railfan.com/railnews PTC Update One of the last pieces of the former
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OTTO M. VONDRAK
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directly to one of our listed news correspondents. BNSF RAILWAY
CSX TRANSPORTATION UNION PACIFIC
JONATHAN QUINLEY
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CANADIAN NATIONAL MICHAEL BERRY
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CANADIAN PACIFIC DAVID STOWE
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CANADIAN SHORTLINES GLENN COURTNEY
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CANADIAN NATIONAL MICHAEL BERRY
Workers Recalled to Move Grain Harvest By November, the 2016 grain harvest
was moving in great quantities from the Canadian prairies to both the west and east coast and CN recalled laid-off workers. Chief Operating Officer Mike Cory said, “We’re handling and ready to handle more of the crop that has been produced,” but did not specify how many employees would be brought back. In Eastern Canada, grain trains usually don’t run very often until the St. Lawrence Seaway freezes up toward the end of December. This year that has not been the case, as grain trains for Quebec have been running on a close-to-daily basis at press time.
Motive Power Nearly all of Canadian National’s
of sugar (mostly from California) to Montgomery, then hand off the traffic to the Burlington Junction Railway for spotting. BNSF expects to move approximately 1,500 car loads of sugar the first year with a possibility of up to 2,500 carloads in the next year.
Loco Lease Ends Metrolink
Los Angeles commuter rail carrier Metrolink has ended the lease of the 31 remaining BNSF ES4400CWs that were assigned to buffer service ahead of Rotem-built cab control cars that were proved defective after a fatal grade crossing collision in 2015. Most of the leased engines have been returned to coal service.
former Union Pacific C40-8s (2000- and 2100-series) have been pulled out of storage and a majority of CN’s Dash 8-40CMs (CN 2400-series and BC Rail 4600-series) have also been reactivated. The 5500-series SD60Fs are not faring as well, with every single unit taken out of service. CN’s order of Tier 4-credit ES44ACs is currently in production at GE, with the first unit, No. 2976, completed at press time.
Makami River Dredged as Part of Gogama Derailment Cleanup
Last month we reported CN had indicated that a cleanup of the Makami River near Gogama, Ont., where loaded crude oil train No. 704 derailed in March 2015, was not necessary and would be counterproductive. Apparently bowing
Santa Fe Transcon was added to the Positive Train Control network on November 8 when the cutover was completed on the Panhandle Sub between Wellington, Kan., and Amarillo, Texas. With the completion of this project, the former Santa Fe route is now PTC-equipped from Galesburg, Ill., to the Pacific Ocean. BNSF has added a PTC “help desk” in Fort Worth so crews can get assistance if the dispatcher can’t resolve software issues such as train consists and crew assignments.
to public pressure, CN changed its mind and announced that the railway had met with Environment Canada and the Ministry of Natural Resources to discuss the dredging of the river. No timetable for the project was announced by press time.
CANADIAN PACIFIC DAVID STOWE
CP Seeks Changes to Maximum Work Hours for Train Crew
Canadian Pacific has notified the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) it will be seeking changes by Transport Canada to reduce the maximum permissible hours that its Canadian-based running trades employees can spend at the controls of a train. CP has commenced the required consultation period in which TCRC-Train & Engine (TCRC-T&E) leadership has until January 7, 2017, to comment. After it has provided comment, CP will respond and file the proposed rule change with Transport Canada. Transport Canada will then have another 60 days to review and either approve, conditionally approve, or reject the new rules. A decision is expected by spring 2017. In a series of press releases related
to the subject, CP says it applied the principles of fatigue science during the formulation of the proposed rules, which the railroad says would see Canadian- based employees move away from the current rule that allows locomotive engineers and conductors to operate a train for up to 18 hours at their discretion. The new rules would allow unassigned train and engine employees to operate for a maximum of 12 hours before getting rest. Some observers believe, however,
that CP is actually trying to get an increase to a standard 12-hour work day from the current ten in order to better accommodate existing and future extended running districts. Current hours-of-service
regulations allow
running trades employees to work a maximum of 12 hours in a continuous tour of duty or a combined 18 hours in any 24-hour period. Work train crews may work 16 hours in a continuous tour of duty. The Collective Agreements in Canada contain clauses that allow running trades employees to book rest after being ten hours on duty if they so desire. CP for many years has
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