Amtrak's Twilight Shoreliner Service Debuts ·
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SPECIAL REPORT: AMTRAK'S TWILIGHT SHORELINER SERVICE DEBUTS · -, The RAILROAD PRESS Magazine proudly presents two fully-illustrated stories of our American railroad heritage... The 1947 Freedom Train, and the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee Ry. Subscribe to The Railroad Press for $16 for one year (4 issues) starting with Issue #34 featuring the 50th Anniversary of the 1947 Freedom Train, and receive Issue #32 featur ing North Shore Memories absolutely free!! Name Send check, money order Please begin YES!!! or credit card info to: my one year (4 issues) Address subscription to TRP for The Railroad Press City only $16.00. Please start 1150 Carlisle St. #444K with Issue #34 featuring Hanover, PA 17331 State Zip the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Train, and send Foreign customers Phone Required for credit card orders me Issue #32 featuring write for rates Card # Exp. Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee memories free! Dealer Inquiries Welcome! Signature Not good in conjunction with any other offer. Offerexpires 12/31/98 e October 1997al Issue 407 FE ATURES Some30 Decade Wisconsin Central's first 10 years have been eventful. Andrew S. Nelson I(nox Station32 Bed & Rails A new bed-and-breakfast in central Illinois is recommended for raiIfans. George S. Pitarys Steve Smedley DE PARTMENTS 34 4 Editorial Appalachian' Interludes 5 Letters A western railroader finds thrills in them eastern hills. 8 Expediter Patrick D. Flynn 12 Expediter Special Report 14 From the Cab 18 Burlington Northern &. Santa Fe 22 VIA Rail Canada 48 24 Conrail UP Locomotive Renumberings 2G Amtrak The post-merger motive power fleet receives new numbers. 28 CSX Tr ansportation Sean Graham-White G3 Commuter/Transit GG Union Pacific 71 Canadian Pacific Railway 72 Norfolk Southern 52 74 Regionals Geeps and Gravel in the Granite State 7G New Products A busy short line keeps part of the Boston & Maine alive. 78 The Last Word George S. Pitarys R N 80 RAILNEWS Classifieds 82 AIL EWS Advertising Index ABOVE: Two New Hampshire Northcoast Geeps guide Stampede!58 a gravel train north of Rochester, New Hampshire. Wa shington State's re-opened Stampede Pass is all that it's cracked up to be. O S Ben Bachman CthroughVER:A Yakima ballast Canyon, trainworks Washington. the tampede Ben Bachman Pass photoroute 1091-2436) 2652 91107. RAII.NEWS (ISSN is published monthly by Pentrex. Inc.• E. lValnut, Pasadena. CA Periodicals postage paid at Pasadena. CA 91109 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send 94911, 91109. 534.95 address changes to: RAIL 'EWS, P.O. Box Pasadena, CA SUBSCRJPTION RATES: (U.S.) for 12 issues, 567.95 for 24 issues. Foreign 545 for 12 issues. 582 for 24 issues. Single copy 55 postpaid from Pasadena office (subject 10 change without notice). CI-IANGE OF ADDRESS: The Post Office does nOt regularly forward Periodicals Mail, and �\JLNEWS is not responsible for copics not forwarded or destroyed by the Post Oroce. Replacement copies/P.O. notifications will be billed. Please allow liS at Icast rom weeks ror (my address change. ADVERTISING RATES: Contact RAILNEWS. P.O. Box 379, \Vaukesha, WI 53187; (800) 410-0444. MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION SERVJCE: For all subscription problems and inquiries, call toll-free in the U.S. and Canada: (800) 210-2211 or outside the U.S. (818) 793-3400. EDITORIAL Rail News" RAILNE\VS Bringing Good Things to Life is a trademark of Penh'ex, Inc. Publisher: Michael W. Clayton Operations Manager: Trish Miller Editor: Carl Swanson Art Director & Managing Editor: Tom Danneman Features Editor: Katie Norton Associate Editor & Photo Editor: Brent Haight Editorial Assistant: James Ziegler Advertising Manager: Patty Montbriand Graphic Artist & Advertising Production: Heather Bahr Submissions Articles, news items, and photographs are welcome and should be sent to our Wisconsin editorial office. Please include return envelope and postage if you wish your submission retul1led. RAILNEWS does not assume responsibility for the safe return of material. Payment is made upon publication. ,,_ Submit all photos, articles, and editorial corre David L. Calhoun, president and chief operating oHicer of General Electric Transportation spondence to: Systems, speaks to employees and customers at the August G celebration.Carl Swanson photo RAILNEWS P. O. Box 379, Waukesha, W153 1 87-0379 ven the security guard at the gate General Electric was pioneering rail of General Electric Transportation road technology long before it decided to Submissions sent via UPS, Federal Express, or Systems' locomotive facility was build locomotives. Tn addition to the well similar courier must be addressed to; Esmiling on that fine morning in late known Alco/GE partnership, Milwaukee 