Edwards Rail Car Company

Edwards Rail Car Company was located in the small town of Sanford, North Carolina, specializing in the manufacture of self-propelled rail cars.
History.
Harry P. Edwards began building passenger railway equipment in 1917 and formed the Edwards Railway Motor Car Company in 1921. Edwards turned out over 130 cars over a two-decade span and made a name for itself among major South and Central American railways, as well as on U.S. Class 1 and short line railroads.
Formative years.
In 1915 the Atlantic and Western Railway, a short line running from Sanford to Lillington, N.C., was running an uneconomical steam passenger train which A&W General Manager Harry P. Edwards came to regard with mounting frustration. Searching for a way to stem the flow of red ink, Edwards built his first car for use on that railroad. Other cars were built in the shops of the A&W and marketed by Edwards and the Atlantic & Western Railway.
As the word spread throughout the South about the economical rail cars built by Edwards, the demand for cars was such that in 1921 the manufacturing firm Edwards Railway Motor Car Co. was organized and in 1922 occupied its new plant along the tracks of the A&W. The short line was not only an Edwards customer, but its tracks served as a test, demonstration and development track for over twenty years of Edwards car production.
1920–1942.
During the early 1920s, mainstays of this output was the Model-10 which had the engine mounted up in the baggage compartment, as was the fashion of most all other manufacturers. In 1926 the company started delivery of the new Model-20. What set the Model-20 apart from the Model-10 and competitor's models was the ingenious, patented, power truck design, with the motor set into the front truck frame instead of being up in the car body.
In 1929 Edwards exported two Model 20 units to Argentina, for Ferrocarriles del Estado meter gauge lines. Both, named CM 1 and CM 2 went to Córdoba hills between Alta Córdoba and Capilla del Monte. Service last till 1937 when they were replaced by new streamlined trains built by Ganz of Hungary.
Both units were transferred to Santa Fe province, joining Maciel station with Puerto Gaboto a port on Parana River, that were first spanish colonial setting in Argentina as Fort Santi Spiritu. Service was ended in 1966 and units were cut for scrap several years later.
There are many pictures of these units in service, I do not know how to share them.
Edwards output during the 1930s was mainly export cars including the "modern" streamlined Model-21 and the streamlined version of the Model-10, with their distinctive shovel-nose, first developed by Edwards in 1935. By the late 1930s sales of railcars in the United States was at an all-time low, and with the war in Europe, Edwards sold the plant and new owners re-tooled for defense production in 1940.
In 1942 the Edwards Company lost its corporate identity and ceased to exist, rail motor cars and trailers were the only Edwards products manufactured under that name. As of 1933 the company claimed rail car sales to forty-four railroads; final tally of original purchasers was close to fifty. With sales, in a 22-year period to nineteen different countries in the Western Hemisphere. Only a handful of Edwards cars have survived today.


Atlanta Division

The Atlanta Division is a railroad division operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida & Tennessee. The Atlanta Division has 18 subdivisions.
The subdivisions within the Atlanta Division are as follows:


Charley Eugene Johns

Charley Eugene Johns (February 27, 1905January 23, 1990) was an American politician. Johns, a Baptist, served as the 32nd Governor of Florida from 1953 to 1955.
Johns was born in Starke, Florida. He worked as a railroad conductor
and insurance agent before being elected to the State Senate as a Democrat in 1947. Johns became the Senate President in April 1953, a position Markley Johns, his brother, had been elected to. Johns was a member of the "Pork Chop Gang", a group of 20 conservative legislators from North Florida who favored racial segregation and consolidated political power and money in the northern, more rural parts of the state. One of the Johns most remembered initiatives during his early state Senate years was to build a new, portable electric chair to be transported by truck with an electric generator and set up in a jail or a courthouse where the convicted was sentenced.
After the death of Governor Dan McCarty on September 28, 1953, Johns became the Acting Governor under the provisions of the state constitution at that time, which provided for the state Senate President to become the Acting Governor upon the death, incapacitation, or resignation of the Governor. During his term as Acting Governor, Johns promoted highway construction, eliminating tolls on the Overseas Highway between Miami and Key West. He was also an advocate for prison reform. In 1954, Johns ran for election to a term as governor in his own right, but was defeated by LeRoy Collins. After leaving office on January 4, 1955, he returned to the Florida Senate, serving until 1966.
Johns is most remembered for his support and chairmanship of the infamous Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, nicknamed the "Johns Committee" because of Johns' chairmanship. This committee participated in the Red Scare and Lavender scare by investigating communists, homosexuals, and civil rights advocates among the students and faculty of Florida's university system. They were responsible for revoking teachers' certificates and firing university professors. By 1963, the committee had forced the dismissal or resignation of over 100 professors and deans at the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of South Florida. One professor, Sigismond Diettrich, chair of the geography department of the University of Florida, attempted suicide after being investigated by the committee. The state legislature ended funding for the committee in 1964 after it released a report called "Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida", which infamously became known as the "Purple Pamphlet". Its many photographs depicting homosexual acts outraged legislators and reportedly copies of the report were being sold as pornography in New York City.


Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway

The Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway was an electric interurban railway connecting Rochester with the shores of Lake Ontario at Sodus Point. The line was leased to the Rochester Railway Company in 1902 and later merged into New York State Railways in 1909. Ridership dropped off in the 1920s, and the railway east of Glen Haven was abandoned in 1929. The remaining local streetcar service ended in 1933.
Early history (1887-1896).
The Rochester and Glen Haven Railroad was chartered in 1887 to build a narrow gauge steam-powered railroad to connect Rochester with the resort area of Glen Haven on Irondequoit Bay. The Rochester and Glen Haven Railroad connected to the horse car line of the Rochester City and Brighton Railroad at East Main and Chamberlain streets. When the railroad opened for service in 1889, it was still under construction. The full length of the line was completed in 1891. The Glen Haven Hotel opened on the western shores of Irondequoit Bay in 1889, and in the years following many other developments and attractions were built in the area including the Glen Haven Park amusement park. In 1893 the line was foreclosed and reorganized as the Glen Haven Railroad.
Both the railroad and the hotel fell on hard times and two years later the line suspended service. The receiver was Chauncey C. Woodworth, who previously became a partner in Rochester Railway Company in 1868. The Rochester and Glen Haven Railroad was sold at auction to Woodworth and Frank P. Crouch (original vice president of the railroad) and reorganized as the Irondequoit Park Railroad. The route was converted to standard gauge and the electrification process began. On May 30, 1896, electric trolleys began service between East Main Street Station in Rochester and Glen Haven. Rebuilding the line eliminated the need for city passengers to transfer to continue their ride to Glen Haven. Service was operated every 20 minutes, and the railroad continued to invest in the betterment of Glen Haven Park.
Expansion and acquisition (1896-1909).
With the moderate success of the Glen Haven line, the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway was incorporated in 1898 to build an interurban railway to reach the resort town of Sodus Point on the shores of Lake Ontario. Construction began in 1899 and soon the double-track railroad reached Williamson, Sodus, and up to Sodus Point. Service to Ontario began on July 4, 1900, Full service over the entire length of the line to Sodus Point commenced on August 22, 1900. Sodus Bay cars used Rochester Railway Company tracks to reach downtown and turnback at Plymouth Avenue.
The Irondequoit Park Railroad was leased by the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway in 1901, and formally merged in 1902. That same year, the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway was leased by the Rochester Railway Company. In 1903, the entire line was rebuilt with heavier 60- and 70-pound rail. The Rochester Railway Company formed the Glen Haven Improvement Company to purchase Glen Haven Park from Woodworth and Crouch. The amusement park continued to benefit from upgrades that lured even more customers to the shores of Irondequoit Bay. Beginning in 1905, Sodus Bay cars originated from the downtown Rochester interurban terminal shared with the Rochester and Eastern Rapid Railway at Court and Exchange streets (near the Erie Railroad terminal). In 1909, the Rochester Railway Company was acquired by New York State Railways, and the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway was operated as part of the Rochester Lines division.
New York State Railways (1909-1933).
Automatic block signals were installed along the Rochester and Sodus Bay line between 1913-1914, a welcome safety feature given the high density schedule that was operated at the time. Glen Haven Park (renamed "Dreamland") continued to be an important source of income through the World War I era, but Prohibition marked the beginning of its demise and forcing the closure of the famed Glen Haven Hotel. Despite the decline of the resorts, passenger traffic to Glen Haven remained steady. In 1925, Sodus Bay cars abandoned the Rochester downtown interurban terminal and instead originated from the Blue Bus Lines depot on South Avenue.
The first car to operate in the new city-owned Rochester Subway was Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway car 171 departing from City Hall station on December 1, 1927. The subway was designed to remove interurbans from the city streets and provide a swift ride through the city. Cars 170 and 171 were temporarily assigned to Rochester Subway service until replacements were secured from the Utica Lines. Of all the interurban lines serving Rochester, only the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway did not use the subway. Plans were drawn up to build a new connection and ramp into the subway at Culver Road, but never came to fruition.
Better roads and increased use of automobiles led to declining ridership through the 1920s. The old Glen Haven resort hotel burned to the ground in 1928. The line from Glen Haven east to Sodus Point was shut down on June 27, 1929, ending interurban service. Local service continued between Main and Oak streets in Rochester to Glen Haven for a few more years before resuming from its normal origination point at East Main Street. The Glen Haven line was designated Route 13, falling in with the system of bus route numbers implemented by Rochester Railway Company. New York State Railways entered receivership on December 31, 1929. Due to better roads and increase automobile use, traffic on the Glen Haven line dropped off dramatically, and streetcar service ended on July 19, 1933. The transit franchises were later transferred to the new Rochester Transit Corporation in 1938, which operated the Route 30 Webster-Sodus bus along the same route.
Disposition.
The property of the Sodus Bay interurban was sold at public auction in November 1931. Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. purchased the electric transmission lines, poles, and right of way for $30,000. The station in Wallington was purchased by a private individual and converted into a gas station. The station at Williamson and the substation at East Williamson were both sold to private individuals.
Ownership of the Glen Haven Park property passed on to successor Rochester Transit Corporation, who sold the land through its Railway Properties Corporation subsidiary to Edward M. Hayden in 1946. Today the land is vacant with no trace of the buildings that once stood. The old railway grade through the city limits was acquired by Rochester Gas & Electric for use as a transmission line right of way, and is easily followed today. Some sections of railroad grade are still visible around Irondequoit Bay to this day. The body of Car 113 resides at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, awaiting evaluation for future restoration.
Station listing.
From Rochester Railway timetable effective May 25, 1908. Local (non-agency) stops and sidings omitted:


