March 2002

(Volume 26, No. 3)

President's Soapbox

The Eagle Rock Railroad Historical Society is entering into an exciting new phase of activity with the beginning stages of the new Montana Sub layout.  Some work orders are being prepared that should be available to describe the scope and plans for the various modules in the new layout design.  These items will be posted for access by any member of the club that would like to be involved in the project.  Since there are six new modules in the first new loop, there should be ample work available for any ambitious member.  We also hope to make some basic power woodworking tools available as well.

We are attempting to incorporate other changes in the club trying to make it more accessible to outside persons.  One of the most apparent changes came because a new associate volunteered to assist in posting back newsletters to the Society's web site (see following article).  This matter, like many others, has been pushed to the back burner for many reasons, mostly because some of us simply don't have enough hours in the day to accomplish all the things that we commit ourselves to do.  The fact is that with all that is in the planning stage, more demands may be imposed, rather than fewer, although the workload certainly can be eased with more cooperation from the membership.  We who are elected officers accepted our positions with the expectation from the members that we would fulfill our commitment to that assignment, please help by doing your share.

Other issues that we are working on include the upgrading of our record keeping system.  The presence of the club computer should make all records more accessible and hopefully up to date.

Doug and Leo have nearly all the necessary data in the system to implement the RailOP program we bought in December.  Even though some of the current info will be obsolete with a new layout arrangement, we are learning how to adapt the system to fit the need and the necessary changes will be easier to implement.

I am printing copies of the new layout design to be included with the March Newsletter so that those of you who have not been to the club recently will be able to see what is generating all the excitement.  For those not familiar with the relationship of the new modules with the old section, the “old” section referred to includes the new staging area along the south wall, the Idaho Falls section, and the wye module at north  Idaho Falls.  It was fun doing this in Cadrail and educational as well. Now if we could get a copy onto the web site-----------.

Since I so ungraciously dominated the last newsletter with some of my rambling, I will leave this short and allow the Editor space to include some of the material he has accumulated.

Leo Harker

Timetable

Newsletter Archive Project

Dave Shaw and I have restarted the project to archive the club monthly newsletters in the Web site.  We can use some help, as follows.  There appears to be a general consensus that all the newsletters from 2000, 2001, and 2002 should be incorporated in the Web site, but that only newsletters containing long-term interest articles should be added from the years prior to 2000. Accordingly, the help we need is:

1.  Access the Web site (http://www.ida.net/org/errhsi/) and review what has been accomplished so far. Your suggestions regarding improvements are welcome and requested.

2.  Provide hardcopy (i.e., printed form) of the 2001 May, August, September, and November newsletters to help create the electronic versions that go on the Web site.  Some of these may contain pictures.  If you have electronic files (GIF or JPEG format) of any of these pictures, we need them.

3.  Provide hardcopy for all of the 2000 newsletters.  Again, electronic files of pictures are needed.

4.  Review issues for 1998 and 1999 and identify those that contain articles of long-term interest.  Hopefully you will also have hardcopy and perhaps picture electronic files for the identified issues.

If you can help with any of the above needs please call me (523-9709) or send an e-mail (garywl@srv.net).  I will be happy to meet you anywhere to pickup the hardcopies, or you can bring them to a club meeting.  I will make copies and return the originals as requested.  I suggest it would be better to send any picture electronic files as attachments to an e-mail.  However, if possible reformat the files to something like 3” by 5” size with 95 dpi resolution to keep the upload/download time to a minimum.  If you do not have reformatting capabilities, then send the original files.

 Gary Wilson

Amtrak Needed in Small Towns

Amtrak Agent Veach at work in the Rugby N D station.

Rugby has a population of 3000 but sold 5300 tickets on Amtrak in 2001. This illustrates the importance of Amtrak in some communities.

Amtrak Cutting Deliveries

As part of a series of cutbacks Amtrak is undergoing to meet this year's budget, the financially beleaguered passenger rail operation is cutting baggage check and shipping services in at least two of its Hi-Line stations -- a change that could hit some area business owners squarely in the pocketbook.  Effective today, packages no longer will be shipped to or from East Glacier Park and Wolf Point, Amtrak spokesman Kevin Johnson said.  The company also will cut staff by one position each in Havre, East Glacier, and Whitefish, he said. 

Mark Erikson, manager of Clayton Memorial Chapel in Wolf Point, said the cutbacks will deliver a major blow to his funeral home.  Clayton Memorial serves Roosevelt and McCone counties and relies on Amtrak when a body needs to be transported.  "A lot of the Native Americans like to have their deceased loved ones returned and buried on the reservation," he said.  "We had two just this month from California."  Without Amtrak's shipping service, Erikson or one of his co-workers will have to drive to Havre or Billings to pick up bodies.  "That could cost hundreds of dollars to the family," he said, adding that the long drives also could delay funerals.  "It puts us in a bind," Erikson said.  "It's like this can't be happening.  I don't know what we're going to do." 

