EXTRA SOUTH
H.REID The Tide Is In
An Unscheduled, Unhurried Look At Dixie Steam Railroading
From the famous to the obscure, Extra South ex- plores the days of steam railroading in Dixie. Starting with the Wreck of Old 97 and continuing to the Tweetsie, H. Reid weaves the tales of the railroads and railroaders
in an entertaining and delightful fashion. The book concludes with a selection of black & white pho- tographs of main lines and short lines taken by John Krause, William S. Young and others. C00053 $21.95 + s&h
To Order Call: 1-888-526-5365 (M-F; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. e.s.t.) or on-line at:
www.carstensbookstore.com Carstens Publications, Inc.
AFTER MANY YEARS OF PLANNING and construction, on August 18, 2011, ser- vice began on the Tide, the new light rail line in the Norfolk area. Opening day saw heavy patronage. Located close to the water in some spots, the line may have future problems when hurricanes or heavy rain hit. The 7.4-mile light rail line is operated by Hampton Roads Transit and stretches from the Eastern Virginia Medical Center through downtown Norfolk and then east to the border with Virginia Beach at Newtown Road. Six of the Tide’s 11 stations are served by 18 bus lines. The Tide cost more than the original $232 million estimate for construc- tion and equipment, but $20 million less than the revised estimate. On opening day an enthusiastic crowd be-
gan lining up to board the trains an hour be- fore the 6:00 a.m. start of service. It is esti- mated that more than 30,000 folks rode the Tide on opening day and over the three-day opening period more than 75,000 riders were accommodated. For the first eight days of service, it averaged about 6500 daily rid- ers. When things calm down, the Tide is ex- pected to average about 2900 daily riders. In time it is hoped that the Tide will reach far- ther east than Virginia Beach. Oh yes, the final price tag for the Tide’s initial section was $318.5 million. Thanks to Henry Knerr and Jess Mercy for the news.
Wildwood Open Car Survives The Connecticut Electric Railway Associa- tion, Inc., was founded in 1940, making it one if the oldest railway museums. In 1952 it acquired four-wheel open car No. 36 from the Five Mile Beach Electric Railway Com- pany of Wildwood, N.J. My parents and I spent several vacations in Wildwood in the 1930s and ’40s. I don’t recall ever riding on No. 36, but I do remember seeing a four- wheel car in the car barn in downtown Wild- wood. No. 36 was built in 1895 for the Lynch- burg Traction & Light Co. in Virginia. The nine-bench open car rested on a Brill 21E truck and was equipped with two Westing- house motors and two K-10 controllers. After FMBER ceased rail operations, No.
36 was acquired by the North Jersey Chap- ter NRHS and ended up outside in a field waiting for a museum to happen. The Con- necticut museum eventually purchased the car for one dollar and No. 36 is on display, with hope of restoration of the 116-year-old car to service. Bill Middleton really liked that idea when I told him about it not long before he passed away.
The Recession’s Impact on Transit Agencies The American Public Transit Association, the trade organization for the transit indus- try, has become a solid provider of informa- tion to its members and the public, and it of- fered support to transit when it was about to be the victim of governmental indifference or outright hostility. The recession that has plagued the U.S. since 2007 was a subject of APTA research. The downturn in economic activity has affected local and state tax rev-
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enues and threatened the levels of transit service provided and the ability to pay for large capital projects. APTA conducted a survey that found that
the problems were the most serious in the largest transit agencies. Seven out of ten agencies projected budgetary shortfalls for 2011, and 11 agencies predicted shortfalls of at least 20 per cent with a cumulative need for $2 billion in the near term among the agencies that participated in the study. Some 84 per cent of the agencies studied have cut back on service or raised fares, or both. A majority of agencies have eliminated posi- tions and a third have laid off employees. Many capital projects are threatened with delay if not cancellation. Thanks to federal stimulus money, a large number of projects have not been seriously delayed or cancelled. The base of information in the study was
broad. Participating were 151 APTA mem- bers that together carry over 80 per cent of U.S. public transit riders. The group includ- ed ten heavy rapid transit operators, 22 light rail operators, and 15 operators of com- muter rail service. For more information on transit, APTA is located at 1666 K St. NW, Washington, DC 20006;
www.apta.com.
Mixed New England Rail News Right behind the Red Sox’s failure to reach the 2011 baseball playoffs, the next mishap bugging Bostonians and other New Englan- ders a lot is the delay looming for extending the Green Line. The opening from Lechmere to Somerville, which has been pending since 1620 or thereabouts, has been pushed back to at least 2020, about five years later than was expected for the start of service. The reason is simple and familiar — the lack of money, but it is complicated. The Green Line expansion is a legal man-
date as a result of the Big Dig Interstate 95 project. The Massachusetts Bay Transporta- tion Authority had hoped to gain significant federal funding for it, but the Federal Tran- sit Administration is reluctant to provide the money because the financial picture at MBTA appears to be out of control. The transit system does not seem viable in the long run without significant local and state financial nutrition to overcome what is ex- pected to be a $900 million cumulative deficit by the beginning of 2012. If the “T” can’t get its act together, it will have to pay the entire cost of the Somerville extension on its own, a directive it cannot afford but must somehow follow as part of Big Dig-re- lated environmental remediation. Please note that financial problems plague the en- tire U.S. transit industry. The United States has too much weather,
which is not surprising given its sheer size. Hurricane Irene moved along the east coast in August 2011 and caused a precautionary shutdown of all transit in the New York City region. The Shore Line Trolley Museum in Connecticut, long known as the Branford Museum, was ill served by Irene as the hur- ricane arrived in East Haven at high tide in Long Island Sound. It was the worst tidal
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