ORDC Develops Blocked Grade Crossing Tool

The Ohio Rail Development Commission said it it making a free tool available online to the public that can be used to measure the effect of blocked railroad grade crossings.

The Rail Crossing Community Impact Index is an interactive tool that enables users to locate crossings within their community. It creates weighted scores for motorized, nonmotorized and truck-specific traffic.

In a news release, ORDC said RCCII scores can help identify areas with the most significant grade crossing delays. The tool also provides information to support rail improvement program development, such as discretionary grant funding applications.

The tool is available on the ORDC website at Rail Maps & Tools.

RTA of SE Mich. May Take over Detroit QLINE

RTA of Southeast Michigan is considering taking over operation of Detroit’s QLINE streetcar system.

The 3.3-mile streetcar system is now run by the nonprofit M-1 Rail. If the transfer is approved the QLINE would instead be overseen by a public 10-member board, with appointed representatives from Macomb, Oakland, Wayne and Washtenaw counties, as well as the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan.

An RTA official told the Detroit Free Press that the RTA’s role is “to ensure the ongoing viability of regional transit services.”

At present M-1 Rail and RTA have been working on the details of the transfer. A decision on whether to transfer the QLINE to RTA is expected early in 2024 although officials have not said how soon it would be completed.

M-1 Rail has said that the QLINE is nearing 1 million riders for the calendar year and described its finances as “sustainable over the long-term.”

BLET Reaches Pact with CFtW&E

A railroad labor union said it has reached a tentative contract agreement with the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern Railroad.

Ballots were being mailed to 45 members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen at the CFtW&E and are due by Jan. 11.

The new five-year pact would govern wages, benefits and work rules.

In a news release, BLET said the contract calls for wage increases of 24 percent (27 percent compounded) including (5 percent in 2023; 4.5 percent in 2024, 4 percent in 2025, 3 percent in 2026, 3.5 percent in 2027, and 4 percent in 2028.

Other proposed contractual clauses would include training pay increased to $15 a day; a probationary period decreased to 120 days; meal allowance increased to $40 per each 24 hours on layover assignments; yard and local meals increased to 30 minutes with a built-in time limit and remedy for denial; extra board employees can now hold down week-long temporary vacancies; and the boot allowance is increased to $300 per year.

EL Monday: Working McCoy Street Yard

An Erie Lackawanna crew member walks next to his train, which is working in McCoy Street Yard in downtown Akron. NW2 switcher No. 410 is at work in this scene. The slide mount is dated March 1976, which means that not long after this scene was captured the EL became part of Conrail on April 1, 1976. Note the nose of another EL unit deep in the yard to the left.

Photograph by Richard Jacobs

EL Monday: A Favorite From Kent

Here is one of my favorites from the Erie Lackawanna era. EL F7A No. 7124 is on the point of an eastbound in Kent in early 1974. The power is F7A, E8A, E8A, E8A. The 7124 was built in December 1951 for the Erie Railroad where it had roster number 712D.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

SEPTA Police Return to Work

Transit police in Philadelphia returned to work on Saturday after reaching a tentative agreement to end a labor dispute.

Members of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge No. 109 went on strike against the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority last Wednesday.

The agreement must be approved by members of the union.

In respective statements, the union and SEPTA credited the intervention of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro with playing a significant role in helping to reach a new contract.

No details about the terms of the new contract were released. Lodge 109 represents 170 SEPTA police officers.

During the strike SEPTA relied on police supervisors, Philadelphia police, private security, and officers from university police and other agencies to provide security.

Berea Triple Play

Here are three images made in Berea on April 16, 2005. In the top image, CSX 690 leads a westbound container train. In the middle image NS 9401 leads an eastbound stack train. In the bottom image CSX 8655 is pulling a westbound manifest freight with help from a trailing leased unit.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

One Day at Mace Tower

The Baltimore & Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad had parallel lines between Warwick Tower in Warwick (now Clinton) and Mace Tower in Massillon.

In 1904, the two railroads agreed to operate them as paired trackage. The B&O dispatched both lines and, generally, ran northbound trains on the ex-PRR and southbound trains on the ex-B&O.

The image above is looking northward at Mace where the two lines intersected with the ex-PRR Fort Wayne Line. The B&O manifest freight is on the former Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling. The CL&W was historically primarily a coal artery to Lake Erie ports, but some manifest freight ran over the route.

Leading the train is GP40 No. 3751, which was built in January 1971. It later worked for CSX and Helm Financial, a locomotive leasing company. The photo was made in February 1972. Note that the tower windows are wearing Penn Central green.

