Canada Calling
April 2000

by Bryce Lee

The first CD-ROM edition of the Canadian Railway Atlas has been produced by The Railway Association of Canada. It is based on information provided by the railways and reflects developments in the industry up to the Fall of 1999. The Main Menu has six sections: station index, railway index, city index, map of Canada, map of North America and legend. There are two search engines: one for the 5,071 railway stations listed and the other, for searching by railway with 135 listed. The station index takes users into the Atlas. The railway index takes them to the map of North America where the railway under search will be highlighted. Related pages are linked by tabs which allow users to move from one page to another when they are tracing the route of a rail line. The screens are searchable, and are linked to the appropriate maps in the Atlas. There is a navigational system at the bottom of the screen which allows the user to move to different parts of the index or exercise their choice of returning to the main page by clicking on the "home" icon at the bottom right. The CD-ROM has been configured to operate on either PC or Macintosh computers. Orders for the CD can be placed with the Railway Association of Canada at rac@railcan.ca for $25 Canadian, or $20 U.S., which includes taxes and shipping charges. This new format complements last year's publication of the RAC's railway atlas and wall map. The association now has 51 member railways, representing virtually all freight and passenger rail operations in Canada.

A group of farm communities has decided against a court appeal of a railway decision. Instead, the group is taking its concerns directly to the Federal Cabinet. The decision could set a precedent. Farmers say taxpayers should not have to buy them a second time. The railways say the repairs were a form of payment tied into rail subsidies. Last month, the federal regulator ruled in favour of the railways. This meant the railways when selling branch lines could include in the selling price the cost of the amount of repairs done to the branch lines under rail subsidies program. The end result is it will cost more to buy a branch line. The farm communities could appeal the decision in court, but they don't think they can win. They say the problem is with the transportation law itself, so they're asking the federal government to change the regulations.

A coalition of Western grain producers and shippers is launching a last-minute lobbying campaign to eliminate the Canadian Wheat Board's dominance of grain shipments. The federal government was expected to decide as early as February 10 whether to implement the recommendations of the Kroeger report, which said a more competitive system should be introduced. The Wheat Board has a virtual monopoly on wheat and barley shipments bound for export or intended for Canadian food. Domestic feed grain is the only exemption. The government, and Western farmers, have been split over the board's role, but a cabinet committee is scheduled to tackle the issue. About 50 people, from the Western Canadian Wheat Growers' Association, port authorities on the West Coast and Thunder Bay, Ont., and other groups were to meet with cabinet members and bureaucrats.

A councillor from the City of Windsor Ontario isn't giving up his fight to get railway companies to notify the city when they're making changes. Councillor Fulvio Valentinis is upset with a local railway company. The city has received a letter from the Essex Terminal Railway saying that it has no intention of consulting with the city of any changes to marshalling yards or sidings. The councillor had requested that railroads and the Canadian Transportation Agency notify the city prior to such changes. Valentinis understands that rail traffic is a way of life in Windsor and that the industry is regulated by the federal agency. However he feels they should have some sense of corporate responsibility by advising the city about proposed changes.

The waiting continues for Rail Cycle North. The company has submitted a bid to transport Toronto garbage for disposal in the former Adam's mine in northern Ontario. The public works committee which will decide upon the garbage issue had stated that bids for transportation and disposal must be made separately and the Rail Cycle North bid did not conform to those rules. Rail Cycle North subsequently altered its 11-year-old proposal to haul Toronto's garbage to an abandoned mine site in Kirkland Lake. The Toronto public works committee has set a deadline of June to name the winner of a contract which goes into effect January 1, 2002, when the Keele landfill site prepares to close. There were five active proposals, two each from Michigan and southwestern Ontario and the fifth from Rail Cycle North.

On Sunday February 6, a St.Lawrence & Atlantic train derailed near Sherbrooke Quebec spilling a hundred tonnes of sodium chlorate crystals have spilled from one of the cars. Sodium chlorate is used as a bleaching agent in the pulp and paper industry. It can explode if it comes into contact with organic material such as the grease on heavy equipment. In the interim Highway 143 between Sherbrooke and Bromptonville was closed as a precaution. The railway expected the line to be open in a day.

