Newest DVD’s for 2013


Cincy Diesels: Enjoy live audio and video from 1987-1991, with mainly NS and CSX. There are lots of older diesel units including a rare GP49, other early Geeps, and GE units. A little out-of- town railroading, plus sample a couple of steam engines from the region. Locations include: Ludlow, KY, Cincinnati Junction, MD Cabin, Latonia, Grants Tunnels, Erlanger Hill, Cin. Union Terminal, and much more. This is Cincinnati railroading at its finest. 80 Minutes $29.95


doubleheader fantrip, doubleheaded freight, and Hudson 2839 in freight service. Great CPR history. 32 Minutes $19.95


The Sunset of Canadian National Steam: Also by Rail In- novations and never on DVD. The end of CNR steam in Ontario with mostly the big 4-8-4’s, Manitoba in the summer of 1959 to see a variety of CN power still working. In Ontario we see 4-8-4’s, two different 5700 series Hudsons, and a shot of a streamlined 4-8-4. Also see roundhouse scenes and the last day for one 4-8-4. B&W from Newt Rossiter. Music & Narration also. 30 Min. $19.95


(free with order)


Catalog $2.00


Print


Previews and complete descriptions for these and many more at: www.gregschollvideo.com or at http://www.youtube.com/user/GregSchollVideo


S&H Standard US shipping add $5.00 for total order. Canada $9.00 for 1 or 2, and $3.00 each additional 1 or 2. Foreign $13.00 for 1 or 2, and $3.00 each extra 1 or 2. Ohio res. add 6.5% sales tax. All prices $US. Order by phone, mail, fax, or secure web site:


GREG SCHOLL VIDEO


PO Box 123, Dept.R6, BATAVIA, OHIO 45103 PHONE: 513-732-0660 • FAX: 513-732-0666


New Jersey Memories by Bob Pennisi ......$19.95 Diamondbugs by Jack Grasso . . . .14.95 Operation CUT by Grasso . . . . . 18.95 Dutch Country Trolleys... Kramer . . .15.95 26 Miles To Jersey City... Komelski . . . . 8.95 The Morristown & Erie Railway Bob Pennisi . . .8.95 Lehigh Valley Passenger Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.00 RR Stations Of New England - V-1 B&M . . . . . . .4.00 The Hard Coal Carriers Vol. 1 First Generation Geeps... Bernet . . . . . . . .19.95 Vol. 2 Camelback Twilight ... Bernet . . . . . . . . . 19.95 “A Colorful Look at:” series (all color) The Erie Lackawanna by Rich Pennisi . . . . . . . . 24.95 The Chicago & North Western by G. Bernet . . . .19.95 Conrail’s SD40 & SD40-2 by G. Bernet . . . . . . . 19.95 Selected Pennsylvania Shortlimes by Bernet. . . 19.95 The Anthracite Series: (all color) Anthracite Country Color... G. Bernet . . . . . . . .19.95 Colorful Memories of Reading’s Shamokin Div 19.95 Memories of Eastern Pennsylvania Railroading 24.95 New York City series: Unifying The Subways .... Kramer . . . . . . . . . . . 17.95 Third Avenue Railway...“A Cityscape” Kramer .18.95 Brooklyn & Queens Transit... Kramer . . . . . . . .19.95 Bells & Whistles Titles Anything But Steam ... Kramer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10.00 Fairmount Park Transit ... Kramer . . . . . . . . . . . .6.95 Birney Car Panorama ... Kramer. . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.95 Send $1.00 for a complete catalog of Railroadiana, used books & magazines, timetables, and postcards.


ORDERING INFO: Orders under $50.00 add $4.00 P&H. NJ residents add 7% sales tax. Foreign orders write for shipping information. (Check must be drawn on U.S. bank & in U.S. funds) Allow up to 4 weeks for delivery.


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CPR Steam - The Final Chapter: Originaly produced by Rail Innovations this show is new on DVD. Newt Rossiter B&W 16mm footage of the last steam in Ontario including regular service operations, and some of the final fantrips. Nice variety of action with com- mentary by CPR engineers. Last run of 4-6-4 Hudson 2857, tripleheader and


Bankruptcy, Safety and Lac-Megantic


THEMONTREAL, MAINE& ATLANTICRAILWAY is broke, having filed for Chapter 11 under the bankruptcy code. But as the damage (re- al and lurking) piled up, it quickly became evident that the crash of a driverless MM&A 72-car oil tanker train in Canada was even more of a calamity than at first believed. Before outlining the immediate personal,


tragic, financial, legislative and regulatory fallout from the crash that cost 47 lives and all but wiped out the town of Lac Megantic, it is relevant to point out that the railroad industry has a long-range program in place to make the tank cars safer. (Details e- mailed to this column by the AAR at our re- quest will be discussed below.)


