THE MEMPHIS BUFF VOLUME 35, ISSUE 5 NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MAY 2008

The Memphis and State Line Railway The Memphis and State Line Railway How to Get a Railroad Job How to Get a Railroad Job Freight Railways Cost Amtrak Millions Freight Railways Cost Amtrak Millions

FRA Accident Reports Now Online FRA Accident Reports Now Online Trip Report:The Capitol Limited & The Lake Shore Limited. (Part II)

Memphis Chapter Officers

President – David Chase dchase@memphisredbirds.comVice President – Bruce SmedleyNational Director – Bill Strong williambstrong@bellsouth.netSecretary – Oliver Doughtie doughtio@bellsouth.netTreasurer – Thomas Doherty TRDoherty@aol.comLibrarian – Mike PendergrassPublication Editor – Tom Parker tscottparker@gmail.com

Last Month’s Meeting

We had 24 attendees at the April meeting. Bill Strong brought the meeting to order and discussed the recent decision by Mayer Herenton to close the White Station Branch of the Memphis Library. Members were asked to check out other locations for the monthly NRHS meeting and contact Bill with suggestions. If the library is closed, we'll need a new location in June.

Jim Ammon who is with NYK Logistics in Memphis , gave a presentation on today's railroads in Memphis. His presentation was very detailed and expansive and included specifics for each railroad including number and types of trains in and out of Memphis, facility location and operation, and interchange arrangements between carriers. Everyone left the meeting a lot more knowledgeable about Memphis railroading.

May MeetingJoe Moran, a professional boiler inspector, will give a talk entitled “Steam Engines From the Inside Out”.

BUFF ONLINE: www.buff.illinoiscentral.net User Name:Member Password: Buff (Capital “M” & “B”)

Cover Photo: ATSF 5959 at Illinois Central's Markham Yard shortly after the unit was acquired from the ATSF by the Wisconsin Central in May, 1995. The Wisconsin Central was a tenant at the IC's Moyer's Intermodal Terminal and operated trains in and out of the facility. It was renumbered WC 6653. and was later sold to Rail World, Inc. and scrapped. Tom Parker photo.

The Memphis and State Line Railway

By M. B. Morgan

(reprinted from July, 1914, Illinois Central Magazine)

ABOUT twelve years ago, it became apparent the Illinois Central Railroad tracks along the river front at Memphis were insufficient for the expedient handling of the rapidly increasing business passing through the Memphis Gateway. Additional industrial tracks requiring a great amount of switching service were con-stantly being constructed adjacent the river front system of tracks. The North and the South yards were entirely too small to meet the requirements for properly and quickly making up of trains. The heavy grade between these two yards made this river front route a very objectionable one for the economical handling of tonnage trains. Through and local business was unneces-sarily delayed on account of the congestion arising from the inadequacy of these facilities. On account of the prohibitive cost of enlarging

these yards and of securing a low grade line between them, it became necessary to select a site for a new yard which would meet the demands at that time and for years to come, also a low grade line entering the new yard from the north.

A study of the map of the immediate Memphis territory showing the city to be built well out to its limits, lead to the conclusion there was only one remedy, which was a double track belt line entirely outside and east of the city limits, having connections with the Illinois Central Railroad at some point north of Memphis and to a new yard south of Memphis accessible to both the Illinois Central and Yazoo and Mississippi Valley

Railroads. On account of the frequent inundation of the Valley Line between Etter and Lake View and in order to secure better movement of trains it was decided to extend the Belt Line from Nonconnah Yard to Lake View. This Belt Line was incorporated under the name of the Memphis and State Line Railroad and together with the new yard was constructed in four units, a brief description of which, in the order of their dates of completion, follows :

Nonconnah Yard : This yard extends from Etter (now West Junction) on the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad eastwardly to East Junction on the Illinois Central Railroad, and is of the hump type. The principal features in connection with the construction of this yard were, the changing of the channel of Nonconnah Creek, the excavated material of which was used in the construction of the yard and the comprehensive plans for future extensions. The wisdom of selecting the location of this yard can be more readily appreciated when it is known the second extension, since originally constructed, is now being made, so that within a month or two it will have a capacity

of about 3,800 cars. The construction of the original yard was begun in 1903 and it was put in operation in January, 1904.

