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THE SECRET LIFE OF WANDERING LOCOMOTIVES

www.TrainsMag.com

July 2015

p. 52

FIXING

CHICAGO

p. 22

REWORKING AMERICA’S RAILROAD HUB

AND FOLDOUT MAP!

p. 25

Feather

River

Canyon

Of restlessness

and rain

p. 36

PLUS

An oil train moves

through downtown

Chicago.

SunRail: Lessons from a commuter rail start-up

p. 46

Reading 4-8-4 on the move

p. 60

BONUS

ONLINE

CONTENT

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Online Content Code: TRN1507

Enter this code at:

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to gain access to web-exclusive content

vol. 75, no. 7 news and features

july 2015

www.TrainsMag.com

ON THE

WEB

FEATURES

COVER STORY

Fixing Chicago

Are railroads ready and

willing to repair the

nation’s rail hub?

Fred W. Frailey

Chicago railroads

Check out a gallery plus video

Map of the Month:

Moving freight

through Chicago

Twelve years after the July 2003

Windy City special issue, check

out the nation’s rail hub now

Bill Metzger

footage of rail operations in the

city.

Photo by David Lassen

Canyon solitude

Of railroads, rain, and

restlessness in Feather

River Canyon

Scott Lothes

SunRail rises

Central Florida’s new

commuter line gains riders

despite initial opposition

Jeffrey R. Orenstein

Roaming

locomotives

“Horsepower-hour,”

“free runners,” and units

often far from home

Chris Guss

SunRail video

Follow along and watch the

action on Central Florida’s new

commuter railroad

Locomotive rosters

Subscribers can view and

ON THE COVER

A run-through oil train from BNSF

Railway to Norfolk Southern heads south at CP Lumber in

downtown Chicago on Oct. 9, 2013.

Photo by Chris Guss

NEWS

News & Photos

Don Phillips

Fred W. Frailey

Locomotive

Technology

Passenger

download PDFs of the latest

locomotive roster data for North

America’s seven Class I

railroads and Amtrak

Foldout map: Chicago

Fixing Chicago:

Reworking America’s

railroad hub

Feather River Canyon:

Of restlessness and rain

SunRail: Lessons from

a commuter rail start-up

The secret life of

wandering locomotives

Reading 4-8-4 T-1

No. 2100 on the move

DEPARTMENTS

From the Editor

Railway Post Ofﬁce

Preservation

Hot Spots

Ask

RAINS

Gallery

Subscribers can access all

the latest news and updates to

stories daily on T

RAINS

News Wire

us on

RAINS

Magazine (issn 0041-0934, usps 529-850) is published monthly by Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI, 53187-1612. Periodicals postage paid at Waukesha,

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FROM THE EDITOR

EDITOR

A RT DI RECTOR

PRODUCTION EDITOR

Jim Wrinn

Angela Pusztai-Pasternak

David Lassen

Steve Sweeney

Brian Schmidt

Scott Krall

Thomas G. Danneman

A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

JIM WRINN

A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

Pilgrimage on U.S. 30

All of us have our “must do” list. This is about one item

from mine, how it fulfilled my expectations, and how it

tempted me further. I’m talking about driving U.S. 30 in

Nebraska, the highway that parallels the Union Pacific

main line across the cornfields. What a pilgrimage this is.

The road and the railroad run in close

proximity to each other for much of the

state. I started just east of Kearney, Neb.,

and drove east to Fremont, Neb., a distance

of about 180 miles. If you’re looking to

make time in these parts, stick to I-80. If

you want to watch trains, U.S. 30 is the

road to take. You’ll not be disappointed.

The railroad is the original transconti-

nental route, laid down 150 years ago. This

is a busy artery of commerce, funneling

traffic between the world’s largest freight

yard in North Platte, Neb., and the conti-

nent’s busiest railroad hub, Chicago [see

pages 22-35]. In most places, it is

double-tracked, but in some locations the

main is three tracks wide.

I was told to expect headlights on the

horizon at all times. So, I pulled up to a dirt-

road crossing and waited. Five minutes later,

a westbound appeared. Not long after its

distributed power unit chortled by, an east-

bound showed up. In the next 30 minutes,

my train-watching became like following the

ball in a busy ping-pong game.

Eventually, I started driving east, and I

was not disappointed. I saw stack trains

overtaking ballast trains, plenty of meets,

and a variety of trains. At Grand Island,

Neb., I paused to visit the Burlington Route

station and check out the BNSF Railway fly-

over. Sure enough, just as a UP eastbound

passed under, a BNSF westbound crossed

over the flyover. I didn’t get a perfect “over

and under” shot, but it was close enough to

make me want to return to try again.

