Silverliner V

The Silverliner V is an electric railcar designed and built by Hyundai Rotem. It is used by Philadelphia's SEPTA Regional Rail and Denver, Colorado's Regional Transportation District. This is the fifth generation railcar in the Silverliner family of single level EMUs.
SEPTA Regional Rail.
The cars feature expanded interiors and windows, additional entrances and screens used to display information about the service. They are all ADA compliant and meet Federal Railroad Administration safety requirements.
SEPTA ordered a total of 120 cars at a cost of $274 million; the first cars arrived in the United States on 28 February 2010 from South Korea, where they were manufactured by Hyundai Rotem. The cars were built in South Korea and final assembly took place in South Philadelphia. The cars entered revenue service on 29 October 2010 and all 120 were to be completed by the end of 2011. However, due to delays that were reportedly to last until mid-2012, SEPTA is owed millions in fines for the overdue equipment.
The last of the 120 cars arrived on property for testing in February 2013.
Cars 735, 736, 871 and 872 are owned by the state of Delaware. However, they are used systemwide for service, and are not restricted to use on services to Delaware only.
On July 2, 2016, SEPTA removed all 120 of its Silverliner V cars – a third of its fleet – from service due to fatigue cracks in the trucks, leading to reduced service system-wide. The agency received some of the trains back in September 2016; but subsequently withdrew 18 cars after and additional defect that was identified as a “clearance issue” that led to minimal, occasional contact between old and new components”. SEPTA announced that it could resume normal schedules on October 3 and would receive all trains by November 2016.
RTD Commuter Rail.
In 2010 Denver's Regional Transportation District selected the Silverliner V for its new commuter rail line. A total of 66 cars were purchased in the married pair configuration for a total of $300 million. The first four cars were delivered to Denver on December 3, 2014 with service to start in 2016. As of 2020, Silverliner V trains are used on the RTD's A, B, G and N lines.
Differences between the RTD and SEPTA cars include support for only 25 kV 60 Hz AC electrification, four high level doors per side, less powerful traction motors, full-width cabs and bells.
Electromagnetic interference.
Some users of audio equipment have found that the presence of tracks carrying Silverliner V cars have introduced detrimental electromagnetic interference to playback and recording of audio. This phenomenon also affects audio and PA electronics inside the cars, although Hyundai Rotem has fitted filters to lessen the effect on internal equipment.


Old Sacramento State Historic Park

Old Sacramento State Historic Park occupies around one third of the property within the Old Sacramento Historic District of Sacramento, California. The Old Sacramento Historic District is a U.S. National Historic Landmark District. The Historic District is sometimes abbreviated as Old Sacramento, or Old Sac, and since the 1960s has been restored and developed as a significant tourist attraction.
History.
The city of Sacramento grew up in the mid-nineteenth century as a development from Sutter's Fort. However, the Fort was some distance from the Sacramento River, which was the main means of transport to the coast of California, and the area that would become the modern city developed along the waterfront.
Before Sacramento's extensive levee system was in place, the area flooded quite regularly. Because of this, the city's streets were raised a level. Most of the sidewalks and storefronts have been filled in; however, many tunnels still remain throughout Old Sacramento and the downtown area.
By the 1960s, the area had fallen into disrepair and disrepute. A large effort was made to secure the area's future as an outdoor living history center similar to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. Several historically significant buildings were moved or reconstructed. Those that were beyond repair were demolished.
Today, the Old Sacramento Historic District covers the area between the river frontage and Interstate 5, between I Street and the Capitol Mall. The State Historic Park comprises about a third of the total acreage of the district including half of the waterfront, a large grassy area and railroad features. Virtually all the buildings in this area date from the 19th century, the most notable dating back to the period immediately after the disastrous fire of 1852, and show a reasonable approximation of their original appearance, though they have required varying degrees of reconstruction to restore to them to that state. However, few if any still serve their original purpose, most of them now house restaurants, gift shops, or other businesses catering to tourists.
Old Sacramento State Historic Park attracts over 5 million visitors annually. Regular events include the Sacramento Music Festival (formerly known as the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee), Gold Rush Days, New Year's Eve events, the St. Patrick's Day Parade, the World Music and Dance Festival and Mardi Gras.
Architecture.
While the architecture from this period is commonly attributed to Victorian gold miners, characteristics of West End, such as multi-storied buildings, large arched doorways, full-height balcony windows and the use of decorative wrought-iron balconies, were most ubiquitous in parts of Spain and the Spanish colonies. This influence may be attributed to the fact that the period of Spanish, then Mexican, rule in California enjoyed immigration from all over the Atlantic, including Spain and the Canary Islands, and the Spanish colonies.
The architecture of Old Town Sacramento (formerly known as West End) exhibits observable characteristics similar to that of San Juan (Puerto Rico), Havana (Cuba), Tampico (Mexico), Seville (Spain), Santa Cruz de Teneriffe (Canary Islands), Madrid (Spain).
While the architectural style of Old Sacramento, with its wrought iron balconies and evenly spaced full-height windows may remind one of Paris, Sacramento's oldest buildings predate the Haussmann Projects that renovated large areas of Paris in that style.
Historic buildings.
Notable buildings include:
The first two are also individually designated National Historic Landmarks.
Memorials.
The district contains many memorials to the founders of the city and of the California and transcontinental railroad and other transport systems, including the Theodore Judah monument and the Pony Express Statue.
Current attractions.
Old Sacramento is the site of the California State Railroad Museum, the California State Military Museum, the Sacramento History Museum, the Wells Fargo History Museum and the Old Sacramento Interpretive Center.
Other attractions available for visitors include rides in horse-drawn carriages, historic trains from the former Central Pacific Railroad passenger station, and cruises on historic riverboats. A historic sternwheel riverboat, the "Delta King", is moored in the river and serves as a hotel, restaurant and theater. Riverfront Park located north of J street allows access to the waters edge.
The Sacramento Valley Rail Station is just a short walk away.
Interpretive programs.
The Old Sacramento Historical Foundation manages several programs to highlight the history of the city, including historical reenactments by costumed docents, as well as tours of Old Sacramento's underground level. During October, there is also a special Halloween themed ghost tour.
Every Labor Day weekend, Old Sacramento holds its annual Gold Rush Days. During this time, the paved streets are covered with several tons of dirt and automobile traffic is barred from the area. Old Sac's regular corps of costumed docents is supplemented by extra volunteers and professional reenactors to recreate life in Sacramento as it was in the mid to late 1800s.


Winslow Junction


Grif Teller

Griffith Harold "Grif" Teller (December 9, 1899 – April 8, 1993) was an artist famous for his paintings for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Early life.
Teller was born on December 9, 1899 in Newark, New Jersey. Teller attended the Barringer High School until his junior year, when he transferred to the Fawcett School of Industrial Arts. With what started as a temporary job with the Osborne Company, an advertising and color calendar company, towards the end of World War I, Teller was hired permanently after showing the head of Osborne's Designing Department some of his paintings.
He was a long-time resident of Little Falls, New Jersey.
Career.
In 1927, Teller was given an assignment to paint the 1928 wall calendar scene for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Pennsylvania returned to Teller the next year, and he eventually painted all of the calendar scenes for their calendars up to 1942. Other artists were contracted to paint the artwork for the calendar during World War II, as the Pennsylvania was favoring more patriotic scenes. Teller painted for the Pennsylvania once again after the war, starting with the 1947 calendar. The Osborne Company was sold to a competitor in 1953, eventually causing Teller to be laid off. He continued to paint for the Pennsylvania as a freelancer, until the railroad discontinued full-size wall calendars in 1959. His freelance work, which encompassed both railroad and non-railroad subjects, continued into the 1980s.
Teller's 1928 painting, "When the Broadway Meets the Dawn", was used as the background for the "Preserve Our Heritage" special-fund license plate introduced in 1998 by PennDOT to help fund Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission programs, which receives $23 of the $55 fee for each of those license plates, which are still sold today.


