It's the System!

This day, All Hallows Eve, brings my series on transportation to an end, for now. I have learned two things: Transportation is a system, and no one in government or running for office treats it as such.

Transportation, the movement of people and goods from one place to another, is a system consisting of streets, highways, railroads, pipelines, inland waterways, oceans, airports and airways. In all my research linking this system to government policy I find many policy positions regarding the different system components. The federal government has a cabinet-level Department of Transportation with various component administrations dealing with the system. Here is the Secretary of Transportation's statement on the department's website:

"Dear Fellow Citizens:
I am proud and privileged to lead the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The American people deserve the safest, most secure, and most efficient transportation system possible. Our top priorities at DOT are to keep the traveling public safe and secure, increase their mobility, and have our transportation system contribute to the nation's economic growth."

The component administrations are:

1. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration
2. Federal Aviation Administration
3. Federal Highway Administration
4. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
5. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
6. Federal Railroad Administration
   
7. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Administration
   
8. Federal Transit Administration
9. Surface Transportation Board
10. Maritime Administration

It's no wonder to me that, with such an array of agencies, political candidates are reluctant to tackle transportation problems with a systems approach. After all, whatever they propose for really solving problems like railroad capacity, they're going to piss somebody off.

Wrapping up the Month

Tomorrow will be my last post on transportation policy in this election season. I'm glad it's over. I've learned a lot in researching the subject; mainly that I should not expect too much from government delivering a coherent transportation policy. Also I should not expect big accomplishments from the private sector as long as they are so tied in to government.

Two subjects left to complete this month: Mexican Container Ports and Pipeline capacity.

• Mexican Container Ports. There are various ports on Mexico's West Coast competing with U.S. West Coast Ports. Punta Colonet, a small village 275 miles south of Los Angeles, is the site of a planned $5 Billion container port where an expected 95% of the incoming containers would cross the U.S. Border. Mexico's goal is to capture about 6 million containers annually at Punta Colonet, then ship them via rail to points within the U.S. Very little of the cargo would be destined for Mexico's domestic market, which is served primarily by ports in Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas. The annual market for Asian container freight to North America is about 30 million containers with about 75% of that going to U.S. ports in Washington, Oregon, and California. Union Pacific Railroad is reporting to be negotiating a deal with Mexico to carry Punta Colonet freight into the U.S. Depending on projections of freight growth, the new Mexican port may only represent a share of the future growth instead of a reduction in current traffic. Current global economic conditions cast a shadow of doubt on such forecasts.
• Current presidential campaigns are silent on the subject of foreign competition to U.S. ports. It might be that a McCain presidency would be more in favor of the competition in the name of free trade.
  

• Pipeline Capacity to Handle Increased Oil Drilling. First, there is a lot of doubt about the ability of the Alaskan pipeline to handle the product of new drilling in the northern part of the state with very large capital inputs for maintenance. There is a general fear among sectors of the population that increased drilling along the Gulf Coast will result in oil spills of the magnitude of the Exxon Valdez incident in Alaska in 1989. The energy industry points out that great changes in technology for exploratory drilling, production wells, pipelines and tankers have been implemented since then. I can find little information about political campaign policies regarding pipeline capacity or safety. I guess the subject is well below the campaign radars.
  

Foreign Truck Licensing

When I see this subject I understand it refers to Mexican trucks. Canadian trucks are commonplace on U.S. highways. I'm going to refer you to some websites that present different views as to whether Mexican trucks and drivers should be permitted on U.S. roads.

American Maritime Officers
U.S. Department of Transportation
Consumer Affairs
The Los Angeles Times
The Teamsters Union
Trucking Blog Net

Lots of views. Little clarity. Do not hold your breath waiting for politicians to level with you on the subject of NAFTA and its implementation.

NAFTA Superhighway

This is a hard subject to cover. The facts seem to be confused with stuff like conspiracy theories. Here, briefly, is what it is, I think.

The phrase NAFTA superhighway is the nickname used for numerous existing and proposed highways.

