Norfolk Southern Restores a GG1 for the Heritage Fleet
FORGET THE UP BIG BOY AND N&W 611. This year’s big news in fan trip power is Norfolk Southern GG1 No. 4877, the only one of the remaining talismans of the Pennsylvania Railroad to be restored to op- eration. The work was done under tight security at Boonton, N.J., in cooperation with the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey, owner of the big Loewy-designed motor. “All that nonsense last year about the 611 was just a smoke screen,” said Mick Worman, a high- ranking NS official and former Pennsy engineman, during an April 1 press conference at the Enola Yard motor pit near Harrisburg, Penn. Worman explained, “Thanks to miniaturization and digital technolo-
gy, we have been able to upgrade the locomotive to operate under today’s various overhead power systems while outwardly retaining its ‘stock’ 1934 appearance. In fact, it’s now rated at 9625 continuous horsepower. We haven’t missed a single detail — it even has a smoke
Amtrak
DOWNEASTER FACILITY QUESTIONED: Maine Governor Paul LePage has stepped into the battle over a layover facility for the Amtrak Downeaster that’s been proposed for the train’s eastern terminus in Brunswick. Currently, the last eastbound Downeaster of the day deadheads from Brunswick to a lay- over facility over 20 miles away in Portland and early in the morning, the first westbound out of Brunswick must deadhead in from Port- land. The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority wants to erect a 60,000 square foot enclosed layover facility in Brunswick to avoid the deadhead moves. The proposed site abuts a residential neighborhood, and the folks who live there are not happy about hav- ing a railroad facility in their back yards. The governor said in a letter to Federal Railroad Administration head Joseph Szabo that two of three other possible sites for the facility could “combin[e] passenger, freight, and multi- modal service [and] stimulate redevelopment of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station” without affecting “established residential neighborhoods” as the current location would.
22 APRIL 2014 •
RAILFAN.COM
unit to simulate steam escaping from the train heat line. The URHS was a dream to work with.” Worman says No. 4877 will pull excursions over Norfolk Southern’s and Amtrak’s former PRR territory beginning in June after a visit to the Streamliners at Spencer event at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in late May. “If demand warrants, we plan to reinstall catenary on the Trenton Cutoff and the Port Road, and if the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society can raise enough donations through their Kickstarter campaign, they would be willing to restore track and wires to the Atglen & Susquehanna so we can give fans the full Pennsy electric experience,” he continued. When asked if NS would consider repatriating the remaining pair of
former Virginian Railway EL-C motors from their respective museums and running them on coal trains out of Mullins,
W.Va., Worman just smiled and said, “You must be joking!” Oh wait — is it April already?
IT’S OFFICIAL — SIEMENS WINS: On March 18, 2014, the Illinois Department of Transportation officially awarded Siemens a contract to build 32 125-m.p.h. capable diesel electric locomotives for corridor service, and rival EMD filed a formal protest. IDOT, lead agency in the procurement, recommended that Siemens get the order in December, which prompted EMD to file a protest which claims that “the ‘top speed’ on the Siemens lo- comotive would be something less than 125 m.p.h. because it lacks sufficient horsepower.” The Siemens “Charger” will have a 4200 h.p. Cummins QSK95 engine with a “boost” mode that will provide 4400 h.p. for short intervals during acceleration. EMD’s competing F125, which has been ordered by California’s Metrolink, will have a 4700-h.p. Caterpillar C-175 and MotivePower’s proposal is thought to have been based on the 4600-h.p. HSP46 with its 12-cylinder General Electric EVO en- gine now being delivered to Boston’s MBTA. We ran a rendering of the Siemens units in the January issue; they’ll incorporate features from several Siemens locomotives used in Eu- rope and may share some components with Amtrak’s ACS-64, also built by Siemens.
BUILDER TO SPUD IN MAY: Amtrak’s Empire Builder is now slated to begin calling at St. Paul Union Depot on May 7 and the Metro Green Line light rail will begin serving it on June 14. The last passenger train to serve the sprawling station was Burlington Northern’s Afternoon Zephyr on April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak took over the na- tion’s long-distance passenger network.
A NON-AMTRAK HOOSIER STATE? The Indiana Department of Transportation has put the operation of the state-supported Am- trak Chicago-Indianapolis Hoosier State out for bid. Last year IDOT agreed to subsidize the train for a year to the tune of $2.7 million, about half of which is coming from on-line communities. Now IDOT wants to see if a pri- vate operator can continue the train at lower cost and with better service. The state eventu- ally wants “additional trains, increased speed between stations, improved on-time perform- ance, increased ridership, and improved on- board amenities.” While the current Amtrak contract expires on September 30, IDOT would be willing to extend it through January of next year to ease the transition.
PHOTO: STEVE BARRY / APRIL FOOL PHOTOSHOP JOB: ALEXANDER B. CRAGHEAD
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