Trains March 2022

jwrinn@kalmbach.com @TrainsMagazine @trains_magazine In celebration of EMD’s centennial in 2022, we’ve produced a special issue and documentary DVD, EMD at 100 (both available at kalmbachhobbystore.com). In coming months we’ll carry more EMD content in these pages and in our annual Locomotive special. In this issue we celebrate E7s, GP7s, and F7s. The story takes me back to my childhood in Western North Carolina, where F7s seemed to be on every train, whether a Murphy Branch local, a train on notorious Saluda grade, the French Broad River line, or the famous Old Fort Loops. Covered wagons were everywhere, and Southern Railway, the purchaser of the FT demonstrator, liked them. The world’s trains were best propelled by these EMD classics in everyday service.…

IT’S A TIME OF CHANGE in rail industry executive suites. Norfolk Southern announced Dec. 2 that Alan Shaw would become chief executive officer May 1, when current CEO Jim Squires will retire. Less than two weeks later, Amtrak announced CEO Bill Flynn would retire Jan. 17, with President Stephen Gardner becoming chief executive as well. Canadian National had previously announced JJ Ruest’s plans to retire at the end of January or when a successor is appointed. A leading candidate for that job — Jim Vena, favored by activist investor TCI Fund Management, leading a proxy fight over the direction of management — withdrew from consideration Dec. 19. FLYNN SERVES JUST 21 MONTHS Flynn’s departure, after just 21 months, was unexpected because Amtrak board chairman Tony Coscia indicated in 2020 that the former Atlas Air…

Uinta Basin Railway gets federal approval The SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD cleared the way for the UINTA BASIN RAILWAY project in Utah, granting an exemption from prior-approval requirements for construction and operation. The approximately 85-mile railroad will connect remote oil-shale fields to the national rail network via a connection with the Union Pacific at Kyune, Utah. AMTRAK averted potential service cuts when it amended its vaccination-mandate policy, allowing unvaccinated employees to continue working if they submit COVID-19 test results. Amtrak joined UNION PACIFIC, BNSF RAILWAY, and NORFOLK SOUTHERN in backing away from vaccination requirements after a federal judge in Georgia blocked mandates for federal contractors. KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN was placed into a voting trust on Dec. 14, 2021, after the official completion of its sale to CANADI-AN PACIFIC. The trust, allowing KCS to operate…

DONALD SIMS, a prolific author and photographer whose work was often featured in the pages of Trains magazine, died on Dec. 11, 2021, after a brief illness. He was 93. His wide-ranging trips to photograph trains, often in the company of another photography legend, Richard Steinheimer, occured for decades, as did his enthusiasm for the subject. He is survived by Reva, his wife of almost 70 years, and three children. RICHARD B. (DICK) HASSELMAN, former senior vice president-operations for Conrail as part of a lengthy career that also included time with New York Central and Penn Central, died Dec. 5, 2021, at age 95. Former Conrail Chairman James A. Hagen said, “Dick’s background and knowledge of the Eastern railroad system was a large part of Conrail’s success.” He is survived by…

bybillstephens@gmail.com @bybillstephens Analysis: Trains.com Railroads fall short of trucks in so many ways. The inability to offer seamless service from Point A to Point B shouldn’t be among them. But the Surface Transportation Board has said, in so many words, that Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern will be the last merger of Class I railroads. That’s a colossal mistake. Why? Well, interline service will only take you so far, as CP Chief Marketing Officer John Brooks points out in the railway’s merger application. In 2009, CP and KCS sought to improve joint service via the Kansas City gateway through a program code-named Ice Pick. “Our analysis showed there was a potential to attract many tens of thousands of carloads to CP-KCS joint-line routes if we could improve our joint line offerings and create appropriate incentives…

briansolomon.author@gmail.com @briansolomon.author Blog: briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/ Podcast: Trains.com In November, my fiancé Kris and I drove from New Hampshire to Milwaukee via Pennsylvania. This was my longest drive on the nation’s highways in 11 years. I was stunned by interstate truck traffic. I’m not alone in viewing clogged highways as missed opportunities for railroads. During 2021, Surface Transportation Board chairman Martin J. Oberman criticized America’s largest railroads, leading to public volleys of communications and letters between his office and railroad leaders who defended their companies’ positions, while explaining efforts aimed at resolving traffic problems. Oberman addressed Class I railroads’ strategies for attracting Wall Street investment by lowering their operating ratios. Oberman noted that “since 2006, our economy has grown by more than 50% — nearly $8 trillion of enhanced economic activity” while, “railroads are carrying less freight…