Twenty Years Later, CNW Twins Ride On
Twenty years after merger with Union Pacifi c, former Chicago & North Western GE C44-9Ws No. 8607 and No. 8646 retain their orginal paint to this day. The unique duo was paired in a perfect back-to-back set on train IG3AH-12 (Intermodal Transfer, UP G3 to NS Ashland Avenue) on August 12, 2015, hustling over home rails along the ex- C&NW mainline in DeKalb, Ill.
PHOTO BY PAUL BURGESS
July. The first occurred on July 14 and involved a rear-end collision near Dublin, Va. Manifest Train 15T (Allentown, Pa.- Birmingham, Ala.) was stopped on the mainline when empty automotive Train 27V (Walkertown,
N.C.-Shelbyville,
Ky.) ran into its rear end. Fortunately, the crew of 27V sustained only minor injuries, despite lead Dash 9-44CW 9100 rolling on to its side. Then on the morning of July 20, a head-on collision was narrowly averted at Sugar Valley, Ga., when northbound Train
276 (Jacksonville-Georgetown,
Ky.) got by the north end of the passing siding as southbound manifest Train 371 (Chattanooga,
Tenn.-Rome, Ga.)
approached. They were roughly a mile apart when both trains came to a stop. Ironically, this incident occurred a few weeks shy of the 25th anniversary of the August 9, 1990, head-on collision of two NS trains at Sugar Valley that claimed the lives of three crewmen. The busy Georgia Division main line from Chat- tanooga to Atlanta was shut down for several hours as NS supervisors investi- gated the incident.
Capacity Work On NS’s Lake Division
mainline
between Bellevue and Cleveland, Ohio, the extension of Shinrock siding was nearing completion as of early August. The existing controlled siding of 6932 feet has been extended nearly a mile westward towards where Mason Road passes beneath the mainline. Shinrock is one of two controlled sidings on the busy 18-mile stretch of single track between the east end of double track out of the Bellevue terminal at Kimball and the junction with the Pittsburgh-Chicago main line at control point “GC.”
10 OCTOBER 2015 •
RAILFAN.COM
With this extension work, the sin- gle-track gap between Shinrock and Av- ery sidings will be reduced to roughly two miles. However, NS may not fill in that gap anytime soon due to the cost associated with that improvement. Double-tracking that section would in- volve bridgework over the Huron Riv- er, currently crossed by a single-track, four-span structure nearly 400 feet in length.
During August work, rail installation and signal work were progressing on the siding extension project underway at Glade Spring, Va. Reports that the lengthened siding would be in service by August proved to be overly optimis- tic, with the work now expected to be completed by October. Glade Spring is located on the Virginia Division’s Pulas- ki District between Radford and Bristol, Va., part of the Crescent Corridor route between Memphis and the Northeast.
Carolina Coal
With Georgia Power and Alabama Power sourcing more coal from the Illinois Basin than the Southern Appalachian fields, very little tonnage has been flowing from the Pocahontas Division southward to their plants via Frisco, Bulls Gap, and Knoxville, Tenn. Most coal that remains moving via Frisco and Bulls Gap is destined for three North Carolina plants: the Duke Power facilities at Belmont, Catawba, and Skyland.
The standard 100-car unit trains to these sites are typically powered by three units when received from the “Pokey.” Recently, NS has started run- ning the Catawba trains with two units as far as Bulls Gap Yard. There, a third unit is added for the trip east via Ashe-
ville. Empty trains then set off the third unit at Bulls Gap when returning to the Pocahontas Division. In recent months, Catawba loads are typically numbered as Train 744 and 740, and empties run as 745 and 741. Belmont trains are usually numbered 750/751 (loads/emp- ties from various mines) and Skyland trains are usually numbered 778/779. An August 1 snapshot of activity shows there were eight unit train sets cycling to Catawba, two to Belmont, and two to Skyland. As noted in last month’s col- umn, Skyland is set to be shut down by around 2020 after an adjacent gas-fired plant is completed.
Second Quarter Operations
During its second quarter earnings teleconference with the investment community, NS officials noted that de- clining oil prices had started to nega- tively impacting crude oil movements from the Chicago gateway to East Coast customers. That decline became most apparent in July, and this factor was echoed in financial reports from ener- gy companies. For example, PBF En- ergy reduced the number of units oil trains received at its Delaware City, Del., refinery to an average of 60,000 barrels per day during Q2 2015 versus an average of 125,000 barrels per day during Q1. This reduction in crude oil from North Dakota and Canadian fields is being supplemented with imported crude received by ocean vessels. The company predicted rail deliveries could fall below 50,000 barrels per day in Q3 before starting to rebound in Q4. A 100- car unit train handles around 70,000 barrels of oil.
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