The Highball
The monthly newsletter of the Old Dominion Chapter Volume 50, Number 4
National Railway Historical Society March 2009
Thanks to Win Goodier for the photo— 3/2/2009; North of Richmond in Glen Allen at the Mill Road Crossing,
South Bound Regional
Old Dominion Chapter March Meeting
Tuesday, March 17, 2008
Broad Street Station (Science Museum of Virginia), 7:30 pm
Program: "New York, New Haven & Hartford RR."
Chapter member Steve Bolte will present a program on his favorite railroad in its latter days of operation up in New England. The New Haven was a very important and colorful railroad with lots of passenger trains with some unique locomotives. Remember we meet on Tuesdays! Come out and enjoy this program on a well known
"fallen flag" and bring a guest.
FUTURE PROGRAMS
Tuesday, April 21 "Trains in Minnesota." A slide show by Bill Todd on trains up in the tundra, including many fallen flags. The Todd family lived up there between 1977-1981, and their daughter & family still do.
Tuesday, May 19 "Ashland BBQ" Our annual Smokey Pig BBQ at the Ashland Depot
Tuesday, June 16 "A Digital Program on Trains." Bob Bitzer, VP, NRHS, for our Region will visit ODC again and present one of his outstanding programs.
Tuesday, July 15 "Catskill Mountain Railroad." ODC member Win Goodier will present a program on his "home road."
OLD DOMINION MUSEUM
Linda Nelon reports that she is doing better on filling our Museum guide duties since her appeal earlier this year, especially on Saturdays. But, we still need to beef up our roster of ODC members who can assist us since vacation season this summer and the excursion trains will bite into her call list. Please help us.
Call Linda at 745-4974, or see Bill Todd at our Chapter meeting.
Hull Street Depot Renovation Update
The architect, David Puckett, has just completed his evaluation of the three lowest bidders, and all are qualified, in his opinion. He has drafted a construction agreement which is being reviewed by the lowest bidder, Rockwood, Inc. of Richmond. A draft recommendation letter to ODC will be completed by early March. After execution of this, it will be sent to VDOT & Richmond for their review.
Jeff "Richmond Bridges" Hawkins Strikes Again
Jeff Hawkins, who has made two recent presentations to ODC monthly meetings, has struck again. In the February 2009 issue of "Railpace" he has an eight page photo story on Norfolk Southern's Shenandoah Valley line from Roanoke to Shenandoah. This represents Part 1 with an additional article coming later on the northern section. As usual, Jeff's photography is excellent. Also included are maps showing photo locations.
Photo by Win Goodier; at same crossing on 3/2/2009—North Bound Coal Train
ODC EXCURSION TRAIN TRIPS
The dates of our spring excursion train trips on the Buckingham Branch RR will be May 9, 16 and 30. Please contact Marsha Cox about volunteering as a host email. We need your assistance to make these trips successful. This is very important. The Rambler brochures are out and available. Mail order tickets are available now, and telephone & caboose sales open March 28. Keith Crump, Ticket Agent, needs assistance with his manning the telephones on weekends. email him, or see him at the Chapter meeting.
ODC ARCHIVES COMMITTEE
The ODC Archives Committee will meet on 5 March and 19 March at 3600 W. Broad St. at 1900 hrs (7pm). We will try to complete the "Book Inventory" and will begin transferring some to the "B" room boxes to the vacant shelves in the "A" room.
AMTRAK RIDERSHIP
The winter issue of "Passenger Train Journal" reported Amtrak ridership for the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007. They reported all trains, but here is a very condensed summary of interest to ODC members:
4Q 2008 % Change
Northeast Corridor 2,616,722 (7.6) %
Short Haul Corridors 3,360,610 4.2
Long Distance 1,072,603 6.8
Amtrak Total 7,049,935 (0.2) %
Specific Trains of Interest to ODC:
Wash.DC-Newport News 111,775 2.2%
Carolinian 77,849 9.5
Piedmont 21,225 30.8
Silver Star 95,451 9.3
Silver Meteor 85,524 13.4
Cardinal 28,975 5.7
Capitol Ltd. 57,215 7.5
Palmetto 40,501 (0.9)
Crescent 72,681 0.3
Auto Train 54,780 3.4
Question: For ODC members, which long haul Amtrak train carried the most passengers in the fourth quarter of 2008? The answer will come at the Chapter meeting. Be there!
