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included new bridges over a Hamby Creek tributary and Abbotts Creek, and an improved bridge over Rich Fork Creek.
Detroit Line Upgrades
Back in the 1980s, NS installed 115-pound welded rail on most of its former Wabash mainline between Montpelier, Ohio, and Detroit. NS is now in the process of replacing it with 136-pound rail. During November, new rail and related track materials were being distributed between Mode, the east end of double track out of Montpelier, and the siding at North Morenci, Ohio.
UNION PACIFIC JONATHAN QUINLEY
Motive Power
Union Pacific took delivery of 16 new C45AHs (UP 2724–2739) in October. UP GP38-2 791 was converted to a GP38N and UP GP40-2s 1407, 1523, and 9989 were converted to GP40Ns. UP continues to convert SD38-2s into PS6Bs units equipped with radio control, as UPY 821, 824, 829, 835, 836, 845, and 858 were all rebuilt in October. Three SW1500 and 32 MP15 end-cab switchers were retired as well. At the end of October, ES44AC No.
7400, the railroad’s tribute to Breast Cancer Awareness, was taken into the shop and had its decals taken off. It was assumed the unit was going to be redone into the standard Armour Yellow; however, it emerged with the pink ribbon graphic permanently painted on the flanks to draw awareness
F-units Forever on Ontario Southland
While streamlined cab units may have been banished from mainline railroads more than 30 years ago, many shortlines still find them useful. Ontario Southland Railway, based in Salford, Ont., has three FP9u diesels in regular revenue service. OSR operates the former Canadian Pacific St. Thomas Sub and services Tillsonburg, St Thomas, and Woodstock. November 7 saw OSRX 1400 FP9u (ex-Railink, ex-VIA 6303, ex-CN 6539) and OSRX 1620 GP9 (ex- CP 8659) servicing the elevator facility at Putnam, Ont.
PHOTO BY WALTER PFEFFERLE
to the fundraising efforts of the Susan G. Komen Cancer Research Foundation. UP SW10 96, which has spent years as
the Cheyenne shop hostler, was retired and donated to the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation Museum in Portland, Ore., arriving November 8. The unit was built as SW7 No 1821 in 1950, and was rebuilt as SW10 No. 1243 in 1982. In 1988 it was renumbered 96 and was later assigned to Cheyenne. ORHS is an appropriate home for the engine as many SW10s worked the Portland are over the years.
Denver Changes
Traffic in Colorado has slowed consistently over the last few years and with that, consolidations have come. Union Pacific’s 36th Street Yardmaster in Denver started running Grand Junction Yard effective October 24. The Grand Junction Yardmaster position was abolished and three more daily jobs were lost. UP states the cuts are due to coal loss, but it’s an overall loss of traffic that has been costing the railroad jobs. UP North Yard in Denver now controls three of UP’s major yards in Colorado, which includes Pueblo on the former Rio Grande.
Mosier Double-Track Permit Denied
Union Pacific’s application for a
permit to construct four miles of double- track and remove an operational bottleneck from the area around Mosier, Ore., was denied by the Wasco County commissioners on November 4. The original application was made in 2015, but the derailment of an oil train on June 3, 2016, renewed concerns
regarding the safety of oil trains running through the area. Additional scrutiny was applied to UP’s application because the construction site is inside the environmentally sensitive Columbia River Gorge. While the planning commission initially approved the construction permit, protests from the Yakima Nation and the Friends of the Columbia Gorge forced an additional review process. “The Planning Commission ignored tribal treaty concerns, environmental and scenic impacts on the Gorge, objections from the City of Mosier, and even the concerns raised by their own staff when they granted the permit last month,” Kevin Gorman, executive director of Friends of the Columbia Gorge said in a statement. Union Pacific officials stated the
project was designed to increase operational efficiency and decrease the number of trains that idle in Mosier, while opponents claimed the railroad was seeking to increase traffic. Officials did not confirm if an appeal is in the works. —O.M.V.
Operations
In the last few months, UP has removed Train MASIH between the Alton & Southern’s Gateway Yard in East St. Louis, Mo., and the Indiana Harbor Belt’s Blue Island Yard in Chicago. The railroad has combined it with the MASCH from Gateway Yard to the Belt Railway of Chicago’s Clearing Yard in Chicago. This train now usually runs extremely large pulling into Yard Center. At Yard Center, the train sets off the IHB traffic and Yard Center traffic before terminating at Clearing.
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