This website has been archived from TrainWeb.org/eastpenn to TrainWeb.US/eastpenn.

KCS AND NS TEAM UP AT NEW FACILITY

 Kansas City Southern Railway and Norfolk Southern Corporation today announced the opening of a joint intermodal facility in Port Arthur, Texas, to service the Port Arthur/Beaumont/Houston Texas Gulf Coast region.  The new facility fills the void for intermodal services in the Port Arthur and Beaumont area and offers a competitive alternative to existing intermodal services in the Houston area.

KCS began operating in the facility on March 31, providing intermodal service over major U.S. rail corridors through key interchange points in Jackson, Miss., Shreveport, La., Kansas City, St. Louis and Minneapolis.  Norfolk Southern begins operating in the facility on April 20, utilizing KCS haulage over the Meridian, Miss. gateway to service international and domestic shippers in the Southeast.

The facility, which has an annual capacity of 60,000 lifts, is situated on KCS property adjacent to its Port Arthur yard and the Port of Port Arthur.  It also is located near the crossroads of three major interstates - I-10, I-73 and I-82 - providing quick access for truck interchanges.  It features two 1,200-foot strip tracks with a capacity for twelve 89-foot cars each.

Trailers and containers destined to or originating from the Houston area will be serviced through a Houston terminal where trailers and containers are drayed to the Port Arthur facility.

"KCS and Norfolk Southern have enjoyed a good working relationship, as evidenced by the success of our joint intermodal service on the Meridian Speedway." said KCS President and CEO Mike Haverty. "This joint facility is another example of how KCS is better serving shippers and extending its market reach through alliances with connecting railroads."

Haverty added that the startup also offers a timely alternative for intermodal shippers who want to bypass rail congestion in the Houston area.

Norfolk Southern Chairman, President and CEO David R. Goode said, "We are pleased to be able to work with the Kansas City Southern to establish an NS presence in the Houston area and expand the service options available to intermodal customers in this growing market." -Norfolk Southern

NS APPOINTS FORMER CONRAIL EXECS
 

• Norfolk Southern Corporation today announced that Jeffrey H. Burton, previously senior director - Labor Relations for Conrail, has joined Norfolk Southern.
 
Burton has been named general solicitor in Norfolk Southern's Law Department, based at Norfolk.
 
Burton joined Conrail in 1982 as a labor attorney and subsequently served in various Labor Relations positions. 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.

Burton is a National Railway Labor Conference training session instructor and was co-creator and instructor for Conrail's Discipline Trial Officers Training Program.
 

• Also announced today is that Frank J. Weckerle, previously Conrail's director national accounts - automotive, has joined Norfolk Southern in a similar capacity as national account manager - automotive, based at Detroit.
 
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 Norfolk Southern.

Norfolk Southern is a Virginia-based holding company with headquarters in Norfolk.  It owns a major freight railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway Company, which operates approximately 14,400 miles of railroad in 20 states, primarily in the Southeast and Midwest and the Province of Ontario.  The Corporation also owns Pocahontas Land Corporation, a natural resources company. -Norfolk Southern

IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE

Approximately 50 employees from both NS and Conrail participated in a Communications Forum
April 14 in Norfolk. The daylong workshop was designed to identify and facilitate development of
communications steps for achieving successful integration of corporate cultures. The forum featured an
address by David Goode, NS chairman, president and chief executive officer (see Quotable).

The Next Step
Implementation Countdown
44   days until STB hears oral arguments, June 4, 1998
48   days until STB votes on application, June 8, 1998
93   days until STB publishes its written decision, July 23, 1998
123 days until the effective date of the STB decision and the Control Date, Aug. 22, 1998
133 days until "Day 1," the hypothetical Closing Date for NS planning purposes, Sept. 1, 1998

Notable
Norfolk Southern won the "Carrier of the Year" award for 1997 from Occidental Chemical Corp.
(Oxychem). NS and Canadian National Railway tied for first place, and both were given the award.
Oxychem, a major producer of chemicals and plastics, assesses its transportation suppliers annually and
selects the best as "Carrier of the Year." Safety, consistent service, accurate documentation and overall
reliability are some of the key benchmarks for the award. NS moves chlorine, caustic soda and industrial
chemicals for Oxychem. NS has received this distinction twice in three years from Oxychem.