Shore Line East

Shore Line East (SLE) is a commuter rail service which operates along the Northeast Corridor through southern Connecticut, US. The rail service is a fully owned subsidiary of the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), and is operated under the CTrail brand. SLE provides service seven days a week along the Northeast Corridor from New London west to New Haven, with limited through service further west to Bridgeport and Stamford. Connecting service west of New Haven to New York City is available via Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line.
The service was introduced in 1990 as a temporary measure to reduce congestion during construction work on I-95. However, it proved more popular than expected, and service was continued after construction ended despite criticisms that the line was too expensive to operate. The service has been continually upgraded since its inception with rebuilt stations and new rolling stock as well as extensions to New London in 1996 and to Stamford in 2001. Around 2,100 riders use the service on weekdays.
On March 16, 2020, the service began operating indefinitely on a reduced schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Current service.
Most weekday SLE trains run local westbound from New London or to New Haven in the morning, with some nonstop eastbound service. This traffic pattern is reversed in the afternoon and evening rush. Select trains operate through New Haven as far as Stamford, where passengers may transfer to a New Haven Line express train to Grand Central Terminal.
Most weekend SLE trains also run local westbound in the morning, then express in the afternoon, stopping only at , , and between and State Street. Eastbound service is reversed. This is because and only have platforms on the eastbound track, and thus switching is needed to platform a westbound train.
About half of SLE trains operate to and from New London. New London SLE multi-ride pass holders are also allowed to board selected "Northeast Regional" trains, or Acela Express train #2151. There are plans to increase the service to New London, which is limited by U.S. Coast Guard requirements regarding the bridge crossing the Connecticut River. After years with just one or two trains to New London, additional New London round trips were added in 2010 and 2013, and weekend service began in June 2013.
All trains that do not operate west of New Haven make a connection to a Metro-North Railroad train at New Haven, for service to and from points in Connecticut, Westchester County, New York, and New York City. These connections are commonly used by extreme commuters who live in suburban Connecticut and work in New York City.
Although SLE service is funded by CTDOT, it is operated under contract by Amtrak. Amtrak owns and controls the Northeast Corridor east of New Haven. West of New Haven, the New Haven Line is owned by CTDOT and trains are dispatched by Metro-North.
During the OpSail and SailFest tall ship festivals at New London, extra Friday and weekend service is operated from New Haven to New London. During OpSail 2000, through service operated from New Haven to Mystic – the only time Shore Line East service has run east of New London.
Service history.
Previous service.
The section of the Northeast Corridor that Shore Line East operates on was once the New York-Boston mainline of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The section from New Haven to New London was built as the New Haven & New London Railroad. It was charted in 1848, began construction in 1850, and opened for service in July 1852. The line was owned by the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad (the "Stonington Road") from 1858 to 1862, and by the Shore Line Railway from 1864 until it was acquired by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad (the "New Haven") in 1870. Crossing the Connecticut River required a ferry transfer until a drawbridge was built in 1870.
The line was referred to by the New Haven Railroad as the "Shore Line", to distinguish it from the railroad's "Main Line" from New Haven to Springfield, Massachusetts. In recognition of the large role played by the New Haven in the history and heritage of the state of Connecticut, CTDOT paints SLE's diesel-powered locomotives in the New Haven's orange and black style. New Haven Railroad colors and emblems have also been placed at several stations, particularly New Haven Union Station.
The New Haven Railroad operated local service on the Shore Line up until its merger with Penn Central on January 1, 1969, when most commuter service east of New Haven was abandoned. Intercity service continued, but generally only stopped at New Haven, Old Saybrook, and New London. Penn Central continued to operate the "Clamdigger", a single daily New London-New Haven round trip with local stops, as well as a New London-Boston round trip. Amtrak took over the "Clamdigger" along with most intercity passenger service, in May 1971. In January 1972, Amtrak discontinued the "Clamdigger" and Penn Central cut the New London-Boston trip.
In 1976 and 1977, Amtrak operated the "Clamdigger" as a Providence-New Haven round trip with limited local stops; for three months in 1978, it was revived with additional commuter-based stops. It was replaced in April 1978 by the "Beacon Hill", which stopped at New Haven, Branford, Madison, Old Saybrook, Niantic, New London, and Mystic en route to Providence and Boston. The "Beacon Hill" (which served the Providence and Boston commuting markets rather than New Haven) was discontinued in 1981 due to funding cuts, ending commuter rail service in Connecticut east of New Haven.
Initial service.
In 1981 and 1986, legislation was proposed to restore commuter service between New Haven and New London, as well as between New Haven and Hartford. A 1986 CTDOT study analyzed congestion on Interstate 95, which runs parallel to the line. The study showed that Old Saybrook was a better terminus for initial service, with an expected ridership of 420 riders in each direction daily.
Based on the study, Governor William O'Neill ordered CTDOT in October 1986 to initiate rail service on the corridor. It was established as a temporary service to newly reopened local stations between Union Station in New Haven and Old Saybrook, to alleviate traffic congestion that arose from scheduled construction work on I-95. O'Neill introduced a $50 million transportation program that included $900,000 (later reduced to $500,000) for basic stations and $4 million to refurbish 12 Budd Rail Diesel Cars for rolling stock. The RDCs were found to be insufficient and two diesel trainsets were purchased from the defunct PATrain service in 1989 instead. Testing of the equipment on the Northeast Corridor began on December 2, 1989.
A second study in 1989 indicated higher potential ridership of 700 to 1350 daily riders. The state bought Amtrak's New Haven maintenance facility in May 1989 and signed a service contract with Amtrak in November. Construction of 5 intermediate stations was completed in April 1990.
Shore Line East service began on May 29, 1990, with four trains each direction during the morning and evening. The service carried the "Clamdigger" name during planning; "Shore Line East" did not appear until shortly before service began. Shore Line East was threatened to be cut in 1991 by newly elected Governor Lowell Weicker, but it proved more popular than expected, and was effectively made permanent. A 1996 study found that Shore Line East captured 8% of regional commuter trips and attracted a loyal ridership base.
In 1995 and 1997, then Gov. John Rowland proposed to replace Shore Line East and the Waterbury Branch with bus service, citing a high subsidy of $18.70 per rider per trip, in order to decrease the unpopular gas tax. Lawmakers from the region called the proposals political and defended the line's ability to reduce congestion and pollution, while opponents of the line called it an example of government waste. The Shore Line East Rider's Association and other groups lobbied to save both services each time, and after public hearings a small fare increase was enacted in late 1997 instead.
Early expansions and criticisms.
In July 1995, Governor Rowland signed a bill ordering various studies, including one that analyzed extending service to New London as had been originally planned. Before the study was completed, CTDOT unilaterally decided to implement New London service, which the report commended. On February 1, 1996, two round trips per weekday were extended to New London. At that point, ridership was up 18% over 1991 numbers.
In January 2001, because of changes in Amtrak rules, passengers were no longer allowed to cross tracks to access trains. New platforms were opened on the south side of the tracks at Branford and Westbrook at approximately the same locations.
In December 2001, a single morning rush-hour round trip branded SLExpress was extended to Stamford, with a stop at Bridgeport plus eastbound-only stops at Stratford and Milford. An evening eastbound trip was also extended to Stamford with only the Bridgeport intermediate stop. This trip was intended to allow commuters to reach employment centers in Bridgeport and Stamford without having to make a transfer at New Haven. On June 24, 2002, additional Stamford trains were added, for a total of two westbound and three eastbound trains. When opened on August 18, 2013, it was added to these trips as well.
In 2003, in order to add four additional Amtrak trips along the corridor, four of the then six round trips to New London were cut back to Old Saybrook. An agreement with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection limits service over the Old Saybrook-Old Lyme bridge in order to avoid inconveniencing recreational boaters. CTDOT's agreement with Amtrak allowed commuters with monthly passes to ride certain Amtrak trains instead. After criticism over the service cuts, in April 2008 CTDOT began allowing commuters with multi-ride passes to board the selected Amtrak trains as well.
Improved and increased service.
When started in 1990, Shore Line East was intended to be a temporary service. Except at Old Saybrook and New Haven, which were already served by Amtrak, the state constructed new stations – consisting of little more than bare wooden decks – for minimal cost. Since the service was started two months before the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed, the platforms were not built to be handicapped accessible. After a decade of service, with Shore Line East established as part of Connecticut's transportation system, the state began to upgrade the service. The basic stations have been rebuilt with high-level platforms to provide handicapped access and level boarding, parking lots have been expanded, and more trains have been added to the schedule.
A completely new station was also added to the line for traffic mitigation as part of the reconstruction of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge. On June 7, 2002, State Street station was opened in New Haven to provide better access to the downtown area than Union Station, which is half a mile away from the business district.
The first station to be rebuilt was Old Saybrook, the busy eastern terminus of the line. The new high-level island platform and pedestrian bridge opened on November 1, 2002. Old Saybrook had previous had only a single side platform serving a relatively small number of Amtrak trains; the rebuilt has two platforms serving three tracks, to allow Amtrak trains in both directions to stop or pass even while a SLE train is at the station.