When describing existing highways, it often describes Interstate 35, along with I-29, and I-94. Those highways are part of the NASCO Corridor. Existing highways or corridors referred to as NAFTA superhighways:

* Interstate 35
* Interstate 29
* Interstate 94
* CANAMEX Corridor

The term is sometimes also used to describe planned, or proposed highways and supercorridors which connect the roads systems of the three nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) trade bloc (Canada, Mexico, and the United States). Proposed or planned highways and supercorridors referred to as NAFTA superhighways:

* Trans-Texas Corridor
* International Mid-Continent Trade Corridor
* Proposed I-69 highway extension to Mexico through Texas.

Organizations supporting supercorridors:

* North American SuperCorridor Coalition
* North American Forum on Integration

and here is an example of the semi-hysterical conspiracy theory stuff:

Quietly but systematically, the Bush Administration is advancing the plan to build a huge NAFTA Super Highway, four football-fields-wide, through the heart of the U.S. along Interstate 35, from the Mexican border at Laredo, Tex., to the Canadian border north of Duluth, Minn.

Once complete, the new road will allow containers from the Far East to enter the United States through the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas, bypassing the Longshoreman’s Union in the process. The Mexican trucks, without the involvement of the Teamsters Union, will drive on what will be the nation’s most modern highway straight into the heart of America. The Mexican trucks will cross border in FAST lanes, checked only electronically by the new “SENTRI” system. The first customs stop will be a Mexican customs office in Kansas City, their new Smart Port complex, a facility being built for Mexico at a cost of $3 million to the U.S. taxpayers in Kansas City.

As incredible as this plan may seem to some readers, the first Trans-Texas Corridor segment of the NAFTA Super Highway is ready to begin construction next year. Various U.S. government agencies, dozens of state agencies, and scores of private NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have been working behind the scenes to create the NAFTA Super Highway, despite the lack of comment on the plan by President Bush. The American public is largely asleep to this key piece of the coming “North American Union” that government planners in the new trilateral region of United States, Canada and Mexico are about to drive into reality.

Wow! I think the conspiracy folks are ignoring the fact that individual states build the interstate highways with some federal funding and specifications. I've heard that Oklahoma is one state vetoing the so-called superhighway. That's a pretty large chunk left out.

Electric Switchers Were a Rarity

American railroads rarely used electric switchers but the Pennsylvania Railroad used them extensively in New York City, Philadelphia and Harrisburg. Above is PRR class B1 No. 5690 at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The last of a class of 42 switchers built in Altoona in 1934, this compact switcher used 11 Kv 25 Hz AC power of 1,710 horsepower. With all its 157,000 Lbs. on the six driving wheels they were capable of a tractive effort of 50,000 pounds. No. 5690 worked its whole career in the New York City area. In 1972 it was purchased for the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania for $5,100.

What Does it Cost?

From the January, 2008 issue of Trains Magazine come a lot of interesting data on costs.

Steel: Prices up 72% from 2002 to 2006. (rails, bridges, cars)
Scrap Steel (metric Ton): $88 in 2002, $262 late 2007.
Aluminum: $1362/ton 2003, $1820/ton 2005, about $2,000 today (cars)
New heavy freight locomotive: $1.7 to $2.1 million each (AC power and EMD at the high end)
New switcher: $800 thousand to $1.3 million each
New passenger locomotive: $2.5 to $4.7 million each
Locomotive oil filter: $500 (required twice a year)
Coal gondola: $72 to $82 thousand each
3-well double-stack intermodal car: $175 to $200 thousand (6 containers)
5-well unit intermodal car: $250 to $275 thousand (10 containers)
89 foot auto rack: $130,000
Coupler: $450 to $600
Wheelset (axle, bearings, wheels): $2,7000 new $1,000 rebuilt.
new 115 pound rail: $50/foot installed
Wood ties: $50 each installed
Ballast to raise track two inches: $5,600 / mile
New ballast tamper: $500,000
New rail grinder: $8 million.
New double-track highway overpass: $10 to $30 million each

It does add up, doesn't it?

It's Not Just the Big Metro Areas

The squeeze in transportation funding reaches into the small counties and towns of the U.S. This article in the Rifle, Colorado Citizen Telegram clearly describes difficulties being felt in all parts of the country. These funding problems are especially acute in the West because of the distances roads and rails have to cover. Rifle is located in Western Colorado on Interstate 70 and the Union Pacific Railroad main line between Denver and Salt Lake City. It is about 60 miles east of the city of Grand Junction in Garfield County.

