. a savings of $15.

"Southern Pacific 1992 Update" "SP Sunset Route - 1993" This tape looks at operations in 1992 on SP's Sunset Route around Benson, This videotape covers 24 hours of action on the SP's Sunset Route during the AZ, the former Rio Grande over Soldier Pass, and the former Rock Island summer of 1993 when traffic was booming and the SP was leasing any power Golden State Route from Hutchinson, KS, to Tucumcari, New Mexico. 97 min. it could get its hands on. See one container train after another thundering $29.95 + $4 for S&H. across the desert around Deming, New Mexico, on SP's busiest route. 90 min. $27.95 + $4 for S&H. "The Immensity of It All II" "Burlington Northern's Funnel" See 24 hours of action in April of 1994 on the busiest line for freight trains in See 24 hours of action in May of 1994 on one of the busiest single track lines the world - The Union Pacific between North Platte and O'Falions with 100 in the country - the BN's Funnel between Spokane, WA and Sandpoint, 10. All trains in 24 hours. No train was missed. This is a sequel to our first tape on of the BN & MRL transcontinental traffic runs on this high speed line. No train the UP in Nebraska. Two tape set. 3 Hr., 40 min. $44.95 + $4 for S&H. was missed. 86 min. $27.95 + $4 for S&H.

"GTW And CSX At Wellsboro" "NS Across Northern Indiana" This tape shows over 24 hours of action at Wellsboro, Indiana, in Aug. of This tape covers nearly 30 hours of action around Argos, IN, on Norfolk 1994. Wellsboro is in Northern Indiana where the former B&O line to Chicago, Southern's line from Fort Wayne to Chicago in Aug. of 1994,. Traffic on this now CSX, crosses the main line of the Grand Trunk Western. Up to 45 trains busy main line has grown from 3 or 4 trains each way to 15 trains each way pound the double diamonds in 24 hours. 115 min. $29.95 + $4 for S&H. per day in the last 12 years. 86 min. $27.95 + $4 for S&H.

BIG "E" Productions P. O. Box 75 Greenland , NH 03840

800-832-1228 24 hrs a day. Visa, Mastercard, check, or Money Order. All tapes shipped by priority mail. VHS only.