Amtrak AEM-7 Preserved
On the morning of June 12, 2015, Strasburg Railroad EMD SW8 No. 8618 (nee-NYC No. 8618) delivers retired Amtrak AEM-7 No. 915 to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.
These
venerable workhorses of the Northeast Corridor were based on the Swedish Rc4 design tested by Amtrak in 1976-77. The AEM-7s were constructed under contract by EMD with bodies by Budd and components imported from Sweden. A total of 65 units were delivered to Amtrak between 1979 and 1988. Amtrak expects to replace all AEM-7s by the end of 2016.
PHOTO BY DAN HOWARD
to most involved, since D&H parent Ca- nadian Pacific had been looking to spin off these routes for some time, and NS was already operating several trains daily over the D&H thanks to a track- age rights deal forged more than a de- cade ago. The core trackage in the sale includes 267 route miles of main line between Sunbury, Pa., and Schenect- ady, N.Y., along with 15 miles of the Voorheesville Running Track between Voorheesville Junction and Delanson, N.Y. NS will retain its existing rights over two segments of the D&H not being acquired. This includes 17.5 miles be- tween Schenectady and Mechanicville, N.Y., including trackage within D&H’s Mohawk Yard. NS will also retain rights between Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Schenectady. In its analysis of the competitive im- pact of the transaction, the STB found that NS’s acquisition of the D&H South Lines would not likely cause a substan- tial lessening of competition, even when factoring D&H’s planned discontinuanc- es of trackage rights over NS into Buf- falo and Harrisburg. The STB also ac- cepted NS’s proposal for two voluntary commercial agreements with D&H to preserve shippers’ access to both roads. The board did grant one protective agreement, which involves Pennsylva- nia Power & Light’s Montour Generat- ing Station, located 20 miles north of Sunbury, Pa. The plant is now served only by NS, but PPL has a long-term expansion plan that includes a potential build-out line from Montour to the D&H South Lines. PPL requested that the STB impose conditions that would re- quire NS to negotiate trackage or haul- age agreements with CSX for the move- ment of coal trains from Albany, N.Y., and Canadian Pacific for PPL traffic
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routed over the Southern Tier via Buffa- lo and Binghamton. Not surprisingly, NS opposed these re-
quests. In the end, the STB denied PPL’s request for two route options, but did grant the utility a narrowly tailored con- dition that will grant D&H rights over NS from the point of PPL’s connection to Schenectady. This condition preserves PPL’s pre-transaction competitive op- tions by providing continued potential access to D&H, without expanding PPL’s options beyond the pre-transaction sta- tus quo by allowing access to CSX.
First DASH 8.5-40CW Released
Although two years later than first ex- pected, NS’s Roanoke Locomotive Shop has released for service the first unit from its rebuild program for Gener- al
Electric DASH 8-40C locomotives. Designated by NS as model DASH 8.5- 40CW, unit 8501 had the honor of exit- ing the paint shop during the first week of June, with plans to be tested initially in local and helper service close to home. This unit was rebuilt from DASH 8-40C 8309, which was first built as Conrail 6043 in 1989. Through a six-year pro- gram, NS plans to rebuild 84 GE DASH 8 locomotives that were manufactured in 1989 or 1990.
The 4000-h.p. DASH 8.5s will be very similar to DASH 9s, except they will not feature low-weight transfer trucks. The DASH 8.5s will incorporate electronic system upgrades, such as electronic fuel injection, and be configured to wireless- ly transmit health-status reports. The rebuilt units also meet Tier 2 emissions standards. The most visible change is that the units feature NS’s Roanoke-de-
signed wide-nose cab. Three other DASH 8.5s are in various stages of testing and final work, with the 8500 and 8505 at Al- toona, and the 8502 at Roanoke.
Goshen Improvements Completed
NS crews have been finishing work after a third main track was placed in service west of Goshen, Ind., during the last week of April. The result of this project was to triple-track the mainline from CP 412 all the way into Elkhart by es- sentially extending the old Dunlap sid- ing east to tie directly into the Marion Branch. New universal crossovers at CP 412 allow Marion Branch trains to enter or exit any of the three tracks to the west. Also, the CP 415 control point was replaced with a new set of univer- sal crossovers further west that connect all three tracks, and it is designated CP 417. The addition of the third track and new crossovers is expected to reduce de- lays for Marion Branch trains moving in and out of Elkhart Yard, as well as providing dispatchers more options for dealing with mainline traffic through the terminal.
Pessimistic Coal Report
For anyone who has observed NS coal operations on the Pocahontas Division in recent months, the slump in traffic com- pared to past years is very evident. A re- cent report released by the West Virgin- ia University’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research does not offer much hope. The organization’s report predicts that the state’s coal production will drop 39 percent compared to the most recent
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