Canada Calling
January 2000
by Bryce Lee
INDUSTRY NEWS
CAE Inc. and Progress Rail Services Corporation announced November 4, 1999 that an
agreement has been signed by which two wholly owned subsidiaries of Progress Rail
will acquire substantially all of the assets and operations of CAE's wholly owned
subsidiary, CAE Vanguard. Vanguard is a leader in railroad maintenance technology
and services for North American freight and transit railways. CAE Vanguard provides
complete maintenance, repair and overhaul services for locomotive and freight car axles,
as well as locomotive traction motor combos. Strategically located close to its customers,
with eight facilities equipped with modern Computer Numeric Control (CNC) equipment and
Association of American Railroads certification to perform axle and wheel set repairs, the
company provides comprehensive solutions to meet its customers' maintenance needs. CAE
Vanguard employs approximately 275 people and has operations in six United States
locations as well as Montreal, Quebec, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Progress Rail is one of the largest integrated processors of railroad
materials in the U.S., and is a leading supplier of new and reconditioned freight car
parts, rail, rail welding and trackwork components, railcar repair facilities, railcar and
locomotive leasing, transit services, maintenance-of-way equipment, and signal devices. It
has facilities in 24 states, Canada and Mexico. Progress Rail is a subsidiary of Electric
Fuels Corporation, the leading company in the energy and transportation group of Florida
Progress Corporation, a diversified utility holding company based in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Florida Progress is the parent company of Florida Power Corporation, the state's second
largest utility. CAE Inc., with headquarters in Toronto, Canada, and facilities throughout
Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia, is an advanced technology company
serving several very specific markets. The CAE Electronics Group is the world leader in
the design and production of commercial and military flight simulation systems, land-based
simulation, and control systems for marine and energy applications. CAE Fiber Processing
Technologies is the world leader in optimizing fiber use in the forest products sector.
CAE Cleaning Technologies is the world's leading supplier of highly specific cleaning and
waste minimization equipment and services. Together, CAE's companies employ more than
7,000 people in ten countries. CAE's fiscal 1999 revenue was US$1.1 billion.
Inland terminal operators on the Prairies have heard from the author of a report on
grain transportation for Ottawa. Arthur Kroeger told a meeting in Moose
Jaw, Saskatchewan, it's important to increase competition between CN and
the CPR, which he says will save farmers money. He adds unless the role of the Canadian
Wheat Board in grain handling is changed, reforms to the transportation will be little
more than tinkering. Among other things, Kroeger wants the board to get out of the
business of allocating grain cars. He adds Ottawa would like to have its new grain
handling system in place for the next crop year.
Prairie farmers could reap up to C$250-million in annual savings under a new
freight rate proposal. Ottawa wants to cap Canadian National and Canadian
Pacific's revenues and force them to open up their lines to competing railways. The
recommended action plan is now on the desk of Transport Minister David Collenette who
could take it to cabinet by Christmas of 1999. It's possible legislation could be
introduced and passed in time for the coming crop year. A caucus report calls for a
five-year trial of "open-running rights" on the rail lines. The move that would
also benefit shippers of coal, potash and minerals. The report calls for railway revenues
to be capped at a level 18 per cent lower than 1998 revenues. Transport Department
estimates suggest a cap of that magnitude would lead to savings of C$150 million per year
to farmers who pay the cost of shipping their grain to ports. Enhanced competition through
rail running rights and efficiencies in how the Canadian Wheat Board handles grain
movements could deliver as much as C$100 million annually in savings. The Railway
Association of Canada, which includes CP and short-line haulers such as Omnitrax, and
RailAmerica are opposed to open-running rights for reasons ranging from operational
problems to safety concerns. The Canadian Transportation Agency shows the cost of shipping
grain has decreased by about C$9 a tonne since 1992 and that the railways shared half
those savings. The total cost for moving grain was $700 million in 1998. Already built
into that figure, however, is a profit for "fair return on equity" which neither
the railways nor the transportation agency will reveal.
A Cooksville Ontario company is taking a serious look at setting up a
contaminated soil treatment plant in Kirkland Lake. Bennett Environmental is
spending C$1,000,000 to conduct a feasibility study. The plant would employ as many as 35
people cleaning chemically-contaminated soil in a high-temperature rotary kiln. A company
spokesman says the soil would include PCB's obtained from both Canada and the United
States. Bennett Environmental is considering Kirkland Lake because of its rail link to
Toronto and the number of abandoned mines in the area to store the cleaned soil. Bennett
already operates a similar plant at St. Ambroise outside Chicoutimi, Quebec.
On Canada's Remembrance Day, Thursday, November 11, war veterans and
their spouses were invited to ride free on GO Trains and GO Buses. GO Transit joined other
transit systems across Canada in recognizing the sacrifices of our veterans by providing
free transportation on Remembrance Day. Veterans were to simply wear or carry something to
identify themselves, such as medals or blazers, and they and their spouses could ride free
on GO Transit anytime all day. It was hoped the veterans would use GO Transit to attend
Remembrance Day events, or to visit with family or friends. GO also provided free
transportation for veterans to this year's Warriors Day parade at the Canadian National
Exhibition.
