All Aboard Indiana October 2018
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ALL INDIANA ABOARD The Official Newsletter of the Volume 5, Number 10 October 2018 IN THIS ISSUE: Nickel Plate Express—A New Page Three Central Indiana Excursion Train An Amtrak Trip to Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park By Dagny Zupin, Communications Coordinator, Nickel Plate Express Please come aboard Indiana’s newest passenger rail service! Operating from Atlanta, Indiana, the Page Four Nickel Plate Express provides excursions on 12.6 miles of the historic Nickel Plate Road. Update from Save the Nickel Plate What is Nickel Plate Express? The Nickel Plate Express provides year-round excursions based in Hamilton County. They are a Page Five non-profit managed by parent company Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad. In addition to operating Commentary: Indianapolis excursions, the organization manages a 150-year-old train depot in Arcadia, IN. The depot serves Complicity on Rail as an interactive humanities museum that pays homage to the history of Hamilton County. Nickel Abandonment Reveals a Void Plate Heritage Railroad handles marketing and programming for the Nickel Plate Express, while in Regional Transit Leadership partner organization Atlanta Pacific Railroad provides operational assistance. Page Six Mission: Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad will provide a moving entertainment and education experi- Train, Vehicle Collision ence for all generations Results in Fatality on US 12, County Line Road Atlanta Pacific Railroad, LLC. Atlanta Pacific Railroad, LLC. operates rail service for the Nickel Plate Express. Atlanta Pacific is Page Seven owned by long-time railroad operator, Tom Hoback. Hoback is well known for his ownership and Lafayette Amtrak Station— management of Indiana Rail- Updates road, one of the most successful Bullets from the Board regional railroads in the country. Hoback sold his company to Page Nine CSX in 2015. Riding the Rails The Team Page Eleven A small— but mighty—team, Discounts Nickel Plate Express is run by IPRA Membership Form three full-time employees. Ex- For More Information… IPRA’s New Address ecutive Director Deanna Holt oversees finances, program- ming and customer service while Communications Coordi- nator Dagny Zupin handles me- dia, marketing and additional programming. Operations Man- The Nickel Plate Express crosses Morse Reservoir. ager Bret Davis is (continued) www.indianahighspeedrail.org Hoosiers for Passenger Rail or Indiana Passenger Rail Association PAGE 2: ALL ABOARD INDIANA OCTOBER 2018 (“Nickel Plate Express…” continued from page 1) employed by The Nickel Plate Express is stopped here in Atlanta, Indiana. Atlanta Pacific Railroad full-time to oversee maintenance and excursion scheduling. Nickel Plate Express employs an addi- tional 10 part-time team members to provide exceptional customer service aboard the train. The Track Nickel Plate Express operates on 12.6 miles of the Nickel Plate Road that runs between Atlanta and Noblesville. The Hoosier Heritage Port Authority (HHPA) oversees the line by repre- senting the three owners: Fishers, Noblesville and Hamilton County. The HHPA oversees a total of 37 miles of track that The cars are two stories high, with an upper-level lounge and run from Tipton, IN to downtown Indianapolis. The HHPA line dining area. These ground-breaking passenger cars were de- is disconnected from other rail lines at the north and south veloped by the Santa Fe Railway Company in 1956 to provide end. Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad has a 10- year contract exceptional comfort on the El Capitan luxury train, which op- with HHPA to serve as the operator of the line. erated between Chicago and Los Angeles. The cars were re- stored in Tennessee before arriving in Lapel, IN in August. This unused track next to the active Nickel Plate track in Atlanta was cast in 1897! (red arrow points to date stamp) F9 Locomotive The Nickel Plate Express uses a 1956 F9 diesel locomotive to lead its train. Initially, the locomotive served Erie Mining All seating areas are upstairs. Note the smaller overhead bins! Company by hauling freight. Boasting 1,750 horsepower and a One of the cars is a dining car with a full kitchen on the lower level. 