January 2003

(Volume 27, No. 1)

Presidents Soapbox

We have another year behind us and several new scale miles of railroad in operation. In a couple of short weeks, we will begin construction of the next phase, which will terminate at Silver Bow and, if a way can be determined, a connection back to the South Staging yard. I expect that many of us suffered a bit of burnout in the last frenzied month prior to the October Railshow which might account for the flagging attendance on recent Thursday nights. Thanks to our Junior members who have been there faithfully running trains, many operational deficiencies have been discovered and several issues resolved as we get a better understanding of the operation.

The railroad needs your help to complete the remaining section. With our membership base, we should be able to both build the new section and complete the scenery on the old section concurrently. We will attempt to organize in crews so each can assume an assignment and see it through completion.

Sometimes the most interesting parts of a newspaper are found in the editorial and reader page sections. So it was when I read the January issue of Model Railroader. Of special interest was the editorial flashback from June 1968 by Linn Wescott. In his article he said, "When a piece of railroad modeling is great, it also is the fruit of careful consideration and skillful handwork. Attaining the great takes much patience and strong desire. A man just starting in model railroading rarely has these qualities. He's out for a good time- well we're all for that, but what I mean is that he acquires track and equipment, soon has it put together, and expects the models to entertain him."

"Herein lies the greatest hazard to the hobby. Any thinking man will soon pall at merely watching trains. The novelty ceases to be novel. Only when the man begins to put some of himself into the planning, construction, or operation of the model railroad system in a creative way can it reward him with lasting interest."

The question begs, Where do we go from our present status? For myself, I have gone beyond watching the trains go "round and round". While I enjoy a realistic operating session, I have also enjoyed the challenge of building structures. It has revived a lifelong interest in architectural drawing in order to recreate a building plan from available photographs. Part two of the challenge is to select materials that represent the original and design a method that is workable and easy to accomplish. Take for instance, the doors on the Idaho Falls Roundhouse, now on my workbench and soon to be relocated to the IF turntable module. Several ideas were attempted before coming up with the method used and then developing the idea into a workable product.

An interesting double question asked by Wescott was posed this way. "How many different ways can this be modified." "Which of these ways shall I try first?" Few of the components in our railroads are accomplished to our satisfaction without modifications except where we have previous satisfactory experience in a similar project.

Again the question, we have the railroad as now constituted, what and where do we go in the next year? Let's all enjoy what we have, learn to do more and find more ways to share the WORLDS GREATEST HOBBY.

Leo Harker

Timetable

Electrification Completed

Russia completed electrification of the Trans-Siberian railroad. This 5,758 mile project required 74 years to complete.

The Wall Street Journal

Missing Cars

Since the last issue Martin Flagler has reported he is missing a car. It is a Union Pacific Dome Observation car, part of a set. If you have found this car, please return it to Martin.

Doug Herrmann

G E Unveils Cleaner Locomotive To Meet Emissions Standards

By DANIEL MACHALABA and RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN

General Electric Co., in a major revamp of its railroad-locomotive technology, is launching a high-horsepower locomotive design it says will meet more stringent federal emissions standards scheduled to go into effect in two years. The locomotive, called the "Evolution Series," incorporates a new diesel engine and provides the basic technology for General Electric locomotives for the next 20 years, the company said.

GE plans to unveil the locomotive today at GE Transportation Systems headquarters in Erie, Pa., in ceremonies that are to include Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christie Whitman. The company said the locomotive produces the same horsepower as current GE 4400-horsepower locomotives while cutting polluting gases and particulate matter by more than 40% and saving about 3% of fuel. GE said it plans to sell the locomotives for about $1.8 million to $2.5 million apiece, about 10% to 15% more than locomotives currently on the market.

The locomotive meets the EPA's 2005 emissions standards and can be upgraded to meet regulations beyond 2005, GE said. In the process, the "Evolution Series" locomotive will largely eliminate the smoke puffs when railroad engineers throttle up their engines. By launching the "Evolution Series" so early, GE hopes to avoid the kinds of difficulties that truck-engine makers had meeting EPA truck-emission standards in October. Some truck-engine makers weren't ready with new technology, and many trucking companies refused to buy new engines they feared hadn't been adequately tested.

General Electric "wants to get a jump on the marketplace," said John M. Samuels, a senior vice president of railroad operator Norfolk Southern Corp., Norfolk, Va. "But they may need all that time to prove that their new design is a reliable product."