With longshoremen having approved a contract in British Columbia, the Port of
Vancouver has weathered its second crisis of the year. Seventy-four percent of
longshore workers in British Columbia voted in favour of a new collective agreement, which
will run until Dec. 31, 2002. The vote ends a dispute that led to an eight-day lockout at
Vancouver and other ports in British Columbia. It was only after the intervention of
federal mediators and the threat of back-to-work legislation that a deal was reached on
November 15 to lift the lockout, allowing cargo to begin moving at Vancouver and other
regional ports. That ordeal followed a three-week trucker strike in July and August that
significantly slowed container movements through Vancouver and created a heavy backlog.
While the lockout has ended and cargo is moving, it's expected to take some time before
the cargo backlog is cleared and it's business as usual at the Port of Vancouver. During
the lockout, containerized cargo was diverted to Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland, Oregon
Bulk grain and some coal continued to move through Vancouver because of federal
prohibitions on work stoppages for those cargoes.
Aerospace and transportation equipment maker Bombardier Inc. and Power Corp.
said the Chinese government had awarded to the two companies a C$345 million contract
to supply 300 intercity passenger rail cars. The order from China's Ministry of
Railways carries an option for another 200 cars. With the order, two Montreal-based
companies and Sifang, a Chinese government-owned railcar maker, plans to build a
manufacturing plant in Qingdao, in Shandong Province, about 403 miles from Beijing. The
plant is expected to open in the spring of 2001, with deliveries scheduled for March 2002
to February 2005. The facility will hire up to 1,300 workers over the next three years.
The Canadian Transportation Agency was hearing final arguments November 19 in a case
that could have major implications for short line railroads in Saskatchewan. The main
question the agency is being asked to deal with is: "Who owns the
improvements made to branch lines with Federal grant money?" A group of
municipalities north east of Saskatoon want to buy the Cudworth sub-division. They're
asking the agency to deduct the value of improvements made to the line with money from the
prairie branch line rehabilitation program. The municipalities argue that tax payers
shouldn't have to pay for those improvements twice. The railways disagree. If the Agency
rules for the municipalities it could cut the price of some branch lines in the province
by half. The agency is expected to rule before next spring.
A majority of unionized BC Rail workers have voted in favour of a strike.
More than 84 per cent of seven unions voted to support job action to back their contract
demands in a recent vote. The Council of Trade Unions on BC Rail; an umbrella organization
for the seven unions said the vote shows railway management that they should drop demands
for major job cuts and drastic concessions and return to bargaining with a more reasonable
position. The unions do not want to disrupt customers or the communities they serve and
will only launch a full strike as a last resort. However BC Rail employees have already
waited two years for a contract and are very frustrated, he warned. The unions will give
maximum advance notice before taking any job action in order to minimize impact on BC Rail
customers.
CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAYS
"November 4th, 1925: Canadian National's self-propelled Diesel
Electric car #15820 arrives in Vancouver at the end of a 67 hour, 2,937 mile journey from
Montreal (at an average speed of just over 43 MPH)." At the time, this was a world
record for speed over that distance.
A group that promotes shortline railways says Canadian National is not
maintaining a railway line in southern Saskatchewan. The Western Rail Coalition
wants the federal government to step in and make the railway either put the line to use,
or sell it. The line is known as the Lewvan and Northgate Subdivisions runs southeast from
Regina 200 kilometres to the US border and connections with Burlington Northern &
Santa Fe at Northgate. To retain the line, CN is required to maintain the line in an
operational status. The Rail Coalition believes the line could be a key link from
Saskatchewan to the U.S., and could be of economic benefit to Western farmers. The line is
currently out of service except near Regina and some road crossings have been covered with
paving and gravel. The line would have to be completely rebuilt to accommodate current
rolling stock.
KCS and its Alliance partner Canadian National-Illinois Central transported
record volumes of freight over the two rail systems during October 1999. Total
carloads, including manifest and intermodal traffic, were up 15 percent compared to the
same month last year. Volumes also were up 24 percent over September 1999 levels. Gateway
Western began contributing to the growth in Alliance traffic with the late-September
addition of Ford automobiles. Autoracks, originating in Oakville, Ontario, were previously
transported by Norfolk Southern. Since late September, the business has been moving on
CN-IC to East St. Louis where it is interchanged with Gateway Western for transport to
Kansas City. Some of the vehicles are destined to Ford's mixing centre in Kansas City.
Some of the autoracks also are interchanged with the Union Pacific in Kansas City and move
to points in the western United States.
