February 2001
CSX Reports Earnings
CSX Corporation reported fourth-quarter net income of $54-million, or
26 cents a diluted share, compared to a net loss of $25-million, or 12
cents a share, in the fourth-quarter a year earlier. For the full year
2000, CSX net income from continuing operations was $186-million, 88 cents
per share, compared to $32-million, 15 cents per share, in 1999. Excluding
one-time items, 2000 full-year operating income for CSX was down from a
year ago, reflecting lower earnings from rail and intermodal in the first
half.
CSX Announces Formation of TRANSFLO Corporation
CSX Corporation has announced the formation of TRANSFLO Corporation,
a business unit that will provide "rail-centric transloading, materials
management, and distribution services" across North America. The new
corporation - formed from CSX TransFlo, a network of primarily bulk product
transloading facilities in the Eastern United States - assumes operation
of the 72 terminals and marketing of the network of more than 160 locations,
offering its services across the continent, according to a CSX news report.
CSXT Acts to Avoid Crew Layoffs
On January 10, CSXT announced it will add a third person to some two-member
crews and transfer others to different territories to avoid layoffs affecting
about 650 workers following an agreement with the employees' union. According
to a press report, the expense of keeping the workers employed will be
offset by reduced training costs.
Gregory Weber Named President of Conrail
Gregory R. Weber has been named president of Conrail, effective February
1, succeeding Timothy O'Toole. Conrail is a jointly-owned subsidiary of
CSX and Norfolk Southern.
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad Reorganized
The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and Allegany County Convention
and Visitors Bureau have been consolidated into a new entity to be known
as Destination Allegany. According to a press report, Destination Allegany,
which had been recommended in a consultant's plan, will have a budget of
about $250,000 to spend on marketing. Jerry Hess, executive director of
the convention and visitors bureau, will head the new organization.
Canadian National to Buy Wisconsin Central
Canadian National has reached a deal to purchase Wisconsin Central for
$800-million. It will also assume $400-million in Wisconsin Central debt,
according to a news report.
Former Roanoke Depot Burns
The former Virginian Railway passenger station in Roanoke, Virginia,
was severely damaged by fire on January 29.
Acela Express Doing Well, Amtrak Says
Amtrak's Acela Express, in its first month of service, achieved $125-million
in revenue, according to press reports January 12. This is 12 percent higher
than the company had expected. The new train had a 94-percent on-time rate,
according to Amtrak, based upon a 15-minute standard.
Pappy Johnson Dies
[By Ric N. Nelson] . . .
Joseph Rudolph "Pappy" Johnson Sr., 95, a retired B&O
locomotive engineer, died on December 14, 2000, at his home in Deep Run,
North Carolina. He had bone cancer. Very popular with crews and management
alike, he was the son of an engineer for a small railroad in Kinston, North
Carolina, and hired on as fireman on the Richmond, Fredericksburg &
Potomac Railroad in 1924. In 1926, he hired on as a fireman on the B&O,
and retired on November 30, 1970. Afterwards, he regularly met monthly
with fellow retirees and continued to take an interest in the railroad.
He was proud of his profession, and over the years often shared his
many experiences with others, while characteristically smoking a cigar.
While he held down regular runs on trains 84/87, Potomac Yard to Philadelphia
and back, 29/36, Philadelphia to Washington and back, and trains 21/22
after Budd cars were assigned, his favorite recollections were of when
he was on the extra list. He was qualified from Jersey City, New Jersey,
to Cumberland, Maryland.
Some of his favorite extra runs were the racetrack trains: Baltimore
to Charles Town, Washington to Delaware Park (as far as Camden Station)
and extras to Laurel. He also worked banana trains, which were high-speed
freight extras from Locust Point, double-heading at Washington and changing
crews at Brunswick. The train utilized about 25 non-iced reefer cars loaded
with green bananas, heated in the winter, for next day arrival at points
west.
He received a 22-car troop train eastbound at Brunswick one night with
engine 5088. During the run to Fort Meade, he had nothing but trouble with
the engine, including problems caused by an air compressor failure. The
next morning, after unloading, he headed back with the train to Potomac
Yard only to be told to take the engine, light, to Ivy City in Washington.
He noticed that the tell-tale was not working properly and wrote it up
since this could lead to a boiler explosion. The engine just seemed worn
out. The railroad had not yet repaired it when, two weeks later, the boiler
blew up at Boyds, killing the engine crew.
Virginia, his wife of 59 years, preceded him in death in 1994. He is
survived by a sister, Louise Noble, of Deep Run, North Carolina; a son,
Joseph R. Johnson Jr., of Swansboro, North Carolina; a daughter, Barbara
Blake, of Gainesville, Virginia; five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
He was interred in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Pink Hill, North Carolina,
on December 17.
Hiwassee Loop Line to Cease Operation
[By David P. Johnson] . . .
Photo: A705 crossing the Hiwassee Loop Trestle following a rare Tennessee
snow on 12/20/00. Photo by David P. Johnson.