GE said it will conduct extensive tests of the new locomotives on U.S. freight railroads. The company has completed three of the new 4,400-horsepower units and plans to build a total of about 40 preproduction locomotives by the end of 2003. GE said it will start commercial production of the locomotives prior to 2005 but doesn't expect substantial sales until 2005, given their price premium.

"This is the single biggest road test we've ever done," said John Krenicki Jr., president and chief executive of GE's transportation-systems unit. "We have to do this, because it's not just one product line-this is the whole business from 2005 onward."

GE transportation system's biggest competitor, General Motors Corp., is also developing locomotives to meet the 2005 requirements. But GM is modifying its current locomotive design rather than introducing a brand new engine, said Curt Swenson, director of marketing and communications of GM's Electro-Motive Division, La Grange, Ill.

To develop its new engines, GE's transportation-systems unit invested more than $200 million and six years of research and development. Prakash Bedapudi, GE transportation systems' manager of new-product introduction, said the locomotive contains a 12-cylinder diesel engine, replacing GE's existing 16-cylinder engine. A new fuel-injection system breaks down fuel in finer droplets so it can burn more efficiently, and a new air-to-air cooling system replaces the usual water-cooled system. In addition, patented electronic control technology adjusts the combustion process to environmental conditions such as outside temperature and altitude.

GE is hoping the new locomotives will help boost the unit's performance. The unit expects $2.3 billion in revenue this year, down from $2.4 billion in 2001, a 4.2% drop. This year's operating profit, however, is expected to grow slightly to $415 million, a 3.8% increase from $400 million in 2001.

During the process to develop the engines, GE worked closely with the EPA. "This is 100% the opposite of an adversarial relationship," Mr. Krenicki said. GE hasn't always had such close relationships with the EPA, however. GE and the agency have clashed over the cleanup of pollutants in the Hudson and Housatonic rivers, for instance.

The Wall Street Journal

Central Idaho Railroad Company

The Central Idaho Railroad Company was incorporated in Utah on February 4, 1910 to build a line from a point at or near Owinza, Idaho, on the Oregon Short Line main line, north and west through the Big Wood River Valley to the divide between the Boise River and the Big Wood River. From there the line would go through the West Boise River Valley to Boise and from there to a point at or near Meridian on Boise River. The line would then go northwest back to the OSL main line at or near Payette. This would place Boise on a through main line of the railroad, something they had desired ever since the OSL first built through southern Idaho in the early 1880s. As it turned out, the line was only built from Richfield, on the line to Ketchum, 57.8 miles west to Hill City, becoming the Hill City Branch of the railroad.

The incorporators of the Central Idaho Railroad Company were closely associated with the OSL. The incorporators were W.H. Bancroft, J.A. Reeves, William Ashton, P.L. Williams, and F.H. Knickerbocker of Salt Lake City. The line was capitalized at a value of $220,000, and the line was to be 220 miles long. The headquarters of the line were to be in Pocatello. Bancroft was the president, Reeves was the vice president, G.H. Jenkinson was treasurer, and G.K. Smith was the secretary.

The line, although known as the Central Idaho Railroad, was built by the OSL and the Utah Construction Company, which performed construction work for the railroad, was in charge of building the line. Grading started on June 5, 1911, when the OSL announced that the first section of the line would be built from Richfield northwest 34 miles, west 6 miles, and then southwest 6 miles, ending at Taft. The construction work was suspended from December 16, 1911 through June 17, 1912 due to weather, and was completed on August 21, 1912. By this time the OSL stated that the line would end at Taft, and that the question of extending the line towards Boise would be addressed at a later time.

The line was operated by the OSL under lease starting on December 22, 1912, and on August 5, 1914 the property was conveyed to the OSL. The charter was officially revoked on the first Monday of April, 1915.

The line became the 57.8 mile long Hill City Branch of the OSL, and did not have much business due to the low population along the line. The railroad typically ran a mixed train six days a week. The line went from Richfield through Fairfield and Corral and ended at Hill City. The line from Fairfield to Hill City was abandoned in 1982, and in the following year the remaining section between Richfield and Fairfield was abandoned.

Thornton Waite

(Editors Note: I went along this line many times starting in 1973, and I never saw any cars west of Fairfield.)

Here are a few examples of things seen in this area, from the camera of Leo Harker.

When you don't have time for a repaint

(UP 7756 repaint at Pocatello)

 

What this area used to look like

(UP 3135 on Big Springs Trestle)

 

An Example of Big (Formerly) Foreign Power at Pocatello

(CNW 8669)

 

The end of the story

(OSL 5784, CA-1)

 

Material Needed

If you have material for a future Eagle Tracks, please send it to the Editor. Keep those articles and pictures coming!