Amtrak, FEC to join rails

Four trains will operate Jacksonville-Miami route;
southward trains enter FEC territory at St Augustine

It took several years of negotiating, but Amtrak trains will finally begin rolling down Florida's East Coast sometime next year over rails owned by aptly named Florida East Coast Railway. The 365-mile railroad, created in 1895 by oilman Henry M. Flagler following incremental mergers of various smaller railroads, last saw a scheduled passenger train in 1965 - before Amtrak was created 30 years ago.

Amtrak revealed last Thursday it "would double its passenger rail service in Florida," add a new Coast Line route from Jacksonville to St. Augustine, West Palm Beach and Miami, and serve eight new communities under an agreement with FEC.

In brief, Amtrak will lease the line for ten years.

According to the agreement, Amtrak will add two daily round-trip services on FEC's tracks between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach with new stops in eight communities - St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Titusville, Cocoa-Port Canaveral, Melbourne, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce and Stuart, and continuing on to Miami. All the communities will need new stations.

Amtrak will operate over CSX from Jacksonville to St. Augustine, FEC from there to West Palm Beach, and then back onto CSX for its Miami destination at Hialeah.

"Our new partnership with the FEC will provide benefits to our guests and - importantly - to the communities and tourist destinations of Florida," said Amtrak President and CEO George D. Warrington. FEC president John D. McPherson added, "We took the time necessary to ensure that the operating plan addresses safety issues first and foremost, that on-time service will be possible for both carriers and that the business terms are fair to both parties."

Kevin Johnson, Amtrak's spokesman in Chicago for Amtrak's Intercity Business Unit, told D:F, "The expected cost of capital improvements to the right-of-way are estimated to be in the mid-$60 million range. Amtrak is working with the communities, the FEC and the Florida DOT to identify a source for these funds."

Johnson added, "The basic work is needed to upgrade rail from a freight-carrier-only to also handle passenger rail. You may want to contact the FEC since it's their right-of-way."

We did.

Jane Covington, at FEC's St. Augustine headquarters, said, "There will be some additional passing sidings to add capacity so freights can pull aside for passenger trains."

She added, "Some engineering has been done," but she was not prepared to say where the sidings would be installed, nor how long each would be.

There are no longer any stations along the renewed passenger route, and Johnson said they are starting from scratch.

"The eight new cities that want Amtrak service have all made commitments to work with us to make things happen."

Covington added, "FEC is going to be involved in the stations so they comply with necessary safety considerations, but the communities themselves will own the stations." She added, "Amtrak provides basic station designs, and the communities make it meet any architectural look or feel standards, so they take that 'plain vanilla' design and modify as required for community standards."

Covington also explained, "Jacksonville is served by Amtrak over CSX Transportation, and they will continue to use the same station on CSX's line. This new deal starts in St. Augustine, and goes to West Palm Beach on FEC. a connecting track will be constructed from FEC track in West Palm to CSX's track so Amtrak can cut over onto CSX to get to Miami. There is already a station in Miami but they can't get to it over FEC, so it's necessary to get back onto CSX to reach the station." The rail lines are 15 miles apart at St. Augustine, but within five city blocks of each other in West Palm Beach. In Jacksonville, the FEC main diverges from CSX at Beaver Street yard. FEC MP 0.0 is at its St. John's River bridge.

Before much else happens, though, both carriers need to secure funding for station construction and infrastructure improvements including signal and track work and passing siding construction. Both firms, Florida DOT and the communities along the route are looking for funding sources needed to accommodate passenger operations.

So far, the Florida DOT has pledged about $15.5 million and FEC plans to spend about $3 million, said Nazih Haddad, the DOT's passenger rail development manager, reported Florida Today in Melbourne, so that leaves about $45 million to go. In addition, Amtrak estimates its expenses to start the service will be about $16.5 million for equipment upgrades, employee training and other costs

The proposed Amtrak service will not change FEC's freight train service, Covington said. About 25 to 30 trains operate over the 325-mile route each day, including Norfolk Southern container run-through trains to and from the Port of Miami.

Once a commitment for funding is secure, the first phase of capital improvements can begin, which will take about 10 months to complete, after which the first train would begin operating. If the first phase begins this July, service could begin about one year from now. Additional improvements, and a second Coast Line service between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach, would take three years to complete, if all goes well.

The Jacksonville to West Palm Beach expansion is part of a larger Amtrak plan to restructure and increase Florida service. When facility improvements have been completed, Amtrak will offer six daily north-south roundtrips within Florida, doubling the current three.

Under Amtrak's plan, two roundtrips will operate between Jacksonville and Miami along the Coast Line route, two will serve Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa, another will operate from Jacksonville to Tampa through Ocala and Dade City, and the other from Jacksonville to Miami via Orlando, Winter Haven and Sebring. Sunset Limited service will be unaffected.

"The realignment," Johnson said, "will triple roundtrip service between Tampa and Jacksonville, and continue on to New York. Future plans call for one of the roundtrips to be extended north to Boston.

