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OCS SCHEDULES (UPDATED 4/14/98 at 22:00 ET)

Conrail's OCS will be taking an East Coast whirlwind tour over the next two weeks.  The trip departed Altoona, PA last night for Philadelphia.  Departure from Philadelphia on Thursday April 16 will see the train operated to interchange with CSXT at Baltimore, then operate via CSXT to Miami, FL.  The train departs Miami, FL on April 18 and heads north to a Baltimore, MD interchange with Conrail. The train returns to Conrail on April 19 and is now returning to Altoona without making the previously scheduled trip to Selkirk, Buffalo, and Conway.  Click HERE to see the ENTIRE schedule.  - Kevin Burkholder

RINGLING BROTHERS CIRCUS TRAIN

Conrail will handle the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey circus train between Newark, NJ and South Philadelphia, PA on Tuesday, April 14th, 1998. The New York & Atlantic Railway will assemble the train which is currently stored at Yard A in Long Island City while playing Madison Square Garden in New York City. New York City has not been kind to the circus. A performer was seriously burned in an accident today and the train also suffered a grafitti attack. The New York & Atlantic will deliver the train to Amtrak at HAROLD Tower in Long Island City, NY following the morning rush hour the train will make the trip through Penn Station and down the Northeast Corridor. The train is due to arrive at LANE Tower in Elizabeth, NJ at 11:55 EDT and is due out at 12:05 EDT. Train will be pulled back to CP-VALLEY on Conrail. The animals will then be watered. Conrail train CIR-101-14 is scheduled out of Oak Island Yard in Newark, NJ at 13:15 EDT with the arrival in Philadelphia, PA at 17:30
EDT. Train will operate via the Lehigh and Trenton Lines. -John Krattinger

SERVICE DISRUPTION MINIMAL AFTER CONWAY WRECK

Amtrak experienced only minor service disruption after the collision between Three Rivers train 40 and a Conrail freight.  By late in the afternoon on April 13, all of the passenger equipment had been rerailed and the freight equipment was being rerailed.  The remaining passengers from the Three Rivers were bused to connections with the eastbound Pennsylvanian.  19 passengers and 2 crew members suffered minor injuries and were treated and released from a local hospital.  The westbound Three Rivers operated on schedule over its normal route. Conrail freight traffic also resumed operations by late in the day.-Kevin Burkholder (photo is linked from Tribune-Review/ Chaz Palla photo)

AMTRAK HIAWATHA SERVICE EXTENDED TO WATERTOWN, WI, FOR 90 DAYS
Watertown-Milwaukee service will ease highway construction congestion

WATERTOWN, Wisc. -- The State of Wisconsin and Amtrak today celebrated the extension of certain Hiawatha Service trains from Milwaukee to Watertown, Wisc., effective tomorrow, April 14, 1998.  Gov. Tommy Thompson and Amtrak Intercity President Lee W. Bullock hosted several hundred invited guests and the news media this morning on a special inaugural train to promote the operation of the extended service.

Hiawatha Service trains, which normally operate only between Milwaukee and Chicago, will originate and terminate in Watertown through July 11, 1998, in order to ease highway congestion during the rebuilding of a portion of Interstate 94.

The trains will leave the boarding location at South Third Street in Watertown and will make stops at the intersection of Cross and Collins Streets in Oconomowoc, the intersection of Oakton Street and Capitol Drive in Pewaukee, the intersection of Juneau Blvd. and Elm Grove Road in Elm Grove/Brookfield and at 68th Street in Wauwatosa. Round-trip adult fares between Watertown and Milwaukee range from $4 to $8.  Children aged 15 and under travel free if accompanied by an adult.

Amtrak is operating the service under contract with the State of Wisconsin, with the state using $1.4 million in funds set aside to mitigate traffic problems during the construction project.

"We are very happy to work with Gov. Thompson and the State of Wisconsin to extend this service," said Bullock at a news conference with Gov. Thompson in Watertown. "The service extension builds on our strong partnership with the state in operating the Hiawatha Service trains and we are confident many more area residents will find rail passenger service to be an attractive alternative to driving."

Amtrak, which operates six daily round-trips between Milwaukee and Chicago, will extend two trains daily from Milwaukee to Watertown. Two trains originating in Watertown will operate east to Milwaukee and south to Chicago.

"With this demonstration service, we hope to attract new Amtrak customers to ride the Hiawatha Service as the trains continue on to Sturtevant, Wisc., and Chicago. Likewise, we hope to board additional customers in Chicago and Glenview, Ill., to ride north to Milwaukee and west into Waukesha and Jefferson counties," Bullock continued.

Ridership on the Hiawatha Service continues to show remarkable growth. After a 12.8 percent increase in ridership during the Amtrak fiscal year that ended Sept. 1997, ridership rose an additional 4.7 percent during the last six months.

"Hiawatha Service trains have a great on-time record and we will work closely with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to maintain that record over CPR's tracks during this service extension," Bullock added.

Ticketing, schedules and service information is available at staffed Amtrak stations, by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL, by seeing an authorized Amtrak travel agent or by visiting the Amtrak site on the World Wide Web at www.amtrak.com. -Amtrak

  119 / 220 SCHEDULES UPDATED

The schedule for the new FEC Ft. Pierce- Jacksonville through freight 119/220 is as follows: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 220 departs Ft. Pierce northbound at 15:00 ET; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 119 departs Jacksonville southbound at 18:00 ET.  Layover in Ft. Pierce Sunday. Look for primarily agricultural products and supplies on this train. -J.L. Hollahan

  CSX SD45-2 REVIVAL / TOWER REPRIEVE

A trio of CSX SD45-2's are currently holding down the helper assignments over Sand Patch.  CSX 8952, reportedly in SCL black paint is assigned to Hyndman.  The 8954 and 8972 have been equipped with the automatic cut-off box that enables them to cut-off while the train is still moving.  The 8954 and 8972 are assigned to Connellsville.

Hyndman tower was to close about this time or in a few weeks, but the word is now that it will be kept in service until at least October or November of this year.  Sandpatch is reportedly going to be the last, with Hardman on the Mountain Subdivision the next on the hit list. -Tim Howerter

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