Sudbury Ontario firefighters worked most of February 8 to douse a stubborn blaze in a boxcar containing hazardous chemicals. Most of Sudbury was sealed by police who feared toxic fumes might drift through the city. It was feared the boxcar carrying sulphuric acid, trichloroethylene and dichloromethane might explode. The fire was detected in a Canadian Pacific boxcar about 4 p.m., during a routine inspection. Firefighters tried to starve the fire of oxygen by piling sand and gravel around the car and pouring water on the outside. It was not brought under control until about midnight when a tractor pulled off a side of the car to allow a direct attack on the flames. The boxcar was insulated and heated with a methanol flame that warms liquids piped through the unit, keeping the cargo from freezing. Sudbury Mayor Jim Gordon claimed CP continued to allow trains to pass within the railway yard even though the surrounding area had been evacuated by police. The mayor contended by doing so, CP put the city's firefighters at additional risk. Attempts to douse the fire were delayed because trains continued to roll through the yard, impeding fire crews.

Bombardier's Transportation Group has won a C$660-million order to build 252 rail vehicles for Netherlands Railways. The vehicles will be built at a Bombardier-owned plant in Aachen, Germany. Delivery of the 13 four-car and 12 six-car double-deck electric powered units and 128 double-deck coaches will start at the end of 2001 and be completed by mid-2004, Bombardier said Thursday. The order continues a long-standing relationship between Netherlands Railways and a Bombardier-owned plant in Aachen, Germany, where the vehicles will be produced. The plant, acquired by Bombardier in 1995, has delivered more than 2,000 passenger vehicles to the Netherlands over the last three decades.

Bombardier Transportation was awarded an order from the transport authority of Cologne (KVB) for the supply of 55 city-trams type K 5000. The contract, valued at approximately C$123 million (170 million DEM), includes an option for an additional 91 vehicles. Should the option be exercised, the total order value would amount to approximately C$325 million (450 million DEM). The delivery of the first 55 city-trams is scheduled to begin in September 2001, while the vehicles of the option would be delivered between 2002 and 2006. Vehicle assembly, system integration and testing will be done at the Bombardier Transportation plant in Aachen, Germany, while its Vienna, Austria, plant will manufacture the modules. Kiepe Elektrik, in Dusseldorf, will be responsible for the electrical portion of the contract.

Rocky Mountaineer Railtours has been presented the Best Tourism Marketing Campaign Award at the first annual British Columbia Tourism Awards, held February 17 in conjunction with the British Columbia Tourism Industry Conference. Rocky Mountaineer Railtours also received honourable mention for the Environmentally Responsible Tourism Award presented by the Oceans Blue Foundation. Established by Tourism British Columbia and the Council of Tourism Associations of British Columbia, the Best Tourism Marketing Campaign Award was created to recognize the development and execution of an innovative marketing campaign that not only increased business from the target markets, but also enhanced BC's tourism industry as a whole. Honourable mention was also received by Great Canadian Railtour Company, owners and operators of Rocky Mountaineer Railtours, for the Environmentally Responsible Tourism Award for preventing and reducing the environmental impacts of their business operations. Rocky Mountaineer Railtours is the "first" passenger rail operator to voluntarily implement an onboard waste disposal management program with a capital investment of C$4.2 million and estimated annual operating costs of C$160,000. The investment represents Great Canadian Railtour Company's commitment to providing a safe and healthy environment its employees, those who live near and work with railways, and the company's stewardship role for Canada's National Parks.

British Columbia Railway Company, a provincial crown corporation, announced its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 1999, will contain a one-time asset impairment charge relating principally to its investment in the northeast coal line. This non-cash charge is estimated at C$600 million, with the exact amount to be finalized in March, 2000, when the results of a detailed asset impairment review now underway at the railway will be released along with final year-end audited results. The Railway included news of this writedown in its most recent quarterly financial submission to the provincial government and says a writedown is required to ensure the value of assets carried in its financial statements does not exceed the future net cash flows generated from those assets. Before this one time charge, 1999 consolidated net income of the BCR Group, on a pre-audit basis, will show a significant improvement over last year of some 39%, to an estimated C$33 million. BC Rail plans to continue servicing the two northeast coal mines along its Tumbler Ridge branchline and indicated that this accounting charge will have no negative impact on continuing operations or the financial health of BC Rail and its subsidiary companies.

