Green Mountain Plow Extra
After more than 30 inches of snow fell in less than ten days, the accumulation was more than the ballast regulator plow that had been patroling Vermont Rail System’s Green Mountain Railroad could handle. On February 14, Russell plow X106 was called into service to make a run from Rutland to Bellows Falls. The plow recently returned with a fresh paint job from the Providence & Worcester, which had borrowed it in 2014. The plow extra is seen passing the famous Bartonsville covered bridge on the way to Bellows Falls.
PHOTO BY KEVIN BURKHOLDER
New Tacoma Trestle
Sounder Train 1518 was the last train to cross the 80-year-old Milwaukee Road trestle in Tacoma, Wash., on February 17. The trestle is being replaced by a new double track span, the first half of which is now finished. Crews will make the transition complete by moving a pre- constructed steel bridge into place and connecting both ends to the Lakewood Sub. Once the new Tacoma passenger station is completed, all passenger trains will move to the mostly complete Sound Transit Lakewood Sub, closing the books on passenger trains running along the scenic Port Defiance line of the BNSF Seattle Sub. The bridge is also used by Tacoma Rail for freight operations.
PHOTO BY STEVEN CARTER
in traffic and CSX was included, but not to the magnitude that others have had. The mild increase in coal, along with added oil/ethanol traffic, has helped the bottom line. Expect 2017 to be a very interesting year with extremely large changes being made.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN SCOTT LINDSEY
Chicago Shops Open
During February, Norfolk Southern opened a new locomotive maintenance and repair facility in Chicago, intend- ed to improve the operational efficien- cy of its trains moving through that key market. NS invested $9.5 million in the 16,300-square foot facility, situated in
10 APRIL 2017 •
RAILFAN.COM
the middle of its 47th Street intermod- al terminal. The facility is equipped with a 125-ton drop table to inspect, repair, or replace locomotive traction motors, as well as an overhead gantry crane to hoist heavy engine components. It also houses an indoor inspection pit that will allow workers to perform repairs on up to four locomotives simultaneously. This new facility at 47th Street is intended to complement and improve upon the only other locomotive shop that it operates in Chicago, located at Calumet Yard. Until the new shop was placed into service,
locomotives that
required repair and servicing work had to be shuttled from 47th Street, and the neighboring 63rd Street terminal, to Calumet. By locating the new shop in the 47th Street terminal, NS is confi- dent that locomotive availability will
significantly improve for the key inter- modal schedules supported by those terminals. It will also help support the Ashland Avenue yard, critical for run-through service with the western railroads.
On a typical day, NS moves well over 100 trains through the Chicago terminal area.
Motive Power Update As we go to press, General Electric
was preparing to start shipping NS’
2017 order for 34 ET44AC locomotives from its Fort Worth, Texas, plant. The ET44ACs will be numbered 3647–3680, and they will join the 47 ET44ACs that NS first added to its roster during 2016 (units 3600–3646). During February, the initial units from this order were being
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