CSX Warns of Freight Delays due to Storm

CSX has notified shippers that freight moving through Buffalo, New York, will be delayed through the weekend in the wake of severe winter weather that dumped heavy snow in western New York.

In a bulletin sent to shippers CSX said service recovery operations continue in Buffalo; Erie, Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes region and the Northeast.

Shipment delays are possible as service restoration activity continues throughout the week and into the New Year’s weekend.

News reports indicated that Buffalo received more than 50 inches of snow this week.

LSL Returns to Service Following Storm Suspensions

Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited returned to service on Sunday following its suspension since late last week in advance of a snowstorm in the Buffalo, New York, region that dumped up to six feet of lake effect snow.

Also restored to service were Empire Service trains to Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York.

Nos 48/448 and 49/449 were cancelled between Wednesday and Saturday from Chicago, and Thursday through Saturday from New York City.

The last train to operate west of Albany-Rensselaer, New York, was Empire Service No. 283, which terminated on Thursday in Syracuse.

It turned at Syracuse on Friday to return to New York’s Penn Station. Trains that were scheduled to operate between New York and Niagara Falls instead operated only between New York and Albany-Rensselaer through Saturday.

In an unrelated situation, two westbound Wolverine Service trains were cancelled on Friday due to stranded equipment and lack of operating personnel.

The situation arose from a Thursday incident in Kalamazoo, Michigan, when westbound Train 355 struck a trespasser.

Passengers completed their trip to Chicago by bus but Nos. 350 and 355 from Detroit (Pontiac) to Chicago on Friday were cancelled.

Finding space on Amtrak trains during the Thanksgiving travel period this week may be difficult as the passenger carrier continues to grapple with shortages of serviceable equipment and operating personnel.

Midwest corridor trains on the St. Louis-Kansas City; Chicago-Quincy, Illinois; and Chicago-Carbondale, Illinois, corridors are suspended due to those issues, meaning there is not as much capacity as there has been in previous years.

Amtrak also lacks the ability to do as it did in previous years of adding extra sections of some Midwest Corridor trains during the Thanksgiving travel period by having equipment and personnel make additional trips during hours when the equipment would be having downtime in Chicago before its next assignment.

Even trains that are operating this week will have less capacity because they have been operating for several months with fewer cars than normal.

CSX Offers Bonuses for Temporary Crew Transfers to Water Level Route Terminals

CSX is offering train and engine workers bonuses to temporarily relocate to terminals along its Water Level Route where crew shortages have become acute.

Trains magazine reported on its website that the bonuses would be paid to workers agreeing to work up to six months at the New York terminals of Buffalo, Syracuse and Selkirk, or at West Springfield, Massachusetts.

Workers would receive a $5,000 bonus once they qualify on their new territories and $17,000 after six months of service.

The Trains story noted that CSX management had expected an ongoing shortage of crews at Selkirk to ease after Labor Day when the summer vacation season ends. But the shortages continued and, in fact, became worse.

The Class 1 railroad also is offering $5,000 bonuses to new conductors hired at those same four terminals.

The story can be read at https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/as-stopgap-to-relieve-crew-shortages-csx-seeks-transfers-to-water-level-route-terminals/

FTA Cool Toward Buffalo Light Rail Expansion

The Federal Transit Administration is opposing a proposal to expand the light rail system in Buffalo, New York.

FTA planners have suggested that Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority use buses instead of rail to extend the system north to Amherst, Cheektowaga, and the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

The existing light rail line opened in 1964 and local officials during the 1970s made plans to expand it. However, most of those expansion plans have yet to occur due to lack of funding.

Buffalo transit officials have said the northward extension would serve some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods and give residents there a one seat ride to downtown.

Flour Box Car Now on Display in Buffalo

The first boxcar in Buffalo’s Flour-By-Rail Legacy Project is now on display.

Buffalo Creek No. 3424, a 40-foot car built by the Pullman Company, is on a display track awaiting a cosmetic restoration.

The car is slated to be repainted to its original appearance, including displaying the the Buffalo Creek “flour bag” logo.

The display in Buffalo’s Silo City neighborhood is expected to gain several more cars and a locomotive.