Amtrak currently operates over two inland routes, "providing three daily round trips between Miami, Jacksonville and New York on the Silver Meteor, Silver Palm and Silver Star. The restructuring will maintain those service names," he said.

FECI's website located at http://www.feci.com, and Amtrak is http://amtrak.com.

Reinventing the wheel - literally

In the first half of the 20th Century, we had a splendid trolley transit system here in Washington. They called them "street cars" in those days. Today, they would be known as "light rail." The system went everywhere. It met the needs of the community as it was then. That map would not suffice today. Even the much larger Metrorail "heavy rail" subway system is not adequate to meet the growth patters of this bustling metropolitan area.

In the meantime, a decision was made in the 1950s to get rid of Washington's "street cars" to get them "out of the way of the automobiles." Getting the automobiles "out of the way" of the rail routes was not even discussed. In January 1962, all the "street cars" were gone.

Just a few years later, when all of downtown Washington became an intolerable parking lot, the planners scratched their heads and said something on the order of, "Do you think there's something missing in this transportation picture?"

The end result was the 103-mile Metrorail subway, finally fully completed in January 2001. It is the nation's second busiest subway operation. Only New York exceeds it.

Now, after more than 30 years of construction, the population has grown, and there are plans by the state of Maryland to deal with that by proposing a circle line (either trolleys or subway) linking the various branches of the existing lines that radiate into the state's suburbs from downtown Washington, but Metro planners are saying the biggest congestion is downtown where 19 percent of Metro tracks accommodate 60 percent of its ridership.

Toward alleviating that, the Metro board at its weekly meeting Thursday, was briefed on plans to increase rail transit to serve more of downtown, including Washington's tony Georgetown, originally built to accommodate rail transit, yet bereft of such service thanks to the "Nimbys" of 40 years ago. Also, there are plans to separate the Blue and Orange lines that share trackage from Rosslyn in Northern Virginia until the Stadium-Armory stop in D.C., when they separate again. It simply comes down to capacity. There are also plans to extend service to Dulles airport and the massive Tyson's Corner shopping center in Virginia.

Some of this service, most notably Georgetown, might use "light rail" (trolleys) instead of the "heavy rail" subway style that typifies today's Metro system.

The bottom line: Washington had a rail transit system, and instead of building on it, tore it down and waited for intolerable congestion before building a replacement.

Let's take another look at this "re-inventing the wheel" syndrome that seems to afflict some metropolitan areas.

New York City once had three East Side Manhattan transit lines. There was the IRT's Lexington Avenue subway, the Second Avenue El, and the Third Avenue El.

The Second Avenue El was torn down in the late Thirties and early Forties. It was supposed to be replaced by a Second Avenue Subway.

Along came the World War 11, and a new subway system, already delayed by the Great Depression, was put off again.

After the war, there were plans to tear down the Third Avenue El. But Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia said no way. Not until the Second Avenue subway is built.

Several things got in the way of that development, among them the Robert Moses mentality to "Los Angelelize" New York City, a certifiably absurd idea, at least in high-rise Manhattan. And after LaGuardia was out of office and dead and buried, the Third Avenue El came down in the Fifties, with nothing to replace it.

That threw all the East Side traffic onto the Lexington Avenue subway, and there are many bitter stories about the "get your foot out of my face" congestion that plagued that line.

In the Seventies, New York planners were scratching their heads and saying, "Do you think there's something missing in this transportation picture?"

Finally, after New York City's near brush with bankruptcy, which had further delayed construction in the Seventies, there are solid plans to build a Second Avenue subway. And it's the "full build" line up and down the full length of Manhattan, not the truncated version that some were peddling not long ago.

In late April, the MTA kicked off its supplemental environmental impact study for the subway. The study includes several options for connecting with other routes, which would enable riders in, say Brooklyn, Queens or other parts of the city to reach the stops on Second Avenue. The hope is that construction can begin in 2004.

Bottom line: The city's east side had a good rail transit system, and chose to tear down two-thirds of it and waited for intolerable congestion before building a replacement.

As noted, there's talk of a branch of the Second Avenue subway going to Queens. The old Second Avenue El had a branch into Queens. Have we gone full circle, or what?

But, as is the case in Washington, better to re-invent the wheel than not to re-invent it at all.

"We cooperate with law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, and will continue to do so in the future," Amtrak Police Chief Ernest R. Frazier Sr. said in a letter to the Albuquerque Journal.

In what officials described as a one-of-a-kind arrangement, Amtrak gave local DEA agents a computer that provided passengers' last names, where they were traveling from, their destination, where they bought their tickets and whether they paid by cash or credit card.

The information was meant to help agents narrow down passengers they might want to speak to - and whose luggage might be checked by drug-sniffing dogs - when agents and an Amtrak police detective boarded trains in the New Mexico city.

Frazier said he reviewed the issue of computer access because of various concerns raised about the arrangement. He said his personnel will now maintain direct control over Amtrak's passenger information.

Critics had said that using the passenger information could lead to singling out people based on ethnicity or financial status. The DEA and Amtrak said they do not engage in racial profiling.

