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APRIL 24, 1998 |
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EASTERN RAILROAD NEWS
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Today begins a week of Office Car Specials over Conrail. Todays trip is scheduled to depart Altoona for a journey over the famous Rockville Bridge and on the return, over Horseshoe Curve. The trip for today has been dubbed the"Altoona Railroaders Museum Special". The train was operating on schedule on both legs of the trip and departed Harrisburg on time. The trio of E8A's was not on the train but just as special, was the 4022 grabbing the lead on both trips. Consist was the 4022 and 4021. A note about the schedules, all are published by Conrail who reserves the right to change or alter them as they see fit. Motive power obviously can also be adjusted as needed.
You can also view the other Office Car Specials on tap for all of next week:
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SD70MAC UPDATE
All six of the SD70MAC's
are continuing to operate out of Elkhart, IN in various directions.
ML-482 departed yesterday bound for Buffalo, NY with 4134 and 4135.
Today those units are assigned to ML-403 heading westbound. 4130
and 4131 seem to get a call about once a week to make a turn to Buffalo,
and wind up heading farther east. 4132 and 4133 are still in the
ELIN/INEL pool and were at Elkhart, IN at 02:30 ET for departure to Indianapolis.
4136 and 4137 were rolled out of the paint shop this past week and are
being held at Altoona. 4136 is "ready" however the 4137 has reportedly
not been road tested. Both units may be on display for the Altoona
Railroaders Museum Grand Re-Opening. -Kevin Burkholder, Railnuts
4130 | Cleveland-Collinwood, OH | 4/24/98 | 03:50 ET | ELBU-3 |
4131 | Cleveland-Collinwood, OH | 4/24/98 | 03:50 ET | ELBU-3 |
4132 | Elkhart, IN | 4/24/98 | 02:30 ET | ELIN-3B |
4133 | Elkhart, IN | 4/24/98 | 02:30 ET | ELIN-3B |
4134 | Buffalo-Seneca, NY | 4/24/98 | 03:10 ET | ML-403 |
4135 | Buffalo-Seneca, NY | 4/24/98 | 03:10 ET | ML-403 |
4136 | Altoona, PA | 4/24/98 | 07:00 ET | For Display? |
4137 | Altoona, PA | 4/24/98 | 07:00 ET | For Display? |
MAINTENANCE WINDOW ON THE LURGAN BRANCH CONTINUES
A maintienance window has been imposed on the Lurgan Branch during daylight hours. The track upgrade and resurfacing project is well underway. Trains are not operated over the route between 07:00 ET to 15:00 ET. With this window in place, TV-211 has had the schedule adjusted to depart 3 hours later than normal. TV-211 is generally arriving at CP-Ross in the early afternoon and holding there until the trackwork crews clear. Traffic has been shifted from the south, not allowing any trains northbound out of Hagerstown until early afternoon. This project is to last for several weeks. - Kevin Burkholder
Goode Reports Implementation
Progress "Excellent:" David R. Goode, Norfolk Southern chairman,
president and chief executive
officer, gave financial analysts a status report on Conrail implementation
planning during an April
22 meeting in New York to announce NS' record first-quarter financial results.
The
following are excerpts
of Goode's remarks:
"Overwhelmingly, we continue
to hear from customers that they are as eager to get to the benefits of
the
new Norfolk Southern
as we are -- notwithstanding overall service concerns that are being experienced
out
West. I continue to believe
that the most positive thing for national rail service is for us to complete
the
Conrail transition so
that shippers, the public and we can begin to realize the benefits of the
transaction.
"Our teams continue to
work well together and to make excellent progress toward joint implementation
plans to ensure a safe,
service-oriented beginning for the new companies.
"You've...seen...our philosophy
of making the effort in people and dollars to get as far ahead of the curve
as
possible. We're hiring
people and running an extra shift in our training facilities to have the
human
resources needed.
"We're also doing track
work and other preparatory work now. And...we're attacking the Information
Technology work necessary
to have the information systems in place when needed. We have also put
together a strong Shared
Assets Areas team led by Tim O'Toole from Conrail and two experienced
operating people from
relevant backgrounds in Don Nelson and Ron Batory -- as well as Conrail-trained
financial, legal and
IT leadership.
"Further, both NS and
CSX have already brought aboard key Conrail people into our own operations
to
provide experience and
guidance in setting up the new systems. They, with the 120 teams we have
on the
NS alone, are driving
to be ready to go...
"Labor teams are also
working to have agreements ready...I remain optimistic, and the support
from key
unions like the UTU and
the BLE is obviously enormously positive.
"I am proud that our people
have put together the best planning and preliminary effort any merger
transaction in our industry
has ever seen. I believe the results will follow.
"We continue to work closely
and well with our partners at CSX...We share the conviction that this
transaction must work
for both of us to succeed, and that does a lot to move us along.
"Everything we've been
doing -- from the NAVL sale to our emphasis on hiring, training and preparation,
to
our acceleration of capital
expenditures -- is designed to ensure that this transaction works."
The Next Step
Implementation Countdown
41
days until STB hears oral arguments, June 4, 1998
45
days until STB votes on application, June 8, 1998
90
days until STB publishes its written decision, July 23, 1998
120 days
until the effective date of the STB decision and the Control Date, Aug.
22, 1998
130 days
until "Day 1," the hypothetical Closing Date for NS planning purposes,
Sept. 1, 1998
Notable
NS announced April 21
that Jeffrey H. Burton and Frank J. Weckerle, both formerly of Conrail,
have
joined NS. Burton, previously
senior director-Labor Relations for Conrail, is general solicitor in NS'
Law
Department, based in
Norfolk. Weckerle, previously Conrail's director national accounts-Automotive,
is
national account manager-Automotive,
based at Detroit.