Canadian transportation industries and the governments that tax and regulate them must
come together now to forge a comprehensive national transportation policy,
Canadian National President and Chief Executive Officer Paul M. Tellier recently told the
Ontario Trucking Association. Transportation is crucial to Canadian competitiveness in
world markets 42 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product is exported yet Canadian
carriers must contend with complicated regulations, unfavourable tax treatment and
differing policy frameworks. The lack of a cohesive national transportation policy is
harming Canadian competitiveness; truckers say crowded, under-funded highways in certain
regions of Canada threaten their ability to serve Canadian industry in North American
markets. And railroads say tax and regulatory inequities compromise their ability to serve
Canadian exporters effectively in competition with trucks and U.S. railroads. Tellier said
the critical issue for governments is the development of a clear, balanced, integrated
national transportation policy. This policy, worked out in concert with carriers, must
ensure adequate infrastructure, promote the most productive use of that infrastructure and
permit each mode of transport to maximize its competitive advantages.
Canadian National has won a prestigious information technology award
for its development of an electronic system that has cut CN's average waiting time for
Canada-U.S. border customs clearance to ten minutes from more than two hours. CN's
transborder system was recognized for enterprise-wide excellence in the 1999 Canadian
Information Productivity Awards, which reward visionary individuals and organizations
making the most innovative and effective use of information technology. The award marks
the second time CN has been recognized by the CIPA. In 1997, CN won an information
productivity prize for innovative processes and technologies involved in the development
of CN's Winnipeg Customer Support Centre. CN's transborder system, implemented in 1998,
allows the railroad to process traffic automatically for customs clearance purposes long
in advance of its arrival at border points between Canada and the U.S. With the new system
a broker can pre-file customs entries up to 10 days before arrival at the border. CN then
reports the train to customs one hour before arrival at the border, and it receives all of
the release/inspection notifications without delay.
Centralized Traffic Control was put into service November 15, 1999 on
CN's Strathroy Subdivision west of London Ontario from School Road (mile
22.8) to Watford West (mile 35.6). ABS was removed from service between Watford West and
Blackwell. RTC-K dispatches the Strathroy Subdivision from London to Watford West; RTC-YZ
dispatches from mile 35.6 to Blackwell under OCS rules. CN have had a lot of teething
problems and are certainly working behind schedule on this programme.
There are coming changes in schedules for freight trains operating to and from
Halifax, Nova Scotia. Halifax will see 17 100-series trains per week arrive and
18 depart. Arrivals will be 106 (0515) except on Monday, Tuesday as 148 (0615) Monday
& Tuesday 130 (0630) except. Monday Tuesday and 132 (1400) except Monday Tuesday. One
train, 134, will terminate in Moncton at 0400 on Monday. All other 100 series schedules
will be abolished except 107 will be as required. The departure are: 105 (0930) Tuesday to
Saturday 131 (1845) daily, and 133 (2200) except Tuesday 148 from Chicago on other days
terminates in Montreal. If 132 is large, he may also get 148's power added east of Turcot.
Some additional days, 148 may operate through if enough traffic warrants. Train 131 six
days week, if over 7400 feet (up to 10000 feet), will set off up to 2600 feet at Pelletier
for train 133 to pick up, due to siding capacity problems on the Drummondville
Subdivision. Toronto Saint John will be provided seven days per week by trains 306-305.
The Sunday morning departure from Saint John will be numbered 303, as it will go into
Taschereau Yard enroute to Toronto. Toronto-Truro will be provided six days per week by
trains 308-307. On Saturday, 308 will terminate in Moncton. Service between Toronto and
Moncton will be seven days per week. 308 will work at Folly Lake, 307 will work at
Juniper, and 106 and 148 will work at Kinsac - Dartmouth traffic via Kinsac or Rockingham
now.
CN/IC recently donated 25 boxes of historical material to the Illinois
Central Railroad Historical Society. The books, periodicals and maps date from the 1830s
to the 1980s and were part of the CN/IC's former library. (The library has since been
outsourced as the Business Research Centre). The material covers subjects such as early
steam locomotives, car builders, early telegraphs, cables and signals, various rail guides
and instructions to conductors. As well, it features histories of various railroads,
including Louisville and Nashville, New York Central, and Pennsylvania Rail. The boxes
also contained periodicals such as Rail Gazette and Locomotive magazine, and annual
reports from the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad dating from as early as 1898 and
some rail law books from 1892. The Illinois Central Railroad Historical Society, located
in Chicago, is dedicated to the preservation of historical and educational information
about IC and the many predecessor railroads that have been part of the IC system. The
society is an educational non-profit organization chartered by the State of Illinois.
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY
Progress Rail Services Corporation and Canadian Pacific Railway
announced November 1st that they have begun formal negotiations regarding the acquisition
of the business carried out at the railway's Weston Shops in Winnipeg. Under the
proposed arrangement, the business acquired at Weston Shops would include metal
fabrication and track work, and the wheel shop activities, along with the associated
material handling and warehousing. Progress Rail would lease the facilities required to
carry out these activities. The negotiations do not involve CPR diesel locomotive repair,
maintenance facilities, the signals and communications equipment warehouse on the Weston
site. Progress Rail would supply to CPR on an exclusive basis the materials and services
it would take over through an acquisition, and would perform all work currently being
carried out by CPR for other companies. Weston Shops began an aggressive marketing program
in 1994 to attract third-party business from other railways and railway suppliers.
