PASSENGER TR_AIN 199 2 Passenger Train Annual 1992, the popular companion edition to PASSENGER TRAIN JOURNAL magazine, is available now. This year's Annual showcases the best from the colorful world of passenger railroad­ ing, including images from Amtrak's first 20 years-two decades of remarkable change, from E-units powering rainbow consists of heritage cars to the brand-new P32 locomotives hauling lengthy strings of Superliner equipment. In the pages of the Annual you will also find rare photos from the pre-Amtrak era, vivid cover­ age of today's commuter rail scene and much more. Featuring 64 color-rich pages packed with outstanding railroad photogra­ phy, Passenger Train Annual 1992 is a great value. At your local book/hobby retailer or order direct. Call now Toll-Free to order your copy. 1·800·899·8722 or FAX: (818) 240·5436 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time Monday through Friday. Outside continental u.s. call 1-818-240-9130.) Direct orders add $2 postage/handling. From the publishers of California residents add 82 cents sales tax. Interurban Press eASSE'Y!i!!XRAIN� P.O. Box 6128 • Glendale, CA 91225 1FICRAI[ NEWS '. 18 North Little Rock: UP's Arkansas Hub The heart of the MoPac system is still a key rail crossroads Barton Jennings 21 Jenks Shops UP's state-of-the-art diesel facility in North Little Rock Dave Crammer 24 A McCloud Winter Fighting snow and a tough economy in Northern California Wayne Monger 32 Kansas City Terminal Towers 3 and 4 Celebrating yesterday and today at K,C.'s busiest rail junction Wayne Kuchinsky 38 Focus Washington: Centralia Lots of mainline action and home of the Class I locals John C, IIIman Images: Two Wisconsin Eras End UP 9296 leads the CJRWB coal train through North Lit­ 48 tle Rock, Ark., on the Van Buren Sub. Barton Jennings So long to the Green Bay & Western and the Fox River Valley PACIFIC RAIL NEWS and PACIFIC NEWS are registered trademarks of Interurban Press, a California Corporation. I DEPARTMENTS I PUBLISHER: Mac Sebree 4 EXPEDITER 43 REGIONALS EDITOR: Don Gulbrandsen SANTA FE 44 CHICAGO NORTH WESTERN ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Andrew S. Nelson 6 & 45 UNION PACIFIC ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Carl Swanson 8 SHORT LINES CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Elrond G. Lawrence 10 TRANSIT 47 MEXICO EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: Dick Stephenson 12 CP RAIL SYSTEM 48 IMAGES OF RAILROADING ART DIRECTOR: Tom Danneman 14 SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 54 THE LAST WORD 55 PRN LETTERS ADVER TISING MANAGER : Richard Gruber 16 AMTRAK/PASSENGER CIRCULATION MANAGER: Bob Schneider 17 COMMUTER 55 PRN ADVERTISING INDEX 1993 INTERURBAN PRESS 38 FOCUS WASHINGTON 55 PRN CLASSIFIEDS © Mac Sebree, President/CEO 42 BURLINGTON NORTHERN Jim Walker, Senior Vice President Don Gulbrandsen, Vice President COVER: McCloud River SD38-2 No. 39 blasts through 18 inches of fresh powder en route ARt... to Mt. Shasta City with seven loads of lumber, Winter storms and a tough economy � challenge the new McCloud Railway-spun off from Itel in 1992-which hopes to find success hauling freight in the forests of Northern California, Wayne Monger RAn.NEWS(ISSN 8750·8486) is published monthly by Interurban Press (a corporation), 1741 Gardena Ave.. Glendale, CA 91204. Second·class postage paid at Glendale, CA 91209 and additional mailing or· PACI>1C fices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: P.O. Box 6128, Glendale, CA 91225. SUBSCRlPTION RATES: 530 (U.S.) for 12 issues, S58 for 24 issues. Foreign add S6 for each 12 issues. Single PACIFIC RAILNEWS, copy 55 postpaid from Glendale office (subject to change without notice). CHANGE OF ADDRESS: The Post Office does not regularly forward 2nd Class Mail and is not responsible for copies PACIFIC RAILNEwS not forwarded or destroyed by the Post Office. Replacement copiesfPO notifications will be billed. Please allow us at least four weeks for any address change. ADVERTISING RATES: Contact Interurban Press, P.O. Box 379, Waukesha, 53187: (414)542-4900. MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE: For all subscription problems and inquiries call: (800)899-8722. WI Looking out of place in Southern California, three Burlington Northern SD60Ms were active on the Santa Fe in October. The units are shown leading an 839 train through Woodford on the 11th. General Motors provided the trio for test runs over the Tehachapi Mountains between Barstow and Bakersfield; AT&SF is reportedly shopping around as it considers future motive power needs . Mark Denis WC 1, C&NW 0: On Nov. 10, the provisions it so passionately brought into the fold until late 1992, the Interstate