Burton joined Conrail
in 1982 as a labor attorney and subsequently served in various Labor Relations
positions. He is a National
Railway Labor Conference training session instructor and was co-creator
and
instructor for Conrail's
Discipline Trial Officers Training Program. He earned his law degree at
George
Washington University.
He has a master's degree in economics from The London School of Economics
and Political Science,
and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Colorado.
Weckerle joined Conrail
in 1976 and served in various sales and marketing positions, including
sales
manager at two locations,
and manager national accounts in the metals group. He worked in Conrail's
automotive group from
1986 until joining NS.
Quotable
"I want to compliment
the people of Conrail on a fine job of providing service to customers and
producing
strong results this year.
Obviously, it's a challenging and uncertain time, and I'm proud -- as I
know they are
-- of the way they've
stepped forward and run a great transition operation. At the same time,
the transition
can't go on forever,
and we need to be ready to move forward with the integration of Conrail
into Norfolk
Southern and CSX." --
David Goode on April 22 to financial analysts meeting in New York.
Conrail Heritage
The derivation of the
name Enola, Conrail's yard on the west bank of the Susquehanna opposite
Harrisburg, Pa., has
attracted considerable notoriety over the years. In 1936, FORTUNE magazine
noted
"the name is alone spelled
backwards." True, but other reports published as early as 1937 are cited
as
official explanation
of how Enola got its name. The Northern Central Railway, a subsidiary of
the
Pennsylvania Railroad,
a Conrail predecessor line, purchased the site for a flagstop in 1888 from
Wesley
G. Miller and gave Miller
the privilege of naming the station. After two unsuccessful tries ("Wesley"
and
"Longsdorf," his wife's
maiden name, were already station names), he submitted the name of his
four-year-old daughter,
Enola. The daughter had been named after her mother's cousin Enola, whose
parents were enchanted
by the name given a character in a 19th Century Isaac Kelso novel, The
Danger of
Darkness. The railroad
accepted the name, and when the Pennsy later purchased 100 acres from Miller
to
build a yard, the flagstop's
name carried over.
Amtrak today reiterated that it will continue pursuing access to low cost electricity and renewed its commitment to share the resulting millions of dollars in savings with train riders throughout the Northeast.
In a decision announced Monday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denied Enron Power Marketing, Inc. of Houston, access to the mid-Atlantic electricity transmission system in order to supply low cost power to run Amtrak and commuter trains on the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak signed a contract with Enron in April 1997 to supply electricity at savings of up to 50 percent, but the savings have been hamstrung by the refusal of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland Interconnection (PJM) - which operates the transmission system for eight utilities -- to allow Enron access to its grid.
Enron brought a complaint against PJM before FERC, but the action was dismissed Monday. Amtrak is now considering its options, which include the filing of a motion for rehearing with FERC.
"We are disappointed with the FERC ruling," said George D. Warrington, Amtrak's acting president. "However, we remain confident that rail customers in the Northeast Corridor will ultimately benefit from utility competition that offers the certainty of lower rates."
The Bulk Electric Energy Supply contract signed last year enables Amtrak to purchase electricity at wholesale rates from Enron. Amtrak qualifies as a wholesale entity because it resells half the power to four commuter railroads and transmits the electricity over its own transmission systems - - the Northeast Corridor (Washington-New York) and the Keystone Line (Philadelphia-Harrisburg).
The Enron contract presented Amtrak the opportunity to cut its electricity costs by up to half and pass through millions of dollars in savings to its commuter railroad customers. The reduction in utility costs is one of the strategies Amtrak is pursuing to replace federal operating assistance which is being eliminated over the next five years.
The commuter authorities which buy electricity from Amtrak to power their trains are NJ TRANSIT, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the Delaware Transit Corporation and the Maryland Mass Transit Administration. The Delaware Transit Corp. contracts with SEPTA to operate commuter trains between northern Delaware and Philadelphia. -Amtrak
The companies said John A. McKelvey would be named to the position of senior vice president - Finance and Administration, and Cheryl A. Cook would be vice president - Law and Resource Planning.
Shared Assets Areas are Conrail operations in New Jersey, Philadelphia and Detroit that would be served by both CSX and NS under the proposed transaction.
McKelvey is Conrail's senior vice president-Finance and chief financial officer. After joining the company in 1978, he served in positions of increasing responsibility and was vice president over several areas, including Service Delivery, Materials & Purchasing, controller and treasurer. He earned a bachelor's degree at Penn State University and a master's degree at Temple University.
Cook, a 15-year Conrail employee, is general counsel - Securities and Tax. She graduated summa cum laude from Pennsylvania State University and earned a law degree at the Villanova School of Law. She is nearing completion of a master's degree at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in finance.
CSX and NS previously named Timothy T. O'Toole president, Donald N. Nelson senior vice president operations and Ronald L. Batory vice president operations of the future Conrail.-Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation
The remaining Amtrak F40PH leasors were still congregating at Schiller Park on Thursday. WC was waiting for the Amtrak 311 to arrive and join sisters 235 and 359 before shipping them all back to Chicago. That move is expected to occur sometime today. With the return of that trio, WC no longer is utilizing Amtrak power. -Ray Weart
Please check this location daily, as new information will be posted, as it becomes available. If you have news to report or information regarding railroads in the Eastern United States, please send e-mail to Kevin Burkholder at KBurkholder@psghs.edu |