Canadian Trackside Guide® 2015
The ONLY comprehensive guide to Canadian railways,
includes U.S. based operations. 5½” x 8½”, 736 pages
$35.95 (Canadian addresses) (all ppd.,taxes included)
$39.95 (American addresses)
Locomotives of CN (including IC, WC, GTW, B&LE, DW&P, EJ&E, DMIR), CPR, VIA, Regional and Shortline railways, plus all Industrial locomotives;
Urban Rail Transit, Passenger Cars, Cabooses; Preserved Canadian Locomotives and Equipment; Work Service Cars, other Non-revenue Equipment; VIA, Commuter and Excursion Train schedules; Subdivision details for all railways: station names, mileposts, radio frequencies, detector locations, divisional maps, detailed maps of major rail centres.
When Steam & Steel
Get in Your Blood Reflections of a CPR Locomotive Fireman
By Duncan H. du Fresne
8½” x 11½” soft cover, 148 pages, 75 photos $49.95 (all ppd.,taxes included)
Written by a C.P. engineman, “it’s a railway book like no other”.Learn how a roundhouse hostler handled a potpourri of C.P. steam locomotives dating from 1904 to 1948, and ALCO S2s. Explains details of the work, workers, Foremen, facilities, winter weather, and other working conditions.
(U.S. Orders in U.S. Funds)
BYTOWN RAILWAY SOCIETY P.O. Box 47076, Ottawa, ON Canada K1B 5P9
Send Cheque or Intl Money Order to: or order online at:
www.bytownrailwaysociety.ca
cuts in the passenger service. But the mea- sures were (again) rejected, bringing the Am- trak bottom line in at $1.13 billion, down from the current $1.4 billion level. One of the defeated cuts would have struck
the entire $850 million for Amtrak’s capital and debt service grants; another would have eliminated $288.5 million from Amtrak op- erating grants. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said Amtrak should be operated privately like airlines and buses. Rep. David Price (D-N.C), senior appropriator, noted that all modes of transportation receive some government sub- sidization. We’ve gone through these tired debates
nearly every year for a half century. Amaz- ing it is that adults may think of airports and highways as gifts from outer space.
No More Favoritism for NEC
One of the several things that contributed to a unanimous Senate vote is that the legisla- tion provides Amtrak with a way to achieve a “balanced” approach to dealing with, on the one hand, the Northeast Corridor and, on the other hand, everywhere else on the Amtrak system.
Reorganizing the Amtrak board of directors,
as the legislation’s authors insist, will go a long way toward fixing Amtrak’s general condition as a truly “national” conveyance and enable the company to strike an even balance between the Northeast Corridor and the long-distance trains that operate coast-to-coast. That reorganization of the boards will
include two individuals to represent the NEC; two individuals who will represent the long-distance and state-supported routes; and one who will deal with whichever busi-
ness line needs help at a given moment. That way, according to Amtrak, every interest “will have an equal voice in Amtrak’s planning pro- cess.” Pointedly, the National Association of Railroad Passengers declared, “This is a huge departure from previous proposals that have sought to continue expansion of the North- east Corridor while freezing or shrinking the footprint of the national network.” Not mentioned there is the fact that the
NEC (along with a few miles in Michigan) is the only routing where Amtrak owns its own trackage. Everywhere else, the Class I rail- roads have been loaded with the gusher of the new oil produced through the fracking meth- od of extraction. That’s good, of course, and is leading to America’s independence from foreign oil. But that’s a story we have covered in this column and, no doubt, to which we will return again (and again and again). But it can be a hindrance to passenger rail reli- ability. Oh, and one additional note regard- ing “balance.” Lawmakers are determined to allow the diversion of profits from the high- speed Acela Express trains that ply the NEC to be spent to help pay for the rest of the trains elsewhere on the national system — the less profitable long-distance operations. Some other lawmakers have fought to leave
the Acela profits with the Acela trains on the NEC because they sincerely want upgraded trains on the NEC. Others are suspected of trying to sabotage the long-distance runs.
Bipartisanship
Other pro-Amtrak legislation is co-authored by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.). If their legislation becomes law, it will provide for an “independent entity
Some Things are Just Better Together!
Bacon and eggs. Batman and Robin. Doors and knobs. Some things just aren’t complete by themselves.
4 issues for $29.95
12 issues for $37.95
4 issues for $24.97 Together, our lines cover the entire world of railroading, past to present.
Order online day or night at
WhiteRiverProductions.com P.O. Box 48, Bucklin, MO 64631 • Toll-free (877) 787-2467
24 AUGUST 2015 •
RAILFAN.COM Find us on Facebook
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