RRE to Meet Friday in Westlake

Bob Todten will present the program at the Forest City Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts meeting to be held on Friday, May 17.

The meeting will begin at 8:15 p.m. in Westlake at the Church of the Redeemer, 23500 Center Ridge Road.

Rail Chemical Shippers Remain Challenged

A trade group representing rail shippers of chemicals said a recent survey of its members found they remain challenged by freight rail service issues.

The survey was conducted on behalf of the Alliance for Chemical Distribution.

The result found that 77 percent of respondents said rail service was about the same when compared with the first half of 2023, while 10.4 percent reported service has become worse.

Railroads only sometimes notified the shippers when the carrier was unable to meet a delivery date said 43.8 percent while nearly 23 percent said they were not notified at all when delivery dates were missed or changed.

If service was more reliable 35 percent of the shippers said they would increase their use of rail service.

The survey also found that demurrage, the charge for the detention of rail cars, continues to be a problem with 31 percent saying they received more demurrage charges in the second half of 2023 than during the same period in 2022.

About 13 percent of the charges were in error, and that they were successful in disputing an average of 7.4 percent of the charges that they received.

Primus to be Named STB Chair

The Biden administration plans to designate Robert Primus as chair of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

He assumes the post from Martin J. Oberman who retired on Friday after five years at the agency and three years as chair. 

Oberman had announced late last year his plans to retire in spring 2024.

Primus has served on the STB since Jan. 7, 2021. He had been vice chair from February 2021 to February 2022.

The Old B&O Depot in Rittman

We reported a few weeks ago on the efforts of a group in Rittman to preserve and move the former Baltimore & Ohio depot there.

Ethan Williams of that group recently passed along some images of the exterior and interior of the depot.

Both interior pictures look into the bay window/passenger side of the depot. Notice how the windows are still intact behind the wood and the interior is pristine.

A B&O freight handlers sign was found still intact on the wall of the freight side in the depot even after all of these years.

The bottom photo of the series shows the depot in another era. The third image from the top shows an out building that was used to store maintenance of way equipment.

T1 Frame to Be Displayed in Altoona

A public display of the frame of a new steam locomotive will be on display in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on May 11.

The Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust said the frame was being constructed in a machine shop in Dover, Ohio.

The frame is 64 feet in length and weights 70,000 pounds. It will be displayed at the Blair County Convention Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Trust is building a new 4-4-4-4 locomotive that is a replica of T1 steam locomotives once used by the Pennsy. There were once 52 T1 steamers of which the PRR built 25 and Baldwin Locomotive Works built 27.

The locomotives were known for their streamlined design. None of them were preserved.

Construction of the new T1 is about half completed, the Trust said. Numbered 5550, the new locomotive is projected to be under steam by 2030.

Moyer to Head STB Passenger Office

Neil Moyer has been named the director of the Office of Passenger Rail of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

Moyer is senior staff member of the STB, which established the passenger rail office in October 2022 to investigate matters regarding Amtrak’s on-time performance.

Since mid-2021, Moyer has assisted the STB in establishing the office and setting its course, and overseen implementation of the office’s investigative mandate,.

He joined the STB staff in 2014 after working at the Federal Railroad Administration, where he was chief of the Intercity Passenger Rail Analysis Division and chief of the Financial and Economic Analysis Division.

Grand Opening Events Set for Detroit Station

Opening ceremony events have been announced for the grand reopening of renovated Michigan Central Station in Detroit.

The 10 days of events will begin on June 6 with a 90-minute concert to be livestreamed. Also set are 10 days of open-house tours.

The concert will be held June 6 at 8:30 p.m. in Roosevelt Park in front of the station. The musicians who will perform will be announced on May 7.

Advance registration will be required for the 15,000 attendees, with priority given to residents of nearby communities.

The 13-story station was purchased in 2018 by Ford Motor Company and will become part of the automaker’s technology campus.

The tours are expected to draw about 16,000 visitors. Additional tours are expected to be available on Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 31 for those who register.

Ford purchased the station, which had sat vacant and been heavily vandalized for several years for $90 million and is expected to spend spend $740 million on restoring it and the surrounding area.

More information is available at the Michigan Central website

Intermodal Traffic Up in 1st Quarter of 2024

The Intermodal Association of North America reported that total intermodal volume in the first quarter of 2024 rose 8.8 percent to 4,286,600 units compared to volume during the same period of 2023.

International containers during the quarter rose 18 percent to 2,148,571, while domestic containers climbed 3.4 percent to 1,993,687. However, trailers fell 24.8 percent to 144,342 units from a year ago.

All but one of the seven highest-density trade corridors, which collectively handled more than 60 percent of total volume, saw gains during the quarter.

Volume in the South Central-Southwest Corridor was up 25.9 percent, and the Southeast-Southwest rose 19.1 percent.

The Midwest-Southwest increased by 5.4 percent while the Northeast-Midwest jumped 10.8 percent.

Transborder Freight Value Up in February

Transborder freight was up in February, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation reported.

The value of all freight transported in February between the United States and Canada and Mexico reached $128.9 billion, up 7.5 percent compared to February 2023.

Railroads moved $17.1 billion worth of the transborder freight, up 2.8 percent.

The value of freight transported by rail during the period was $8.8 billion.

The top three commodities moved by rail between the United States and Canada were vehicles and parts, mineral fuels, and plastics, while the three commodities moved by rail between the United States and Mexico were vehicles and parts, computers and parts, and beverages and spirits.

Biden Nominates 2 to Amtrak Board

Two nominees to the Amtrak board of directors have been announced by the Biden administration. Both reside in the West and will need to be approved by the U.S. Senate for five-year terms.

Nominated were former Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Ron Batory and Elaine Marie Clegg, CEO of Valley Regional Transit in Idaho’s Ada and Canyon counties.

Batory resides in New Mexico while Clegg is from Boise, Idaho.

Aside from his work at the FRA, Batory spent 45 years in the railroad industry including serving as president of the Belt Railway of Chicago and CEO of Conrail Shared Assets.

He was FRA administrator between February 2018 and January 2021.

Clegg’s career has encompassed 25 years in transportation and land use positions, including nearly 20 years on the Boise City Council. She has been Valley Regional Transit’s CEO since February 2023.