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If you enjoy railroading, you should read L&RP. PACIFIC RAIL NEWS

stern 16 ���r�c:t: !�nw:�� �!:�c�m�� John Leopard and� Andrew S. Nelson Oakland Nights 22 When darkness falis, railroading in the East Bay comes to life Eric Blasko 34 Focus Kansas: Paola A railroad paradise on this side of the rainbow Dan Schroeder 36 Focus Washington: Everett The busy junction where BN's "high" and "low" lines meet John C. Iliman Images: Prairie Railroading Burlington Northern 5045 64 11 leads No. 97 through 48 Everett Junction, Wash., on Oct. 1, 1979. John C. IIlman Endless miles, tali grasses, small towns and distant horizons

PACIFIC RAIL NEWS and PACIFIC NEWS are registered trademarks of Interurban Press (a California I DEPARTMENTS I Corporation), a subsidiary of Pentrex, Inc. 4 EXPEDITER 42 CP RAIL SYSTEM PUBLISHER: Michael W. Clayton 6 SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 43 SHORT LINES EDITOR: Don Gulbrandsen 8 REGIONALS 44 TRANSIT ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Andrew S. Nelson ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Carl Swanson 9 BURLINGTON NORTHERN 45 UNION PACIFIC EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: Mac Sebree 11 CHICAGO NORTH WESTERN 46 KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Greg Brown. & 14 SANTA FE 48 IMAGES OF RAILROADING Elrond G. Lawrence, Dick Stephenson 34 FOCUS KANSAS 54 THE LAST WORD ART DIRECTOR: Tom Danneman 36 FOCUS WASHINGTON 55 PRN CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISING MANAGER: Richard Gruber 40 AMTRAK/PASSENGER 55 PRN ADVERTISING INDEX

COVER: A Southern Pacific B30-7 waits for its next assignment at the Oakland loco­ motive facility in November 1993. The East Bay's major city is a busy rail center around the clock, but the action really heats up when the sun goes down and a vari­ ety of locals, through freights and passenger trains begin to prowl the rails. Eric Blasko

PACIFIC RAILNEWS (ISSN 8750-8486) is published monthly by Interurban Press (a corporation), 2652 E. Walnut. Pasadena, CA 91107. Second-class postage paid at Glendale, CA 91209 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: PACIFIC RAILNEWS, P.O. Box 94911, Pasadena. CA 91109. SUBSCRlPTION RATES: $30 (U.s.) for 12 issues, $58 for 24 issues. Foreign add $6 for each 12 issues. Single copy $5 postpaid from Pasadena office (subject to change without notice). CHANGE OF ADDRESS: The Post Office does not regularly forward 2nd Class Mail and PACIFiC RAu.NEWS is not responsible for copies not forwarded or destroyed by the Post Office. Replacement copieslP.O. notifications will be billed. Please allow us at least four weeks for any address change. ADVER TISING RATES: Contact PACIFIC RAILNEWS, P.O. Box 379, Waukesha. WI 53187: (414) 542-4900. MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE: For all subscription problems and inquiries call: (800) 899-8722 or outside U.S. (818) 793-3400. At the east end of Silver Bow Canyon, an ex-Union Pacific GP38-2 and an ex-SP GP9 trail ex-Butte Anacon­ da & Pacific GP9 105 leading a Montana Western freight as it ducks under ex-BA&P trackage on March 15, 1994. With a tight market for used-but-serviceable four-axle locomotives, short lines like Montana Western are struggling to find affordable power to keep trains rolling on their light-railed routes. Kirk Petty

1993 Spring 1994 is minimum of 140 AC-4400Ws the a.c. units ordered by UP beginningREDUX?: to look like the sum­ from General Electric for $300 will be powered by the stan­ mer of 1993 in parts of the Mid­ million. Delivery of these a.c.­ dard GE/Cooper-Bessmer FDL west as heavy April rains driven units willspan four years, prime mover using diesel fuel caused flooding that closed key with the first arriving in 1995. and not liquefied natural gas. routes in Kansas, Missouri and These units will be built in a One week before the UP or­ Illinois. Burlington Northern's manner so that when the tech­ der was announced, GE re­ St. Louis-Memphis, Tenn., River nology is available and proven, leased details of a formal agree­ Line was closed by high water, they can be easily upgraded to ment with a German company forcing trains to detour via 6,000 h.p. per unit. This horse­ to develop the most powerful Springfield, Mo. BN's Spring­ power increase is something diesel locomotive prime mover field-St. Louis route was also that UP's top management has ever built. Formalizing joint re­ closed, forcing trains to detour been looking for in new loco­ search that has been going on via the Illinois Central from St. motives for some time, and for a few years, Deutz MWM, a Louis to Memphis, then north­ why the railroad did not show subsidiary of Klockner-Hum­ west over the BN to Springfield. much interest in purchasing boldt-Deutz AG of Cologne, will Union Pacific also saw flood­ EMD's 4,000 h.p. SD70MACs. complete development of the ing on three key routes. The Unlike UP's recently deliv­ new GE 7HDL diesel prime River Sub between Jefferson ered GEs, the a.c. units will be mover, to be built and tested City, Mo., and Kansas City was equipped with the new elec­ this year. According to pub­ under as much as two feet of tronic control panels in the lished reports, GElDeutz MWM water, and the Cherokee Sub cab-similar to those in Am­ expects to have the 7HDL into south of Parsons, Kan., was trak's P40 (AMDl03). These production by the end of 1995. closed due to a washout. Over panels replace most of the tra­ At that time, those AC-4400Ws in Illinois, UP's busy Chicago ditional mechanical gauges that had been built with the Subdivision was closed at both with electronic read-outs. 16FDL prime mover will be sent Villa Grove and Salem. This order for AC-4400Ws back for retrofitting the new does not affect UP's previous and larger 7HDL prime mover. UP ORDERS A.C. UNITS order for three of the first pro­ FROM GENERAL ELECTRIC: duction AC-4400Ws; these BN NOT QUITE OUT OF On March 25, Union Pacific an­ should be ready in August for TEXAS: Burlington Northern nounced it would purchase a extensive testing. So far, all of has signed a service agree-

4. JUNE 1994 ment with Kansas City South­ ern that will allow BN to con­ tinue intermodal service be­ tween Texas and the Pacific Northwest-business that BN stood to lose after it closed in­ termodal terminals in Dallas and Houston in late March. The agreement will allow KCS to move BN intermodal traffic from Dallas to Kansas City, where it will be turned over to BN for furtherance to the Pacific Northwest. BN stated that the new agreement was in response to customer requests for an al­ ternative to the service Union Pacific offers on the same route. There has been no indi­ cation yet as to how many of the 172,000 yearly shipments BN handled out Dallas and Houston would shift over to the KCS.

WE'LL KEEP OUR TRAILERSThe latest ABOVE: Metrolink's latest innova­ FORskirmish OURSELVES: between Burlington tion on its recently extended line Northern and Union Pacific is to Lancaster is trainsets of GO one that could have a severe Transit equipment from Toronto, widespread effect upon the en­ complete with converted F-units tire intermodal industry. In for head-end power, led by Am­ trak F40s. One such train is mid-March BN announced that shown in SP's Soledad Canyon it was canceling the interline west of Lang, Calif., on April 7. trailer-use agreement with UP, Gordon Glattenberg RIGHT: P40s effective April 3. And because (AMD 1 03s) 816/830 lead the UP owns part of Chicago & eastbound Southwest Chief North Western, BN canceled through a late spring snowstorm C&NW's agreement as well. at Flagstaff, Ariz., on March 26. BN's reasoning is that it The new General Electric loco­ wants its own equipment used motives, which are a hit with strictly for BN customers at a crews thanks to their ergonomi­ time of continuing intermodal cally designed working quarters, equipment shortages, though have become the mainstay some claim this act is nothing power on the Chief. Peter Ehrlich but a direct attack on the inter­ modal traffic moved by UP. Proponents of the line be­ One BN official stated that BN attribute SF's growth to its A FRIENDLY FIRST improving performance, in lieve 20,000 tons of outbound owns 4,300 trailers while UP QUARTER: Though specific has only 500, and that on an first-quarter results weren't turn a direct result of its re­ grain per annum, 80,000 tons of average day there are between available at press time, South­ cent capital improvements. inbound garbage from Califor­ 500 to 1,000 BN trailers being ern Pacific was expected to Much of the credit for SP's nia and high-quality export coal moved on UP trains while earn a healthy profit and re­ renewed success is being given from the San Juan Basin could there are only 10 to 20 UP trail­ port one of its best perfor­ to CEO Ed Moyers, whose cost­ support the new line. The re­ ers on BN trains. mances in a long time. Sources cutting measures, along with gion has been without rail ser­ This move could perma­ indicate that SP generated $20 customer service, motive power vice since Denver, Rio Grande & nently fracture the current U.S. million more in revenue than and managerial improvements Western abandoned its branch intermodal system, which is the same period in 1993, with has invigorated a demoralized into Farmington, N.M., in 1968. based upon a free-floating pool operating expenses rising only and factionalized SF. SP's goal The new route would inter­ of equipment. All other rail­ $900,000. SP also undercut its for this year is an 89 percent change with the Santa Fe in roads and trucking companies operating profit budget by 50 operating ratio, which, if Gallup, N.M., and would follow that do business with UP, BN percent, and its service relabil­ achieved, will bring Mr. Moyers a different alignment from that and C&NW could be pulled in­ ity on two of its five corridors a bonus of 200,000 shares of SP of the ex-D&RGW branch. to this conflict as extra time, is more than 90 percent. stock-at current prices, a $4.4 One of the line's promoters effort and costs would be re­ SP originated 177,845 car­ million pat on the back. has stated that the line could quired to make sure that no BN loads, an 11 percent increase attract Japanese coal contracts, equipment is sent to the UP or over comparable 1993 figures, with Nissan North America al­ the C&NW and vice-versa. But with intermodal traffic lead­ RAIL LINE PROPOSEDA proposed IN ready approaching one area in the short term, given its ing with a 24.3 percent in­ $87-million,NEW MEXICO: 100-mile new rail mining company about buying vast pool of intermodal equip­ crease. Container traffic rose line in northwestern New 110 truckloads of coal daily. ment, BN has the upper hand 35.3 percent for the first nine Mexico could be used to move Th anks to Wa yn e Monger, over UP in the highly competi­ weeks of 1994, far ahead of traffic from Navajo territory to and Mike Harbour of Burling­ tive intermodal market. industry averages. Analysts current markets. ton Northern. PRN

PAC IFIC RAILNews • 5 SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES

SP. Alternating current traction motors are featured on these units. MK will lease the three units to SP, with numbers presently anticipated in the 501- 503 slots. Colors and lettering will be stan­ dard SP. Expect them to remain in a three­ unit set; once they have toured the sys­ tem, they should settle into coal service. SP has also leased about 50 six-axle EMDs from MK to fill in until the SD40-2Ms come on line. Most of the leased units are in MK's 9000- (former MPI), 9400- (former NRE) and 9500-series, although a few for­ mer Santa Fe 5525-5531-series SDP40Fs have crept into the mix. Many of the MK lease units have simply had a new num­ ber and logo hastily added before being sent out for service.

Double Track For Arizona?

While not on the present budget, double track in congested regions of Arizona is at least a possibility for the future. Rail sal­ vaged from single-tracking Donner Pass could be earmarked for a proposal to add a Recently delivered GP60 9776 leads an SP westbound through West Colt n, C lif., in . � � second track on the Sunset Route main February 1994. Still coming are 25 SD7DMs and 1DO C44-9Ws, which coupled with SP s new­ . line. Proposed and presently under study found prosperity, could once again make the Friendly a tough competitor. Elrond G. Lawrence for 1995 installation is Fenner to Dragoon; 1996, Fenner to Mescal; and 1997, San Si­ rival and absorption of an additional 250 SP mon to Gary. This project is just an engi­ Out One Pocket, Into Another Rail employees, mostly train dispatchers neering study for now and may never from Houston, Texas, and Sacramento, come to fruition, but it does make sense in Southern Pacific Rail Corp. is involved in a Calif., it is anticipated that portions of light of the potential for intermodal traffic chess-like move that seemingly takes mon­ about five floors in the newly acquired growth on the Sunset Route. ey from one of Phil Anschutz's pockets and building will remain empty. puts it into another. More than 570 Denver­ based SP employees will be moving from the old Rio Grande headquarters at One New Unit-Train Contracts SD70M Details Park Central and other Denver locations to nearby One Corporate Centre. SP Rail Corp. SP has won a contract to supply Western More details have become available on recently purchased One Corporate Centre Resources power plants in Lawrence and Southern Pacific's order for 25 SD70Ms, for $5.5 million from The Antelope Co., a Tecumseh, Kan., with unit coal trains. The numbered 9800-9824. Most importantly, five-year agreement specifies that at least holding of the Anschutz Family Trust. The they will not be built with alternating-cur­ 75 percent of the coal come from the Ener­ Antelope Co. purchased the building in rent traction motors. Electro-Motive Divi­ gy Mine located on SP's Craig Branch in 1991 for $2.25 million, half of SP Rail's pur­ sion's entire production of a.c. traction Colorado ...SP and Santa Fe have teamed chase price. When ownership details of the components is booked into 1995 by the up to move unit trains of coal from the deal were made public, company spokes­ huge 350-unit Burlington Northern order Jansen Mine near Trinidad, Colo., to Cald­ person Jack Martin noted that SP felt that it for SD70MACs, so this feature is unavail­ well, Texas. The mine had long sought a paid a "fair market price" for One Corpo­ able to other customers deSiring 1994 de­ contract for its coal reserves. The cycles rate Centre. Even after the forthcoming ar- liveries. In fact, EMD will not have addi­ are symboled as CWCLC/CLCWC ...SP tional a.c. locomotives on the road until the has been receiving unit-trains of grain SD80MAC prototypes (with sound-isolated from BN in Portland, Ore., to forward cabs) are delivered to Comail in 1995. southward to El Centro, Calif. The 45-car Last-minute revisions to the paint operations are symboled BNECG (Burling­ scheme still anticipate Lark gray and scar­ ton Northern-El Centro grain). let introduced on SP diesels in the fall of 1958. Speed lettering will be used, as well as considerably more white in safety zones. Slaves on the SP?

SP is evaluating a new technology for con­ 1993 Traffic was Booming ... The Chatsworth and Santa Susana Hills feature beautiful California New MK5000C Locomotives trolling helper unit sets with radio control. scenery and Southern Pacific, Amtrak and Metrolink trains. The racetrack-like run from Burbank Junction provides plenty of fast Conrail C40-8Ws 6050 and 6055 were eval­ runbys. 78 minutes of packed action .. first rate Video Quality, and The three Morrison Knudsen MK5000Cs uated on Moffat Tunnel coal symbol KC­ Stereo Sound. VHS only. $24.50·· FREE SHIPPING to U.S. should have arrived for long-term evalua­ EYC (Kansas City-Energy Mine) and coun­ California Residents, we pay the tax ! tion by the time you read this. These 5,000 terpart EYKCC on March 7, 1994. Loaded Canada and Mexico add $3.00 U.S. h.p. Caterpillar-powered locomotives were EYKCC rated Conrail radio control master Check or Money Order to: 6050 entrained on the head end, with Charles Smiley 18351 Blackhawk St. completed in March, and have been un­ De t. P Northrid e CA 91326 dergoing extended testing at Boise, Idaho, slave unit No. 6055 assigned to direct the before being released for service on the mid-train helper set. One purpose of the

6. JUNE 1994 test was to evaluate the performance of sible that the Plano-Anna line may be sold the radio control through the numerous for shortline operation, including a possi­ tunnels on the route. The pair was then ble dinner train. PACIFIC RAIL evaluated on the Tabernash, Colo., helper NEWS set working as rear-end pushers for coal trains ascending Winter Park hill. D&RGW Locomotive Status The duo next worked on loaded coal trains on the Joint Line, then were as­ As time progresses, fewer and fewer NEWS STAFF signed to the CLAIC (Coleto Creek-Axial D&RGW locomotives can be found operat­ Mine) and AICLC. ing together. A continuing exception is the News/information submissions: If you would like to share items on any of the topics listed below, please head-end power commonly assigned to contact the appropriate columnist at the address list­ unit coal CKEYC (Denver's Cherokee Pow­ ed. NOTE: Do not send photos to the columnists, Back from the Dead er Plant-Energy Mine coal), often a quartet and we ask that you please not ask the columnists to of D&RGW SD40T-2s/SD50s. send you photos or information. SP's fleet of 1979-built B30-7s, along with Former D&RGW GP30s are still working 1980- and 1984-built B36-7s, produced in Colorado. Number 3002 was assigned to RAILROAD COLUMNISTS many revenue miles for the company. the Landmark local working north out of However, time and wear took their toll; Grand Junction on March 2; Nos. 3016 and AMTRAK/PASSENGER-Dick Stephenson the units were scheduled for retirement. 3018 continue to hang on as the Belt Job 444 Piedmont Ave. #128. Glendole. CA 91206 However, SP's recent power shortage power out of Denver's North Yard. Other AT&SF-Elson Rush made reactivating the units feasible. A D&RGW GP30s known to be active through P.O. Box 379. Waukesha. WI 53187 number of the locomotives needing major March include Nos. 3020-3023 and 3026. BURLINGTON NORTHERN-Karl Rasmussen repairs were rebuilt at Denver's Burnham D&RGW SD45s active during the same time 11449 Goldenrod St. NW. Coon Rapids. MN 55448 Shops, the first General Electric locomo­ period include Nos. 5317, 5321, 5325, 5328, CN NORTH AMERICA-Mike Cleary tives to be processed at the facility. Pre­ 5329, 5339 and 5340. Several other D&RGW 1395 W. Jessamine #206. St. Paul. MN 55108 C&NW-Michael W. Blaszak sent operating practice is to dispatch the SD45s, however, along with several 211 South Leitch Ave.. La Grange. IL 60525 units as dedicated sets. D&RGW GP40s needing repairs, were CP RAIL SYSTEM-Karl Rasmussen transferred to the BN at 38th Street Yard in 11449 Goldenrod St. NW. Coon Rapids. MN 55448 Denver, presumably for transport to a buyer. ILLINOIS CENTRAL-Greg Sieren Painting at Tucson-PFE 6117 South 31st. St. Apt. 12. Milwaukee. WI 53221 KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN-Michael Hasbargen A major program to repaint more than 60 Operation Shorts I 585W 350N. West Lafayette. IN 47906 already-overhauled units has begun. Us­ MEXICO-Clifford R. Prather ing the former Pacific Fruit Express shops SP has continued to dispatch symbol P.O. Box 925. Santa Ana. CA 92702 in Tucson, Ariz., SP intends to have a RVNSQ (Roseville-Norfolk Southern quality) REGIONALS-Dave Kroeger standing total of eight units in the shop at from Grand Junction to Pueblo, Colo., via 525 6th Ave .. Marion. IA 52302 all times in varying stages of painting. Lo­ Denver and the Moffat Tunnel main rather SHORT LINES WEST-Wayne Monger comotives working through the PFE shops than Tennessee Pass. Moreover, the opera­ 1409Tillman St.. Suisun City. CA 94585 will include: Rio Grande SD40T-2 5410, 48 tion is quaSi-scheduled, with an expected SHORT LINES MIDWEST-Bob Thompson SP and Cotton Belt B30-7s, 11 SD40T-2s pre-dawn arrival at Denver's North Yard. Route 6. Box 207, Paris. TX 75462 SP/SSW-Joseph A. Strapac and three SD45T-2s. A new unit-coal cycle recently made its P.O. Box 1539. Bellflower. CA 90707 debut. CVEJC routes loaded coal gondolas SP (D&RGW)-Richard C. Farewell from loading on CV Spur, near Wellington, 9729 w. 76th Ave .. Arvada. CO 80005 Texas line Abandonments Utah, then eastward via Tennessee Pass TRANSIT-Mac Sebree to the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern at Joliet, Ill. IIIII NW 19th Ave .. Vancou ver. WA 98685 Four lines in Texas, totaling about 157 Empty hoppers take a reverse routing. UNION PACIFIC-Wayne Monger miles, are either planned for abandonment Early March found a most interesting, 1409Tillman st.. Suisun City. CA 94585 or in the process of being torn up. The list if not sad, consist assigned to DVPUM includes: The Commerce line, 23.2 miles (Denver-Pueblo merchandise). Trailing the between Simtrott and near Wylie; the head-end power were 37 D&RGW caboos­ SUBMISSIONS: Articles, news items and photographs Denison line, 43.2 miles between Plano es of the 1400 and 1500 classes targeted are welcome and should be sent to our Wisconsin editori­ al office. When submitting material for conSideration, in· and South Sherman Junction; the Victoria for scrapping. clude return envelope and postage ifyou wish it returned. line (also known as the Wharton Branch), Thanks to Allen Copeland, H. A. PACrFlC RAn.NEWS does not assume responsibility for the safe return of material. Payment is made upon publication. 62 miles between Wharton and Victoria; Th orne, J. R. Knoll, Franz Hastrich, Ken and the Beeville line, 29 miles between Ardinger, Or10 Elfes, H. W. Farewell and EDITORIAL ADDRESS: Submit all photos, article sub· Kenedy and Beeville. In addition, it is pos- the SF Inform ation Cen ter. missions and editorial correspondence to: PACIFIC RAILNEWS p.a. Box 379, Waukesha, WI 53187 (414) 542-4900 FAX: (414) 542-7595 CompuServe: 76307,1175 � WANTED: � America Online: Pentrex White River Productions and author Kevin EuDaly announce an upcoming series of books Submissions sent via UPS, Federal Express or similar courier must go to the following street address: covering the Missouri Pacific, its predecessors and subsidiaries. We need your help in PACrFlC RAILNEWS photographic coverage of the MoPac. These hardcover books cover the following subjects: 923 Friedman Drive, Waukesha, WI 53186

Missouri Pacific's Diesel Roster, all makes and models, every MoPac diesel BUSINESS ADDRESS:Address all correspondence re­ garding subscription and business matters to: Missouri Pacific's passenger trains and operations, from The Eagle to Amtrak Pentrex MoPac's White River division, beginning to end including UP and M&NA P.O. Box 94911, Pasadena, CA 91109 (818) 793-3400 Missouri Pacific trains and operations for the entire system FAX: (818) 793-3797 Included are the T&P and the C&EI (and all subsidiaries) Magazine Subscription Service: For all subscription Black and white prints (prefer 8 x 10) and color slides are needed for these projects. Payment problems and inquiries call (9 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific time): or is $15.00 per published photograph before 1970 and $7.50 per photo after 1970, plus one (800) 899-8722 outside the U.S. (818) 793-3400 complimentary copy for each represented contributor. All photographs will be returned to © 1994 Interurban Press, a subsidiary of Pentrex, Inc. owner. Send to Author at: WHITERIVER 6545 Scenic Drive All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part Write for more information! PRO DUe T IO N S Kansas City MO 64133 without permission is prohibited.