Startup problems at a new Agrium phosphate fertilizer plant are expected to hurt Agrium Inc.'s profits in the first half of this year. The fertilizer company, which uses about a million tonnes of phosphate rock a year, started up its Kapuskasing mine last year to save US$33-million a year. The savings will mostly come from reduced transportation costs as the raw product was formerly imported from Africa. Agrium has experienced production problems at its mine and is having to supplement its supply of Canadian ore with additional African rock. To date the mine has been producing at lower rates since day one with shipments averaging about 10 loads a day, which was the startup design capacity. Final rates will be 30 to 40 loads a day taken to Hearst, the Algoma Central Railway will then take it to Oba where it will be made into 90 to 100 car trains for final delivery to Redwater, Alberta. This is interesting from a rail perspective in that this mine and the expected shipments were one of the determining factors that prompted the ONR to purchase its SD75s. The phosphate trains were to take a Kapuskasing-Hearst (ONR)-Oba (ACR)-Edmonton (CN)-Redwater (RA Lakeland & Waterways) route, in simple terms.

RailAmerica has announced the appointment of John M. Hovis to the newly created position of senior vice president and chief operating officer, North American Rail Group, effective immediately. Hovis reports to Gary Marino, RailAmerica chairman, president and chief executive. Hovis most recently served as senior vice president and chief operating officer of RailTex Inc., which was recently acquired by RailAmerica. Prior to joining RailTex in 1998, Hovis was employed by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, most recently as vice president of merchandise operations. Hovis will be responsible for the management and operations of RailAmerica's 48 North American railroads, which operate over 8,000 miles of rail lines in 24 states and six Canadian provinces.

The United States Surface Transportation Board, eight months after the division of Conrail was completed, has initiated a review of the merger. The STB is requesting comments on the implementation of the Conrail transaction and how the various STB conditions are working. When the STB approved the joint acquisition and division of Conrail assets by CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. in July 1998, it set conditions that included a five-year oversight period. The STB, as it has in other rail mergers, retained jurisdiction to impose additional conditions and/or take other action if it determined it necessary to address harmful effects of the transaction. Under that jurisdiction, the board also requires quarterly reports from Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway on the implementation of UP's 1996 purchase of Southern Pacific Rail Corp. and the granting of trackage rights by UP to BNSF to maintain rail competition in parts of the West.

In its July 1998 decision, the STB said it would monitor implementation of the Conrail transaction to ensure that CSX and NS adhered to the promises they made in the Conrail merger proceeding. The board, in its decision to launch the review, said CSX and NS must file progress reports on the Conrail transaction. The STB also said it would examine the effects that the merger has had on the relationship of short-line railroads with the larger railroads, and within the Chicago switching district; the impact on Amtrak passenger operations and regional rail passenger operations; and it would review environmental-mitigating conditions.

The Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, is enlarging its three-year-old Deltaport terminal and is studying further expansion to handle more U.S. container traffic. Container traffic at Vancouver rose by 27% last year, to 1.07 million TEUs. The increase has been fueled by favorable shipping rates, coupled with strong Canadian demand for Asian imports. During the last year, Vancouver has attracted new services from Norasia Lines, Evergreen Marine and China Ocean Shipping Co. While some traffic through Vancouver makes its way to the U.S. Midwest, most of the cargo goes to Canadian points. That could change, however. The port expects by midyear to complete a study that will guide future expansion, which will be based largely on prospects for attracting more U.S. cargo. It is expected if the Burlington Northern-Canadian National merger goes through, that would give CN-BNSF the ability to bring more Midwest cargo through Vancouver. The port is adding 60 acres of storage space and facilities at Deltaport, the modern terminal south of the city, and in April will take delivery of two gantry cranes big enough to reach across 20 rows of containers. Four cranes at the terminal already can reach across 18 rows of boxes. The port is spending C$43-million (US$29.7 million) on paving and other improvements at the expansion site. When completed at the end of 2001, Deltaport will be able to load eight 3,500-foot trains at once, or four 7,000-foot unit trains, double its current track capacity. The Deltaport expansion and other work at the port's downtown Vanterm and Centerm terminals will increase the port's annual container-handling capacity, to 1.7 million TEUs from 1.2 million.

On Monday, February 21/2000 Ferroequus Railway had permission to operate a test train utilizing TPHX 2100 (former Reading 2100) from St. Thomas Ontario west to Windsor Ontario and return. The proposed schedule: St. Thomas 0600, Glencoe 0730, Chatham 0830, Windsor 0940; leave Windsor 1600, Chatham 1710, Glencoe 1810, arrival at St. Thomas 1940. Their pilots, who were called out for 5:00 a.m. showed up at 6:45. After they arrived and the locomotive was ready to go, they ran into a frozen switch on the yard throat lead. Forty-five minutes later, they were headed out on the old Wabash/Norfolk Southern Line and at the east end of St. Thomas yard, more frozen switches were encountered. The train finally left St. Thomas around 09:50, by which time they had decided not to make the St.Thomas/Windsor round trip in the time frame that had bee allotted. As the train reached Frome about six miles west of St. Thomas a hot bearing was discovered on the 2100. It was decided to terminate the trip at that point.