Beginning on May 24, 2004, construction of new platforms began at Clinton, Guilford, and Branford. The rebuilt Clinton station opened on July 25, 2005, and the rebuilt Branford station opened on August 8, 2005; both consist of a single high-level platform on the south side of the tracks. The new Guilford station, which has platforms on both sides of the tracks (connected by a pedestrian bridge) to allow for greater operational flexibility, opened on November 28, 2005. Construction at Madison started on September 24, 2007, and finished with the opening of the rebuilt station platform on July 28, 2008.
On October 8, 2007, reverse-peak and more midday service were introduced, which officials hailed as the beginning of Shore Line East as a true bidirectional system. Several existing express trains also began to stop at Guilford.
Since at least 2006, advocates had been calling for the establishment of weekend Shore Line East service. A pilot of weekend service was run from November 17, 2007, to December 30, 2007, with six "Shopper's Special" round trips from Old Saybrook to New Haven. The trains were scheduled to connect with similar Metro-North specials at New Haven. Year-round weekend service began on July 4, 2008, with 9 daily Old Saybrook – New Haven round trips on weekends. No weekend service was run to New London, but weekday service was increased as cross-honoring of multiple-ride and monthly tickets was added on two Amtrak trains.
The major obstacle preventing full New London service is the bridge over the Connecticut River between Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. The drawbridge section is closed for a certain period of time to allow trains to pass, which prevents large boats from passing under. The Marine Trades Association opposes additional service, which would mandate more bridge closings. The 2003 agreement with Amtrak limited weekday traffic over the bridge to 2 SLE and 39 Amtrak trains until 2018, although it was revised in 2010 and 2013. Since 2003, New London had been served by cross-honored Amtrak trains plus one or two dedicated SLE roundtrips.
On February 16, 2010, an additional round trip was extended to New London. Three more were extended on May 10, 2010. However, advocates for full service to New London said that Governor Rell failed to deliver on promises to New London, with one newspaper columnist writing that "she seems incapable of standing up to the marine trades lobby" regarding the bridge openings.
In July 2012, Governor Malloy announced that 5 weekend round trips would be extended to New London beginning in April 2013. However, the extension was dependent on ongoing negotiations with the marine industry over mandated closings of the Old Saybrook – Old Lyme bridge. Two weekday midday trips were added in May 2013, while weekend service began on June 1, 2013, after the application for additional bridge closings was approved by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. By July, New London represented 26% of weekend ridership. In December 2013, the state announced that ridership was up 35% for the year as a result of the increased service. From 2009 to 2014, monthly New London ridership increased from less than 1,000 monthly passengers to approximately 5,000, accounting for a significant fraction of ridership increases on Shore Line East during that period.
Four of the five intermediate stations between Old Saybrook and New Haven were rebuilt with accessible platforms between 2004 and 2008, but rebuilding at Westbrook was delayed due to environmental and cost issues. No site was available until Westbrook and CTDOT traded the new station site on Norris Avenue for a highway garage site off Route 145. The controversial land swap was begun in 2004 but was not finalized until 2006, and town operations were not moved to the Route 145 site until September 2011. Site clearing began in November 2011, and ground was broken for the $14.4 million station in January 2012. A new station with a larger 210-space lot and platforms on both tracks opened on March 25, 2014, with full bidirectional service to the station beginning on May 11.
In 2018, two separate issues caused numerous delays and cancellations with many trains replaced by buses. An Amtrak track maintenance project required single-tracking of sections of the line, and CTDOT lacked sufficient functional locomotives as the aging fleet was sent out for refurbishment. Three weekday round trips were reverted from bus to train in January 2019 when one locomotive returned from refurbishment, though additional issues were expected during a second summer of track work in 2019. Full service was restored on August 5, 2019. By that time, ridership had fallen by 25%, averaging 1,340 weekday riders and 767 weekend riders.
Future.
In a 2007 report, CTDOT outlined plans to turn SLE into a full-service bidirectional regional rail line, with full-day service and all trains extended to New London. This involves incremental improvements, similar to those that have already been put into place. One of the first priorities is to add a second platform at all stations, which is mandated by the 2003 agreement with Amtrak. New London, Old Saybrook, Guilford, Westbrook, Branford, and stops from New Haven Union Station west all have multiple platforms, while State Street has an island platform serving two tracks and a side platform.
Branford is the first previously rebuilt station to be further renovated with a second platform. A $60 million bond in February 2011 included $16.5 million for a second platform and pedestrian bridge at Branford, $7.3 million for platform extensions at Guilford, and $11 million to add catenary wires to currently unwired sidings along the line. Construction on the new platform at Branford began in September 2013, and the Guilford work is under way as well. After delays, the enlarged Branford station opened on September 30, 2016, although the north platform was not immediately served by trains. Bidding on a second platform and three-level parking garage at Madison, planned since 2009, was scheduled to begin in 2013 but did not occur. Per the agreement with Amtrak, a second platform is planned to be added to Clinton station. The project was originally planned to start in early 2012, but has since been indefinitely delayed. In October 2017, CTDOT announced plans to expand the current Clinton station. Construction was set to begin in March 2018 and be completed by December 2019. It has once again been postponed along with the Madison station until new funding is identified.
Expansion of the original parking facilities is also necessary to meet demand at many stations, since many started with small lots suitable for just a few dozen cars. The rebuilt stations at Branford, Guilford, Madison, Clinton, and Westbrook have larger lots than the 1990 stations, and a second lot with 272 spaces opened at Branford in June 2011. A 585-space, three-level parking garage is eventually planned for Madison station.
Although the route east of New Haven is electrified under Amtrak's 60 Hz traction power system, Shore Line East currently operates entirely with diesel locomotives. Once the full order of M8 railcars are in service, and Amtrak tests and approves the M8s for usage east of New Haven, CTDOT plans to use 24 to 32 cars for electric SLE service to reduce diesel emissions. The diesel trainsets will be moved to service on the Danbury or Waterbury branches, or to the Hartford Line from New Haven to Springfield.
In April 2012, state officials released a report detailing possible sites for an infill station in East Lyme. Four sites were analyzed – two near downtown Niantic and two at Rocky Neck State Park. Niantic had previously been a stop on the "Clamdigger". As part of a bonding proposal made by Governor Malloy, $750,000 would be allocated for a new station at Niantic. A study will be undertaken to analyze the corridor capacity impacts that the station would bring.
The possibility of extending service eastward has also been considered. Several special trains operated to Mystic during the 2000 OpSail festival, the only such service to date. In a 2001 report examining commuter rail for Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) considered an extension of Shore Line East to Providence via Westerly (effectively restoring the "Clamdigger" service). Ultimately, MBTA Commuter Rail service, which already ran to Providence as part of the Providence/Stoughton Line, was extended southward instead (although only to Wickford Junction). However, both RIDOT and SLE have long-term plans to extend their services to meet at Westerly. Extending SLE service would require negotiations with the US Coast Guard, the Marine Trades Association, and other stakeholders for increased use of the Thames River Bridge and the Mystic River Bridge. As part of Governor Malloy's thirty year transit plan, Shore Line East would be extended to Westerly at a cost of $200 million. On February 1, 2016, the Connecticut Public Transportation Commission issued a report recommending extension of Shore Line East rail service to Mystic and Westerly as soon as possible.
Rolling stock.
In contrast to the electric multiple units used on Metro-North's New Haven Line, which are also purchased in part by the state of Connecticut, all SLE trains are diesel push-pull trains.
SLE runs diesel service because Amtrak had not yet electrified the Northeast Corridor between New Haven and Boston at the time service began. The original SLE service operated with 2 F-7s and 10 Pullman-Standard coaches purchased from Pittsburgh's PATrain for $1.7 million.
In 1991, CTDOT purchased 10 Bombardier Shoreliner III coaches, similar to ones already used on the Danbury Branch and Waterbury Branch, and leased three additional diesel locomotives: two EMD GP38s and one EMD GP9. In 1994 Amtrak rebuilt 11 of CTDOT's surplus SPV-2000 diesel railcars into coaches, dubbed "Constitution Liners." In 1996, SLE took delivery of six remanufactured GP40-2H diesels to replace the entire motive power fleet. These were supplemented in 2005 with 8 GE P40DC Genesis diesels leased from Amtrak. CTDOT purchased the P40DCs in 2008. To augment capacity CTDOT acquired 33 Mafersa coaches from the Virginia Railway Express in 2004. These began entering service in 2006, displacing the Shoreliners and Constitution Liners.
CTDOT acquired an additional four GE P40DC locomotives from New Jersey Transit in 2015. Originally built for Amtrak, NJ Transit employed the locomotives on the short-lived Atlantic City Express Service. In January 2018, ConnDOT awarded a contract to Amtrak to overhaul all twelve P40DC locomotives at the Beech Grove Shops. The first unit was completed in early 2021. The GP40-2H locomotives were sent to NRE for rebuilding in 2017 and 2018, followed by use on the new Hartford Line service.
CTDOT plans call for Kawasaki M8 multiple units to eventually operate most SLE service. CTDOT has proposed to use up to 32 M8's in SLE service as far as Old Saybrook; the step-fitted diesel equipment will then be used on the Hartford Line and for New London / Mystic / Westerly service. Limited direct service from Grand Central Terminal to may be added once the M8s are in service. Testing of M8 cars on the Shore Line East route began in February 2017.
Stations.
All stations are accessible. Limited service is available west of New Haven and east of Old Saybrook.


