CSX No. 2201 is a road slug in a modified GP30 body. It leads a westbound through Warwick Yard in Clinton on March 13, 2005.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Archive for May, 2023
It’s Been Modified
May 31, 2023W.Va. Short Line May be Shutting Down
May 31, 2023A West Virginia coal mine served by the Beech Mountain Railroad may be closing later this year.
The Carter Roag Coal Company has said it plans to close its Morgan Camp mine, which will put 230 people out of work.
The mining company owns the rail line serving the mine and is expected to shut it down.
A report on the website of Railfan & Railroad said the 10-mile short line in Randolph County has a fleet of Alco and EMD switchers. The mine is the rail line’s only shipper.
Although the mine is expected to remain open through the end of the year, layoffs of workers there have already begun.
Trolleys May be Scrapped
May 31, 2023A large collection of dormant trolley cars in Pennsylvania might wind up being scrapped.
The cars are part of the collection of Vintage Electric Streetcar of Windber, Pennsylvania.
The cars, which are scattered around a 20-acre site, have already been sold to a salvage company, which is holding off on cutting them up in hopes that some might be sold and thus saved.
The collection has been described as the largest private collection of trolley cars and has been dubbed by some as “the trolley graveyard.”
Among the cars at the site are PCC cars that once ran in Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Boston, and Kansas City, Missouri.
The cars have been described as ranging from nearly roadworthy to unsalvageable.
Interested parties who wish to obtain one or more of the cars and/or their parts should contact Bill Pollman at (617) 828-7308.
N&W 611 Ends Activities at Strasburg
May 31, 2023Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611 will be headed home to Virginia soon after ending its activities at the Strasburg Rail Road.
The Class J locomotive pulled excursions over the Memorial Day weekend to conclude a two-year stay in Pennsylvania.
During its time on the Strasburg, shop forces there performed maintenance and inspection chores for the steamer, which was built by N&W in Roanoke, Virginia.
Although no details have been released about the 611’s return to the Virginia Transportation Museum, it presumably will travel over the NS Lurgan District and H Line.
Officials have said discussions are underway about operating the 611 in Virginia.
Waiting to Return to Downtown Cleveland
May 31, 2023
It is the late 1960s or early 1970s in Cleveland. Shaker Heights Rapid Transit car 72 and other PCC cars are sitting inside the Van Aken loop in Shaker Heights. Soon these cars will be called for rush hour service to downtown Cleveland. Today this is the Blue Line of Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.
Photograph by Robert Farkas.
NORM Begins 2023 Season
May 31, 2023The Northern Ohio Railway Museum has launched its 2023 season.
The museum, located near Seville, will operate trolley cars on the second and fourth Saturday of the month through Sept. 23.
Among the cars in the collection that will operate this summer is a former Shaker Heights Rapid center-door car built by G.C. Kuhlman Car Company in 1914.
Car 12 is one of 201 such cars built for the Cleveland Railway Company, a predecessor of today’s Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.
The car will run every hour on the hour between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting.
All day trolley tickets are $5 for adults and teens, $2 for children 6-12 and free for children 5 and under.
Tours of the NORM collection will be offered every hour on the half hour and take about thirty minutes. Admission is free but donations are accepted.
More information is available at northernohiorailwaymuseum.org or the museum’s Facebook page.
NS to Donate Depot to East Palestine
May 31, 2023
Norfolk Southern said last week that it will renovate a former Pennsylvania Railroad passenger depot in East Palestine and donate it to the town.
In a news release, NS said it will provide a $100,000 grant for the renovation, which the Class 1 carrier said will restore and upgrade the exterior of the building.
The depot’s interior will be turned into a “blank space” that the community can use in whatever manner it desires.
The depot is thought to have been built in the 1890s and has sat unused for the past few decades.
In an unrelated development, NS also said last week it has signed a two-year lease to continue operating a family assistance center in East Palestine that it established shortly after a Feb. 3 derailment forced the evacuation of hundreds for several days.
The FAC opened at its new location at noon on Tuesday. The center was moved from the Abundant Life Fellowship Church in New Waterford to Rebecca Place, located at 191 East Rebecca Street in East Palestine.
The center will be open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center is closed on Sundays.
Consultant to Review NS Safety Culture
May 31, 2023Norfolk Southern has hired a consulting firm to evaluate the company’s safety culture.
In a news release, NS said it has retained Atkins Nuclear Secured to conduct an independent review of safety practices.
The consultant will report to NS President and CEO Alan Shaw. Among the items that ANS will review are the railroad’s safety training programs, employee engagement, oversight and monitoring, and communications protocols and practices.
NS said it will implement in stages changes to improve safety.
In an unrelated development, Shaw and the leaders of 12 labor unions representing NS worker have written a letter pledging to work together to improve safety practices.
The letter was sent to all NS craft employees represented by the unions and to NS management.
“We won’t agree on everything. That’s OK,” the letter said in part. “Our belief in the importance of safety unites us. We want our people to show up to work every day knowing their employer and their union are working diligently to help them do their jobs safely.
Class 1 Employment Rose in April
May 31, 2023U.S. Class 1 railroads employed 121,391 workers in April, a 0.6 percent increase from March’s level and a 5.09 percent increase compared with April 2022.
Data released by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board found that five of six employment categories registered increases between March and April.
This included transportation (train and engine), up 0.99 percent to 51,556 employees; maintenance of equipment and stores, up 0.7 percent to 18,030; maintenance of way and structures, up 0.35 percent to 28,715; transportation (other than train and engine), up 0.25 percent to 4,891; and executives, officials and staff assistants, up 0.15 percent to 8,159.
Seeing declines was professional and administrative, which fell 0.31 percent to 10,040.
On a year-over-year comparison, all categories posted gains.
Transportation (train and engine) rose 7.39 percent; executives, officials and staff assistants, 7.31 percent; transportation (other than train and engine), 4.22 percent; professional and administrative, 4.67 percent; maintenance of equipment and stores, 3.58 percent; and maintenance of way and structures, 1.8 percent.
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