Big and Little

Here in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania the engineer of little (12 miles) Lancaster Northern Railroad waits for big Norfolk Southern to let him out on the NS Reading Line main to take his customer's loads to the Reading yard for interchange. The Harrisburg East dispatcher has told the crew that after this train there is a "Hot Shot" approaching "Dorf" (Womelsdorf) and after that he will let them onto the main. Note the meeting of General Electric generations as well. Lancaster Northern 2202 is a former Providence & Worcester GE U23B and NS 9532 is a GE Dash 9 almost 30 years younger.

Little guys like Lancaster Northern, part of Penn Eastern Railroad, keep customers like feed mills, building supply dealers, and steel fabricators connected with necessary transportation that helps to hold down manufacturing costs and reduces the number of trucks on the highway.

Passenger Train Derails in Quebec

A Via Rail train with 125 passengers on board derailed at 04:25 today in the South Shore area of Quebec City destroying the porch of a house. Catch the details here from the CBC.

Southern Pacific Daylight

I photographed SP train 99, the northbound Coast Daylight, at Burbank, California in 1968. A cousin had bought a bargain Pentax SLR for me at the Navy ship's store in Guam, and I was out early on a Saturday morning trying it out.

Trains have fascinated me since early childhood. I grew up in El Paso, Texas and Mexico City, Mexico. I attended prep school in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts where I could see the Central of Vermont across the Connecticut River, and where I traveled by Boston & Maine and New Haven railroads. I went to college in San Luis Obispo, California where the Southern Pacific coast route makes a horseshoe curve around the Cal Poly campus at the foot of Cuesta Hill. Meets of the Coast Daylights could be seen around noon every day. In the mid-50's steam helpers were still at work on the Cuesta grade. Why all this blah, blah, blah? These 2 photos are part of about 20 or so that have survived from my early life. Oh well, you can't go back, can you?

Strasburg Railroad Dreaming of Spring

Things are pretty quiet out at the Strasburg Railroad during this snowy Winter. The best we can do is dream of the warmer days to come.

Tehachapi Derailment & Florida Tragedy

A BNSF freight train derailed in Kern County, California Saturday morning at the Tehachapi Loop tunnel entrance just South of Keene, California. The train was headed from Barstow to Stockton. One tank car carrying denatured alcohol ruptured and caught fire. Some Residents of the area were evacuated to a temporary shelter set up at Tehachapi High School.

Kern County Sheriff's deputies helped with evacuations, while the Kern County Fire Department responded to deal with the fire and possible hazardous materials spill.

In other Saturday 2/20 news, 3 teenage girls were killed crossing a Florida East Coast Railway bridge in Melbourne. Totally preventable, and a reminder why Project Lifesaver should be in every school.

Here Comes TIGER

It stands for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery and it means a lot of money for railroad projects. Here's a short list:

CREATE - a first-of-its-kind partnership between U.S. DOT, the State of Illinois, City of Chicago, Metra, Amtrak, and the nation's freight railroads. $100 million to improve rail access across the Chicago area, currently a serious choke point. Click here

National Gateway - $98 million for opening up CSX rail corridors in the Mid Atlantic states. Click here

Crescent Corridor - $105 million for Norfolk Southern corridor expansion between Louisiana and New Jersey. Click here

One of the biggest TIGER grants is going to the Penn Station New York City expansion project. Read about it here

Still reading reports about "High Speed" passenger rail projects in various states. Little or nothing about acquiring exclusive passenger rail right of way. Passenger rail running on freight rails is never going to be high speed in the European or Asian style.

A Meeting of Norfolk Southern Geeps

EMD GP38-s's like thse have become the common switcher used at Lancaster, Pennsylvania's Norfolk Southern Dillerville yard. I've changed background here for more emphasis on these good, useful machines.

Good Collection of Norfolk Southern Power

On a crisp Winter day in Lancaster, Pennsylvania's Dillerville yard a set of NS power waits for yard action. NS 6197 is an EMD SD40-2 ex Norfolk & Southern. NS 872 is and RP06 road slug ex SD40. Number 6197 would be the "Mother" unit supplying the power to 872's six axles. Trailing NS 5655 is an EMD GP38-2 ex Lehigh Valley and one of a half-dozen or so GP38's stationed at this historic yard that dates back to the 19th century.

