to court once again, this time seeking an injunction to halt the Fillmore & Western’s tourist trains over the eastern segment of the line between Fillmore and Santa Paula. For now, the injunction only covers the tourist trains and the eastern portion of the line, but doesn’t attempt to stop Fillmore & Western’s busy (and lucrative) Hollywood movie business. A court hearing on the injunction is expected sometime in early 2016.
Iowa Interstate Grade Separation During November and December
work commenced in earnest at the grade separation project in Iowa City, Iowa. First Avenue will be lowered and the IAIS main track will be raised when the project is completed during 2016. The First Avenue crossing was closed on November 20 for three days to allow a shoofly to be constructed. The IAIS main track was shifted to the south and a temporary crossing was installed by the end of November. — ALLAN HUNT
REGIONALS/SHORTLINES EAST STEPHEN KOENIG
Florida East Coast tests LNG locomotive
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations were supposed to be in the test phase on the Florida East Coast starting in
January 2016. General
Electric returned ES44C4 No. 800, which was retrofitted with LNG equipment at Fort Worth, Texas, and that locomotive will join GECX No. 3000, a dual-fuel
locomotive already on FEC. Tests will be conducted between Bowden and New Smyrna Beach, Fla. FEC has an option for at least four more C4s from GE and intends to have all of FEC C4s powered by LNG by 2018.
Georgia Central to serve HOG Mega Site
Genesee & Wyoming-owned Georgia Central will serve a new industrial complex at the Heart of Georgia (HOG) Mega Site, a 2,000-acre industrial park in Dublin that received dual Mega Site/ Super Park certification in December from McCallum Sweeney Consulting (MSC). The site is the first in both Georgia and the U.S. to obtain this dual certification and, earlier this year, became the first site in Dublin-Laurens County to be certified as Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development (GRAD). Georgia
Central Railway stretches
171 miles from Macon to Savannah and provides rail service at the HOG Mega Site, which is designed for manufacturing and distribution centers. The railroad has connectivity with two Class I rail partners: Norfolk Southern in Macon and CSX in Savannah. The site is one of the largest such industrial parks in Georgia.
Challenge Continues G&U Transload
The Surface Transportation Board has recently filed for a rehearing, following a First Circuit Court of Appeals order that the STB re-review the operations of the Grafton & Upton Railroad over
its transloading facility in
Upton.
Since 2012, Upton residents have been fighting with the STB about what the residents consider “a lack of regulations at the Upton facility of the Grafton & Upton Railroad.”
According to the First Circuit Court of Appeals case document, the railroad is exempt from strict regulations because it is considered a transportation facility. Upton petitioners argue that the way in which pellets are being transported at the facility should be considered manufacturing,
making it to regulations. One of subject the problems
indicated with the Upton facility was the intrusion of light and noise into the surrounding areas and that commodities should be shipped in boxcars instead of hoppers. In October, the First Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Upton residents and ordered a review of the railroad operations by the STB. The STB went ahead and filed this rehearing of the case.
Catskill Mountain Lease Dispute Ruling
A New York State Supreme Court judge ruled in the ongoing legal dispute between the Catskill Mountain Railroad and landlord Ulster County on December 21, giving victories to both sides of the battle. The county has been trying to evict the railroad since 2013, claiming CMRR has violated terms of the lease. The railroad leases 38 miles of former New York Central (Ulster & Delaware) track from Kingston to the county line at Highmount, N.Y. From there, the tracks continue another 20 miles through Arkville and Roxbury as the Delaware
West Belt District FTRL Railway
Effective Monday December 7, 2015, Foster Townsend Rail Logistics (FTRL) Railway took over switching on a leased section of Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis track known as the “West Belt District.” Motive power will be a pair of leased GP38’s from affiliate Patriot Rail.
PHOTO BY MARK MAUTNER
14 FEBRUARY 2016 •
RAILFAN.COM
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