JANUARY 22, 2018 VOLUME 38 NUMBER 1 - Ssmrc

”Official Club Colors” voted: “Depot Buff”, “RoofBrown” and “Reefer Orange”. UTU agrees cabooses can be eliminated on mosttrains. Supreme Court denies request to halt merger of UP,WP and MoPac. 22,000-mile system will serve 21 statesunder UP shield. MBTA and Montachusett Regional Transit Authorityteam up to offer a “Ski Train” from North Station toFitchburg, with connecting buses to/from the ski slopes. 113-year-old Cog Railway sold for 600,000 tobusinessmen from Littleton, NH area, ending the Teaguefamily ownership since inception. Judge approves B&M bankruptcy reorganization plan,moving it a step closer to being acquired by TimothyMellon, already owner of Maine Central. State completes 2 million rehabilitation projects onPlymouth and West Hanover freight lines. P&W purchases six coaches from Amtrak for futureexcursion service. Scranton, PA, begins 2 million fund drive to moveSteamtown USA to the city from Riverside, VT.Meanwhile, Scranton’s ex-DL&W station beingconverted to hotel at a cost of 13 million. New England Southern begins service on former B&Mline between Lincoln and Concord, NH, using exPortland Terminal Alco S1 #1008. ”The Semaphore” begins publishing using old “stencilscanner”, purchased from a church. Great Northern Paper closes plants in Maine,threatening brand-new Montreal, Maine & AtlanticRailroad’s existence. Amtrak Downeaster begins daily stop at Durham, NH. Addition of three new stations on Worcester CommuterRail line brings 80% increase in riders. Vermont selects Vermont Rail System to operateformer CPR line between White River Jct. and Newport.JANUARY 1998 (20 Years Ago) Gridlock on the UP, since absorbing the SP; leases 60stored Amtrak F40PHs. New MBTA Operations Center opens at 45 High St. CPR places order for 261 GE locomotives; largestever for a Canadian RR. Custom-made train returns home to Gillette Castle inE. Haddam, CT. Gov. Celucci orders suspension of Cape Cod RR’slicense, due to dumping of raw sewerage along the track Worst ice storm in history of eastern Canada andnorthern New England causes havoc, with alltransportation and life. MBTA announces that Greenbush rail service to beginin the summer of 2001. (actual: October 2007)JANUARY 1993 (25 Years Ago) Phineas Sprague, owner of The Portland Company,signs purchase/sales agreement for Edaville equipmentto go to Portland, ME. Swedish “X-2000” train tests on Northeast Corridor. Amtrak chooses Morrison-Knudsen to build their 50“Viewliner” sleepers. VIA Rail Canada equips two Montreal-Halifax trains,the Atlantic and the Ocean, with all restored, stainlesssteel fleet, including HEP and shower in each sleeper. ”Five College Bikeway” completed, using ex-B&MWheelright Branch between Amherst and Northampton,MA, and 10-span through truss railroad bridge over theConnecticut River. Steamtown announces it will restore B&M Pacific#3713 to operation over the winter. Pennsy GG1 #4876, famous for “taking a dive” throughthe floor at Washington Union Station in 1953, donatedto B&O RR Museum in Baltimore.JANUARY 1988 (30 Years Ago) North Abington RR station reopened as restaurant,after almost being destroyed by a fire. Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corp. agrees to sellSouthern Pacific Transportation Co. to Rio GrandeIndustries. VIA Rail Canada sells its last FP4-A locomotives. Amtrak sells 38-acre Readville Yard to MBTA. Canadian Pacific loses much of east-west containertraffic to CNR, when most shipping lines opt for Halifaxas port of preference over Saint John, New Brunswick.JANUARY 1983 (35 Years Ago) SSMRC celebrates “30 years in Weymouth”, withinvitations to other local model RR clubs andfriends/family with movies/slides, old Club memorabiliaand refreshments.DECODER&ENGINE TUNE-UPCLINICThis month, Barry Doland brought his New HavenHorizon-type cab car for decoder/lighting. PaulCutler III had offered to do this unique installationand installed a DH126D, along with a “PowerExtender”, to prevent the “flickering” associatedwith lit passenger cars, especially light-weight ones.Barry had obtained replacement trucks for thisWalthers car, which are superior to