A further examination of the map will show that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, owning about two miles of double track railroad extending in a northerly and southerly direction between Leewood and Aulon, would be in general the direction of the Memphis and State Line Railroad between these points. Rather than the cost of constructing a line of railroad paralleling the Louisville and Nashville Railroads between these points, an arrangement was made for the use of this piece of railroad as part of the Belt Line scheme. That portion of the Memphis and State Line Railroad extending from Leewood northward to a connection with the Illinois Central was termed the North Diagonal and that portion between Aulon and Nonconnah Yard the South Diagonal of the Memphis and State Line Railroad. North Diagonal: After an exhaustive engineer-ing investigation, it was decided the most economical location was on a line leaving

Woodstock. The direction and location of the line

between Woodstock and Leewood was fixed by the

Memphis Railroads in 1914

most economical crossings of the Loosehatchie and Wolf Rivers and also by the lowest summit in the watershed between these streams. Loosehatchie River was crossed on a 110-foot girder having 860 feet of ballast deck approaches and Wolf River was crossed on an 80-foot girder, having 1,100 feet of ballast deck approaches. The girders rest on concrete piers with pile foundations, all of the most substantial cons-truction. Three of the most important public highways were carried across the tracks by overhead bridges. This line of double track, having a maximum curvature of two degrees and a one-half per cent grade is 7.44 miles long and is laid with 85-lb. rail on washed river gravel ballast. Constrution was begun in 1905 and completed in 1907.

Etter-Lake View Cut Off:That portion of the Etter-Lake View Cut Off in Tennessee was built under the Memphis and State Line Railroad Corporation and that part in Mississippi under the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad. This line of single track is 6.35 miles long, having a maximum curvature of two degrees and a three tenths grade line. Surveys for this cut off were completed in 1903, but construction was not

begun until 1906, and it was put in operation in the fall of 1907. This track has recently been extended to Lake Cormorant so that there is now a double track railroad from Lake Cormorant to Nonconnah Yard.

South Diagonal: The construction of this leg of the Memphis and State Line Railroad marked the completion of the general scheme for improving the operating conditions at Memphis. It was by far the most complicated piece of work connected with these improvements. It extends from Aulon in a southwesterly direction passing through the southeast corner of the old Mongomery Park, across the Heiskell Place on Pigeon Roost Road (now Lamar Boulevard), through the Bunker Hill Subdivision to a connection with the east end of Nonconnah Yard. This line of double track is 6.81 miles long, with a maximum curvature of two degrees and a one-half per cent grade, and is entirely outside the city limits. The location of this line together with the establishing of the gradient was such as to eliminate as far as practicable all important crossings of streets, highways and railroads at grade. Much of the territory intersected is

rapidly developing, industrially and residentially, and it was desired to give the public all reasonable protection by the construction of subways and overhead bridges. Indeed, there was spent on this line about $160,000 for this purpose. There were twenty-three highways involved in this construction, seventeen of the most important ones being eliminated as grade crossings. In some instances, it became necessary to divert the highways parallel to the right of way to points where the separation of grades was possible. Four crossings with other railroads and a crossing with a street railway were also involved and the grades were separated on two of the railroads and on the street railway. The most important bridge structure on the whole line was a subway supporting the tracks of the Southern Railway, the street railway and Southern Avenue. It is about 143 feet long, 33 feet wide and of standard vertical clearance. In order to get drainage for this subway and the cut in which it is located, it was necessary to raise the tracks and avenue on the subway about three and one-half feet. During construction these were carried on pile trestles. The permanent structure consists of two

abutments carrying an I beam floor system supported in the center by a line of steel columns. The I beams were encased in concrete which extended two inches below the I beams so as to protect them against engine gases. The structure as completed will carry four tracks of the Southern Railway, two tracks of the street railway and Southern Avenue. All concrete subways on this line are similar in construction to the Southern Subway consisting of an I beam floor encased in concrete resting on two abutments and supported in the center by a line of steel columns. All overhead bridges were of standard design modified to meet existing conditions. The Shelby County Court rendered able assistance in the elimination of the grade crossings. The tracks of the South Diagonal are carried over the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad on a 41-foot steel girder resting on concrete abutments. The work of constructing this line was started in March, 1907, and completed on June 1, 1908.