Fredericksburg Line

The Fredericksburg Line is a commuter rail line operated by Virginia Railway Express between Washington, D.C. and Fredericksburg, VA. Virginia Railway Express operates 7 weekday trains, and Amtrak trains serve a few of the stations on the line. Trackage is owned by CSX as part of their RF&P Subdivision.
History.
RF&P.
What is today the Fredericksburg Line was originally part of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad (or RF&P), a connector railroad between the Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Ohio Railroads in Washington, D.C., and the Seaboard Air Line and Atlantic Coast Line Railroads in Richmond. In 1991 CSX absorbed the RF&P and the line is now their RF&P Subdivision.
Virginia Railway Express.
In 1992 Virginia Railway Express (or VRE) was formed to serve the former RF&P between Washington's Union Station and Fredericksburg, VA as well as stations between Washington and Manassas, VA on Norfolk Southern's Piedmont Division. In 2015, the route was extended to Spotsylvania.
Amtrak.
Along with VRE, many Amtrak trains also utilize this line. Their Northeast Regional trains stop at 6 of the 12 stations on the line and Alexandria is a major stop for 6 of their long distance trains.
Expansion.
Work was completed on a third track between Alexandria and Franconia-Springfield in 2010. This track enables VRE and Amtrak trains to bypass slow freight trains over Franconia Hill. VRE would also like to add another third track between Powells Creek in Prince William County and Arkendale Road in Stafford County in the near future.


William F. Nast

William Frederick Nast (1840–1893) was an American diplomat and entrepreneur. He was the third president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
Nast was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 14, 1840, the son of Methodist religious leader William Nast. From 1861 to 1865 he served at the American Consulate in Stuttgart, Germany. Upon his return to the United States, Nast entered the brokerage business in New York, New York.
On September 2, 1868, Nast became president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, a position he held for less than a month, ending on September 24, 1868.
Also in 1868, he married Esther A. Benoist, a daughter of pioneer St. Louis banker Louis Auguste Benoist. They had four children: Louis, Condé, Ethel, and Estelle.
While living in Europe, William Nast filed for several invention patents, including one for "improvements in the treatment of stable manure, and in the manufacture of paper" on July 6, 1876, awarded February 22, 1878, and one for "improvements in the manufacture of dextrine, sugar and the like, from cellulose and ligneous materials" on November 4, 1880, and , awarded on December 13, 1887.
He died in 1893, and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis.


Melvin O. Adams

Melvin Ohio Adams (November 7, 1847, Ashburnham, Massachusetts – August 9, 1920, Boston, Massachusetts) was an American attorney and railroad executive who was part of Lizzie Borden's legal defense team, the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 1905 to 1906, and the president of the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad.
Early life.
Adams was born on November 7, 1847, to Joseph Adams and Dolly Winship (Whitney) Adams. He attended school in his native Ashburnham, Massachusetts as well as the Appleton Academy in New Ipswich, New Hampshire. In 1871, he graduated from Dartmouth College. After graduation worked as a teacher in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and studied law in the office of Amasa Norcross. On January 20, 1874, he married Mary Colony of Fitchburg. From 1874 to 1876, he served as Ashburnham's Town Moderator.
Legal and military career.
In 1875, Adams graduated from the Boston University School of Law. He was admitted to the bar that year and was soon thereafter became an assistant district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts. In 1886, Adams resigned his position to go into private practice with Augustus Russ. Adams and Russ remained partners until Russ' death in the summer of 1892.
In 1892, Adams was retained by Andrew V. Jennings to serve as the associate defense counsel for
Lizzie Borden, a Fall River, Massachusetts woman accused of killing her father and stepmother with a hatchet. After a much-publicized trial, Borden was acquitted on June 20, 1893.
An active member of the Massachusetts Republican Party, Adams served on the staff of Governor John Q. A. Brackett as assistant adjutant general with the rank of colonel.
In 1905, Adams was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He remained a U.S. Attorney until his resignation on December 5, 1906.
Business career.
In 1890, Adams joined the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad as a director and general counsel. From 1891 until his death in 1920 he was the railroad's President.
Adams was also the vice-president of the Liberty Trust Company.
Trustee.
Adams served on the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College and the Perkins School for the Blind. He was instrumental in securing the funds necessary to rebuild Dartmouth Hall.
Death.
Adams died on August 9, 1920, at his home in Boston, Massachusetts. He was buried in the Meetinghouse Hill Cemetery in Ashburnham.