Howard Elliott (railroad executive)

Howard Elliott (December 6, 1860 – July 8, 1928) was president of Northern Pacific Railway 1903-1913, and president of New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad beginning in 1913.
Biography.
He was born on December 6, 1860, in New York, and entered railway service during the summer of 1880, during his college vacation as a rodman on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. after his graduation for Lawrence Scientific School in 1881, he became, on October 17, clerk in the president's office of the St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern Railway, and during the following year for several months was a clerk in the assistant treasurer of the Chicago, Burlington and Kansas City and the St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern at Keokuk. From January 1, 1887 to May 1, 1891, he was general freight and passenger agent of the same roads, and from the latter date to January 1, 1896, also of the Hannibal and St. Joseph and Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs. From January 1, 1896 to May 1, 1902, he was general manager of the same roads, and from May 1, 1902, to October 21, 1903, second vice-president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. On the latter date he was elected president of the Northern Pacific, and he is also president of various subsidiary companies of the Northern Pacific.
On July 25, 1913 he was elected president and director of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, as the selection of the special committee of directors appointed to choose a successor to Charles Sanger Mellen. The election become effective on September 1, but it was announced that at a meeting of the directors of some time in October that it would be proposed to make a change in the by-laws of the company, under which Mr. Elliott was to be elected chairman of the board of the entire New Haven system, and that each of the principal constituents of the system, the New York, New Haven and Hartford, the Boston and Maine, the New England Navigation Company, and the trolley line system, will have individual presidents. The new administrative plan conforms with recommendations of a committee of stockholders headed by George von L. Meyer. In becoming president of the New Haven, Mr. Elliott for the second time follows in Mr. Mellen's footsteps, having succeeded him as president of the Northern Pacific in 1903, when Mr. Mellen left that road to go to the New Haven.
Elliott's term as president of the New Haven began with the wreck of the "Bar Harbor Express" on September 2, 1913, a disaster of such scope that had not been seen on the New Haven.
Mr. Elliott seems to be an excellent choice for dealing with the very difficult railway situation in New England. He is a native of the East, having been born in New York City. While his railway career has been spent on western lines, he will find himself perfectly at home in New England, for he received his education at Harvard University, having graduated from the Lawrence Scientific School in 1881 with the degree of civil engineer. One of the things that got Mr. Mellen into trouble was his undiplomatic way of talking to and dealing with people. his biting sarcasm and disregard for other people's feelings and opinions made him innumerable enemies.
Mr. Elliott is so differently constituted that he would be incapable of making enemies in this way, either for himself or for a railway that he was managing. He is naturally reserved, but in spite of this, he has made a practice in recent years of delivering numerous public addresses on railway subjects. In his personal relations with patrons of the road and in his public addresses he has been moderate, conciliatory and patient. He is an extremely sincere and earnest man, who leaves this impression on all with whom he comes in contact, whether in a business way or otherwise, and it seems to be a safe prediction that he will very soon win the regard and complete confidence of the people of New England both by what he says and by what he does. He accepts unreservedly the modern principle that railways and their officers are public servants, and tries to live up to this theory in both is utterances and in his management.
As a railway executive, he is one of the leaders of the country. He learned the business from the Burlington, from which so many able and successful railway managers have been graduated. He has served at different times in the engineering, the accounting, the traffic, and the operating departments and few men know both the theory and the practice of railway operation and management so thoroughly. He is a tireless worker, a master of details, and an excellent organizer. He makes his plans far ahead, and is indomitably persevering in carrying them out. He has had a difficult situation to deal with throughout his career on the Northern Pacific. The road when he took charge of it was not in very good physical condition, and he very greatly improved it. Its mileage was 5,111 miles and he increased it to 6,032 miles. Its revenue freight train load was 326 tons, and he increased it in 1912 to 511 tons. It looked as if the Northern Pacific was hard hit when the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul built its extension to the Puget Sound right through the Northern Pacific territory, and that the Northern Pacific did feel severely for some time the effects of this new competition, but Mr. Elliott sturdily met the issue, fought a good fight, maintained the road's dividend, and at the same time made large expenditures from earnings for improvements. In spite of the adverse conditions he was able to show a surplus of over $3,000,000 in 1911, and one of over $2,000,000 in 1912. When George J. Gould retired as president of the Missouri Pacific in 1911 Mr. Elliott was offered the presidency of that road, but declined it.
The foregoing indicated in a very inadequate way the manner of man who has now been given the task of solving the New England railway problem. If the owners of the New England railroads and the people of New England will give him a fair chance Mr. Elliott will do a great work for them, and his personality and his method are such that it would seem they should command the respect and support of both the owners and the patrons of these railways.
Mr. Elliott has always taken active part in the social and business life of the cities in which he has resided, and also by acting in co-operation with various organizations, aided in the conservation movement, and materially forwarded the agricultural interest of the West.
He died on July 8, 1928.


