Still available through the
Erie Lackawanna Historical Society
Current Trends (Good and Bad)
The Merchant’s Engines by Jerry Segrue
The history of the Lackawanna Railroad’s Pacific Steam engines with a concentration on the famous “Streamstyled Pacifics”. This 60 page softbound book includes over 50 photographs and separate scale drawings of each of the four streamstyled engines. Also covered is the construction of the DL&W’s several classes of 4-6-2s and their unorthodox numbering. Member price
$2100 plus $8.95 s&h
Non-member price $2495
Erie USRA Heavy Pacifics
by D.G. Biernaki
This 80 page book provides comprehensive coverage of these fascinating locomotives
Member price Non-member price
$1500 plus $8.95 s&h $1800 2014 ELHS Calendar
LAST MONTH WE CITED a comment by Nor- folk Southern CEO Charles “Wick” Moor- man that “Every time we pick up a carload of chlorine, we’re placing a bet on the compa- ny.” Mr. Moorman was not exaggerating to make a point. He was talking about a threat that is real, and —judging by the example of the bankruptcy of the smaller Montréal, Maine & Atlantic Railroad resulting from the Lac-Mégantic disaster — may be immi- nent industry-wide in the U.S. and Canada. Since Lac-Mégantic, other big oil-related rail accidents have followed. As noted again, no railroad can refuse to accept any cargo, no matter how hazardous (assuming, of course that it conforms to ap- plicable regulations). In a letter to the Cana- dian Transportation Agency (CTA) (as cited by Reuters), the Canadian National com- plained, “Once the railway has accepted a car from the shipper, all of the risk and expo- sure associated with that car are trans- ferred to the railway even when the liability arising from the carriage of the dangerous goods is not caused by the negligence of the railway.” And here is the problem for the railroads, and if you take away nothing from this col- umn beyond one sentence, let that one sen- tence be the following from the AAR: “The damages potentially resulting from an expo- sure could risk the financial soundness and viability of the rail transportation network.” So what happens when any business loses
its “soundness and viability?” At best, a huge diminution. At worst, well, let’s not even think about it. The damages: One can be forgiven for
concluding that as the accidents pile up, there is not enough money in the world, alone insurance company treasuries, to pay for all the injuries, deaths, lawsuits, property dam- ages, clean up and a variety of other griev- ances that result. Insurance rates for rail- roads large and small have reached well into stratospheric proportions in recent years. The CTA (Canada’s counterpart to the
Member price $795
14 great photos plus
$4.25 s&h Visit us online at
US Funds Only each additional calendar
Payments in US funds will only be accepted Add $1 shipping
Non-member price $995
www.erielackhs.org Dealer Inquiries Welcome
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
10 MARCH 2014 •
RAILFAN.COM
Surface Transportation Board in the U.S.) may require more insurance coverage at higher rates. Another possibility lies in a hint that Canada is considering the idea of changing the liability rules to allow shippers to share responsibility for payment of the li- ability costs. That would require changes in legislation (obviously no small hurdle, but now apparently on the table for discussion). Claude Dolphin, President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities declared, “It’s on the table . . . to make sure that any accident, incident or catastrophe . . . currently shoul- dered largely on the railways, won’t be downloaded to our taxpayers.” Transport Minister Lisa Raitt says she is determined to see that railways, shippers, and producers of dangerous goods are held responsible for accidents and spills. And the minister adds she intends to review options to see to it that “sufficient resources are available to adequately compensate poten- tial victims, pay for clean-up costs and pro- tect taxpayers in the event of an accident.”
Speaking of Energy and Rail The war on coal — and by extension, the war on the railroads, which over the years have handled the bulk of coal shipments — has entered a new phase. BNSF Railway won its appeal against a ruling from the Surface Transportation Board (STB) that its rates for hauling coal in the west were beyond what is acceptable. Too high, decreed the panel.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals sent a mes- sage back to the STB saying, in effect, that the agency should reconsider the railroad’s arguments; namely that BNSF’s rate formu- la was fair.
This just in at deadline: From the blo- gosphere come allegations that three inde- pendent companies transporting North Dakota crude oil by train have been cited by federal investigators for supposedly failing to label the oil “hazard classes” as it is en route from cargo tanks to the actual train. The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recom- mended a combined fine of $93,000 to Hess Corp., Marathon Oil, and Whiting Oil. That fine may be “chump change” to the oil com- panies, but DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx hopes it will “send a message.”
Diesel to Natural Gas Meanwhile, consider the biggest question for railroading’s future: Locomotive power: Is North America — on both sides of the U.S./Canadian border — on the cusp of a rev- olutionary switch (only the second in rail- roading’s entire 184-year U.S. history) from one motive power to another? The change (in its testing stages) would be from diesel to liquefied natural gas (LNG). Forbes magazine’s February 10 issue car- ries a long monograph which outlines how the railroad industry is pushing forward on several fronts. Right at the top is an outline of the steam-to-diesel history and bright prospects for the diesel-to-LNG phenome- non to power the freight trains carrying vi- tal cargo, thus enabling railroads to take a lead role in the “next industrial revolution.” BNSF Railway and Canadian National are cited for “already testing converted natural gas-powered trains across North America.” These tests have been implemented for the primary purpose of affirming not only the safety, but also the economic viability, logis- tics, anticipated challenges, etc. A response: Inquiries as to how the tests
are coming along elicited this “wait and see” comment from the industry itself: “Late in 2012, the AAR Technical Services Working Committee discussed growing freight rail interest in natural gas as a locomotive fuel. Various railroads on the committee dis- cussed current and past research involving ties, with advantages and disadvantages in powering locomotives modified to run on natural gas, as well as involvement in the Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA)-
sponsored “Natural Gas as a Locomotive Fu- el workshop at Argonne national Labs. Ulti- mately the committee decided to establish a
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