Sherman, Wyoming

Sherman is a ghost town in Albany County, Wyoming, United States. Sherman is southeast of Laramie in the Laramie Mountains and is named for Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. The town was located at the summit of the original grade of the First Transcontinental Railroad and the name Sherman Summit or Sherman Hill Summit was applied to the nearby summits of the modern transportation arteries in the Laramie Mountains.
Before being named Sherman, Union Pacific construction crews had called the area Lone Tree Pass and Evans Pass. The original name honored James A. Evans, who surveyed the area searching for a shorter route through Wyoming than the earlier trails which crossed at South Pass. Because the tracks were later moved a few miles south, the original town of Sherman no longer exists, but this is still the location of the Ames Monument, erected by the railroad to mark its original high point.
Ghost town.
The town of Sherman was named for William Tecumseh Sherman, purportedly at his own request. It was located approximately south-southeast of the modern Sherman Summit and was the highest point on the original alignment of the First Transcontinental Railroad of the Union Pacific Railroad, at an elevation of . Before being named Sherman, Union Pacific construction crews had called the area Lone Tree Pass and Evans Pass. The original name honored James A. Evans, who surveyed the area searching for a shorter route through Wyoming than the earlier trails which crossed at South Pass. Because the tracks were later moved a few miles south, the original town of Sherman no longer exists, but this is still the location of the Ames Monument, erected by the railroad to mark its original high point.
The small town of Sherman arose at the site north of the tracks where trains stopped to change engines on their transcontinental journey. The stop provided a roundhouse with five stalls and a turntable, two section houses, and a windmill with water tank. Trains were inspected at Sherman before beginning the long descent from the Sherman Pass summit, either east towards Cheyenne or west across the high Dale Creek Bridge to the Laramie Valley. The trusses for the original wooden trestle bridge located west of Sherman were prefabricated in Chicago and shipped to the site. The bridge was the highest railroad bridge in the world at the time of its completion in 1868.
Several hundred people lived in Sherman, hunkered down upon a rocky, barren landscape interrupted only by a general store, post office, schoolhouse, two hotels (Sherman House and Summit House), and two saloons.
In 1885, William Murphy purchased the land that contained the monument, intending to cover the pyramid with advertising. The Union Pacific Railroad Company had other plans. The company obtained a special deed to the property in 1889. The railroad company's decision to twice relocate the tracks farther south to take advantage of more gradual grades over the Laramie Mountains threatened Sherman's tenuous existence a few hundred yards west of the monument. The town's death knell came in 1918. The railroad company closed its station house and relocated the tracks about three miles (5 km) south. Residents soon abandoned Sherman, leaving behind a small cemetery that is still present today.
Nearby summits.
Interstate 80.
Sherman Summit or Sherman Hill Summit, elevation , is a mountain pass about north-northwest of the ghost town of Sherman at . While not a particularly rugged mountain crossing, it holds special significance as the highest point along the entire length of transcontinental Interstate 80.
Lincoln Highway.
Just southwest of present-day Sherman Summit at , at an elevation of about , is the highest point on the original transcontinental Lincoln Highway and its successor, U.S. 30. This location, where the pavement is still in place, is known simply as The Summit. A huge bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln once stood here; it has been moved to Sherman Summit.
Overland Route.
As a result of the track relocation, the high point on the railroad, today known as the Overland Route, is now about southeast of the Ames Monument at , at an elevation of . There is no town here, but the official railroad name for this location is, perhaps not surprisingly, Sherman. However, this point (like the Ames Monument) is not actually on the crest of the Laramie Mountains, which is now surmounted via the nearby Hermosa Tunnel at the slightly lower elevation of .


New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway

The New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company (NOGC), is a former Union Pacific Railroad branch line located outside New Orleans. The NOGC is a railroad that interchanges with the UP in Westwego. The railroad serves over twenty switching and industrial customers and is the only railroad operating east of Avondale, LA on the Westbank. Predominate shipments include a variety of food products, oils, grains petroleum products, chemicals and steel products. Rio Grande Pacific Corporation maintains a 100% equity interest in this property. It is a subsidiary of the Rio Grande Pacific Company.
The Westwego-Algiers line was received from Union Pacific, but is actually an amalgamation of portions of two parallel lines constructed by Union Pacific predecessors and rivals. The line closer to the river was a Texas & Pacific route, built along the river to service the industry-rich areas between Waggaman and Algiers. The T&P was absorbed by the Missouri Pacific in 1976, which in turn was absorbed by the Union Pacific beginning in 1980, completed in 1997. Running parallel to the T&P between the same communities was another route originally built by Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad, which would later become the Texas & New Orleans Railroad, a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific system. When the SP was merged into the Union Pacific, this line, too, came under the control of the UP.
The Gouldsboro-Myrtle Grove line was purchased from previous shortline New Orleans Lower Coast Railroad, which was a RailTex subsidiary. The NOLR purchased the 24 mile segment from the Union Pacific in 1991. The route had been a Missouri Pacific branchline before the UP merger, but was built in 1891 by the New Orleans, Fort Jackson & Grande Isle Railroad. In 1911, this company was combined with the New Orleans Southern Railway to form the New Orleans, Southern & Grand Isle Railway, which by 1916 was sold to form the New Orleans & Lower Coast Railroad. By 1926 this last independent operation was under the control of the Missouri Pacific and later absorbed.