Cathryn Wylie, a manager at Friesen's Floral and Greenhouse, said if flower deliveries stop coming to Wolf Point via train, Friesen's will have to go to Plan B.  "We would use Fed-Ex to the best of our ability, or air freight, but it's more expensive," Wylie said.  "For hard goods, we'd use UPS or a trucking route."  Other Hi-Line florists say their wholesalers informed them that their shipments also will be curtailed.  Mary Sugg, owner of Glasgow's only flower shop, said her Minnesota wholesaler told her Tuesday that Amtrak no longer would transport her weekly boxes of botanicals.  The Glasgow train station has no ticket agent, but Sugg made arrangements with Amtrak several years back to continue picking up her flowers.  Without the train, Sugg would have to figure out a way to get her flowers at the Havre station, 170 miles away.  "We're trying to find out some way for someone to come back and bring them or transport them half way," she said.  "We all stick together up here on the Hi-Line.  We have to."  Karl Harms, co-owner of Jan's Floral and Greenhouse in Malta, said he also has heard that his shipping service is nearing its end.  When the Malta station lost its ticket agent six or seven years ago, Harms and his wife began meeting the train at the depot for their packages of flowers.  The service has been reliable until now, he said.  The extra miles would be daunting.  "Havre is a blessing, if we can get them in Havre," Harms said.  "Otherwise it's Great Falls or Billings.  That would be devastating."

Amtrak's spokesman said because Glasgow and Malta have no station attendants, they're not listed for cutbacks.  He could not comment on whether Sugg or Harms will continue receiving their deliveries.  A few weeks ago, Amtrak officials said they would eliminate 18 of their long-distance routes if Congress failed to provide the company with $1.2 billion next year.  Johnson said changes in Hi-Line baggage and express service should not be viewed as a step toward eliminating the route.  "These cuts have nothing to do with whether or not passenger service will be continued in the future," Johnson said.  "These cuts are filling a budgetary shortfall for this year."  The cutbacks were aimed at smaller stations and will affect 200 positions at 85 Amtrak stations in 36 states, he said. 

Amtrak is hoping the reorganization will shave $6.3 million from its budget.  "We looked at stations that served one or two trains a day," Johnson said.  "Those stations serve about 4 percent of our passengers."  Amtrak's one Montana route provides the Hi-Line its only means of public transportation.  Many Hi-Line residents are sensitive to the railroad's fate and consider this wave of cutbacks a call to arms.  "Any reduction in service would have a dramatic affect on all of us here," said Shelby Mayor Larry Bonderud.  "Our whole area is very supportive of Amtrak.  It's really being proactive and not sitting back and letting it go away."  Shelby is Amtrak's only crew-change point in Montana.  The company employs 50 of the town's 4,000 residents.  Bonderud said he thinks Amtrak should increase, not decrease, its freight-carrying capacity.  "It's the wrong type of move for the train," he said.  "They should expand their express shipments.  We believe it's the true salvation of the Empire Builder." 

The Glasgow Chamber of Commerce is circulating a petition and encouraging residents to call their senators and representatives for help.  Sen. Max Baucus already has urged the Senate Budget Committee to give Amtrak its $1.2 billion.  He also is working with Amtrak to find a way to maintain the company's express shipping service.  "Max is working closely with Amtrak to see if they can reconfigure the way they schedule and route their employees to ensure that Amtrak has the personnel to handle package delivery service on all stops in Montana," spokesman Bill Lombardi said.  Amtrak could close line through Montana.

Great Falls Tribune

March 1, 2002

It's one of the most scenic rail routes in the country.  It may also be on its last leg.  Amtrak could pull the plug on the Empire Builder, which runs daily from Chicago to Seattle, stopping locally at Browning, East Glacier, West Glacier and Whitefish.  Eastbound and westbound trains stop daily at each location.  The route is extremely popular with folks visiting Glacier National Park and the Northwest.  The spectre of the service being shut down is rankling Amtrak employees.  "Unless there's a change in top management, we're doomed," said one employee, in reference to Amtrak President and CEO George D. Warrington.  The employee asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. 

Amtrak earlier this month announced $285 million in spending cuts and will ask Congress for $1.2 billion in subsidized funding for fiscal year 2003, according to spokesperson Kevin Johnson.  "Everyone knows that you can't make a profit while running a network of unprofitable trains, but that is exactly what we're expected to do," said Warrington in a prepared release on Feb. 1.  "On top of that, several recent events-including the recession, Sept. 11, and the Amtrak Reform Council decision-have created new uncertainties in our business.  The business actions we are taking today are intended to protect our operations and financial partners from existing political uncertainty.  The time has come for Congress and the Bush Administration to put passenger rail on a solid foundation for the future."  Johnson said the appropriations request will "result in a national debate in Congress this year," on the future of passenger rail service in the U.S. 

Johnson said the Empire Builder is one of the most popular long-distance routes in the country-second only to the Starlight Express, which runs from Los Angeles to Seattle along the Pacific Coast.  The problem, the company claims, is the long distance lines are also unprofitable.  Its 2003 appropriations request calls for $840 million in basic and mandatory capital investments and $200 million to subsidize "unprofitable" long distance service.  The fate of the route could be announced by the end of March.  "Moreover, an appropriation below this level will require the elimination of unprofitable long-distance service as early as Oct. 1, 2002.  For contingency purposes, legally required notification of this action will be made March 29, 2002," the release continues. 

Funding is pushing the debate on whether rail service should be government subsidized or privatized entirely.  Amtrak employees argue the subsidized railroad offers alternative transportation and better service than private services.  In a letter forwarded to the Hungry Horse News, employees Mick O'Connor of Conrad and Sue Peterson of Shelby argue that Amtrak gives passengers a place to stay and alternative transportation if something goes wrong.  The same can't always be said for airlines and bus service, they note.

Hungry Horse News

Material Needed

Please send any material you would like to have placed in the Eagle Tracks newsletter to the editor.  We need your stuff!