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THE EDITORS CORNER
An interesting moment in time occurred this past
month. I was asked by an ODC member on the
Archives Committee to get together all old issues
of the HIGHBALL. Right? I wasn’t too sure if I could. I am not the most organized person. But
to my surprise, every issue was there and the
unbelievable item—the yearly stacks were in
perfect order!! My main task was to find a box for
transporting the back issues. I spent sometime
reading the old issues, and in fact, enjoying every moment. How time does slip by and we soon forget that of the
past.
Hank and I volunteered for the editorship in May 2000, because Hank had been injured and was unable to work in other areas of the chapter. That has been 9 years ago!! How time flies!! For a period of time he was unable to help me because of physical problems, but now I can say he is swinging back around. On a personal note, Hank was 80 in January and his biggest wish (and I must add, mine too) is TO WALK AGAIN!! He is WALKING TALL now!! We have a long way to go—but we are OK!! As the song goes Hank Snow sings, we are
MOVING ON ! At this moment we want to thank all who have helped us personally in tasks, calls, etc. and for all who have contributed articles and photos over the years. We shall serve one more year in this capacity then we will retire in December 2010. So to each of you, HAPPY TRACKING!!
NOTE FROM EDITOR: This is a letter and article written by Dick Beadles on the commemoration of RF&P’s 175th birthday. Enjoy.
Friends:
The series from which the attached comes deals primarily with current public policy issues involving rail in Virginia, but today's 175th anniversary of RF&P was too good to pass up. I thought you might find it of interest. Obviously these are my own views, which carry little weight in the course of events. But you undoubtedly know that the recently enacted federal stimulus package has $8 Billion for rail corridor development, to be spread over the 12 to 15 real or potential corridors in the U.S. Washington-Richmond may get some money if the Commonwealth of VA goes after it. Whether or not they will remains to be seen. If you wish to receive future distributions of what I call VA Rail O & C's, let me know. If not you won't. Best wishes,
Dick Beadles.
Virginia Rail Observations and Commentary by Richard L. Beadles
Volume I, No. 4, February 24, 2009 RF&P’s 175 Anniversary
Today marks the 175th anniversary of the former Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Company, its charter granted by the General Assembly in 1834.
The Richmond-Washington Line, as it was once known, is today the RF&P Subdivision of CSX. A unique piece of railroad always, it is today the busiest, most complex, and arguably the most important, rail link in the Commonwealth of Virginia. While CSX holds title to RF&P, the 110-mile capital-cities route is currently being improved by the investment of public dollars, moving it ever closer to becoming truly a modern, high-performance, line capable of accommodating almost every conceivable type of rail service. At the rate we are going, the public will someday have more invested in the line than CSX, which raises several important public policy issues.
As early as the 1850’s, the State of Virginia, through its Board of Public Works, wanted more transportation utility from the RF&P than its private owners were willing to provide. Specifically, Virginia political leaders wanted the 76-mile, stub-ended, rail line from Richmond to the Potomac River wharf in Stafford County, extended on to Alexandria, via one of several optional routes. RF&P refused. The road’s then-controlling stockholder group, headed by Moncure Robinson, thought the Potomac River steamboat connection to Washington would suffice. Only in 1870-72, when Tom Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) took over the dormant charter of the Alexandria & Fredericksburg and built southward to meet RF&P at Quantico, did RF&P become part of an all-rail north-south route.
Years later, in 1901, it was again the Pennsylvania Railroad, led by its visionary president, Alexandria J. Cassatt, that brokered the deal among six large railroads to form a new, jointly-owned, holding company to acquire control of RF&P. PRR threw in its Washington-to-Quantico line, to form the 20th century version of the Richmond-Washington (RF&P) route, all to be operated under one unified management.
Now, more than a century later, yet another northern visionary is thinking about the future of the RF&P. New York native, Joe Boardman, who until recently headed the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in the Bush Administration, and who now serves as CEO of Amtrak, has several times suggested extending the Northeast Corridor electrification southward to Richmond. This would be a transformational development.