The STB's site was hacked on May 1, spokesman Dennis Watson said, and federal investigators were notified. The site was back online on Wednesday.

The STB's e-mail list has over 2,000 subscribers, Watson said, and it contains news releases, economic statistics and past decisions.

Watson said USDOT investigators do not yet know who is responsible for the attack, or from what country it originated. The STB is part of the U.S. Transportation Department.

Bipartisan National Corridors Initiative denounced NBC Television and its Nightly News segment, "The Fleecing of America," for a story appearing on May 2 that, in the words of NCI President Jim RePass, "may not have been the shoddiest piece of television journalism I have ever seen, but it comes close."

RePass, a former journalist who was trained at The Washington Post and worked there and at The St. Petersburg Times, said, "NBC's story opens with a lie, and goes downhill from there. It is shoddy, one-sided television journalism of the worst sort, with its conclusions pre-packaged and its quotes and interviews geared to supporting its utterly biased slant against passenger rail as practiced by Amtrak."

In his report, NBC correspondent Fred Francis told viewers, "Amtrak is celebrating 30 years on the rails this week. Some say there's nothing more romantic than riding the train. Others say there's no bigger waste of your money. A train with two passenger cars, two freight cars carrying pet food, and only one passenger, Denise Moore, epitomizes Amtrak's everyday fleecing of America. Basically, there are 70 seats on the train to Janesville and it ends up that Moore is queen for the day.

"'I guess so,' says Moore. 'I guess I am.'

"But as a business person, as a taxpayer, 'something is not right,' says Moore. 'Something needs to change.'

"It did. Amtrak cancelled the run after NBC rode the train in February. Yet, taxpayers continue to grease Amtrak's rails as they have for 30 years with $23 billion in subsidies, never close to turning a profit."

RePass remarked, "In fact, the real story is that Amtrak rail service for passenger and package delivery may be our only hope of avoiding the transportation cataclysm this country is headed towards. If you thought last year's problems at airports were a one-time event, think again, because the air traffic control system is in meltdown, and the hub-and-spoke air travel paradigm that used to work so well has reached the end of its natural life. Yet we still keep flying 100- and 200-mile hops because we haven't built a rail system to handle those distances, while Europe and Japan have.

"Recession or no recession," RePass said, "NAFTA, and internet-driven interstate truck traffic, is bringing the Interstate Highway System to its knees; yet adding extra lanes to interstate highways only worsens gridlock on the already overburdened feeder roads that support them, but NBC reported none of this.

Amtrak was unhappy about the piece as well. In its weekly faxed Employee Advisory around the country, the railroad's communications department stated, "In a week in which we celebrated our 30th anniversary with so much good news, some employees were surprised to see a negative and one-sided story on the company Wednesday night on NBC. Amtrak has contacted NBC and. vigorously voiced its objection to the distorted and unbalanced piece."

The railroaders added, "It was disappointing to see the Nightly News story omit the fact that Amtrak's ridership and revenue is at an all-time high, that we've reduced our federal operating support by $250 million in the past two years, and that we remain on course to meet the congressional mandate of operational self-sufficiency by 2003."

The managers pointed out, "During our 30-year history, more than $750 billion in federal money has been spent on our highway, transit and aviation systems, yet less than $12 billion has been invested in passenger rail infrastructure, The fact is that only by investing more, not less, will we help to ease the national transportation congestion crisis."

In a sentence aimed at its severest critics, the managers stated, "This idea does not sit well with critics who view Amtrak through the prism of the past, and not the vision of what Amtrak can be in the future. While it is unfortunate that NBC produced an unfair and one-sided story on the company, we work so hard to help succeed, it is important to keep our perspective when we see such news reports. On balance, everyone at Amtrak is working hard, our achievements have been real, and the news has reflected our success."

NCI's RePass observed, "The segment opened with shots on board a new train that was being tested for package express potential rather than just as a passenger train. This is an important attempt by Amtrak to support passenger runs with high-margin package income, and an experiment which should be encouraged instead of shot in its crib as NBC gleefully did - and that train, not surprisingly, had one passenger, who no doubt knew nothing, and certainly wasn't asked, about that attached 'pet food' shipment reporter Francis dismissively noted. Yet that is the kind of shipment that can pay for a train, but most important, that train in no way 'epitomizes Amtrak' as reporter Francis falsely states. A typical Amtrak train is, in fact, a Northeast Corridor or California train packed with passengers, yet except for a glimpse of the new Acela Express high-speed train - a runaway success unmentioned in the segment - the viewer is not told those facts. Intercity trains are also often packed, especially in the coach sections used by many Americans of modest means traveling long distances."

The National Assn. Of Railroad Passengers was unsettled by the NBC report as well. Ross B. Capon, NARP's Executive Director, told his members, "Last night, NBC Nightly News ran an almost totally negative 'hatchet job' on Amtrak as its 'Fleecing of America' segment, by correspondent Fred Francis. The only passenger interviewed was the sole passenger on the Janesville train the day they rode. They showed Senate Commerce Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) calling Amtrak 'an endless siphoning of taxpayer dollars to subsidize a relatively few number of Americans.'"