Commerce argued for before the ICC com­ winter or early spring depend­ Commission announced that it missioners.Leslie Cleveland­ ing upon on how labor negotia­ had voted 4-0 in favor of WC Hague, corporate communica­ tions proceed. subsidiary Fox Valley & West­ tions director for C&NW, stated, ern's $61 million acquisition of "Obviously, a monopolistic situ­ SP FINDS NEW OPERATOR: the Green Bay & Western and ation doesn't bother the ICC. In Genesee & Wyoming Industries Fox River Valley railroads, both the past, at least, this type of of Greenwich, Conn., has been • owned by Itel.Surprisingly, the parallel merger did get scrutiny selected by Southern Pacific to a ICC also granted GB&W/FRVR and was voted against." Hague serve the lines in the west end employees labor protection un­ also stated C&NW would lose of Oregon's Willamette Valley. der the New York Dock Rail­ Chicago-Milwaukee business to SP and G&W will now negoti­ way labor provision, allowing the WC almost immediately. ate a contract/lease for the all GB&WIFRVR employees to There is no word yet on im­ Toledo, West Side, Willamina, collect full pay for up to six mediate abandonments, but Dallas and Bailey branches and Q years if they lose their jobs be­ WC is already installing con­ part of the Newberg Branch, to­ cause of consolidation. Latest nections in Oshkosh between taling 193 miles. The new short indication from WC is that 27 its main and the parallel FRVR line will also have bridge rights GB&W/FRVR employees could route so the WC can eliminate from Albany to Eugene, Ore., to lose their jobs.WC President street running through down­ connect with SP. Ed Burkhardt said that the la­ town. WC also plans to use the bor protection clause " ... FRVR mainline from Appleton BUSH VS. CLAYTOR?: George should be something we can to Fond du Lac as a second Bush may be a lame duck pres­ live with." Estimated cost for main line track. ident, but it isn't stopping him labor protection is $8.5 million. The ICC will officially ap­ from perhaps influencing who Union officials were pleased prove WC's petition on Dec. 10, succeeds 80-year-old Amtrak with the ruling as they had 1992, after which the railroad President Graham Claytor. fought for nearly a year to get will have 10 days to act on the Claytor confirmed that Secre­ labor protection ifthe sale was ruling.Operations on the FRVR tary of Transportation Andrew approved. Chicago & North are expected to be consolidated H. Card told him that the Bush Western came up with a goose in late December or early Jan­ Administration would move egg as it was granted none of uary, while GB&W may not be quickly to fill four vacancies on 4.JAN UARY 1993 Amtrak's Board of Directors, vacancies that do not require Senate confirmation-leaving Amtrak in the control of GOP directors for President-elect Bill Clinton's first year in office. Claytor has intimated that he is ready to retire and would remain in office until his successor is named (he is said to favor Amtrak Execu­ tive Vice President William S. Norman). But Claytor has also made it clear that he would not retire if he was not satis­ fied with his successor.Clay­ tor also said Card was "push­ ing hard to expedite this thing" but had not asked for his resignation. Claytor said that if Bush had won the elec­ tion, he would have retired as soon as expedient, but be­ cause Clinton won, he decid­ ed to stay in office until Clin­ ton was inaugurated. SP TURNING IT AROUND?: Southern Pacific announced that it is leading other West­ ern Class I carriers in traffic gain for the first three quar­ Montana Rail Link President Bill Brodsky-"always interested in new business opportunities"-made a trip ters of 1992. Total car han­ from Montana to Minneapolis to review the ex-Milwaukee Road main line from Terry, Mont., to Ortonville, dlings were up 7.5 percent Minn. The special, led by a GPI9-1, is shown at Forsyth, Mont. , on Oct. 28,19 92. Kyle Brehm over the same period last year, while car loadings were up 7 percent. SP ranks second only controls Signaling and switch­ box on fire with a gas torch END OF THE LINE?: What to Kansas City Southern, es on CUS's south side. Delays and then a fellow employee may well turn out to be the whose carload handlings grew up to 25 minutes were the attempted to extinguish the last train operated over the by 8 percent. norm for commuter trains on fire by dumping sand on the Chicago & North Western's Metra's Chicago-Aurora line, box with a back hoe, destroy­ 321-mile "Cowboy Line" A FINE MESS : Oct.30 proved while commuters on Metra's ing it and its contents. Nor­ across northern Nebraska ar­ to be a day of frayed nerves for Heritage Corridor (Norfolk mally, an Amtrak employee is rived in Norfolk on Dec.