As we begin the summer travel season,

here’s to checking off items on your “must

do” list. Whether it’s watching trains in a

particular place, taking an Amtrak route

you’ve always wanted to experience, going

on an excursion behind your favorite 4-8-4,

or going overseas to enjoy a completely dif-

ferent railroad experience, my advice is this:

There’s no better time than today. Just do it.

E D I T O R I A L A S S I S TA N T

Diane Laska-Swanke

Drew Halverson

Rick Johnson

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

L E A D I L L U S T R AT O R

LIBRARIAN

Thomas Hoffmann

COLUMNISTS

Fred W. Frailey, Don Phillips

CORRESPONDENTS

Roy Blanchard, Michael W. Blaszak, Justin Franz,

Steve Glischinski, Chase Gunnoe, Chris Guss,

Scott A. Hartley, Bob Johnston, David Lester, David Lustig

C O N T R I B U T I N G I L L U S T R AT O R

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K A L M B A C H P U B L I S H I N G C O.

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A R T A N D P R O D U C T I O N M A N A G E R

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G R O U P C I R C U L AT I O N M A N A G E R

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S I N G L E C O P Y S P E C I A L I S T

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C O R P O R AT E A D V E R T I S I N G D I R E C T O R

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Christa Burbank

P R O D U C T I O N C O O R D I N AT O R

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PRESIDENT

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Westbound, left, and eastbound unit coal trains pass at speed on the Union Paciﬁc main

line near Central City, Neb. Put the U.S. 30 experience on your bucket list.

R A I NS

Jim Wrinn

rains

JULY 2015

RAILWAY POST OFFICE

AMTRAK RESPONDS TO DON

PHILLIPS’ COLUMN ON SAFETY

Don Phillips’ alarmist commentary,

“Amtrak’s Safe-2-Safer Is Not Too Safe”

[pages 10-11, June] missed the mark

about improvements to one of our em-

ployee safety programs. Safety is Amtrak’s

No. 1 commitment to both employees

and passengers.

We work relentlessly to ensure that

every customer and employee goes home

injury-free every day. We partner with in-

dustry-leading experts to develop innova-

tive training and engagement programs,

and they have been effective in helping us

make needed changes in our safety cul-

ture. An example is the behavior-based,

employee-focused Safe-2-Safer program,

which Amtrak implemented in 2009.

A recent report by the Amtrak Office

of Inspector General (and posted at

www.amtrakoig.gov) offered thoughtful

analysis and recommendations on improv-

ing our program. However, Phillips’ article

missed important points, such as these:

• The report’s purpose was to review

“(1) the extent to which the Safe-2-Safer

program goals are being met, (2) whether

opportunities exist to improve program

implementation, and (3) whether the pro-

gram is integrated with the company’s

overall efforts to improve safety.” Amtrak’s

leadership, including President and CEO

Joe Boardman, read the report multiple

times and agreed with the recommenda-

tions. Amtrak’s responses and implemen-

tation plans are included in the report.

• The inspector general reported that

Amtrak “has demonstrated a strong com-

mitment to employee safety, but progress

toward achieving the Safe-2-Safer pro-

gram goals has been mixed, and opportu-

nities for improvement exist. The compa-

ny has made a significant resource

investment in the program … [which] led

to improved working conditions through

the identification and elimination of more

than 2,700 unsafe working conditions.

The company’s safety culture also im-

proved, as measured by biennial employee

surveys since 2009.”

• The report also attributes some of

the rise in reportable injuries to improve-

ments in Amtrak’s safety culture and

encouragement for employees to report

injuries without fear of retribution.

Fostering this environment helps supervi-

sors identify and address safety issues. A

rise in reporting was predicted and is an

indicator of an improved culture.

While any injury or safety incident is

one too many, we do have an excellent

record of passenger and train-operating

safety. Amtrak is also making far greater

progress on employee safety than Phillips’

column leads Trains readers to believe.

Amtrak’s FRA-reportable injury rate has

dropped by 20 percent, from last October

through February (the latest report avail-

able at the time this article was written).

Strain and sprain injuries, accounting for

more than half of Amtrak’s reportable

injuries, dropped by 15 percent over the

same period. The severity rate of employee

injuries is also down by 40 percent.

Key takeaways: Are we where we want

to be? No. Are Amtrak’s accidents and in-

juries rising rapidly? No. Are we focused

on the right path with executing a plan to

continually improve our culture and em-

ployee safety programs? Yes. Is Amtrak

operating safely, and committed — at all

levels of the company — to continuing to

operate safer? Emphatically, yes.

Rod Gibbons, vice president,

corporate communications, Amtrak

Washington, D.C.

www.TrainsMag.com

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Trains.2015.01.pdf (39687 KB)
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Trains.2015.12.pdf (46524 KB)
Trains.2015.10.pdf (44376 KB)

Trains.2015.07.pdf

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