"Occidental Chemical is pleased to have Norfolk Southern win this award, particularly in view of the NS
safety record and its pending plan to operate a large portion of Conrail," said Bob Evans, Oxychem's
manager of rail transportation.

"We are the largest shipper of hazardous materials on Conrail," he continued, "and we look forward to
working with Norfolk Southern as expansion becomes a reality."

Quotable
"None of us will do anything more important in our careers than make this transaction work effectively...I
don't see a long-run culture clash developing. We're more similar than different. At the core, I'm convinced
that we have two very compatible organizations. We are going to fit together very well. The way Conrail and
NS people work together has given me a great deal of encouragement that we did the right thing." -- David
Goode, NS chairman, president and chief executive officer, to the NS/Conrail Communications Forum,
April 14.

Conrail Heritage
Conrail's yard at Enola, Pa., was for many years the largest and most strategically located yard on the
Pennsylvania Railroad, a Conrail predecessor line. Its opening in January 1905 was hailed by the local
newspaper, The Patriot: "Everything worked in satisfactory manner, and no accidents were reported to
mar the opening." Today, Conrail employees at Enola Yard's diesel terminal are committed to safety just
as their forbearers were. On April 22, they will celebrate the April 9 completion of 180 injury-free days. -Norfolk Southern

DERAILMENT UPDATE

At about 2015 on Sunday, Apr. 19, 1998, 25 cars of an 80-car westbound CSXT freight (L381-19) derailed at Suman, IN (MP BI 226.7) on the Garrett Subdivision of the Chicago Service Lane, about 20 miles east of Gary (aka B&O's Chicago-Akron-New Castle main line). Suman is at the east end of an eight mile stretch of 2 main tracks extending west towards McCool (MP BI 234.8). The derailed cars piled up in an area about seven car lengths, in the vicinity of the "old" switch just east of the Porter County Road 350 East road crossing. According to Indiana State Police and CSX officials, five cars were carrying hazardous materials, including three cars of petroleum products, but further inspection by Porter County HazMat Emergency Response personnel revealed no leaks in any of these cars, and no evacuation was ordered, though several cars came to rest within several feet of a homeowner's driveway.

According to a news report on radio station WIMS-AM of LaPorte, IN, railroad officials working at the wreck site were reported to have found that the "tracks were fatigued, and gave way under the weight of the train." (Read "Broken Rail".)

It should be mentioned that this is the line that CSXT is currently upgrading as part of a major capacity improvement project. I was out on the west end of the Garrett Sub yesterday afternoon to see what work has
progressed on this end of the line. I surveyed the line from Willow Creek (MP BI 236.9-crossing with CR's Porter Branch) to Walkerton (MP BI 199.1-crosses NS Michigan City Branch), and in just two short weeks,
a second main track has been laid between existing sections of two main tracks on this portion of the Sub, sans ballsat and surfacing. A number of grade crossing will have to be redone, and a number of B&O position light signals are in immediate danger, as they stand in the middle of the new trackage. New connections are being graded at Willow Creek and at Wellsboro. The loop track northwest of the B&O-GTW-PM diamonds constructed for Amtrak's Riley/Cardinal and C&O trains to/from B&O's Barr Yard that connected with the ex-PM branch running between New Buffalo, MI and the C&O main at La Crosse, IN will be torn out in favor of a wye on the southeast quadrant of the crossing. Grading has already begun and track and signal crews were concentrated in this area on Sunday afternoon.

Back to the wreck site at Suman. The new pair of westward absolute signals were already in place, faced towards the field; these being the same hooded signals seen popping up elsewhere on the CSX (and most other railroads) recently. The new double crossovers were in place about two-tenths of a mile west of the current switch at Suman, and there was wiring work in progress when I looked over the site Sunday afternoon, not knowing that only several hours into the future, 25 cars would compact themselves into this area.

