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SD70MAC'S HIT THE ROAD

Conrail (CSX) SD70MAC's 4130 and 4131 have finally debuted in freight service.  The duo was reported at Ashtabula Harbor this morning off of train PINF-4.  The pair is reportedly going in to dedicated unit train service, and have been assigned to Conway Yard for maintenance.  One other factor into the units assignment is that the 70MAC's will not be equipped with cab signals.  This restricts their use in the lead to territory without cab signals.  Don't look for these to lead on Conrail's Pittsburgh or Boston Lines!  -Railnuts, Kevin Burkholder

COLLISION CLAIMS LIFE

BUTLER, Ind.-- Two freight trains collided early Wednesday at a railroad intersection, killing one man and injuring two others.

The collision involving Norfolk Southern and Conrail trains occurred about 4:35 a.m. where north-south and east-west trains cross on Butler's east side, police chief Steve Mosser said.

Several cars derailed. Emergency workers contained a diesel fuel leak, and officials of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management were sent to see if the spill threatened water supplies, spokesman Jo Lynn Ewing said.

The Conrail train was eastbound, headed from Chicago to Newark, N.J., said Conrail spokesman Rudy Husband.

The Norfolk Southern train was headed from Detroit to Kansas City, Mo., said railroad spokeswoman Susan Terpay. She said she didn't know what direction it was taking through the intersection.

One man was pronounced dead at the scene and two others were taken to DeKalb Memorial Hospital in Auburn, said nursing supervisor Jackie Myers. One of the injured men was expected to be discharged and the other was in stable condition, Myers said.

The scene is about 20 miles northeast of Fort Wayne at MP 358 on Conrail's Chicago line, where CR crosses NS's Fort Wayne-Detroit line at grade.

Schools in Butler have been closed and traffic closed on U.S. 6 (which parallels CR through town). More details as they become available. -CRTS E-mail Update, Eric Anderson

BUTLER INDIANA WRECK UPDATE (18:00 ET)

At 04:47 EST on Wednesday, March 25th, Norfolk Southern RoadRailer train 255 with NS 6508 and NS 1640 with 88 cars reportedly passed a red signal guarding the diamond with the Conrail Chicago Line at CP-358 in Butler, IN. Norfolk Southern Train 255 collided into the side of Conrail train TV-220. Train TV-220 was travelling eastbound on track two and was powered by CR 3314 and CR 3370 when it was struck between the fifth and eighth head car.

One Norfolk Southern employee was killed in the accident. Both Norfolk Southern locomotives crossed through the moving Conrail train derailing on their sides on the south side of the Chicago Line. The fuel tanks on both Norfolk Southern units were torn open by the collision resulting in a large fuel spill. Contractors were summoned
to clean up the spill as well as wrecking crews from R.J.Corman and Hulcher were dispatched to clear the main track. Train TV-220 departed east at 10:50 EST with the crew off train TV-61. A TV-220X crew was taxied to the scene to bring the rear seven cars of TV-220 which still standing on Chicago Line track two at milepost 361.8 to take them west.

Train Operations:
Amtrak #29 detour via the Michigan Line
Amtrak #49 detour via the Michigan Line
TV-10 detour via Michigan Line
TV-10B detour via the Michigan Line (*combined with TV-10)
TV-100 detour via the Michigan Line (*combined with TV-10)
TV-10X Originate at Toledo, OH, North Bergen, NJ, Worcester, MA, and Boston, MA cars
Mail-8 holding at Elkhart, IN
Mail-8M drop 10 North Bergens at Elkhart, IN for train Mail-8
Mail-8P holding at Elkhart, IN
HEBU-4 97 empties holding at South Bend, IN
PIPR-4 holding at Bryan, OH
ELBU-5 holding at CP-415, IN
ELPI-5B holding at Elkhart, IN
WDBR-01X 80 cars holding at CP-358, IN on track one
TV-61 32 cars holding at CP-352, IN on track one
ML-451 54 cars holding at milepost 348 on track one
ML-421 63 cars holding at milepost 346 on track one
STEL-4 31 loads/59 empties holding at CP-342 on track one
PIPR-4 36 cars holding on the controlled siding at CP-342
TV-207 25 cars holding at the Nasby siding
TV-261 54 cars holding on #2 at Nasby
PIBR-4 32 loads/38 empties holding on the Vickers siding
SEEL-4B 43 loads/67 empties holding on the controlled siding at CP-285
TV-265E 28 empties holding at Cleveland, OH
BUEL-5 32 loads/58 empties holding at Cleveland, OH
PIEL-5A holding at Cleveland, OH
TV-204 crew and power tied onto train ELTO-5's train and taken back to Elkhart, IN
TV-204 train tied down on track two at milepost 370.7, new crew and power order at Elkhart, IN
ELBU-5 142 cars holding at Elkhart, IN
MGL-36 53 cars Elkhart, IN via the Michigan Line
ELPI-5B 155 cars holding at Elkhart, IN
ELPI-5A 98 cars hold at Elkhart, IN
ELPI-6 107 cars holding at Elkhart, IN
UTM-3WU 108 loads holding at Laporte, IN
XNS-160 110 empties holding at Burns Harbor, IN
PRPI-4 102 loads/3 empties holding at Elkhart, IN
SFSE-5 59 cars holding at Elkhart, IN
BRSE-5 96 cars holding at Elkhart, IN
BRPI-5 80 cars holding at Elkhart, IN
IHCO-5 holding at Elkhart, IN
-Report courtesy of CRTS

BETHLEHEM COKE WORKS BEGIN SHUTDOWN

Bethlehem Steel Corp. began shutting down its Bethlehem coke works Monday, hours after  the United Steelworkers of America union lost an arbitrator's decision that could have bought  some time for 800 workers.