16-cylinder engine, the F9 was the most contemporary engine of its time in 1956. The locomotive continued its freight ser- vice until its initial retirement in 2001. The engine was re- turned to service by Vermillion Valley Railroad in 2017 before Nickel Plate Express’ acquisition. Passenger Cars Nickel Plate E x p r e s s hosts pas- sengers in The Little Engine That Could four 1956 Bringing up the rear of the train, Nickel Plate Express uses a Santa Fe El The F9 Locomotive 50-tonner switcher engine. Made by General Electric, the 50- Capitan Hi- and box car with generator tonner engine serves as a back-up engine and can pull all four level cars. will be getting a paint job Santa Fe Hi-levels. (continued) PAGE 3: ALL ABOARD INDIANA OCTOBER 2018 (“Nickel Plate Express…” continued from page 2) Union Station, where we boarded Amtrak’s Cardinal. My wife The Move and I shared a Viewliner roomette across the hall from our The 37 miles of Nickel Plate Road owned by the HHPA is dis- children. Our sleeping car attendant, Janice (“Mama J”) had connected at both the north and south end. Thus, all four our beds ready and we soon fell asleep after an on-time de- Santa Fe cars and the F9 locomotive were craned and trucked parture from Indianapolis. to their new home in Atlanta, IN. Schumann Transport Ser- I awoke briefly as The author’s family and “Mama J” vices of Minnesota and Paddack’s Heavy Transport of West- our train arrived field oversaw movement of all equipment. The extra height of early at Cincinnati the hi-level cars meant they were heavier and more difficult to Union Terminal. move. Although the project was a massive undertaking, Pad- Over an hour dack’s and Schumann’s Transport were able to safely and suc- later, I again cessfully move all equipment within 11 days. looked out my window to notice Operating Schedule that our train had The Nickel Plate Express will operate until December 31 of not moved. After 2018. The organization will provide themed programming a further delay, aboard the train that changes each month. Currently, passen- our train started moving, but in the wrong direction for sev- gers can reserve seats for the Pumpkin Express and Ghost eral miles. On our way to breakfast in the dining car, we Express in October. In November, the non-profit will begin learned from our conductor that a freight train had become offering adult beverages aboard its Ales & Rails Express and disabled on the Ohio River bridge approach. As such, we had Uncorked Express. Nickel Plate Express will light up the night been re-routed along another track to cross the bridge. Kudos when it begins its holiday ride, Reindeer Ride Express, after to Amtrak and CSX in working together by providing a pilot Thanksgiving. Gaylor Electric of Noblesville will donate holi- crew and a reroute around the disabled freight train. While day lighting for the exterior or the train, wrapping each car in we were delayed by about two hours, the situation could have Christmas lights. Nickel Plate Express will begin offering a been far worse. dinner train in 2019. The organization’s second season is ex- pected to begin in mid-March 2019. Our family enjoyed a hot breakfast in the dining car. My wife and children enjoyed French toast with bacon, while I had the An Amtrak Trip to Virginia’s breakfast bowl. Our train was consistently around 2 hours late as we travelled along the Ohio River in Kentucky and into Shenandoah National Park the West Virginia. A volunteer from the CP Huntington Chap- By Douglas Yerkeson, Board Member, ter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) boarded Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance our train in Huntington, West Virginia and provided narration Amtrak is a great way to explore our national parks. This of the incredible scenery as we travelled through the New summer, our family vacation included a visit to Shenan- River Gorge. doah National Park in Virginia. Shenandoah National Park offers spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and We enjoyed lunch in the dining car where my wife and chil- the Shenandoah dren ordered angus cheeseburgers. Having to be different, Valley, and is I ordered the chicken pasta. The meals were all very good. located on the Our service attendant graciously provided us with a tray of heart of the Ap- potato chips to share. palachian Trail. We arrived in Charlottesville, Virginia a little over two hours Our adventure late. After a short taxi ride to the airport, we rented a car and started on the drove to Shenandoah National Park. We spent one night at evening of Thurs- the Big Meadows Lodge and two nights in a cabin at the Sky- day, July 12th 2018 land Lodge. During our stay, we hiked part of the Appala- at Indianapolis Shenandoah National Park is a chian Trail enjoying the natural beauty of the (continued) national treasure. PAGE 4: ALL ABOARD INDIANA OCTOBER 2018 (“An Amtrak Trip…” continued from page 3) surrounding moun- message has tains and valleys. We also enjoyed hikes to Rapidan Camp, been focused on the summer retreat of President Herbert Hoover, and the fa- good govern- mous Dark Hollow Falls. During our stay in Shenandoah Na- ance, not just tional Park, we saw much wildlife, including black bears, deer rails and trails. and wild turkeys. They’ve argued that if elected After our national park adventure, we returned to Char- leaders would lottesville for the next leg of our trip via the Amtrak thru- carry out more way bus to Richmond, Virginia and the Silver Meteor to transparent Miami, Florida.