223 Wisconsin Avenue, Waukesha, WI 53 186 summer. And why not? August 6, 1997, Road's boxcabs and Little joes and the Phone: (414) 542-4900 marked a milestone in the long history Pennsy's GG-I s relied on GE equipment. Fax: (4 14) 542-7595 of the Erie, Pennsylvania, works-the And, until 1938, so did Electro-Motive. celebration of the 1,000th But it was rival EMD Advertising Sales: (800) 410-0444 locomotive built using that introduced the first E-mail: GE's alternating current successful a.c. diesel-elec [email protected] technology. tric locomotive. General [email protected] By itself, that level of General Electric Electric, a company acceptance in a hotly founded by Thomas Edi Magazine Subscription Service: competitive marketplace was pioneering son, had lost a technology Address all correspondence regarding subscrip would be reason enough race in-and this irony tions (including new orders, renewals, and re to cheer. But what is railroad tech really hurt-electrical placement copies) to: even more remarkable is control. General Electric RAIL NE WS that GE's prototype a.c. swiftly met the chal nology long P.O. Box 17108 locomotive was delivered lenge, as No. 6680 just three years ago. One before it proves. Now the compe North Hollywood, CA 91615-7108 thousand locomotives tition has shifted to For all subscription problems and later, Union Pacific decided to build building 6,000 h.p. loco inquiries, call toll-free in the AC4400CW No. 6680 motives. Wi th fu ll-scale U.S., Canada, and Mexico: rolled out of cavernous locomotives production expected in Building 10 and was April, GE engineers are (800) 210-2211 parked beside a reflect- confident of their design. outside the U.S., Canada, and Mexico ing pool , amid the trim As the summer sun (818) 793-3400 landscaping of the facto- smiled down, David Cal Please allow at least four weeks for address change. ry's Learning Center. There it served as houn, president and COO of GE Trans Please allow 3-4 weeks for replacement copies. a dramatic backdrop for the remarks of portation Systems, told the media, rail GE and UP officials. road officials, and GE employees that On the face of it, this is only mildly EMD's challenge had galvanized GE: interesting stuff. But there is more to "We have to be the fi rst," Calhoun said, the story. The underl ying meaning of "and we have to be the best." Pentrex is a trademark of Pentr ex Inc. the occasion is far more significant, and © 1997 Pentrex, Inc. All rights reserved. rooted in a long rivalry. Carl Swanson Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 4-0ctober 1997 REA DERS RESPOND take Letters RailNews Can't We All Just Get Along? railfan was asked to vacate an overpass on a trackside I am an engineer for the Burlington Northern public road. The special agent informed the & Santa Fe Railroad. I am also a railfan. r feel railfan that there was a special train coming, so that I am qualified to respond to the editorial he would have to leave. Yes, the railfan knew "Can't We All Just Get Along?" published in that there was a special train coming-that's the July RAILNEWS. As a railroader with 20 what he was there for-the Employee Appreci plus years of experience and a lifetime railfan, ation Special running with Frisco steam loco I can see the view from both sides of the cam motive t 522. Ironically, B SF advertised this era, so to speak. train as one for employees and their families to I am appalled at the way the two rail fans ride and railfans to watch. were treated by the engineer. I am glad that it Agents should be trying to catch individuals was not a BNSF crew who did that. Even if the who shoot out signals, steal copper wire fr om engineer (or conductor) owned the property, he the signal lines, paint graffiti all over the cars, still had no right to talk to them in such a rude or run crossing gates in front of trains. Catch manner. The General Code of Operating Rules ing these individuals is a much more important prohibits this kind of treatment. GCOR rule job, and would make the railroads much safer. 1.6 (adopted by both BNSF and Union Pacific) I apologize to the majority of special agents states that employees must not be (among oth who may read this letter. Most of you are very er things) "immoral, quarrelsome, or discourte professional and helpful. I have dealt with ous." This employee was immoral in his lan many special agents in my 20 plus year rail guage and discourteous for no reason. road career, and I can recall only a couple of The only thing that Jeff and Steve did special agents whom I didn't care for. I have wrong was trespass. If they were on railroad been told by special agents that I had a blank property, then the employee had a responsibili check to take photographs anywhere on their ty to turn them in to the appropriate authori territory-I was an extra pair of eyes which ties, but not cuss them out.