The Illinois Central Magazines for 1914-1924 have been digitized by the University of Illinois and are available at: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/digitizedbotw/2007/10/

How to Get a Railroad Job

Kenny Broomfield recently posted this response on the Memphis Railfans Yahoo Group in response to an inquiry about how to get a job on the railroad. Kenny has given permission to reprint his post.

Subject: [Memphis Railfans] Re: Question about how to get a railroad job.

Nathan,

Well with all of this talk about working for the railroads I will put in my two cents about it. I have for the past 3 years worked at getting a job with the railroads. First I tried to get on with UP out in Little Rock or Pine Bluff. This was for the position of Diesel Locomotive Technician. Ireally think that I did not have enough experience for this particular position. Which in the long run turned out to be a good thing. This move would have taken us farther from my wife's and my family, and with my fatherbeing diagnosed with cancer that would not have worked out.

The next position that I applied for was with the CN out of Memphis as a Diesel Locomotive Apprentice. For a back story all of the jobs that I have ever applied for have been through the Internet ONLY! The UP was very goodat doing this. They keep you up to date for the process and finally when they are ready for a interview they call you by way of an automated voicemail and tell you to be in.... at.... and for exact directions to check your e-mail and they will have e-mailed you all of the specifics. This was veryimportant because with CN they use the Internet only. They than e-mail you telling you to be in.... at..... I got the e-mail for that position on aFriday and did not know it. I had checked my mail on the Thursday and did not get to check it again till the following Wednesday night. Little did I know that they wanted me for the interview and what not Wednesday morning. Well to say the least I was bummed. I truly believe that I would have gottenthe job if I would have known about the interview. I was under two impressions, thefirst being that they would probably be similar to UP and call me, or that they would give me about a weeks notice. As we all know what happens when you assume.

I kept checking the various railroads around Memphis and surrounding areas that we would want to move to. The hard thing is, as I told my wife, if you would not care where we move I could get another job tomorrow. In fact my parents had me a contact with the transit agency out of Philadelphia, PA. They had meet the head mechanical guy for there trolley division and told them what I did and he told them if he calls me we would hire him now. Evenwhen I told my wife that she said there is no way we are going to move up there.

Finally CN posted another job with which I was interested in out of Memphis. Finally this is my ticket. Well in the process of doing the whole Internet thing they, CN, changed there entire approach to the way they hire people. I guess that was not meant to be either.

Now right before the Thanksgiving holidays the KCS posted a job for a Carmen Apprentice out of Jackson MS. This I said would work perfect with me and my experience with the trolley system and what I did for them. Well again I took my experience with trying to get the job with UP and CN. I sat by the phone and checked

my e-mail all the time. Finally the middle of February they called me out of the blue and said can you come for the interview tomorrow in Jackson, MS? I told them sure I can make it. So we loaded up and went down there for that. Well the interview went great and he said that someone from HR would call the first of next week. Well the first of next week came and the last of the week came. I told my wife that I guess it was not meant to be. Finally the lady from HR called me the 25th of February, almost one and a half weeks since the guy told me they would. Which wasgreat but now we had to move out of our place by the 1st of March.

So that is where we are now in the process of finding a place in Jackson MS. I do not start until the 17th of March and I have to be in Shreveport the 16th of March. That is where they will do the orientation and paper work as well as training.

