day season. The Orford Express ran over Montréal, Maine & Atlantic trackage between Magog, Eastman, and Sherbrooke, Québec. The 2013 season was affected by MMA’s fiery July 6 wreck in Lac-Mégantic and the railroad's subsequent bankruptcy. Besides the dome, the train includes two ex-VIA Budd RDC's converted to table cars which are pulled by a pair of rare diesels: an EMD FL9 and an MLW M420TR.
Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern
TO TAKE OVER DME ROUTE IN MAY:At press time, Genesee & Wyoming’s Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern planned to take over opera- tions on a portion of Canadian Pacific’s former Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern on May 30, 2014. In January GWI purchased 673 miles of track for $210 million which includes from Tracy, Minn., to Rapid City, S.D.; north of Rapid City to Colony, Wyo.; south of Rapid City to Dakota Junction, Neb.; and connecting branch lines, as well as trackage from Dakota Junction to Crawford, Neb., which is current- ly leased to the Nebraska Northwestern Rail- road (NNW). RCPE will also have trackage rights over CPR between Tracy and Mankato, Minn., and over BNSF Railway between Yale and Watertown, Neb.; and between Wolsey and Aberdeen, Neb. CPR retains the exclusive right to handle coal traffic “to, from, and over” the new railroad until 2030 and retains the right to build into the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.
Stillwater Central NS Steam Program Continues in 2014
SOUTHERN 2-8-0 NO. 630 leads an eastbound Norfolk Southern excursion on the ex-Norfolk & Western Pulaski District on April 5, 2014. This was a Bristol, Tenn./Va. —Radford, Va. round trip called the Radford Rambler. The 21st Century Steam program is alive and well with Ten- nessee Valley Railroad Museum’s Southern 630 and the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Soci- ety’s Nickel Plant Berkshire No. 765 scheduled to run on 18 dates this spring. Visit
www.tvrail.com and
fortwaynerailroad.org for up to date information. This fall, expect to see TVRM’s Southern Mikado No. 4501 join the active roster upon completion of its overhaul.
provals, to purchase new coaches for its bus line and to refurbish rail coaches for the Polar Bear Express. This will maintain and improve vital transportation services, and provide new work for the ONTC refurbish- ment division.
Orford Express
DOME CAR FIRE CANCELS SEASON: Early on the morning of April 26, a fire gut- ted ex-Northern Pacific Vista-Dome dining car No. 310 of Québec’s Orford Express in Sherbrooke. As a result, the popular Eastern Townships dinner train has suspended oper- ations for the 2014 season, which was to have started on May 7. The finishing touches were
26 MAY 2014 •
RAILFAN.COM
being put on the car and overnight a dirty rag spontaneously combusted and started the fire. The car also contains the train's head-end power generator, which provides electricity for lighting and air conditioning. Budd built No. 310 in 1954 for NP’s North Coast Limited; the car is believed to be struc- turally intact. The fire caused an estimated $2 million in damage, not including lost rev- enue. 5000 reservations had already been made, and the train's loss could cost the re- gion's tourist industry $4 million or more. 80 employees have been affected and while the damage may take up to a year to repair, the company expects to be back for the 2015 sea- son and may be able to restore the car in time to resume operations during the 2014 holi-
WINS SOONER SUB: The Oklahoma De- partment of Transportation has chosen Watco’s Stillwater Central Railroad to pur- chase the 97-mile Sooner Sub, which SLWC has been operating under lease. The former Frisco line runs between Del City (Okla- homa City) and Sapulpa (Tulsa), Okla., and was purchased by the state from BNSF Rail- way in 1998. BNSF and SLWC both bid on the route. SLWC offered $75 million in cash and promised to enhance rail access to ener- gy infrastructure in Cushing, track improve- ments from Class 2 to Class 3 standards within the next seven years, and the devel- opment of a six-month trial passenger rail service within five years, ODOT officials said. The railroad expects to complete the sale contract by July.
With the purchase of the Sooner Sub, SLWC will maintain its 275-mile Oklahoma network that currently runs from Duke through Lawton, Oklahoma City and Stroud, ending near Tulsa in Sapulpa. Trackage rights through Tulsa enable SLWC to inter- change traffic with its sister railroad, the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad. The short line also operates a separate line run- ning from Stillwater to Pawnee. SLWC inter- changes with BNSF, Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern, Arkansas-Oklahoma, Farm- rail, and the South Kansas & Oklahoma. In February, Iowa Pacific Holdings ran a successful series of well-patronized passen- ger excursions over the route using its cars and SLWC power and has proposed provid-
ERIC MILLER
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