PACIFIC RAILNews • 7 REG/ONA

After a month-long delay, WC and C&NW began moving taconite between Minnesota and Escanaba, Mich., to replenish strike-depleted stock­ piles. On March 11, one of the 22 trains contracted rolls through Pembine, Wis., behind 5D45 6598 and two leased 5D35s. Chuck Schwesinger

110 and a three-platform articulated set Big Sky Report loaded with three trailers departed Wisconsin & Southern Update Willits, Calif. Because of the extensive Montana Rail Link has placed seven of the track work that has been done on the ex­ Updating our report on Wisconsin & nine former New York, Susquehanna & Northwestern Pacific main line in north­ Southern'S March 7 derailment near Lone Western SD45s in service, although one of ern California, the train arrived at the Rock, Wis., repairs began on the Wiscon­ these units is an F45 that probably will be Southern Pacific interchange at Suisun sin River bridge in early April and were used in business train service. All of the only eight hours later-a trip that has expected to be completed by early May. units that were purchased from Naparano normally taken most freight cars any­ With the closing of the Madison-to-Prairie Rail Service are still wearing "Suzy O's" where from two to five days in the recent du Chien line, WSOR moved its coal ship­ black-and-gold paint scheme and are nick­ past. Not only is this the first revenue ments to the University of Wisconsin named "bumblebees" by MRL crews. In move of intermodal equipment on the heater plant in Madison over the BN and other diesel news, Montana Rail Link CFNR and the first use of GP15-1s north CP Rail System via La Crosse, Wis. WSOR plans to upgrade its GP9 fleet this year, of Healdsburg, but it is by far the fastest unit 4494 was stationed at Prairie du with units receiving 26L brake equipment any train has traveled over the ex-NWP Chien to shuffle coal hoppers from the and chopped noses. since the end of passenger service in the docks on the Mississippi River to the BN Burlington Northern and Montana Rail 1960s. The loads originated at Eureka on at Crawford. BN moves the coal north to Link are no longer participating in coal ship­ the North Coast Railroad; this successful La Crosse, where it is turned over to ments to Boardman, Ore., as Western Rail test may mean more to come. Soo/CP for the trip east to Madison. Properties Inc. (Chicago & North Western) Also in the field of intermodal moves on WSOR's three F45s were sold in mid­ has outbid BN for this business. This means the CFNR, Napa County has reached an April to Montana Rail Link. The units were a loss of approximately 168 trains per year agreement with one of the solid waste dis­ to be returned to WSOR but the last­ and more than $5 million in revenue. posal sites in Washington State for trans­ minute deal saw them turned back west port and disposal of the county's garbage. upon arrival at North Fond du Lac on the Like other such operations, the solid we. In other locomotive news, WSOR re­ Intermodal on California Northern waste will be loaded in special containers activated former Southern Pacific GP20 and moved as a doublestack train set. It is 4041 in March; four other ex-SP GP20s California Northern began moving inter­ expected that this service will start by the that WSOR acquired in August 1992 were modal traffic on April 6, when GP15-1 end of 1994. sold to National Railway Equipment.

8. JUNE 1994 WSOR dispatching was combined in CSX's Bedford Park terminal, but was told become IAIS 800-802. As of April 1, two of March as the dispatchers based in Horicon there was no room there, either. Once WC the three were at the Comail shops in Al­ and Janesville were moved to Milwaukee. starts doublestack service from Green Bay, toona, Pa., and it is possible that the three Wis., that traffic will have to go to Bedford will be painted into the IAIS color scheme Park as stacks won't clear the Belt Rail­ there. It is unknown yet when they will ar­ Wisconsin Central's Chicago Shuffle way of Chicago bridge over the Baltimore rive on IAIS property. & Ohio Chicago Terminal. Grain traffic was on the upswing dur­ Wisconsin Central moved its Chicago-area WC reportedly may take over the ing March, as many extras were run be­ intermodal operations on April 2 to the Illi­ switching duties at Bedford Park as well, sides the regular 011 and 012 manifest nois Central Moyers Intermodal Terminal as CSX lacks crews to switch the facility. trains. Iowa Interstate is taking part in a at Markham Yard. This move will give WC As of March, North Star Rail's ex-Mil­ new westbound oat-load move from the customers a higher level of service and ac­ waukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 was scheduled barge facility at Bureau, Ill., to National cess to major interstate highways. This is to make round trips out of Green Bay to Oats in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. These are the third intermodal terminal switch since Neenah, Wis., on June 11 and 12. imported oats barged north on the Illi­ WC started in 1987; it has moved from nois River that produce a revenue back­ Union Pacific's Canal Street facility to San­ haul of what would otherwise be empty ta Fe's Corwith terminal, back to Canal Iowa Interstate: More Four-Cycle Power covered hoppers heading back to Iowa Street, and now to Moyers. for loading. The reason cited for the move is that Iowa Interstate has completed the pur­ Thanks to Montana Rail Link, Bruce UP no longer has extra room at Canal chase of three former Providence & Schwierske, Dennis Weber, Wa yn e Mon­ Street due to its burgeoning intermodal Worcester M-420R's with comfort cabs. ger, Dennis Smith, Wi sconsin Central, Al­ traffic. Initially, WC wanted to move to The three units, 2001, 2003 and 2005, will lan Hunt and the Mi chelson Brothers. BURLING RTHERN

Portland, with connecting service from & Eastern Railroad), but were rejected by Improving Operations Seattle provided by No. 95. Corrrecting a federal administrative officer. BN is now last month's column, Expediter No. 48 op­ negotiating with the city and may convey Despite the jitters on Wall Street, most in­ erates out of St. Paul on Monday through the line for recreational trail purposes. dustry analysts predict 1994 will be a ban­ Thursday evenings, reducing the stress on BN has been exonerated by the Nation­ ner year for railroads, assuming they don't early morning counterpart 42. Counterpart al Transportation Safety Board after its experience mammoth floods (or worse yet, No. 49 has not yet been added to the study of the June 30, 1992, derailment of drought conditions) in the country's heart­ timetable on a regular basis. train 142 at the Nemadji River bridge land. The early numbers from the trucking Speaking of schedules, BN and C&NW south of Superior, Wis. The safety agency industry support such projections, with have agreed to schedule the movement of traffic levels up 6 percent during the first coal trains on the Orin Line, relieving the quarter, with rates up a hefty 4 percent. serious congestion that plagued the busy April's Teamsters strike and the growing artery in late 1993 and early 1994. As mo­ NEW BOOK! shortage of long-haul drivers paint a bright tive power and crew availability becomes picture for intermodal traffic in 1994. Inter­ more stable later this year, perhaps this modal highway/rail traffic stood at 12 per­ practice will be extended to other busy cent in 1989, rose to 15 percent two years corridors across the system. Consideration ago and is expected to hit 20 percent next is also being given to more effective use of Burlington year. These trends point to more difficul­ intermediate yards along the ex-Great Northern's gross ties as the year progresses for rail carriers Northern "High Line" as a means of reduc­ income in a trying to get intermodal traffic over the ing congestion at such points as Seattle, year and abollt three quarters road on a timely basis. Pasco and Spokane, Wash., Minneapolis of the ton­ Recent actions on the BN seem to be and Chicago. Facilities that could see in­ nage moved having a positive impact, as most priority creased use later this year include White­ on the BN's trains were achieving a fairly high rate of fish and Havre, Mont., and Minot, N.D. Denver on-time performance by early April. The Division. shifting of intermodal assets and motive power to the most profitable corridors Tongue River, Low Bids, Exoneration should certainly enhance bottom-line per­ Powder River Coal formance. Furthermore, BN has been The Interstate Commerce Commission has and the BN's Denver spending extra money to shift equipment endorsed a proposed rail route between to where it is needed. Symbols 2YA and Ashland and Decker, Mont., a 41-mile ex­ Division 4MT are often used to move empty plat­ tension of the proposed Tongue River Rail­ By Wesley Fox forms back to Chicago, while auto rack road extending south from Miles City to train 34 is Similarly filled out with empty Ashland (89 miles). The shorter segment is Powder River Coal and the BN's cars whenever possible. intended to provide access to coal mines in Denver Division is an intimate look by subdivision of the Burlington As for westbounds, former auto rack the southeastern corner of the Big Sky Northern's rail lines in Colorado. and container symbol 33 was abolished on State at a considerable cost savings from Wyoming, Montana, western Nebraska Feb. 22, with traffic split between recon­ an earlier proposed alternative (estimated and New Mexico. figured trains 15 and 17. Chicago-Seattle at $8.5 million less construction cost). service is provided on No. 15, while the Comments on this design change are due -Hardbound; SY:!x 11; 96 pages highly touted direct service to Portland is back to the ICC by mid-May.. -133 B/W photos ...... $37.95 provided on No. 17. Contrary to past tradi­ BN officials were upset over the poor -Colorado residents add 7.3% tax tion, both of these hotshots regularly han­ bids received for 3.5 miles of redundant -DEALER TER.Jv[S AVAILABLE dle trailers, perhaps taking some of the rail line in downtown Seattle, dubbed the load off of premier train No. 1. Lake Union line. Two $10 bids were re­ FOX PUBLICATIONS To shepherd empty auto racks back to ceived for the trackage (from Lake Union P.O. BOX 740655 DEPT. P the Midwest, No. 34 now originates out of Terminal Railroad and Seattle, Lake Shore ARVADA, CO 80006

PACIFIC RAllNews • 9 In an update to the June 1993 PRN arti­ cle reviewing BN operations in western Washington State, the Centralia Steam Plant Job now operates on a nearly daily basis. The local that used to operate from Tacoma to Aberdeen, with setouts at Elma for Bremerton, now operates from Tacoma to Shelton, with an Aberdeen setout made at Elma. An Aberdeen local now makes the circuit to Elma.

Despite Big MACS, Leasing Continues

As of mid-March, 25 SD70MACs were in service on the BN, including units num­ bered as high as 9428. EMD and Siemens staff continue training BN crews, with oper­ ation of the 9400s still concentrated around Alliance, their maintenance base. When all BN personnel have been trained, Santa Fe and Kansas City Southern crews will re­ ceive instruction, allowing the 70MACs to operate south of Denver (to Texas destina­ tions) on the Joint Line, where BN trains are manned by Santa Fe staff. Management has paid closer attention to After being leased to power-short BN, Wisconsin & Southern's three F45s were purchased by pool power balances in the past month, the Montana Rail Link in mid-April, complementing the recently acquired Susquehanna '45s. On result of which has been an upsurge in San­ Williams March 22, before being sent to Montana, No. 1002 led a BN train near Savanna, "I. R.J. ta Fe, Comail and CP power operating on BN manifest trains.Examples of such bal­ absolved BN of any blame for the incident, placed when three tank cars plunged into ancing during March included No. 11 out of but cited the Federal Railway Administra­ the river, resulting in 11,000 settlements Chicago on the 6th, with Comail SD50 6788 tion for its failure to develop safety stan­ made to date by BN, primarily dealing and B40-8 5082 leading GATX SD40-2 7349, dards for track inspection. More than with lodging and meal expense claims. while on the 28th, Santa Fe SD40-2 5081 led 40,000 residents were temporarily dis- BN management continues to monitor the colorful team of B30-7AB 4028, GP50 the environmental war going on over 3158, EMD Leasing SD40-2 6382, SD40-2 plans to lower water levels on the 7036, HLCX C30-7 5501 and MPI SD40-2M Columbia River to encourage salmon 9041 on No. 196 out of Amarillo, Texas. spawning. The lowering of backwater Canadian Pacific SD40-2 5997 trailed SD9 pools behind hydroelectric dams could 6245 on a westbound out of Chicago on Significantly reduce barge traffic on the the 25th, while on April 9, sister 5722 river, increasing the future movement of worked with EMD GP38-2 804 on No. 142 grain on BN and UP. between Superior and Minneapolis and BN awarded a $16.6 million contract to CP SD40-2s 5652/6045 idled at the North­ Lawrence Construction of Littleton, Colo., town diesel shop. from the camera of Gary Knapp in early March, for the long-awaited UP ("The NeverHomeBoy") Other notable power consists included overpass in Grand Island, Neb. Construc­ the set of SD40-2 7057, CR C40-8W 6188 tion work began on March 14, with a pri­ - and Montana Rail Link SD45 3632 at "Best of '91" Vol. 2 ority placed on the relocation of local Northtown on March 4 as well as MRL • Central Vermont's Northern Division in switching operations to nearby Aurora. SD40 225, Grand Trunk Western GP40 the days before CN run thru power became The current interchange with UP should 6405 and SD40-2 7037 leading No.17 west the rule. remain in place for about a year, while the from Minneapolis on April 9. Pure sets of • Lamoille Valley RS-3 pulling Swanton, Yr to elevated crossing is constructed east of leased power are commonplace, such as Whitefield, NH excursion through the unique the current alignment. The project should No. 101 out of La Crosse, Wis., on March rural landscape of notihem New England. Also be completed by late 1995. 24, behind Wisconsin & Southern F45 1002 views of the LVs famed fall foliage excursions! With the abandonment of the Pacific and GATX SD40-2 7378. • New Hampshire's Conway Scenic Railroad Division's 23rd Subdivision, the portion BN was using Duluth, Missabe & Iron railfan weekend featuring ex: B&M F7 A from Centralia to Raymond, Wash., is be­ Range SD9s 161 and 168 in Chicago as of 4266, 44 tonner 15 and S4 1055 puling recre­ ing torn up. The portion between Ray­ early March, balancing horsepower-hour ated train consists from the sixties and fifties mond and Pe Ell is bare grade, with sal­ credits earned while BN road power oper­ from the railroad's masterfully restored col­ vaged track materials still in place. Plans ates trains over the Missabe between Du­ lection of vintage rolling stock, including call for the removal of the Lyle-Goldendale luth and Mountain Iron, Minn ....BN con­ mixed trains! All in perfect weather! Spur, portions of the Burlington-Anacortes tinues to expand its lease fleet, with Inde­ • Green Mountain Railway Train XR-l, on line (about 4.3 miles) and the Kruse Junc­ pendent Locomotive Service 1374, a for­ ex-Rutland trackage powered by a trio of GP- tion-Darrington Spur (from Arlington to mer DM&IR SD9 with a chopped nose and 9s between Bellows Falls and Ludlow, Yr. the end of traCk). wearing maroon-and-yellow paint, now based out of Northtown ... E9s 3 and 70 Min .. . $19.95 9920 remain out of service at the West (plus $3.00 Shipping & Handling) FIRST -CLASS RAILROAD PINS™ Burlington shop facilities. Send 5.A.5.E. for our catalog Th anks to Mike Bartels, Mike Send check or money order to: Blaszak, Burlington Northern, Mike NeverHomeBoy Video Cleary, Dave Kroeger, Glenn Lee, Mi ke po. Box 253 Mu rray, NORTHWEST RAILFAN Tom Robin­ son, Barry Stone, TRAFFIC WORLD, Rick Hinesburg, VT05461 Wa llace and Dennis Weber.

10. JUNE 1994 ICAGO & NORTH WESTERN

can run between Janesville and Proviso at cessible bilevels Morrison Knudsen is Motive Power Crunch Eases any time, but often the eastbounds follow presently building at the old Pullman auto parts train PRJAB in the morning. plant. Plans call for one accessible car to With its first 65 C44-9Ws rolling up ton­ Among the maintenance projects in­ be assigned to each consist. miles, Chicago & North Western's motive cluded in the 1994 program is the recon­ The 32 refurbished ex-C&NW cars will power crisis appeared to ease in February figuration of HM Interlocking at the west be held for the April 1996 startup of com­ and March. Evidence of that came on Feb. end of Proviso Yard in Elmhurst, slated to muter service on the Wisconsin Central. 5, when Proviso-Clinton, Iowa, trains occur over the summer months. When Metra expects to run another 144 ex­ PRCYA and CYPRA were restored to the completed, trains will be able to move C&NW and Rock Island cars through the lineup on the east-west main. PRCYA is head-on from any of the mainline tracks to shops in 1995-98, replacing them with due out of Proviso Yard at 3:30 a.m. with 30 Main, which bypasses Proviso en route new stainless-steel bilevels. Ultimately, cars for Sterling, Ill. , and Clinton. CYPRA is to the New Line and Wisconsin. This will Metra expects to replace all of the smooth­ expected to arrive at Proviso by 1 a.m. Both increase flexibility for the operation of coal sided cars in North Western service. trains were discontinued in November 1993 trains to and from Wisconsin. to conserve locomotives, and their traffic was assigned to other trains. With this Nebkota Starts Operations change, the nightly West Chicago-Proviso Commuter Service Evolution turn established at that time was dropped. Sandhills dreamers were vindicated on C&NW continued to liquidate its out-of­ Changes in the appearance of Chicago & March 9 when the first train of the Nebko­ service locomotive fleet as the April clos­ North Western commuter trains can be ta Railway ventured over North Western's ing date for Oelwein Shops approached. expected over the next few years as Me­ Cowboy Line from the Burlington North­ Three SD45s passed through Proviso on tra begins the rebuilding and redeploy­ ern interchange at Crawford, Neb., to March 21 on their way to VMV: C&NW ment of its ex-North Western and Rock Chadron and over Nebkota's former 6473 and Conrail 6192 and 6238. The latter Island smooth-sided bilevels, which are C&NW trackage between Chadron and two units had been purchased by C&NW used exclusively on C&NW lines. Me­ Gordon. Residents of the lonely towns during the mid-1980s for a planned re­ tra's 1994 capital budget calls for the re­ east of Chadron ambled over to the tracks building project, but never operated for habilitation of 32 ex-C&NW bilevels, to see the train, which was the first to use C&NW. Meanwhile, ex-C&NW GP7 4499 which will be pulled from service and re­ the Cowboy since C&NW discontinued has turned up on the Iowa Northern. painted from their present RTA paint in­ service in December 1992. The inaugural to a blue-and-silver scheme. In their run, led by GP8 1792, carried 26 covered place, North Western will receive a com­ hoppers provided by BN. Five were set out Ballast Season Starts plement of the 173 new wheelchair-ac- at Hay Springs for loading and the rest

During the week of March 28, C&NW be­ gan the seasonal operation of ballast trains from the Rock Springs, Wis., quarry. As in previous years, ballast extras tend to PACIFIC ELECTRIC Burlington Route operate from the crew change point in Northern District Color Pictorial 1111'I ' Janesville, Wis., through Madison to Rock Springs at night, dropping off empties and - Volume 1 - Continuing our best selling series on picking up cars loaded during the day and the predecessor roads of the then returning to Janesville. The trains BN, FOlX Ways West is proud to announce our first Burlington Route all color Volume. FeatUring the "Q's" transitional years * A NEW VIDEO RELEA SE! * with plenty of steam and the pioneer­ ing diesels that replaced them on the Blue skies, miles of orange groves - Ihaf was SouthernCali· Way of the Zephyrs. Volume 1 focuses ALCOS IN THE lornia just after WWII. The "Big Red Cars"of Pacific Electric went everywhere in those days. Now ARC �rocuctionstakes on the post-WWII period. Walch little CORN BELT you on a tour of the PE lines to Pasadena. Arcadia, Monrovia 4-6-Os trundle along branch lines while and Glendora, before abandonment in 1951. It's all here in Featuring the ... Indiana Hi-Rail and the massive 2- 10-4s work heavy frei hts brilliant Kocachrome, from downtown LA. to the orange groves g on Kankakee Beaverville & Southern of the beautiful San Gabriel Valley. There's even a short the mainline. See gas-electrics, center­ section of the lines today. cab switchers, early passenger and VHS. Millin. 60 Cilir. freight diesels AlI� .. lIc Smj nj .Imll .. - 139.95 in the colorful and var­ ied roster of the road that proclaimed - PLUS - Every Where West. FWWPublishing has MOUNT LOWE teamed up with renowned Burlington Seethe rare RSD-15 Alligators p'lus other vintage The Rlilway In The Clouds historian, Alfre d J. J. Holck to produce Alcos including: RS1 1 's, C-425 s, C-420's ancf a From 1893 to 1936 Mount Lowe was the 'most popular . a fantastic, colorful look at Burlington S-4. Watch exciting freightand yard action as the mountain railway in America. A narrow·gauge trolley (later KB&S and the IHAC Alcos travel through the part of the great Pacific Electric system) and spectacular Route's last of steam and early diesels. communities and corn fields of Indiana and incline railway ran thru the heart of the rugged mountains Hardbound 8 1/2 x 11 - 128 pages of Illinois. Plus RRs: TP&W I IC I CSX I UP I CR. above Los Angeles. Using over 400 historic photos and 13 minutes of historic movie footage, ARC Productions brings color. $ave with this retail pre-publi­ SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER! you the complete history of the construction. operation. and cation offer .• • of + handling; tCf 90 Min VHS Color demise of this wonderful bit of nostalgic Americana. $40 $3.SO '" $3495 • $5. foreign by ordering O Uve Audio Narration VHS, 46 Mlnln Smj & "mill! - $35.95 prior fo May 31 , Reg. $38.95 OHer expires 7/30/94 1 994: - Purchase both tapes and deduct $5.00 - CA res. include $3.30 sales tox. Plus $3.00 S/H - WI Residents add 5% sales tax TO ORDER, SEND CHECK OR MONEY OROER TO: After May 31st price is $49.95 + ARC PRODUCTIONS $3.50, $5. foreign; CA res. add $4 .12 tox. 3954 Edenhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039·1643 ChOCksor money orders onN Sorry nogod"cgrds or Cali: (2131 666-189 I Add S3.00 per order for shipping. Fo urWays West Publications California residents add 8'1.% sales lax. ;'piiisiEiiisr;; POBox 1734-PN La Mirada, CA 90637

PACI FIC RAllNews • 11 that common control of the carriers will strengthen competition and yield benefits, and that the railroads seeking conditions would not be harmed by the transaction. Due to procedural delays experienced in this proceeding, C&NW and UP now ex­ pect the ICC to issue its final decision in October 1994, several months later than originally scheduled.