Lessons learned. This entire process took almost 3 years and a heck of a lot of patience. I think one thing that railroads look for is yourwillingness to go to work for them. I had even applied for this same position with KCS at the same location about one

year ago. Now why they never called me I do not know. Maybe this time they said this guy must really want the job. They know that there are a lot of people that want there jobs and you have to show them that you are serious about working for them. No buddy wants to hire some dude and then see them leave in a year or so. Railroads invest a lot of time and money to hire just one individual. I think they want to see you invest some time before it even begins. When I went to UP there was probably 50 people in that room wanting maybe 3 or 4 ofthe openings they had. With KCS there was a sheet with 3 days of interviews lined up for the guys there. Also I never went in there as a "railfan" itwas more a person that isinterested in trains. Although you may have a distinct advantage over other applicants because of your interest in trains do not let that be your only thing, if that makes sense. They also almost always want someone that iswilling to travel or move away from your current location. So be prepared to answer those questions.

Hope that helps.

Kenny Broomfield

New Report Shows Delays on Freight

Railroad Lines Cost Amtrak and

Taxpayers Millions WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report requested by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and released today describes how delays to Amtrak trains that operate over freight rail-road lines cost the company almost $137 million in fiscal year 2006, an amount equal to 30 percent of its federal oper-ating subsidy. “This report puts in real dollars what these delays are costing Amtrak, taxpayers and rail travelers. Passengers shouldn’t have to miss their meetings or family engage-ments because a freight train is blocking the tracks,” Sen. Lautenberg said. “With high gas prices, widespread traffic congestion and flight delays the norm, we must ensure passenger rail is a reliable option for travelers.” The audit was conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Inspector General (IG). Sen. Lauten-berg requested the audit in February 2007 to study how much money could be saved from Amtrak’s federal operating subsidy if Amtrak was not delayed when using

railroad lines. A full copy of the IG’s audit is located at: http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2273. More than 97 percent of Amtrak’s 21,000 miles of routes run along tracks owned and maintained by private freight railroad companies. By law, these railroads are required to provide Amtrak with priority use of their tracks; however, this law is not often followed and the U.S. Attorney General has never pursued a case.The IG found: ·Delays cost Amtrak $137 million in overtime salary for its employees, additional fuel costs, and lost revenue from passengers frustrated with not arriving at their destination on time in fiscal year 2006. According to Amtrak, most of these delays stem from freight train interference or other freight-railroad caused delays; and ·Between fiscal years 2003 and 2007, Amtrak’s on-time performance for long-distance trains outside of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) fell from an average of 51 percent to 42 percent. On-time perform-ance for shorter corridor routes outside the NEC fell from an average of 76 percent to 66 percent. By comparison, the Acela’s current on-time performance is currently 86.1

percent this year. The Acela runs on the NEC, which is owned and operated by Amtrak.Ultimately, the IG also concluded that that poor on-time performance undermines intercity passenger rail as an option for travelers, weakens Amtrak’s financial position by reducing its revenues and increasing its operating costs, and may undermine Amtrak’s ability to retain and grow ridership. In October 2007, the Senate passed Sen. Lautenberg’s Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007 (S. 294) which would change federal rail policies for the first time in over a decade and authorize $11.6 billion in federal rail investment over 6 years. The bill now awaits action by the House of Representatives. The bill includes a provision to allow the federal Surface Transportation Board to investigate Amtrak delays and issue fines to freight railroad companies if the on-time performance of an individual route falls below 80 percent in two consecutive quarters due to freight train interference. The provision is intended to improve Amtrak’s on-time performance and reduce freight railroad-related delays.

FRA Train Accident Investigation Reports Now Publicly Available Online

To increase public awareness about the causes of specific train accidents and to reduce the need for individuals to submit Freedom of Inform-ation Act (FOIA) requests, the Federal Railroad Adminis-tration (FRA) is for the first time making its investigation reports of major train accidents and other incidents available online, FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced today. "There’s no reason that anyone who’s interested shouldn’t be able to find out the probable cause of a train accident," said Boardman, explaining that formal FRA accident investigation reports generally focus on high-consequence train-to-train collisions, derailments, certain highway-rail grade crossing collisions, and all railroad employee fatalities. Boardman said that the Factual Investigation Reports now posted on the FRA web site contain detailed narratives describing the circumstances of the accident or incident and provide an analysis of the facts and FRA’s conclusion as to why the event occurred. Making this information more accessible will benefit