Buffalo Set to Finish Rail Transit Car Overhauls

The Buffalo transit agency said it has about completed rebuilding its light rail car fleet.

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s rebuilding project is nearing completion more than five years after the program was supposed to have been completed.

Work is under way on the last vehicle in the 27-car fleet, which will conclude a $45 million program that has had workers stripping  the cars down to the shell in a rebuild process.

The program began in 2004, but the original contractor went bankrupt, leading to delays and ownership disputes.

The rebuilds passed through several companies before completion by Hitachi Rail. The cars, had been built by Japan’s Tokyu Car Company in 1984. Once overhauled, they are expected to operate for another 15 years.

Project Seeks to Pay Tribute to Buffalo’s Flour Industry Heritage

A project in Buffalo, New York, is seeking to commemorate the role of railroads in transporting flour, which was once a key part of the city’s economy.

The Flour-by-Rail Legacy Project plans to set up a display in the “Silo City” neighborhood of a locomotive and three railcars used in the movement of flour from Buffalo’s mills.

The cars are expected to have interpretive exhibits of the flour industry in Buffalo.

C. D. “Charlie” Monte Verde, who is leading the project said that at one time Buffalo was the second largest rail hub in North America.

Midwest grain arrived in the city in western New York by boat to be processed into flour.

The flour industry in Buffalo, though, suffered a devastating blow after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which allowed Great Lakes freighters to have all-year water access to the Atlantic Ocean and East Coast ports.

As a result thousands of stevedores, mill workers, and railroad employees lost their jobs.

Some of the silos used by the flour industry still stand along the waterfront and along the Buffalo River.

Some former mills have been or are being transformed into residential and retail purposes.

Although the flour industry is gone from Buffalo, General Mills still produces Cheerios at a mill in the Buffalo region.

New Buffalo Amtrak Station Opens

A ceremony featuring state and local officials was held on Monday to mark the opening of a new Exchange Street Station in downtown Buffalo, New York. 

The station was built on the site of the former 66-year-old New York Central facility of the same name.

The new $29.8 million Amtrak station, though, is elevated, located closer to the street and is twice the size of the depot it replaced.

Amtrak passengers will be able to make connections to local bus and light-rail service.

The low-level platforms of the station were redesigned to comply with Americans With Disabilities Act standards. The station features a covered pedestrian plaza.

The project was overseen by the New York State Department of Transportation.

The station is served by Amtrak’s Empire Corridor trains between New York and Niagara Falls, New York. The New York-Toronto Maple Leaf also stops at the station.

The Chicago-New York/Boston Lake Shore Limited, however, does not use the tracks passing Exchange Street station.

CSX Considering Shrinking Yards in Buffalo Region

CSX is considering reducing the size of Frontier Yard in Buffalo, New York, as part of a program that may include other infrastructure reduction in western New York.

Trains magazine cited unnamed sources in a report that said CSX is eyeing removal of bowl track groups 2 through 5 in the main yard.

In recent years the carrier has used these tracks for car storage.

Under the proposal, Bowl Group 1 will remain in service while Groups 6 and 7 will be rebuilt to for flat switching with a new lead at Bailey Avenue.

The report said this part of the yard is now used for light classification work for local industry jobs.

There are no plans to remove the yard hump for now, but CSX will likely flatten it later.

CSX is also reportedly considering changes at other yards, including consolidation, in the Buffalo region that it considers to be under used.

Those yards are Niagara, Kenmore, and Ohio, are underutilized, the source says.

Trains said CSX representatives did not respond to its emailed requests for comment.

Buffalo Exchange Street Station Razed

Razing has begun of the Exchange Street Station in Buffalo, New York, to make way for a new facility.

The former New York Central depot is served by all Amtrak trains in Buffalo except the Lake Shore Limited.

Amtrak passengers have been using a temporary facility since Aug. 12. Exchange Street station opened in 1952.

Its replacement will cost $27.7 million and is expected to open in fall 2020.

Exchange Street is served by two Empire Service roundtrips between New York and Niagara Falls, and the New York-Toronto Maple Leaf.