On February 18, 2000 the CSXT Safety-Inspection Special Train originated in Jacksonville, Florida and was to subsequently pass through Windsor Ontario via Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio. The proposed schedule was: Depart Jacksonville, FL 0630 Sunday Feb 13, 2000, arrive Cleveland Collinwood Yard 1735, On arrival at Cleveland Collinwood Yard the trains was to be split: "A" Train: locomotive 9992 and half the consist moving from Cleveland, to Toledo, to Detroit; "B" Train: locomotive 9993 and balance of the consist moving from Cleveland, to Indianapolis. Special Train P92515 (A Train) was to operate from Cleveland to Toledo/Detroit, depart Cleveland Collinwood Yard 1200 Tuesday February 15, 2000, arrive Detroit Rougemere Yard 1600, depart Detroit Rougemere Yard 0700 Friday Feb 18, 2000 to Canada with proposed timings of Delray 0720, Windsor 0850, Fargo 0915, Chatham 0945, Sarnia 1145, Tappan 1345, Delray 1620, arrive Detroit Rougemere Yard 1640, depart Detroit Rougemere Yard 1800 Friday February 18, 2000. This train was expected to go east out the CN CASO Subdivision to Fargo, hence north on the CSX Sarnia Subdivision through Chatham to Sarnia, hence CN Strathroy Subdivision to Port Huron hence GTW Flint Subdivision to Tappan, hence CSX & GT Mount Clemens Subdivision eventually back to CSX Rougmere Yard.

However plans changed. Apparently, the train headed past the north end of Van de Water Yard in Windsor eastbound out on to the StL&H Windsor Subdivision. CSXT 9992 East arrived eventually in Chatham, crossed the diamond, and backed onto the northbound CSX Sarnia Subdivision via the east to south wye. The consist was: CSXT 9992 [EMD FE7A nee-AMTK 390 F40PH], CSXT 363 Kentucky a generator car, CSXT 8 Mississippi, CSXT 317 Baltimore, CSXT 319 Greenbrier, CSXT 12 Michigan, with CSXT 318 Georgia, a glassed-in observation/inspection car at the rear. The 9992, received a clearance, and disappeared into the snow heading north (about 40 minutes late from its original schedule).

A former flanger in Welland, Ontario (ex-CN 65452, exx-CN box car 346671, nee GTR 26471 of 12/23) was gutted by fire the evening of February 26, 2000. The car had been used at one time by the Welland Chamber of Commerce as an information booth and was located at Prince Charles Drive and Main Street in Welland. Arson is suspected as the cause of the fire.

An advertisement ran in the Toronto Globe and Mail on February 25/2000 for the discontinuance of the Leamington subdivision. The line is about 14 miles long and is part of the CASO network and runs off of the CASO line west of Fargo, in southwestern Ontario. However a discontinuance ad for the CASO line, Welland to Fargo, ran in the Globe and Mail in August, 1997. According to reliable sources CN is now looking at retaining a 56-mile section from St. Thomas to Fargo, a four-mile section through Hagersville Ontario where the line is used infrequently by RailAmerica's Nanticoke line, and an 11-mile section between Hewitt Road and Attercliffe Station in the Niagara Peninsula. And from another correspondent who lives in Hagersville and whose shop is within spitting distance of the CASO; the provincial highway 6 crossing of the CASO Subdivision was repaved during 1999 in conjunction with water main replacement. However the rails are still in place with filled flangeways. A local contractor also removed the barriers/gates however the flashing signals remain.

Canadian National Railway's combination with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad will help North American shippers take advantage of rapidly growing trade between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico and get their products across the continent with less problems. CN president Paul Tellier in addressing the Canadian Club of Winnipeg on February 8 noted the combination will have the financial weight to continually improve the system, and be able to provide the long hauls that would help customers succeed in their end markets.

A committee of Western Canadian Members of Parliament will study the massive merger of rail giants Canadian National and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Winnipeg Liberal Member of Parliament Reg Alcock heads the committee, which will examine what the proposed C$28-billion deal will mean to Western Canada. Alcock says they want to know whether the merger will be a benefit. He says he is concerned with reports that Paul Tellier, CN's chief executive, has been informed there will be no federal roadblocks placed before the deal. Tellier has said that Transport Canada officials have assured CN there would be no special legislation to try to block the merger. Alcock says the proposed merger must be looked at by Parliament.

