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Metrolink
ORDERS EMD PASSENGER DIESELS: In December, Metrolink awarded a contract to Electro-Motive Diesel for ten advanced Tier 4- compliant four-motor a.c. traction diesel loco- motives with an option for ten more. Capable of operating at 125 m.p.h. (Metrolink’s speed limit is 79), the F125 diesels will use 20-cylin- der Caterpillar C175 engines rated at 4700 h.p. Three test units are slated to be delivered in the fall of 2015. Other bidders included Mo- tivePower and Brookville Equipment
Michigan Department of Transportation
COMMUTER EQUIPMENT IS TESTED: The Michigan Department of Transportation and the Southeast Michigan Council of Gov- ernments made several test runs of six refur- bished former Burlington gallery cars be- tween Pontiac and Jackson, Mich., on November 12-14, 2012. Great Lakes Central has rebuilt and owns 23 former Burlington gallery cars for the service, and in 2010 the state had leased three former GO Transit F59PH locomotives from RB Leasing of Mon- tréal which were painted in a flashy silver MI- TRAIN scheme. The units were returned in 2011 and are running now on Montréal’s Agence Métropolitaine de Transport; the No- vember test trains used Amtrak power. While funding has yet to be secured, two
routes are under consideration. One is Ann Arbor to Detroit over former Norfolk Southern trackage that was recently sold to the state. A second route is being considered between Ann Arbor and Howell using Great Lakes Central track. While the state is upgrading the former NS between Detroit and Jackson to accommo- date 110-m.p.h. Amtrak service, the com- muter line will require new stations at Ypsi- lanti and Detroit Metro Airport, a passing track, and a layover track at Ann Arbor.
Tourist Line Shuts Down Operations
DUE TO INCREASED FREIGHT TRAFFIC on host Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad, the Fayette Central tourist operation made its last runs between Uniontown and Dunbar, Penn., in December 2012. The roster included an ex-Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Alco S2 in Baltimore & Ohio paint, a pair of ex-Canadian National heavyweight coaches, an ex-Penn Cen- tral transfer caboose, and an ex-Pittsburgh & Lake Erie bay window caboose.
New York New Jersey Rail
PRR FLOAT BRIDGES DISMANTLED: A less-prominent rail-related casualty of Hurri- cane Sandy was the former Pennsylvania Rail- road carfloat facility at Greenville Yard in Jer- sey City, N.J. Battered by Sandy’s storm surge and an unsecured barge, the remaining four float bridges and gantries were damaged be- yond repair and demolished in mid-November. A recently overhauled pontoon-type float bridge from the former Bush Terminal 59th Street Yard in Brooklyn, N.Y., was installed at Greenville in late November and carfloat serv-
ice across New York Harbor to the New York & Atlantic interchange at 65th Street Yard in Brooklyn resumed in December. Built in 1904, 1910, 1925 and 1944, these were the last serv- iceable original railroad float bridges in the harbor.
Norfolk Southern
PORTAGEVILLE REDUX: In last Febru- ary’s RAILNEWS we told the story of Norfolk Southern’s planned replacement of the 137- year old Portageville Viaduct on the former Erie Southern Tier route in western New York State. At the time, it seemed that all the pieces were in place as NS, trackage rights tenant Canadian Pacific, and the New York State Department of Transportation awaited approval of a $17.75 million TIGER III grant from the United States Department of Trans- portation. The grant was denied. Now, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is available for review and the project will con- tinue to move forward with bids being accept- ed beginning this spring and construction pos- sibly starting this summer. If all goes according to schedule, the project should be completed by early 2017.
The “Other” Orange Juice Train
THE SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITYhas decorat- ed Silverliner V car 720 with a “wrap” to advertise Tropicana orange juice. To our knowledge, this is the first piece of SEPTA heavy rail equipment to have received an exterior wrap, but car 702 was given a full interior Prohibition-themed wrap last fall to promote the American Spirits exhib- it at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
MORE F UNITS ARE ACQUIRED: In De- cember 2012 NS acquired an A-B-A set of F units from National Railway Equipment. The units came from a variety of railroads. They are ex-Canadian National F7Au No. 9177 and former Chicago & North Western F7A 4072A, while the F7B unit is former Canadian Pacific 1019 (nee CPR 4462). None are operable, so they’ll go through the Juniata Shops before re- turning to service. They’ll join the road’s exist- ing A-B-B-A set of executive F’s acquired in 2006 from Kansas City Southern, which ac- quired them when it bought the Rail Cruise America train set from St. Louis Railcar Co.
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TIM DARNELL
STEVE BARRY
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