Oakes Angier Ames

Oakes Angier Ames (April 15, 1829 – September 19, 1899) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist in the Ames family of North Easton, Massachusetts.
He was an heir to the Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation and Ames Shovel and Tool Company and was born into a family already known to be successful in business and philanthropic towards the townsfolk, many of whom were employed by the Ames'. He served as superintendent in 1873 and then President of the Company in 1877, overseeing all workings in the factory. He was credited with managing to resolve the most notable worker strike in the town's history that lasted for almost two months in 1889. Before his death, Oakes Angier had helped manage a highly prosperous family business and commissioned buildings for the betterment of the town of Easton (including a schoolhouse in North Easton). He served as President of the North Easton Savings Bank and Vice-President of the Easton National Bank, was a Director of the Lincoln National Bank of Boston and the Kingsley Iron Machine Company, trustee of the State Lunatic Asylum in Taunton, MA (Taunton State Hospital), Director of the American Loan and Trust Company and of the United Electric Securities Company, and co-owned a sugar plantation in Louisiana.
Family.
Oakes Angier Ames was the oldest son of Massachusetts Congressman Oakes Ames (1804-1873) (a major force behind the Union Pacific Railroad) and brother of Oliver Ames (governor) (1831-1895), 35th Governor of Massachusetts from 1887-1890, Frank Morton Ames, Henry Gilmore Ames and Susan Eveline (Ames) French. His mother, Evelina Orville Gilmore, was the daughter of Joshua and Hannah (Lothrop) Gilmore of Easton, MA. The Ames family lineage from which he was descended can be traced back to William Ames who emigrated with his brother John to New England in 1635 and settled in Bridgewater, MA. His great-grandfather Capt. John Ames and grandfather Oliver Ames Sr. founded the Ames Shovel Works during a time when shovels were needed to build canals and railroads. The Ames family was among the wealthiest in Massachusetts.
Early life.
Oakes Angier attended public school in Easton, MA. He then attended Fruit Hill Academy in RI and the Leicester Academy, MA. and entered the family business at the age of eighteen. He learned how shovels were made and became skilled in handling the affairs of the workers.
The Oliver Ames and Sons Company of Oakes Angiers’ grandfather Oliver Ames Sr. (known as Old Oliver) was originally located across from Shovelshop Pond in Easton, MA. On March 2, 1852, Oakes Angier witnessed the great fire that destroyed all buildings and subsequently became ill due to smoke inhalation while trying in vain to stop the destruction. It was believed at the time that he had contracted Consumption and was sent to Cuba to help his lungs heal. On December 28, 1852, Evelina Ames received word from her son that he had arrived in Cuba after departing from Charleston, S.C. six days prior. When he returned he was in much better health.
The watchman at the time of the fire was a man by the name of Patric Quinn. Quinn, during his nightly round, accidentally dropped a lantern into highly flammable varnish. The finishing shop burst into flames and quickly caught fire to the rest of the buildings. At the time, the Ames family was considering moving the shovel making operation to another location entirely and so there was a silver lining to this devastating event. It is suggested that the fire made such a lasting impression on Oakes Angier that he was the first family member to build his home, Queset House, out of stone. The new shovel factory was also built out of stone, as were many future Ames structures.
It was often customary at the time for previous generations to live with their sons and daughters. Oakes Angier lived into his mid-twenties with his father Oakes and his mother Evelina in the house originally built by his grandfather Old Oliver. Old Oliver continued to live in a section of the house with his son and daughter-in-law until his own death. Their house was located on Main Street across from the company shops and is no longer standing. When the Queset House was finished, Oakes brought his new bride, Catherine (Hobart) Ames to live there and raise a family.
Business.
In 1863, Oakes’ Angiers grandfather, Oliver Ames Sr. (1779-1863), passed away leaving the Oliver Ames and Sons Company and all private property to the remaining Ames family members of Easton, MA. To his three grandsons, Oakes Angier, Oliver and Frederick Lothrop Ames, he bequeathed one-third of the Company interest divided equally, thus making them partners. His other grandson, Frank Morton Ames, became prosperous in his own right as President of the Kingsley Iron and Machine Company of Canton, MA. In the midst of the Civil War, the three grandsons of Oliver Ames worked together to maintain and expand the already thriving family business. Oliver became involved in business ventures relating to the Company outside of Easton, MA. Frederick was treasurer and secretary. Oakes Angier was supervisor, general manager, and then President from 1877 until his death. By that time the Company was producing approximately 117,500 dozen shovels per year, with 500 men working 10hr work days.
While supervisor, he obtained an antrim patent in 1863 for his welding furnace designed to balance the temperatures needed to weld a shovel blade and the strap.
In 1873, he and his brother Frank Morton Ames purchased what would become the Southside and Estelle Plantations in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana for $180,000.The plantations were known at the time to be quite cutting edge in the methods of harvesting sugar and transporting the finished product. 60,000 to 70,000 pounds of sugar were produced a day. His time spent in Cuba as a young man may have influenced his interest in owning a sugar plantation.
In 1879, while President of the Company, he helped finance 50% of the cost for a church in the center of Easton. The cost was $1,400. Originally a Methodist church, the new denomination was affiliated with the Swedish Evangelical Covenant Church. Prior to the purchase of the new church, the growing number of Swedish immigrants who worked in the Company had to practice their religion in various private homes. Oakes Angier also lent the use of a hall on Main Street to the Swedish for services. Assistance in providing a place of worship was consistent with the Ames family tradition. They also had a chapel built on Pond St. for the Irish workforce.
Strike of 1889.
William Chaffin wrote in History of the Town of Easton that Oakes Angier had a temperament well suited for work as manager to the Company workers, and that he was also very knowledgeable to the process of making shovels. His character would serve him well in regards to the strike. His life was an example of integrity and compassion towards workers and other townspeople who sometimes required assistance. Although there had been a few documented instances of dissension among workers before the strike of 1889, none were as well documented, nor did they result in so many workers being let go or disruption in shovel production.
In shovel making, it is the handlers job to weld straps to steel-edged shovels. Handlers employed by the Oliver Ames and Sons Company at the time of the strike became disgruntled over a Company policy that had been put in place years prior.
On February 22, 1889, twenty-three handlers walked off the job, returning the following day after forming a committee to speak with General Manager Oakes Angier Ames regarding the rules. He responded that the rules put in place were necessary and explained why that was. Despite that, some of the Ames’ had been handlers themselves and the Company was known for good wages and fair business practices, the handlers did not return to work. Oakes Angier, after giving the strikers until March 4 to return, was forced to hire replacements. His son Hobart and Governor Oliver Ames' son William were in charge of training the Swedish replacement workers. Hobart was also in charge of protecting replacement workers from harassment by strikers. While Oakes Angier did request in writing that strikers leave tenement housing, he never evicted them. The only arrest was a James Riley for undue violence. On April 12, 1889, the strike ended and some sixteen strikers returned to work under the same rules. Only five strikers were not allowed to return to work as handlers. Two of them had already found work elsewhere and the other three were employed as gardeners on Ames estates. Shovel sales suffered but still managed to surpass previous years sales by $950.27.
Queset House.
Oakes Angier Ames' legacy to North Easton can still be seen in Queset House, his home beside the Queset Brook. Built of stone, Queset stands on property to the rear of the Ames Free Library. His son, famous theatrical producer Winthrop Ames, also lived in the house with his wife Lucy after inheriting it from his father. The property is now owned by the library and functions as a center for cultural programming. Queset was commissioned to be built in 1853 and it was completed the following year. The house's front portion design was drawn from a plan by noted architect Andrew Jackson Downing (who died in 1852). Downing collaborated with Alexander Jackson Davis who provided architectural drawings. It was built in the Gothic Revival style. Harvard educated architect John Ames Mitchell, (a first cousin of Oakes Angier and architect of Unity church in Easton, MA) designed the rear in 1873. He also added the copper-clad chimneys and a new staircase. The landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted planned its grounds and also, in consultation with Ames, created The Rockery nearby.
Together with his family, Ames commissioned Olmsted and architect H. H. Richardson to create a remarkable set of buildings and landscapes in North Easton, including:
Personal.
Oakes Angier was a Unitarian (Unitarianism). He was chairman of the Church Committee and rarely, if ever, missed Sabbath. He married Catherine Hobart in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts on July 19, 1855. They had six children, although two did not survive past infancy:
Mrs. Oakes Angier died early morning Monday, April 18, 1903. She lived a quiet life but was remembered at the time of her death as being heavily involved in local charitable work. She was not connected with any particular organization.


North Shore Railroad System

The North Shore Railroad System in the United States includes the following short lines:
The first five railroads (those marked with an asterisk) are owned by SEDA-COG JRA (Susquehanna Economic Development Association - Council of Governments Joint Rail Authority) and operated under contract by Robey Railroads, a private company. Robey Railroads also operates another railroad (UCIR). As of 2006, there are plans by Robey to consolidate these seven lines as the Susquehanna Railroad Corporation, a non-operating holding company.
The corporate offices are located in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. There are connections to the Norfolk Southern Railway line at Lewistown, as well as an indirect connection to Canadian Pacific Railway service.


Black Diamond Railroad

The Black Diamond Railroad was an attempt in the late 1890s by Albert E. Boone to build a railroad from the Ohio River Valley through the Rabun Gap to the Atlantic Coast. It isn't clear if any track was actually laid by this company or if it was just an attempt to restart the Blue Ridge Railroad of South Carolina, which had originally started the route in the 1850s, but was interrupted by the Civil War.


Lineburg, West Virginia

Lineburg is an unincorporated community in Morgan County in the U.S. state of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Lineburg lies on the western flanks of Sideling Hill on the Turkey Foot Bend of the Potomac River. The community originally served as a station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, but has since become a location for vacationing weekenders from the Washington, D.C. area.


Chicago and Tomah Railroad

The Chicago and Tomah Railroad was a proposal of D.K. Williams and was intended to connect the northern forests of Wisconsin around Tomah with the Galena and Southern Wisconsin Railroad which had reached Platteville in 1875. The Galena Road was a narrow gauge line, so the Chicago and Tomah was constructed at the same gauge. The line was surveyed between Tomah and Lancaster with a proposed crossing of the Wisconsin River at Woodman. The river crossing and line north to Tomah never built but by 1879 the line had reached Lancaster from Woodman via Andersons Mill, Werley, Fennimore, Stitzer and Liberty. The Galena line connected with the line at Lancaster Junction one mile east of Fennimore.
In 1880, both lines were acquired by the Chicago and North Western Railroad which connected with them in 1881 at Montfort Junction with a standard gauge line from Madison. Also in 1881 the narrow gauge lines were converted to except the section of the Chicago and Tomah between Fennimore and Woodman. This section could not be converted because of two horseshoe curves of 250 foot radius. This radius is extremely small even for narrow gauge operations and impossible for standard gauge operation. The line closed in 1926.


Turn Hole Tunnel

The Turn Hole Tunnel is an abandoned railroad tunnel near Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Built by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, it carried part of the Lehigh and Susquehanna RR main line until 1912, and was used as part of a passing siding for several decades thereafter. It is now an attraction in Lehigh Gorge State Park.
History.
The tunnel takes its name from the "Turn Hole" in the Lehigh River, a deep eddy where the river makes a turn at the base of a high cliff, known as Moyer's Rock. When the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (a subsidiary of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company) extended its line from White Haven to Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe) in 1866, it crossed the Lehigh River at the Turn Hole and tunneled through the face of the cliff, proceeding southward through the gorge. The parallel line of the Lehigh Valley Railroad crossed the river just to the west, but swung around the point of Moyer's Rock instead of tunneling. The Lehigh and Susquehanna was leased to the Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1871.
The tunnel carried two tracks of the CNJ main line until about 1910, when it was condemned. The railroad began contracting to bypass it in 1911, grading a new alignment parallel with the Lehigh Valley. The new alignment was opened in 1912, but the two tracks in the tunnel and over the old bridge were kept intact as a passing siding until 1956, when they were abandoned.
The CNJ main line through Lehigh Gorge was abandoned in late 1965. While most of it has become the Lehigh Gorge Trail, the new alignment around Turn Hole Tunnel was paved as an access road to the Glen Onoko trail head of Lehigh Gorge State Park. The tunnel remains largely intact, with ties from the double track remaining "in situ", occasionally covered by rockfall. At the north portal, overlooking the river, a safety railing has been built across the tunnel. The piers of the old bridge still stand in the river.