Short Items

On April 1 C&NW implemented its new Estimated Time of Arrival car scheduling system. ETA will establish a computer­ generated trip plan for every carload han­ dled by North Western, based on way freight and through freight schedules and anticipated yard productivity. Actual per­ formance of each shipment will be saved and compared with the trip plan to deter­ mine where delays occurred and to pro­ In late January, C&NW sent six new C44-9Ws west on train CTSSU (CSX-South St. Paul) to pick vide management with the information up coal empties in the Twin Cities bound for Wyoming. The 8636 leads the entourage off the needed to eliminate them. Wisconsin River bridge near Necedah, Wis., on a bitterly cold Jan. 20 afternoon. Steve Mueller The North Western has signed an agreement to sell the KK Grain Elevator in were spotted at Gordon elevators. "The On the east end of the Cowboy, Line Milwaukee to Continental Grain. At the whole trip went beautifully, " according to Elkhorn Valley Shortline, Inc. was formed end of the Madison Subdivision in Reeds­ engineer Tom Kotnour. on March 17 to acquire and operate the burg, Wis., C&NW sold a portion of its The first Nebkota westbound picked up former C&NW from Norfolk to Neligh, right-of-way to the Department of Natural 13 loads at Gordon on March 14 and Neb. An obstacle to this plan, is the price Resources for extension of a hiking trail. pulled them to Chadron, then to Crawford tag of $25,000 per mile, or $875,000 total, At their May 3 meeting, stockholders on March 15, where the crew picked up which new owner Rails-to-Trails Conser­ will be asked to approve changing the Nebkota's second unit, GP8 7718. The two vancy has placed on the track structure. name of Chicago & North Western Hold­ locomotives are apparently ex-ICG and ings Corp. to Chicago & North Western leased from National Railway Equipment. Transportation Co., and the name of Nebkota held a formal ribbon-cutting Control Opponents Criticized Chicago & North Western Transportation ceremony at Gordon on March 17. Nebko­ Co. (currently the railroad subsidiary) to ta President Glenn Price said his railroad In a six-volume filing on March 30, North Chicago & North Western Railroad. would operate two trips per week during Western and Union Pacific took their oppor­ Th anks to Jonathan Howard, Kenneth March and April and then shut down until tunity to fire back at the railroads asking J. Larson, Bob Eddy, Michael M. Bartels, August, the start of the harvest season. the Interstate Commerce Commission to im­ Jim Sea crest, Jim Ya nke, Dave Kroeger, By August, Price hopes to replace his pose trackage rights and other conditions Bob Stein, Michael W Sitter, Th omas C. leasers with locomotives painted in on UP's control of C&NW. In their summary, Kra wczykowski, Lance Wa les and THE Nebkota colors. the proponents repeated their arguments NORTH WESTERN DISPATCH.

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12. JUNE 1994

SANTA FE ELSON RUSH

Santa Fe shifted most of its Dallas and Fort Worth intermodal trains from the old terminal at Zacha Junction, northeast of Dallas, to Alliance. Those trains either orig­ inating or terminating at points in the Dal­ laslForth Worth area, symbols DA or FW, will now use AL as either the originating or terminating symbol. Weekly stack trains S-LBZJ (Long Beach-Zacha Junction) for K Line and S-RIZJ (Richmond-Zacha Junc­ tion) for Maersk continued to operate to and from Zacha, at least initially.

Trackage Turned Over to KCS

The segment of the Dallas Sub between Zacha Junction and East Dallas Yard was turned over to Kansas City Southern on April 1. Santa Fe will continue to operate the Dallas Sub between Zacha and Dallas Junction (formerly Dalton Junction) until the new connection at Renner (crossing with DART's former Cotton Belt "C" Branch) is completed. At that time, this segment of the Dallas Sub also will be conveyed to KCS, and KCS will commence operating trains to A pair of Santa Fe dinosaurs-an SD45r and an SDF4S-lead a westbound through San Bernardi­ Alliance via a Wylie-"C" Branch-Renner­ no, Calif., on Jan. 18, 1994. Both units were built during President Johnson's administration; with Dallas Sub-Dallas Junction-Santa Fe routing. new C44-9Ws arriving, neither may be on the AT&SF roster much longer. Elrond G. Lawrence For now, Santa Fe is running an Al­ liance-Zacha turn (symboled M-ALZJ and near the locomotive facility, which has a M-ZJAL) to interchange KCS traffic at Alliance Ya rd Opens fueling platform, a sand tower, an inspec­ Zacha. Though the turnmust putter slowly tion pit and a wye. On the east side are along the badly deteriorated Dallas Sub On March 31 Alliance Yard welcomed its three ramp tracks and two storage tracks. trackage, most of which is limited to 10 first intermodal train, Q-CHAL from Trains are loaded and unloaded with two mph, the crew usually makes it back to Al­ Chicago. Offices for the North Texas Di­ straddle cranes and two sideloaders. liance within 12 hours. vision superintendent and roadmasters To accommodate the planned extension moved from Euless to Alliance at the of the Alliance Airport runway, about eight same time. miles of the Chicago-Texas main line have C44-9W Teething Problems Alliance Yard is a combined intermodal been relocated to the west. A new spur and carload facility situated on 375 acres leads to the automobile unloading terminal It seems inevitable that new problems fol­ near Haslet, Texas, about 17 miles north built along the old main in 1990. low new power. In the case of the 600-se­ of Fort Worth's Tower 55. The yard con­ Alliance is operated under contract by ries C44-9Ws, Santa Fe found that General tains 50 miles of new track and 150 Quality Terminal Service, Inc., a sub­ Electric had left excessive metal on the in­ turnouts. The carload yard, located on the sidiary of Midwest Terminal Service, op­ side of the truck frames. This steel flashing west side of the facility, has 16 classifica­ erator of the Corwith Yard intermodal fa­ rubs the wheels on the center axle when tion tracks, four setout and pickup tracks cility in Chicago, and shortline operator the locomotive rounds a 12 degree turn. and eight receiving and departure tracks. OmniTrax. QTS is responsible for switch­ While Santa Fe doesn't consider this an im­ A scale track and one-spot repair facility ing the intermodal tracks and handling mediate safety hazard, Burlington Northern are at the south end of the carload yard, trailers and containers. thought otherwise, ordering all 600s in run-

• SOUTHERN PA CIFIC AT THE FOOT OF THE HILL

• UP: CROSSING THE BIG PLAINS OF WYOMING

• WILLIAMS, ARIZ.: LIFE-SIZED MODEL RAILROAD

• CAPTURING A&M'S ELUSIVE MONETT TURN ON FILM

14. JUNE 1994 through service off its property in mid­ March 13. The 111, 115 and the 157 also pIe in return for two important conces­ March, disruptingthe coal train power pool. made the trip to Paducah in February and sions. First, the corridor agreed to freeze To fix the problem, GE began changing out March. BN works the GP60Ms between the $30 rate until the project is completed trucks on the C44-9Ws at its Argentine Galesburg and Paducah on its trains. and hold increases to 3 percent per year maintenance facility on April 11. After re­ Santa Fe sold 52 bad-order C30-7s to thereafter. Second, the corridor agreed to moving the trucks, GE will machine offthe GE during March, including: 8059-8065, provide $58 million to finance new connec­ excess metal and then switch the repaired 8068-8071, 8073-8074, 8076, 8080-8083, tions to Hobart and Watson yards. Most of trucks with trucks from another C44-9W. 8085-8086, 8088-8092, 8094, 8097, 8098. that money will likely go toward an elabo­ By the end of March all of the odd-num­ These units were rounded up from Topeka rate grade separation of the corridor, Santa bered units in series 601-649 had been de­ and Barstow during late March and deliv­ Fe's San Bernardino Subdivision and the livered. Delivery of even-numbered 600s ered to Conrail at Streator, Ill., for move­ Harbor Subdivision at Redondo Junction. began on March 30 when 602, 604, 610 ment to GE at Erie, Pa. Fourteen C30-7s Santa Fe's 1993 sale of the Harbor Sub to and 614 arrived at BeltRailway of Chica­ remain active in the Santa Fe fleet, Nos. the Southern California Regional Rail Au­ go's Clearing Yard via Norfolk Southern. A 8153-8166, purchased in 1982. thority gave the railroad a powerful incen­ GE technician from Argentine set them up EMD SD70M demonstrators 7000-7002, tive to complete an Alameda Corridor for service at Corwith the following day. accompanied by the EMD testcar, made an­ agreement. If Santa Fe doesn't remove its other appearance on the Santa Fe, depart­ throughfreights from the Harbor Sub, it is ing Corwith on the S-CHLA1 (Chicago-Los required to buy the line back for $50 million. Under the new agreement, the Alameda MK Rail Corp. to Maintain Santa Fe Units Angeles) on March 26. The trio was re­ if moved from the train at Barstow to repair Corridor isn't finished by June 30, 2003, cor­ ridor officials are required to find Santa Fe a Morrison Knudsen subsidiary MK Rail the 7002's plugged fuel injectors, then went detour route to the ports, enabling the rail­ Corp. won a $230 million contract from east to Belen, N.M., for assignment to a coal road to end Harbor Sub through freight ser­ Santa Fe to maintain 278 locomotives. All train loading on the Lee Ranch Mine Spur. vice. Corridor officials are lobbying in Wash­ maintenance work on Santa Fe's 203 From there the SD70Ms were supposed to ington for $700 million in federal money to SD40-2s (this total apparently includes the take a tie train to Pueblo, Colo., where they allow construction to begin. ex-Amtrak SDF40-2s) and 75 rebuilt SD45- would be delivered to SP around April 1. 2s will be turned over to MK for a 12-year Conrail is again delivering trains to San­ period. Santa Fe will pay for these units on ta Fe at Streator without enough fuel to a "power-by-the-mile" basis. reach Argentine. The 61-car V-SRKCl Chico Chatter Component change-outs and similar re­ (Streator-Kansas City), powered by CR pairs will be performed by Santa Fe em­ SD40-2 6094 and SD50 6706, ran out of fuel Santa Fe began scheduling freight car trips ployees, working under MK supervision, at at Marceline, Mo., on March 26. The fuel in April. Each car will be computer-as­ Barstow, Calif. MK also will perform some truck sent out to rescue the train slid into a signed to a scheduled freight train, allow­ work at the Argentine shop. The running ditch; a second fuel truck got stuck in the ing the railroad to improve control of emp­ repair building at Barstow will be expand­ mud along the right-of-way. As a tow truck ty movements and car supply. "Utilization ed to accommodate MK's activities. In ad­ struggled to pull out the tankers, and cob­ should improve for each car, " according to dition to these maintenance services, MK webs collected on the wheels of the train, Assistant Vice President-Bulk Commodi­ will overhaul 48 units at its Boise, Idaho, the SOC put in a blistering call to Philadel­ ties Don Oman ...Erra ta from our April shops in 1994 and 50 units per year there­ phia, telling CR to get its act together. column: Train 197 runs Chicago-Phoenix, after until all 278 have been shopped. not Detroit-EI Paso. Also, the 1.8-mile Apparently as part of this deal, or be­ abandonment at Harper, Kan., apparently cause of the lease of the gas-powered Freight Traffic Notes was the ex-Kansas City, Mexico & Orient switchers for Hobart Yard, Santa Fe has stub track at that location. North Star Steel Co. announced plans to turned several SD45s and F45s over to Th anks to Starpacer, O.R. Bixler, Jay­ construct a $140 million mini-mill along MK, which is leaSing them out to Southern hawk, Hollywood, Lone Star, Mark W the Santa Fe at Kingman, Ariz. When com­ Pacific and possibly others. Spotted in Pro­ Heinz and William T. Morgan. pleted in November 1995, the facility will vo, Utah, on Feb. 8, in Santa Fe blue and have about 150 employees and an annual yellow but without lettering, were MK production capacity of 500,000 tons of con­ SD45 9537 (frame-marked ATSF 5351) and struction-grade rebar. Santa Fe will haul MK F45 5530 (frame-marked AT SF 5969). vehicle and appliance scrap into the mill and, hopefully, finished product out. Santa Fe revamped its Birmingham ser­ Power Short, Peeling Paint & Other Items vice on March 1. New train P-RIBH runs I�KAR\'\ through from Richmondto Birmingham, de­ SANTA FE'S EMPORIA SUB 2 hrs Santa Fe expected to haul more freight in parting Tuesday-Saturday. Train 896 oper­ See Santa Fe's high speed action from Union March than in any other month in its histo­ ates from L.A. to Birmingham, while train Station in K.C. to Wellington, KS. 238 miles of blistering, high speed action ...... ry, and the heavy traffic left the railroad P-LAME runs the same route as far east as $29.00 gasping for power and crews. On March MemphiS, Tenn. Westbound P-BHLA leaves BN ST. JOE LINE 2 hrs 21, for example, the railroad had 32 trains Birmingham daily except Monday, while K.C. to Lincoln, Neb. Part of BN's Coal Convey­ waiting for power, and two trains waiting train 698 originates daily at Memphis. Santa or south. See freight moving from N.W. to S.E. on this line...... $28.00 for crews. GP7s on the point of hot trains Fe is also receiving military trains from Nor­ weren't uncommon, with one spotted lead­ folk Southern at Memphis; train U-MEBA1- OTHER TA PES ing the 199 into Clovis, N.M., in late March. 18 (Memphis-Barstow for Fort Irwin, Calif.) UP COFFEYVILLE/CHEROKEE SUBS .....2 hrs, 528.00 To help plug the gap, Santa Fe leased 10 ran across the Southwest March 18-21 be­ SP's HERINGTON (KS) SUB ...... 2 hrs, 528.00 TRAINS OF KANSAS CITY VOL 1 ...... 2 hrs, 528.00 GP40s from Helm Financial. These units, hind NS SD40-2 6113 and GP60 7104. . UP MARYSVILLE SUB ...... 2 hrs, 528.00 which began arriving at Corwith on March MAINLINES INTO KANSAS CITY ...... 2 hrs, 528.00 24, are apparently ex-Amtrak 650-662. SANTA FE IN KANSAS CITY ...... 1 hr, 520.00 UP ACROSS MISSOURI ...... 2 hrs, 528.00 The factory paint on Santa Fe's Alameda Corridor Agreement GP60Ms has not held up well. Santa Fe -Titles · Narration · Music complained and EMD has agreed to have Santa Fe has reached a tentative agree­ ·Recorded in HI-8 - Available in VHS only ·Add 52.00 S/H for each tape all 61 GP60Ms and 25 GP60Bs repainted ment to operate over the Alameda Corridor -MO residents add 6% sales tax by VMV in connection with their million­ to the ports of L.A. and Long Beach. The ·If ordering 2 or more tapes, deduct 51 per tape mile overhaul at the EMD Corwith Shop. company initially balked at the $30-per­ MAKE CHECKS/MONEY ORDERS PAYABLE TO: The first unit to receive fresh paint was container fee requested by corridor offi­ MO-KAN VIDEO the 145, which returned to Santa Fe on cials, but ended up agreeing to it in princi- 425 Leslie Drive, Independence, MO 64055

PACIFIC RAILNews . 15 cons in Central's system. But, contrary to popular belief, this is not the story of a large regional stalking and gobbling up its lesser t was protracted. It was bitter. And competitors. In fact, Itel Corp., former owner of both the Green Bay I it got downright personal at times. & Western and the Fox River Valley, approached Wisconsin Central Transportation Corp. with the idea of the sale. Itel wanted out of Wisconsin Central's acquisition of Green Bay & Western and Fox the railroad business, and it realized WCTC would be the ideal River Valley via subsidiary Fox Valley & Western was more soap buyer because tremendous economies could be realized by merg­ opera than textbook acquisition. Whether it was GB&W personnel ing the parallel properties. The resulting savings could support a scrawling "Better dead than live with Ed," graffiti on boxcars, or higher sale price, which Itel felt WCTC would be willing to pay. WC President Ed Burkhardt exchanging barbs with Chicago & Together, the GB&W and FRVR were an attractive property to North Western President Robert Schmiege in the press, or the Unit­ Wisconsin Central; yet, just a decade ago it would have been ab­ ed Transportation Union organizing FRVR employees after the sale surd to suggest that this collection of rail lines might someday be was approved, one thing was clear after the sale went through: offered as a single package. Though both railroads were owned railroading in Wisconsin was never going to be the same. by Itel, and in 1991 they were consolidated under a common management, their histories couldn't have been more different. Two Diffe rent Personalities The 250-rnile, all-Alco-powered Green Bay & Western boasted more than a century as an independent carrier. The road traced its The main result of the Fox Valley & Western saga was the con­ history to the Green Bay & Lake Pepin Railway, formed in 1866 to solidation of another large chunk of Wisconsin trackage into Wis- connect Green Bay with the Mississippi River valley. The railroad

16 . JUNE 1994 FRVR +GB&W = Fox Valley & Western

John Leopard and Andrew S. Nelson LEFT: Approximately 20 miles into its 212-mile journey across Wisconsin, GB&W train No. 2 rolls through the Trempealeau River valley west of Arcadia on May 10, 1992. ABOVE: One of the four units painted in FRVR colors led Green Bay-Butler train GBBUA through Appleton on May 1, 1990. In the background is WC's Shawano Sub, then used for WC freights into Green Bay-no longer the practice with FV&W. Both photos, John Leopard was completed to East Winona, Wis., in 1874, and an extension to gled through the 1980s, aided by state subsidies, but the last fer­ Kewaunee (subsidiary Kewaunee, Green Bay & Western) was fin­ ry sailed out of Kewaunee on Nov. 19, 1990. ished in 1891. For many years, GB&W was best !mown as a ban­ In recent years, GB&W saw its focus shift from being a bridge tam-weight bridge carrier. Lake Michigan rail ferry service from Ke­ carrier to developing on-line traffic, particularly highly competi­ waunee to connections with the Ann Arbor and the Chesapeake & tive traffic from Wisconsin's booming paper industry. GB&W also Ohio offered a shortcut for traffic moving between the Upper Mid­ worked hard to maintain its reputation for quickly getting cars west and the East, bypassing the congestion around Chicago. over the road-for example, doublestack traffic leaving the BN In 1974, Burlington Northern made an offer to buy the Green America terminal in Green Bay in the late afternoon was ready Bay & Western, hoping to capture its lucrative paper traffic with for pick-up in East Winona the following morning. But the emer­ a bid of $3.4 million. Soo Line, Chicago & North Western and Mil­ gence of a new rail force in Wisconsin put even more pressure on waukee Road aggressively fought the purchase, leading to a the GB&W. Early in 1988, the newly formed Wisconsin Central three-year struggle in front of the Interstate Commerce Commis­ won the contract to switch the huge Consolidated Papers mill in sion. In 1977, BN was finally awarded to right to purchase the Wisconsin Rapids-and the handwriting was on the wall. GB&W, but had lost interest in the deal. A new battle ensued for control of the railroad, with !tel Corp. emerging as the eventual The "Fever" winner with its $8 million bid. The Stagger's Act of 1980, along with the high cost of operat­ As Wisconsin Central was taking its first tentative steps toward ing the lake ferries, siphoned traffic away to Class Is, which were success, !tel was seemingly reaffirming its commitment to the rail now free to route their business through Chicago. Service strug- business in Wisconsin. In October 1987 Itel struck a deal to pur-

PAC IFIC RAILNews • 17 ter the sale was announced, a heated dispute arose between C&NW and the unions repre­ senting workers on the affected lines. The new FRVR was going to be non-union, and la­ bor wanted protection for its members. The fight bounced from the ICC to federal court to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the end, C&NW won its battle and the first FRVR train rolled out of Butler Yard on Dec. 10, 1988.