Noted railroad author Doug Riddell also joined the fray by Thursday. He wrote, "I don't know whether last night's NBC Nightly News "Fleecing of America" steamed you as much as it did me, but I couldn't help but respond, and hope you will also. Leno is one thing, but Brokaw knows better (or you'd think so.)"

In a letter to NBC News, he wrote, "As an Amtrak locomotive engineer and a rail industry journalist, I found Wednesday's "Fleecing of America" laughable. As a former broadcast journalist, I was told to always check my sources for veracity and motivation. Obviously, you didn't check yours, or investigate Joseph Vranich very thoroughly, which eliminated any hint of objectivity or credibility your report might otherwise have possessed. Joseph Vranich, an embittered former Amtrak executive, and an embittered former member of the Amtrak Reform Council, who, after throwing up his hands and storming out of both positions because he wasn't allowed to have his way, has combined his hatred for the NRPC and his knowledge of our company into a cottage industry. He has delusions of himself as a messianic visionary for rail travel. Evidently your reporter read his book, Supertrains, bit hard, and hopped onboard.

RePass put it this way: "'Fleecing' reporter Francis goes on to publicize the hostile views of one Joseph Vranich, a former Amtrak public relations man who regularly issues angry denunciations of his former employer, for reasons of his own, and who says Amtrak should be shut down."

Francis observed in his report, "There was another record loss last year, $944 million, a General Accounting Office (GAO) estimate."

"But why is that the case when more Americans than ever are traveling? An oversight board's answer points to 'fundamental institutional flaws.' The GAO tells NBC that Amtrak won't meet Congress' demand to be self-sufficient by the end of next year.

"While there have been some recent improvements, Amtrak is chronically in crisis and Congress is always bailing it out. Again, the question is why? Critics like Joe Vranich, who quit Amtrak's reform council, says it's pork.

"'The quid pro quo is that Amtrak adds a train through a congressman's district, and the congressman turns around and votes for the upcoming $10 billion Amtrak bailout legislation," says Vranich.'"

RePass remarked, "The only non-hostile interview in the piece was a shot of a badly lighted Amtrak President George Warrington cornered into a making a negative statement about politics, a classic wife-beating question engineered by the reporter to have the very effect it had, make even the Amtrak spokesman, who in fact is one of the best and most capable presidents Amtrak has ever had, look bad. This is the kind of journalism that gives journalists a bad name, and helps make sure they rank somewhere below used-car salesmen in the public pantheon of professions."

Francis reported, "Amtrak president George Warrington denies the allegation. 'This business and this system is not politically grounded or motivated any more,' says Warrington. 'That's not the way I do business. This is about making money.'

"But it's more like raising money, with Warrington boldly asking Congress for another $30 billion over the next 20 years, lauding a plan to turn things around. The money is supposed to be used to replace dangerous civil war era tunnels and rickety bridges, making the new high-speed Acela train its profit center. That is not easy, considering Amtrak loses an average $16.38 on every ticket."

RePass observed, "The GAO is cited as having reported that Amtrak can not become subsidy free as Congress wishes; this should surprise no one since the GAO uses accounting methods that hold Amtrak to a different standard than other, heavily subsidized travel modes such as air and highway. No passenger rail system in the world makes money. But neither does any highway or airline, if you allocate the fixed costs incurred by the taxpayer. It is a myth that highways pay their own way. They decidedly do not, recovering less than 70 percent of their federal costs through the gas tax, and far less as a percentage of municipal and state highway expenditures."

He asked rhetorically, "Why is Amtrak pork, when highways and airports claim more than 50 times the federal money every year that Amtrak receives?"

He answered his own question.

"It's not pork, it's perception, and the news media needs to point this out instead of skating over the surface of the story."

"We do not have a national airline in this country, we do not have a national bus company," says Vranich. "It is proven now that a national railroad passenger system won't work," Francis reported.

Riddell pointed out, "I noticed that when it came to privatization, no mention was made of the complete collapse of British rail passenger service, where, as has been proposed for the U.S., the right-of-way was sold to one concern, while the operation of that country's passenger service was licensed to another. Trains are now running hours late (when they operate at all) and several catastrophic wrecks have caused a nation - once as proud of its rail system as it was of its monarchy - afraid to use it.

"Nor did your reporter ask Vranich," Riddell continued, "(nor any of Amtrak's other critics, most notably Sen. McCain) to name any other country in the industrialized world where passenger railroads turn a profit. They would have been hard-pressed for an answer because there are none. Passenger railroads everywhere else but in America are seen as a public service, part of an integrated transportation system, and a national asset. But then, one must consider that the report emanated from NBC, the fiscally brilliant network that placed its money on the XFL. Case closed."

"With a 2003 Congressional deadline for self-sufficiency looming," Francis reported, "critics say sell Amtrak to private industry or reorganize it, anything to end a fleecing of America critics say is a great train robbery every day."