Progress Rail intends to build on the third-party marketing begun by CPR.
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) advised that at 11 a.m. local time on November
11, 1999, its employees were to bring all trains across Canada and the United
States to a halt, observing two full minutes of silence. Not since the death of CPR's
visionary builder, William Cornelius Van Horne, in September 1915, has CPR stopped all
trains in such a show of respect. "Citizens of Canada and the United States are
closing out this century and this millennium as a free and peaceful population. We wanted
to pay special tribute this Remembrance Day to the millions of Canadians and Americans who
served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War, and especially remember the 33,127
of them who were Canadian Pacific employees," said Rob Ritchie, president and chief
executive officer, CPR. "Our employees wanted to perform a tangible gesture to show
our appreciation for our freedom. Two minutes of reflection is time well used to honour
those who served, and in particular the many thousands who sacrificed their lives,
including 1,774 Canadian Pacific employees." At 11:00 a.m. local time on November 11,
1999, all CPR trains across its network will come to a full stop in a safe zone and
observe the tradition of two minutes silence. At the end of the two minutes, they'll blast
one long whistle as a final tribute to this century's freedom fighters.
Canadian Pacific announced November 9, the creation of the Canadian Pacific
Heritage Fund. The C$2 million fund will provide grants to communities to develop
community-based projects that celebrate and preserve Canada's history, while creating
benefits for the future. The announcement comes 114 years after the driving of the Last
Spike on November 7, 1885 which marked the completion of Canada's first transcontinental
railway a defining moment in Canada's history and in the history of Canadian Pacific. In
making the announcement, David P. O'Brien, Chairman, President and CEO of Canadian Pacific
Limited remarked, "Canadian Pacific is a truly national company, one of the few
companies with operations in every province. More than a century ago, our transcontinental
railway linked communities scattered across a brand new country, instilling in us a sense
of commitment to those communities that remains to this day. The Canadian Pacific Heritage
Fund allows us to further demonstrate our commitment to Canada." Canadian Pacific
Heritage Fund grants will be distributed in communities across Canada where Canadian
Pacific, or any of its subsidiaries, have a presence. Community based heritage projects
such as heritage buildings, libraries, museums and parks are representative of projects
that will be funded. "Canadian Pacific strives to build on our mandate of making a
difference in the communities in which we operate. It is our hope this new fund will
enable many communities to leave a historical gift to their future generations," said
Sheila R. Carruthers, Donations Officer of the Canadian Pacific Charitable Foundation. The
Canadian Pacific Heritage Fund will be administered by the Canadian Pacific Charitable
Foundation. Further information about the Canadian Pacific Heritage Fund can be obtained
by visiting Canadian Pacific's corporate website (http://www.cp.ca/),
by email (donations@cp.ca), or by contacting the
Canadian Pacific Charitable Foundation by mail 1800 Bankers Hall East, 855 - 2nd Street
SW, Calgary, Alberta T2P 4Z5.
Canadian Pacific Railway announced November 15, 1999 it is offering for sale a
low-density railway branchline in southeastern Saskatchewan, in accordance with
discontinuance procedures of the Canada Transportation Act. CPR is offering for sale to
any party interested in acquiring the rail line for continued operation a 16.6-kilometres
(10.3-mile) branchline between Arcola and a point just west of Carlyle, Saskatchewan.
Parties interested in acquiring the line for railway operations must make their interests
known to CPR in writing by January 17, 2000, in accordance with CTA guidelines. CPR
announced this railway line; the west end of its Arcola Subdivision, was a candidate for
discontinuance as part of an update to its three-year network plan in September 1998.
Traffic on this line has been steadily declining.
CP 9301, SD90MAC-H (Phase II) was lifted from General Motors Diesel
Division in London, Ontario November 24 shortly after noon by CP SW1200RSu's 1270 and
1213. Unit is not painted and is billed to Alstom, Montreal. CP 9300 had also been
inspected and approved for movement.
Canadian Pacific Railway workers in Western Canada are complaining that they are being soaked
by sewage dumped on railbeds by VIA Rail passenger trains and demanding that CP
and the federal government protect them. The workers say the waste exposes them to
significant health risks such as hepatitis A, B, and C, and AIDS. They also say the waste
is regularly sprayed when trains cross bridges and the practice pollutes rivers and
streams, creating a wider environmental hazard. The issue is a contentious one between the
CPR and VIA which leases portion of CPR trackage. The waste includes urine, faeces,
needles, toiletries and female hygeine products. VIA that the practice of spraying the
waste was aesthetically unpleasant but unavoidable and uncontrollable given the age of
VIA's rail fleet. Most of the passenger cars possess 1950s technology and it would cost
C$40 million to install holding tanks and related dumping facilities.