Woes on the FRVR But, not all was rosy for FRVR. Itel posted a $1.2 million operating profit for FRVR's first three years while paying $21. 7 million in inter­ est on its highly leveraged purchase. Sources indicated that 30 to 40 percent of FRVR cus­ tomers experienced dirty, defective equip­ ment, late arrivals, lost cars or cargo damage. Not all of this was FRVR's fault; it was tied al­ most exclusively to C&NW car supplies and

------connections, and C&NW's on-time perfor­ mance in Wisconsin was abysmal. --��------Meanwhile, FRVR's physical plant, marginal to begin with, began to sink into the mUd. Track speed between Green Bay and Butler was 10-20 mph in many places and it was not uncommon for road crews to die on their hours of service between Butler and Green Bay, a distance of 127.8 miles. The bottom line began improving somewhat in 1992, allowing FRVR to rehabilitate a large portion of its Granville­ Green Bay main, raising track speed to be­ tween 25 and 30 mph in most places. But it was too little, too late; Itel had taken losses in both its computer subsidiary and car leasing fleet; it wanted out of the railroad busi­ ness. Itel brought in Robert Dowdy in 1991 to assume the presidency of both FRVR and GB&W-and to find a buyer for both roads.

The Makings of a Brouhaha

Talks between Itel and WCTC began in the fall of 1991, with the formal announcement of WCTC's intention to buy the operating assets of both FRVR and GB&W for $52.8 million via subsidiary Fox Valley & Western coming on Jan. 8, 1992. FV&W was to operate as a sepa­ rate carrier, making arrangements with WC to provide customer service, train dispatching, marketing and other miscellaneous functions. TOP: In Green Bay's paper mill district, we SW1 200 1236 shoves FV&W job Y1970 across It was anticipated at first that the sale could the Fox River bridge on Feb. 4, 1994. Tom Danneman ABOVE: One week before the go through by that summer, but WCTC did not takeover, FRVR train GBPRA halts at North Fond du Lac for a pickup while a we work train file a formal petition with the ICC to assume dumps ballast in the FRVR yard in preparation for the FV&W startup. Andrew S. Nelson control of the FRVR and GB&W until April 28, OPPOSITE PAGE: On ex-GB&W trackage, FV&W train FL077 heads west through Dodge 1992. But, even if it had filedthe petition earli­ behind ex-FRVR and GB&W power on Sept. 3, 1993. J.R. DeNike er, other parties had no intention of letting the sale go through unopposed. chase Chicago & North Western trackage between Milwaukee and C&NW management was caught completely off guard by the Green Bay, naming the new railroad Fox River Valley (it quickly got FV&W announcement. FRVR, which had been a captive, friend­ the nickname "Fever"). !tel offered $61 million for a property that ly connection for C&NW traffic both from Upper Michigan and included 208 miles of track, equipment, facilities, rolling stock and a the Green Bay-Wausau, Wis., route, was about to turn into a mixed bag of 30 ex-C&NW locomotives: 12 GP7s, 10 GP9s, three hostile one. C&NW decided to fight the sale, though most ob­ GP30s, and five GP35s. (Two ex-Burlington Northern SD24s and servers knew it didn't have much credibility considering its one ex-Southern SD35 were acquired in 1989.) Trackage included past service performance in Wisconsin. the Air Line Subdivision from Granville (near Milwaukee) to Duck As a condition of the sale, C&NW demanded that it be allowed Creek (just north of Green Bay) and the Shoreline Sub from Green to make rates and negotiate contracts with FRVR shippers, Bay through Manitowoc to Cleveland, plus branches between Man­ serve shippers served by both GB&W and FRVR and be grant­ itowoc and Two Rivers, Appleton and New London, and Appleton ed trackage rights over the WC's Valley Subdivision to Wausau, and Kaukauna. C&NW's North Green Bay Yard and shops and Wis ., so that it could abandon its own Green Bay-Wausau Green Bay depot were included. FRVR also received trackage rights route. All of these were moves that essentially would place over the C&NW between Granville and Butler Yard in Milwaukee. C&NW back in the same region that it so desperately wanted With hindsight, it's easy to say that C&NW got the better of to leave a few years before. WC balked at those demands and this deal, but C&NW almost failed to complete the transaction. Af- the fight moved before the ICC.

18. JUNE 1994 Strange Bedfellows federal judge placed a 30-day injunction on the takeover so FRVR employees could vote on union representation. FRVR employees The battle over the GB&W and FRVR created some strange voted in the UTU and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Em­ bedfellows. C&NW and United Transportation Union and Broth­ ployees, giving them more leverage in bidding for jobs on the erhood of Locomotive Engineers locals representing GB&W em­ FV&W. (FRVR employees later started an unsuccessful movement ployees found themselves both arguing before the ICC to treat to decertify the BMWE.) the FV&W acquisition as a major transaction, which would re­ Through spring and summer 1993, WCTC negotiated with quire public hearings, special sale conditions, and provide affect­ the unions representing FRVR and GB&W employees. Many ed employees with job protection ifthe sale was approved. cases were settled through arbitration, further prolonging ne­ WCTC, along with some shippers on the FRVR and GB&W, ar­ gotiations. The last settlement was with the UTU local repre­ gued that the transaction be considered a minor one and contended senting GB&W operating personnel, ironically the same local that labor protection not be granted since FV&W was not railroad, that started the fight for labor protection in January 1992. but a holding company. The ICC decided to compromise and treat­ Finally, at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 28, the FV&W was allowed to ed the transaction as a "major minor" one, scheduling hearings in begin operations. GB&W train No. 1 bound for East Winona de­ Green Bay in September 1992, satisfying C&NW/union demands, parted Green Bay the evening of Aug. 27 and tied up at 5:54 and stating it would rule on the takeover by Dec. 10, 1992. a.m. on Aug. 28 in Wisconsin Rapids. The last FRVR train was C&NW haulage train ANPRA (Antoine­ ICC Decides Proviso), which departed North Green Bay on Aug. 27. On Nov. 10, 1992, the ICC released its preliminary decision, granting, via a 4-0 The Changeover vote, WCTC authority to assume control of FRVR and GB&W through subsidiary No time was lost in consolidating Fox Valley & Western with none of the FRVR and GB&W operations as the conditions C&NW had asked for. The ICC FV&W operating plan had been in place also ruled that GB&W and FRVR employ­ for some time. In the Green Bay area, ees were entitled to labor protection un­ both the FRVR and GB&W locomotives der the New York Dock Agreement­ shops were shut down and GB&W's granting all affected employees six years Norwood Yard was vacated in favor of full pay if they weren't offered FV&W the ex-FRVR North Green Bay Yard; jobs that were either equal or greater in WC's ex-Milwaukee Road Oakland Av­ pay than their current ones. Final cost for WC Hi-Rail truck on former GB&W. Eric Hendrickson enue Yard will remain the area's inter­ labor protection was around $11 million. modal hub for the present. As a result, WCTC had to enter into After startup, Green Bay traffic protracted negotiations with GB&W's Itel wanted out of the moved via two routes. Intermodal unions, a bitter pill for WCTC manage­ railroad business, and it trains continued to use the ex-GB&W ment to swallow as it had anticipated main west to Black Creek then south to consolidating GB&W/FRVR operations realized Wisconsin Central Neenah, while general freights tended shortly afterDec. 20, 1992. Labor won an­ to use the ex-FRVR main south to Ap­ other victory on Dec. 28, 1992, when a would be the ideal buyer pleton. Once WC finishes rehabilitating

PAC IFIC RAILNews • 19 the ex-FRVR main, all trains will use that trackage. Traffic once routed via the GB&W, including dou­ blestacks for BN, is now routed to Neenah, then ei­ ther west to the Twin Cities over the WC, or east to Chicago. Ex-FRVR traffic bound for Manitowoc via the old Lake Shore route is now routed via Neenah and Hilbert on WC's ex-Soo/Milwaukee Road route. A local is based at Manitowoc to han­ dle customers in Cleveland and Denmark. Thirty miles south in the Fox Cities, FV&W oper­ ations serving the numerous paper mills are cen­ tered at WC's yard in Neenah, with a connection now built between WC's Shawano Sub and the ex­ FRVR main at Fox River Junction. WC road freights set out and pick up traffic generated in the Fox Cities at Neenah. Local traffic for stations on the ex­ GB&W main line at Black Creek, Seymour, Shiocton, Manawa, New London and Scandinavia are han­ dled by a local working out of Neenah. At Oshkosh, Wisconsin Central will eventually use ex-FRVR trackage, abandoning its own twist­ ing, street-running route through downtown. Con­ nections for the switch-over are in place, with some trains currently using the ex-FRVR route from Tower CF in Oshkosh south to North Fond du ABOVE: Eight hours after the Aug. 28 takeover, the power from the previous Lac. A turn working out of North Fond du Lac han­ night's GB&W train I waits on the ready track alongside RS-27 316 at Wisconsin dles local WC/ex-FRVR traffic. Rapids. In the background ex-GB&W employees discuss the day's work for their WC's Eastern Division hub at North Fond du new railroad. Andrew S. Nelson OPPOSITE PA GE, TOP: we train 20 heads east out Lac has borne the brunt of the influx of FV&W traf­ of Green Bay on .ex-FRVR trackage on Feb. 4, 1994. Prior to FV&W, this train fic moving in and out of Chicago. A few weeks be­ would have taken a GB&WjWe route to North Fond du Lac. Tom Danneman fore the takeover, WC began rehabilitating the ad­ jacent FRVR yard for staging purposes. As it stands now, the ex-FRVR main between Fond du Lac and Milwaukee is used for C&NW's ANPRA/PRANA trains. Local traffic on the ex-FRVR Wisconsin main to Rockfield is handled by a five-day-per­ week local. Eventually, WC wants to direct the Central's C&NW haulage traffic via its own route to Chicago.

New Empire Out West

PRENTICE Fox Valley & Western operations on ex-GB&W _ ARGONNE �--""7-----�::":::':" _-.! trackage in central and western Wisconsin are based in Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids. A local out of Stevens Point works customers on the ex-GB&W between Amherst Junction and Plover seven days per week. During the late winter of 1994, however, the connection track between the WC and the ex-GB&W, which had been removed, was reinstalled, allowing Amherst Junction to be served directly from Stevens Point. It has been mentioned, however, that WC is interested in pro­ viding intermodal service between Green Bay and the Twin Cities, and an ex-GB&W/WC routing could be the most competitive to truckers on paral­ lel State Highway 29. Stevens Point is also the base for the locals work­ ing the former "West End" of the ex-GB&W between Wisconsin Rapids and East Winona. The westbound, MAP BY ANDREW S. NELSON AND TOM DANNEMAN train FL075, departs daily and takes a Stevens Point­ __ WISCONSIN CENTRAL Junction City-Wisconsin Rapids routing to reach ex­ FOX VALLEY & GB&W trackage. One crew works the Stevens Point­ -- WESTERN Merrillan leg, while a second makes the Merrillan­ CHICAGO & NORTH WESTERN East Winona turn, with the Stevens Point crew re­

R ' TOMAHAWK __ turning east to "Point" upon its rest. ����ilr:"� Only two jobs were added to the list of locals ABANDONED/OUT OF -- SERVICE WC AND FV&W Wisconsin Central had prowling the Wisconsin Rapids area. FV&W locals FY092 and FY093 work The ex-GB&W customers in Wisconsin Rapids and the Consolidated Papers mill in Biron. The ex-GB&W "Paper" To Proviso yard in Wisconsin Rapids is now used for storage Valley and some staging. The hub of WC/FV&W opera­ tions in Wisconsin Rapids is at the joint WC/C&NW yard.

20 . JUNE 1994 The Locomotives WC also realigned its divisions and dispatching. The Eastern Division now runs from Winnebago, near Oshkosh, south to For­ From the start, it was evident that WCTC didn't intend to oper­ est Park, IlL, including ex-FRVR trackage; it still covers trackage ate GB&W's Alco fleet any longer than it had to. However, traffic in Upper Michigan. The Fox Valley Division runs from Winnebago demands kept them in service through September 1993, when all west to Dale and north to White Lake, Wis., and includes ex­ were placed in storage at Green Bay. On the other hand, every GB&W and FRVR trackage out of Green Bay. The Western Divi­ FRVR locomotive that could turn a wheel was kept in service. Also sion remains essentially the same, except ex-GB&W trackage reactivated were WC's ex-Soo GP30s to help keep the railroad fluid. from Plover to East Winona is now included, and its easternmost By the end of 1993 and into early 1994, high traffic levels, a point is Dale rather than Stevens Point. shortage of EMDs and cold weather Dispatching offices were also re­ forced WC to reactivate part of the ex­ aligned, with the addition of a third GB &W fleet (now stenciled "WC"), desk. The East Dispatcher handles most which had dwindled by four units with trackage east of Stevens Point. The the sale of C-420 323 to Iowa Interstate West Dispatcher covers everything and C-424s 313 and 314 and RS-27 318 west of Stevens Point and Rhinelander. to Minnesota Commercial. After work­ The third desk, the North Dispatcher, ing C&NW trains north of Green Bay, covers Rhinelander-Sault Ste. Marie, the half-dozen Alcos found themselves Mich., the ex-GB&W west of Green Bay in local service in Green Bay and North to Scandinavia, the Shawano Sub, Mani­ Fond du Lac until mid-March 1994. The towoc-Neenah, and ex-FRVR trackage Alcos are currently stored inside the from Green Bay to Neenah, between Norwood Roundhouse in Green Bay. Ex­ Fond du Lac and Granville, and be­ FRVR locomotives, including the two tween Hilbert and Canco. SD24s and the lone SD35, roam Even though WC had a good plan to throughout the WC system. handle the added GB&W and FRVR traffic, it soon found itself beyond ca­ A More Efficient System pacity and power short. What had been a smooth operation began to bog The FV&W clearly has made railroad­ Ex-GB&W C-424 lettered for WC. Andrew S. Nelson down in the winter of 1993-1994 as op­ ing in Wisconsin more efficient. Rather erating schedules were thrown off, than three locomotive shops maintaining connections missed, and increasing three fleets, one now does the job. In­ Rather than three locomo­ customer unhappiness with the ser­ stead of three yards handling manifest tive shops maintaining three vice. At least for the short-term, FV&W traffic in Green Bay, only one is needed. has been a victim of its own success. Rather than maintaining two dispatch­ motive power fleets, one But given WC's mastery in winning ing offices and two separate customer now does the job. traffic back to the rails, it likely won't service offices, one suffices now. be a victim for long. PRN

PACIFIC RAILNews . 21 g h t s

......

Text and Photography by Eric Blasko

dal-kness fa lls and the fo g creeps in from San trains are considered eastbound b)' SP, which histor­ Francisco Ba)', Oakland comes to life . The trains icall)' has defined westbound as an)' train moving � begin to roll, as merchandise collected from toward San Francisco. shippers during the da)' is expedited out of town. The other big operator, Union Pacific, has a Southern Pacific, alwa),s the major pla),er in the smaller role. Less than half of the trains passing Oakland theater, runs most of its trains under cover through Feather River Can),on reach the ),ard at of darkness. Belween sundown and 2 a.m., SP gen­ Oakland. In addition to locals and occasional dou­ erall), dispatches six trains, with a like number arriv­ blestack container trains, UP's contribution to the ing dw-ing the night. SP trains roll out of Oakland nighttime show is the departure of lWO dail)' east­ northbound to Sacramento and Roseville, or south­ bounds ultimatel), destined fo r Torth Platte, Neb. bound, like West Colton-bound Extra 7443 East Both leave after 9 p.m. Fil-st out is the OANP, with (main photo), down the Coast Line. All departing the OANPZ fo llowing a couple of hours later.

22 . JUNE 1994 As the sun fa des, crepuscular beasts like the San­ on the SP) and the arrival of two San Joaquil1s, all ta Fe local and the Oakland Te rminal job can be between 6 p.m. and midnight. And, the Seattle­ seen fo raging among the industries. Santa Fe's Oak­ bound Coast Starlight pulls in at 9: 10 p.m. and cools land Local comes out of Richmond via trackage its heels fo r 25 minutes before continuing nort h. rights on the SP and works a small interchange yard While a moderate amount of traffic can be ob­ at 34th Street near the Interstate 580 overpass. OT's served during daylighl hours, the best show at Oak­ single locomotive, an ex-Santa Fe GP7, can be land is nocturnal. Don't be fo oled by the lack of fo und here as we ll, or on its way to the fo ur-lrack trains in this view of the main line at the west end of yard at Union and Third. lhe SP locomotive fac ility (opposite page, left ) : ''''ith Night action al Amtrak's 16th Street Station fea­ the combined operations of fo ur railroads and Am­ tures the arrival and departure of Capitol Corridor trak, the action in Oakland is practically non-stop trains (running between San .Jose and Sacramento once the slln disappears.

PACIFIC RAILNews • 23 Twilight ...... " ......

s the shadows lengthen, rail-borne beasts start to stir in Oakland. Sometimes, you don't have to wait for night to enjoy the ac­ tion, as the twilight of warm summer evenings illu- Aminates activities that occur in darkness the rest of the year. For example, at 34th Street, the east end of SP's Desert Yard, the power of a Roseville­ bound freight (above) reflects the fading light fr om a sun that has already set as it waits for clear­ ance from the Car Department.

24 . JUNE 1994 At day's end in January 1983, Oakland Te rmi­ At the opposite end of the Oakland Te rminal, the nal's single Baldwin (opposite page, bottom) shuf­ Santa Fe local (below) works off the last daylight fles cars beneath the Adeline Street overpass. The hours in the small yard adjacent to the Desert. This in­ train is working tiny Union Street Yard, near SP's terchange yard is worked by both Santa Fe and OT. old Magnolia Street Tower, interchanging traffic These twilight scenes around Desert Ya rd will soon be with Union Pacific. Oakland Te rminal is jointly history. The yard leads and a fo rmer interurban tres­ owned by Union Pacific and Santa Fe, and offe rs tle now used by the OT will be smothered under tile AT&SF its only access to the Port of Oakland. elevated lanes of southbound 1-880, being rebuilt after Baldwin DS-4-4-1000 No. 101, bought new in 1948, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. SP will simply re­ served the OT for 40 years before being replaced configure Desert Yard, but when tile OT u-estle comes in 1988 by an ex-Santa Fe GP7. down, Santa Fe will no longer have access to the port.

PACIFIC RAILNews • 25 26 . JUNE 1994 Two blocks over, UP trains run down parallel Street Running Third Street shortly after departing the yard and ••••••••••••••••••••••••• crossing the SP. Third and Webster is a fa scinating place at night. Yo u can enjoy dinner at the Oak­ any an Oakland motorist has unwarily land Grill and watch fo rklifts unloading semis at turned a downtown corner to find 7,000 the busy produce warehouses on the other three tons of metal and merchandise bearing corners. And, if you 're lucky, you can also catch a down on him or her, for the SP and UP main lines train, such as local job Extra 289 1 West leading a Mrun right down the middle of two of Oakland's busi­ caboose hop down the asphalt (opposite page, er streets. The SP runs down the Embarcadero bottom). Often, UP trains will glide to a halt here (First Street) past Jack London Square, center fo r due to ve hicular obstructions, as the 6017 East shopping and fine fo od. This trackage is used by demonstrates (above) . As a result of its unplanned freights bound fo r Los Angeles via tile Coast Line, stop, this OANP is severing downtown Oakland in the Milpitas-bound Warm Springs Tu rn, and by 10 two-simply because an unwary trucker parked Amo-ak trains daily (four Cajlitois and one Coast his rig on the tracks. StaTiight each way) . It can be busy at times, as This curse fo r both automobile drivers and the demonSti-ated by the northbound Sta'ilight passing railroads is a gem for the railfan. I-low many cities an outbound SP freight (opposite page, top) . fe ature not one, but two street-running main lines?