"Does that mean we should abandon highway construction or forget about paying for a badly need new air traffic control system? Not at all," said RePass, "but we need to stop disseminating half-truths and misrepresentations about rail service, or the Congress will do what some of these ill-informed and hostile critics, abetted by an often hurried and ignorant news media, want, and abandon the national rail system. And that would be a tragedy of massive proportions for this country," and added, "There is a proper role for government investment, and investment in transportation is one of those. If the media is going to report on Amtrak and passenger rail, it needs to do its homework, which it is not doing."

NBC News can be found on the web at http://www.msnbc.com, and the National Corridors Initiative at http://www.nationalcorridors.org. Doug Riddell writes for Trains Online, among others, at http://trains.com.

The Connecticut DOT is making major improvements to Stamford Station, including adding two high-level platforms for a total of four. Work on the $95 million project is expected to be completed over the next two years.

Elsewhere, as we reported last week, No, 84 no longer travels the last ten miles of its journey along the Dorchester Branch - but now No. 174 does.

The train, which originates in Washington, operates in the time slot vacated by 84, and travels the ten miles between "The Transfer" interlocking and South Station via the Dorchester.

Out west, the number of weekday trains between Oakland and Sacramento has been increased to nine, but one-way trains between San Jose and Sacramento remains at four, and the number of one-way trains to Roseville remains at one. The weekend schedule has been increased to six trains between San Jose and Sacramento, nine between Oakland and Sacramento (all one-way). The number of trips to Roseville remains at one.

Elsewhere, new Amtrak passenger train schedules for service in Illinois will help accommodate important construction work to advance high-speed passenger rail service in the Midwest.

Amtrak, the Illinois DOT and the Union Pacific Railroad are working closely while UP makes improvements to its signal system and tracks between Joliet and Springfield, Ill., which are needed to develop high-speed rail along the Chicago-St. Louis corridor. The initial goal is to operate trains at top speeds of 110 miles-per-hour and reduce current travel times between Chicago and St. Louis from five and one-half hours to three and one-half hours.

"This is an important summer for the development of high-speed rail on the Chicago-St. Louis corridor and the advancement of the goal of reducing travel times between the two cities," said Edward V. Walker, President of Amtrak Intercity, the business unit responsible for the operation of Amtrak service in Illinois. "IDOT has been a leader in recognizing the importance of rail as a viable part of our nation's transportation system and in working with Amtrak to provide high-quality passenger rail service."

Schedule changes included the southbound Texas Eagle, which travels daily between Chicago and San Antonio, now departing Chicago at 3:30 p.m., one hour and 35 minutes earlier. The change is intended to provide more convenient service to Texas.

The northbound State House, which travels daily between St. Louis and Chicago, now leaves St. Louis at 4:25 a.m., 15 minutes earlier. This change is the result of the trackwork.

The southbound State House, which travels daily between Chicago and St. Louis, will depart Chicago at 5:15 p.m., one hour and 45 minutes later.

The westbound Ann Rutledge, which travels daily between Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City, departs Chicago at 7:05 a.m., two hours and 15 minutes earlier. Schedules will not change on the train's St. Louis-Kansas City segment.

Travel times will be reduced by five minutes between Alton and St. Louis on all trains operating on the Chicago-St. Louis corridor.

The northbound Texas Eagle will be rerouted on select days beginning later this spring through the end of summer, causing one-and-a-half to two-hour delays reaching Chicago on this train only. Amtrak said it would announce specific details of the reroute at a later date.

The construction is part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, a venture between Amtrak and nine states to incrementally increase speeds and reduce travel times on Midwest rail corridors. The program also includes getting a fleet of 110-mph, tilting, high-speed trainsets and associated maintenance facilities that would serve the Chicago-St. Louis corridor.

Legislation now before Congress, the High-Speed Rail Investment Act, could provide up to 80 percent federal financing for high-speed rail projects. The legislation would allow Amtrak to issue $12 billion in bonds over 10 years. This will provide critical capital investment funds for high-speed passenger rail by leveraging private and state funding through bonds.

Amtrak West is online at http://www.capitolcorridor.org

Advocates of the new line, reports the Cape Cod Times, say the slower, less obtrusive cars, rather than the heavier F-40 and GP-40 locomotives used by the MBTA, would be in keeping with the "character" of Cape Cod. It's a logical compromise, said John Kennedy, president of the tourist-oriented Cape Cod Central Railroad and one of three partners who floated the new plan.

Alfred Michon of North Falmouth and George C. Betke Jr., chairman and CEO of Farmrail System of Clinton, Okla join him. If the first phase of the rail line works, the plan could be expanded to link with stations in Hyannis and Falmouth, they said. State Transportation Secretary Kevin Sullivan is expected to assess the plan in coming weeks. While the state has the final word, advocates say they won't shove the plan down the throats of any town that doesn't want it.

The plan already has the endorsement of the Cape Cod Transportation Task Force, which was formed by the state last fall to seek ways to reduce traffic congestion on the Cape. The trains would run on existing tracks now used primarily by a so-called trash train that runs from the Upper Cape to the SEMASS incinerator in Rochester on the Bay Colony Railroad.

