Corman Donates Truck to Ky. Rail Museum

R.J. Corman has donated a Ford F350 hi-rail mechanic’s truck to The Bluegrass Railroad Museum in Versalilles, Kentucky.

The truck will be used by the museum to support its operations of providing what it termed “an interactive experience of historic railroading in Kentucky.”

The museum specializes in collecting historic railroad artifacts related to railroads that operated in Kentucky. It also operates tourist trains.

The Corman truck will replace the museum’s 50-year-old railroad speeders and be used to conduct track inspections and maintenance-of-way chores.

Corman said in a news release that the truck has the capacity to store numerous tools and parts for on-site repairs, something that the old speeders could not do.

Mistaken Identity

JRCC 3001 and RJ Corman 4119 are leading a Corman southbound train on March 18, 2022, southbound train. This is the first time I have seen JRCC 3001. Two of the images show the train leaving Clinton. A third photo shows it north of Canal Fulton. We believe the reporting marks are in error and that someone transposed the letters “R” and “J.”

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Waiting at CP Mace

R.J. Corman 9003 is awaiting Conrail’s permission to cross over at CP Mace in Massillon on Sept. 30, 1996, on the Fort Wayne Line.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Mudge Appointed to R.J. Corman Board of Directors

Fred Mudge has been appointed to a seat on the board of directors of R.J. Corman Railroad Group.

Mudge is a former board member who served as chairman and interin president and CEO of the railroad.

In a news release, Corman said Mudge earlier served the company for nearly 20 years.

Mudge also is a former secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and previously served as president and CEO of Logan Aluminum, a flat-rolled aluminum manufacturer. In addition, he spent 32 years at Arco Metals.

Cloudy Two for Tuesday on R.J. Corman

The sun can’t shine every day and when clouds roll in, as they often do in Northeast Ohio, some railfan photographers go trackside anyway. Here are two cloudy day photos made on June 9, 2022, of a southbound R.J. Corman train. In the top image, the train, with units 3001 and 1410 is in Clinton. The bottom photo shows the same train south of Canal Fulton. 

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Two for Tuesday in Warwick

Here are two from Warwick made on June 3, 2022. The top image of CSX 6248 is eastbound with what looks to be a local. The bottom image shows R.J. Corman No. 3001 running southbound past the former Warwick Tower, which is now used by maintenance of way crews. When I first saw this unit a few weeks ago, it was wrongly lettered “JR Corman.”

Photographs by Robert Farkas

CRISI Grants Awarded to Railroads in Pa., Ky.

Federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure Safety and Improvement grants have been announced for projects in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

R.J. Corman received two of the grants. They include $14.7 million to rebuild 8.6 miles of track in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The grant also covers rebuilding or replacing 14 bridges between Boyertown and Pottstown.

Some funds from the grant will be used for construction of two rail-served transload yards and to  improve drainage issues that lead to large quantities of water on nearby roadways.

Corman also was approved for a $7.3 million grant for various projects on its Central Kentucky lines.

One project will create a new freight rail-to-truck transload facility near Frankfort. Another project will improve the main yard and transload facility in Lexington.

Repairs will include rehabilitating grade crossings and track, a new office building, switching replacements and expanding transload storage pads, as well as paving truck and traffic areas.

The Gettysburg Northern Railway will receive $1.84 million to rebuild 24 miles of track in Adams and Cumberland counties.

The project will improve safety standards, construct a new runaround track, upgrade more than 15 crossings and repair seven failing culverts.

CSX Operated Kentucky Derby Train

CSX kept alive the tradition of operating passenger specials to the Kentucky Derby.

The CSX Derby train arrived about noon on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky, at Central Avenue near Cardinal Stadium.

The train was reported to have used R.J. Corman track between Lexington and Anchorage, Kentucky. It stopped in Louisville for 15 minutes to unload those heading over to Churchill Downs to take in a day at the races.

An online report said the train, which was led by three CSX F40 locomotives in the Baltimore & Ohio –inspired livery CSX unveiled last year for its executive train fleet, left Louisville after discharging its passengers.

After the race, the passengers were taken by bus back to Lexington. The train also featured a theater car on the rear.

Reportedly, the CSX executive train is going to run on Wednesday from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, with an approximately noon arrival in Willard.

R.J. Corman Two for Tuesday in Massillon

Here are two with some fall color taken on Nov. 1, 2021, in Massillon. An R.J. Corman GP20 is entering a short stretch of Norfolk Southern at CP Mace as it heads south. In the other image, the 4119 has left the NS Fort Wayne Line and is branching back to Corman rails.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Corman Genset Two for Tuesday

RJ Corman 5400 is northbound in Canal Fulton on April 12, 2010. Genset locomotives are no longer in use on this line.

Photographs by Robert Farkas