Peter Gorman

Peter Gorman was one of the first contractors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. His son Arthur Pue Gorman would go on to become a Senator and pioneer in baseball. His other son William Henry Gorman would become a prominent businessman.
Gorman's parent's John Gorman and Miss McDonald (first name unknown), came from Northern Ireland in 1794 to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and later Baltimore, Maryland working in the cattle business. Gorman married Elizabeth Browne, daughter of John Riggs Browne who owned the farmstead called Good Fellowship dating back to the original land grant by Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. In the 1840s Gorman built a two-story granite house where his first son Arthur was born. After completing his railroad contract, he purchased the 500-acre estate Fairview in North Laurel from Dr. Charles Griffith Worthington. The property was part of Warfield's Range, containing a log cabin built around 1696 that survived until an arson fire in 2001 when relocated to accommodate the Warfield's Range development. He built a house and library at the site shortly before his death. The house burned down in 1890 and a new Queen Anne structure was built in its place. A school house (No.4) was also situated on the site in 1860. Fairview stayed in the family until the 1970s where a Healy painted portrait of young Peter Gorman hung. He had five children, naming his first son Arthur Pue after his doctor and tutor Dr. Arthur Pue. The 1850 census recorded Gorman as owning at least one slave.
Gorman was the contractor for the portion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Ellicott Mills and Woodstock, Maryland. On the evening of November 18, 1834, during labor disputes between Irish and German railroad workers, John Gorman was beaten nearly to death along with John Watson. Peter Gorman was spared. In the early hours of November 20, 1834, Watson and William Mercer were killed by workers on the line between Savage and Laurel.
In 1845, Peter Gorman was responsible for the first macadamized (paved) road in Laurel, Avondale Street next to the new Avondale Mill.
In 1850, William T. Hamilton and General Edward Hammond were called upon to give 11-year old Arthur Pue a page position in Washington D.C. Gorman and his younger son William Henry Gorman (1843–1915) were the proprietors of several quarries in Laurel that supplied granite for the U.S. Treasury Building and the United States Capitol, and bridges for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
Gorman was captured on a business trip south in 1860 and sent to Libby Prison. He died shortly after his release.


Wichita Terminal Association

The Wichita Terminal Association is a switching and terminal railroad in northern Wichita, Kansas, jointly owned by the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. It handles mainly grain and some scrap steel, serving customers at the former Wichita Union Stock Yards. The tracks were first placed in service in September 1889 by the stockyard and packing companies, and in February 1910 operations were transferred to the new WTA, owned by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway, Missouri Pacific Railway, and St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad. Through mergers, and the sale of the Rock Island's line to the Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad, the current split between BNSF and UP came about.


Red River Valley and Western Railroad

The Red River Valley and Western Railroad is a regional railroad operating in the US states of North Dakota and Minnesota. It began operations in 1987 in an era of railroad restructuring.
Its of track, originally acquired from the Burlington Northern Railroad, included:
Shortly after it began operations, the Red River Valley and Western Railroad acquired a rail line between Oakes, North Dakota and Hecla, South Dakota from the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad. It abandoned of this rail line, beginning just south of Oakes, North Dakota, on September 7, 2001.
Currently, the Red River Valley and Western Railroad owns and operates of trackage which includes:
The Red River Valley and Western Railroad is affiliated with the Twin Cities and Western Railroad and the Minnesota Prairie Line. Andrew Thompson is the chief executive officer of all three railroads.


Alonzo C. Mather

Alonzo Clark Mather (April 12, 1848 – January 25, 1941) was founder and president of the Mather Stock Car Company, a U.S. firm that built and leased railroad freight cars, especially stock cars.
Birth and education.
Alonzo Mather was born in Fairfield, New York, in 1848; the second son of Dr. William Mather and Mary Ann (Buell) Mather. His father was a noted professor who traveled extensively, leaving his mother to raise him and his siblings. However, although Dr. Mather was away from home frequently for extended periods of time, he corresponded often with his family by mail. Alonzo Mather was a direct descendant of the Reverend Richard Mather, grandfather of Cotton Mather.
Alonzo Mather attended Fairfield Seminary, and upon graduation, was allowed to choose between continuing his education in college or entering the workforce in business. He chose to forego college and went straight into work in Utica, New York, when he was 16. After gaining work experience there, he moved to Quincy, Illinois; and then to Chicago in 1875.
He married Martha C. Johnson and had one daughter by her; Martha J. Mather on April 28, 1879. Shortly after his daughter's birth, his wife died. Alonzo Mather remarried after her death to Louise Eames.
Starting his own businesses.
In Chicago, Mather started a wholesale business called Alonzo C. Mather and Company. It was while Mather was working here that he first developed a more humane stock car for the shipment of livestock by rail. Mather's design amenities for the livestock included feeding and watering facilities that had previously been unapplied to railroad rolling stock. By 1881, he had started the Mather Stock Car Company to build stock cars based on his design. Mather's stock car innovations were considered so valuable to livestock shipping that the American Humane Society awarded him a medal for the humane treatment of animals in 1883. Soon, Mather cars were in revenue service on a large number of railroads in North America.
Mather recognized that many railroads would be willing to reduce their operating expenses by leasing rolling stock rather than purchasing or building it, so his company began leasing the cars that it produced — a practice that helped keep the company solvent through the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Throughout his time in Chicago, Mather never forgot his home in New York. In 1893 he proposed a design for an international harbor on the waterways around Fort Erie, Ontario/ Buffalo, New York. Mather's plans included new electrical generation plants at the falls; his plans conflicted with those of other electricity companies in the area, and Mather's plan was eventually abandoned. The US-Canada Peace Bridge was constructed at that location within his lifetime, but it was not based on any of Mather's plans.
Death and legacy.
Upon his death in Los Angeles, California, Alonzo Mather's estate totaled around US$5 million, $3 million of which was bequeathed to build the Alonzo Mather Aged Ladies' Home in Evanston, IL, and another $15,000 to build a new Episcopal church in his family's home town of Fairfield, NY.
The former headquarters of the Mather Stock Car Company; the Mather Tower still stands in Chicago's elegant downtown area. The tower was designated as a Chicago Historic Landmark in 2001.
Mather LifeWays began as a gift distributed in 1941 from Alonzo's estate.
Mr. Mather's interment location is at Forest Lawn, Glendale. It is a private room just to the left of the main entrance of The Great Mausoleum.


