The Bull Sheet
April 1991
Current News
Effective April 7, the Capitol Limited will carry a through coach to and from Miami, and the train will be made up with the coaches on the rear.
Amtrak has announced the rerouting of the Pioneer through Wyoming starting in June. The state, which has not been served by Amtrak since 1983, will now have service at Evanston, Green River, Rock Springs, Rawlins, Laramie and Cheyenne (Borie). The Pioneer runs between Seattle and Chicago by way of Denver. East of Denver the train will be combined with the California Zephyr.
CSXT's Shenandoah Subdivision will serve a General Foods plant being built in Winchester, Va. The plant will process and package food products.
The Norfolk and Western depot at Berryville, Va., has been demolished.
The American-European Express has lately operated with typically six cars using a GP40 along with a MARC unit for power. The GP40 (AEE-1) was formerly CSXT-6599. AEE has reportedly acquired another unit, a GP40-2 (x-DRG&W-3108) to be designated AEE-2. AEE had been using a leased E8 unit (801) from the Wisconsin & Southern, but stopped using it. A combine car named 'London' is expected to be available for service in June, and it will serve as a power car along with its added duty as a health-club car. Presumably a locomotive capable of providing headend power will no longer be needed once the combine car is put into service. The round-end observation car 'New York' is expected to be available for service next month.
CSXT's program to reduce fuel through reductions in maximum speed for non-intermodal freight trains appears to be working as intended, according to the company. The amount of fuel required to move 1000 gross tons per mile decreased from 1.58 gallons to 1.47 gallons during the first month of the program. Beginning the first week in February, non-intermodal freight trains were restricted to a maximum speed of 40 MPH.
Retired B&O interlocking tower operator Jerry Towner died on February 13.
Railroad Passenger Cars Inc. is swapping its ex-NYC baggage car 36 for an ex-ACL railway post office car from CSXT.
Amtrak has redesigned its timetables to make them easier to understand and to cut costs. According to the company, two system timetables are to become generally available to reflect their respective ridership categories: a Northeastern timetable for the Northeast corridor, and a National timetable for the rest of the country. There will still be a nationwide system timetable, but fewer copies will be printed than before, and it will be sent out only by request.
The Portland, Oregon, Union Station will be restored and expanded into a major transportation center during the next 10 to 15 years. According to the company, the new center will eventually link Amtrak to interstate and local bus systems, and to light-rail lines. The center will also include offices, shops, restaurants, a hotel, and a railroad museum.
General Electric has furnished a design for the class AMD-103 locomotives the company will build for Amtrak. They will be part of a 52-unit locomotive order. The first 20 units, to be delivered in the first-quarter of 1992, will be based on the current Dash-8 design. Beginning in 1993, the first of the AMD-103's will be delivered, the final ten of which will be 'dual-mode' for use with a third rail.
CSXT has announced the sale of line segments in Georgia and Ontario. A 77-mile line from Thomasville to Albany and Sylvester, Georgia, has been transferred to the Gulf & Ohio Railway, and a six-mile segment in Walkersville, Ontario, has been transferred to the Canadian National. Both transactions took place on February 15.
CSXT's locomotive operations department is in the process of equipping all units with a sticker of the American flag on each side of the cab below the window. Employees have been instructed to maintain the flags in good condition 'without exception,' and any flags found to be torn or in defacd condition must be removed by crews immediately. Flags are also being applied to MARC units.
Alco-5 from Schenectady, N.Y., is in temporary service on the Strasburg. (Reported by Scott Hertel.).
An ex-N&W 4-8-0 locomotive from the Boone & Scenic Railroad in Iowa has been acquired by the Strasburg. It is being shipped in sections for reassdembly after arrival, and is expected to be put into service next year. (Reported by Stewart Rhine.)