Union Railroad of Baltimore


Cloquet Terminal Railroad

Cloquet Terminal Railroad is a small Class 3 terminal railroad operating of track in Cloquet, Minnesota. The railroad interchanges with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Canadian Pacific railroads in Cloquet and services the Sappi Paper Mill, a USG Ceiling Tile plant and a SMI Plant on the mill site. The railroad's shop and offices are located on Dunlap Island in the St. Louis River.
The railroad owns 160 freight cars. In 2004 the railroad handled 6,000 railroad cars.
Cloquet Terminal Railroad is owned by the Sappi Paper Mill and took over the operations of the Duluth and Northeastern Railroad on May 13, 2002. The Duluth & Northeastern, while the last operating logging railroad in Minnesota, had abandoned most of its route in the 1940s and the line between Cloquet and Saginaw, Minnesota in the 1990s.


North American Railcar Operators Association

The North American Railcar Operators Association (NARCOA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and safe, legal operation of railroad equipment historically used for maintenance of way purposes. The organization is primarily composed of those who own and operate a personal railcar speeder. NARCOA has around 1,400 members worldwide.
History.
NARCOA started in 1980 as a list of motorcar owners, known as "The NARCOA Roster." In 1986, NARCOA organized the first private-owner motorcar meet ever held. In 1987, NARCOA began publication of its official newsletter, "The Setoff." In 1989 the group incorporated in Delaware as a non-profit organization in the State of Delaware and received US Internal Revenue Service determination as a 501(c)(7) entity. In 1988, It was incorporated as a non-profit organization in Delaware, and started the NARCOA insurance program that year as well, which is an insurance program for member railcar operators.
In 2016, it had 900 speeders and 1,700 members registered with NARCOA. At that time, it sometimes organized rail rides by NARCOA members at various events.
Services provided.
NARCOA provides several services for members. These services include:
Rail motorcar excursions.
NARCOA affiliated regional clubs conduct rail excursions for owners to operate their cars. Motorcar operators, at their option, sometimes let others ride along. Participation fees vary, with areas such as Mexico's Copper Canyon attracting interest as "the ultimate speeder trip." To participate in an excursion, participants are given training. A NARCOA coordinator plans the event. The speeders average 20 to 25 miles per hour. Trips can last a day or several days, and longer trips are made in legs. All operators on the trips are "mentored, tested and have liability insurance," and must can a rule book and an insurance card. Alcoholic beverages and illegal drugs are prohibited. All NARCOA sponsored excursions are listed on the association website.
Among other events, on June 25 and 26, 2013, members of NARCOA operated their privately owned railroad motorcars over the Leadville, Colorado and Southern Railroad in Colorado. There was a 20-day tour of the Pacific Northwest railroads in 2015 and a 2015 excursion for three days from Coos Bay to Coquille and in Napa Valley. Among other events, there was a 2016 in Kokomo, a trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks in a 22-car caravan of old railroad work cars in 2018, and a trip from White River Junction to Newport in 2019.
Membership.
Maintenance of membership is subject to the standards of conduct found in the rulebook. A general Railfan interest, willingness to adhere to safety rules, a mechanical ability to restore and maintain a rail motorcar, and some knowledge of railroad operations are characteristics of most NARCOA members.
In 2008, NARCOA had "about 2,000 members, and about 200 new members sign up yearly."
Leadership.
An 11-member Board of Directors governs NARCOA. The Board meets annually. A nominating committee selects candidates for association offices, including directors, president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer. Board members are elected to two-year terms that represent the following areas:


Birmingham Southern Railroad

The Birmingham Southern Railroad was a short-line railroad in the Birmingham, Alabama area. It ceased operating in 2012 when its assets were acquired by Watco Companies' Birmingham Terminal Railway.
History.
The Birmingham Southern Railroad Company was organized on March 3, 1899. The line was originally built between 1878 from Birmingham to Pratt City, AL to haul coal to the steel mills in Birmingham. The line was extended to Ensley in 1887.
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Southern Railway jointly purchased and operated the Birmingham Southern shortly after the Birmingham Southern's organization. The Birmingham Southern was later sold to the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, which in 1906 became a part of the United States Steel Corporation and remained a U.S.S. Corp. subsidiary until 1988. The railroad expanded its lines in the western industrial section of Jefferson County by 1910. In 1966, the Birmingham Southern acquired the 18-mile Federal Barge Lines (also known as the Barge Line Railroad) that ran from Ensley to Port Birmingham, giving the Birmingham Southern access to Mobile, AL via the barge lines of the Warrior River. The Barge Line Railroad track was formerly owned by the Southern Railway.
In 1988 the Birmingham Southern was sold to Transtar, Inc., the transportation subsidiary of United States Steel. In 1989, United States Steel sold Transtar and Transtar became a privately held company specializing in the operation of short line railroads and barge lines that primarily serve United States Steel and its successors.
On May 17, 2007, Birmingham Southern Railroad was awarded a Gold E. H. Harriman Award in the S&T Group for the railroad's 2006 safety record.
On December 2, 2011, Watco Companies announced plans to purchase the Birmingham Southern. The railroad was subsequently renamed Birmingham Terminal Railway; operations under the new name began on 1 February 2012.


Western Fruit Express

Western Fruit Express (WFE) was a railroad refrigerator car leasing company formed by the Fruit Growers Express and the Great Northern Railway on July 18, 1923 in order to compete with the Pacific Fruit Express and Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch in the Western United States. The arrangement added 3,000 cars to the FGE's existing equipment pool. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF), the Great Northern's successor.
The success of the WFE led to the creation of the Burlington Refrigerator Express (BREX) in May 1926.
Western Fruit Express Roster, 1930–1970:


Welty McCullogh

Welty McCullogh (October 10, 1847 – August 31, 1889) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Biography.
Welty McCullogh was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He attended the common schools and Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania. He served as second clerk under Capt. W.B. Coulter, provost marshal of twenty-first district of Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War. He graduated from Princeton College in June 1870. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1872 and commenced practice in Greensburg. He served as assistant solicitor for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
McCullogh was elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1888. He continued the practice of law until his death in Greensburg in 1889. Interment in the new St. Clair Cemetery.
References.
 Retrieved on 2009-04-26


Job A. Edson

Job A. Edson (February 14, 1854 – July 30, 1928) was twice the president of Kansas City Southern Railway.


St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway

The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway was a historic railroad that operated in Missouri, and Arkansas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It ran from St. Louis, Missouri, to Texarkana, Arkansas, as well as to southeast Missouri. The line was initially established to deliver iron ore from Iron Mountain, Missouri to St. Louis. The company was frequently referred to as the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern (StLIM&S) or shortened to simply the Iron Mountain Railway.
The railroad was robbed twice, once by the James-Younger Gang on January 31, 1874, at Gad's Hill, Missouri, and once by the "One-Time Train Robbery Gang". on November 3, 1893, at Olyphant, Arkansas.
In 1883 the StLIM&S was acquired by Jay Gould, becoming part of a system. On May 12, 1917, it was formally merged into the Missouri Pacific Railroad, which in turn was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad in 1982.
Folklore.
The railroad is famous for giving its name to the Iron Mountain Baby, and the railroad is reported to have paid for the child's education.
Heritage railroad.
The name has been resurrected by a modern short line railroad based in Jackson, Missouri. The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway operates a heritage railroad in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri of about 6 miles southwards.