The CNR has been convicted of failing to protect the health and safety of an employee who died when a railway bridge collapsed near Terrace British Columbia three years ago. The incident, which happened on October 27, 1997 at mile 8.3 Kitimat Subdivision [bridge is 497 feet long and has a maximum height of 76 feet was built in 1953], resulted in the death of CN employee William Carson, 34, of Kamloops, BC, and construction worker John Marti of Telkwa, BC. Carson was operating CN crane 50435 and was being paid by CN when the bridge gave way. The railway faces a maximum fine of C$100,000 when it is sentenced on March 21, 2000. Scott Steel, of Edmonton, Alberta the contractor hired by CN to replace timber members on the bridge with steel members still faces compensation board charges over the death of Marti. Major structural repairs that were scheduled and tendered for the spans of the Clover Bar bridge have been delayed. Budget restraints were cited as to the reason for the cancellation of this contract. Other structural repair work that was scheduled in the Pacific Division for this year may have also been jeopardized because of these latest round of departmental restraints.

One of the hottest shows in Washington next month could be a hearing before the Surface Transportation Board that will look into railroad mergers and the future structure of the North American rail industry. It's so hot, in fact, that the STB has extended the hearing, originally scheduled for March 7-8, to four days. The hearing now will begin on March 7 and continue through March 10. The STB received more than 150 requests to appear before the hearing. More than half of the scheduled witnesses will represent freight shippers. Members of Congress, state and local governments and railroad executives will make up most of the other witnesses.

The hearing comes less than two weeks before the STB is expected to receive a merger filing from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and Canadian National Railway Co. that, if approved, would create North America's largest railroad. BNSF and CN have said they plan to file their application on or around March 20. Other major railroads and some shippers, primarily chemical manufacturers, already have said they will oppose or seek a delay in the BNSF-CN transaction. Rail opponents say they cannot allow a competitor to become disproportionately larger without taking strategic steps themselves, but that this is a bad time to be forced into further mergers. Those opponents still are recovering from their own recent mergers and have weakened balance sheets. Shipper opposition stems from the severe delays and congestion that followed Union Pacific's 1996 purchase of Southern Pacific, and the more recent breakup of Conrail by Norfolk Southern and CSX Corp.

While there is no direct connection between the hearing and the CN/BNSF merger proceeding, there is the possibility that the STB could use the record from the hearing as the basis for changing the requirements that merging railroads must meet in making the case that their proposal is in the public interest.

CN and BNSF filed a petition February 2/2000 with the United States Surface Transportation Board (STB) proposing a 365-day schedule for the agency's review of their proposed business combination. The two railroads will file as soon as practicable after March 20, 2000, a joint application seeking STB approval of the rail combination. The filing with the STB states that, "BNSF and CN have been talking to their customers and understand their concerns about service and competitive issues. BNSF and CN will be making proposals to resolve those issues in the near future." The proposed schedule substantially longer than the schedules adopted for most recent STB control proceedings anticipates a full discussion of all issues relevant to the CN/BNSF transaction, including its cumulative and any potential effects on the North American rail industry.

CN's former Allendale Station has been tentatively sold to CHUM Ltd of Toronto. and will be converted into a broadcast station for the new CKVR Channel 3 in Barrie, Ontario. The Allandale Station deal has not been fully finalized yet. No plans drawn up but the area will have to be expanded. Station buildings amount to approximately 10,000 square feet and the station is talking about expanding this 30,000 square feet. The sale also includes about 8 acres of land.

The doors opened February 14 on a new architectural landmark in Calgary, Alberta; the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Pavilion. The 2,750-square-metre, glass-and-iron structure, built by CPR at a cost of about C$6 million, is situated adjacent to The Palliser Hotel. The facility will serve as a new venue for dining and receptions and will be the launch-site for the Royal Canadian Pacific, a luxury rail-excursion service scheduled to begin operations this spring. With the opening of the Pavilion, CPR is setting in motion two new business ventures that will capture the timeless romance of rail and build upon the rich railway heritage of Western Canada. The CPR Pavilion will support and boost the growth of the tourism and hospitality industry in Calgary and throughout Western Canada. The CPR Pavilion is highlighted by a 12-metre-high glass-and-iron rotunda that sits atop the railway overpass on First Street SW. At the west side of the rotunda is the Great Hall, a 152-metre-long wing built adjacent to the CPR main line, which will house the Royal Canadian Pacific fleet, consisting of eight vintage rail cars and three 1950s-era passenger locomotives.

