Ice, Snow, and Frigid Temperatures Hinder Rail Traffic
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE WAS FRIGHTFUL during much of De- cember 2013 and January 2014, with very cold temperatures and frozen precipitation affecting rail operations from the Northern Plains to Canada and the East Coast. In Canada, a major ice storm struck just before Christmas along the highway 401 corridor between Kitchener, Ontario, and Montréal, Québec, crippling the Greater Toronto-Hamil- ton Area and its railroads until services could be fully restored on De- cember 31. On December 27 Canadian Pacific unit oil train 640 passed through a scene of crystalline grandeur behind CEFX leased power at Killean, Ontario, (above). On January 6, frigid temperatures and snow forced Amtrak to cancel
Amtrak passengers. While the locals would like to see WDOT renovate and upgrade the old building, the agency says it would be cheaper to replace it than to bring the old structure up to current code. But after a firestorm of negative opinion, the agency has withdrawn the plan and will start over.
NEW SCHENECTADY STATION: The Capital District Transportation Authority is putting the finishing touches on the design for a new Amtrak station in Schenectady, N.Y., which will replace the existing facility, which was built in 1979. The new four-story build- ing’s design will be influenced by the original Schenectady Union Station, which was demol-
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RAILFAN.COM
many trains out of Chicago on the Lincoln Service to St. Louis, the Hi- awatha Service to Milwaukee, Wolverine Service to Detroit, the Salukis to Carbondale, and the Carl Sandburg. In addition, the South- west Chief, Illinois Zephyr, and California Zephyr were stopped by snow on BNSF Railway tracks near Galesburg, Ill. Farther east, cold weather problems with the catenary reduced the busy Northeast Corri- dor to a single track south of Trenton, N.J., and the Empire Service to upstate New York ran on a modified schedule. Then on January 21 a storm dumped up to 16 inches of snow in the Boston-Washington corridor and temperatures dropped to below zero in places, hampering passenger and freight operations once more.
ished in 1971. The new station will have 80,000 square feet of space which will accom- modate a transportation museum, restau- rants, stores, and a public plaza in addition to rail facilities. Bids will go out later this year and construction should begin next year, with completion planned for 2017.
Cliffs Northshore Mining
MORE TRAFFIC ON THE WAY: Minneso- ta’s Cliffs Northshore Mining Co. says it will run up to four trains a day beginning in Feb- ruary after it re-starts two idle taconite facili- ties in Silver Bay. The 47-mile railroad moves raw ore from mines at Babbitt to the Silver
Bay pellet plant. It was built in 1955 by Cliffs Northshore predecessor Reserve Mining.
Fillmore & Western
LEASE IS TERMINATED: A judge has ruled against California’s Fillmore & Western Railway, saying that the railroad had not proved that the Ventura County Transporta- tion Commission had breached its contract. On December 1, 2013, the agency terminated the railroad’s lease on the 32-mile former South- ern Pacific Santa Paula Branch. The railroad claimed that the Commission did not provide a reason for breaking the lease, which was to have run through 2021, after which the agency
STEPHEN C. HOST
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