doubt. The 2.2-mile line on H Street and Ben- ning Road is constructed from Union Station to a point on Benning Road near the Anacostia River. There has been testing for a time that has been plagued with accidents; these in- clude ripping off automobile side mirrors and side-swiping parked cars. Concern over safety has delayed the opening of streetcar service several times. By the beginning of March 2015, there was considerable doubt that ser- vice would actually begin. Because of difficul- ties, a team of experts from the American Pub- lic Transit Association was asked to evaluate the system to see if there are fatal flaws. Testing of the line has been carried out with six cars, half of which are from Ore- gon, and half from the Czech Republic. The APTA team is to make suggestions about a regular streetcar route that would be certain of success. One possible line would run from Georgetown east to the line already built. There is no guarantee that the route would possess many desirable benefits. Given a successful first route, the path to a whole network of streetcars may be open. You may have noticed that Washington appears to be a place in which it is hard to get things done. Thanks to Robert Bushman for the news.
Locomotive Problems at MBTA
I think of the old saying that goes, “If you did not have bad luck, you would not have any luck at all.” The MBTA is host to some very old rolling stock, including the diesel locomo- tives employed in the rail commuter service. Old railroad equipment has a way of breaking down and becoming increa singly unreliable as the years go by. To remedy its problems with unreliable diesel locomotives on its com-
muter trains, the MBTA ordered 40 HSP46 locomotives from MotivePower Incorporat- ed for $222 million. And then, sadly, all 40 were defective and needed to have the trac- tion motor bearings replaced. All of the loco- motives were delivered by late 2014; 20 were immediately sent to the Norfolk Southern’s Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pa., however, and the remainder had been sent to the mainte- nance facility of nearby shortline Providence & Worcester. The expectation is that all 40 locomotives will be back in revenue service by the end of 2015. Let us hope nothing else goes wrong. Thanks to Floyd Palmer and Felix Pasternak for the news.
Rapid Transit around New York City
Each weekday the A and F trains of the New York City subway system carry 1.2 million riders. On-time performance of the two lines suffered in 2014 compared with 2013. The A trains made their scheduled time for 73.7 percent of the time in 2013, and only 69.6 percent in 2014. The F trains were 75.2 per- cent on time in 2013, and only 71 percent in 2014. A principal reason is maintenance work on the track, and there are now more safe- ty rules and inspections while the trains are running. A major passenger complaint was long gaps between trains and severe over- crowding. Similar performance was noted on the chronically congested Lexington Avenue subway where the 4, 5, and 6 subway lines operate; 1.5 million people use the Lexington Avenue line daily. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey operates the interstate Port Authori- ty Trans-Hudson (PATH) service. In January 2015 consideration was given to cutting over-
The Illustrated Atlas of
Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
Maine’s
$46.00
Outstanding Recent Books About the SP!
Southern Pacific Freight Cars, Volume 4 (revised), Anthony W. Thompson This limited reprint is part of a series on freight cars of the Southern Pacific: gondolas and stock cars (Vol. 1), cabooses (Vol. 2), automobile and flat cars (Vol. 3, temporarily out of stock), box cars (Vol. 4), and hoppers, covered hoppers and tank cars (Vol. 5). Volume 4 (revised): 504 pages, 862 photos, 94 drawings, bibliography, index. Price: $70
Southern Pacific Ten-Coupled Locomotives, Robert J. Church
Locomotives ranging from 4-10-0 El Gobernador of the 19th century, through 2-10-0 and 2-10-2 to 4-10-2, are shown with extensive photos and drawings. Complete cov- erage of both history and operations is presented, throughout the SP system. 534 pages, 795 photos, 107 maps and graphics, rosters, bibliography, index. Price: $85
Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops (reprinted), Robert A. Pecotich One of the greatest and most productive railroad shops in North America, SP’s Sacra- mento Shops built and rebuilt locomotives and freight cars, from 1868 to 1990. 496 pages, over 600 photos, 21 maps and drawings, bibliography, index. Price: $85
Southern Pacific Lines Standard-Design Depots, Henry E. Bender Jr.
Hundreds of SP depots, built to a small number of standard designs, and some non- standard depots, are described and illustrated with extensive photos and drawings. 320 pages, 437 photos, 46 drawings, bibliography, index. Price: $70
Free shipping, domestic individual orders
($40 shipping for foreign individual orders, Canada $30) California residents add 8% sales tax per book.
see our web site for information on all our books SIGNATURE PRESS
Order securely at:
www.signaturepress.com or order direct: 11508 Green Rd, Wilton, CA 95693
PHONE ORDERS OR DEALER INQUIRIES TO: 1-800-305-7942
21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74