Kennedy, who has presented the project to dozens of groups in recent months, emphasized that his rail line will not resemble the MBTA commuter rail.

While the MBTA trains run up to 80 mph, this line would run at about 60 mph. A trip from Buzzards Bay to Boston's South Station would take about 80 minutes, Kennedy said.

Since the trains on the Cape would not travel faster than 40 mph, the trip from Hyannis to South Station would be about 2-1/2 hours. The plan also would be far less expensive than linking with the MBTA. While state officials in 1996 said it would cost $30 million to upgrade the 18-1/2 miles of track between Middleboro and Buzzards Bay, Kennedy's plan will cost only about $500,000.

Even if it were added, there's no guarantee that the MBTA would not eventually come to Buzzards Bay anyway at a later date. The proposed service comes as a $30 million rehabilitation project has started on the Cape Cod Canal bridge built in 1935 by the former New Haven Railroad, and is the only rail link to the Cape.

Missourians prepare for rail question

Stops are being planned for St. Louis, Rolla, Lebanon, Springfield, Republic, Marionville, Aurora, Crane, Galena, Reeds Spring, Hollister, Branson and on to Joplin, and will include other smaller cities along the line in Missouri.

Reed said, "The big picture is that with high-speed rail coming from Chicago to St. Louis, it makes sense that people in Oklahoma are wanting to tie Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas along tracks that are already in existence and it would tie the Midwest together with Rail Passenger Service."

A proposed one-tenth sales tax on fuel will provide only part of the funding, around $4 million a year, but it will send a clear message to the State Legislature that the citizens want another way of travel in Missouri and that should lead to additional funding including federal monies. It could help take some of the cars off the roads and at the same time help preserve some of our environment.

Redd said, "No statewide petition drive has ever made it onto the ballot without raising and paying workers who help gather signatures. That is why we are working on fund raising," and he urged Missourians "to help or find out more info e-mail stevenlloydreed@hotmail.com, or send letters of support to: Julia F. Street, 14225 Highway 64 lot, Center Lebanon, MO 65536. He said they were looking for team captains in each city.

To get copies of petition and to help with getting signatures, he asked supporters to mail a check for $10 to: Missourians for Rail Passenger Service, 101 S. Rice #16, Nixa, MO 65714. He said they would "accept up to $100."

The ballot question itself is simple:

"Shall article IV, section 30 of the Missouri Constitution be amended to provide for a one-tenth of one-percent sales tax on motor vehicle fuel, the proceeds of which shall be used to develop rail passenger service in Missouri?

"A one-tenth of one percent sales tax assessed on the sale of fuel used to propel motor vehicles (automobiles, trailers, motorcycles, mopeds) would generate tax revenues of approximately $3,510,000 to $4,875,000 annually. The tax revenues would be used to develop rail passenger service in Missouri.

The proposition's full text is equally straightforward:

"Be it resolved by the people of the State of Missouri that the Constitution be amended:

"Section 30 of article IV of the Constitution of Missouri is amended by adding Section 30(D). The new section includes the following underlined language:

"Monies collected from a one tenth of one percent sales tax will be used for the purpose of developing Rail Passenger Service in Missouri including from St. Louis to Rolla, Springfield, Aurora, Billings, Marionville, Republic, Crane, Galena, Reeds Spring, Hollister and Branson. (This will allow connection of the Chicago Rail Passenger Line to Tulsa and other cities in Texas). A one tenth of one percent sales tax upon or measured by fuel used for propelling motor vehicles (automobiles, trailers, motorcycles, mopeds) is to be levied and collected as provided by law."

The Midwest Regional Rail Initiative supports a high-speed rail corridor between Kansas City and St. Louis, but the plan doesn't expand rail service in the state. It envisions feeder bus routes bringing passengers to railway hubs in Jefferson City and Kansas City to catch a train.

Opposition to his idea does not put off Reed. His visions for rail travel have met with similar roadblocks ever since his father wrote a letter to Union Pacific Railroad in 1989 suggesting the company start a passenger railway between Springfield and Branson.

"It's something I'm pursuing with as much vigor as I can," the Columbia Republican said. Courson would be able to keep his state Senate job and serve on the board.

"I've been to all the major league baseball parks, except the new ones that have come on line last year, by rail. I've done the same thing in Canada," he said.

Courson wants the seat that is expected to open when Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, now Amtrak's chairman, leaves the board. "An appointment to his position will be coming open," Courson said.

Courson said he has received recommendations from U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., and Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler, a campaign co-chairman for President Bush in last year's election.

"I would be honored if the president considered appointing me to it," said Courson, who did not know when the position would be filled.

Rail travel should play a bigger role in transportation, Courson said.

"If one looks at the energy crisis we are now facing, we need to look long and hard at rail passenger service," Courson said.

No word yet from Transportation secretary Norman Y. Mineta.

NCI: Leo King

Shares of P&W have fallen from more than $14 in 1999 to as low as $5.80 during the fourth quarter last year.

"We did not come here to be pains in the neck," said Thomas V.G. Brown, a shareholder and hedge fund manager from Norwalk, Conn., who owns 24,000 shares of P&W. "Think of us as the loyal opposition, here to send a message."

