CN’s year was a bit marred by a nasty fight with its former CEO Hunter Harrison whose $1.5 million in retirement benefits were canceled by CN’s Board of Directors. The directors charged that Harrison had vi- olated a “non-compete” clause in his CN-exit contract by going to work for its chief rival railroad Canadian Pacific; Mr. Harrison is now CEO and Director of CP. It’s not clear that the very public fight affected CN’s bot- tom line, but it is the kind of publicity corpo- rations seek to avoid.
Short Line Bags Shale Business
Not every oozing shale gas facility is located near a major railroad. So what to do? Either a Class I builds to accommodate that acci- dent of long-ago construction or find a non- Class I to fill the gap.
A company that owns four short lines came to the rescue for the burgeoning natu- ral gas drilling operations in the Northeast. Russell Peterson, CEO of Carload Express, is set to provide what he calls a “foothold railroad” to the gas producing portions of the Marcellus and Utica shales, which cover por- tions of Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The newly-named 12.2 mile Ohio Termi- nal Railway Co. line, slated for completion in early April, will interchange with Norfolk Southern at a junction known as Powhatan Point. The new short-haul operation will car- ry pipe, frac sand, drilling lubricants, and shale mats for shale customers and steel for a mill. Peterson says the steel and shale businesses will share 50/50 for the services of the Ohio Terminal Railway. But ultimate- ly — perhaps in three years — “shale traffic will account for 75 percent.”
Rail-Focused Senator: “Out of Here” Senator Jay Rockefeller (
D-W.Va.) says he will retire at the end of his current term next year. This is no small matter for the railroad industry. The lawmaker is Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. That panel has traditionally been the Senate repository of most issues concerning railroads dating back to the days of the late Warren Magnu- son (D-Wash.) under whose guidance Con- gress created Amtrak. Senator Rockefeller in 2009 authored the
Surface Transportation Board Reauthoriza- tion Act (S-2889) whose announced goals were to increase rail competition; strength- en federal oversight of railroads and im- prove rail shippers’ access to regulatory re- lief; would have required railroads to quote “bottleneck” rates; set standards for recipro- cal switching and terminal access rates; cre- ated a means whereby “paper barriers” could be challenged; and increased STB scrutiny of future railroad mergers as they related to competitive, service, and environ- mental issues. At the time, the industry vigorously op- posed the measure, declaring it a throwback to the pre-deregulation era of the ’70s. On learning of the senator’s coming retirement, however, the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department commented that rail workers “can’t fathom the idea that as trans- portation jobs are on the line, Senator Rock- efeller won’t be there to fight for them as he always has.”
Yet another high profile exit Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced he too will soon depart, but will stay
on until President Obama finds a successor. He thanked President Obama for the oppor- tunity to take on the responsibilities at DOT. Both freight and passenger rail interests praised LaHood’s service. NARP noted his support for ongoing Amtrak and commuter projects, as well as for futuristic high- speed. AAR’s Ed Hamberger lauded the sec- retary’s “passion, energy and deep commit- ment to safety” and for his understanding of “the importance of freight rail to our na- tion’s economy.”
Amtrak: Lighter and faster? Amtrak wants the FRA to allow high-speed equipment on its railroad that is lighter and faster than the current Acela service on the Northeast corridor. When the Acela train- sets were ordered, the FRA was concerned the high speed trains ran a higher risk of crashes. The result was the equipment had to be capable to sustaining a crash with huge freight trains. But now, with more safety procedures
having been implemented — including the Positive Train Control (PTC), Amtrak wants a revision of FRA standards that will allow the purchase of lighter conventional equip- ment or “off-the-shelf” designs the same as those used in Japan, France, and virtually everywhere else on the globe. Noting that Amtrak’s heavy Acela train- sets operate at a maximum speed of 150 m.p.h. — as opposed to overseas HSR at 220 m.p.h. — Amtrak President Joe Boardman has said that writing new rules for lighter equipment would allow for less use of fuel, quicker acceleration (that very word in- spired the Acela name), and a different per- formance profile (such as adding more trains to the NEC schedule).
