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December 1994

 

CSXT Renumbering CW44AC Locomotives

CSXT's new CW44AC locomotives, initially numbered beginning with 9100, are being renumbered beginning with the number 1. Also, the units will have a lightning bolt symbol on the side of the operating cab exterior. As of November 28, there were 25 of the units on the roster, 12 of which were still numbered in the 9100 series. The CW44AC's have mostly been in use on coal trains operating from Tennessee and Kentucky.

 

CSXT Begins Phosphate Service for Cargill in Florida

CSXT has begun a shuttle service of phosphate rock for Cargill Fertilizer between Hookers Prairie and Bartow, Florida, making three 28-mile round trips per day with a train of rapid-dump cars.

 

CSXT Begins Sand & Gravel Service for Highway Projects in Georgia

A partnership between CSXT and Martin Marietta Aggregates, Inc., has led to six-day-a-week unit train movements to support interstate highway projects in Georgia. A 32-car train will move 775,000 tons of sand and gravel a year between Camak and Savannah.

 

CSXT Begins Low-Sulfur Coal Shipments to Parkersburg Power Plant

Unit coal trains of a CSXT move that will amount to 1.2 million tons a year have begun running to Ohio Power Company's Muskingum power plant near Parkersburg, West Virginia. The coal is low-sulfur, and replaces high-sulfur coal that had been transported by conveyor belt from a nearby mine. A rapid-discharge system using electronically-activated bottom doors of aluminum hopper cars permits unloading of each car in about 15 seconds.

 

Commuter Stations at Muirkirk, Md., and Lorton, Va., to Open this Month

The MARC station at Muirkirk, Maryland, and the VRE station at Lorton, Virginia, are both slated to open this month.

 

Vintage Streetcars Endorsed for Baltimore's Inner Harbor

A coalition of business and transportation museum executives has endorsed a plan to operate a vintage streetcar route around Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

 

Cumberland Valley Segment to Become Trail

Conrail has agreed to sell a stretch of surplus right-of-way from Shippensburg to Newville, Pennsylvania, to the non-profit Cumberland Valley Rails to Trails Council. According to press reports, the 11-mile corridor, once a part of the old Cumberland Valley Railroad, could be open as a limited-use crushed stone trail as early as next year. Meanwhile, a contractor hired by Conrail has been removing the four bridges that spanned Camp, Nealy, Fogelsanger and Big Spring roads along the route. The Cumberland Valley Railroad was completed in 1837. It became a part of Conrail in 1976. The trail portion was abandoned as a railroad in 1981 and the track was torn out in 1984.

 

CSXT Implements Direct Work Order Reporting in Locomotives

CSXT is in the process of installing computer terminals in selected locomotives to replace the system of hand-written reports currently prepared by conductors. The new system, designated "DWOR" (for Direct Work Order Reporting), has the ability to cover yard jobs, locals and road switchers. The computer is connected wirelessly to the customer service center in Jacksonville, Florida, through a commercial communications vendor. Conductors will be given two or three days of training, including at least one day in a classroom working with a simulator.

 

B&O Towers in 1928

This feature is a listing of interlocking towers in service on the B&O in 1928. The information was condensed from an agreement book covering the rules and wage schedule of telegraphers, etc., working on the B&O as of May 16, 1928. The book is from the collection of Dick Stair of Champaign, Illinois, a retired operator and co-editor of The Home Signal, a newsletter devoted to the history of railroad interlocking towers. The offices listed are those identified as serving the duties normally associated with towers. Only those offices representing significant tower-like functions are generally included, and some discretion was required in selecting those to be listed. Single-shift offices were disregarded. The order of offices is as shown in the book, generally as they appeared in sequence along the line of road.

BALTIMORE DIVISION-EAST END

BALTIMORE DIVISION-WEST END

CUMBERLAND DIVISION

MONONGAH DIVISION

WHEELING DIVISION

CHARLESTON DIVISION

CONNELLSVILLE DIVISION

PITTSBURGH DIVISION

AKRON DIVISION

CHICAGO DIVISION

NEWARK DIVISION

OHIO DIVISION

ST. LOUIS DIVISION

TOLEDO DIVISION

INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

TELEGRAPHIC OFFICE CALLS ON THE B&O IN 1928