The famous ex-L&N Atlanta Division old line out of Etowah to Copperhill,
Tennessee, is about to cease operation. Those familiar with the territory
will remember that this line is often referred to as the "hook and
eye." It is now a part of CSXT's Atlanta Division. This is the section
of track where the famous Hiwassee Loop is located. Trains 84 cars or longer
would actually loop over itself as the line climbed out of the Hiwassee
River Valley to make its way over the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains
to reach Copperhill. This section of track once saw the (Monday thru Friday)
A705 local that served the Intertrade Holdings sulfuric acid plant. The
acid plant has shut down. This line has some of the most scenic views of
any rail line in the East. The future of this branchline is uncertain at
the present. Georgia Northeastern Railroad is attempting to purchase the
line from CSXT for passenger excursions, but there is no purchase agreement
at the time of this writing. CSXT sources in Etowah speculate that if there
isn't a successful buyer in the very near future, the line will be abandoned
and ripped up. The last regular train was January 8, but there have been
a few special moves since that time, and likely one or two more cleanup
trains will operate before the acid plant storage capacity is completely
drained. When this occurs, this will bring an end to regular rail service
that has served the extreme southeast Tennessee communities since 1890.
Crew "Altercation" Delays Amtrak Train
Amtrak's Southwest Chief, en route from Los Angeles to Chicago, was
delayed January 24 in the vicinity of Needles, California, when the two
members of the train's engine crew reportedly scuffled over one of the
member's use of tobacco. The train was stopped, and a substitute engineer
from another train was summoned to continue the journey.
According to reports that subsequently appeared on Internet chat lines,
the train's engineer and assistant engineer are said to have "fought
the matter out on the ground."
Attempts to contact an Amtrak representative who handles public information
functions - both in Washington and on the West Coast - were unsuccessful,
and repeated requests for comment were not returned. However, according
to other sources within the company, who asked not to be identified, some
sort of "altercation" did take place, including "police
activity," with the train being delayed one hour and 30 minutes as
a result.
Maglev Finalists Chosen
The Baltimore-Washington corridor and Pittsburgh have been named as
the two finalists in a bid to build the country's first magnetic-levitation
(maglev) train. Each will share $14-million in federal funds toward financial,
environmental and ridership studies, according to news reports.
The Baltimore-Washington proposal involves a system linking both cities
with a stop at BWI Airport; Pittsburgh's proposal would link downtown with
its airport and eastern suburbs.
There are currently no commercially operating maglev systems anywhere
in the world, although Japan is testing a system, and Shanghai intends
to build one.
A maglev train uses magnetic current to propel itself, friction-free,
above guideways, and could operate at speeds of 250 or 300 miles per hour,
or greater.
Bill Lowry Retires
[By Allen Brougham] . . .
William L. Lowry, veteran B&O/Chessie System/CSXT interlocking tower
operator, has retired.
Bill, 61, started his railroading career in May 1980 as a student operator
in Brunswick, Maryland, after having been a dairy farmer for much of his
working life.
He began on the extra list working at UN Brunswick office, a train-order
position from which crews received their clearance forms and associated
paperwork prior to their run. He also worked in the Brunswick callers'
office, both as a clerk and as the chief caller, until that office closed,
and he was furloughed.
He then took a position on the extra list in Cumberland, Maryland, mostly
in the WC office. He was soon awarded the second-shift position until the
dispatchers' office was closed and was displaced back to the Cumberland
extra list. Because he was qualified in the Brunswick area, he would often
get sent to work vacancies there.
His next regular assignment was in 1985 when he was awarded the second-shift
position at QN Tower in Washington, D.C. It was here that I got to know
Bill. He and I worked together - I at JD Tower, the next office to the
east - both of us on the same shift.
It was during this period that he trained with me at JD Tower, although
he never got the opportunity to work there.
He then took a position on the extra list at Martinsburg, West Virginia.
While on that list, he occasionally covered the sidewire job in Baltimore
while the terminal dispatchers were still there. When I displaced onto
the second-shift position at Miller Tower in 1992, it was Bill who initially
trained me on the job.
His last regular assignment came in 1998 when he was awarded the second-shift
position at WB Tower in Brunswick. He remained there until March 24, 2000,
when he left due to illness. His retirement became official in December.
Following his 1957 graduation from Loudoun County High School in Virginia,
he assisted on the family farm for awhile, before serving in the Army for
two years, mostly in Germany. On his discharge from the Army in 1961 he
returned to farming. He married in 1963, and sold insurance from then until
1967, when his father retired from farming. Bill took over the farm, along
with his brother, until 1980.
As a railroader, Bill was noted for his calm, easygoing manner, and
professionalism. John Goff, the current first-shift operator at WB Tower
and one who originally trained Bill at the beginning of his career, said:
"I enjoyed working with Bill and I hated to see him have to retire.
He was very easy to get along with."
Bill says railroaders are great and caring people and he has enjoyed
working with everyone. He wishes he could have met all the operators, dispatchers
and employees he worked with and only knew by voice.
Bill and his wife, Marcia, live in Lovettsville, Virginia. They have
two sons, two daughters, and three grandchildren.
Miller Tower to be Moved to New Home
The Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority in Martinsburg, West Virginia,
has acquired the former B&O Miller Tower at Cherry Run, West Virginia,
for removal to the roundhouse complex for historical preservation and display.
Miller is said to be the first electro-mechanical interlocking office anywhere
in the country to be preserved for such display. The tower closed on September
24, 2000.