Photograph by Richard Jacobs

Pennsylvania Awards 25 Freight Rail Grants

A Pennsylvania transportation agency has approved $42.5 million in funding for 25 freight-rail improvement projects through the Rail Transportation Assistance and the Rail Freight Assistance programs.

The grants, which were approved by the Pennsylvania’s State Transportation Commission, will benefit projects to expand freight mobility in 23 counties.

Projects selected include:

— $7.6 million to 25 Caster Way Owner, LLC,  to construct the Berks Waste and Rail Transfer Station, which includes rail infrastructure and loading equipment.

— $5 million to Eddystone Marine and Rail Terminal Co. to rehabilitate rail infrastructure on the loop track and construct 20 unloading car spots.

— $4.3 million to the Allegheny Valley Railroad to construct three yard tracks at Verona Yard using repurposed rail from the Brilliant Branch.

— $3 million to the R.J. Corman Railroad-Pennsylvania Lines to rehabilitate approximately 20 miles of track on the Cherry Tree Subdivision and Cresson Subdivision with spot tie replacement and surfacing.

— $2.1 million to Franklin Storage to construct nearly 1,700 feet of track, a turnout, and unloading dock for a new 360,000 square foot rail-served warehouse..

— $2.1 million to the Union Railroad to replace approximately 15,000 ties in the classification and North Bessemer Yards.

— $1.8 million to Lehigh Valley Rail Management LLC to rehabilitate 860 feet of track and construct 3,500 feet of track in the Iron Hill Transload Yard.

— $1.7 million to the Pittsburgh & Ohio Central Railroad  to rehabilitate approximately 11 miles of track on the Arden Subdivision by replacing rails, ties, and track surfacing.

— $1.6 million to York Railway to rehabilitate track in the Lincoln Yard with rail and tie replacement and track surfacing.

— $1.4 million to the Aliquippa & Ohio River Railroad Company to rehabilitate approximately 11 miles of track by replacing ties and track surfacing.

— $1.4 million to Cleveland-Cliffs Steelton & Highspire Railroad to rehabilitate multiple tracks by replacing ties and rail to improve safety and efficiency.

— $1.2 million to the Cleveland-Cliffs Brandywine Valley Railroad to rehabilitate tracks and a rail scale in the Ritchey Yard.

— $1.1 million to the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad to rehabilitate three bridges and a culvert on the Pocono Mainline.

— $904,000 to M. Simon Zook Co. dba Golden Barrel to rehabilitate a rail siding, a rail scale, and construct an unloading pit and additional track.

— $904,000 to the North Shore Railroad to rehabilitate and replace rail on North Shore’s mainline.

— $837,000 to the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway to rehabilitate a 440-foot-long tunnel to improve safety and operations.

— $699,000 to Chelsea Building Products of Allegheny County to rehabilitate a rail siding and six at-grade crossings.

— $682,000 to the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad to rehabilitate the Kerrtown Lead track by replacing rail and ties, surfacing, and improving three grade crossings.

— $675,000 to the R.J. Corman Railroad-Lehigh Line to rehabilitate approximately 4 miles of track on the Lehigh Subdivision with spot tie replacement and surfacing.

— $669,000 to Albatross Ventures to rehabilitate trackage at the sand transload facility.

— $655,000 to Ohio Blenders dba Alfagreen Supreme to construct a rail car storage track, turnout, and unloading pit at the Mount Holly Springs facility.

— $626,000 to East Penn Railroad LLC to rehabilitate a 1,200-foot storage trackage, extend an 800-foot siding, and install an at-grade trail crossing on the Octoraro Branch.

— $477,000 to West Railcar and Fabrication LLC to rehabilitate four facility tracks and turnouts.

— $261,000 to Three Rivers Marine and Rail Terminals to rehabilitate sections of track at the Gibsonton Terminal by replacing ties and surfacing.

— $84,000 to Keystone Filler to rehabilitate siding trackage, relocate a rail scale, and stormwater management improvements.

NTSB Ending Most Wanted List

The National Transportation Safety Board said it will end its “most wanted list” of transportation safety initiatives.

The list has been an NTSB staple for 35 years and served as the focus of its safety advocacy efforts.

“The Most Wanted List has served the NTSB well as an advocacy tool, especially in the days before social media, but our advocacy efforts must advance,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy in a news release.

“Freed from the structure of a formal list, the NTSB can more nimbly advocate for our recommendations and emerging safety issues.”

The news release noted that among the items on the most wanted list have been positive train control, fuel tank safety, and crashworthiness improvements across all modes.

The list also has addressed worker fatigue, hazardous material shipments and tank-car safety.