Coming Up - The Perp Walk

Take a look at this article from CNBC predicting a wave of criminal indictments in the coming months of our economic crisis.

It's about time, and will be a welcome relief from the hysterical fingers of blame pointing at government and media. I may have missed out on something, but I have not heard about any government official or media journalist packaging sub-prime mortgages or coming up with questionable credit default swaps. It's kind of like folks who have been robbed going after the police instead of the crooks. There's certainly a place for criticizing the supposed watchdogs and regulators, but not until after the thieves are behind bars.

What About the Passenger Rail Future?

A 2007 Mitre Corporation study for the Federal Aviation Administration identifies eight metropolitan areas that need additional non-aviation capacity improvements by the year 2025. This is after planned FAA improvements. The areas are San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York. As the U.S. population grows to an expected 420 million by 2050, these are areas where serious congestion, environmental, and safety problems will occur as road and air systems become frozen.

Estimated peak highway congestion by 2020 predicts capacity being exceeded in just about every metro area of the U.S.

We need to spend billions on rail to avoid a transportation crisis. The Passenger Rail Working Group, a coalition of transportation experts, has estimated in 2007 the U.S. will have to invest up to $357 billion by 2050. You can see their report here prepared for the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission in December 2007.

If You Don't Pay for Transportation You Don't Get Any

I have drawn extensively from a column by veteran journalist Don Phillips in the August 2008 issue of Trains Magazine.

Highways, railroads and airways are overcrowded. Railroads, a free enterprise industry, are at least trying. Airports and airways are barely getting enough funding to keep the planes flying, and highways are stagnant while traffic grows. Interstate highways are stretched to capacity and no new ones are being built.

The federal government is ignoring all this. The campaign slogan “no new taxes” has actually become policy. The current administration does not seem to recognize the difference between simplistic campaign rhetoric and the complexities of governing and doing right for the country. Government spending has not been cut, an expensive war is being fought, and still the administration refuses to raise taxes, and has driven the country deeper into debt.

Transportation has suffered from this policy. The federal government simply hasn’t the money to do anything new in transportation. They just make routine grants and try to make them sound important.

The states aren’t fooled. Knowing they will get nothing new from Washington, they are trying to fend for themselves. California is an example of a state that is succeeding, but it is a state with the budget of a moderate-sized country. Many other states can’t match that.

Passenger transportation is elastic up to a point. People can choose not to take unnecessary trips. In some places they can get to work on public transportation. Freight transportation is not elastic. Commerce has to move. It has no economically viable alternative.

We are seeing effects of this already. Railroad freight is not growing because the railroads are a bunch of good guys. The reason is that trucks can’t move efficiently anymore. Highways are too crowded and drivers are scarce. One of the trucker’s solutions is to drive to the nearest intermodal terminal. Railroads are having a tough time keeping up.

Other than the additional time it takes to get to work, the public knows little about this. The mainstream media covers airlines and local road problems. People think transportation crowding is just a local problem.

In 2008 a new complication entered this scene: the fast run up in fuel prices followed by a crisis of confidence in the world financial system. The country as a whole seems to have coped with it pretty well and some prices like gasoline are now declining. You just know that lower fuel prices are not going to last; not when most of the world’s oil supply pool is controlled by governments.

Amtrak traffic has risen fast this year, especially in the Northeast Corridor. Many trains sell out now. Your reporter has experienced standing room only crowding on Amtrak’s Keystone Route for at least the past three years. Attempting to reserve sleeping car space on a long distance train just before departure has a low probability of success.

It appears the Bush Administration and the current presidential candidates do not even know how serious the transportation problem is. In the long run, maybe a transportation disaster is what the country needs. America’s institutions, including Congress and the news media, react to disasters. Maybe a major loss of mobility, making a deep recession even worse would wake us up. Nothing else seems to be working.

Pennsy EMD Type E7 Last of its Kind

PRR Class EP20 (EMD E7) Number 5901 is the sole survivor of a class of American diesel electric passenger locomotives that led U.S. railroading out of the Second World War.