''This is the final nail in the coffin,'' said Ed O'Brien, assistant to the director of USW  District 10. ''This is the end of Bethlehem Steel's represented work presence in the city of  Bethlehem.

''These employees have gone through so much turmoil, have been    asked to take blow after blow, and now the death knell has sounded.''

The decision by arbitrator James Oldham of Washington, D.C., tolled the end for Bethlehem  Steel's last manufacturing operation in the city that gave the company its name, and where  31,000 Bethlehem Steel employees once worked.

Bethlehem Steel officials said in a three-sentence release Monday morning that it was  ''proceeding with the orderly closing ... by the end of March.''

The coke works baked coal in batteries of ovens for 24 to 34 hours at temperatures as high as  2,000 degrees. Coke then was used to make iron.

O'Brien and Tom Jones, president of USW Local 2599, called a press conference at Van Bittner  Hall in Bethlehem late in the afternoon.

''They started pushing ovens at the Two Battery today, so by the end of the week they will be  shut down,'' said Jones, who spent 26 years at the coke ovens.

About 600 workers remained in the plant, where company officials inspected vehicles and  workers were told to return their tools before their final shift, Jones said. Two hundred others  dedicated to the facility were laid off earlier, he said.

By July, only 100 employees will remain to tear down the various systems, according to  company plans.

The company is sponsoring pension and planning meetings, and union officials said they also  expect job training.

O'Brien and Jones, showing frustration, took issue with company chairman Curtis ''Hank''  Barnette's $2.37    million pay in 1997 -- almost double from a year before.

''The workers would like to extend their congratulations to 'Hank,' '' O'Brien said.

''That's enough to support 50 steel workers' families for a year,'' said Jones.

O'Brien said he thought the union had a 50-50 chance of winning a decision from arbitrator  James Oldham of Washington, D.C. At best, he hoped the move would buy the union more time to  find a buyer for the plant.

The union claimed it was unfair for the company to close a plant, laying off its own workers,  just to buy coke elsewhere for blast furnaces at its Sparrows Point plant in Maryland.

The company plans to use sources from Japan, China and other offshore sites, the union said.

''We asked the arbitrator to render a decision to temporarily put this thing on hold until he  had time to examine all the facts,'' O'Brien said.

Since announcing on Dec. 29 that it would sell or close the plant on Dec. 29, no prospect has  made a bid on it. On Feb. 25, Bethlehem Steel said it would close the plant at the end of this  month.

''I can say the reason they didn't have [a bidder] is because the information was not  provided fast enough,'' O'Brien said. ''And that 90 days is too short a time to complete a  transaction as complex as this was.''

Before the press conference ended, O'Brien unveiled an old picture of a steel beam with the  words written across it, ''Stop Illegal Imports.''

''There was a time that we and Beth  lehem Steel took this beam around the Lehigh Valley, fighting imports,'' O'Brien said. ''Well  where are they getting coke from?'' -Allentown Morning Call, Carl Perelman

BETHLEHEM STEEL RELEASES STATEMENT

BETHLEHEM, Pa., March 20, 1998 -- In response to media inquiries concerning the phase down of operations at the Bethlehem Coke Oven Division, Bethlehem Steel Corporation said:

Cokemaking is expected to conclude by March 31. Coke deliveries, using stockpiled coke, will continue until the end of May.

The permanent closing of coke oven division operations will conclude by the end of June. The boiler house at the western end of the plant will continue to produce steam for WHEMCO until the end of June. Work to reduce the plant's electrical system and consolidate its infrastructure will continue for the remainder of the year.

Throughout 1998, Bethlehem Steel has worked closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to plan a phase down of operations that will be environmentally responsible.

By the end of March, 500 employees will be laid off when cokemaking ceases. By the end of June, an additional 200 employees will be laid off as the operation is permanently shut down and systems are discontinued. By the end of the year, an additional 100 employees will be laid off as infrastructure needs
are eliminated.

The Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad, which currently employs about 45 people, will continue to operate to deliver coke to common carriers and to serve other businesses on the property. Once coke shipments are concluded, the railroad's employment will be reduced. -Bethlehem Steel, Carl Perelman

LONG ISLAND DELIVERY DELAYED

Due to a derailment in the Bronx, NY, CR YAOP-17 did not run yesterday and LIRR 400 and 401 were not delivered to NYA at Fresh Pond. Units are expected to be conveyed the next time OP-17 operates. -Bernie Ente

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