Jackson and Sharp Company

Jackson and Sharp Company was an American railroad car manufacturer and shipbuilder in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company was founded in 1863 by Job H. Jackson (b. 1833), a tinsmith and retail merchant, and Jacob F. Sharp (b. 1815), a carpenter who had worked for rail car manufacturers and shipbuilders.
Rolling stock plant.
Jackson and Sharp built a fabrication plant, called the Delaware Car Works, in Wilmington, Delaware near the mouth of Brandywine Creek. In the early years the facility had storage capacity for 6 cars and about 100 employees. By 1880 the plant produced 400 passenger cars per year. Through facility expansions on the site, the capacity grew to 75 cars, with about 1,000 employees in the late 1880s. At that time it was considered to be the largest rolling stock plant in the Americas. Clients included Great Western Railroad (Illinois), South Side Elevated Railroad (Chicago), Denver and Rio Grande Railway, King Oscar II of Sweden, and Emperor Dom Pedro of Brazil.
It supplied the passenger cars for the Waterloo & City Railway in London, England, in 1897-8.
Shipyard.
The company purchased the Christina River Shipyards in 1875. The facility built wooden vessels such as schooners and barges, as well as steam-powered vessels. By 1900 the rolling stock and shipyard facilities totalled , with 1,200 to 1,500 employees.
Merger and 20th century operations.
American Car and Foundry (ACF) leased the Jackson and Sharp facilities for 10 years, beginning in 1901. In 1911 ACF purchased the plant and focused on manufacturing passenger cars for export, although shipbuilding continued as well.
During World War I the plant built wooden submarine chasers, rail cars and munitions equipment to support the war effort. After the war, the shipyard continued to build yachts, but wooden shipbuilding ended in 1938. Rail car production also ended in the 1930s. The plant then focused on steel shipbuilding, and built small craft for the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, limited rail car production was resumed. Owing to a small number of orders, ACF stopped production in 1950, and sold the plant to a warehouse company in 1952.


Port Terminal Railroad Association

The Port Terminal Railroad Association is an American terminal railroad that operates of track at the Port of Houston in Houston, Texas.


Samuel Jaudon

Samuel Jaudon (1796-1874) was a 19th-century banker and businessman who, as an employee and agent of the Bank of the United States, helped cause or worsen the Panic of 1837.
Early and family life.
Jaudon was born in 1796, the eldest son of Daniel and Anna (McNeal) Jaudon. He graduated from Princeton University in 1813.
Marguerite Peyton Alricks (1799-1880) married Jaudon and bore six children, three of whom survived their parents: Francis Orme Jaudon (1825-1827); Julia Webster Jaudon (1831-1901); Samuel Peyton Jaudon (1831-1891, who married Oshidzu Matsura (d. 1896 in Japan); Francis Duncan Jaudon (1833-1906); Lawson White Jaudon (1836-1852); and Ada Mary Jaudon (1839).
A sister-in-law was Mary T. Bainbridge, daughter of Commodore William Bainbridge ( -1835), who bequeathed his daughters Pennsylvania state bonds. Jaudon managed the money, ultimately to ill effect, as described below.
Career.
In 1835, Jaudon sold the Bainbridge estate bonds and invested the money in the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company. Jaudon's principal job at the time was cashier of the Bank of the United States under Nicholas Biddle when the bank was still an authorized national bank and the heart of the Bank War between Biddle and U.S. president Andrew Jackson. During these years, the bank was "plagued with allegations of poor management and fraud" including improper investments made by Jaudon and others, and election fraud in the form of preferential loans to political allies. The bank lost its national charter but stayed in business with a state charter.
In 1837-1838, Jaudon served as a director of the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad, one of the four companies that created the first rail link from Philadelphia to Baltimore. (The main line survives today as part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.) When the W&S merged into the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, Jaudon stayed on as a director. His service as a railroad executive is noted on the 1839 Newkirk Viaduct Monument in Philadelphia.
Jaudon resigned from the railroad's board in 1838, and traveled to London to try to sell various U.S. securities on behalf of the now-private second Second Bank of the United States|Bank of the United States. Among his endeavors, he sought in March to secure a $400,000 loan for the PW&B-connected Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mountjoy and Lancaster Railroad. In May, he told railroad officials that the bond market was glutted, but they pressed him to lower his price.
In August, PW&B officials authorized he and William Strickland to negotiate a loan for their railroad. He ultimately succeeded in 1840 in obtaining a loan of $113,000 by using United States Bank bonds as collateral.
Jaudon was noted as a skilled "financial diplomat" who managed to keep European capital flowing to the Bank amid the Panic of 1837, his efforts to abet U.S. cotton speculation, and dubious bond sales, but could not ultimately keep the bank afloat. It suspended payments in late 1839, and closed in 1841.
On December 10, 1841, Jaudon, along with Biddle and John Andrews, were indicted by a grand jury on charges of defrauding the bank's stockholders of $400,000 in 1836 and trying to cover it up through fraudulent recordkeeping in 1841.
By 1844, Jaudon and his family lived in New York City.
In 1855, Jaudon was secretary of the Texas Pacific Railway Company based in New York, but which sought to build a railroad with land grants from the Mississippi River. President Polk's Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker was President, and Samuel Butler King of Georgia was also involved. The American Civil War interrupted the project, which ultimately succeeded after Jaudon's death as the Texas and Pacific Railway under Jay Gould.
In 1865, Jaudon took out a loan from the National City Bank of New York to finance coal speculation, and gave as collateral 47 shares of his sister-in-law's stock without her knowledge, and later the remaining 70 shares. In December 1867, when the loan came due, he sold Mary's stock to cover his own debt. Mary sued Jaudon, who sued his bank, who countersued in a case that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. The Jaudons lost the money.
Death.
Jaudon died in Philadelphia on May 31, 1874, survived by his widow and three children. He was interred at Mount Vernon Cemetery in Philadelphia.


Henry Nein

Henry Nein (June 7, 1860 – November 12, 1933) was an American railroad engineer and politician.
Born in Wenings, Germany, Nein emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1870 and settled in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He went to public school and then worked in the saw mails. Nein was a railroad engineer for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. In 1923, Nein served in the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Republican. Nein died in La Crosse, Wisconsin from a long illness.


Western Star (train)

The Western Star was a named passenger train operated by the Great Northern Railway between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest via Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Between Chicago and St. Paul the train used the route of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad; in later years eastbound passengers were accommodated on Burlington trains east of St. Paul. Through cars from the train operated between Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon via the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. It operated from 1951 to 1971.
History.
The "Western Star" was inaugurated on June 3, 1951, replacing the "Oriental Limited" as the secondary train along the Great Northern's transcontinental route. The Great Northern's primary train was the famed "Empire Builder", which made the run in 45 hours. The "Western Star" required a more leisurely 58 hours, making more intermediate stops and serving branches the "Empire Builder" bypassed, such as Grand Forks, North Dakota and Great Falls, Montana. The "Star" used equipment from the "Empire Builder", which had been completely reequipped.
Amtrak did not retain the "Western Star" as part of its national route network and the train was discontinued on May 1, 1971, although it did re-route the "Empire Builder" to serve Grand Forks.
Equipment.
The 1951 "Western Star" required six sets of equipment to operate; it inherited five of these from the faster "Empire Builder". Each set of equipment consisted of fourteen cars:
Each set could carry 330 passengers.


Omaha Southern Railway

The Omaha Southern Railway was a subsidiary corporation owned by the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. In 1891 the railroad bought a plot of land south of Plattsmouth, Nebraska that caused speculation in the town about the location of a railyard there. The railroad was also subject to a period study of subsidies it received from local and state governments.


Edward T. Reidy

Edward T. Reidy (April 4, 1903 – October 1975) was an American railroad executive; he led the Chicago Great Western Railway between 1957 and its merger with the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1968. He had worked for the CGW for more than fifty years; previous to his presidency, he had acted as the Great Western's vice president and general manager from 1952, during the tenure of William N. Deramus III.