Built by GM's Electromotive plant at La Grange, Illinois in 1945, No. 5901 and sister unit 5900 were purchased for the "South Wind" a joint PRR/L&N/ACL Chicago-Miami passenger train. A last-minute contract disagreement resulted in the Pennsy withdrawing from the pooled locomotive arrangement about one week before their delivery. PRR sent the two units to Harrisburg to await a permanent road assignment. At the time no diesel refueling facilities existed between Chicago and Harrisburg and the crack trains on that route were pulled by new T1 streamlined steam locomotives. Following the set-up of a temporary diesel fuel facility in Mansfield, Ohio the E7's were assigned to one leg of the Harrisburg-Detroit "Red Arrow".

PRR #5901 was assigned to the passenger locomotive pool in Harrisburg during the 1950's until the mid 1960's when it was reassigned to the New York & Long Branch commuter line in New Jersey. It served on the South Amboy-Bay Head run until 1973 when a minor rear-end collision at Bay Head cracked its rear coupler pocket. Because of its age it was dispatched to Harrisburg pending retirement. In Harrisburg several employees knew 5901's historical significance and literally hid the locomotive in the Harrisburg roundhouse to keep it from being scrapped. In 1976 the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania purchased the locomotive for $20,000 and took custody of it.

Pennsy Steam for Pittsburgh Commuters

PRR class G5s ten-wheeler No. 5741is not the dashing steam express popularly remembered in artist Grif Teller's calendar pictures. The largest concentration of Pennsy's fleet of 90 was in the Pittsburgh area handling commuter locals between the "Golden Triangle" and towns like Greensburg, New Castle, Sharon and Beaver Falls. The Long Island Railroad had a fleet of 30 G5s. Built in the company's shops in Altoona in November, 1924, No. 5741 was selected some 30 years later for preservation and is now a featured display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

At a length of 70 ft., 5-1/2 in. the G5s class weighed 237,000 pounds with tender and provided tractive force of 41,328 lbs.

PRR GG1 Electric at the Top of the Class

PRR GG1 No. 4935 was built in 1943 near the end of the GG1 class production run. Of the 139 engines built between 1934 and 1943 only 3 were delivered after this one you see above at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. This electric beauty is known around the world as Blackjack (add up the digits of her road number).

On many test runs the GG1 accelerated to 100 mph in 64 seconds. This performance called for peak power of 9300 rail horsepower. That's equal to 11,000 horsepower from a diesel-electric engine. Often when an 18 car passenger train pulled into Harrisburg from New York with a GG1 leading, it would be met by a three unit diesel set to haul the train on its journey Westward.

No. 4935 was on display at Washington Union Station on October 4-5, 2008, joining other historical cars and engines for the station's centennial celebration. Blackjack returned to Strasburg on October 9. Two NS locomotives were required for the trip to Washington and return to make up for 4935's lack of brakes. See stories at: Yahoo News CNN and Trains magazine and Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

Happy Columbus Day

I am retired, so every day is a holiday for me. This is to make up for never having had Columbus day off my entire working career. I hope some of you have the day off, though. I am not working today. Almost all my blogging is written in advance using Google's scheduling options to publish at a specific day and time.

Pennsy Steam Engine is a Movie Star

PRR No. 1223 class D15sb American type 4-4-0 at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is a real Hollywood movie star. After 32 years of railroad service the engine was thoroughly restored in 1937 at Altoona for a role in the movie Broadway Limited which was filmed in New York and released to theaters in 1939. In one scene, No. 1223 replaces K4s No. 3768 on a 17-car passenger train. The hero, actor Victor McLaglen suddenly "starts" No. 1223 causing her wheels to spin violently. Not one of her finest moments.
In the 1960's No. 1223 was leased to the Strasburg Railroad. Her most famous apperance was a starring role in the 1968 Twentieth Century Fox film Hello Dolly. With a tall stack, boxy headlight, elongated cowcatcher and a bright blue, red, gold, white and yellow paint job No. 1223 was transformed into the fictitious "New York Central and Hudson River Railroad". For several weeks No. 1223, accompanied by 3 coaches and an open observation car (now Strasburg No. 23), performed many runbys for the film crew at Cold Spring, New York. Following its return to Strasburg, No. 1223 was returned to its authentic PRR appearance and served in excursion service with the Strasburg until a 1990 inspection showed extensive firebox repairs to be needed and the decision was made to permanently retire No. 1223 to its owner, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.