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Amtrak
HIGHER SPEEDS COMING TO ILLINOIS: By late July, Amtrak expects to increase the speed limit to 110 m.p.h. between Dwight and Pontiac, Ill., after cab signal equipment is in- stalled on the 18 miles of track on the Chicago- St. Louis route. On January 4, the Illinois De- partment of Transportation received a $186-million grant for the work. Other improvements to be made this year in-
clude the addition of seven miles of double track between Joliet and Elwood, a 10,000-foot passing track north of Braidwood.
NO MORE RENO FUN: Key Holidays, opera- tor since 1993 of the seasonal Reno Fun Train and Reno Snow Train between Oakland, Calif., and Reno, Nev., says this will the last year they’ll provide the service. Amtrak has in- creased its rates and insurance requirements, and has offered less equipment for the service.
ROMNEY SAYS, KILL AMTRAK: Republi- can Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said on the campaign trail in Iowa that Amtrak is one of three entities he would eliminate if elected, claiming it’s not worth borrowing money from China to pay for the service. (Amtrak’s $1.4 bil- lion FY2012 appropriation represents two- tenths of one per cent of the federal budget.) He’d also eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts ($146 million) and the Patient Pro- tection and Affordable Care Act (about $1.3 bil- lion a year).
D. COLLIN REINHART A New Wrinkle in Electro-Motive ECO Rebuilds
NORFOLK SOUTHERN released this unusual rebuilt MP15DC in late 2011. Its roots-blown 1500-h.p. EMD 12-645 engine and D15 generator have been replaced with a 710ECO repower package from Electro-Motive Diesel, which includes a turbocharged 8-710G3A-T2 engine and AR10 alternator. The original cooling system used a single large vertical fan mounted at the end of the hood and has been replaced with a split cooling system with three 36″ fans. The work was done by NS employees at the Juniata Shop in Altoona, Penn. The one-of-a-kind unit, apparently incom- plete, was in transit en route to Roanoke, Va., near Mertztown, Penn., on December 28, 2011.
Canadian Pacific
BIG INVESTOR MAKES WAVES: Pershing Square Capital Management, which has ac- quired 14 per cent of Canadian Pacific stock, is pushing for big changes at the railroad, which is the poorest performing Class I, with the highest operating ratio. Pershing has demand-
ed that CPR reduce its operating ratio to 65 per cent in the next three years and has threatened to load the board of directors with its candidates in the May board election in order to achieve that goal. Pershing would bring in former Canadian National chief E. Hunter Harrison to replace Fred Green as CEO, and Harrison has indicated an interest in the prospect.
MARK MAUTNER New Units Just Keep on Coming
NEW KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN ES44AC’S 4784 and 4788 are two of 30 (4760-4789) that were delivered in December 2011. On December 28, 2011, they’re prepared to make their maiden voyage west on home rails on train IVNKVC-28. Once in Kansas City they will be set up and
placed into service by KCS mechanical forces. Also being delivered at the end of the year were SD70ACe’s for Norfolk Southern (1025-1064) and Ferromex (4055-4093), and BNSF received ES44C4s 6870-6889 in December 2011. The order should be completed in early 2012.
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