Canadian Pacific Railway plans to revive its passenger train service out of Calgary. Railway officials announced details of a five-star rail excursion service with headquarters in a new C$3-million glass-domed pavilion 12 metres high attached to the historic Palliser Hotel downtown. Calgary's last passenger train, which was operated by Via Rail, left in 1990. It is expected that up to eight passenger cars, each accommodating 10 people, will be available for maximum five-day bookings starting this fall. The service will be made available primarily to a corporate crowd. Cost is expected to be in the neighbourhood of C$7000.00 per person per trip. Former heavyweight CPR business cars dating from the early 1900s, have been refurbished to serve as dining and accommodation cars the fleet for the new Royal Canadian Pacific luxury rail travel business. The passenger equipment will be the genuine article, fully refurbished. The car Killarney has been restored to its former splendour, along with the Mount Stephen built in 1926. The Mount Stephen seats 12 people on its rear observation platform. CPR is refurbishing 4-6-4 "Hudson" 2816, for possible use sometime in the future. For now, the "Royal Canadian Pacific" will be pulled by three F-unit diesels built by General Motors of London, Ontario in the 1950's. CPR's vintage rail car fleet presently consists of Killarney (built 1916), Shaughnessy (1917), Lacombe (1921), Royal Wentworth (1926), Mount Stephen (1926), Van Horne (1927), Strathcona (1927), and Assiniboine (1929).

A special CPR train that travelled across Canada to raise money to fight hunger collected C$300,000 in food and funds. The Canadian Pacific Railway train left Montreal December 15, stopping at more than a dozen cities during its 5,000 kilometre journey to Vancouver, collecting cash, food and materials. C$200,000 in cash was collected along with several tonnes of food valued at C$100,000. The train's greatest impact was in the smaller towns and cities. The Canadian Association of Food Banks, were to distribute the contributions to 192 food banks across Canada. The food and fund-raising drive was co-ordinated with the Canadian Association of Food Banks, which will distribute the contributions to 192 food banks across Canada. CPR, through the Canadian Pacific Charitable Foundation, donated C$100,000. Canadian Tire and its Foundation for Families contributed C$60,000 in cash, toys and 5,000 lights for the train. Every month in Canada about 800,000 people, including 325,000 children, turn to food banks for help.

The former Canadian Pacific station in Hudson, Quebec will have its external appearance altered by the addition of an extension to the building. The station building, the only remaining structure built by the Montreal & Ottawa Railway, was bought in December 1999 by Village Theatre West, a professional summer-stock theatre. In 1998 the theatre group leased the station from Heritage Hudson Inc. who had acquired the building from the CP for preservation. CP retained ownership of the land on which the structure was located but Village Theatre West acquired the land from CP at the time they bought the station.

The exterior modification is primarily an extension on the track side of the building. This side will be built out to the width of the bay window and the extension will run not quite the length of the building. Presumably this is so the extension will not be visible from the street. Interior modifications will be extensive. In addition to modifications already carried out, the current ceiling will be removed to allow for enhanced graded seating. There will be the addition of over 40 seats and the stage will be enlarged. A lobby will be built under a portion of the higher seats. Basement modifications will include public washrooms and artists' dressing rooms, along with the heat and air conditioning units to make the facility usable all year-round. The extended side of the building will have a public entrance and a stage exit for actors. The renovations are expected to begin in March 2000 and will be completed by June 15.

Prior to the lease to the theatre group, an application was made to the federal government to get Hudson station listed as a heritage railway station. The federal government refused this application. Part of the problem was that the person drawing up the application overlooked some information she had been given. The key piece of information missing from the application was the station's status as the only remaining structure built by the Montreal & Ottawa Railway. Another factor in the refusal may have been opposition from local merchants near the station. Property owners near a heritage station must ask the federal government's permission before altering the exteriors of their buildings.