PAC IFIC RAILNews • 27 28 . JUNE 1994 Southern

•••••••••••••••Pacific

ig to begin with, Southern Pacific l oco­ motives look bigger at night, whether lit by the eerie glow of a red Mars lIght, or byB the street lamps of the Embarcadero. In January 1983, SP 83 15 and 7348 await the call to duty at the servicing fac ilities (left) . On another day, a trio of SD9s has just finished doubling over and their train is hanging out of Homestead Ya rd, six blocks be­ yond the yard lead (top) . The train is pausing while the units pump air in preparation for departure with a long and heavy general merchandise train. After passing through Jack London Square, they'll roll past East Oakland Ya rd. Across town is Desert Ya rd, adjacelll to Amtrak's ] 6th Street station. The Desert will shrink to a six-track intermodal yard with the construction of the new 1-880 freeway. East Oakland was reactivated to take 1Ip the slack. Despite the loss of some intermodal traffic to UP and Santa Fe in recent years, SP still has enough busi­ ness to keep the three yards active, as was the case at the east end of Homestead Yard on June 3, 1988 (above). On that night a Roseville-bound fi-eight waits at West Oakland interlocking fo r clearance to depart. Clearly, SP is still the dominalll railroad in Oakland.

PAC IFIC RAILNews • 29 fu ture, as it was retired by its new owner in Octo­ Western ber 1983. In June 1983, Third Street, officially UP Pacific territory by this date, hosts an inbound train led by ••••••••••••••• the last all-Western Pacific consist th at the photog­ rapher ever saw (above) . The trio of WP GP35s keeps the memory alive fo r at least one more night ans in the Bay Area will not let you fo rget the as it waits fo r an SP train to clear. Western Pacific, even though it's been gone fo r a little more than 10 years thanks to the rail­ road's merger into Union Pacific. "VP heritage re- Emains today in the fo rm of the fe rry slip at tlle end of the yard (the San Francisco fe rry carried boxcars until 1978) and the depot at Third and Washington. This structure, which once hosted CalifoTnia ZejJ/tyT passengers, now stands derelict. For a few years, it served as a restaurant and a dance club; both en­ deavors were apparently unsuccessful. Even though business was slow toward the end, VVP kept its freight yard and locomotive fa cilities busy, as illustrated here. In June 1982, six months before the merger with UP, the distant lights of San Francisco fo rm a backdrop for locomotives awaiting assignment to trains departing later in the evening (right) . A leased UP U30C portends the coming takeover. On the same evening, VVP 3064 idles softly in the still night air (opposite page) . Though only 13 years old, this U30B had a short

30 . JUNE 1994

vated section between 16th Street and 34th Street. Change Comes This will fo rce the relocation of the leads to the To Oakland diesel shop, the Homestead Ya rd leads and three ••••••••••••••••••••••••• miles of the main line. To make room, Desert Ya rd will be reduced to six tracks from its original 17. Amtrak's 16th Street station and the coach yard he face of Oakland is about to be fo rever and are also in the path of the new freeway. Scenes like radically changed, the result of an event that oc­ this one at 16th Street (right) are now just a part of �curr ed more than fo ur years ago, but lasted less history. An SP unit is occasionally added to the than one minute-the Loma Prieta earthquake of Coast StaTlight if one its locomotives is ailing or if October 1989. The quake was not the "big one" that the train is late. In December 1985, SP 3201 in shiny scientists warn us about, but it was big enough to "Kodachrome" paint was selected fo r the honors. knock down a mile and a half of elevated freeway. The coach yard will disappear sometime in 1994 Plans to rebuild this stretch of Interstate 880 met when Amtrak moves its fa cilities to San Jose. This with heavy opposition from residents of the neigh­ may leave the wash rack adjacent to Southern Pacif­ borhood that it had long divided. ic's diesel shop (above) unused, as SP apparently As a result, the new 1-880 will obliterate the SP doesn 't wash its locomotives in Oakland. right-of-way fr om 34th Street to Kirkham Street. The The Oakland scene is already changing. SP's East entire stretch will be ground level, except for an ele- Oakland Ya rd, which was completely removed a few

32 . JUNE 1994 ! years ago, was rebuilt to absorb traffic from the sometime in May 1994 when SP relocates its tracks shrinking Desert Ya rd; it reopened Nov. 3, 1993. to make way for the freeway. All1U'ak expects the Alice Amtrak's Emeryville station, 1.8 miles east of 16th Street station to open in late 1994. Street, opened Aug. 13, 1993, in preparation fo r the With many of these changes already in progress, disappearance of 16th Street and the construction the scene that Oakland fa ns have come to know of a new station at Alice Street near Jack London may soon be unrecognizable . especially under Square. Amtrak was scheduled to vacate 16th Street cover of darkness. PRN

PACIFIC RAILNews • 33 Text and Photography by Dan Schroeder

here's a story about Kansas-most of you are familiar with it-that talks about a paradise "somewhere over theT rainbow. " The mythical Land of Oz didn't have any railroads, but Kansas sure does. If you want to see trains, follow that rainbow back to a special place 43 miles south of Kansas City-Paola. Located in the rolling plains of eastern part of the Sunflow­ er State, Paola is the Miami County seat and home to about 4,500 people. Most impor­ tantly it's the site of a busy interlocking that has seen its three original railroads ab­ sorbed by the two leading Western systems in a span of just eight years. Even though those three railroads are now two, the junc­ tion in Paola is busier than ever.

Predecessors

Before the merger mania of the early 1980s, the routes through Paola included the main lines of St. Louis-San Francisco and Missouri-Kansas-Texas, both of which crossed the Missouri Pacific at grade. Burlington Northern picked up the Frisco in 1980, while Union Pacific acquired MoPac in 1982 and Katy in 1988. The Frisco and Katy routes had been a joint operation from Kansas City to a point just north of Paola. Running parallel the re­ maining mile to the interlocking, the two mains went separate ways after crossing the MP, with the Frisco veering southeast to Fort Scott, Kan., and the Katy running southwest to Parsons, Kan. Missouri Pacif­ ic's route out of Kansas City followed the Missouri-Kansas state line south before an­ gling toward Paola. From Paola, the MoPac ran six miles to Osawatomie, the junction of its routes to Pueblo, Colo., and to Texas via Coffeyville, Kan. Another brief player through Paola was Denver & Rio Grande Western. In the mid- 1980s D&RGW was granted trackage rights over MoPac's Kansas City-Colorado route as a condition of the Union Pacific-Missouri , Pacific merger. This arrangement lasted un­ til the Southern Pacific-D&RGW merger, when these trains were rerouted over the ex-Rock Island Golden State Route between Herington, Topeka and Kansas City. Paola has always had plenty of action. During the 1970s and into the mid-1980s, s s locomotives of many roads could be seen 34 . JUNE 1994 To Kansas C

HILLSDALE BN MILEPOST 36 ...

of� c.Y �oR'r '

1}--+-=:....-�1r-----( 68l----

LEFT: Paola's grain elevator towers over UP BN MILEPOST 43 S060 6048 as it leads Union Pacific symbol UP MILEPOST 326 � PA OLA, NLKC (North Little Rock-Kansas City) over the Coffeyville Sub on April 22, 1993. ABOVE: BN's Fort Scott Sub hosts coal trains bound for KANSAS points in the South and Southeast, evidenced RADIO here by two Oakway S060s and a BN S060M BN 161.160 leading a string of loads in April 1993. UP COFFEYVILLE SUB 160.410 1 UP CHEROKEE SUB 160.470 on the numerous trains through town.

Power from BN and UP were common on - UNION PACIFIC coal trains, Milwaukee Road and Chicago N § & North Western motors could be spotted III - BURLINGTON NORTHERN on run-through Katy freights, and Norfolk ot: - JOINT BN/UP TRACKAGE U Southern diesels ran through to Colorado III on Rio Grande trains. ..., U.S. HIGHWAYS ... � 8 -- OTHER ROADS Changes on the Prairie III @ STATE HIGHWAYS To Ottawa § � After Union Pacific brought MKT into OJ � COUNTY HIGHWAYS its fold, operations on the parallel ex-MP � � soon changed. The interlocking was & MAP BY DAN SCHROEDER AND TOM DANNEMAN streamlined and the MKT-MP diamond �$ HENSON FONTANA DETECTOR eliminated. Switches were installed to al­ "" BN MILEPOST 48 MILEPOST S1 low moves from the Katy main to the t MoPac main and from the MoPac main to lIJ� To Parsons To Ft. Scott / the joint line northeast to Kansas City. South of Paola UP operates its routes as a semi-double-track main with traffic nor­ ally done when the crew knows it has a miles south, are keys to determining what mally moving in one direction on each signal to proceed past the last siding will arrive next and from what direction. Al­ route. The Centralized Traffic Control Cof­ north of Paola. though a great aid, a scanner is not neces­ feyville Sub (ex-MoPac) hosts most north­ Union Pacific operates numerous daily sary as there are a number of grade cross­ bound traffic out of Wagoner, Okla. The ex­ freights as well as a parade of coal trains. ings in the area and the sound of a horn al­ Katy route, now UP's Cherokee Sub, han­ Add to this heavy grain moves to Gulf ports lows you to set up for a shot. dles most southbounds to Wagoner via Par­ and you'll find that seldom an hour goes by Getting to the action is almost as easy sons. This Automatic Block System signaled without spotting a locomotive from UP's Ar­ as clicking your heels together and saying route is controlled with track warrants. mour yellow fleet rolling through town. "there's no place like Paola," as the town is North of Paola, UP trains are routed Burlington Northern operates a num­ less than an hour's drive south of Kansas via either the joint line or the ex-MP ber of manifest freights and intermodal City. Take Interstate 35 south to U.S. 169 route. Northbound crews usually call trains to and from Texas, Oklahoma and near Olathe, then head south on U.S. 169, BN's Ft. Scott Sub dispatcher to check if the Southeast. Numerous unit coal and which runs roughly parallel to the BN-UP they can be handled via the joint line. If grain trains add to the action on BN's joint line, 20 miles to the Paola exit. Make they will be delayed, they call the UP Cof­ CTC-controlled Fort Scott Subdivision. your way to the town square where Peoria feyville Sub dispatcher and hope for an Street, located on the north side of the opening into Kansas City. Getting Around square, takes you to the tracks. Cross all Southbound UP crews destined for the the tracks and turn left to reach the inter­ Cherokee Sub usually call the Cherokee Having a scanner is helpful. The chatter locking. For a few hours, or all day, Paola is Sub dispatcher in advance of their arrival of crews talking to dispatchers and the a great place to view the action on two of at Paola to receive a warrant. This is usu- "talking" BN detector at Fontana, eight this country's premier railroads. PRN

PACIFIC RAILNews _ 35 verett, Wash., located at the junction But, after decades of merger, bankrupt­ of the former Great Northern main cy and wholesale abandonment, Burling­ line east over Stevens Pass and GN's ton Northern has emerged as the sole rail­ routeE north to Vancouver, B.C., has been a road serving Everett. hub of railroad activity for more than 100 years. The latter line, now the Bellingham Layout Subdivision of Burlington Northern's Cas­ cade Division, dates from 1891, when the Everett's station is located 0.8 mile north Seattle & Montana built from Seattle north of Everett Junction, where the original to a connection with the Fairhaven & South­ "Low" or "Coast" line along Puget Sound to ern, based in what is now Bellingham. The Bayside Yard and Delta Junction leaves the first passenger train from Seattle to South present main. About a quarter mile past the Westminster, B.C., ran on Nov. 27, 1891. station, the main line, locally called the The east-west line in the area, now the "High" line, enters a 0.4 mile tunnel under Scenic Subdivision, was built by St. Paul, downtown Everett, opened in 1900 (al­ Minneapolis & Manitoba east from Lowell, though its west portal is dated 1910). The near Everett, starting in the spring of line then heads to PA Junction, which pro­ 1892, and joined the section building west vides access to Delta Yard via the Coast near Scenic, Wash., with the last spike line, then continues on to Lowell and east­ driven Jan. 6, 1893. The first passenger ward toward Stevens Pass and Spokane. train from St. Paul, Minn., to Seattle ran in Only one daily passenger train in each late June of that year. direction serves Everett, Amtrak's Empire Great Northern was the major rail car­ Builder, arriving at 8:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. rier in Everett, but Northern Pacific and Everett may soon see a resurgence in pas­ Milwaukee Road had branch lines into the senger traffic as the Coast line is part of the city as well. There were also several proposed Cascadia Corridor between Eu­ trackage rights agreements in the area. gene, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C. Plans for From the beginning, Great Northern used this federally designated "high speed" cor­ NP tracks between Lowell to a point west ridor include revival of service between of Delta Junction. In 1915, Northern Pacif­ Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., with as many ic acquired rights over the Great Northern as three daily round trips by 1999. Everett between Snohomish and Lowell, but also may also become part of America's boom­ continued to use its old line on the north ing rail transit scene. BN is pushing for bank of the Snohomish River. The east­ commuter service on the Coast line to Seat­ ernmost of the two tracks from Delta tle, though Tom Matott, executive director Junction to Delta Yard, locally called the of the Puget Sound Regional Transit Au­ Rogers Line, is ex-Northern Pacific and in thority, favors building light rail between later years provided a link to the NP Everett and Seattle. branch to Arlington and Darrington. NP Until these plans take shape, you'll used the GN between Delta Junction and have to be content with photographing Kruse Junction. In 1936, the Milwaukee the Builder. Everett's station is somewhat abandoned its line because of flood dam­ unique in that it has platforms on both the age and began running over the Great Low and High lines. At various times, the Northern from Monroe to Lowell. former Pacific In ternationals to Vancouver (discontinued in 1981) used the lower plat­ form, but it will probably never see regu­ lar use again, even if the trains are re­ vived, as the elevator has been removed.

Locals Everywhere Burlington Northern freight operations in Everett center around Delta Yard. Several locals are made up there, along with symbol trains, though some of these are basically transfer runs to Seattle. Cuts are also taken to Bayside Yard, where all trains for the line to Vancouver are made up. All trains from the north terminate at Delta, which also has an open-air locomotive servicing facility. Both yards operate 24 hours per day ; Delta has two switchers working around the

36 • JUNE 1994 Text and Photography By John C. Ulman Junction ity

PAC IFIC RAILNews • 37 BN Trains Through EvereH

Westbound/Southbound

Train Arrival/Departure Frequency from Everett

1 9:20 a.m. Daily 3 5:45 p.m. Daily 5 12:15112:25 p.m. Except Friday 7 5: 15/5:45 p.m. Except Friday 13 10 p.m. Mon.-ThuT. 15 3:05/3:35 p.m. Daily 21 2:55 a.m. Daily 93 5p.m. Mon.-Fri. 111 12 p.m. Daily 601 7 a.m. Except Tuesday 631 10:30 p.m. Daily 633 1 :30 a.m. Daily 643 2:30 a.m. Except Saturday 647 3:30 p.m. Except Sun., Mon. 686 11:30 a.m. Daily 688 6a.m. Except Sun" Mon.

Eastward/Northward

Train Arrival/Departure Frequency from Everett

4 1 a.m. Daily 6 5:55 p.m. Except Sat.. Sun. 8 10:45 a.m. Except Mon" Sat. 10 7:45 p.m. Except Tue" Sat. 12 10p.m. Daily 14 11:15p.m. Daily 16 8:45 p.m. Daily 20 12:01/12:30 a.m. Daily 94 10 a.m. Except Sun" Mon. 600 1 :55/2: 15 p.m. Daily 604 8:20/9 a.m. Daily 632 7a.m. Daily 634 10 p.m. Daily 644 5:30 p.m. Except Saturday 648 7 p.m. Except Sun., Mon. 650 10 a.m. Daily

clock, and Bayside has two first trick jobs ABOVE: The Conway Local crosses the Snohomish River on Bridge 10, en route to its terminus and one each second and third trick. at Delta Ya rd on July 27, 1993. GP38-2s 2080 and 2081 will power the Boeing Job later in the Everett trains can be divided into three afternoon. OPPOSITE PA GE: During Amtrak's "rainbow era," in June 1973, E-unit 340 paused categories. Most obvious are through with the four-car Pacific International on the Low line at Everett station. As the Cascadia freights on the Scenic Subdivision main line, Corridor project progresses in the 1990s, Everett should see a new influx of passenger trains. most of which are priority intermodal, dou­ blestack and auto trains. Their approximate transfer jobs. Also in this group are trains mond Beach and then up the steep spur at times through Everett are shown in the 93 and 94, the Rabanco garbage trains, Mukilteo to Boeing's Everett plant. The table. Symbols showing two times at Ev­ working to and from a dump at Roosevelt, crew is usually tied up back at the yard by erett may set out or pick up there; west­ Wash. Irregularly, coke or coal trains run to midnight. Power is that used on the Con­ bounds usually work at Everett Junction, and from Roberts Bank, B.C. Usually, Mon­ way local, two GP38-2s with extended­ eastbounds at Lowell. Other through trains tana Rail Link units help power this train, range dynamic brakes, in deference to the on this route include symbols 600 and 601, though they rarely appear on the point. 5.6 percent grade on the Boeing spur. Pow­ which are regional "junk" trains, and the Finally, there are locals. The day starts er for locals is usually a pair of Geeps. 604, which carries alumina ore for Spokane with a 6 a.rn. call (Monday-Saturday) for Occasionally, the Boeing job is in­ and Columbia Falls and Red Dog lead/zinc the Conway local, train 53818. It works volved in an unusual operation involving ore for Trail, B.C. Irregularly, grain empties north to Burlington and returns to Delta oversize containers of large sections for are run eastbound. This group of through­ around noon. Next up is the Kirkland turn, Boeing's new 777 jet. The containers ar­ freights contributes about 10 daylight trains No. 53820, called Monday-Friday at 7 a.rn. rive by ship in Seattle, and are barged to to the rails through Everett, andthey usual­ This train heads east to Snohomish Junc­ Everett and transloaded onto flat cars. ly offer a wide variety of motive power. tion, then works south on the Woodinville During their rail trip to Boeing, no oppos­ A second group is the 600-series trains Sub to Issaquah, returning about 1 p.m. ing traffic is allowed on the double-track that originate or terminate in Everett; typi­ The Hamilton Job is called at 9 a.m. on main because of clearance restrictions. cally, about 10 of these trains operate in Thursday (and at 3 p.rn. on Monday) and daylight, and most seem to be powered by works north on the Bellingham Sub, re­ Exploring Everett a trio of SD40-2s. Three trains in each di­ turning about eight hours later. rection run over the Bellingham Sub be­ The Boeing Job, No. 53823, goes on duty Photo spots in the area, starting from tween Everett and Vancouver, B.C., or daily except Saturday at 2 p.m. It works the the south, include the following: Howarth Sumas, Wash. Other trains work south to Scenic Sub east to Goldbar before heading Park, reached by Mukilteo and Olympic Seattle or beyond, though some are simply back through Everett and south to Rich- boulevards, has a pedestrian overpass and

38 . JUNE 1994 access to the tracks at water level. The Northbound Main crossovers at Everett Junction are at the to Vancouver, B.C. bottom of Pigeon Creek Road. Next comes the station on Bond Street between He­ witt and Pacific avenues. Continuing on EVERETf, the Scenic Sub, the west portal of the downtown tunnel is north of the intersec­ tion of Hewitt Avenue and Nassau Street. WA SH. The east portal is visible from an overpass on Lombard Avenue, but is not very pho­ togenic. Next comes an industrial area, in­ cluding PA Junction, accessible in several places, but again not very photogenic. The track then heads south to Lowell, reached 1 on 47th Street offof South Third Avenue. Several long vistas are available here. On the Low line, long, narrow Bayside N Ya rd is adjacent to West Marine View Drive, _ BURLINGTON and the yard office is located at 19th Street. NORTHERN

To the north is the now-idle Weyerhaeuser 16TH ST. __ INTERSTATE mill. Access to Delta Junction and Bridge 10 --HIGHWAY might be obtained by asking permission of __ OTHER ROADS the guard at the gate at the bottom of the (NOT ALL SHOWN) overpass. If access is not granted, it is pos­ MAPBY JOHN c. IUMAN sible to climb down the bank under the DON GULBRANDSEN AND TOM DANNEMAN overpass to the tracks and walk tothe junc­ EVERETT tion and bridge. This is railroad property, and permission should be obtained. Finally, Delta Yard is reached from the east end of HIGH LINE 16th Street. Shots of power at the open-air facility and of yard activities may granted upon permission from the yardmaster. Radio frequencies of most interest in the area are BN Channel l, 161.100, the Seattle PAC IFIC AVE. East dispatcher, who handles the main north of milepost 8 north of Seattle, and Channel 2, 161.160, the Branch dispatcher, who controls the line from Bridge 10 to the Canadian border at Blaine. Radio transmis­ sions from Bayside andDelta yards, Bridge 10, the "machine room" in the depot, and talking detectors at Sultan, milepost 1762.0, milepost 1771.1 and milepost 1778.8 give clues as to when trains might be moving. Yard frequencies are 161.010 and 161.250. Thanks to Dave Spra u, Jim Mattson and Curtis Croyle for their assistance. PRN