Gustavus Franklin Swift

Gustavus Franklin Swift, Sr. (June 24, 1839 – March 29, 1903) was an American business executive. He founded a meat-packing empire in the Midwest during the late 19th century, over which he presided until his death. He is credited with the development of the first practical ice-cooled railroad car, which allowed his company to ship dressed meats to all parts of the country and abroad, ushering in the "era of cheap beef." Swift pioneered the use of animal by-products for the manufacture of soap, glue, fertilizer, various types of sundries, and even medical products.
Swift donated large sums of money to such institutions as the University of Chicago, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and YMCA. He established Northwestern University's "School of Oratory" in memory of his daughter, Annie May Swift, who died while a student there. When he died in 1903, his company was valued at between US$125 million and $135 million, and had a workforce of more than 21,000. "The House of Swift" slaughtered as many as two million cattle, four million hogs, and two million sheep a year. Three years after his death, the value of the company's capital stock topped $250 million. He and his family are interred in a mausoleum in Mount Hope Cemetery in Chicago.
Biography.
Swift was born on June 24, 1839 in Sagamore, Massachusetts, the 9th of 12 offspring of William Swift and Sally Crowell. His parents were descendants of British settlers who went to New England in the 17th century. The family (which included Gustavus’ brothers Noble and Edwin) lived and worked on a farm in the Cape Cod town of West Sandwich, Massachusetts where they raised and slaughtered cattle, sheep, and hogs. This is where he got the idea of packing meat.
As a young boy, Swift took little interest in his studies and left the nearby country school after eight years. During that period he was employed in several jobs, finally finding full-time work in his elder brother Noble's butcher shop at the age of fourteen. Two years later, in 1855, he opened his own cattle and pork butchering business with the help of one of his uncles who gave him $400. Swift purchased livestock at the market in Brighton and drove them to Eastham, a ten-day journey. A shrewd businessman, he purportedly followed the somewhat common practice of denying his herds water during the last miles of the trip so that they would drink large quantities of liquid once they reached their final destination, effectively boosting their weights. Swift married Annie Maria Higgins of North Eastham in 1861. Annie gave birth to eleven children, nine of whom reached adulthood. In 1862, Swift and his new bride opened a small butcher shop and slaughterhouse. Seven years later Gustavus and Annie moved the family to Brighton (near Boston), where in 1872 Swift became partner in a new venture, "Hathaway and Swift". Swift and partner James A. Hathaway (a renowned Boston meat dealer) initially relocated the company to Albany, then almost immediately thereafter to Buffalo.
An astute cattle-buyer, Swift followed the market steadily westward. On his recommendation, Hathaway and Swift moved once more in 1875, this time to join the influx of meat packers setting up shop in Chicago's sprawling Union Stock Yards. Swift established himself as one of the dominant figures of "The Yards", and his distinctive delivery wagons became familiar fixtures on Chicago's streets. In 1878 his partnership with Hathaway and "Swift Bros and Company" was formed in partnership with younger brother Edwin. The company became a driving force in the Chicago meat packing industry, and was incorporated in 1885 as "Swift & Co." with $300,000 in capital stock and Gustavus Swift as president. It is from this position that Swift led the way in revolutionizing how meat was processed, delivered, and sold.
He died on March 29, 1903, at his home 4848 Ellis Avenue in Chicago.
Chicago and the birth of the meat-packing industry.
Following the end of the American Civil War, Chicago emerged as a major railway center, making it an ideal point for the distribution of livestock raised on the Great Plains to Eastern markets. Getting the animals to market required herds to be driven distances of up to to railheads in Kansas City, Missouri, where they were loaded into stock cars and transported live (on the hoof) to regional processing centers. Driving cattle across the plains led to tremendous weight loss, and a number of animals died in transit. Upon arrival at the local processing facility, livestock were either slaughtered by wholesalers and delivered fresh to nearby butcher shops for retail sale, smoked, or packed for shipment in barrels of salt.
Certain inefficiencies were inherent in the process of transporting live animals by rail, particularly due to the fact that approximately 60% of the animal's mass is inedible. Many animals weakened by the long drive died in transit, further increasing the per-unit shipping cost. Swift's solution to these problems was to devise a method to ship dressed meats from his packing plant in Chicago to the East.
Advent of the refrigerator car.
A number of attempts were made during the mid-19th century to ship agricultural products via rail car. As early as 1842 the Western Railroad of Massachusetts was reported in the June 15 edition of the "Boston Traveler" to be experimenting with innovative freight car designs capable of carrying all types of perishable goods without spoilage. The first known refrigerated boxcar or "reefer" entered service on the Northern Railroad (or NRNY, which became part of the Rutland Railroad) in June 1851. This "icebox on wheels" was a limited success in that it was only able to function in cold weather. That same year, the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad (O&LC) began shipping butter to Boston in purpose-built freight cars, utilizing ice to cool the contents.
The first consignment of dressed beef to leave the Chicago stockyards was in 1857, and was carried in ordinary boxcars retrofitted with bins filled with ice. Placing the meat directly against ice resulted in discoloration and affected the taste, hence proved impractical. During the same period Swift experimented by moving cut meat using a string of ten boxcars which ran with their doors removed, and made a few test shipments to New York City during the winter months over the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR). The method proved too limited to be practical. Detroit's William Davis patented a refrigerator car that employed metal racks to suspend the carcasses above a frozen mixture of ice and salt. He sold the design in 1868 to George H. Hammond, a Detroit meat-packer, who built a set of cars to transport his products to Boston using ice from the Great Lakes for cooling. The loads had the unfortunate tendency of swinging to one side when the car entered a curve at high speed, and the use of the units was discontinued after several derailments. In 1878 Swift hired engineer Andrew Chase to design a ventilated car that was well-insulated, and positioned the ice in a compartment at the top of the car, allowing the chilled air to flow naturally downward.
The meat was packed tightly at the bottom of the car to keep the center of gravity low and to prevent the cargo from shifting. Chase's design proved to be a practical solution to providing temperature-controlled carriage of dressed meats, and allowed Swift & Company to ship their products all over the United States, and internationally. This radically altered the meat business. Swift's attempts to sell this design to the major railroads were unanimously rebuffed as the companies feared that they would jeopardize their considerable investments in stock cars and animal pens if refrigerated meat transport gained wide acceptance. In response, Swift financed the initial production run on his own, then — when the American railroads refused his business — he contracted with the GTR (a railroad that derived little income from transporting live cattle) to haul them into Michigan and then eastward through Canada. In 1880, the Peninsular Car Company (subsequently purchased by American Car & Foundry) delivered to Swift the first of these units, and the Swift Refrigerator Line (SRL) was created. Within a year the Line's roster had risen to nearly 200 units, and Swift was transporting an average of 3,000 carcasses a week to Boston. Competing firms such as Armour and Company quickly followed. By 1920 the SRL owned and operated 7,000 ice-cooled rail cars. The General American Transportation Corporation assumed ownership of the line in 1930.
Live cattle and dressed beef deliveries to New York (tons):
"Everything but the squeal".
In response to public outcries to reduce the amount of pollutants generated by his packing plants, Swift sought innovative ways to use previously discarded portions of the animals his company butchered. This practice led to the wide scale commercial production of such diverse products as oleomargarine, soap, glue, fertilizer, hairbrushes, buttons, knife handles, and pharmaceutical preparations such as pepsin and insulin. Low-grade meats were canned in products like pork and beans.
The absence of federal inspection led to abuses. Sausages might incorporate sawdust, and meat that had spoiled was sometimes packed and sold. (Swift once bragged that his slaughterhouses had become so sophisticated that they used "everything but the squeal.") Transgressions such as these were first documented in Upton Sinclair's fictional novel "The Jungle", the publication of which shocked the nation and led to the passing of the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906.
Vertical integration.
The meat packing plants of Chicago were among the first to utilize assembly line (or in this case, disassembly-line) production techniques. Henry Ford states in his autobiography "My Life and Work" that it was a visit to a Chicago slaughterhouse which opened his eyes to the virtues of employing a moving conveyor system and fixed work stations in industrial applications. These practices symbolize the concept of "rationalized organization of work" to this day.
Swift adapted the methods of the industrial revolution to meat packing operations, which resulted in huge efficiency by allowing his plants to produce on a massive scale. The work was divided into myriad specific sub-tasks, which were carried out under the direction of supervisory personnel. Swift & Co. was broken down organizationally into various divisions, each one responsible for conducting a different aspect of the business of "bringing meat from the ranch to the consumer". By developing a vertically integrated company, Swift was able to control the sale of his meats from the slaughterhouse to the local butcher shop.
Swift devoted a great deal of time to indoctrinating employees and teaching them the company's methods and policies. He also motivated his employees to focus on the company's profit goals by adhering to a strict policy of promotion from within. The innovations that Swift championed not only revolutionized the meat packing industry, but also played a vital role in establishing the modern American business system, with an emphasis on mass production, functional specialization, managerial expertise, national distribution networks, and adaptation to technological innovation.