United States Surface Transportation Board Chairman Linda J. Morgan announced November
23 that the Board has issued a decision dismissing, at the parties' request, a petition
asking that it revisit conditions granting trackage rights permitting the Canadian Pacific
Railway Company and its affiliates to operate over certain lines now owned by CSX
Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc., in order to serve shippers in the New
York City area. The STB's dismissal was premised on the conclusion that Government
intervention was unnecessary now that the parties have resolved the issues privately. Last
summer, a dispute arose over two issues: whether the condition should be construed as
permitting CP to handle traffic to or from Harlem River Yard directly, and whether the
cost-based switching service that CSX was required to provide for CP at Oak Point Yard
should be construed as including certain traffic moving through a CSX transload facility.
After CP brought the matter to the Board for resolution, however, the parties indicated
that they were engaging in negotiations in an effort to resolve the issues privately, and
asked that Board action be withheld pending completion of the negotiations. In a joint
motion filed by CP and CSX on November 4, 1999, the parties indicated that they had in
fact resolved their differences privately and, as a result, the Board dismissed the
proceeding.
Canadian Pacific Railway has been developing, with the trucking industry, a new form of
highway-trailers-on-flatcars transportation system to help reduce the number of trucks on
highways and to reduce trucking companies' transportation and operating costs. Called Expresssway,
the service is offered between Montreal and Toronto and will soon be extended to other key
destinations. On Friday, November 26, the railway hosted a group of customers, government
officials and other stakeholders for a tour of the newly-opened Montreal Expressway
Terminal at St. Luc yard, a C$6 million investment. A demonstration of the new equipment
prototype showing the loading and unloading of trailers on railway platform followed. Mr.
Rob Ritchie, President of Calgary-based CPR, and members of the railway's executive
committee, as well as members of the railway's Expressway team, and representatives of
Expressway's customers, were on-hand for the event. Canadian Pacific Railway is already
making money on its unusual new Expressway method for carrying highway truck trailers by
rail between Montreal and Toronto. Under development for about two years, CP Rail is now
firmly convinced of the outlook for Expressway and is already building an Expressway
terminal in Detroit, scheduled to open in March, to handle truck traffic to and from
Toronto. CP has ordered another 240 specially designed flatcars from National Steel Car
Ltd. of Hamilton to handle the expected growth in traffic. Expressway currently runs two
return trips a day in the Montreal-Toronto corridor, carrying 120 trailers in all, out of
a capacity of 160. Plans for next year include extending the service to Chicago.
Expressway can be run by other railways on a franchise basis. An agreement has already
been struck with a Quebec short-line railway to operate Expressway between Montreal and
Quebec City. Expressway requires a long, continuous platform up to 600 metres long, loaded
by a tractor using a mobile ramp. Traditional piggyback, intermodal terminals use large
cranes to load the trailers on cars. This is a much slower process and thetruck trailers
have to be reinforced.
PASSENGER NEWS
Ontario's Minister of Northern Development and Mines recently avoided questions in the
provincial legislature about possible subsidies to keep the faltering Northlander
passenger rail service running between Toronto and North Bay Ontario. Previously
Ontario Premier Mike Harris had said it's up to passengers to save the train from being
mothballed or downgraded. A passenger rail service review committee, headed by former
Kirkland Lake mayor Joe Mavrinac, recommended the Northlander either be shut down and
replaced with buses, or reduced to three-day-a-week service. Ontario Northland, a
provincial Crown corporation, says it's losing about C$5 million annually because of
declining ridership.
The Member of Parliament for Sarnia-Lambton in south-western Ontario says passenger
rail service to and from Sarnia is not in danger. Roger Gallaway says he received
the assurance during a meeting with VIA officials on November 4, 1999. Last month, a
national lobby group, Transport 2000 said Sarnia and Niagara Falls were on VIA's hit list
for service cuts. VIA will be holding public meetings soon in communities between Sarnia
and London to see how the service could be improved. There are currently two Toronto
departures each day from Sarnia and two train arrivals from Toronto. MP Gallaway would
like to see a third train added, even if it only ran between Sarnia and London.
Eleven passengers from a VIA rail passenger train which collided
with a dump truck the morning of November 9 were admitted to the emergency
department at the Georgetown Hospital Campus of William Osler Health Centre with non-life
threatening injuries. The accident happened as westbound VIA train 85 struck a loaded
gravel truck at mile 33.54 of the former CN Guelph Subdivision now operated by
Goderich-Exeter Railway at a location known as Halton County Regional Road 22 station name
Limehouse. The location is between Georgetown and Action west of Toronto. The locomotive
VIA F40PH 6222 was flipped on its side. Amtrak Coaches 34036, 34051, 34006, 35005 all
derailed with the last three cars remaining upright. The train had 31 passengers located
in the second last car due to air-conditioning problems in the first two cars. The 22 year
old truck driver died in the accident. The train was bound for Chicago, through Sarnia.