Recently, when the FRA called for expressions of interest by potential partners in the development of the long-discussed Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, North Carolina responded affirmatively, but apparently Virginia was silent; this at a time when the first real money may be available from the federal government.
Folks in DC and in Raleigh must wonder when Richmond will get on board?
# # # # #
HALLSBORO OPEN HOUSE
The ODC held an open house at its Hallsboro Yard on Saturday, February 28. Despite the gloomy weather, about a dozen members showed up for a completely interesting tour of our rolling stock. The purpose of the tour was to familiarize our members with our equipment so we can have a discussion of our future plans for the cars. If you missed this tour due to weather, and are still interested, please attend the next Chapter meeting this month and let us know if you can come out on March 21.
THE HALLSBORO YARD REPORT
By Win Goodier
Randy Ridgely. Bob Stevens and Steve Harrison staked out the locations for the poles for the new security fence and also dug a bunch of holes for the posts. George Saunders worked on removing the graffiti off of the Dinwiddie County. Malcolm Spencer and I continued working on the HM-6. We removed the flywheel to get to the bad freeze plug, removed the plug, which looked like Swiss cheese there were so many holes in it. Put a new plug in, reassembled the flywheel and clutch, so the engine is now ready to be hooked back up the transmission and we should have it running and moving in a couple of weeks. Kevin Frick was out and reinstalled the front wheel spindles on the tractor. There are some photos of the work on 2/21, and also some pictures of some very recent damage to a window on the Davenport (part of a cinder block thrown through it), and another window was broken on the Dinwiddie County. This vandalism is getting ridiculous.
The World of Railroading
By Jerry Grosshans
INTERCHANGE
The last two locomotives painted in predecessor paint schemes have now gotten a coat of CSX “dark future” paint. GP38-2 #2667 was painted in the Seaboard System scheme and SD40 #4617 was in the old C&O blue.
HIGH IRON
Norfolk Southern is putting at least 100 of its older locomotives into storage due to a downturn in traffic. The most inefficient units are the ones to be stored “available for duty,” if needed.
TRAFFIC WORLD
Norfolk Southern has, for now, won a legal battle to keep its “camp cars” as worker housing. NS is the last class I to use these cars, which will have to either be retired or upgraded substantially by 2010. NS has started a $1.4 million upgrade to these cars, which NS says are essential as in many places there are no other lodging facilities available to workers.
MIDWEST RAIL SCENE REPORT
The new, foreign owner of Anheuser-Busch, apparently wants to dispose of its Manufacturers Railway, offers current employees a buyout and dispose of all equipment and facilities, with operations taken over by a contract operator.
THE RAIL
Fullerton, CA has held an annual event for over ten years, called Fullerton Railroad Days, which was held at the Fullerton Transportation Center/Amtrak Station. This event has been cancelled this year due to the Fullerton City Council defeating a proposal to include a $35 million railroad museum in the Transportation Center’s master plan. A committee will meet in March to discuss taking the Railroad Days event to another location.
TARHEEL TELEGRAPHER
CSX Transportation has filed suit against the City of Collinsville, IL and Collinsville Township for damages due to a bulldozer (crawler tractor) left overnight on the railroad’s trackage and which was hit by train in the early morning of January 12, 2008. The railroad cites damages of $313,855.36 to its equipment and other damages totaling $1.25 million.
TARHEEL TELEGRAPHER
Members of the National Press Photographer’s Association have addressed a complaint to Amtrak about Amtrak police officers harassing photographers who were not in prohibited locations. Several photographers were apparently told that the practice of photographing trains is illegal and were threatened with arrest if they did not delete or destroy their photographs. Amtrak in turn has said that its personnel were acting lawfully.
THE GREEN BLOCK
The town of Ferryville, WI, located 23 miles north of Prairie du Chien, has built a train viewing platform at its Riverview Park along the adjacent BNSF main line, which runs between Chicago and the Twin Cities.
THE GREEN BLOCK
BNSF has placed an order with GE for 25 six axle locomotives with only two traction motors per truck, rather than the usual three. The units, to be designated ES44AC-4, are expected to be used in high speed intermodal service between Southern California and Chicago. The units are expected to be delivered later in the year.