the factorysupplied ones. Instead of “wipers” on the axles, thenew trucks allow for “all-wheel” pickup of power.New member Tom Brewer returned with hisConrail SD70 from Athearn Genesis. In the lastsession, he had installed the motion part of thedecoder and this time he would finish up wiring thelights (all six of them!) and the speaker, as this wasa sound decoder. Everything got wired and workedbut it was decided to wait for the next session tocomplete the installation, which involved putting theloco back together with all the wires—an“electrician’s nightmare”.Former member Ross Hall, now living on theCape, brought a B&M E7 by Model Power and5

CEO. “In the years ahead, these GE Transportationlocomotives and their digital technology will supportand enhance our operational efficiency. We areproud to continue our partnership with GETransportation and look forward to adding theseunits to our fleet as part of our commitment s will be produced at the GEManufacturing Solutions facility in Fort Worth,Texas, beginning in 2018. CN’s order is the largestamong class I railroads since 2014. The first unitsare expected to be delivered in 2018 with thebalance delivered in 2019 and 2020. (TN) NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR-ELECT Phil Murphycalled the state’s transit agency a “nationaldisgrace” on Wednesday after a newspaperreported that political allies of outgoing Gov. ChrisChristie were frequently given huge raises while therailroad struggled to make ends meet. Murphy, whowas elected in November, vowed to “knock it down”and rebuild the agency. The Bergen County Recordand NewJersey.com reviewed legislative testimony,court documents and state employee salary data tofind that those connected with Christie were hiredfor premium positions while some careeremployees were overlooked. According to thereport, nine of the 10 Christie allies who were hiredby NJT all made more than 100,000. Some evengot pay raises ranging from 13,000 to 70,000annually. Critics say the situation is similar to howChristie’s administration gave jobs to loyalists at thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey. (TN) AN OIL LEAK was discovered on one of Japan’siconic bullet trains last week, the “first seriousincident” on the high speed Shinkansen rail networkin 40 years, Forbes reports. While a crack and anoil leak may be considered minor in some parts ofthe world, Japan Railways Group officials areconcerned about losing public trust and a nearlyspotless safety record. “It is an extremely seriousincident,” says Norihiko Yoshie, Japan Rail's vicepresident. “It is an accident that betrays the trustover the safety of Shinkansen. The Shinkansenlines have had a flawless safety record since itopened in the 1960s and there has never been apassenger fatality. The train with the crack wastaken out of service immediately. (TN) THE BAY AREA’S famous cable cars have beendecorated for the holiday season. For more than acentury,theSanFranciscoMunicipalTransportation Agency, better known as MUNI, hashardwired a DH126D. The nice thing about thelighting is that the model came with a huge 14vbulb, which fit in the headlight opening perfectly--and didn’t need any resistors!Thanks to Paul Cutler III for preparing the ModelShop beforehand. Our next clinic will be Thursday,February 8, 2018. This will be a “special” occasion,with two guests, who are design engineersspecializing in sound decoder installations. Sign-upsheet on Bulletin Board. Everyone is welcome!POTPOURRI STEAMTOWN NATIONAL HISTORIC Site will beprominently featured on a commemorative stamp in2018, the Scranton Times-Tribune reports. EasternNational, a nonprofit support group for the ParkService, has decided to include Steamtown in itsannual Passport to Your National Parks RegionalStamp Set. This is the first time Steamtown hasbeen featured on the stamp in its 32-year historywithin the service. Steamtown SuperintendentDebbie Conway says being featured in the stampset will help bring more attention to the park. “Itbrings more awareness,” Conway says. “There area lot of people who definitely have their nationalpark passport wherever they go.” The stampfeatures