EIKON International

EIKON International is located in Montgomery, Alabama, and makes interurban cars, trolley cars and streetcars. EIKON also restores and manufactures other types of rail cars, including streetcars. EIKON emerged in 2008 as Edwards Rail Car Company ceased production of railcars at the Montgomery location.
Current operations.
In production are several railbuses to be sent to Peru for operation, patterned after original Edwards designs dating from the mid-1920s. The propulsion system for these cars uses a diesel-hydraulic design after joint engineering with Parker Hannifin and Cummins.
Peter Witt trolley #754 was restored for McKinney Avenue Transit Authority, as well as an original Edwards Model 10 for a private collector.


Inglewood Transit Connector

The Inglewood Transit Connector is a planned automated people mover in Inglewood, California intended to link the city's sports complexes to the regional Los Angeles Metro Rail system. The line is planned to be long and would run on an entirely elevated route. Service is planned to begin in 2026, in anticipation of the 2028 Summer Olympics.
History.
The "Envision Inglewood" plan was the culmination of several transportation and mobility initiatives to be undertaken by the city. It included a new automated people mover to connect the then under-construction Downtown Inglewood station on the K Line to The Forum and SoFi Stadium as well as the proposed Inglewood Basketball and Entertainment Center.
The project is budgeted at $1.016 billion . In March 2020 the city reallocated $233 million from Measure M highway improvement funds to help finance the people mover. The project was additionally awarded $95.2 million by the State under the 2020 Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program.
System.
The line will be entirely elevated above Market Street and Manchester Avenue before terminating along South Prairie Avenue. Several people mover technologies were assessed in the project study, though none proved clearly superior; the system and vehicles are expected to be selected through a competitive procurement process.


New Castle District

The New Castle District is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. states of Ohio and Indiana. The line runs from Evendale northwest and north to Fort Wayne, Indiana along former Pennsylvania Railroad and New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate) lines. Its south end is at Evendale, where it meets the Dayton District and Indiana and Ohio Railway's Oasis Subdivision. It runs along a piece of CSX Transportation's Toledo Subdivision from Hamilton north to New Miami, Ohio using trackage rights. The New Castle District junctions the Frankfort District at Muncie, Indiana. In Fort Wayne, it crosses the Huntington District and ends at the Chicago District.
History.
The Eaton and Hamilton Railroad (in Ohio) and Richmond and Miami Railroad (in Indiana) opened a line from New Miami, Ohio northwest to Richmond, Indiana in 1853, with trackage rights over the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad from New Miami, Ohio south to Hamilton. Later that year, the Cincinnati, Logansport and Chicago Railway opened, extending northwest from Richmond, Indiana to New Castle. From Hamilton, Ohio south to Evendale, Ohio and beyond to Rendcomb Junction, the Cincinnati and Richmond Railroad opened in 1888. This line from Cincinnati to New Castle, Indiana became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system through leases and mergers.
The Fort Wayne, Muncie and Cincinnati Railroad became part of the Nickel Plate, absorbed by the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1964. In 1976, when Conrail was formed, the little-used Cincinnati-New Castle line was sold to the N&W. The N&W is now part of Norfolk Southern.


Beckwourth Pass

Beckwourth Pass is the lowest mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada mountain range at an elevation of .
Beckwourth Pass is located at the eastern edge of Sierra Valley at Chilcoot-Vinton, California in Plumas County, east of Portola, California and northwest of Reno, Nevada.
California State Route 70 crosses over Beckwourth Pass and the Feather River Route of the former Western Pacific, now Union Pacific Railroad beneath it via the Chilcoot Tunnel. Route 70 and the railroad line provide an alternate route between Sacramento, California and Reno, Nevada when Interstate 80 and the Overland Route, which cross the Sierra Nevada near Donner Pass, are impassable due to winter storms.
History.
James Beckwourth is credited with the discovery of Beckwourth Pass in 1850. In 1851, he improved what was originally a Native American path into Sierra Valley to create his Beckwourth Trail. The trail ran from Truckee Meadows (what is now known as Sparks, Nevada) through the pass into California and on to Marysville.
In late summer of 1851, James Beckwourth led the first wagon train of settlers along the Beckwourth Trail into Marysville.
Between 1851 and 1854, the Beckwourth trail was frequently traveled; however, in 1854, use dropped sharply when the Beckwourth Trail became a toll road. The toll cost to move a ton of freight from Bidwell Bar to Quincy was about $18. This made using the Beckwourth Road an expensive enterprise and the use of the Beckwourth Trail declined.
Between 1895 and 1916, the pass was used by the Sierra Valley & Mohawk Railway narrow gauge. The abandoned right-of-way is still visible on the south, and eastern slope of the pass.
In 1906, the Chilcoot Tunnel at was constructed beneath Beckwourth Pass by the Western Pacific Railroad as part of its Feather River Route. This line is now owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad.
In 1937, a bronze plaque was erected at Beckwourth Pass by the Native Daughters of the Golden West to commemorate the discoverer and the pioneers who passed along the trail.
On August 8, 1939, Beckwourth Pass was designated as California Historical Landmark Number 336.