He and David Nathanson, a Sharon, Mass., resident who owns 20,000 shares, initiated the proposal to sell the company or take other steps to increase shareholder value.

The company is worth far more than its recent closing prices would suggest, Brown argued before about 65 shareholders and company officials. Sale of the business to another railroad company would garner at least the company's book value of $15 to $20 per share, he said. Book value is the value of a business if all its assets, including (in the case of P&W) everything from office equipment to trains, were sold. P&W's book value is $15.73 per share, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

"There are companies that have railroads in their portfolios," Brown said. "I don't have anyone specific in mind, but I have a balance sheet, and operating revenues, and what this railroad connects to, which indicates there is some value there."

Barring a sale, the company also could consider buying back shares to increase the value of those that remain, or visit institutional investors to increase interest in P&W shares, he added. Brown also urged P&W directors to buy more shares. All but three of the 12 directors on the company's board own fewer than 4,000 shares each, including six who own fewer than 2,000 shares, according to company records. P&W does not require its board members to own stock.

"To the directors I would say, please buy some stock," Mr. Brown said. "It doesn't give people too much confidence when, if you own more than 10,000 shares, you own more than most of the directors."

Robert H. Eder, director and chairman of the railroad since 1966, said that creating shareholder value is just one part of running a successful business. Eder controls the largest block of preferred shares of P&W stock.

"Where I think a lot of people get off base is when you talk solely about shareholder value," he said. "This company has constituencies other than its shareholders." The company should treat its employees fairly, reinvest in its rail lines, and run a reliable railroad for its shippers, he said, and noted those goals sometimes conflict with creating shareholder value, but are worthy ones.

Eder said the business is debt-free, and its shares also pay a dividend. He owns more than 892,000 preferred shares, which pay a dividend of $5 per year per share. Last year, common shareholders received dividends that totaled 16 cents per share. Yesterday, the company declared a dividend of 4 cents per share on its common shares, payable May 24 to shareholders of record on May 10.

"Obviously everyone wants to see value in the stock," Eder said, adding, "Every employee is a stockholder, too, and everyone has an interest in seeing the value of our shares rise. But we're not going to degrade our system to raise earnings."

Brown's and Nathanson's proposal to sell the company failed by a vote of 2.2 million shares to 436,537, but they said they considered it a victory that so many voted in favor. The 436,537 represents roughly 10 percent of all P&W shares.

The Providence & Worcester Co. is online at http://www.pwrr.com and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette can be found at http://www.telegram.com.

The carrier said, "This line remains out of service, and trains normally operating over this route (between Decatur, Ill. and Kansas City, Mo.) are being detoured as necessary to expedite traffic."

Water levels were expected to recede slowly, "but we are unable to determine when the line might return to normal service. Customers with traffic normally moving over this route should expect delays of 18 to 24 hours."

The railroad's ratio of operating expenses to revenue worsened slightly to 83.8 percent from 82.9 percent a year earlier due to a 14 percent increase in fuel costs in the quarter.

Readers can find the Journal of Commerce online at http://www.joc.com, and Union Pacific Railroad at http://uprr.com.

The controversy between Guilford and Ayer revolves around Guilford's proposed construction and operation of a facility in Ayer that the railroad will use to unload, temporarily store, and transfer automobiles to trucks for distribution to New England. The new facility is located within a "Heavy Industry District" but is near an aquifer providing drinking water for Ayer and nearby Littleton, Mass.

Guilford wanted local approval for construction in 1997, and in August 1999, the Ayer Planning Board issued a certificate of approval for the new facility, but made the permit subject to 36 separate conditions. Shortly thereafter, other local agencies sought to regulate the facility. In particular, the Ayer Board of Health determined that auto unloading facilities are a "noisome trade" that could be prohibited within town limits, and the Conservation Commission began a pre-approval process.

Morgan pointed out, "Congress has long provided that state and local railroad regulation is preempted to a significant extent, that is, that federal rather than state or local law applies to railroad construction and other activities."

Congress broadened the preemption provision of the law in the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 as well as in the ICC Termination Act of 1995 "to such an extent that the courts have found most state and local regulation of transportation and transportation facilities to be preempted," she said, so Guilford went to federal district court for a declaration that federal law preempted the local laws that Ayer and its agencies sought to apply. The court stayed its proceedings in October 2000, and referred the matter to the STB for guidance on the extent to which Ayer could regulate Guilford's facility.

The board agreed with Guilford, and that the water supply was not threatened.

The Surface Transportation Board's Website is http://www.stb.dot.gov. Guilford's site is http://www.guilfordrail.com.

Cog railway to remain steam

The owners of the 132-year-old Cog were considering alternative modes of transport as a way to increase efficiency on the three-mile trip to the summit of the Northeast's highest peak.

"Seventy-six percent of the people said 'Don't change,' " according to Charlie Kenison, the general manager of the Cog. For the past year or more, the railway's owners were seeking proposals for oil-fired, steam-powered engines as an alternative to the belching, coal-fired steam locomotives that have been plying the mountain since 1869.