Dakota Southern Railway

The Dakota Southern Railway is a railroad that runs between Kadoka, South Dakota, and Mitchell, South Dakota, as well as the Napa Junction–Platte Line, which is owned by the South Dakota Department of Transportation, and ran between Napa Junction and Platte, South Dakota. It connects with the BNSF Railway in Mitchell and Napa Junction respectively.
History.
The Mitchell–Kadoka line is part of a former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P) secondary built between Marquette, Iowa and Rapid City, South Dakota during the period of 1880 and 1907. The line lost profitability and was embargoed in 1980 and subsequently bought by the South Dakota Department of Transportation, which still owns the tracks. The purchase was orchestrated by Governor Bill Janklow.
Dakota Southern also operated a line from Napa Junction to Platte, South Dakota, which was also constructed and owned by the Chicago, Milwakuee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. The operation lasted from 1985 to 1989 before Dakota Southern stopped operating the line. Dakota Southern has since reinstated operations on this line as far as Tabor, almost 30 years after the last train left the line.
The railway originally hauled large amounts of grain, but this business became unprofitable in the late 1990s. Between 2000 and 2007, the railway had just one customer—a box factory in Mitchell, and thus no trains passed that point. In 2005, however, the railway obtained a haulage agreement with BNSF to allow it to operate to Sioux City, where it could interchange with the Union Pacific Railroad and the Canadian National Railway, making grain service profitable again. After track repairs, service briefly resumed as far as Presho, South Dakota in fall 2007. While the line still officially operates all the way to Kadoka, as the Kadoka-Rapid City portion was rail-banked in 1996, a grade crossing in Vivian is currently paved over, as well as one in Belvidere.
New ownership and revitalization of the line.
On October 1, 2009, new owners Mike Williams and Stan Patterson took over the day-to-day operations of the railroad. They both own other rail lines in the country. Mike Williams owns the Bountiful Grain and Craig Mountain Railroad, Ozark Valley Railroad and the Iowa River Railroad. Stan Patterson operates the Washington and Idaho Railway. Initially they planned to rehabilitate the line as far as Murdo, 140 miles west of Mitchell, over three years. The first year was to be from Mitchell to White Lake, the second year to Chamberlain and in the third year rehabilitation would be carried out to Murdo.
In spring 2011 a 16-million-dollar federal Tiger grant was secured to help finance the 28-million-dollar rebuild of 61.6 miles of the line between Mitchell and Chamberlain. Work began in late May 2011. According to former railroad owner Alex Huff, the 65-pound rail was to be replaced with 136, 132 and 115-pound rail. As a result of the rebuilding, two competing companies proposed building 110-car shuttle loading facilities near Kimball, South Dakota. In mid-September 2012 the first regularly scheduled service west of Mitchell since the late 1990s began with twice weekly unit trains of inbound fertilizer and outbound grain to the newly built Liberty Grain elevator east of Kimball.
In fall 2014 Dakota Southern received a Federal Tiger grant to help fund rebuilding an additional 42 miles of the line from Chamberlain to one mile west of Presho. South Dakota Wheat Growers started construction on an agronomy services and shuttle loader facility in the fall of 2014 in Kennebec. The reconstructed line opened and the first 115-car shuttle train arrived and was loaded in Kennebec in October 2016.
Before being rehabilitated the line carried 687 cars in 2010, 3,049 cars in 2013 after rehabilitation between Mitchell and Chamberlain and 9,580 in 2017 after rehabilitation to Presho.
In 2018, Dakota Southern had expressed interest in rehabilitating the line to Murdo, and possibly beyond all the way to Kadoka.
Platte Line operator.
In September 2015, 27 years after Dakota Southern stopped operating the line, Dakota Southern was chosen by the State Railway Board to again operate the long out-of-service Napa Junction – Platte line in southern South Dakota. In November 2016, the South Dakota Railway Board agreed with terms on a 10-year contract with Dakota Southern to lease and restore service between Napa Junction and Ravinia. Plans were made to replace 2,000 ties so that the railroad could operate the first 10 miles of track, as far as Tabor, within 30 days. In addition a 40-million-dollar Dakota Plains Ag Center grain facility opened in 2017 at Napa Junction.
In June 2020 the South Dakota Railway Board agreed to ask the federal Surface Transportation Board to railbank 33 miles of the Platte Line between Tyndall and Ravinia. The remainder of the line beyond Ravinia to Platte had already been railbanked. If approved the ties and rails would be removed and salvaged and Dakota Southern Railway's lease amended to end at Tyndall.
The South Dakota DOT had previously authorized sale of the Platte Line to investors in a proposed ethanol plant in Wagner in 2006, but the sale fell through and the authorization was withdrawn in 2011.
Sale of the Mitchell - Kadoka line to Watco.
On February 17, 2021 the South Dakota State Railway Board authorized the South Dakota Department of Transportation to sell the Mitchell - Kadoka line to Watco, doing business as Ringneck and Western Railroad, LLC, for $13,000,000. The railroad committed to spending $2,000,000 yearly on maintenance for 10 years and to complete a passing siding near Kimball. The sale agreement also included a repurchase agreement in the event of abandonment or discontinuance of service.
Controversy.
In December 2017, Dakota Southern Railway was found to have stored rail cars full of liquid natural gas, more commonly known as butane, on a siding at the South Dakota Wheat Growers facility in Kennebec. A federal inspection found that they had been sitting there far too long, and cited 11 counts of hazardous material violations.
Further investigation found that Mike Willams, one of the co-owners of Dakota Southern, had signed a contract giving away 1.4 miles of siding to Bruce Terminaling LLC, a company that Mike Willams also owns. This contract was not presented to the South Dakota State Rail Board, and due to this, a discussion about terminating the lease of Dakota Southern on the Rapid City–Mitchell (MRC) line came about, but Dakota Southern still currently holds the lease.


Swan Ranch Railroad

The Swan Ranch Railroad (SRRR) is an industrial railroad that operates within the Swan Ranch Industrial Park, located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The railroad is owned and operated by Watco Companies, which announced the formation of the SRRR on 30 November 2011. SRRR began operations in December 2011, operating of trackage. SRRR interchanges with both the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad.
Today the Railroad operates over 17 Miles of track, serves seven customers including Jebro Industries, Brenntag Pacific, Searing Industries, HollyFrontier Refinery, Granite Peak Transloading and Cheyenne Rail Hub. This unique state-of-the-art development is at the intersection of two Class I railroads, the Union Pacific and the BNSF, as well as two major interstate highways, I-25 and I-80 – making it a prime location for manufacturing and distribution companies. Transloading services are available at the SRRR.