a photo by Steamtown volunteer JamesBenetzky with a locomotive on the museumturntable. (TN) CN ANNOUNCED it will acquire 200 newlocomotives over the next three years from GETransportation to accommodate future growthopportunities and drive operational efficiencyacross its system. The order includes Tier 4ET44ACs and Tier 3 ES44ACs (Tier 4 certified)locomotives to be equipped with GE’s GoLINCPlatform, Trip Optimizer System and DistributedPower LOCOTROL eXpanded Architecture. Theexact split of the new locomotives betweenET44ACs and Tier 4 certified ES44ACs isn’t knownat this time. Industry sources anticipate delivery tostart in the third quarter of 2018. We are bullish onthe North American economy and on our ability tocompete and win new business with our superiorservice model,” says Luc Jobin, CN president and6

decked out its cable cars with holiday cheer, withboughs of holly, garlands, wreaths, ornaments,glitter, and spangles. This week, five cars aredecorated on the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hydelines. “It’s that time of year again when the air getscrisp, the nights get longer, and Muni's cable carsget festively decked,” says MUNI’s JeremyMenzies. MUNI officials say the cable cars weredecorated for the holidays as early as 1910 and ithas become a cherished holiday tradition eversince.accent in the middle top of the seat; coach seatsare solid light gray. New overhead LED lightingprovides sufficient light for reading after it gets dark;cove lights above the luggage racks are to berefitted with LED lighting as well in the future. Thelavatories will also boast of LED lighting. (TN) THE MBTA will be issued the first installment offederal grant, 100 million for the Green LineExtension (GLX) light-rail project. MBTA signed a 996-million Full Funding Grant Agreement with theFederal Transit Administration (FTA) in January2015 for the 4.7-mile light-rail line from Cambridgeto Medford with a total estimated cost of 2.3billion."[Massachusetts] Gov. Charlie Baker'scommitment to responsibly manage taxpayerdollars in the building of this project waspersuasive," said U.S. Secretary of TransportationElaine L. Chao. "The region can now look forwardto an enhanced transportation network as theGreen Line is extended to serve tens of thousandsof area residents daily." (TN) CANADIAN PACIFIC'S 19th annual holiday trainmade another successful tour across NorthAmerica this year, spreading cheer by raising morethan C 1.5 million (US 1.18 million) and 300,000pounds of food for local food banks. The companysaid the holiday train has collected more thanC 14.5 million ( 11.4 million) and 4.3 millionpounds of food since the train began touring in1999. (RA) THE T’s WORCESTER LINE, the worst-performingof all commuter rail lines for most of 2017, vaultedinto third place for December, with an on-timerecord of nearly 95%. It was 89% in November;both are way up from September and October,neither of which cracked 80%. The MBTA targetedthe Worcester line for improvement, as part of anew strategy to manage the mammoth contractwith Keolis Commuter Services, the company thatoperates Commuter Rail. With input from T officials,Keolis identified ways to speed trains up andreduce delays. Some involved infrastructureimprovements, like upgraded signals. Others wereperhaps long obvious to beleaguered riders: addingmore staff on trains to better handle crowds, andadding another car to cut down on crowding on oneof the busiest runs of the system. Meanwhile, theFitchburg line has dropped to the bottom of thestandings for reliability. Usually averaging about90% on-time performance, it was just 70% inNovember and close to 80% in December. (BG) FOR AMTRAK’S 450-odd, 40-something-year-oldAmfleet I passenger car fleet, the Budd-built carsare newsworthy yet again, and the news ispassenger comfort. The new interior redesignbrings the 21st century to the Northeast and theMidwest. Trains recently toured Amtrak Businessclass car No. 81546 at Penn Station New York; it’sone of more than 90 cars with the new Amtrakinterior, and it was sitting alongside an unmodifiedAmfleet I coach for a stark comparison. DuncanCopland, director