EXTRA SOUTH
H.REID
their spouse, have more coffee and take a controlled trip to the Metra station armed with knowledge of the train departure time. Thanks to Steve Scalzo for the information.
Keystone State News Several news items of interest out of the
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.
Keystone State: Port Authority Transit in Pittsburgh is in the process of implementing a new fare col- lection system which is supposed to be in place and in use before 2013. A large number of transit users have been testing the sys- tem, called ConnectCard, which allows users to tap their card and pay their fare. Users have complained about not being able to buy transfers with the ConnectCard, and there is slow going with the card after someone pays a fare with cash. When fully debugged and implemented, the new system is expect- ed to increase convenience in using the tran- sit system’s buses, rail lines and the Monon- gahela Incline. Port Authority Transit may lose its Exec- utive Director if he is successful in landing the top job at Atlanta’s Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. Steve Bland has a reputation as a tough negotiator with the transit unions, but he was also skillful in getting money from the Pennsylvania Legis- lature, thus saving about 500 jobs that were on the line before the injection of state funds.
In Philadelphia, commuter rail riders
have been waiting for the complete delivery of the new Silverliner V cars. Both riders and management of the Southeastern Penn- sylvania Transit Authority have been sorely vexed at the slow delivery of the new rolling
stock. Riders in the Philadelphia region have found their commuter trains crowded as a result of increasing ridership and slow delivery of new cars from Hyundai Rotem. When all the new cars are delivered, there should be about 400 cars to provide service on SEPTA’s 13 commuter rail lines. The cars being phased out include some that were built in the 1960s. Thanks to John Spychal- ski for the news.
Light Rail Extensions in Phoenix Expansion of the light rail line in Phoenix was delayed a few years ago because the Great Recession had helped reduce tax rev- enues needed to expand the railway. Despite what some politicians assert, things have gotten better and now the Northwest Phoenix extension is being seriously consid- ered once again. Valley Metro hopes to open the 3.2-mile long light rail expansion by 2016, about seven years earlier than had been expected.
The extension will operate along 19th Av- enue between Montebello Avenue and Dun- lap Road. The city of Phoenix will advance $60 million to Valley Metro, and the transit agency will pay the city back from the voter- approved transit tax. The northwest exten- sion is not the end of the expansion for Val- ley Metro; another is to Mesa along Main Street from Dobson Road. Thanks to Sale R. Corvo for the good news.
Flashes The LAST PCC CAR built in the U.S. was constructed by the St. Louis Car Co. for the San Francisco Municipal Railway. No. 1040 was the last of 5000 PCC’s cars constructed
52 DECEMBER 2012 •
RAILFAN.COM
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