Hartford Line

The Hartford Line is a commuter rail service between New Haven, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, using the Amtrak-owned New Haven–Springfield Line. The project is a joint venture between the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts, with support from the federal government as well. CTrail-branded trains provide service along the corridor, and riders can use Hartford Line tickets to travel on board most Amtrak trains along the corridor at the same prices. The service launched on June 16, 2018.
Operation.
Fares and service.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) provides commuter train service on the line under its new "CTrail" branding; these trains are currently operated by TransitAmerica Services and Alternate Concepts Inc., operating as a joint venture, under a 5-year, $45 million contract. Amtrak also operates intercity rail trains on this corridor; Amtrak fares along the corridor are equal to their CTrail equivalents, and passengers can use CTrail tickets to ride Amtrak’s Hartford Line trains. (The only Amtrak train on the corridor that does not participate is the once-daily ).
Tickets from New Haven to Hartford are $8 and from New Haven to Springfield $12.75, both roughly half as much as what Amtrak's fares were before Hartford Line service began in June 2018. Discounts for bulk purchases of tickets and commuter passes are also offered. CTrail tickets can be purchased at ticket vending machines (TVMs) at all stations. Alternatively for Amtrak operated trains, local tickets at the same price as CTrail can be purchased from Amtrak’s ticket windows at New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield or online. Passengers boarding an Amtrak Hartford Line train at Windsor must pre-purchase an Amtrak ticket before boarding over the phone or online on a smart phone or mobile device to avoid an onboard surcharge. The ticket machine at Windsor Locks was installed by November 2018, with Windsor installed in 2019.
Eight round-trip commuter trains on weekdays are operated under the CTrail brand, with half terminating at Hartford, one terminating at Windsor Locks, and three continuing north to terminate in Springfield. Amtrak provides an additional eight New Haven-Springfield round trips, two of which were added to the schedule upon launch of the Hartford Line in June 2018. Amtrak’s 8 round trips include all of their local 400 series Hartford Line trains and their Northeast Regional through trains that terminate in Springfield. This makes for a total of sixteen round trips between New Haven and Hartford, eleven of which operate the full line to Springfield. On weekends and holidays, CTrail operates six New Haven–Hartford round trips and three New Haven–Springfield round trips; along with Amtrak's pre-existing schedule, making for a total of 12-13 round trips offered on weekends.
On September 14, 2020, Amtrak began requiring reserved tickets for Springfield-terminating "Northeast Regional" trains as part of a new policy requiring reservations for all "Northeast Regional" trips. Fares for these trips remained the same as other Hartford Line trains.
Ridership.
On June 18, 2018, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy announced that the line carried 21,850 riders over opening weekend, with 10,300 on Saturday, June 16, and 11,550 on Sunday. On June 26, it was announced that 10,719 customers rode the line during the first full week of operation, June 18 to 24. Average daily ridership has exceeded initial projections, with an estimated 2,400 daily passengers on weekdays and 1,200 on weekends. The line carried its millionth passenger during the Thanksgiving holiday in November 2019.
Connecting services.
Connecting bus service is available to CT Transit regional buses at New Haven and Hartford stations and to Pioneer Valley Transit Authority buses at Springfield. Shuttle bus service is also available between Hartford Station and Bradley International Airport. Although Windsor Locks station is geographically the closest Hartford Line station to the airport, Hartford Station is the official connection point for rail-bus-airport transfers due to the limited facilities and low level platform at Windsor Locks.
Rolling stock.
In December 2017, Connecticut signed an agreement to lease 16 MBB coaches from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for three years, at a cost of $4.54 million, with options to extend the lease for up to three more years.<ref name="courant 4/18"></ref> The 16 cars are operated in four-car consists in a push-pull configuration with GP40-3H locomotives transferred over from Shore Line East. The railcars required significant repair and repainting before entering service, leading the Connecticut DOT to request $2.3 million from the state legislature in April 2018.
On June 12, 2018, the Connecticut DOT published a press release stating that the Federal Railroad Administration had reversed its decision on allowing the Connecticut DOT to operate Hartford Line trains with non-accessible bathrooms until new ones are installed, saying "...the bathrooms must now remain locked until the modifications are complete and one accessible restroom per consist is available." However, on August 10, 2018, CTDOT announced that the FRA had again reversed its decision after receiving a complaint stating the closure of the bathrooms to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violated the rights of other individuals, including those with Crohn's disease. CTDOT opened the restrooms on August 13, 2018 and claims all conversions for accessibility will be completed by mid-2019. Amtrak trains already have fully accessible restrooms on board.
Connecticut plans to buy new equipment for the Hartford Line as a bulk purchase with Metro-North Railroad's Danbury and Waterbury branches after about five years of operation, although replacing the leased equipment with the current Shore Line East Mafersa coaches that will be displaced by the Kawasaki M-8s remains an option.
Stations.
All stations are ADA-compliant.
History.
Background.
During the mid-1980s, due to the high cost of operating the New Haven–Springfield Line and the competing newly-constructed expressways, Amtrak removed of track, turning the line from a double-track line to a line with a single track with passing sidings. Of the between New Haven and Springfield, of double track and of single track were left.
In 1994, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) conducted a feasibility study for a New Haven–Hartford service which envisaged three trips in the morning and three in the afternoon. It estimated that capital costs would be $4.4 million and that it would require an annual subsidy of $2.5 million. Ridership was projected at 1,000 per day. A revised and expanded proposal in 2001 contemplated service to Springfield and hourly service, with half-hourly service during peak periods. This would require $249 million in capital costs, both for rolling stock and to restore double tracking to the line. The service would require a yearly subsidy of $13 million but would carry 1,800–2,000 passengers daily.
Various delays initially prevented the service. One source was a lack of widespread support in the New Haven region. Although reestablishing service was briefly mentioned in the South Central Regional Council of Government's January 2001 Long Range Mobility Plan, it was not until 2003 that the commuter service provision began to be consistently listed among key transportation priorities in the annual Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce "Legislative Agenda".
The "New Haven–Hartford–Springfield Commuter Rail Implementation Study", released in 2005 by ConnDOT, recommended half-hour peak service, with new stations at North Haven/Hamden, Newington, and Enfield. No action was taken following the study, as proposed schedules did not link well with those of the New Haven Line and ridership projections were low (particularly for northbound morning and southbound evening trips).
Plan.
The plan called for the improvement of existing stations and the construction of new stations along the line. To facilitate frequent and bi-directional service, the line incorporates newly installed double track totaling as well as of new passing sidings. Five new interlockings were built and new signal systems were installed, including the installation of Positive Train Control. Bridges and culverts on the line have been repaired, rehabilitated or replaced.
Funding.
In January 2010, $40 million of stimulus funds were approved to double-track of the corridor under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. In July 2010, Governor Jodi Rell asked the Connecticut State Bond Commission to authorize borrowing $260 million in an effort to attract additional federal matching funds, to double-track the remainder of the corridor, construct freight sidings, and improve signaling. These upgrades, together with new rolling stock, should allow for two-way service during peak hours at speeds of up to . On August 17, 2010, Connecticut lawmakers authorized borrowing the $260 million.
On October 25, 2010, Governor Rell announced that Connecticut received an additional $120.9 million in funds from the federal government to fund the double tracking of the remainder of the line south of Hartford as well as station improvements in Wallingford, Meriden, Berlin and Hartford.
As of April 2011, Connecticut State officials had applied for $227 million from the federal government that would complete track improvements between Hartford and Springfield, Massachusetts. ConnDOT applied for the money to the Federal Railroad Administration, part of $2.4 billion that Florida governor Rick Scott rejected because of the spending it would require from his budget. In May 2011, Connecticut was awarded $30 million for track improvements in Hartford.
On August 15, 2012, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) granted a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on the line's environmental assessment, a major step towards the obligation of $121 million in federal funding for the line.
In February 2017, the state approved an additional $50 million in bonded funds for the project. The money will support design of the rebuilt Windsor and Windsor Locks stations and of the new stations at , Newington, West Hartford, and . It will also complete funding for of double track being added north of Hartford, and pay for design and environmental permitting for an additional of double track between Hartford and Enfield. If further funding is found to build these additional miles, it would complete the double-tracking of the line except for downtown Hartford and the aging Warehouse Point railroad bridge. The station in Newington was originally going to be located at Newington Junction, but due to local opposition, it will be located at Cedar St in Newington instead, within walking distance to the Cedar St CTfastrak stop.
The state intends to seek FRA funds to pay for construction of the new and rebuilt stations, the replacement of the Warehouse Point bridge, and a layover yard near Springfield.
The budgeted funds for the Connecticut portion to date total $769.1 million, of which $204 million has come from the Federal sources ($190.9 million from the FRA, $13.9 million from the Federal Transit Administration) and the balance from the state of Connecticut.
Construction.
In 2015, major construction commenced at the four stations in , , , and . On August 3, 2015, Amtrak began busing its weekday morning and evening New Haven–Springfield "Shuttle" trains to allow double tracking work to begin.
In December 2015, the state announced that the cost of construction had increased by $135 million for a total of $570 million, and that service would not begin until January 2018.
In July 2016, work began at the New Haven State Street station on a new high-level platform. In August 2016, a new high-level platform was put into service at Hartford. The platform was constructed on the existing low-level platform.
On October 11, 2016, a 17-car track-laying train began work to build the second track on the southern half of the line. The train laid track from North Haven to Meriden in October 2016, and returned for Meriden to Newington in 2017. In 2017, the start date was pushed to May 2018 to accommodate construction of the new double track north of Hartford.
The new Wallingford station replaced the old station on November 6, 2017. The rebuilt Meriden station opened on November 19, 2017, though final construction continued through December 18, 2017.
The Amtrak portion of the program, including three new weekday New Haven–Springfield round trips and general alterations to the Amtrak schedule on the line took effect on June 9, 2018, with the new lower fares taking effect on the CTrail launch date on June 16. Hartford Line service commenced on June 16, 2018, with free weekend service being offered on June 16 and 17. Full service commenced on June 18.
The connection between a new double track section from Hartford to Windsor and an existing section from north of Windsor to south of Windsor Locks was completed on September 25, 2018, leaving less than of single track on the line. The new section was not expected to allow additional service, but to increase reliability.