When I happened onto this situation early this morning, I overheard an interesting side story. Seems that one of the rerailed cars rolled away from the scene in a westward direction on the Number One main (The head two-thirds of the stricken train was parked on Track Two). Upon noting this sudden movement on his screen, the RD dispatcher alerted a nearby dogcatch crew who had now uncoupled the motive power of the stricken train of the runanway car. A few minutes later, the car rolled by the units, heading down a slight hill towards the west end of two main tracks at McCool, where CSXT's K895-19 was parked on the Number One track just west of the IN-149 crossing. As you can imagine, a pair of SOO SD60s and about 60 loads of molten sulfur make for an excellent car stop. The errant car, a covered gondola with hazardous residue, slammed into the front of SOO 6036, mangling the front handrails and smashing the cab's front windows and lower headlight with the gondola cover. No crew was aboard the parked train and neither gondola or acid train derailed. Time estimates for the line reopening was about 19:00 ET last night.

There were several trains on either side of the derailment, and those remain parked for the duration. However, time sensitive trains, such as Q136 and Q138 were being detoured over Conrail's Chiacgo Line from the CSX connection at Curtis, near Gary to Toledo, where these trains would rejoin CSX rails at Walbridge for the short run to Fostoria and a return to its regular route. It is unknown if the westbound Trailer Jets followed a similar route. The Q138-20 operated on Conrail as a DET-504-20 and passed through Chiacgo Line CP 482-Porter Jct., IN at 09:15 ET. -report by Mike Abalos

STAKE IN BARGE UNIT SOLD

CSX Corp. said on Monday it was selling a majority interest in its inland waterway business to concentrate on its core railroad business and sharpen its focus on closing its acquisition of Conrail.

CSX said it will get $850 million in cash and securities in exchange for 66 percent of American Commercial Lines, which is being combined with National Marine Inc., a unit of Vectura Group Inc. CSX will retain a 34 percent interest in the new venture, which will operate the largest inland waterway fleet with assets of about $1 billion.

"Completion of this transaction strengthens our balance sheet, increases shareholder value and allows us to focus more of our energies on our  core railroad business," said John Snow, CSX chairman. "This is an especially important priority as we move toward conclusion of the review and approval process of the Conrail transaction and the integration of Conrail lines into our rail system."

Under the deal, which is subject to financing arranagements and is expected to close in the second quarter, CSX will get $695 million in cash and $155 million in securities in the Jeffersonville, Ind.-based business, which will keep the American Commercial Lines name. The new company will have more than 4,500 barges and 195 towboats, and will be able to provide better service frequency and more flexibility in barge
scheduling, CSX said.

Vectura provides barge and stevedoring services in the Port of New Orleans, where it is based, and National Marine Inc. operates 55 towboats and 700 barges throughout the U.S. inland system.

The planned merger to split Conrail assets between CSX and Norfolk is scheduled for a hearing by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on June 4, with final approval expected by the board in late July or early August. Both railroads said last month that the acquisition will not trigger the logjams and service disruption that occurred after Union Pacific's 1996 merger with Southern Pacific. -CSX Corporation

RBB&B CIRCUS TRAIN SCHEDULE

The Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus train has made it to the east.  The train is currently in Philadelphia and will be departing for Providence, RI on April 27.  There are two trains (Red Unit and Blue Unit) which will visit the following cities during 1998:

City, State	Dates	Venue
New York, NY	Mar. 27 - Apr. 13	Madison Square Garden
Landover, MD	Apr. 1 - 5	US Airways Arena
Washington, DC	Apr. 7 - 19	DC Armory
Philadelphia, PA	Apr. 16 - 26	CoreStates Spectrum
Charleston, WV	Apr. 23 - 26	Charleston Civic Center
Providence, RI	Apr. 29 - May 3	Providence Civic Center
Huntington, WV	Apr. 28 - 29	Huntington Civic Center
Roanoke, VA or TBA	May 1 - 3	TBA
Springfield, MA	May 5 - 6	Springfield Civic Center
Worcester, MA	May 8 - 10	Worcester's Centrum Centre
New Haven, CT	May 12 - 13	New Haven Arena
Mexico City, MX	Mar. 12 - Jun. 7	Palacio de los Deportes
Hartford, CT	May 15 - 17	Hartford Civic Center
Hershey, PA	May 21 - 25	Hersheypark Arena
Albany, NY	May 26 - 31	Pepsi Arena
Syracuse, NY	Jun. 2 - 3	OnCenter
Rochester, NY	Jun. 5 - 7	Rochester War Memorial
Lexingtion, KY	Jun. 11 - 14	TBA
Shreveport, LA or TBA	Jun. 12 - 14	TBA
Lubbock, TX	Jun. 18 - 21	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
Memphis, TN	Jun. 18 - 21	The Pyramid
Little Rock, AR	Jun. 25 - 28	TBA
Las Vegas, NV	Jun. 26 - 28	Thomas and Mack Center
Pheonix, AZ	Jun. 30 - Jul. 5	America West Arena
San Antonio, TX	Jul. 1 - 5	Freeman Coliseum
Austin, TX	Jun. 9 - 12	Erwin Spec. Events Ctr.
College Station, TX	Jul. 14 - 15	Reed Arena
Fresno, CA	Jul. 9 - 12	Fresno Convention Center
Long Beach, CA	Jul. 15 - 19	Long Beach Arena
Houston, TX	Jul. 15 - 26	Compaq Center
Los Angeles, CA	Jul. 22 - 26	Los Angeles Sports Arena
Anaheim, CA	Jul. 28 - Aug. 4	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Dallas, TX	Jul. 29 - Aug. 9	Reunion Arena
Ft. Worth, TX	Aug. 11 - 16	Ft. Worth/Tarrant Cty. Coliseum
Inglewood, CA	Aug. 7 - 9	Great Western Forum
San Diego, CA	Aug. 12 - 16	San Diego Sports Arena
Reno, NV	Aug. 19 - 21	TBA
New Orleans, LA	Aug. 20 - 23	Louisiana Superdome
San Jose, CA	Aug. 26 - 30	San Jose Arena
Wichita, KS	Aug. 28 - 30	Kansas Coliseum
San Francisco, CA	Sep. 3 - 7	Cow Palace
Moline, IL	Sept. 4 - 6	The Mark of the Quad Cities
Kansas City, MO	Sept. 9 - 13	Kemper Arena
Sacramento, CA	Sep. 10 - 13	ARCO Arena
Indianapolis, IN	Sept. 16 - 20	Market Square Arena
Seattle, WA	Sep. 17 - 20	KeyArena at Seattle Center
Spokane, WA	Sep. 22 - 23	Spokane Arena
Grand Rapids, MI	Sept. 23	Van Andel Arena
Portland, OR	Sep. 25 -27	Rose Garden
Buffalo, NY	Sept. 30 - Oct. 4	Marine Midland Arena
Salt Lake City, UT	Sept. 30 - Oct. 4	Delta Center
Detroit, MI	Oct. 7 - 11	Joe Louis Arena
Denver, CO	Oct. 7 - 18	Denver Coliseum
Boston, MA	Oct. 14 - 25	FleetCenter
Buffalo, NY	Sept. 30 - Oct. 4	Marine Midland Arena
Cleveland, OH	Oct. 23 - Nov. 1	Gund Arena
Pittsburgh, NY	Oct. 27 - Nov. 1	Civic Arena
St. Louie, MO	Nov. 11 - 8	Kiel Center
Rosemont, IL	Nov. 4 - 15	Rosemont, Horizon
Chicago, IL	Nov. 18 - 29	United Center
TBA	Dec. 3 - 8	TBA

-Ringling Brothers

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