-

PACIFIC RAILNews • 39 AMTRAK/PASSENGER

to contend with on this single-track route. monthly passes from Lancaster and Palm­ Metrolink Expands Another change on the Ventura County dale by 50 percent through June 30. A 25 line was the extension of two trains to Ca­ percent discount also applies from Santa With Southern Californians still adjusting marillo, then a further extension to Ox­ Clarita and Sylmar (with some of the lost after the Jan. 17 quake and continuing af­ nard, the latter starting on April 4. Both of revenues to be made up from FEMA tershocks, new rail service offered by both these moves required an agreement with funds). Similarly, Oxnard fares are dis­ Metrolink and Amtrak continued to be an Southern Pacific and funding from the Ven­ counted by one zone through June. important part of the local transportation tura County Transportation Commission. scene. On March 28 an important step for­ Other changes agreed to or requested ward was the start-up of three Metrolink by Ventura County include a six-month test Other News trains per day operating on the 97-rnile of ridership to and from the new Burbank route between Los Angeles and Oceanside. Airport stop, starting this fall, funded by Metrolink ridership in early March averaged Ceremonies at Los Angles Union Station, Ventura County and the City of Burbank. around 18,000 riders per day, with the Santa including a press conference, marked the Ventura County has requested adding Ca­ Clarita/Lancaster line holding at about event. On March 25, the Orange County marillo as a stop for the Amtrak (which al­ 8,000 per day. With the addition of the Or­ Commuter (Amtrak trains 569 and 582) ready stops at Ventura, Oxnard, Moorpark ange County service March 28, the counts made its last run with Arnfleet equipment. and Simi Valley within Ventura County). rose. With the expected addition of service Then, the following Monday, three sets of Leased GO Transit cars from Toronto on the Riverside line in July, the numbers Metrolink equipment took over the duties, arrived in L.A. on March 20 and 22 in time should rise again. All of these things speak expanding the available service, and adding to enter service on March 25 and 28, free­ well of a system that is still relatively new, Oceanside as the southern terminus. ing up equipment for the new Orange yet seems to be well-received by riders. One interesting operational change in County Service. The GO equipment An extensive amount of work has been the Simi Valley in March saw Metrolink included 25 coaches and five converted F­ done on the Sylmar tunnel on the Santa train 110 deadheading from Moorpark to units, used as power cars due to an elec­ Clarita line. This influenced the number of Chatsworth, while Amtrak 780 made all trical system incompatible with SP trains that were detoured on the week­ the stops normally made by train 110, and Metrolink's. The Canadian equipment was end of Feb. 25, when the Palmdale Cutoff helped reduced congestion in an already placed in service on the Santa Clarita/Lan­ was closed ...April 2 saw Metrolink take busy area. Besides Amtrak No. 777, there caster route, which also had seen CalTrain over dispatching of the Soledad Canyon frequently is a westbound Southern Pacific cars in use since the end of January. line to Vincent, and later all the way to freight for the eastbound passenger trains Palmdale. Previously, Centralized Traffic Control started at the west switch at Vin­ Antelope Va lley Improvements cent, so control of that portion needs to be moved from SP Roseville to Metrolink's con­ The earthquake hastened the addition of ChicagoBurlington & QuincyIn Color, trol facility near Glendale ...Amtrak trains service to the Antelope Valley communi­ Voliune 1 is a l28-page hardcover detailing the 35 and 36 detoured on Metrolink's San ties of Palmdale and Lancaster. Southern Gabriel Sub on March 14 when track and glory years of the CB&Q "Lines East" chiefly Pacific required that a second main track signal work on Santa Fe's San Bernardino during the 19508. The last of steam is shown be built for the 10 miles between Palmdale Sub forced the rerouting. The routing that along with the pioneering diesels that wrested and Lancaster, where Metrolink and SP would have been highly uncommon just a control. Everything from 2-10-45 to Zephyrs are both operate. The new second main track few years ago seems commonplace today. shown in exquisite color photography expertly was expected to be ready for service by Looking down the road, full San May 1, with a maximum speed of 79 mph. captioned by Burlington RHS newsletter editor Bernardino-Orange County service may not This, coupled with improvements through Mike Spoor. start until late fall 1995, or even early 1996. Soledad Canyon, should enable Metrolink Limited startup from Riverside is expected to reduce the running time from Lancaster by summer 1995, pending arrival of neces­ to L.A. from two hours, 17 minutes to one sary equipment ... Contrary to previous re­ hour, 45 minutes. Further work is being ports, when the GO Transit equipment ar­ considered that may reduce that time rived, Metrolink obtained enough F40s even more. As a ridership incentive, and from Amtrak that it was not necessary to recognizing travel times that are still less lease any additional power. Most Santa than ideal, Metrolink is discounting Clarita trains operated with a locomotive on each end because cab cars do not have dynamic braking controls. Most sets have a Metrolink F59 on the west end, and an Am­ trak F40 on the east end. PA CIFIC RAJ! Not to be outshone by the ever-expand­ ing Metrolink service, plans are on track for NEWS commuter service from Oceanside to San BA CK ISS UES A VA ILABLE Diego to begin on Oct. 24. The NCTD Board voted on March 17 to contract with Amtrak AT ORIGINAL COVER to operate the service, with a one-way fare PRICE of $3.25, and a $95 monthly pass for the ride between Oceanside and San Diego. Equip­ Some issues are in limited quantities, ment is expected to arrive on schedule in so hurry ! For a complete list send a May and June, with locomotives due later in the summer. It appears that Amtrak self-addressed long (#1 0) envelope to: will have to hire additional employees to staff PACIFIC RAILNEWS both this service and the expanding P.O. Box 94911 Metrolink network that it also operates. PASADENA, CA 91109 Thanks to Ed Von Nordeck, Bill Farmer, Norm Anderson and Pete Marwick.

40 . JUNE 1994 ADMISSION: Portola is located Adults $10.00 in beautifu l Child. 6-12 $5.00 Plumas County 6 and under Free on Highway Family $30.00 70 (Feather River ADVANCE: Canyon) Adults $8.00 Child. 6-12 $4.00 50 miles north Family $24.00 of Truckee

PASSENGER TRAIN RIDES BETWEEN: MUSEUM EVENTS - TICKET PRICE * Fremont and Portola - Ju ly 1 - INCLUDES: - * Portola and Ke ddie - Ju ly 2-3 (2 Round TripsDaily) * Admission to Museum * Mo del Railroad Displays * Portola and Fremont - Ju ly 4 * Transportation Pagent Bus Connections Between Portola and Reno * Wo rld's Largest Diesel Locomotive Collection Availablefor Above Dates * Large Assemblage of "Covered Wa gon " Diesel Un its Fo r Train and Bus Ticket Information Call: 916-832-4131 * Private Car Tours

FEATHER RIVER RAIL SOCIETY P. O. BOX 608 PORTOLA, CA 96122 CALL 916·832·4 131 TODAY FOR TICKET RESERVATIONS CP RAIL S

to this dearth of motive power may occur out exceeding Soo's 120-car limit. With this Surge Stresses Power Fleet later in 1994, as CP is considering pur­ change, symbol 205 has been dropped be­ chasing 50 SD70MACs built to Burlington tween Chicago and St. Paul, although sec­ Having endured a cold and snowy winter Northern specifications. ondary trains 206 and 212 continue to pro­ across the eastern half of its system, CP vide service within that corridor. was looking forward to a more normal op­ CP continues to operate sporadic auto­ erating pattern during the spring of 1994. Recent Traffic Patterns rack trains over Conrail between Buffalo However, an unexpected surge in export and Chicago, with one such extra noted at coal traffic from British Columbia created During the first quarter of 1994, CP moved Collinwood, Ohio, on March 20, powered a severe locomotive shortage. By the end approximately 40 coal trains from the UP by SD40-2s 784/5631. of March, an average of 30 trains per day in Kansas City to Fruitland, Iowa, operat­ were being held for power across the sys­ ed as symbols 894/895. From the BN inter­ tem, forcing management to take a variety change at Ottumwa, Iowa, CP received Power Notes of steps to fill the void. Despite the tight three coal trains conSigned to Muscatine supply of high-horsepower locomotives (symbols 890/891), with another trio of Former Soo GP38-2s 4419 and 4437 have available on the lease market, CP contin­ unit trains moving to Beloit, Wis ., operat­ been equipped with Digitron speed con­ ues to increase its fleet of borrowed ed as trains 892/893 trol for loading coal trains in southern In­ equipment. It also combatted the shortage Due to Wisconsin & Southern's col­ diana. The units were tested on the hump by recalling furloughed employees from lapsed Wisconsin River bridge near Lone at St. Paul Yard to make certain that the the Angus Shops in Montreal, with orders Rock, Wis., CP and BN will cooperate with new equipment was properly functioning. given to restore to active service the best WSOR to move 25,000-30,000 tons of coal The Geeps have been replaced by the con­ of the six-axle MLWs parked last Decem­ from Prairie du Chien to Madison, Wis., ventional Caterpillar-powered units as­ ber. By early April, 10 of the stored 4500s until the bridge is repaired, expected to be signed to the Twin Cities Terminal. In an and 4700s had been returned to road duty. sometime in May. The coal will be effort to speed operations, a pair of 4100- As of early April, the following locomo­ transloaded from barges at Prairie du series GP15Cs or 2000-series GL GP20Cs tives were under lease: GATX SD40-2s Chien, run north by BN 60 miles to La spliced by slug 2118 now share duties 900-904 (ex-Union Pacific 3900-3904) and Crosse, then east over the Soo main line to with SD10s 532/543. 2001-2009; HATX (ex-Boston & Maine) Portage and south to Madison. A power shortage on the Soo in early GP40-2s 500 and 502-506; Helm Leasing The shortage of U.S.-grown feed grains March was filled with the unlikely assign­ GP40s 662-664, SD40s 3006, 3007, 3010, created by last summer's floods has devel­ ment of CP C-424s. On the 7th, six 4200- 3015, 3023, 3064-3066, 3087, 3093, 3099, oped into a major market for Canadian­ series units were working on Soo track­ 3105, 3120, 4057, 4060-4064 and 4066 as grown wheat. Current estimates indicate age, including a pair in the Chicago termi­ well as SD40-2s 6000, 6100, 6201, 6365- that nearly 7 percent of the total grain nal. Typical examples included the 4205 6370, 6388 and 8507; Illinois Central SD40s consumption in the U.S. is being satisfied trailing Soo SD40-2 758 on No. 560 at Min­ 6013, 6015 and 6058; and National Railway by Canadian imports. This has resulted in neapolis on March 3, while the 4225 Equipment SD40-2s 3130, 5402 and 6910. a strong movement of Canadian Wheat spliced SD40 5547 and SD40-2 5591 on No. In the near future, CP expects to add Board covered hoppers (CNWX and CPWX) 575 out of St. Paul on the March 6. the balance of the former B&M GP40-2s south of the border. This traffic growth The rebuilding and repainting of (500-517), HLCX GP40 665 and Precision may be prematurely stymied, however, as SD40/SD40-2s continues at Ogden Shop in National SD40s 3011-3013, 3021, 3026, Congress is being lobbied to place a 1.8- Calgary, Alta., including several ex-Soo 3064, 3065 and 3107 to its lease fleet. In million-metric-ton cap on such imports for units as well as a pair of former Kansas related news, CP has been borrowing vari­ the 1994 calendar year. City Southern units acquired from Helm. ous F40PHs from VIA for use on trains 928 The 5421 (ex-KCS 676) was released in and 929, but was forced to return GATX March, while sister 5420 (ex-675) was SD40-2s 7359-7373 during the last week of Double-Track eTC in Wisconsin? completed in early April. Soo SD40 752, March and first week of April (to Norfolk SD40-2s 776 and 787 as well as SD40A Southern in Chicago). A long-term solution As the final link in its long-term plan to re­ 6408 were recently repainted, while SD40s habilitate the former Milwaukee Road 751 and 6411 are currently at Ogden. main line between St. Paul and Milwau­ The continued shortage of four-axle road kee, CP plans to install double-track Cen­ switchers on the Soo has compelled man­ tralized Traffic Control between Du­ agement to rescind its order to retire the plainville and Grand Avenue in Milwau­ former Milwaukee Road GP40s long stored �Q@DjJJ@@ �,'i"= ,11 kee. Although the length of the signal at Shoreham Shop in Minneapolis. As of SPVOLS 1 & 2 - Hrs. each. Amazing 2 blocks will be significantly increased, dis­ early April, units 2015, 2025, 2035 and 2066 Power lash-up! - Only $19.95 eal patchers will have the flexibility to oper­ had been patched up and returned to ac­ ate light westbounds around slower, heav­ tive service, resplendent in the famous 81®Z7§4J � ier trains departing the lake-level yards in "bandit" paint scheme. Rumors persist that * 3751 Comes Out! First Runs. the downtown area. Engineering forces al­ these units will indeed be overhauled, re­ No Dieselsl - 90 min.- $24.95 * so plan to continue the strategic place­ painted and numbered in the 4600-series * 3751 Thru The West Employee ment of welded rail in the entire corridor, behind Soo's original GP40s. Recognition SpcL- West Only - $1 9.95 * consistent with plans to increase tonnage Soo SD60 6017 has been given to BN on and reduce operating times on this most a long-term basis to balance horsepower 2472/4449 DOUBLEHEADER! vital segment of the former Soo. hours accrued on the Columbia, Wis., coal San Jose to Watsonville. Exciting run In an effort to improve the flow of Cana­ trains ...An unusual assortment of power OVER the camera! * $29.95 dian-bound traffic around the St. Paul bot­ handled No. 220 at Knoche Yard in Kansas tleneck, CP has extended the eastern ori­ City on March 25: UP SD60 6068, Soo SD60 gin of symbol 561 to Chicago. The head 6048 and Santa Fe C30-7 8161. @)]ill@11673 Bryant, Suite B � EI Monte, CA 91732 end of No. 561 is normally filled out with Thanks to Paul Bergen, Mike Cleary, 8.25% CA Sales Tak 52.00 S&H (ea. tapel "Just Uke Being There empty grain hoppers, which are dropped Gene Kelly, Jesse Kattner, Dave Kroeger, at Humboldt Yard in Minneapolis, allowing Glenn Lee, Dennis Weber and TRAFFIC ,.:I'I'·I=t=ll..'1�' _'II-"1Ii'l'J 'ii, it to handle additional Winnipeg cars with- WORLD.

42 . JUNE 1994 SHORT LIN

Napa Va lley Trying to Clear the Air

To help calm its local opposition, Napa Valley Wine Train is trying to eliminate the thick Aleo-style exhaust released by its FPA-4s. Following the lead of the ma­ jor locomotive builders, mechanical forces are attempting to convert FPA-4 No. 70 to using compressed natural gas as fuel. Modification of the Aleo 251-series prime mover was under way in the Napa shops in April. If successful, operational tests could start as early as June. In spite of two successful environmental impact reports concerning operation of the Wine Train in the Napa Valley, there is still no decision as to when an expanded sched­ ule can be put into place. A successful EIR was required by the CaliforniaPublic Utili­ ties Commission before the go-ahead would be given to increase the number of train trips above the current 16 per week.

Panhandle Northern Operations Working the Chicago area's heavily industrialized south side, two EJ&E 5038-2s lead a west­ Panhandle Northern (reporting marks bound over the Conrail at Ivanhoe Tower in Gary, Ind., on March 22. While manned towers PNR) owns and operates the former Santa are increasingly rare in rural climes, the Chicago area is still home to several. John Leopard Fe Borger Subdivision between Panhandle (on the Waynoka, Okla.-Amarillo, Texas, these three units, VCR management has would close permanently on May 27, 1994. main line) and Borger, Texas, 28.1 miles. stated that they will be scrapped. Also in March, another major shipper on PNR, a subsidiary of Denver-based Omni­ On Feb. 17, VCR joined with SP and the Joseph line, Peacock Lumber at Alicel, trak, began operations on Nov. 15, 1993. nearby Shortline Enterprises to operate a closed it's lumber mill until mid-1994. Far from being a worn-out, traffic-thin special passenger train to the grand open­ branch typical of most spin-offs, PNR is ing of a new port facility at the Port of handling 15,000 carloads per year over Hueneme. This special passenger train "Macaroni Line" Short Line Bid Fails 132-pound welded rail. Its major cus­ was powered by SLE's F7As 100 and 101 tomers are the Phillips Petroleum refinery, and operated from Fillmore, Calif., to Mon­ Efforts to buy an abandoned Southern and the Sidrich and J.M. Huber carbon talvo over the ex-SP Santa Paula Branch Pacific line between Victoria and Whar­ black plants, all located in Borger. Two (now owned by Shortline Enterprises), ton, Texas, were rebuffed when SP re­ day jobs go on duty in Borger, switching then over the SP Coast Route main line to jected a purchase offer. American Rail­ cars in its three yards (one recent day saw Oxnard and then onto the Ventura County roads of Chicago submitted a bid that SP 1,000 cars sitting in Borger), as well as the for the run out to the Port of Hueneme. officials said didn't even cover the sal­ local customers. Another Borger-based vage costs on the line. switch job goes on duty at night, while a The line was built in the 1880s by Ital­ nightly road train runs from Borger to the SJVR Grows Again ian nobleman Count Joseph Telferner and Santa Fe interchange at Panhandle. The 600 Italian laborers, hence the nickname road train averages 60 cars behind three On March 13, the operational territory of "Macaroni Line." In fact, the towns of to four PNR locomotives. Kyle Railway subsidiary San Joaquin Val­ Louise, Inez, and Edna were named after The maximum speed, despite the good ley Railroad expanded once again when Count Telferner's daughters track, is 25 mph. PNR rosters seven GP7s, Port Railroads Inc. (also a Kyle subsidiary) American Railroads wanted to upgrade four from Santa Fe and three ex-Chicago took over operations of SP's Buttonwillow the track to tap the agricultural business in & North Western. One of the ex-AT&SF Branch and the joint Santa Fe-SP Sunset Wharton County and serve future cus­ locomotives is painted in PNR colors; the Railway west of Bakersfield (see March tomers such as Formosa Plastics' operations rest will be painted in the future. The PRN) . Also on March 13, operations on the in nearby Jackson and Calhoun counties. fleet is serviced at Borger, which is also southern portion of the SP West Side SP wasted no time in removing rails PNR's headquarters. Branch from Fresno to Firebaugh, as well and sturdy timbers; in fact, even before as the Riverdale Branch that splits off of American Rail's bid was studied, SP crews the West Side at Ingle and runs south to were at work. SP appraised the land and Ve ntura Alcos Bowing Out Burrell, were handed over to SJVR. track materials at $6.5 million and said that it would have taken an additional The end of Aleo power on the Ventura $3.5 million for American Rail to restore County Railway in California is almost here. IN&P Loses Major Customer the 62-mile line to service, along with an­ In March, following an extensive rewiring other 23 miles of track east of Wharton to job, S-6 No. 11 suffered a major prime mover Less than six months after taking over op­ Rosenberg. SP plans to open the line to failure due to a burned bearing. The unit erations of the 84-mile Joseph Branch be­ track salvage bidding soon, and antici­ was officially retired during the last week of tween La Grande and Joseph, Ore., Idaho pates bids on the track materials alone to March, leaving S-6 NO. 9 still operational, Northern & Pacific was dealt a severe blow approach $2 million. but relegated to a back-up role ; previously by its primary customer, Boise-Cascade Th anks to P.J. Gratz, Curt Howell, retired S-6 NO. 7 is still on the property. If a Corp. On March 17, Boise-Cascade an­ Christian Steman, Steve Kalthoff and Keel buyer is not found by the end of 1994 for nounced that the lumber mill at Joseph Middleton.

