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Canadian National Receives First A.C. Power
TWO OF CANADIAN NATIONAL’S 35 NEW ES44ACS head south through Chebanse, Ill., on the Illinois Central with train A497 on De- cember 28, 2013, passing a classic IC Type B depot, now the town office. These are CN’s first a.c. units; delivery had started earlier in the month. While CN was thought to have ordered 30 EMD SD70ACe’s last
to operate the lines, which extend from Scran- ton east to Slateford, Penn., plus Scranton- area branches. The railroad says that “. . . without notice and with no opportunity for public comment, the authority decided to renew a contract with the existing operator for another five years. . . .The authority took this action even though the existing contract does not expire for over 20 months.”
PICKS UP EX-SANTA FE GEEPS: The Reading & Northern has acquired four former BNSF Railway GP30U’s from Larry’s Truck & Electric, which acquired them in 2011. Originally owned by the Santa Fe, the units were remanufactured at the Cleburne, Texas, shop in the early 1980s and completely rewired with an upgraded electrical system and overhauled mechanical components. Still wearing their Santa Fe yellowbonnet paint and silver trucks, LTEX Nos. 2430, 2438, 2445, and 2465 were en route to Reading & Northern’s Port Clinton shops in early Janu- ary. The railroad calls them GP39RN’s and will number them 2530-2533.
Steamtown
KIP HAGEN HAS PASSED AWAY: Steam- town National Historic Site Superintendent Harold “Kip” Hagen passed away in Tafton, Penn., on December 14, 2013, at age 62. A 37- year veteran of the National Park Service Hagen was a Scranton native and was ap- pointed to his post in 2002. In early January 2014 the NPS named William Leonard, deputy superintendent of the Delaware Water Gap National Recre- ation Area, as acting Steamtown superin- tendent. Leonard is also a northeastern Pennsylvania native and has a civil engineer- ing degree from Pennsylvania State Univer- sity and worked at the Tobyhanna Army Depot for 19 years before joining the Park Service in 2001.
year, the only a.c. EMD’s the road has acquired to date are four former EMD SD70ACe-P6 demonstrators. The former EMDX 1206 and 1208- 1210 have been renumbered CN Nos. 8100-8103 and are running in patched EMD blue. The units have a separate a.c. inverter for each axle, in contrast to earlier SD70ACes which had one per truck.
Union Pacific
BIG BOY TO MOVE IN LATE JANUARY: As this issue went to press, Union Pacific said it expected to move 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 from the L.A. County Fairgrounds in Pomona to its West Colton, Calif., shop on January 26. The locomotive had been moved from its long-time display site and across the fairgrounds park- ing lot in late November 2013 (see December 2013 RAILNEWS). The move to Colton will re-
quire the Metrolink main track to be cut and swung over to connect with the Big Boy’s panel track in the parking lot. After that, the locomotive will move over the commuter rail- road to CP Bassett, where it will switch to UP’s Alhambra Sub for the journey to West Colton, where it will be prepared for the move to Cheyenne, Wyo. While the connection is in place, UP will also move SD40-2 No. 3105, a boxcar, and a caboose into the RailGiants mu- seum in place of the Big Boy.
Railfan Viewing Platform Opens in Florida
A NEW VIEWING PLATFORM opened on December 14 in Plant City, Fla., located across the tracks from Plant City Union Depot at the diamond crossing of the CSX A Line and S Line. In addition to covered, open-air platforms that parallel each track, a second-story tower provides an elevated view of the diamond. The building is designed to complement the station, opened as a joint facility in 1909 by the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line Railroads. The depot is also home to the Robert W. Willaford Railroad Museum, named after the Plant City native and retired engineer who has donated a former Seaboard caboose and a Whitcomb diesel locomotive along with his 50-year memorabilia collection. The depot is located at 102 North Palmer Street.
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TRACY DIDAS
PAUL BURGESS
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