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burg, Va. The State Department of En- vironmental Quality proposed the civil penalty in a legal agreement called a consent order, to which the railroad agreed. The order also required CSX to pay more than $18,500 for the DEQ’s costs to investigate the spill. The rail- road has agreed to continue monitoring the quality of the James River through September 2015, investing more than $1 million to clean up the spill and restore the riverbank thus far. The derailment occurred last year on CSX’s James River Subdivision when an eastbound crude oil train enroute to Yorktown, Va., de- railed in downtown Lynchburg.
KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN DANNY JOHNSON
Speed Increases Laredo Sub
On June 7, KCS increased Laredo Sub- division train speeds from 45 m.p.h. to 59 m.p.h. after significant infrastructure and track improvements. The speed in- crease will encompass the entire Sub- division from Laredo to Corpus Christi, Texas, with the exception of the com- munities of Mirando City, Hebbronville, Benavides, San Diego, Agua Dulce, Ban- quete, and Robstown.
Wyle Intermodal Terminal
In late May carriers were given a tour of the new Wyle Intermodal Terminal to acquaint them with the features and operating benefits of the new facili- ty located near the Dallas-Fort Worth
metroplex. The terminal will have two 5000-foot intermodal tracks and sup- port an annual lift capacity of 342,000 container units, more than doubling the lift capacity of the Zacha facility. The terminal has 1500 parking spaces and an additional 400 container stack spot- ting locations.
BNSF Detours via Greenville Sub
Due to the massive flooding in Texas in May, BNSF suffered service interrup- tions on some of its lines, prompting the railroad to detour over the KCS Green- ville Subdivision. Observers along the Greenville Sub noted BNSF detours starting around May 22, bringing some welcome activity to an otherwise quiet subdivision. As of the date of this col- umn, the duration of the detours and the number of detour movements per day were not known.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN SCOTT LINDSEY
Rebuilt N&W 611 Stretches Her Legs
The biggest preservation news story of the year continues to be the return of Norfolk & Western No. 611. The streamlined Class J 4-8-4 steam locomotive departed Spencer, N.C., on May 21 with nine passenger cars and an auxiliary water car in tow for a break- in run to Greensboro, N.C. No major issues were encountered during the 88- mile round trip, which marked No. 611’s first operation on the main line since its retirement in December 1994.
The highlight for many fans came on
May 30 when No. 611 departed Spencer for its birthplace of Roanoke, Va., pulling an 18-car train of dignitaries. Thousands lined the right-of-way as the train steamed through North Carolina and onto former N&W rails at Lynchburg, Va., then stormed up fabled Blue Ridge grade (the latter segment with Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman at the throttle). Arriving at Roanoke in late afternoon, the Class J was greeted by a crowd of 2000 fans and well-wishers. The hometown crowd turned out
on May 31 as thousands of Roanoke citizens took the opportunity to become re-acquainted with No. 611 at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. The special homecoming event included cab tours and a line-up of locomotives that included No. 611, N&W 2-6-6-4 No. 1218, and N&W 2-8-8-2 No. 2156 (the latter having arrived in Roanoke on May 12 on loan from St. Louis’s Museum of Transportation). The VMT event marked the first time in six decades that N&W’s “big three” of steam were reunited. Several mainline fan trips operated
in June and July in Virginia, including runs out of Manassas, Lynchburg, and Roanoke. Prior to this, the last fan trip operated with No. 611 occurred on December 3, 1994, when it pulled a Birmingham, Ala., to Chattanooga, Tenn., round trip before being retired. —JEFF TERRY
D&H Acquisition Details
On May 15, the federal Surface Trans- portation Board (STB) approved Norfolk Southern’s application for the acqui- sition of Delaware & Hudson’s “South Lines.” The decision came as no surprise
First Public Excursions for N&W J-Class No. 611
Norfolk Southern Train 957, led by Norfolk & Western No. 611, rolls downgrade westbound between Linden and Front Royal, Va., on the “B Line” on Sunday, June 7, 2015. The railroad’s 21st Century Steam program is going strong with the big 4-8-4 performing fl awlessly on three weekend excursions between Manassas and Front Royal that served as 611’s offi cial return to excursion service following a year-long rebuilding and restoration.
PHOTO BY DARRYL RULE
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