Once word got out around the world that the Cog was looking for a cleaner way to get to the summit, cable car companies wanted a chance to present their ideas, too. The plan was not to do away with the old engines to the top. The railway owners did not plan to retire altogether the coal-fired engines, which send out great plumes of dark smoke on their three mile-an-hour chug to the summit, but with 70,000 passengers riding the rails each year from May to late October, the Cog had reached its capacity, and the time had come to look into ways that will bring more people to the summit with energy efficiency.

"We've decided to keep what we've got and work to improve the efficiency," Kenison said. Riders won't see any major changes this summer. Kenison said an engineering study will take place this year, looking at installing more switches and passing tracks. A passing track is already in place just above the halfway point. It is located just below Jacob's Ladder, which, with its 37.4-percent grade, makes it the second steepest track in the world.

Opening day was last week.

Just about everything, was, as usual, late, including No. 448 (Late Sure Limited), and trains 94, 86, 142, etc., etc.

Most of the trains (except 448) were busy, which was a good sign, but unfortunately, the many people (senior citizens, families, etc.) on all the trains needing red cap assistance at South Station were not afforded it because there is only one red cap on duty now on Friday nights, down from three or four we used to see in the early 1990s. Also, there are no more red caps at Back Bay either, and the new red cap jobs at Route 128 have been abolished.

One red cap is on duty at South Station, but we had two product line managers, a service manager (standing on the platform chain-smoking her usual thee packs of cigarettes) and some other unidentified management type drifting around the station, doing absolutely nothing, as usual.

On top of that, the conductor on No. 94, a very experienced and knowledgeable railroader, told me that they have, "assigned a product line manager to ride with him every night to figure out why there are so many problems with that train". They have one café with one attendant, 12 cars with a conductor and two trainmen and no red caps at any of the major stops.

Hmm. I wonder why the train has so many problems?

I must add though, as usual, the train crews did a great job helping the people out with what limited resources they had. It made me feel proud to see our guys, the real railroaders, going out of their way to help the people out. Unfortunately, there is only so much you can do when there are 10 or 15 people needing baggage or some other assistance and all you have is two arms.

Brian Radovich
Boston, Mass.

The photograph of Amtrak F-40PH 213 at the bottom of the April 30 D:F was taken in Pawtucket, R.I., rather than Providence. The semaphores were the home signals for the then-closed Boston Switch tower, located behind the camera, where the P&W line to Providence diverges. The peak-roofed building in the background is the Pawtucket-Central Falls station, which closed soon after the photo was taken when the MBTA Providence trains were cut back to Attleboro. The disconnected track at right was the original route for westbound Shore Line trains; Amtrak reconfigured the tracks here in the late 1970s to speed up service as well as eliminate Boston Switch as an interlocking. Orms interlocking had searchlight signals mounted on signal bridges, the last of which were removed during electrification.

John Hay
Philadelphia

Thanks for your note, John. It looks like you're right on the money, with those sharp eyes. Incredible how memory fades after a few decades. Sighä. - Ed.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta and Rep. John Cooksey (R-La.) will be the keynote speakers this week, May 10-11 at NCI's 2001 Conference at the Marriott in Washington, D.C.

Mineta is a former Chairman of the House Public Works Committee and was a U.S. House member from California.

Cooksey, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is both a pilot and a practicing physician, and has become a strong advocate for intermodal transportation investment.

NCI's highest award, the Claiborne Pell award, will be presented to Sen. Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Sen. Minority Leader Tom Daschle (R-S.D.), who have kept their promise to re-introduce legislation to provide capital for intercity passenger rail. Last year's recipient was Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).

June 10

Union Pacific reports two steam excursion scheduled so far this year. Challenger steam engine No. 3985 on June 10, 2001 from Council Bluffs to Sargeant Bluff, Iowa and return.

Contact The Camerail Club
Sioux City & Pacific Excursion
6307 Seward St.
Omaha, NE 68104-4761
e-mail DaveS402@yahoo.com

June 19

Challenger steam engine No. 3985 on June 19, 2001, from St. Louis to Gorham, Ill., and return. St. Louis Chapter, NRHS is also hosting the 2001 annual NRHS convention, June 19-23.

Contact St. Louis Chapter, National Railway Historical Society
2129 Barrett Station Rd., PMB 271
St. Louis, MO 63131-1638 (314) 839-2356
E-mail via HTTP://WWW.STLOUISNRHS.ORG

NCI: Leo King collection

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In an effort to expand the on-line experience at the National Corridors Initiative web site, we have added a page featuring links to other rail travel sites. We hope to provide links to those cities or states that are working on rail transportation initiatives - state DOTs, legislators, governor's offices, and transportation professionals - as well as some links for travelers, enthusiasts, and hobbyists.

If you have a favorite rail link, please send the uniform resource locator address (URL) to the webmaster in care of this web site. An e-mail link appears at the bottom of the NCI web site pages to get in touch with D. M. Kirkpatrick, NCI's Site in Boston.