railroads, railroad employees, state and local officials, communities, shippers, insurers and others directly or indirectly impacted by these events, he added. FRA accident investigation reports for all of 2005 and 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 are online now. The reports for the remainder of 2007 will be posted in the coming months, and those for 2008 as well as all future reports will be made available online as they are completed and finalized, Boardman said. A major train accident or incident investigation typically takes six to nine months to complete, and no portions of reports are made public until an investigation is finalized. An up-to-date listing of all active, open and ongoing investigations will also be posted online. The FRA continuously monitors the occurrence of train accidents and incidents in real time. FRA field personnel are routinely dispatched to the scene of serious accidents in order to determine whether an investigation is warranted. During an investigation, a team of subject experts undertake a methodical

examination of the event, and also assess compliance with the existing safety laws and regulations. If the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also decides to investigate the same event, by law it assumes primary responsibility for managing the investigative process with FRA performing a concurrent supporting role. FRA does not typically release its own report about an accident until the NTSB has issued its findings. Due to size constraints and other considerations, attachments and exhibits associated with the FRA investigation reports are not being posted online, and will continue to be available only through a FOIA request. The accident/incident reports that railroads are required by federal law to routinely file with the FRA will continue to be available online. Individuals may sign up for automatic email notification of when a new investigation report is added to the public webpage. The accident investigation webpage can be accessed at http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/1696.

Trip Report: A Tale of Two Cities (and Two Limiteds), Part IIby Tom Parker

Washington, D.C. Oct 3,2006

Washington's Union Station was completed in 1908 and at the time covered more land than any other building in the United States. The terminal zone originally covered about 200 acres and contained 75 miles of track.As rail traffic declned, the station fell into disrepair. Leaks in the roof caused part of it to collapse and mush-rooms were seen growing in the Main Concourse. The entire building was sealed off in 1981and a decision had to be made whether to restore or raze the building.Congress responded, and the Union Station Restoration Act of 1981 was passed and the restored Union Station

was reopened on September 29, 1988 at a cost of $160 million dollars.

The Capitol Limited was about an hour and a half late arriving, but it was still early afternoon and there was

Looking towards the main entrance from the Main Concourse

The Main Concourse of Washington's Union Station

plenty of time to do some sightseeing before dinner. We had made reservations at the Phoenix Park Hotel which is only a block away from Union Station. We asked directions to the hotel from a bus driver in front of the station and he just pointed and said “Right there.” It only took a few minutes to check in, stow our luggage and be on our way.Union Station became our home base during our stay in Washington. Tour buses left from in front of the station, stopping at all the major tourist sites. The lower level of the station had been converted to a food court and the main concourse was lined with shops and restaurants. At Union Station we caught our tour bus, shopped for souvenirs and ate our evening meals.We were scheduled to catch Amtrak #172 to New York City at 7:30 Thursday morning. On Wednesday night in order to save time the next morning, we checked our bags to New York City as well as a bag of our dirty clothes all the way back to Memphis. We caught our train with no problem, even having time enough for a cup of coffee and a sweet roll at a coffee shop in

the station.We didn't get an opportunity to get a look at the electric locomotive on #172, but the cars were a mixture of Am-trak single level equipment, some stainless steel with curved sides and some painted

with flat sides, but it was clean and comfortable. While we were enroute between Washington and NYC, I remembered that I had Microsoft Rail Simulator loaded on my laptop and one of its routes is the Northeast

A view from the train: The Thomas J Hatem Memorial Bridge over the Susquehana River at Havre de Grace, Maryland. (US 40)

New York's Penn Station “a grubby, depressing, undistinguished place where going and coming is just going and coming”

