News Briefs - June, 2002
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Riders Open House this Saturday...
Rider's Hobby Shop in Kalamazoo will be having an open house this Saturday (6/29) from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Kalamazoo Model Railroad Historical Society will be demonstrating both HO and N scale trains, as well as "Trainz", a model railroad operation simulator.
NS July 4th Operating Plan...
Norfolk Southern will continue to operate over Independence Day, Thursday July 4, 2002 in order to protect service commitments, local customer requirements and specific customer production needs during this holiday period. Delays may occur due to lighter traffic volumes, which may necessitate train consolidations or reduction of local and yard operations. Additional delays may take place on interline traffic where connecting carriers have reduced operations for the holiday.
RenCen People Mover Station to be rebuilt...
The Detroit People Mover will operate in both directions (in a horseshoe move) beginning next month, while General Motors removes the RenCen station and reconstructs the entrance to their complex of buildings. The People Mover will operate in this mode for about 18 months. A new People Mover station will be constructed to the east of the building's entrance.
Amtrak ratings cut to near junk as rail muddle worsens...
New York (Dow Jones)-The National Railroad Passenger Corp., or Amtrak, had its credit rating cut Friday to triple-B-minus, one step above junk status, by Standard & Poor's. Amtrak is strapped for cash as the perennial debate over the extent of government support for the only provider of long-distance passenger rail transportation in the U.S. has shut off the company's access to capital. Amtrak management has threatened to begin a shut down in operations by the end of this month unless the company can obtain financing.
Giant caboose-house spotted...
Someone has built a house which reportedly resembles a giant extended-vision caboose, on US-23 between Standish and Omer. The home, which is in a field all by itself, is a curious site. Reported by Chris on the MichiganRailroads listserv.
Shawn O'Day reports that a new Norfolk Southern Triple Crown train may be running southbound on the former Conrail/NYC main line between Detroit (Melvindale), Toledo and beyond. I81 is the train number and it has been spotted through Wyandotte between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The new train is about 20 trailers long. From the MichiganRailroads listserv.
Ford sells Ohio cranes...
The Ford Motor Co. Rouge Center Railroad, located in Dearborn, Michigan, sold two Ohio cranes. The buyer is unknown, but the Ford oval has been painted over and contractors have been busy taking the cranes apart. It is unknown if they will be trucked out or taken out by rail. Information from Anthony Rzucidlo.
Boys will likely face charges in bridge fire...
MANISTEE-Investigators believe four boys set the fire that damaged a train bridge earlier this week. The fire burned a CSX railroad bridge over the Manistee River, making it impassable for trains that service several Manistee industries, authorities said. The Manistee County Sheriffs Department continues to investigate and plans to file charges against the boys. From the Traverse City Record Eagle.
The E&LS 1224 and 1222 both sent on the ground this morning (6/14) at the south switch on the interchange track at Pembine. The units were still on the ground at 3:00 p.m. From the E&LS listserv.
Naked man spotted by conductor...
A naked man with bound hands was spotted near the M-95 and U.S.-2 intersection in Breitung Township Wednesday morning, police said. An Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad conductor reported seeing a naked man with his hands bound behind his back at 5:22 a.m. on the west side of the tracks by Twin Falls Road. The conductor also reported seeing a vehicle parked in the area. The train stopped and backed up, but found no man or vehicle, said a spokesman from the Dickenson County Sheriffs Department. A deputy sent to the site of the incident found nothing. This is the second such sighting in the same vicinity, said the spokesman. The last incident was reported in the fall of 2001. Investigation at the scene revealed nothong on that occasion either, said police. From the Daily News, Iron Mountain.
NS Derailment near Fort Wayne...
Train 884 derailed 9:55 PM, 6/01 at Broughton, OH, between Bellevue, OH and Ft. Wayne, IN. Derailment is on single track blocking main line. Trains are being diverted over the Dearborn Division to expedite traffic. Customers with traffic moving thru this area should expect delays of at least 24 hours or more. For information on specific shipments, please contact the National Customer Service Center at (800) 635-5768. From NS Service Alert.
Update on June 4 from Norfolk Southern: Track outage will be in effect during the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, and Wednesday, June 5, to continue track repair and system signal repair. Service at this location is anticipated to return to normal operation by the end of the week.
NS Detroit Line Improvements...
Over the past few months, I've noticed new signal bases on the Northbound (track 2) on the Detroit Line. Today, I saw the fruit of their labors: 2 new signals in place. 1 signal about 1/4 mile or so South of the current searchlight signal "SANDY", M.P.32.7 and, 1 signal to replace current tri-color signal "D304" at Stoney Creek. Rd. The new signals are standard NS type- 3 colors stacked with oversized shrouds. They are currently turned away from the rail as the old NYC dating signals still remain in service. The new signals are a real change from the common signal style that Conrail has been using for years, and its predecessors, too.
Also, all of the bridges along the Detroit Line, including the Huron
River in Rockwood, the creek in Newport, as well as a few other bridges'
ties are being replaced by NS.
It is unclear to me why NS and Conrail have been upgrading their
infrastructure as much as they have over the past year. Some of the
changes include, replacing and reballasting the entire line from Detroit
to Toledo. Furthermore, NS has replaced nearly all of the grade
crossings between Detroit and Toledo, in many cases further enhancing
crossing safety by installing gates and flashers as well. Now, new
signals are being installed along the line. A new DEDAC has replaced the
vintage 1985 equipment in Wyandotte. From Josh
Osmialowski, Wyandotte Michigan via RRMichigan list.
CCI Vacation Shutdown...
PALMER, MI - A three-week
vacation shutdown has been scheduled at the Empire Mine this summer.
The shutdown, set for June 30 to July 20, is a way to ensure people
receive vacation this year, said Don Ryan, spokesman for
Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., manager and part-owner of the Empire and Tilden
mines. "This is an opportunity for us to provide vacations to
people," Ryan said. "It was too difficult to try to schedule vacation
this year since the Empire was not in operation for the first quarter of
the year."
Operations at the Empire resumed in April after being idle since late
November 2001 when LTV Corporation, a 25 percent owner of the
Palmer-based mine, asked a federal bankruptcy court for permission to
prepare its steel operations for sale. A combination of about 630
hourly and salary workers are currently employed at the Empire, compared
to about 900 people during the middle of last year, Ryan said. "It
is yet to be determined who will continue working during the shutdown,"
Ryan said. "We anticipate most of the mine to be shutdown."
From The Mining Journal.
UP Power Passing Through...
Union Pacific 4787 was observed on a westbound CP train at CSXT's Rougemere Yard in Dearborn on Friday, 5/31/02. The entire consist was CPR 8628, 8553 and the UP 4787, which is a new SD70M (20006271-78, built 5/02 - flag, flair and sticker). From Ken Borg, via MichiganRailroads list.