WINTER 2014 Troy forced to condemn station land Volume 41, Number 1 BY LARRY SOBCZAK in early January,” City Manager the adjacent property owner and The city of Troy began con- Brian Kischnick said. “We will ending with the Michigan Su- demnation proceedings to gain follow the letter of the law over preme Court refusing to hear a ownership of the land occupied condemnation proceedings to case involving ownership of the by the recently completed $6.3 gain clear and continuous own- land on which the building and million Intermodal Transit Cen- ership of the property.” parking lot sit. Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers ter along Doyle Drive near Ma- The city found itself in this Developer Grand Sakwa ple Road and Coolidge Highway. position beginning with a long Properties gave the 2.3 acre par- www.marp.org “We initiated condemnation protracted legal dispute with (See CONDEMN, page 3) WHAT’S INSIDE… NSTB report on Niles derailment See Page 3 Take the train to the wild north See Page 4 Snow train cancelled See Page 5 Amtrak discusses food and beverages See Page 6 SANTA’S IRON SLEIGH. The Steam Railroading Institute’s Pere Marquette 1225 locomotive brought Santa and passengers to the village of Ashley on special excursions this holiday season. It’s the fi rst time this locomotive, which served as a physical model for the animated movie “The Polar Express,” has been on the rails in nearly fi ve years. (Photo by Rosemary Horvath) PAID 44870 U.S. POSTAGE U.S. PRESORT STD. PRESORT PERMIT NO. 10 PERMIT NO. SANDUSKEY, OH SANDUSKEY, 1225 steams again! Historic locomotive brought thousands to Ashley Breathing fi re and steam for Owosso (Pere Marquette 1225’s in Lima, Ohio in 1941. It was one of the fi rst times in nearly home) to make the hour-long taken out of service in 1951 and fi ve years, the historic Pere journey to the town named in became part of a static display Marquette 1225 locomotive honor of John M. Ashley, de- at Michigan State University in brought life back to the central scribed as promoter and builder 1957. A group of students be- Michigan village of Ashley this of the Ann Arbor Railroad. gan restoring the locomotive in past Christmas season. The steam locomotive has 1969. By 1988, the students had Costumed elves and hobos been out of service since 2009 evolved into the Steam Railroad- as well as locals greeted 19 when the Federal Railroad Ad- ing Institute and the locomotive trains carrying more than 500 ministration mandated a rebuild was ready to begin its second ca- passengers each trip to the tiny and inspection of its boiler. In reer as an excursion locomotive. town of 563 residents along the November the Steam Railroad- Around the time the 1225 Great Lakes Central Railroad, ing Institute completed the ar- began running under its own a line more familiar with haul- duous physical and fundraising power again in the mid-1980s, ing freight for small rural indus- tasks to return the locomotive to children’s author and illustra- tries. service. tor Chris Van Allsburg wrote an Sold-out passenger lists The 1225 is a 2-8-4 (Berk- award-winning book, “The Po- boarded on weekends through- shire) steam locomotive built for lar Express,” about the locomo- out the holiday season at the Pere Marquette Railway (PM) tive he used to climb on as child MI 48318-0076 ca, when his family attended home Ɵ Steam Railroading Institute in by Lima Locomotive Works MARP 180076 PO Box U (See 1225, page 3) Page 2 Th e Michigan Passenger Winter 2014 Michigan Association of Railroad Th e Michigan Passenger Passengers, Inc. is published four times annually by the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers, Inc. OFFICERS Copyright © 2014 Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers, Inc. Chair All articles not originated by MARP are copyrighted by their Robert Tischbein respective originators. All rights reserved. Articles used in 586-726-9737 accordance with the Fair Use Clause of the United States [email protected] Constitution. Vice Chair The Michigan Passenger welcomes submissions on passenger rail Larry Krieg 734-347-2179 issues for publication. Material sent for publication should be sent [email protected] to our Editor at: [email protected]. Secretary Clippings from newspapers and magazines must include the Hugh Gurney publication’s name and date. Photos sent in by e-mail should be in 517-545-2979 JPEG format. [email protected] We reserve the right to edit all submissions.To subscribe to this Treasurer publication, join MARP by fi lling out the application below. All David Randall MARP members receive a copy of this publication sent to their 248-924-4078 home or business. [email protected] Michigan Passenger Editor & MARP Webmaster: REGIONAL CHAIRS Larry Sobczak, [email