Gary McNeil, a veteran of the transportation business in both the public and private
sectors, is GO Transit's new Managing Director. The GO Board announced
his appointment as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, at its monthly meeting
on November 12. McNeil, who joined GO Transit in March as its Director of Rail Services,
succeeds Rick Ducharme, who recently left GO to become the Toronto Transit Commission's
Chief General Manager. A transportation planner by profession, McNeil has worked for over
25 years for various government agencies and the consulting industry. His experience
includes major rail infrastructure projects such as the TTC's Sheppard subway rapid
transit expansion program, and the SkyTrain project in Vancouver. He was Manager of the
Toronto Transportation Division of Delcan Corporation, a major Canadian consulting firm,
before coming to GO. In the 1980s, he was employed by GO on its train service expansion
projects. GO Transit is the municipally funded, interregional public transit service for
the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton-Wentworth. It carries more than 140,000 passengers
on a typical weekday, over 36 million riders a year, on its trains and buses.
A visitor from the United States was killed on November 19 in an accident that forced
the cancellation of all GO Transit commuter trains on the CP Galt
Subdivision between Milton and Toronto. A CPR freight train operating eastbound collided
with a vehicle at Thompson Road on the east side of Milton around 5 am. A 33-year old
passenger from Los Angeles in the rear seat was killed; the driver and a front seat
passenger were injured. Witnesses say the vehicle drove around the ringing signals and
lowered gates. As GO Transit service was suspended it forced 8,000 people on the Milton to
Toronto line to find alternate methods to get to work.
Transport Minister David Collenette is being critcizied over another delay in releasing
his restructuring plan for Via Rail. Via's federal subsidy has been cut
by almost 60 per cent in five years and Collenette had promised to put his much-advertised
blueprint for Via to cabinet later this month. Originally, the plan was to be unveiled in
June. The hope now is to get the blueprint out by Christmas of 1999.
Another accident involving a VIA train happened the evening of November 23 on a private
crossing near Bowmanville on the Kingston Subdivision about 60 kilometres east of Toronto.
The crossing (at mile 292.92) where the truck became stalled is considered a farm or
private crossing, and is not protected by warning lights, bells or gates. The accident
occurred at 18:45 when the westbound CN freight train SD40-2 5382, 5329 on the north track
slammed into a truck carrying a front-end loader and cherry-picker, pushing it into the
path of an eastbound Via Rail train. The truck was pushed onto the south track in
front of eastbound VIA no. 68 resulting in both trains derailing. VIA unit was
6430, and cars 4000, 4121, 4103, and deadhead sleepers 8209 and 8224 were derailed. About
nine of the 100 passengers on the Via train were slightly hurt. The driver of the truck,
was not hurt. Investigators suspect the driver was trying to find an entrance to Blue
Circle Cement when his tractor trailer carrying a front loader became stuck on the
crossing. Passengers were taken to the nearby Darlington Nuclear Station where they were
checked for injuries, while several others were taken to a hospital in nearby Oshawa. All
were treated and released. Numerous trains were detoured. Westbound
freight trains were routed from CPR interchange at Brighton Ontario to Canpa at the west
end of Toronto and interchange to CN's Oakville Subdivison to Aldershot Yard between
Hamilton and Burlington West. The freight trains were to reverse and return northeast back
to MacMillan Yard north of Toronto. Eastbound freights were routed in the opposite
direction travelling west on the Halton Subdivision to Aldershot Yard, then east on the
Oakville Subdivision, then north on the Canpa Sub and east CP to Brighton.
It appears that the change from VIA F40's to Amtrak GE's on the International
has taken place. On Tuesday evening November 23, 1999 #88 had VIA 6417 and AMT 514 back to
back, in what appears to have been a positioning move. The AMT 514 took 85 west the
following day with AMT-516 returning #88 with Amtrak coaches 39952, 31545, 34091 and
35011. Both of these locomotives are in the new Amtrack paint scheme, sans the flashy
"Pepsi-Can" look.
BC Rail will operate three special Christmas runs with former CP "Royal
Hudson" 2860 from North Vancouver to Squamish and return. The dates are
December 28, 29, 30 inclusive. It is likely the schedule will be the usual departure and
arrival times as per the "Royal Hudson Excursion" from May to mid-September.
Enjoy the holiday season, but don't drink and drive; take public transit.
That's the message from GO Transit this holiday season, as it joins the Variety Club and
other organizations in again supporting the police's annual RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving
Everywhere) campaign. Police officers hand out Passport to RIDE booklets in spot checks to
thank motorists who drive responsibly. To encourage people to take transit, GO's coupon in
the booklet offers two adult day passes for the price of one on any weekday after 5 p.m.,
or anytime on a weekend or statutory holiday, until April 2, 2000. A day pass is good for
unlimited travel between two points in one day. GO has been a sponsor of the annual
spot-check campaign for twelve years. This is the third time it has offered a discount
coupon in the RIDE booklet. The coupon can be redeemed at any GO Train station. For GO
information the public can call 416 869-3200 in the Toronto local calling area, 1 888 GET
ON GO (438-6646) long distance toll free, or check the GO website at http://www.gotransit.com/.
The Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society is pleased to announce the
acquisition of rail passenger coach "MicMac". The National
Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa has released its interest in various passenger
vehicles recently and SOLRS was fortunate to be the recipient of the car. The car numbered
1303 has Dominion Atlantic Railway markings as the name MicMac. The car saw service on the
Dominion Atlantic Railway between Windsor and Truro Nova Scotia as well as CPR's
Trans-Canada Limited and Mountaineer. MicMac was built in 1929 at National Steel Car in
Hamilton, and trimmed out in CPR Angus Shops, Montreal. The car had a major refit in 1976,
and is equipped with roller bearings trucks. It is expected the coach will move to the St.
Thomas Ontario area sometime in the next few months.
MOTIVE POWER
Former Reading 2100 owned by Tom Payne was operated under her own
power after repairs and conversion to oil firing the evening of Tuesday November 23, 1999.
The run in the vicinity of the former Canada Southern shops in St. Thomas Ontario was
observed by all and sundry in the area. The locomotive has been undergoing repairs since
the middle of the summer. It is expected the locomotive will continue to undergo fine
tuning for a period.
CANADIAN PACIFIC NOTES:
CP SD90MAC(U) 9114 was seen making a few trips back and forth between Montreal and
Binghamton before a display at Steamtown in Scranton, PA November 13 & 14. Train 555
arrived Montreal November 7 with Soo 6037-Soo 6030-CP 9114. The same power left on train
556 with 9114 leading.
The following CP locomotives have been sold to the Dakota Missouri and Eastern: SD40s
5401, 5402, 5403, 5407, 5411, 5501, 5503, 5508, 5509, 5513, 5514, 5517, 5520, 5525, 5533,
5537, 5545, 5549, 5554, 5557, 5559, 5561, 5562, 5563.
The following units were NOT sold: 5528, 5530, 5548, 5556, and Soo
6411.
Following units have been sold to the D & H from CPR Western Lines/CORE as of
November 26, 1999. CP GP40-2 # 4650, 4651, 4653 and 4654. In addition SW1200RS CP 8131 and
8156 are also included in the deal.
Great Canadian Railtours GP40's 800-801 and 803-805 are now leased for the winter and
are presently assigned to the Soo Line.
Some former CP SD40's sold to Unicapital have emerged ie ex CP, nee Soo 787 is now MNA
(Missouri & Northern Arkansas) 4080, with former CP 5428 now MNA 4081. ExxCP, ex GATX,
nee UP 5422, 5427, 5429, and 5430 are now LLPX 4403-4406 respectively.
CANADIAN NATIONAL NOTES:
New CN SD75(I) 5800 was received from Alstom November 8, completing the order.
CN Retirements:
- October 25: IC switchers 1444, 1445, and 1452.
- November 1: CN GMD1m's 1150 and 1156.
- November 4: CN SW1200RS 1381 and 1383; there are now only nine 1300's left on CN.
The following 63 Illinois Central/Chicago Central & Pacific locomotives have been
recently retired: SW13's 1300, 1301; SW14's 1400, 1402, 1403, 1406, 1407, 1419, 1438,
1453, 1461, 1475; GP9u's 1788, 8057, 8093, 8126, 8130, 8171, 8178, 8190, 8292, 8295, 8312,
8313, 8335, 8400, 8402, 8404, 8408, 8409, 8413, 8414, 8415, 8417, 8447, 8465, 8702, 8706,
8707, 8708, 8711, 8712, 8713, 8716, 8717, 8719, 8720, 8721, 8722, 8723, 8725, 8729, 8730,
8732, 8734, 8735, 8737, 8743, 8745, 8746, 8750, 8753, GP28u 9438; GP38-2 9609. One of the
switchers, exxIC 1475, ex ICG 9404 nee IC 404 has been SOLD to the Essex Terminal in
Windsor, Ontario
CN 9436 has failed due to internal problems on Norfolk Southern and was returned from
lease; replacement is GTW 6418.
CN Leased: CN GP40-2W's 9602 and 9615 are leased to Quebec-Gatineau for a period of
five months. There are now four CN GP40-2W's (9421, 9424, 9531, 9624) leased, to the
Indiana & Ohio until the end of February 2000.
The remaining LLPX (Locomotive Leasing Partners) 2200's are painted UP yellow, for
lease to NS! By the way, LLPX 2209-2210, after repairs at CN Symington Shops in Winnipeg,
are ex GTW 6207 and 5806. LLPX 2205-2210 are ex GTW 6212, 5802, 5804, 5805, 6207, 5806
respectively. LLPX 2204, 2213, and 2214 are ex GTW 5811, 6213, and 6215. LLPX 2211 is
except GTW 6209 GTW GP38AC 5800 has been renumbered 4997. GP38AC 5807 remains stored at IC
Shops Woodcrest, Illinois however will be renumbered 4999 before it returns to service.
