THIS MONTH’S TOP NEWS STORIES AND PHOTOS
Touring the Can-Am Corridor in Style
A joint Canadian Pacifi c/Union Pacifi c business special recently created some rare scenes of vintage passenger service on freight-only trackage in the Pacifi c Northwest. During March 28-30 CP’s Royal Canadian Pacific luxury consist traveled southwest from Calgary, Alb., to Portland, Ore., by way of Crowsnest Pass; Sandpoint, Idaho; and Spokane, Wash. FP9s 4106 and 4107, along with B-unit 1900, powered the 11-car train, which included a mix of RCP tour cars and CP business cars. At Hinkle, Ore., a UP freight unit equipped with cab signals led from The Dalles to East Portland. After overnighting at Portland Union Station, the special departed east on March 31 with CP and UP offi cials on board, beginning a three-day tour of what both railroads refer to as the “Can-Am Corridor,” a joint service lane that feeds Canadian potash, grain, lumber, chemicals, crude, and other products into America’s Pacifi c Coast. PHOTO BY SEAN KELLY
BNSF RAILWAY SAYRE KOS
Operations
The BNSF-served plant at Smithers Lake, Texas, recently converted from being completely coal-fired to taking in a mix of coal and natural gas. This growing trend, augmented by newer pollution regulations, a glut of cheap natural gas, and seasonal demand (or lack thereof) has put pressure on coal volumes, which in turn prompted recent storage of several coal trainsets across the BNSF network and shortline partners, including Garden City Western where at least two trainsets were stored as of April 1. Train E-KCLETM0-33 (Empty coal, Kansas City Power & Light, Amsterdam, Mo.–East Thunder Junction, Wyo.) represented the trainset most recently stored on Garden City Western.
On the subject of coal trains, through- out March some unit coal empties out of Smithers Lake were routed up the Strong City Subdivision to Superior, Neb., then on to Hastings and west to McCook, Neb., and Sterling, Colo., be-
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fore gaining the normal route back to Alliance, Neb. As one example, Train E-SLPEMB0-25 (Empty coal, Smithers Lake–Eagle Butte Mine, Wyo.) oper- ated west out of Temple, Texas, on its normal route to Lubbock and on north to Amarillo, Texas. Typically at Amaril- lo, the train would use former BN rails to Trinidad and Pueblo, Colo., for the trip up the Joint Line to Denver. Trains E-SLPBTM0-20 (to Black Thunder Junction) and E-SLPEBM0-24 detoured in basically this same manner, as did Train E-HOHWTM0-05 from Holcomb, Kan., to West Thunder Mine (which typ- ically operates via La Junta) and Train E-CRDETM0-46 from Coronado, Ariz., which ultimately ran through Welling- ton, Kan., and north to Superior, Neb. Effective March 3, BNSF made chang-
es to the operation of manifest traffic be- tween Kansas City, Kan., and Amarillo, which once operated on Train M-KCK- AMS, a daily train from Argentine Yard to Amarillo. Train M-KCKAMS was abol- ished and replaced with M-KCKWEL, a daily train departing Argentine at 3:30 a.m. The train terminates in Wellington at 10:30. Wellington now originates a M-WELAMA to Amarillo’s former Bur-
lington Northern North Yard on Mon- day, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, departing at 2:30 p.m. On the opposite days, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, Wellington builds a M-WELAMS to Am- arillo’s former Santa Fe South Yard. The addition of these two trains eliminates the need for Amarillo to divide traffic be- tween North and South Yards and the associated transfer moves and requires Wellington to hold just half of one train each day. Typically, the power off the M-KCKWEL trains relays the same day to whatever train is built and ready to go south toward Amarillo. Beginning April 1, BNSF resumed op- eration of H-MEMBAR (High Priority Manifest, Memphis, Tenn.–Barstow, Ca- lif.), which had not been running since late September 2014. The train departs Memphis on Monday, Wednesday, Fri- day, and Sunday at 1:00 p.m., arriving in Barstow at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sat- urday, Monday, and Tuesday, 70 hours and 30 minutes later. The current incar- nation of H-MEMBAR does not perform work in Tulsa, Okla., since the Barstow traffic here is sent on Trains H-TUL- LUB (High Priority Manifest, Tulsa– Lubbock, Texas) or Train M-TULENI to
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