AMTRAK RELEASE
The name “Missouri River Runner” has been selected as the successor to the “mule” name for the St. Louis-Kansas City Amtrak service.
AMTRAK RELEASE
Amtrak has named Thomas Carper of Illinois as Chairman of the Board and the former chairman, Donna McLean is the vice-chairman replacing Hunter Biden (the son of the Vice-President) who remains as a board member.
TURNTABLE TIMES
Most folks may not be aware that Col. Sanders, founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken organization, was once a railroad man, working as a locomotive fireman for five years starting in 1906, after previous railroad service filling send boxes on locomotives, all for the Southern Railway.
GULF COAST RAILROADING
Union Pacific is the sponsor of the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial exhibit, which opened February 12 at the Library of Congress. UF is loaning items from its corporate museum in Council Bluffs, IA for the exhibit.
GULF COAST RAILROADING
With apparently little publicity or fanfare, the long awaited Golden Spike Tower and Visitor Center at North Platte, NE has opened for business, a 95 foot tower provides a view of the UP Bailey Yard, the world’s largest. For further information, refer to www.goldenspiketower.com or www.railtownusa.org.
WHITE FLAGS AND FULL STEAM
Citing recent incidents on commercial railroads, the Tourist Railroad Association Inc. (TRAIN, which the ODC is a member) has issued a strong caution to its members concerning cab rides.
THE AUTOMATIC BLOCK
During the recent liquidation of the rolling stock of the Knox & Kane Railroad, little mention was made of one of the damaged locomotives, a diesel, model GP9, which was ordered by the Western Maryland, became a part of the Chessie System and was subsequently sold, ending up on the Knox and Kane. It will be returned to the Georges Creek (Maryland) Railway and be painted in a WM scheme, the second former WM units operated by that road.
CINDERS
Borrowing an idea from Amtrak, Philadelphia area’s SEPTA has instituted the use of “quiet cars” on several trains.
CINDERS
Prior to the inauguration of President Obama, AMTRAK ran several trains as specials, a pilot train, the actual train carrying Obama and V/P Biden and a chase/protect train, each with two P42 diesels, even though the route was electrified. News coverage of these trains was interesting as THE WASHINGTON POST said Obama travelled to DC in an “antique caboose” which terminology was also used by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer.
GULF COAST RAILROADING
In 2008 Union Pacific set an all-time record by loading out 13,212 trains from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin coal fields, 332 more trains than the previous high which was in 2006. A tonnage record of 204.6 million tons was hauled, up 5 percent from the previous tonnage mark in 2007.
POTOMAC RAIL NEWS
On inauguration day DC’s Metrorail set a record of about 1,120,000 rail trips, exceeding the previous record, set the preceding day, of 866,681 trips.
ON TRAK
West Virginia has been awarded grants of $285,700 to assist in making the Harpers Ferry train station, fully accessible to disabled and handicapped persons. The state has until the end of 2010 to comply with Amtrak mandates in this regard.
POTOMAC RAIL NEWS
The leader of the rail caucus in Canada’s House of Commons is pushing for a high speed rail line linking together Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. It is anticipated that any such line would be limited to around 240 kilometers per hour due to the geography of the area.
THE GREEN BLOCK
GE has laid off 230 workers in its Erie, PA locomotive manufacturing facilities saying that most of the affected workers have volunteered to take time off through the end of March, when GE expects the workers will be able to return to work.
SECOND SECTION…
Sunshine Tours has announced its fall foliage trips to the Cass Scenic Railroad for October 12, 13, 14, & 15 with a cost of $75 for transportation, a meal and admission and train ride on Cass. For more information the tour firm can be reached at 1-800-552-0022. While trips leave and return to Richmond, apparently stops are made at Charlottesville and Staunton. As I remember from the 2008 trips, departure was at 6:00 am and return at
9:00 pm to Richmond.
The Highball
Old Dominion Chapter
National Railway Historical Soc
P. O. Box 8583
Richmond, VA 23226
Important Dates to Remember
Saturdays—Chapter Work Session (call to verify), Hallsboro Yard
Saturdays—Old Dom. Railway Museum, open 11:00-4:00
Sunday—Old Dom. Railway Museum, open 1:00-4:00