B&O Thunder in the Alleghenies


WhiteRiverProductions


comes from viewing the mess in “the bowels of Penn Station in Manhattan,” an “ancient electrical network” constantly in need of repair, cables “beyond their life cycle, caus- ing delays” as one super-cautiously moves down “narrow metal stairs into a dimly lit and stuffy basement.” There you can see the four-inch cables that stretch for miles through Amtrak’s two rail tubes under the Hudson River. They have “repeatedly failed,” and “all sides agree the 106-year- old tubes will have to be shut down, one at a time.” Parts of this crippled infrastruc- ture had to be temporarily “fixed” (more or less with fingers crossed) after the 2012 flooding by Hurricane Sandy. The ultimate inevitable shut-down? Maybe next year, in a decade. Who knows? And this: “If a new tunnel is not built be-


This look at the B&O


depicts the road’s struggle to master the Alleghenies.


$14.95 Order item CRS-BOTA


877-787-2467 TOLL-FREE 660-695-4433 NON-US


WhiteRiverProductions.com A Portrait of BC Rail


Northern Light


From its locomotives (including steam, diesel, and electric) to its unique Budd RDC passenger operations, BC Rail was a railway like no other. With 303 full color photographs and 12 lavishly illustrated maps, this volume presents a retrospective of the entire BC Rail system during its 20-year life span between June 1984 and July 2004.


Dale Sanders $


79.95 PLUS S&H • ITEM NLBC


877-787-2467 TOLL-FREE 660-695-4433 NON-US


WhiteRiverProductions.com 24 OCTOBER 2015 • RAILFAN.COM Produced by plus S/H


fore this inevitable shut-down, we face transit Armageddon.” Into this equivalent of the last-minute familiar but fictional picture of a damsel in distress tied to the railroad track, with a train barreling through just a few yards away, steps the political sector — hopefully “to the rescue.” The Schumer plan: New York’s senior


Senator Chuck Schumer (D) has come up with a proposal that involves a new non-prof- it development corporation that would formu- late a plan to pay for construction of the badly needed new tunnels under the Hudson River. He would call it the Gateway Development Corporation. There has been progress on the plan, but the sticking point is the stick- er price, estimated by Amtrak President Joe Boardman-- at about $16 billion. Senator Schumer is seeking help from


Southern Pacific


Official Cars By Donald M. Munger & Jeffrey Alan Cauthen


H


istory of SP Official Cars and that of subsidiaries T&NO, SPdeM, SSW


NWP and PE etc. Library bound, 8½x12 horizontal format, 528 Pages, 590 photos —176 in color—and 110 plans, Rosters, Appendix, Bibliography and Index.


$135.00 plus Shipping & Handling


Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society 1523 Howard Access Rd. Suite A Upland, CA 91786-2582 • www.sphts.org


other transit agencies (and likely other states or cities) on the Northeast corridor. That takes in a lot of territory, but not one that’s far-fetched. After all, we are talking about an electrical network that supports what is arguably America’s most important rail artery. The New York lawmaker acknowledges


this is going to be a politically difficult effort. “Gateway,” he says on his Twitter account, “will take energy, commitment, several leaps of faith, but above all else, it will take coop- eration.” In the meantime, federal Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx met with three top New Jerseyans about the tunnel crisis, Gov- ernor Chris Christie (R) and Senators Cory Booker (D) and Robert Menendez (D). They agreed to work together for the repair of old and building of new tunnels. New York Gov- ernor Andrew Cuomo (D) declined to attend, saying a federal loan to build the tunnels would not be sufficient. The NARP view: Weighing in further on


this issue, Jim Mathews, CEO of the rail passenger consumer group the National As- sociation of Railroad Passengers, comment- ed, “When it comes to our infrastructure problems, America has started displaying the retentive powers of your average gold- fish.”


Safety No Pipe Dream


Speaking of rail infrastructure, a report is- sued in August declared that, “Railroads and other industry stakeholders must deploy new technology to combat rail safety accidents.” Issued by the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure, the document “Back on


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