SHORTLINES:
Railamerica will be sending two units from Mackenzie Northern to
TP&W: HATX GP38 113 and RaiLink GP38 2003. Mackenzie Northern GP38's 2004 and 2005
(Helm-owned) arrived in Calgary for November 5 delivery and repairs at Alyth shops.
Canac SW1200RS's CANX 1344 and 1388 are now stored on the Georgetown
Railroad north of Austin Texas; there are five other ex-CN 1300s working in the vicinity
of the Port Terminal Railway Association in Houston, Texas.
Ottawa Central C424m 4204, recently repaired at CAD-Lachine needed new
truck springs which came from now dismantled VIA FPA4's 6761 and 6783 that were at
Campbellton on the NBEC,The 4204 was also minus a bell; NBEC 4219 donated its bell.
On the New Brunswick East Coast, Ex-CP C424 4230 has been returned to
service by the NBEC Campbellton, NB shop staff. RS18u's 1841 and 1866 have been sent to
Canadian Allied Diesel in Montreal for main generator change outs. 1858 and 1867 have now
returned from CAD. Ex CPR RS18 1809 is now the current parts source for the operating
1800's. 1829 and 1830, which were purchased for parts, remain stored. 1853 and 1855, main
gen B/O and are stored. SD40's CFMG 6903 and NBEC 6901 have returned from Alstom,
following repairs.
The remaining retired M420Ws sold to Trillium's Kelowna Pacific were
being prepared for movement from Montreal to British Columbia. They are 3500, 3504, 3515,
3563, and 3571. In addition Trillium also purchased HR412W 3580, which will be going to
Gowanda, New York on the New York and LakeErie shortline for parts removal. In addition
Trillium purchased long ago damaged M420W 3536, which is at Taschereau Yard in Montreal.
The 3536 will be stripped of usable parts and will then be scrapped on site.
In addition it appears Trillium has also purchased three 100-series
MLW built S13 switchers 108, 110, 117 and one S3 slug 168 for use on the Port Colborne
Harbour Division. The 108 and 110 were lead hump units, but 117 was a trail hump unit, and
as such, likely has no control stand. The S3's are ex CN 8617, 8618, 8624, and the S3 slug
is ex 309:1, B-10, originally S3 8495.
Other Leased Power:
The five SD50s's and three C36-7's from Hammersley Iron in Australia are now in the US
and are numbered NREX 6060-6064 and NREX 5057-5059, all leased to Norfolk Southern.
Ontario Northland SD40-2's 1730, 1731, 1733, and 1737 have been leased to the Norfolk
Southern; with the arrival of the new SD75s on the ONR the SD40's are now surplus to
requirements. In addition 10 former QNS&L SD40s's were delivered to the Port of
Montreal, all heading to NRE at Mount Vernon, Illinois.
Alstom of Montreal:
The following are now at Alstom in Montreal being held for an as yet unidentified
purchaser:
- DM&E 6056 exx MKCX 9416, ex CSXT 8316, nee ???
- DM&E 6057 exx MKCX 9417, ex CSXT 8322, nee L&N 1246;
- DM&E 6058 ex MKCX 9408, (HLCX 5051), nee UP 3070;
- DM&E 6059 ex MKCX 9409, (HLCX 5052), nee UP 3095;
- DM&E 6060 ex MKCX 9402, (HLCX 5050), except C&NW 926, nee CGW 406;
- DM&E 6061 exx MKCX 9419, ex CSXT 8397, nee WM 7546;
- DM&E 6062 exx HLCX 5026, ex CRL 805, nee CR 6248;
- DM&E 6063 exx HLCX 5028, ex CRL 810, nee CR 6257;
- DM&E 6064 exx HLCX 5029, ex CRL 811, nee CR 6260;
- DM&E 6065 exx HLCX 5030, ex CRL 812, nee CR 6261;
- DM&E 6066 exx HLCX 5031, ex CRL 814, nee CR 6264;
- DM&E 6067 exx HLCX 5036, ex CRL 832, except CR 6299, nee PRR 6046.
- EMDX 6402 ex CR 6331, nee PRR 6078;
- EMDX 6426 ex CR 6268.
Thanks to the following for information compiled in the January 2000 Canada Calling:
Kevin Argue, Rainer Auer, Justin Babcock, Will Baird, D.C. Bardeau, Shari Boland, Bruce
Chapman, Peter Jobe, James Gamble, Tim Green, Joe Kazmar, Phil Mason, Bill Miller, Mongo,
Earl Roberts, John Reay, Jim Sandilands, Donald Scott, Al Tuner as well as notes from
C-N-R, C-P-R and Canadian Railways mailing lists at http://www.onelist.com/.
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