Canadian Pacific Ltd. is prepared to forge a railway link with Union Pacific Corp. an alliance that could lead to the breakup of the venerable Calgary-based conglomerate if archrival Canadian National Railway Co. is allowed its own U.S. mega-merger. In a recent meeting with analysts and institutions at Toronto's Royal York Hotel, CP chief executive officer David O'Brien explained that his company is forging closer ties with long-time ally Union Pacific as a competitive response to the proposed merger of CN Rail and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. A report from transportation analyst James David at investment dealer Bunting Warburg Dillon Read Inc. suggested "A concurrent spinoff of CPR would provide the most transparent platform for this potential transaction. A spokesperson for Calgary-based CP declined to comment on specific talks with Union Pacific, but said "should the merger go through, CP would look at all its options, and they range from strategic alliances, with shared technology and marketing, through to a full-scale merger." A Union Pacific spokesman said there are "no active merger discussions going on at this time," but said: "We have said that if Burlington Northern and CN were to be allowed to merge, we would expect to see a wave of other mergers resulting from that union. Obviously, at that point, we weigh all our options." A tax-efficient spinoff of CPR, followed by an alliance or merger with Union Pacific, would help satisfy CP's long-suffering shareholders, according to analysts.

The federal government has reversed its position on Via Rail Canada Inc., moving away from proposals to deal the passenger rail service to the private sector in favour of keeping a central role for the government. The Montreal-based rail service is in dire need of reinvestment. Until the end of 1999, Transport Minister David Collenette's preferred solution was to franchise the system and bring in massive private-sector investment. However the federal cabinet balked at the idea just before Christmas, and suggested that Mr. Collenette rethink the government's role in passenger rail. So the Transport Minister has now scrapped his private-sector plan and put together a new one, making the government a central player and major funder for Via's revitalization. Instead of working with a constant budget of C$170-million a year for Via, Mr. Collenette now has cabinet support to add to the rail service's budget and have the government finance part of the needed upgrading and repairs. It has been suggested that Via could get by on an extra C$30-million a year and a one-time injection of about C$400-million to buy new rolling stock.

The federal agency investigating a New Brunswick train derailment is considering whether brighter warning signs may have helped prevent the accident. Investigators have said a misaligned switch caused a accident near Miramichi, NB on January 30, 2000, which sent 43 people to hospital. A Via Rail train was switched onto a siding, where it crashed into loaded freight cars. The lead investigator says the track's warning sign which tells engineers if a switch has been changed off the main track may not have been bright or as reflective as it could have been. The safety board wonders if seeing the reflective warning sign sooner might have lessened the impact of the collision. These signals, known as switch targets, are metal signs with red reflective material on them. When a switch is directing the train off the main track, a red switch target warns the engineer, allowing some time to activate emergency brakes. Investigators believe the switch targets didn't meet the New Brunswick East Coast Railway's own maintenance standards, which are based on those of Canadian National. The manager of track standards at Canadian National, said there's nothing in federal regulations that says the switch targets have to be reflective. He said the internal standards are for maintenance purposes, rather than a regulated safety standard. The track between Campbellton, N.B., and Nova Scotia is owned and maintained by the New Brunswick East Coast Railway, a subsidiary of the Quebec Railway Corp. of Montreal which operates 350 kilometres of shortline tracks in New Brunswick.

Police say the driver of the car was to blame for a car-train crash in Ingersoll, Ontario that killed three people on Christmas Day. Police say the black box from the VIA passenger shows the train's emergency systems were applied prior to the collision and the train was being operated in a safe manner. They say Steven Turek, the driver of the car, failed to stop before crossing the railway tracks. Turek with his common-law wife Shannon Brownscombe and her sister, Danielle Martin all died in the accident.