Some defenders of the current standards
have noted that there are many more long necessarily slow freight trains in the U.S. than there are in Europe or Asia. But then, there is considerably less mileage on Am- trak’s right of way than on the trackage owned and operated by the Class I rail freight railroads. However, Amtrak’s NEC hosts freight operations of Norfolk-South- ern. So the passenger-freight crash potential remains an issue.
Amtrak’s To-Do list
High-speed rail is near the top of Amtrak’s “Major projects for 2013” During this year, the national passenger service intends to advance further the design, engineering and other construction for a program that will “boost top train speeds from 135 m.p.h. to 160 m.p.h. along a 24-mile section of the Northeast Corridor between Trenton and New Brunswick, N.J.” The project is sched- uled for completion in 2017. In addition to Amtrak’s expected pur-
chase of “next-generation” high-speed train- sets, 2013 is the year the design and build- out order 130 single-level long distance cars will proceed in 2013. These include 25 sleep- ers, 25 diners, 25 baggage cars, and 55 bag- gage/dorms. The first “pilot cars” of this or- der are expected for delivery in 2013. The purchase will ultimately allow Amtrak to re- tire its oldest cars, some of which date back to the 1940s. The pilot cars will likely be tested on the road before the rest of the or- der is given the final green light to proceed. 2013 is the year Amtrak anticipates the final signing of an agreement with Michigan DOT to operate, dispatch and maintain a
Yard Goat Images Celebrating Historic Rail Preservation
New!
DVDs with less talk …more action!
By Coal, Volt and Oil: Iowa Rail Excursions
NRHS 2012 Convention DVD!
Eight days of steam, diesel & traction adventures in eastern Iowa 137 minutes on two discs— $24.95 each (plus shipping)
www.yardgoatimages.com Or call 612-623-0167
Send SASE for free brochure/order form 112 3rd AV NE, Minneapolis MN 55413
ww.RonRailPictures.com PHILADELPHIA MEMORIES
VOLUME TWO SUBWAY AND SURFACE LINES
1 Hour 7 Minutes
Philadelphia SEPTA City Transit: Juniper St to 40th St subway lines through Woodland and Chester Ave surface lines and more. 1970’s PCC Cars through 1980’s Kawasaki. Experimental color
one of a kinds. Includes Routes 10 - 11 - 13 - 34 - 36. ONLY $29.95
PHILADELPHIA MEMORIES Two Discs Set 2 Hrs 23 Min
The Colorfull Years - 1970’s and 1980’s
PHILADELPHIA MEMORIES
VOLUME 1 SURFACE LINES
VOLUME ONE SURFACE LINES
Two Discs Set 2 Hours 23 Minutes
Includes Routes 6 - 15 - 23 53 - 56 - 60
From the lens of Gary Grahl. See Philadelphia PCC’s during the color- ful 1970’ and 1980’s on Routes 6, 15, 23, 53, 56, and 60. ONLY $29.95
NJ LIGHT RAIL LINES
Two Discs Set Approx. 3 Hours Explore the history of light rail in
New Jersey from Newark Subway, thru PCC’s last ride in the Public Service Era, to NJ Transit Light Rail and More! ONLY $29.95
NJ LIGHT RAIL LINES
Two Discs Set Approx. 3 Hours
Explore the history of light rail in New Jersey from Newark Subway, thru PCC’s last ride in the Public Service Era, to NJ Transit Light Rail and More!
Add $4.00 S&H per order (PA add 6% tax) See us on the web at
www.ronrailpictures.com or mail check or M/O to RonRail Pictures, DeptT
5552 Republic Way, Bethlehem, PA 18017 17
schemes and
RonRail w Pictures
NEW!
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60