Corridor. I fired it up and was able to syncronize the MSTS train with the one I was riding for a short while.We arrived in New York's Penn Station at 10:45 AM, which is only about 30 minutes slower than taking the Acela.What Grand Central Station is, Penn Station ain't. The original station, completed in 1910 was torn down beginning in October of 1963. The demolition took 3 years and in 1968 a new Madison Square Garden was opened on the site, relegating the trains to the basement of the”Garden”.Traveler's tip: If you need directions, don't ask the information desk at Penn Station, ask a cop. After being told to “get a cab” by the information clerk at Penn Station , a friendly policeman just outside the station indicated that our hotel, the New Yorker was a block down the street. We utilized the city's subway system from Penn Station for much of our sight seeing. We rode it to Battery Park to catch the boat to the Statue of Liberty and rode it back to Penn Station from Ground Zero and Central Park. We utilized shoe leather between Battery Park and Ground Zero and between our hotel

and Central Park, checking out the Empire State Building, Times Square, and Broadway along the way.Our brief visit to the “Big Apple” over, we boarded the Lake Shore Limited at 3:25 PM to begin our trip back home. Again, due to

clearance restrictions in the New York City area, the cars were single deck “Viewliner” equipment. The highlight of this leg of our trip was the scenic ride along the Hudson River between New York City and Albany, New York.We finished our dinner as the

Pennsylvania Station in 1910

The Henry Hudson Bridge across the Harlem River connecting Manhattan and the Bronx. The train below the bridge is a Metro North commuter train. Metro North was founded in 1983 when New York State's Metropolitan Transit Authority assumed operation of Conrail commuter operations. Metro North trains operate out of Grand Central Station.

train left Schenectady, NY and we retired to our roomette as dusk fell. As we prepared for bed the Limited rolled through the night towards Chicago. We awoke with the train whizzing through Indiana cornfields. Soon we were backing into Chicago's Union Station, about an hour and a half late. Even though we had about a ten hour layover in Chicago,

we had done a considerable amount of walking in the past several days, so we decided we would bide our time at the Station wainting for the City to take us back to Memphis. Unfortunately the dining choices in the station were not on a par with Washington's Union Station, so we ended up having a slightly rubbery pizza in the food court for lunch. Returning to the Acela Lounge, we were surprised to

see a familiar face, my cousin Tom Pleasants, an Amtrak conductor. He was about to go out on the Illini and he stopped in the lounge for a cup of the free coffee. None too soon our train was announced and we were ushered onboard. We stowed our gear in our roomette and made our way to the dining car for the final meal before home. One last night on the train and our vacation was over. We rolled into Memphis at 6:28 AM, one minute late.I had planned this trip entirely on the internet using Google maps, Expedia.com, Amtrak.com, the New York Transit web site and others. I was afraid that somewhere along the way something would go wrong. It never did. Click here for more pictures.

The Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River was built in 1924 by the Bear Mountain Hudson River Bridge Company owned by, of all people, the Family of E. H. Harriman.

Crossing the Dan Ryan Expressway. Sears Tower is in the Background

Me and Cuz

CABOOSE

“Here is a freshly painted Cotton Belt caboose (class C-50-5) at the museum in Pine Bluff AR. Looks good, doesn't it! Photo taken 4/05/08.” Kenny Young photo.

Meeting Schedule

May 12, 2008June 9, 2008July 14, 2008

August 11, 2008 September 8,2008

Meetings are the 2nd Monday of each month in the White Station Branch

Library from 7-9 pm.5094 Poplar Avenue

Memphis, TN (in front of Clark Tower)

(Meeting Place subject to Politics)

Contact the Editor

Tom Parker3012 Wood Thrush Drive

Memphis, TN 38134tscottparker@gmail.com

THE MEMPHIS BUFF welcomes contributions for publication. Copyrighted materials must contain the source. Original documents and photos are preferred for clarity. Enclose a SASE for the return of your materials. Articles sent via the Internet should be in Microsoft Word format. Photos should be JPEG files @ 72 dpi and at least 800x600 size. Consideration for a cover photo would require a much higher resolution. THE MEMPHIS BUFF is a not-for-profit publication for the Memphis Chapter of the NRHS. All credited photos herein are copyright by the photographer and may not be reused without permission.