of industrial design at Amtrak,and Alison Simon, director of Amtrak’s NortheastCorridor Business Development Group, explainedthe new interior. “What had been done with theprevious interior modifications of the cars took 9years to finish all the work. This time around, weintend to complete all the work in 12 months,”Simon said. She indicated that the refresh for morethan 450 cars would be done at a multiple Amtrakshops to get the job done faster. Copland saysmore cushioning was added to the seats; a quicktest shows them to be more comfortable than thecurrent Amfleet seats and firmer. Fabric is out, andimitation leather is now the material of choice, withseat frames untouched. The seat back cushionshave a slight rounding at the top, instead of beingstraight, and should be easier to clean. Businessclass seats are light and dark grey, with a blue7

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Elaine L. Chaoon Jan. 2 sent letters to executives of 47 railroadsand transit agencies urging them to take “allpossible measures” to meet the Dec. 31, 2018,deadline for implementing positive train control.“The coming year is filled with an agenda of safetyoriented initiatives, and among the most importantis advancing the implementation of positive traincontrol,” Chao's letter states. “Upon review of latestdata provided by the industry, we are concernedthat many of the nation's railroads must onally mandated requirements.” Data thatthe Federal Railroad Administration released inSeptember show a wide gap in the degree ofcompliance freight and passenger railroads haveachieved so far, from nearly 100 percent down tonear zero. In 2008, Congress passed, andPresident George W. Bush signed, the Rail SafetyImprovement Act that set a December 2015deadline for PTC implementation. When it wasapparent that railroads would not meet thedeadline, lawmakers extended it three years withthe warning there would be no furtherpostponement. The rail industry tends to view aDecember 2020 alternative deadline for railroadsshowing good faith progress as the ultimatedeadline to meet. (TN) THE MBTA HAD MORE commuter trainbreakdowns in 2016 than any other transit systemin the country, this despite the fact the T operatesless than half the number of miles if its New Yorkand New Jersey counterparts, MTA and NJT. TheMBTA logged 338 mechanical failures in 2016,which eclipsed by far the next closest systems inNew Jersey and New York, reinforcing localcomplaints about an aging fleet of trains, carrying121,000 riders daily. The federal data, released inNovember, cast a harsh light on the T and itscontract operator Keolis, which holds a 2.69billion, contract to manage commuter rail for thestate authority. After the T’s 338 breakdowns,much-maligned NJ Transit had 236—30% fewer,followed by the MTA’s Long Island Rail Road,which had just 132. But both those systems loggedfar more passenger miles than the T. The LongIsland system recorded 76.2 million miles last year,while NJ Transit had 64.7 million, with the T loggingjust 24.1 million passenger miles. (RP) A COLLISION between two Massachusetts BayTransportation Authority streetcars the first week ofthe month means the agency is down to just fiveoperating PCCs on the Ashmont–Mattapan HighSpeed Line. The two PCCs that were damaged inthe collision near the Cedar Grove station on Dec.29 have joined three other historic streetcars in theMBTA deadline at Mattapan. With five PCCs out-ofservice, the agency has reduced service on the 2.6mile route through Dorchester, Mass. This week,the Mattapan line was running with four PCCs andone standby.MBTAhasstruggled inrecent yearsto maintainserviceonthe Mattapanroute, the lastline in the cityto still usePCCs fromthe 1930s and 1940s. In 2017, it announced itwould spend nearly 8 million to upgrade some ofthe PCCs to ensure they can run at least anotherdecade, while simultaneously studying whether ornot to eventually replace the historic streetcars withbuses. MBTA officials have said getting parts forthe fleet of 10 PCCs is nearly impossible at timesand on occasion they have had to buy parts frommuseums. MBTA officials say that the collision wasthe