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Leaving Enola, the specials will cross the Rockville Bridge to Harrisburg, Penn., and re- turn to Philly over the Columbia Secondary and Amtrak’s Keystone Corridor. The consist is expected to include P42DC diesel power and Horizon coaches along with a café car. Amtrak vice president — operations D.J. Stadtler said, “In addition to exploring rare mileage, the Au- tumn Express is a . . . charter train which we’ll test as a potential new revenue source.” At press time, both trips were sold out.
CSX Transportation
GATEWAY OPENS TO CHAMBERSBURG: The first phase of the CSX National Gateway Project has been completed. Doublestack serv- ice now runs over the former Baltimore & Ohio main line from the Chicago and St. Louis through the new Northwest Ohio Intermodal Terminal, through Pittsburgh and to the CSX intermodal facility located near Interstate 81 in Chambersburg, Penn., on the former West- ern Maryland The second phase will provide clearance for doublestacks on the former Balti- more & Ohio main line between Cherry Run.,
W.Va., Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D.C. Insurmountable engineering challenges pre-
sented by the ancient Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore will prevent the line to Philadelphia and New York from being cleared for dou- blestacks at this time.
Canadian Pacific
RCP FOR CHARTER ONLY IN 2014: Canadian Pacific says that its Royal Canadi- an Pacific luxury passenger cruise train will not be available for individual public bookings in 2014, although the train will be available to charter groups. “The historical Royal Canadi- an Pacific luxury train offers a variety of pri- vate booking opportunities — private railcar dining, luxury rail tours, corporate events, and receptions.”
STATE QUESTIONS DME INVESTMENT: Canadian Pacific says it is evaluating four or five offers to purchase 660 miles of the former Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern west of Tracy, Minn., and may close on a deal to spin off the trackage by the end of the year. CPR acquired DME in 2007; after promising before the ac- quisition to invest in the route, the railroad announced in December of that year that it would not pursue DME’s proposed extension
into Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. That an- nouncement was followed shortly by the news that CPR would attempt to spin off the low- density DME lines west of Tracy. Meanwhile, shippers and the state of South
Dakota are concerned that if CPR sells to a short line, the new railroad may be forced to interchange exclusively with CPR instead of with other connections (such as BNSF Rail- way) and their shipping costs may increase. In addition, the state says CPR has not upgraded the entire DME main line to FRA Class 3 standards as it had promised before the acqui- sition.
Montréal, Maine & Atlantic
RAILROAD WILL BE SOLD: In early Sep- tember MMA bankruptcy trustee Robert Keach said several companies have expressed interest in buying the railroad. MMA is en- meshed in legal troubles on both sides of the border after a unit oil train ran away, de- railed, and burst into flame in Lac-Mégantic, Québec, on July 6. The resulting fire killed 47 and dumped thousands of barrels of oil into the lake and the Chaudiére River. The rail- road will be sold so that operations can contin-
Rare Mileage Fan Trip Celebrates M&E Anniversary
ON A BEAUTIFUL AUGUST SATURDAY, locomotives from three railroads and three builders pulled the 16-car Lehigh Limited excursion from Hoboken, N.J., to Bethlehem, Penn., and return to celebrate the Morristown & Erie Railroad’s 110th anniversary. Westbound on August 24, NS GP40-2 No. 3031 led M&E C424 No. 18 and NJ Transit P40DC No. 4802 out of Hoboken and up the NJT Waterfront Connection to Am- trak’s Penn Station in Newark, N.J., where more passengers boarded. After a brief move over the Northeast Corridor to CP Hunter, the train used the Conrail/NS Lehigh Line to Bound Brook, N.J., and on to Beth- lehem. While the power was rearranged and run around for the return trip (above), passengers enjoyed a catered lunch served under a tent at the NS intermodal yard.
The special returned east over very rare mileage, the NS Washington Secondary from Phillipsburg, N.J., to Hackettstown, a leisurely jaunt at
ten m.p.h. Things picked up once NJT rails were attained at Hack- ettstown and the Limited made a spirited return over former Lackawan- na rails via Dover and Summit, with a stop at Newark before making an on-time arrival at Hoboken. The cars came from the M&E fleet, including several that were
brought down from M&E’s Maine Eastern, and from several private owners. Other equipment included three NJT Comet V coaches (the “cheap seats”), three NS lightweight coaches for NS employees, and heavyweight Pullman Kitchi Gammi Club and ex-New York Central round-end obs car Babbling Brook. All three locomotives were second- hand: M&E 18 is ex-Toledo, Peoria & Western 800, NS 3031 is ex-Con- rail 3332, and NJT 4802 is ex-Amtrak 810, purchased in 2007 for the now-defunct Atlantic City Express Service between Penn Station New York and Atlantic City, N.J.
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MARC GLUCKSMAN
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