New Blog Direction

I feel I've done all I can do for the time being regarding Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and the Strasburg Railroad. From time to time I'll re-post something from a couple of years back for those institutions. My main emphasis is going to be Norfolk Southern, my local freight railroad; Amtrak and SEPTA, my local passenger roads; and current industry news I've picked up from sources like the American Association of Railroads.

One personal note: I plan to become a certified Project Lifesaver presenter this Spring and will integrate that into special events at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

Silverliner Heritage

The Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority has ordered 104 new electrified multiple unit cars from Japan-Korea based United Transit Systems for a price of $2.98 million each. Above, a SEPTA Silverliner pulls into the Downingtown, Pennsylvania station on December 28, 2006.

Below, Pennsylvania Railroad 247, a Silverliner I, is paired with number 246 at Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. Built by the Budd Company as Pioneer III in 1958, this was the first prototype of a long-lived line of dependable, good-looking passenger cars. These two cars were rescued at the last moment from a trip to Pueblo, Colorado to become crash test vehicles. They are on non-prototype trucks and had been stripped of all their electric equipment.

There is no better way to go into Philadelphia especially if one qualifies for the $1 senior fare.

BNSF Shareholders Approve Sale to Buffet

70% of Burlington Northern Santa Fe shareholders voted to approve the sale of the railroad giant to Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway. A two-thirds majority was required to approve. See more on news sites like Yahoo or Google or CNBC.

Well Traveled

This Amtrak veteran P40 painted as San Luis & Rio Grande number 455 and still bearing the paint job of Canadian American sits in the yard in Alamosa, Colorado in April 2006. SLRG (which may also operate as the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad) runs excursions from Alamosa to La Veta and back. The trip over La Veta Pass at over 9,000 feet is very scenic. The railroad also has a connection to the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad at Antonito, Colorado. Some of the passenger cars are refurbished Long Island Railroad coaches.

Another Great Texas Spot

At the northern edge of San Antonio International Airport is the Texas Transportation Museum. A volunteer-operated organization also hosts the outdoor G-scale layout of the San Antonio Garden Railway Society and the HO layout of the Alamo Model Railroad Engineers. The hosts at TTM were simply great. They wanted to let me in free because I am a volunteer at another railroad museum. Knowing how tough it is to finance operations like this I insisted on paying like any other visitor. I had a private ride on the Texas & Longhorn RR and a wonderful time looking at everything on exhibit, including a lot of non-railroad powered equipment from lawn tractors to fire engines. Here's a photograph of mine from April, 2005 showing Santa Fe business car 404. TTM also has another heavyweight; Pullman 12-1 sleeper "McKeever". The TTM website has a lot of good pictures, inside and out, of these heavyweight treasures. Note: TTM has no rail connection to the outside, so you can understand what a big job it is to bring large artifacts like Pullmans onto the site.

Is It Really a Building?

North of Amtrak/SEPTA/NJT 30th Street Station Philadelphia, this reflection of the sky shows a building hiding behind the upper level commuter tracks. It is Cira Centre, the tallest building in Philadelphia. The new skyscraper is connected by an enclosed pedestrian skyway to the commuter concourse though which one can walk down to the lower level main waiting room. I love the look of the building in daylight.

NS Maintenance ?

At Dillerville yard in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, EMD SD40-2's 3419 and 3420 are regularly spotted on an old spur that used to go into the city. It's only coincidence that finds these two veterans parked alongside the customers of the automotive transmission repair shop, or is it?

Gone But Not Forgotten

Two BNSF locomotives still in their Santa Fe Warpaint. No. 932 a C41-8W at Grand Junction, Colorado in April 2006. Number 826 a C40-8W near El Paso, Texas in March 2006. I congratulate BNSF for retaining the SF Warbonnet scheme in their new locomotives. BNSF is one of the Big Four that seems to best understand public relations.