result of an “operator error.” (TN) THE 13 BILLION Gateway Tunnel Projectbetween New York Penn Station and northern NewJersey is now a debate between the Federalgovernment and New York and New Jersey stateofficials. “We consider it unhelpful to reference anonexistent 'agreement' rather than directlyaddress the responsibility for funding a local projectwhere nine out of 10 passengers are local transitriders," K. Jane Williams, Federal TransitAdministration Deputy Administrator wrote to NewYork State officials Dec. 29. Williams was referringto a cost-sharing agreement worked out inDecember between New Jersey, New York and thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey. It wasoriginally negotiated by then-President BarackObama's Department of Transportation, whichincluded the FTA in 2015. Then N.J. Gov. ChrisChristie; N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo; and U.S.Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and CoreyBooker, D-N.J., agreed with Obama-era officials tosplit the project's cost 50-50 between the statesand the federal government. Under PresidentDonald Trump's administration, federal underwriting8

following 2013’s fatal oil train wreck. Governmentprosecutors argued that the actions of the threemen directly led to the derailment and explosionthat killed 47 people and leveled more than 30buildings. (TN) Too bad, IMHO, because theseguys caused 47 innocent people to die due to theirlaziness, incompetence and lack of common sense.The owner of the railroad, Ed Burkhardt, should goto jail for the rest of his life asshole.- Ed. GE TRANSPORTATION SIGNED two contracts,valued at more than 900 million, withKazakhstan’s state-run railroad Kazakhstan TemirZholy — the company’s largest international railcustomer — as part of its long-term commitment todevelop the country’s railway infrastructure. Thecontracts include the delivery of 300 switchinglocomotives and an 18-year service agreement tomanage the maintenance and repair of 175passenger Evolution Series locomotives. (TN) THE PACIFIC PARLOUR CARS, which were builtby Pullman-Standard for the Atchison, Topeka &Santa Fe Railway as hi-level lounge cars and havebeen a regular part of Amtrak Los Angeles-SeattleCoast Starlight consists since the mid-1990s, willbe permanently retired after Feb. 4, AmtrakspokeswomanKimberlyWoodsconfirmedThursday. Amtrak had initially planned to take thecars out-of-service for about a month for majorrepairs and return them to service in mid-March,but made the decision not to return them to service“due to safety concerns and the rising cost ofmaintenance,” according to an employee bulletinsent Tuesday. Woods attributed the decision to “anongoing effort to modernize equipment.” ThePacific Parlour Car currently offers the only loungespace and food service car that was open only tosleeping car passengers on the Amtrak system,outside of the Auto Train. It was also one of the lastpieces of equipment built before Amtrak’s creationthat the company still used in regular revenueservice, other than the fast-disappearing Heritagedining and baggage cars. It and the baggage carhave been the only non-Superliner cars in theCoast Starlight’s consist. The Pacific Parlour Car isstaffed by a dedicated attendant who serves lunchand dinner in the car by reservation, using a uniquemenu separate from that served in the adjacentdining car, and serves an afternoon wine andcheese tasting on both days of the Coast Starlight’sdaily overnight journey. The wine and cheesetasting had initially been included in the fare forSleeping Car passengers, but since 2015 it hasfor new tunnels is gone, while the lone existingtunnel built decades ago needs massive repairs.“To refer to the Gateway Program as a ‘localproject’ is unrealistic as its breadth influen

AMHERST RAILWAY SOCIETY TRAIN SHOW Saturday & Sunday, January 27-28th JANUARY B.O.D. MEETING Monday, January 29th 8 p.m. "TRAINS 'N TOUCHDOWNS" Saturday, February 4th 11 a.m. FEBRUARY BUSINESS MEETING Monday, February 5th 8 p.m. SPECIAL SOUND DECODER CLINIC Thursday, February 8th 8 p.m. 11 Paul Cutler, Jr. FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER DEADLINE