Too Big For Insurance Early on, MM&A President Ed Burkhardt said he would ask his insurer to pick up the tab because he did not believe his railroad could cover it with its own cash. Nor, appar- ently, could the insurer given the lives lost, to say nothing of the extensive property damage (see last month’s RAILNEWS). Later, Mr. Burkhardt was to proclaim, “It has be- come apparent that the obligations of both companies [the railroad and its parent com- pany] now exceed the value of their assets, including their prospective insurance recov- eries as a direct result of the tragic derail- ment at Lac-Megantic.”


The derailment has inevitably stirred a new drive for tougher protective measures throughout the industry including from reg- ulators and legislators on both sides of the U .S.-Canadian border.


From All Directions


The initial suspicion in some local law en- forcement quarters was that “criminal activ- ity” may have been involved. Although that possibility has been almost entirely dis- counted, the skepticism did not discourage a police raid on the rail company’s offices. Burkhardt said he could not understand why the police conducted the raid, especially given that he has been cooperating with the authorities in their investigation, both on the local and federal levels. “If they asked for what they wanted, we would have given it to them,” Mr. Burkhardt said in a phone inter- view with the Morning Herald newspaper.


Adequate Financing? CBC reporter Thomas Daigle (who covered the initial bankruptcy court proceeding) says information emerging from the court hearing indicated the railroad may have been in financial hot water even before the July 6 disaster. The bankruptcy judge flat out asked the railroad, “Why did you only have 25 million dollars [on hand]?” Reported CBC: “That’s not a question [the judge] got an answer to, but certainly one he did raise.” Doing the math, as against that mere $25 million, MM&A figures the impacts of the accident could be pegged at upwards of $200 million.” Even that estimate may be conser- vative.


The Canadian Transportation agency


(CTA) on August 13 suspended the MM&A and Montreal Maine & Atlantic Canada’s (MM&AC’s) certificate of fitness” to operate in Canada. The agency said the railroad and its subsidiary “have not demonstrated that their third party liability insurance is ade- quate to support ongoing operations.” The suspension was to take effect on August 20.


Adequate Training? Then there is the allegation by a U.S. rail- way consultant that MM&A had inquired about the railroad possibly hiring his con- sultancy firm to train the rail company em- ployees on safety procedures. But the rail- road


ultimately rejected the consultant


fee — ironically of $25,000. That training would have included “prop- er airbrake and handbrake safety proce- dures,” according to Rick Carter, founder of Railroad Training Services. Handling of the brakes for an overnight unattended train is a key issue in the Lac-Megantic investiga- tion. Key players in the dispute are rail management on one side and on the other side Tom Harding the driver (or engineer as defined by “traditionalist” railroaders) and his union.


Chairman Burkhardt suspended Harding without pay pending an investigation. On the night of the crash, Harding had bounded out of bed at the inn where he had retired, and darted to the crash scene where wit- nesses said he looked extremely anguished as he saw the damage done by the train for which he was responsible.


Adequate Rail Car Safety?


Add to that a concerted effort by several sources to persuade regulators to require new precautions and safety practices involv- ing construction and operation of oil tank cars. Among the lawmakers focused on that very issue is Senator Chuck Schumer (D- N.Y.) Standing with reporters for a photo op at a CSX Rail yard with DOT-111 cars as a backdrop, the senator said the industry should either be required to stop using the DOT-111s or update them to new car safety standards. A third option, he said, would be to allow the cars to carry only non-flamma- ble liquids such as corn oil or canola oil. Senator Schumer cited previous accidents involving the DOT-111s in Brighton, Penn., and Cherry Valley, Ill. Both happened in re- cent years. A DOT spokeswoman told UPI the government takes Schumer’s concerns “very seriously.”


Legal Lines Drawn? There is plenty of attention to that issue on the part of the tort bar. Richard Streeter, for example, is a Washington attorney repre- senting the village of Barrington, Ill., a small community located on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern “that goes around Chicago.” Streeter tells this column his client is “look- ing [at problems related to] a tremendous in- crease in the movement of ethanol and crude oil coming out of the western part of the United States.” (Indeed, there are a lot of


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