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OTTO M. VONDRAK
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NEWS COORDINATOR KEVIN C. SNYDER
KSNYDER@RAILFAN.COM
BNSF RAILWAY SAYRE KOS
BNSFNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
CANADIAN SHORTLINES GLENN COURTNEY
CDNSHORTS@RAILFAN.COM
CANADIAN NATIONAL SAYRE KOS
CNNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
CANADIAN PACIFIC JAY BROOKS
CPNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
CSX TRANSPORTATION CHASE GUNNOE
CSXNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
CHICAGOLAND RANDY OLSON
CHICAGONEWS@RAILFAN.COM
IOWA INTERSTATE ALLAN HUNT
IAISNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
IRON ORE ROADS
DAVE SCHAUER
ORENEWS@RAILFAN.COM
KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN DANNY JOHNSON
KCSNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
MONTANA RAIL LINK JUSTIN FRANZ
MRLNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
NORFOLK SOUTHERN SCOTT LINDSEY
NSNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
PASSENGER AND COMMUTER OTTO M. VONDRAK
OTTO@RAILFAN.COM
REGIONALS/SHORTLINES - WEST GARLAND MCKEE
WESTSHORTS@RAILFAN.COM
REGIONALS/SHORTLINES - EAST STEPHAN KOENIG
EASTSHORTS@RAILFAN.COM
UNION PACIFIC KEVIN SNYDER
UPNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
STEAM/PRESERVATION JEFFREY D. TERRY
STEAMNEWS@RAILFAN.COM
WWW.RAILFAN.COM/RAILNEWS
Fort Worth, which has prompted BNSF to put a second main track through Alliance and will lead to the eventual severance of the original mainline. The Haslet Auto Facility will be served from the south, the General Electric plant served from the north, and the trackage in the middle of this segment abandoned. On August 27, the track north of Alliance Yard was cut over from Lamber to the north end of Alliance Yard at a new control point called Beth, located at milepost 364.9. Ultimately, the Beth control point will be a crossover between the two main tracks. There will also be a new pair of crossovers at a future control point to be called Harriet at milepost 366.5, between Beth and Lambert. Between Harriet and Beth is a track that connects the intermodal facility with the track called IMF Lead; this is connected by a control point called IMF Lead at milepost 365.5. The Main One project extended south
to the siding at Lake Wanda, south of Alliance, and when completed, the old Main One became Main Two; this cut- over was completed on September 7 when the track between Beth and North Lake Wanda was placed into service. This created two main tracks between Lambert (milepost 368.5) and CP 3556 at South Lake Wanta and also near the wye to the Wichita Falls Subdivision at milepost 355.6. New crossovers at South Haslet also allow trains to use both of the two main tracks and the IMF Lead to be accessed from the south end of the yard. The new main track is along the west side of Alliance Yard, allowing trains to bypass the yard. A second main track between Noel
and Avard, Okla., on the Panhandle Subdivision was set to be cut over in mid- October. This new track represents a 9.6-mile stretch between mileposts 325.6 and 335.2. As of press time, the new track was in place, as were signals along the to-be-activated stretch, and only a new control point (with associated switches) at Noel needed to be installed. Also, a new crossover at West Avard needed to be installed; these switches were being built next to the current mainlines and will be moved into place with sideboom equipment closer to cutover time.
CANADIAN NATIONAL SAYRE KOS
ET44ACs Arrive
Newly manufactured ET44ACs from General Electric were being delivered to Canadian National through the end of summer. Between August and
early September, 17 Tier 4-compliant locomotives had been received from Erie, Pa., including CN 3003, 3008- 3014, 3016-3021, 3023, 3025, and 3026. Slightly more than half of the 39 expected ET44ACs were active as of mid-September. They could be found across all parts of the North American network, working as far west as Alberta, as far east as New Brunswick, and as far south as Tennessee on all sorts of trains, including loaded coal trains in southern Illinois, crack intermodals across the Canadian prairies, and local trains in Wisconsin.
CSX TRANSPORTATION CHASE GUNNOE
Tier 4-Compliant Locomotives Arrive
In August, CSX took delivery of ET44AC locomotives manufactured by General Electric in Erie, Pa. Although mostly similar to the railroad’s vast fleet of ES44DC and ES44AC locomotives, the new ET44ACs feature flared radiators in a distinct rear design that stands out among their predecessors, in addition to being Tier 4 emissions-compliant. The locomotives are in the 3250 series. CSXT 3251 entered service in mid-August with testing on the railroad’s former Clinchfield Railroad territory in Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Nos. 3254 and 3255 entered service in Russell, Ky., in early September for proposed testing on the railroad’s Mountain Subdivision in Grafton,
W.Va. Both territories are known for testing new railroad equipment and technology, since they’re heavy haul tonnage routes on the system. Nos. 3250 and 3258 were also in service, but were not assigned to specific areas of the system as of September 4.
New SD40-3 Rebuild Program
Through a unique partnership between the East Coast’s two prominent railroad carriers, CSX and Norfolk Southern traded 12 CSX SD80MACs for 12 NS SD40-2s in March 2015. NS immediately placed the 7200-series 80MACs into revenue service, while CSX transported its fleet of NS 3400 series SD40-2s to Huntington for storage. Throughout the spring and summer, enthusiasts speculated on the fate of the acquired SD40-2s. At its Huntington facility, CSX painted over the NS logos with its YN3b boxcar logo and renumbered them in the
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