protected] Metro Detroit 586-781-6891 Robert Patterson 313-836-3736 [email protected] Contributors: Kay Chase East/Central Michigan Cathy Hart Rosemary Horvath 989-506-9539 Rosemary Horvath [email protected] Steve Sobel West Michigan Vacant Contact MARP if you are interested in this position. About MARP… [email protected] The Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers, Inc. (MARP) Northern Michigan was established in 1973 as a consumer advocacy group to improve Don Monteith intercity rail and bus service, improve local transit and encourage (231) 675-1608 the preservation of historic railroad stations. [email protected] MARP is not affi liated with Amtrak, the railroads, governments or AT-LARGE EXECUTIVES any political party. MARP is incorporated as a Michigan non-profi t organization and is exempt from federal income tax under the IRS John D. Langdon 616-218-9009 code, 501( c )(3) as a charitable educational organization. Dues and [email protected] donations to MARP may be tax-deductible in accordance with the IRS code. Jim Wallington 517-303-6038 MARP is an all-volunteer organization. Its membership consists of [email protected] passengers and citizens who want a viable, balanced transportation Kay M. Chase system in Michigan. We can all use the help we can get! 269-388-3777 [email protected] http://www.marp.org [email protected] Kathleen Newell http://www.facebook.com/pages/michigan-association-of-railroad-passengers 310-740-0421 [email protected] http://twitter.com/michrailpass JOIN MARP TODAY! It’s easy. Just fi ll out and return this form! Winter 2014 Th e Michigan Passenger Page 3 center was delayed. refused to hear the case in No- will be able to demonstrate other CONDEMN The Oakland County Circuit vember. parts of the law in court. (Continued from Court agreed with the city’s ar- In December, the city had “We are confi dent that it gument that the 2000 agreement the land appraised and offered will be found this meets a public page 1) was still in effect because the Grand Sakwa $550,000. need,” he said. center had full funding for con- The city has approximately In a separate issue, the city is cel to the city in 2000 with the struction and it was in the pro- stipulation that a transit center be $2 million in unused funds from negotiating with Amtrak and the cess of engineering and architec- the original Federal grant to Michigan Department of Trans- built within 10 years. The dona- tural designs. tion was part of an agreement be- build the center to tap into. portation (MDOT) over moving tween the city and Grand Sakwa In May 2013, the Michigan Kischnick said the city was the current Amtrak stop a few that allowed for the construction Court of Appeals had overturned forced to fi le for condemnation hundred yards south in Birming- of the adjacent shopping center the Circuit Court decision and of the property because Grand ham to the new transit center. and condominium complex. it said that Grand Sakwa owned Sawka had not responded to its Kischnick said that nego- the property. By that time, the Grand Sakwa fi led a lawsuit offer. tiations with Amtrak and MDOT transit center was more than half are ongoing and could be infl u- in Oakland County Circuit Court way completed. He said that the appraisal and to regain the property in 2012 the waiting period followed con- enced by the timing of condem- after construction of the transit The city appealed to the demnation laws and that the city nation proceedings. Michigan Supreme Court which Jumper wires blamed for Niles Amtrak derailment BY LARRY SOBCZAK remote sensors had detected a the track. The NTSB said the use of The National Transportation problem with the equipment. On board the train were 165 the jumper wire was inconsis- Safety Board (NTSB) has deter- The result was eastbound passengers and 4 crewmembers. tent with Amtrak procedures for mined that the probable cause of Amtrak train 350, The Wolver- Emergency responders reported using jumper wires to override the derailment of an Amtrak train ine, entered the Niles Yard from that 13 people were injured; 8 signal and train control safety- on Oct. 21, 2012 in Niles was the main track at Control Point of those were transported to area critical circuits. from the improper use of jumper (CP) 190 while traveling 61 hospitals. None of the injuries The NTSB said inadequate wires on a signal system. mph. The train derailed about were reported to be life-threat- oversight by Amtrak manage- The jumper wires which 291 feet after diverging from the ening. ment to ensure that proper jumper were attached by a signal super- main track and traveled 1,148 Amtrak estimated the dam- wire safeguards were employed visor caused the signals to show additional feet before coming to age at $400,000.