PAC IFIC RAllNews • 43 - TRANSIT MAC SEBREE

- ni Metro should be in town this summer. Denver Portland The originally requested 35 cars cost $2.079 million each and the additional 17 LRT PROJECT GROWS • With the 5.3- LOW BIDS CHEER TRI-MET • Construc­ will be priced at $2.197 million per copy. mile starter light rail line set to open this tion bids for the Westside LRT line have The first prototype was scheduled to ar­ October, Regional Transportation Direc­ been coming in under estimates, to the rive in June, with three more to be deliv­ tors have now given final approval for a delight of Tri-Met and the taxpayers. For ered shortly thereafter. Production cars further 8.7-mile extension south along example, Morrison Knudsen's bid for con­ are to be delivered three per month start­ Santa Fe Drive to Mineral Avenue in Little­ struction of a major line segment was $2.3 ing in January 1995. ton. The RTD will ask the federal govern­ million less than estimates, and seven The cars will have high-low steps at all ment to provide 80 percent of the funding. track materials contracts came in a total of doorways for subway-surface operation. The proposed extension would begin at $1.9 million under budget. They will be equipped with General Elec­ the southern terminus of the starter line Tunneling from the west end of the West tric a.c. electric motors, will be air-condi­ and continue through Englewood parallel Hills Tunnel is going on day and night, but tioned and have two spaces for wheel­ to the Santa FelRio Grande Joint Line. the start of operations from the east end, chair users at each end. RTD will present the plan to the regional using a tunnel boring machine, has been By early 1995, Muni plans to contract for council of governments, which must ap­ delayed until summer due to major geologi­ 84 more LRVs for a total of 136 new vehicles. prove all transportation projects before it cal problems discovered at the east portal. Ending decades of debate, CalTrain's can get federal dollars. The East light rail line has one section board of directors has chosen a site at Test runs on the starter line continue of single-track, from Ruby Junction to Gre­ Beale and Market streets for its new with the new Duewag SD100 cars. Mean­ sham, but this will be doubled in 1995. downtown San Francisco commuter rail while, the City of Denver and the RTD The Westside line's Hillsboro exten­ terminal. The $642 million price tag in­ have reached an impasse over what type sion, from the interim terminus at 185th cludes the cost of converting the San Fran­ of rapid transit to provide between down­ Avenue to the Hillsboro "park & ride" lot, cisco-Gilroy line to electric power, but the town and the new international airport, may well receive funding this year. A final board did not explain further. Trains are whose opening has been repeatedly de­ plan shows eight new stations on this presently powered by diesels and up to layed. Denver wants commuter trains from segment, four of them along the final now there has been little discussion of Union Station; the RTD prefers electric mile, which will be in Hillsboro's Wash­ electrifying the 76.8-mile route. LRT compatible with its starter line. ington Street. The extension will use the The downtown site likely would re­ old Oregon Electric right-of-way, includ­ quire at least some tunneling, probably ing the on-street section. under Brannan and Beale streets, to link Los Angeles the new terminal with the existing tracks near Seventh and Townsend. One St. Louis local faction is not happy with the loca­ MTA FACES THE CRUNCH • A $300 mil­ lion capital and operating shortfall for tion and plans to fight to relocate Cal­ 1995 has once again thrown the Pasadena AIRPORT STATION TO OPEN • Officials Train to the old Transbay Terminal at light rail timetable out of kilter. Metropoli­ have tentatively set July 1 as the opening First and Mission. tan Transit Authority plans to eliminate date for the Lambert-St. Louis Internation­ 300 jobs and scale back some major ex­ al Airport LRT extension, a year late be­ - pansion plans. "We have no alternative cause of a snag in relocating graves at the Seattle but to make hard, painful decisions ... " Washington Park Cemetery. Ridership re­ mains at an average of 23,000 daily, almost says MTA head Franklin E. White. 1995 TRANSIT VOTE SET • A new target Some major construction contracts were certain to rise when the airport leg opens ; date of May 16, 1995, has been set for vot­ to be let this year and in 1995, only one of farebox recovery is 39 percent and rising. ing on a severely slimmed-down regional which is under way: the demolition of the A route has been chosen for the mass transit referendum. Up to now, offi­ old single-track Santa Fe bridge across the Belleville extension in Illinois, which follows cials have been pushing a $13 billion Los Angeles River. A new LRT double-track the railroad to Swansea and Belleville, heavy rail system, including 14 miles of bridge will replace it. Several other major rather than the alternative 1-64 route. The subways. But the newly formed Regional Pasadena line construction contracts are to 24.8-mile line will run from the present East Transit Authority fears a vote on such a be let later this year, but it's possible the St. Louis terminus and have 13 stations, and lavish system would be defeated, as hap­ 1997 completion date may be extended by a may also reach the former Scott Air Force pened in both 1968 and 1971. year or two. Base, being converted to civilian uses. MTA chief Tom Matoff thinks the pub­ Officials did confirm that two major It is virtually assured that this will be lic might buy a modest plan that would in­ projects will not be affected: the three­ the next big MetroLink project, since St. clude commuter rail between Tacoma and part extension of the Red Line subway (to Clair County voters OK'd a sales tax in­ Seattle and perhaps north to Everett, more the San Fernando Valley, to Pico and Rim­ crease to provide the local share of fund­ bus service and a starter light rail line. pau, and to East Los Angeles) and com­ ing. The proposed Berkeley Branch, still The Seattle-Tacoma commuter rail line pletion of the Green Line LRT from shown on MetroLink maps, is no longer could be built for less than $250 million. Downey to EI Segundo, scheduled to open talked of, perhaps because any extension Burlington Northern and Union Pacific in 1995. Incidentally, ridership on the Red into St. Charles County will not follow the both have Seattle-Tacoma lines, and both Line jumped from 15,000 to 21,000 pas­ Norfolk Southern main line on which the would like to sponsor the passenger sengers per day after the earthquake, re­ Berkeley station was to have been located. trains. Negotiations are under way to put flecting increased Metrolink crowds trans­ The Riverfront station on the Illinois side a final plan in place. ferring at Union Station. of the Mississippi River, serving the Casino Thanks to Bob Rynerson, Mark Bau, After considerable delay, MTA signed Queen riverboat, is now under construction. DENVER POST, Steve Morgan, Fred the final purchase contract with Siemens Ma tthews, Los ANGLES TIMES, MINNEAPOLIS Duewag for the 74 light rail cars ordered STAR-TRIBUNE, Julian Wolinsky, Va n for the Green and Pasadena Blue lines, but San Francisco Wilkins, Ed von Nordeck, Jan Schaffer, stretched out deliveries by an extra 18 Tri -Met, Andrew D. Yo ung, San Francisco months. It could be five years before all 74 NEW FLEET DUE TO ARRIVE • The first Muni, SAN FR ANCISCO CHR ONICLE, Leroy De­ cars are on the property. of the 52 Breda LRVs on order for the Mu- mery and Sam Hales.

44 . JUNE 1994 UNION PA

Ve iled Threats?

Now that Santa Fe and Southern Pacific have been pressured to join the $1.8 bil­ lion 20-mile-long Alameda Corridor pro­ ject, it is UP that is being dilatory. Frus­ trated by the lack of cooperation from UP, Dan Pressler, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, decided not to back down during a meeting in early April. Instead, Fessler informed UP that if it stayed out of the project, and kept oper­ ating trains over the current UP San Pedro Branch to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the PUC would force UP, through eminent domain proceedings, to construct a new grade separation for each of the 33 grade crossings on the UP line. At an esti­ mated $25 million each, this adds up to $825 million. As the PUC has sole authori­ ty to decide on how the costs of each grade separation are divided between lo­ cal governments, the state government and the railroad involved, the not-so­ veiled threat was that the PUC would force the UP to pay the full cost for each UP's five-track main line in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was busy on March 21 as cool empties one instead of the usual 10 percent. led by C&NW C44-9W 8639 passed symbol CBKC (Council Bluffs-Kansas City) led by Further pressure was put on UP when 5040-2 3607, and a groin train bound for Texas led by new C4 1 -8W 9501. George R. Cockle port commissioners for Long Beach an­ nounced a new policy that future permits There is no mention in the agreement modal Surface Transportation Efficiency for port facilities would only be available to of allowing Santa Fe access to this new Act money. But, under the provisions of us­ railroads participating in the Alameda Cor­ terminal. Santa Fe management had ing ISTEA money, AT&SF must be allowed ridor. Under this policy, UP could eventual­ demanded access to this new facility due access to the Port of Oakland. SP has been ly be locked out of the largest and most im­ to AT&SF trackage rights over the SP into lobbying to prevent this, evidenced recent­ portant port complex on the West Coast. Oakland and subsidiary Oakland Termi­ ly when SP pressured Caltrans to not build UP's main complaint about joiningthe nal Railway, which currently has access a new rail bridge for the Oakland Terminal Alameda Corridor project is the required to the site. (owned equally by Santa Fe and UP). re­ $15 per 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) and There is an excellent chance that Feder­ placing the ex-Key System bridge over SP's $30 per standard 40-foot container sur­ al officials will allow a large portion of the main line just north of 16th Street station. charge on all interrnodal shipments over funding for this project to come from Inter- The bridge allows Santa Fe its only access this line. The fee is requiredto pay offthe $1.8 billion that this project will cost. So far, UP has offered only $2.15 per 40-foot con­ tainer, unless the ports are willing to grant the UP concessions on 12 side agreements PASSENGER TRAIN PRINTS that would give the UP an advantage over Various Artists - Full Color the SP and Santa Fe. Currently, UP moves containers over the San Pedro line for an es­ AT SF Super Chief - diesels - 18" x 24"...... $20 AT SF Chief - steam - 16" x 20"...... $20 timated cost of 50 cents per 40-foot contain­ UP "City of LA" & Big Boy - 24" x 36" ...... $25 er. UP has also made statements that it UP "Overland" - steam - #844 - 18" x 24" ..... $25 would be willing to sell the entire San Pedro DRGW "Cal. Zephyr" - diesel - x 18" 24" ...... $25 ALCOS ON THE GREEN BAY & WESTERN - Branch for $100 million, making it "indiffer­ SP "Sunset Ltd." - diesel - 18" x 24" .....$1 5 A look at the 100% Alco Powered GBW in ent" to the $30 per 40-foot container cost on SP "Overland" (Black Widow) - 18" x 24" .....$20 Wisconsin. Plus a cab & caboose ride and the Alameda Corridor. In response, the port MP "Colorado Eagle" - diesel - 19" x 25" ...... $15 connecting RR's CNW·WC·BN·ELS. 538 95 commissioners of Long Beach stated that ACL"Champion" - diesel 28" x 32" ...... $50 100Min. • they would not buy the UP San Pedro line SAL "Orange Blossom Special" - diesel - 28" x 32" ...... $50 for any amount of money. CRIP "Twin Star Rkt." - diesel - 18" x 22" ....$20 Katy "Texas Special" - diesel - 17" x 22" ...... $20 PRR "Broadway Ltd." - steam - 16" x 20" ....$20 Oakland Terminal Progressing SRR "Crescent Ltd." - steam - 16" x 20" ...... $20 B&O "Ambassador Limited" - FOX RIVER VALLEY RAILROAD - System wide look at the FRV's rail line serving the steam - 16" x 20" ...... $20 The Port of Oakland, UP and Southern Pa­ industries and paper mills of Wisconsin. Plus the Originals also available: Write for details . cific, have signed a multi-million dollar connecting RR's WC·GBW·ELS. 538 95 agreement to develop a new joint inter­ Send 3-stamp LSSAE for HUGE 30 PAGE LIST 100 Min. • modal facility. Cost for the proposed rail Add S3/order shipping Shipping & Handling: $3.00 I $1.00ea. additional Send Check, MO, VISA, MC info to: WI Residents add 5% sales tax cargo transfer terminal, named the "Joint 71 5-833-8899: Check/M.O./Cr.Card# Exp. ____ PRINTS AND HOBBIES , Intermodal Terminal, " is estimated to be --.. $80 million, though the agreement only al­ lows planning to proceed; actual construc­ PLETS' EXPRESS . i:E ® Texans: Please add 8% safes tax. tion has not yet been approved. P.o. BOX 217 WI 54720

PA CIFIC RAILNews • 45 to the Port of Oakland, but it will be torn Portland, Ore. K Line is also operating daily averted at the end of March thanks to an out by Caltrans as part of the construction doublestack trains over the UP for domestic ex-UP employee. Following movement of of the new Cypress Freeway. cargo from Chicago to UP intermodal facili­ some construction equipment across a ties at Los Angeles, Portland, Oakland, grade crossing which caught and pulled Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. the rails of both tracks out of alignment, Motive Power News Juan Escobido, who now works at the Amalgamated Sugar refinery, saw the dam­ At the end of March, 13 locomotives were Possible Abandonment of Wichita Sub age and called the local police. A police car retired from the UP roster as their long­ was parked across the tracks with warning term leases expired. The largest group Union Pacific acknowledged that it may lights on as the train dispatcher in Omaha, were SD40-2s 3900-3904, which were deliv­ abandon 98 miles of the Wichita Sub be­ Neb., was notified. The eastbound and ered to the Soo Line at Kansas City. Previ­ tween Wichita and Durand, Kan. If current westbound trains that were to meet at Nys­ ously mentioned U23Bs 557, 558, 560 and negotiations with Santa Fe and WATCO­ sa were warned just in time, and both 561 were officially removed from the roster. associated short line South Kansas & Okla­ stopped just short of the damaged track. Other units included GP38 1974, MP15DC homa (SKOL) are successful, abandonment As reported in the May PRNExpediter, 1329 and SW1500s 1320 and 1321. could come quickly. UP has won approval to begin moving in­ In April 1994, the 24 SD40-2s numbered Currently, UP operates only one local termodal traffic across the U.S.-Mexico bor­ 4090-4114 were scheduled to come off train over this line, symbol LV B60, a turn to der at Laredo, Texas, without having trail­ lease. This will be followed in June by the Durand that commonly moves at least 100 ers inspected at the border by customs of­ end of the five-year lease on the 36 GP40s cars each day. Under UP's plan, this traffic ficials. Now, in conjunction with Schneider numbered 850-862 and 864-886. will instead move between Tulsa and Win­ National Trucking, UP is going to start field, Kan., on UP's Conway Springs Branch, testing this concept with the FNM on ship­ which consists of 43 miles of trackage rights ments to the Mexico City area. Main con­ K Line Boom on an AT&SF line. The UP local on this line cerns with Schneider are transit times and would haul this traffic to and from the South quality of the delivery system in Mexico. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha's ("K" Line) contain­ Kansas & Oklahoma interchange at Win­ Due to the,continuing congestion in Las ers are an increasing presence on the UP. field. SKOL would be contracted to move Vegas as a result of the removal of the With the success of K Line's domestic Rail this traffic between Winfield and a UP con­ main freight yard downtown, UP is now in­ Bridge subsidiary, which has seen a 400 nection at either Coffeyville or Indepen­ stalling a third main line through the area. percent increase in business since 1990, dence, Kan. The ICC could approve the Starting in April, 1,000 new covered this company is further refining its system abandonment petition by mid-1994. hoppers will be delivered for grain service of doublestack trains operating over the UP. In a related development, the ICC has on the central and western portions of the K Line adapted the hub-and-spoke con­ granted UP permission to abandon the UP. These new cars will be built by Na­ cept from airlines, which has proven to be a nine-mile segment now known as the Pi­ tional Steel Car Ltd. of Hamilton, Canada, huge success. Using the Global II inter­ qua Industrial Lead, actually a portion of and will have a gross weight of 286,000 modal facility in Chicago as its hub, K Line the Wichita Sub that ran east of the cross­ pounds (143 tons). These cars are classi­ now connects 38 different terminals in the ing with the Coffeyville Subdivision. fied by the industry as "superjumbo" cov­ U.S., Canada and Mexico with doublestack ered hoppers. trains. On the UP (and the Chicago & North Thanks to Steve Kalthoff, Keel Middle­ Western between Chicago and Fremont, Short Ye llow Items ton, Kevin Gulau, Roy Lopez, H.M. Eich ­ Neb.), K Line is operating stack trains car­ staedt, Larry Gibbs, Curt Howell, Jam es rying international cargo between Chicago A two-train derailment at Nyssa, Ore., on Schiro, George Cockle, MIXED TRAIN, GPC­ and Tacoma, Wash., Long Beach, Calif., and the La Grande Subdivision was narrowly NRHS DIAMOND and NORTHWEST RArLFAN. KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN

slightly different angle. It acknowledges opposition; a decision from the commission Is KCS Really on the Sales Block? the unusual combination of a railroad and is not expected until late this year. financial services to form KCSI's successful Kansas City Southern Industries has at­ blend of businesses. However, it resurrects tracted media attention in the last few past examples of railroads diversifying into Shreveport Lands New Customer years with its railroad acquistions, and other areas, then becoming successful con­ Service Center continues to intrigue analysts with its glomerates (speCifically Illinois Central and strong financial performance. The KANSAS Chicago & North Western). eventually spin­ KCS Railway President and CEO George CITY STAR reported that a study is under ning off the railroad. Edwards announced plans to construct a way that "could lead to the sale or pur­ new 15,000-square-foot, $1.25 million cus­ chase of assets." In a press release from tomer service center at Deramus Yard in KCSI President and CEO Landon Rowland, New Haulage Routes for KCS? Shreveport, La. The new building will alternatives being studied range from "op­ house the billing center, the new Quality erational improvements to asset redeploy­ Union Pacific's bid to assume control of Center, yard services and car distribution ment." The press release followed rumors Chicago & North Western is drawing the and other functions. Approximately 100 that KCSI is for sale. Asset redeployment expected negative reaction from several employees will be located at the facility, "could mean sales or purchases. " competing Western railroads, but the same which will have an important role in fulfill­ It was noted that similar studies have roads have been quietly using the proceed­ ing the railroad's commitment to providing been conducted in the recent past, but the ings to wring concessions from federal reg­ quality service to its customers. press is apparently attempting to make ulators. Apparently, KCS has entered the something out of nothing. Rowland stated fray by requesting haulage rights over further, "(it) is just part of the ordinary C&NW lines in Iowa to link grain-producing MidSouth Rehabilitation Progressing course of business." The WALL STREET JOUR­ regions with its growing Southern poultry NAL reported that trading of KCSI shares feed customer base. KCS fears diversion of MidSouth lines are quickly assuming a was halted briefly during one mid-session this traffic to an all-UP routing after acquir­ new identity. Line rehabilitation began after a rapid rise was triggered by the an­ ing control of C&NW. In March, UP and even before merger approval was ob­ nouncement. The HOUSTON POST explored a C&NW offered the ICC their rebuttal to the tained, with new ribbon rail laid from

