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SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS are being put into place on commuter railroads as the economy improves. In the past, on weekends, Metro- North trains ran on 60 minute headways. In the fall of 2012, weekend service on the Metro-North New Haven line was improved so that the norm became 30 minute head- ways. Metro-North appears to be in a fairly good shape physically, as well as financially. No so for the Massachusetts Bay Trans- portation Authority (MBTA) in the Boston Region. The ink there is very red and has been for some time. Facilities and rolling stock leave much to be desired. On the equipment front, the MBTA has contracted with Alstom in Hornell, N.Y., to overhaul 74 of the bi-level Kawasaki-built commuter cars and there is the possibility of overhaul- ing 32 more of the Kawasaki cars in the not- too-distant future. Time flies; I remember when the bi-level cars were first ordered and delivered. Thanks to Fred Briggs for the news.
New South Shore Line Bridge Sets a Record Bridge replacements along the South Shore Line of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District have been occurring since the late 1990s, including five old pin truss bridges.
Erie Lackawanna 2013 Calendar
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The record-setting bridge mentioned in the headline is the structure over Terrance Avenue near 130th Street in Chicago. The bridge was assembled off-site and moved in- to place. That is not unusual, but the size of the move apparently set a record. The bridge is almost 400 feet long and weighs 4.3 mil- lion pounds. It was moved from its fabrica- tion site to its final position by Self-Pro- pelled Mobile Transporters. The installation was carried out on the weekend of August 26th and 27th.
This is part of a large and complex trans- portation improvement. There are six new bridges involved, including road, railroad, pedestrian, bicycle, along with retaining walls, landscaping, street paving and im- proved drainage systems. The area is called Ford City because of the Ford Motor Co. plant located there. Thanks to John C. Spy- chasli for the news.
Member price $795
14 great photos plus
$4.25 s&h US Funds Only Visit us online at
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Order from: ELHS, Department RF Jay Held, 10-10 ELLIS AVE, FAIR LAWN, N.J. 07410 No phone calls will be accepted For information send SASE
N.J., PA & Ohio res. add sales tax. Outside US extra s&h.
ELHS membership at $35 per membership cycle. Cycle includes four issues of our magazine “The Diamond” and four newsletters with modeling
information. Separate check please. Send to: ELHS c/o Randy Dettmer, 290 W. Prospect St., Hudson, OH 44236
48 FEBRUARY 2013 •
RAILFAN.COM
Non-member price $995
Rail Battles in Milwaukee and Honolulu Milwaukee and Honolulu are alike in that both are trying to build urban rail systems. Milwaukee Mayor Barrett is pushing for a downtown streetcar service with the aim of increasing economic activity in the land of Miller, Schlitz, Pabst and Blatz. In Honolu- lu, the desire is for a long awaited elevated rapid transit line from Kapelai on the west to Ala Moana on the east. Much of the devel- opment in Honolulu is upon a narrow band of land between the mountains and the ocean. Traffic congestion is horrific along this crowded strip of land. In Milwaukee, there appears to be some large measure of support on the part of the city council and the public. There appears to be support in Hawaii by those persons tired
of living in traffic congestion. In both cities, the anti-urban rail industry is at work with the usual arguments that rail transit is old- fashioned and too expensive. The anti-rail forces have been saying the same thing for 70 years. There is no telling how these issues will turn out, but they are worth watching. Thanks to Frank A. Bauer for the informa- tion.
NJ Transit: Getting Over Sandy
As far as rail transit infrastructure in the New York City region is concerned, Hurri- cane Sandy was the most destructive natu- ral event. NJ Transit was especially hard hit. It was a bright note when word went out from NJ Transit that all rail service would be operating on Monday, December 3rd. That date marked the re-initiation of service on the Gladstone branch which has suffered major damage.
The announcement did not mean that the level of service on all lines was once again back to its pre-Sandy level. The condition of track, power distribution and station facili- ties will take time to put back into full serv- ice mode. Thanks to Peter Perreault for the good news.
New Carbuilder in Illinois Rochelle, Ill., is the place where the Union Pacific and BNSF tracks cross. It has been the site of a viewing platform for rail enthu- siasts for a number of years. Now, Nippon Sharyo, the Japanese carbuilder, is produc- ing railcars at Rochelle. Some of the first products of the plant were new Highliner cars for Metra Electric. The bi-level stainless steel cars will join several dozen Highliners delivered to Metra Electric several years ago; there are 160 cars on order from Nippon Sharyo for Metra Electric, an order that will be filled over several years. The original Highliners delivered to the Illinois Central about 40 years ago have been rehabbed once and are really showing their age. The first cars from the new plant were delivered to Metra on November 14, 2012. Thanks to Ted Herter for the news.
Congratulations on 60 years at IRM I wish I lived much closer to the Illinois Rail- way Museum in Union. The 60 year old mu- seum contains a really great collection of railroad items and an especially fine collec- tion of electric railway equipment, including a North Shore Line Electroliner, scores of
PLEASE SEND light rail, tran- sit and commuter rail news items and correspondence di- rectly to Prof. George M. Smerk, Emeritus Suite, Kelley School of Business, 1309 East Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-1701.
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