Major improvements to GO Train service, including the extension of all-day weekday Lakeshore trains, will begin on May 1, 2000. The improvements will reintroduce all-day train service on weekdays on the Lakeshore Route between Burlington and Oshawa. Other new trains will extend the traditional rush hour to attract customers and give people more travel choices: There will be a new express train to Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, and Hamilton; two new trains between Markham and Toronto; and one new train between Toronto and Richmond Hill. (GO also recently put on two more trains between Bramalea and Toronto.) All train times are proposed and must still be finalized with the railways, which operate train service for GO Transit. Hourly GO Trains ran all day on weekdays and weekends between Burlington and Whitby from May 1992 until July 1993, when funding reductions forced GO to cut back and run all-day trains only as far as Oakville and Pickering. GO will now extend all-day weekday train service to Burlington and Oshawa to meet the demand that has grown since 1992 average weekday ridership in the Lakeshore corridor has increased by 31 percent, or nearly 20,000 passenger trips a day, in the past seven years. Westbound late-night service will also be improved. Weekend train service will continue to be provided between Oakville and Pickering only, with bus connections farther west to Hamilton and east to Newcastle. Lakeshore West express: A new weekday express train will leave Union Station at 6:35 p.m., running express to Clarkson and then serving all stations on to Hamilton, arriving there at 7:44. This train will give passengers another westbound departure in the early evening, when existing trains are already crowded. It should also appeal to car drivers commuting on the parallel heavily congested Gardiner Expressway and Queen Elizabeth Way. Markham trains: Two new weekday trains will run on the shoulders of the traditional rush hour on the Stouffville line, serving all stations between Markham and Union Station, with bus connections for Stouffville and Uxbridge. A morning train will leave Markham at 8:30 a.m. and arrive in Union at 9:13, and an early-evening train will leave Union at 6:30 p.m. for arrival in Markham at 7:10. The Stouffville line is the GO Train network's second-fastest growing corridor with a 32-percent increase in ridership last year. Richmond Hill train: A new weekday evening train will leave Union Station at 7:40 p.m., serving all stations on the line and arriving in Richmond Hill at 8:21. It will have a bus connection to Oak Ridges, Aurora, and Newmarket. These improvements will cost an additional C$1.6 million a year to operate. GO's Board has approved a budget for 2000 that allows GO to expand off-peak service without having to buy more trains or build new tracks and stations. The budget also calls for a fare increase on April 17, the first one since May 1998, to help pay for improvements such as these new services. The price of all tickets and passes will go up based on an increase of 15 cents to every adult one-way ticket. GO Transit recovers around 90 percent of its operating costs from passenger fares, one of the best financial performances for a transit system anywhere. GO Transit carried 38.4 million passengers in 1999, setting a ridership record for the third year in a row. Last year, the number of passenger trips was about 7 percent higher than 1998's total of 35.9 million.

The rumour mill reports General Electric in Erie PA has an order on its books from CN for 40 C44-9Ws for late September 2000 delivery. In addition BC Rail has 10 Dash 9's on order for October 2000 delivery.

On February 16, 2000 Kelowna Pacific M420W (ex CN) 3504 was spotted at Lumby Junction BC. Also at this same site, lettered CN 3558 and 3557 and operated by Omnitrax's Okanagon Valley Railway hauling eight cars were observed. A few moments later came Kelowna Pacific's (ex CN) 3500 and 3515 also hauling a train. In addition the Kelowna Pacific (owned by Trillium Rail of Dunnville Ontario and Nighthawk Industries) is leasing CN SD38-2s 1651 and 1652. In the KPR yard in Vernon BC were M420Ws 3571 and 3563 both of which require still further work to bring them up to operational status.

On February 29, 2000 CN retired GMD1ms 1154, 1160, 1180. In addition, SW1200RMs 7100, 7101, 7102, 7103, 7104, 7105, 7106, 7107 were retired. These last units were the infamous "sweeps". These has been remanufactured from SW1200RS units; the hoods, main generator, cooling fans and traction motor blowers were recovered from GP9 units. These unusual locomotives had been remanufactured in 1985 and 1987.

Although it had been rumoured additional Class 66 locomotives for the UK's freight haulers might be assembled other than at GM London, it was confirmed the last week of February that two assembly bays are going to be kept operational for the assembly of additional class 66s. As of the end of December 1999, EWS 66220 had been started. An additional series will be the 665xx series for Freightliner of the UK. These are expected to start appearing sometime in March or April of this year. The 1000 SD70Ms that are being constructed by GM London had been expected to occupy all of the shop floor space until the completion of the contract. Meanwhile the class 67s being constructed in Spain at the Alstom works for EWS with GM prime movers are now appearing in the UK. Presently the first six Class 67s fully operational in the UK, working in the southwestern sectors of the UK on parcels trains.

Thanks to the following for this issue of Canada Calling covering news which happened during the month of February, 2000. John Allen, Rainer Auer, Shari Boland, Doug Campbell, Bruce Chapman, Bruce Dixon, Paul Duncan, John Ferguson, Paul Hammond, Dan Learn, Dave Lisabeth, Seam Graham-White, Jayphred, Peter Jobe, Joe Kazmar, Dave Lisabeth, Colin J. Marsden, Andy McCullough, Bill Miller, Mike Muir, Dan Nolan, Tom Payne, Jim Sandilands, Donald Scott, Laura Spring, Rob Sterne, Mike Swick, Rob Sterne, and numerous other impeccable sources...

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