46 . JUNE 1994 Tuscaloosa, Ala., to near Holt, Ala., on the aged, but the train remained on the rails. unit is shut down. When routine mainte­ Warrior Branch. In 1986, SouthRail prede­ The local did not fare as well; several cars nance is required, Kiamichi carts it to the cessor Gulf & Mississippi acquired 19 derailed and one car was pushed over the KCS at Ashdown, and returns with a re­ miles of former Louisville & Nashville rear of the locomotive, shearing off the long placement, usually an SW1500. As long as trackage between Brookwood, Ala., and hood and everything behind the prime KCS retains this isolated corner of its rail­ Holt (now called the Brookwood Line) to mover. The 705 will be retired. The cause road, look for the old plug-in Geep to sur­ establish a CSX connection. In September of the accident is under investigation. vive, working for chicken feed. 1992, SouthRail obtained trackage rights Heavy rains near Leesville, La., on Jan. from Brookwood into Birmingham, Ala. 27 washed away tons of ballast along the The connection was a cumbersome KCS main south of New Llano, La. The 24- Locomotive Notes switchback arrangement at Holt requiring hour, 12-inch torrent damaged nearly 900 three crews to complete a round trip be­ feet of track structure. Eighteen cars of a KCS delivered two more MidSouth CF7s tween Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. A southbound train derailed on the washout. (7009 and 7011) to the CSX at New Or­ new 1,500-foot connection was completed The line reopened the next day. leans on Feb. 25, destined for Union Camp in early 1993, eliminating 4.5 miles of Corp. at Franklin, Va. Only three CF7s trackage, shaving 13 miles off the round (7010, 7012 and 7015) remain stored bad­ trip, and saving six to eight hours of run­ More Changes at Dallas ordered at Vicksburg, Miss. ning time per day. The round trip is now The latest batch of 12 remanufactured completed with a single crew. KCS took over the the segment of Santa GP40s (CSX and UP heritage) from AMF Rehab work has started on the Meridi­ Fe's Dallas Sub south of Zacha Junction on in Montreal are beginning to arrive on an-Artesia, Miss., trackage. Upon comple­ April 1. A new interchange is under con­ the property. This group will be num­ tion of this segment, work will likely shift struction at Tenison Park in East Dallas be­ bered 4751-4762. The first two units, to the Artesia-Tuscaloosa segment, thus tween Santa Fe's Dallas Subdivision and 4751 and 4752, arrived at Kansas City completing a rehabilitated route between the Dallas Belt Line. This intersection is late in March and were immediately sent Meridian and Birmingham. grade-separated with the Southern Pacific south to Shreveport and the MidSouth. KCS management is banking on the passing under the Santa Fe. The new con­ These units should be arriving at the rate Shreveport-Meridian line becoming part of nection will allow KCS, Santa Fe, and Dal­ of two per week, with delivery complete a significant transcontinental route primar­ las, Garland & Northeastern Railroad traf­ in early May. ily handling intermodal business between fic to access the downtown area, bypass­ Th anks to Robert Harm en, Mike and the Santa Fe at Dallas and Norfolk South­ ing Santa Fe's East Dallas Yard. The new Chris Palmieri, Charles Pitcher, James ern and CSX at Meridian, with the option KCS route to Dallas runs south from Zacha Fair, Lowell McManus, Dennis Hogan, P.J. of non-priority traffic traveling via the tra­ Junction via the Dallas Sub to Tenison, Gratz, David Hurt, Joe Beaver, James ditional Dallas-Shreveport-New Orleans then south on the Belt Line, where KCS Schiro, Dale Gathright Jr. , Kerry Hen­ route. CSX recently obtained intermodal­ shares trackage with Union Pacific and SP. dricks, Jack Austerman, Don Bailey, Bill only trackage rights over the Meridian & KCS-West Coast through-traffic will Parsons, Al Chinn, Jerry Samples, Can ­ Bigbee Railroad between Meridian and a run from Farmersville, the former end of dace Mizell and KCS Railway. CSX connection at Myrtlewood, Ala. KCS trackage, south on the ex-Santa Fe Although KCS is currently operating as Garland Sub to Wylie, then west via a a Federal Railway Administration Class 3 new connection and trackage rights over road with 40 mph operation, the majority of Cotton Belt to Renner, then north via an­ the track structure will test out at Class 4 other new connection to the soon-to-be NEW BOOK! or Class 5 standards. Sidings will be 8,500 ex-Santa Fe Dallas Sub to Dallas (Dalton) Fox Publications Presents ... feet long to facilitate rapid movement of Junction, then south on Santa Fe's Fort Colorado's Modem longer intermodal trains. Competition is ex­ Worth Sub via trackage rights to Alliance Narrow Gauge Circle pected from other rail lines and truckers on Yard. KCS will take over the Zacha Junc­ Interstate 20, so traffic may eventually be tion-Dalton Junction trackage when the moving faster than 40 mph. Quoting KCS connection at Renner is completed. Vice President and Chief Engineer David Il1cUor narrow Brookings, "If the market indicates that we gauge steam ra il­ have to run a little faster, then we'll certain­ Spotlight: Hope, Ark. roads operating ly take a look at it. And since the MidSouth in Colorado and is basically a tangent road, it wouldn't be Hope is the birthplace of President Bill New Mexico: too difficult to up the speeds." Clinton and KCS still maintains a unique The Cumbres & presence here. Hope is all that keeps Toltec Scenic, 1953-vintage KCS roster orphan GP7 4160 Durango & 1994 Begins on a Sour Note alive, as well as the isolated four-mile seg­ Silverton, and ment at the end of the Hope Subdivision, a Georgetown Loop. Despite an exemplary safety record for former Louisiana & Arkansas line running 1993, 1994 began with some unfortunate east and north from Shreveport. Trackage accidents for KCS. On Feb. 9, two trains south of Hope has been out of service Hike long milesto remote areas \\;U1 collided head-on just north of Anderson, since March 17, 1989, but is mostly intact. auu10r/photographer Gregory Monroe as the Mo., with five crew members receiving in­ A large chicken feed mill south of town at book takes a circle trip around these u1ree juries that ranged from serious to moder­ Anthony is the line's only customer and railroads. The culmination of over a decade of ate. The South Local, working between reason for its existence. practice of "authentic photography." Pittsburg, Kan., and Watts, Okla., was Grain loads for the feed mill are given traveling south on the 1.5 percent descent to the Kiamichi at Ashdown, Ark., by KCS -Hardbound; 8 Vox11 of McElhany Hill when it rounded a curve for movement to the L&A yard in Hope, or -Heavy duty dust jacket -96 and found northbound Shreveport-Kansas arrive in town via the Union Pacific. As pages; Over 150 sepia toned photos City train 82 working upgrade on the sin­ needed, a KCS locomotive and crew grabs gle-track main line. the loads and heads to the mill and re­ $37.95 7.3% SD50 705 (the first SD50 delivered to the turns with empties. Colorado residents add tax KCS), the sole power for the local, jumped The 40-year-old 4160 is specially DEALER TERMS AVAllABLE over the pilot of SD60 741, leading the equipped for occasional service at Hope as northbound, and pushed the shorthood it is fitted with a special receptacle allow­ FOX PUBLICATIONS back to the cab front wall. Trailing units ing connection to an external power sup­ P.O. BOX 740655 DEPT. P SD60 721 and SD40-2 677 were also dam- ply that keeps batteries charged when the ARVADA, CO 80006

PACIFIC RAILNews • 47 ______p ra__ ir_i _e__ R_a_ i_l r_o_a__ d_ _ni �g�______�OF RAILROADING

Vast prairies cut a wide swath through North America, running from Saskatchewan south to Texas. This region contains some of the world's most fertile soil; accordingly, agricul­ ture reigns here. A vast network of rail lines once crisscrossed this territory, but the tracks are disappearing and most lines now seem to carry trains that are simply passing through. Still, if you take the time to explore the conti­ nent's midsection, you'll find a rail industry seemingly stuck in time, where weather-beat­ en, four-axle Geeps roll strings of hoppers away from grain elevators that are the only disturbance on a seemingly infinite horizon. ABOVE: A couple of To ledo, Peoria & Western GP20s on the "Indiana Local" work the grain elevator at Weston, III., on Aug. 27, 1992. As soon as the two Geeps clear, the conductor will reline the switch and the units will back down to their train. Steve Smedley RIGHT: Short line Cedar Rapids & Iowa City runs some long trains when required, evidenced here by train No. 2, behind four 1959-built GP9s, drap­ ing itself over the Iowa countryside just south of Cedar Rapids on May 8, 1993. R.J. Williams

48 . JUNE 1994 ABOVE: C&NW's "Cowboy" line meandered through the vast expanses of northern Nebraska until it was taken out of service in 1992. In September 1991, three out-of-place GP50s lead a C&NW manifest near Eli, 86 miles east of Chadron, Neb. A new short line, Nebkota Rail­ ways, recently revived service on part of the Cowboy, which at one time seemed destined to become just one more abandoned prairie rail line. Chuck Conway BELOW: A South Orient train lays over at San Angelo Junction, Te xas, after delivery to the Santa Fe in June 1993. Wes Carr

PAC IFIC RAILNews • 49 ______p_ r_a_i _r_i e__ R_ a_i_l _ro___a d_ i_n�g� ______�OF RAILROADING

TOP: Four of Canadian Pacific's rare MLW RS-23s-built in 1959 primarily for service on the light-railed lines of the prairies-lead a local through Waiiville, Sask., on May 18, 1990, on CP's Prince Albert Subdivision. Ken Allen ABOVE: On the fringes of "Tornado Alley" in Oklahoma's Panhandle, Santa Fe local L-KC74, working from Boise City, Okla., to Dodge City, Kan., glides through Keyes, Okla., on April 3, 1990. Mel Finzer RIGHT: In the flatlands between Miles City and Glendive, Mont., a welded rail extra behind GP39V 2964 races west at Blatchford, on the ex-Northern Pacific main line on June 24, 1991. Tom Danneman

50 . JUNE 1994 r ______p rO__ i r_i _e __R_O_ i_l r_ O__ O_ d_ _ni _g�______�OF RAILROADING

52 . JUNE 1994 II ./

��------,

OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP: On April 19, 1989, two Minnesota Valley Geeps towed a six-car train past freshly disked fields at Hanley Falls, Minn., on ex-Burlington Northern, nee Great Northern, trackage. John Leopard OPPOSITE PAGE BOnOM: After meeting a westbound string of coal empties, caboose 10525 trails the eastbound coal loads as they fan the prairie grasses at Driscoll, N.D., on June 26, 1991. Tom Danneman ABOVE: The Flint Hills, southwest of Kansas City, is one of the last large tracts of unspoiled prairie and home to one of the busiest spots on Santa Fe's Chicago-West Coast main line. On July 19, 1990, SDF45 5967 leads a hard-working westbound through grasslands near Matfield Green. Howard Ande

PACIFIC RAILNews • 53 BV ED RIPLEV

here's more than a passing resemblance between two years; ton-miles per employee up 28 percent; rev­ Rob Krebs and Santa Fe's longtime Native Ameri­ enue per ton-mile down seven cents; rail operating in­ can mascot, Chico. Take off Krebs' black-rimmed come more than doubled. No question about it, Krebs' glasses,T add shoulder-length hair, trade in the thousand­ program had proved a great success. In fact, it was too dollar suit for native garb, and ... hmmm. successful. Traffic was booming to the point that the at­ Deemed irrelevant to investor relations, and political­ tenuated railroad began choking on it. ly incorrect to boot, Chico has been booted out the door Santa Fe, which had avoided large new capital pro­ into involuntary retirement. The same fate is unlikely to jects since the late 1970s, decided to reverse course in afflict Santa Fe's chairman, at least any time soon. Like 1993 and bet big bucks that expanding its capacity him or not-and he's never won a popularity contest would pay off. To be sure, expansion to replace facilities among railroaders-Rob Krebs has presided over a re­ lost in the California and Texas line sales had been in markable rebirth of the storied 125-year-old Santa Fe the works for some time, but 1993 was the year the bull­ since he became the company's Super Chief in 1989. dozers got busy. Public money is underwriting the dou­ Protege of Southern Pacific Chairman Ben Biaggini, ble-tracking of the Los Angeles-San Bernardino line, pro­ an arch foe of Santa Fe faithful during the 1970s, Krebs jected for completion in 1996, and construction of addi­ was nobody's favorite to reach the corner office when he tional second track in the San Joaquin Valley to permit came to Chicago in the SP-Santa Fe holding company additional Amtrak service. In Texas, $69 million in line merger in 1983. Santa Fe Chairman John Schmidt sale funds helped pay for the $100 million Alliance Yard. parked Krebs in charge of non-rail subsidiaries, while he On top of that, though, Santa Fe is spending a lot of ordered locomotives painted red and yellow in anticipa­ its own money to bulk up. In an effort to reduce conges­ tion of gluing Santa Fe and SP rail operations together. tion, Santa Fe is building 35 miles of sidings along the But Schmidt's career went down in flames with the fail­ single-track segment of the main between Ellinor, Kan., ure of the SPSF merger, and the board turned to Krebs, and Mountainair, N.M., installing CTC over 97 miles of relatively untainted by the Interstate Commerce Com­ double track in the Mojave Desert and extending it over mission disaster, to lead the shell-shocked company. 73 single-track miles elsewhere on the system. Automo­ The Santa Fe of 1989 was a rudderless mess. Follow­ tive traffic was Santa Fe's fastest-growing market seg­ ing the 1987 denial of the SP merger, and a ferocious as­ ment in 1993, because the railroad grabbed the sault from corporate raider Mike Ding- transcontinental GM traffic away from man, the company was forced to cough Southern Pacific, and the company up a $30-per-share cash dividend to spent $36 million to build new vehicle keep stockholders placated. Then San­ terminals near Phoenix and San ta Fe lost an antitrust lawsuit to Ener­ Bernardino to handle it. Just north of gy Transportation Systems, which Chico the latter faCility, Santa Fe is con­ claimed its coal slurry pipeline had structing a new intermodal terminal l­ been done in by a railroad conspiracy. that will have 90 percent of the capaci­ Santa Fe quickly sold its non-rail hold­ ty of Hobart Yard, while back in Chica­ ings to pay off these obligations and go the company is spending $71 mil­ mortgaged its future by issuing bil­ Bulks lion to construct another big terminal lions in junk bonds and bank debt. at Willow Springs. Meanwhile, instal­ With its operating ratio stuck in the lations of welded rail, concrete ties (/) low 90s, Chico's minions watched and ballast continue at a high level. helplessly as the more efficient Union Up In all, Santa Fe will lavish about $450 Pacific stole away Santa Fe traffic­ million on track and structures in 1994, most notably the shipments of Ford nearly double the 1992 figure. Krebs is cars and trucks to California, which had been a Santa Fe gambling that a substantial return to the bottom line will mainstay for decades-with aggressive pricing. follow. Official AT&SF projections call for revenues to in­ Krebs and then-President Mike Haverty, their credit crease by about a billion dollars from 1993 to 1998, and exhausted, faced the brink with their well-regarded but Krebs would like to net 15 percent or more of that. foundering railroad. They responded by paring Santa Fe What's odd about Santa Fe's projected revenue curve down to its strengths-most importantly, the nonpareil is that it takes off like a scrambling F-15. Motivation of high-speed main line between Chicago and California. the troops isn't the problem-Santa Fe's marketers Focusing on its chronic failure to make a buck on the in­ know Krebs won't accept any excuses if the targets termodal trade-the biggest segment of its business­ aren't met. But haven't these guys ever heard of reces­ Santa Fe set up a separate intermodal department, sions? Do they think UP is just going to dry up and blow which pursued higher-margin business. History will away? After all the cutbacks in recent years, it's going record Haverty's famous 1989 handshake with J.B. Hunt to be that much more difficult for Krebs to reduce costs, as the turning point that started the diversion of better­ keep the Yellow Peril at bay and still grow the business. yielding highway traffic onto the rails. Two scenarios are possible. If Krebs' expansion pro­ At the same time, Krebs ruthlessly hacked away at gram makes Santa Fe too big and costly in the context of what he perceived as Santa Fe's weaknesses. Most a future recession, he can go hunting for a merger part­ w branch lines were sold off, with system mileage dropping ner to boost traffic to capacity. Santa Fe's obvious mate, from 11,200 in 1989 to 7,800 by the end of 1992. Sales of as we've observed in previous columns, is Burlington urban lines in Southern California and the Dallas area for Northern. The mutual interest of these two companies mass transit use brought in substantial proceeds. Em­ moved beyond theory late in 1993, as Krebs spent con­ ployees, too, were axed in droves as the railroad central­ siderable time with BN brass at Fort Worth, but nothing ized maintenance, dispatching, agency and back-office has come of the talks-yet. On the other hand, Santa Fe's I functions in the new head teepee in Schaumburg, Ill., as aggressive growth projections could be right, allowing well as Kansas City and Topeka, Kan., cut back to two­ the railroad to cash in on its massive investment. Per­ person train crews-and cashed out Haverty. haps Krebs will retire around the turn of the century as The results? By the end of 1992: operating ratio the genius who builts Chico's once-friendly railroad into I- down to 86.5 percent ; employees down nearly 1,000 in a 900-pound winner in the transportation wars. PRN

54 . JUNE 1994 / PRN CLASSIFIEDS PRN AD INDEX

RATES: 45¢ a word/40¢ a word for ads running est in the former Milwaukee Road's 'Lines West' A three or more months/$10 per issue minimum. west of Mobridge, South Dakota. Our quarterly A&R Productions ...... 12 Payment in advance. We reserve the right to edit newsletter, "Milwest Dispatch,' has photos and arti­ ARC Productions ...... 11 all copy and refuse any listings. Ads cannot be cles of interest on the history and operations of the . . acknowledged, nor can proof copies be sent. former 'Lines West.' Annual meet. Dues are $10.00 C Closing date: two months before issue date. per calendar year. Milwest, Ron Hamilton­ Colorado Railroad Museum ...... , ...... 55 Count all numbers, name and address. Home/of­ Secretary, 3191 SW Yew Avenue. Redmond. OR F fice street address and telephone number must 97756-9486. 367 accompany order. Mail to: Classifieds, Interurban Four Ways West Publications ...... , ...... 11 ·�- Press, P.O. Box 379, Waukesha, WI 53187 NEW TIMETABLES: Just released, Rocky Mountain Fox Publications ...... 9, 47 Two and California Region Timetable Five. Both . .. I TWIN CITIES RAILFAN'S GUIDE - The comprehensive edition completely revised to include shortlines source of scheduling and geographic information and tourist railroads. Each ed ition contains twenty Interurban Press...... 2, 14, 40, 55 for the Twin Cities. Automated data base, con­ percent more data and eight full color pages in­ J stantly updated. Send $5.50 (includes handling) to cluding additional maps. ROCKY MOUNTAIN #2 Kyle Rasmussen. 11449 Goldenrod Street N.W.. (CO/UT/NV) $14.50, CALIFORNIA #5 $16.50, PACIF­ Jelsma Graphics ...... 12 Coon Rapids, MN 55448-2460. 365-367 IC NORTHWEST (WA/OR) $11.25, SOUTHWEST #2 M (AZ/NM) $11.25, INTERMOUNTAIN (WY /MT/ID) WE MANUFACTURE railroad conductor caps, brass MO-KAN Video ...... 15 $13.25. Altamont Press. P. O. Box 754-P. Modesto CA conductor badges, and conductor uniforms (sack Morning Sun Books ...... 95353-0754. 367 , ...... 40 coats, trousers, vests) in authentic railroad configu­ N rations. Ticket punches and coin changers also ROCKY MOUNTAIN RAILROAD CLUB classics: available. Write for pricing information: Tr ansquip NeverHomeboy Video ...... 10 'Denver, South Park & Pacific' and 'DSP&P - Pic­ CompanY, 91 Bluejay Road, Chalfont, PA 18914 or torial Supplement: "Rails Around Gold Hill' and o telephone (2 15) 822-8092. 362-373 'Colorado Midland' are offered for individual OM&C Video ...... 42 Cajon, Donner, Keddie, bid. Write Ed Lewis, Box 505, Aberdeen. NC 28315 CALIFORNIA FiElD GUIDES P Tehachapi. more. Southern $17; Northern $12; for information. 367 ...... $2.90/order postage. CA 7.25% tax. Satisfaction Pentrex 13, 56 FAIRMONT MOTORCARS, buy or sell, Pacific Rail Ser­ guaranteed. SSAE detail, map list. Jason P. Kazarian, Plets Express ...... 11, 45 vices, P.O. Box 182, Paradise, CA 95967-0 182. (9 16) . . . Box 476, Ridgecrest. CA 93556-0476. 366-368 Portola Railroad Museum ...... 41 896- 1666, Fax (9 16) 893-3666 Attn: Gary. 365-369 1994 STEAM PASSENGER SERVICE DIRECTORY 350 S WA NTED Railroad annual passes by private collector. page book lists over 300 tourist railroads and muse­ Charles Smiley ...... 6 E.S. Peyton . Box 51810. Phoenix, AZ85076. 366-368 . . . ums throughout North America (including pho­ Sundance Marketing Inc ...... 10 tographs). 29th Annual edition. $13.95 postage . .. T paid. Available from Great Eastern Publishing, P.O. AMSCAM COLLECTOR'S EDITION 75 humorous satir­ ical Amtrak news items. 'You haven't read it all 'til Box 599, Richmond, VT05477. (800) 356-0246. 367 Trackside Prints & Hobbies ...... 45 you've read AMSCAM.' Send $12 to: Amscam AT SF, BN, SP, UP timetables; brochures; drawings; Collector's Edition, P. O. Box 2157, Duxbury, MA W magazines; maps; registers, rules! 45 page catalog 0233 1-2157. 367-373 White River Productions ...... 7 w/ATSF annual reports, $2. Hauschild, 6158 Holmes, Kansas City, MO 641 10. 367, 369. 371

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TED ROSE WATERCOLORS Commissioned paintings A Narrative on subjects of your choice. Recent works available for purchase. Contact Ted Rose, P.O. Box 266, San­ History of the ta Fe. NM 87504. (505) 983-948 1. 359-370 Moffat Road

MILWEST is an organization of modelers, historians, By Edward T. former employees and others who share an inter- Bollinger

Pounding Mallet locomotives, blinding mountain blizzards, some of the world's best scenery and the determination of one of the W

PACIFIC RAILNews • 55 A PRODUCTION OF THE UNION PACIFIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY

in coI\iunctionwith the Union Pacific His­ Sherman Hill. The stories they tell are hunlOrous, enlight­ IN STOCK AND READY TO SHIP! torical Society, presents the third in our exciting trilogy ening, and surprising. of filmson the largest steam locomotives of all times, The highlights of the show are the many runbys and the Union Pacific "Big Boys." Volume ill fo cuses on the pacing sequences of the Big Boys on the road. You'll ride Order Toll Free 24 Hours A Day Big Boys' operations over Sherman Hill during the last along in the cabs of several locomotives, watching the years of their existence. firemen and engineers at work. The views of the running Allan Kreig, writer and director of the original Union gear in motion, captured from a camera car running 800-950-9333 Pacific "Last of the Giants," shares some of the alongside the locomotives on a parallel track, are thrill­ film FAX 818-793-3797 challenges faced by hiscamera crews and the techniques ing to behold. they used to capture the incredible sights and sounds of The 16mm color film utilized in this program, never the Big Boys on film.All the vintage scenes shown in this previously released to the vielving public, has been me­ production are compiled from 16mm color film shot ticulously prepared and restored with the latest in com­ between 1955 and 1958. puterized enhancement technology, resulting in crisp and With help from the Cheyenne-based Union Pacific fascinating images. Join Pentrex in our eI\ioyable tribute to the mightiest steam locomotives of all time:Last steam crew, Pentrex located a number of surviving Big of >r�.P Boy engineers and firemen. These men relate on screen the Giants, Vo lume III - Sherman Hill. P.O. Box 9491 1, what it was like to run and fire these giant engines over 70 Minutes #BIGBOY3 $39.95 Pasadena, CA 91 109

Check or Money Order Visa/MasterCard VHS Only CA LL OR WRITE FOR FREE CA TALOG

Please add $4.00 shipping per order. plus $1.00 for each additional tape. Canadian customers add $5.00 shipping per order. plus $1.00 for each additional tape. All other International customers add $10.00 per tape. California residents please add 8.25% sales tax. 1/94.