Batesville Southwestern Railroad

The Batesville Southwestern Railroad was a shortline railroad established in 1910 and built jointly by Illinois Central Railroad and R. J. Darnell, a local lumber mill owner. Construction of the line started in 1911 and was completed in 1914. The line extended from Batesville to Crowder and primarily hauled lumber to Darnell's mill. In 1931, the lumber mill closed down and both parties agreed to abandon the line.
A small section of BSW track survives as a siding for Grenada Railway to serve some customers in Batesville. The original right of way can still be made out in places along MS Highway 6.


Vicksburg Southern Railroad

The Vicksburg Southern Railroad is a Shortline railroad in and near Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States, owned by Watco. It connects with the Kansas City Southern Railway's Meridian Speedway in Vicksburg, and stretches north to Redwood and south to Cedars. The line was once part of a main line between Memphis and New Orleans, completed by the Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railway, a predecessor of the Illinois Central Railroad, in about 1884. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad sold the remaining portions near Vicksburg, along with the present Meridian Speedway, to the MidSouth Rail Corporation in 1986, and in 1993 the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) gained control of MidSouth, subsequently absorbing it. The newly created Vicksburg Southern leased the lines from KCS in January 2006.


Buffalo Union-Carolina Railroad

The Buffalo Union-Carolina Railroad was a South Carolina railroad that operated during the middle of the 20th century.
The Buffalo Union-Carolina Railroad was a successor to the Union and Glenn Springs Railroad, which was chartered in 1899 and extended from Pride, South Carolina, to Buffalo, South Carolina, a little more than 19 miles. The line went into receivership in 1905.
The Buffalo Union-Carolina began operations along the Union and Glenn Springs line in 1922.
The Buffalo Union-Carolina was acquired by Southern Railway in the 1950s and abandoned in 1971.


Gulf Coast Lines

The Gulf Coast Lines was the name of a railroad system comprising three principal railroads, as well as some smaller ones, that stretched from New Orleans, Louisiana, via Baton Rouge and Houston to Brownsville, Texas. Originally chartered as subsidiaries of the Frisco Railroad, the system became independent in 1916 and was purchased by the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1925.
The parent company of the independent Gulf Coast Lines was the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway, incorporated in Louisiana on February 28, 1916, which bought the property and assets of the Frisco-owned New Orleans, Texas and Mexico "Railroad". The NOT&M was headquartered in New Orleans, and owned or leased a number of other railroads in Louisiana and Texas, operating them all together as the Gulf Coast Lines. As of December 31, 1916, the total trackage operated by the Gulf Coast Lines system was , including branches, sidings, trackage rights, and leased lines.
Constituent railroads.
Primary lines.
According to a corporate history published in the 1950s by the Missouri Pacific Railroad,
The Gulf Coast Lines was projected originally by B. F. Yoakum, chairman of the board of the Rock Island and Frisco Lines. Yoakum's plan envisioned using the Rock Island and Frisco, together with.several railroads to be built in Texas and Louisiana and now known as the Gulf Coast Lines, to form a continuous line of railroad extending from Chicago, St. Louis and Memphis to Baton Rouge, Houston, Brownsville, Tampico and Mexico City.
The Frisco and Rock Island were conjoined under his leadership in 1905 and known as the "Yoakum Line."
The first section of the GCL was the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway. Construction was done by the B.F. & P.M. Johnson Co. of St. Elmo, Illinois, which began in 1903 from Robstown, Texas (near Corpus Christi) to Brownsville, Texas. The line was opened for business on July 4, 1904. By the end of 1907, the StLB&M was extended to Houston, with trackage rights via the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad between Algoa and Houston. The railroad was the first to reach the Rio Grande Valley, where it had a great effect on the region. According to the "Handbook of Texas Online",
The coming of the railroad and irrigation made the Valley into a major agricultural center. In Hidalgo County, land that had been selling for twenty-five cents an acre in 1903, the year before the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway arrived, was selling for fifty dollars an acre in 1906 and for as much as $300 an acre by 1910.
In 1905, Yoakum purchased the Beaumont, Sour Lake and Western Railway, which connected with the StLB&M at Houston.
The next link eastward was the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway, construction of which began in 1905 from Anchorage, Louisiana (opposite Baton Rouge), to DeQuincy, Louisiana, with trackage rights purchased from Kansas City Southern Railway from DeQuincy to Beaumont. NOT&M trains were ferried across the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge until 1947, several years after the Huey P. Long Bridge (carrying a highway and a railroad track) was built in 1940. This segment opened for service on September 1, 1909, with trackage rights via the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company (later acquired by the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway) from Baton Rouge to New Orleans; after 1916, GCL trains used trackage rights on the parallel Illinois Central route instead.
Yoakum's planned extensions of the GCL from Brownsville to Tampico and Mexico City, as well as from Baton Rouge to Memphis, never materialized. In 1913, the Frisco and the GCL roads fell into bankruptcy, which was terminated in 1916 when Frisco's receivers were ordered by a court to sell the Texas-Louisiana lines. The StLB&M and the BSL&W were acquired by the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico, and operated under the Gulf Coast Lines name after that.
On June 30, 1924, the NOT&M bought the International-Great Northern Railroad, and in December of the same year, the Missouri Pacific bought the Gulf Coast Lines and operated it as a subsidiary. In March 1956, all of the GCL lines were merged into the Missouri Pacific system, losing their separate identity. The Missouri Pacific was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad in 1997.
Secondary lines.
Before 1925, the following railroads were also part of the Gulf Coast Lines system who retained their separate legal identities:
Acquired by the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico on February 1, 1924:
Acquired by the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico on behalf of the Missouri Pacific in 1925 to keep the Missouri Kansas Texas from taking control of it, but operated as a separate division from the Gulf Coast Lines until all were merged into the Missouri Pacific on March 1, 1956:
After 1925, the following railroads were purchased by the Gulf Coast Lines division of Missouri Pacific, though maintaining their separate legal identities.
Acquired by the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico on December 1, 1925:
Acquired by the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico on January 2, 1926:
Acquired by New Orleans, Texas & Mexico in November 1926:
Acquired by New Orleans, Texas & Mexico on January 1, 1927:
Acquired by the Beaumont, Sour Lake & Western on May 1, 1927:
The Beaumont, Sour Lake & Western also owned a 25 percent share of the Houston Belt and Terminal Railway; the StLB&M owned a 50 percent share of the Brownsville and Matamoros Bridge Company.
Passenger trains.
After 1925, numerous Missouri Pacific passenger trains used the various segments of the Gulf Coast Lines route, which although legally separate entities for tax, tariff, and accounting purposes, were marketed to the public as a seamless continuation of MoPac passenger service.
One notable passenger train of the postwar era was the streamlined "Valley Eagle", introduced on October 31, 1948, which covered the 372 miles between Houston, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville in 8 1/2 hours at an average speed of 44 miles per hour. Two trainsets of five cars each were built by ACF to make the daytime run in both directions. The train was discontinued on July 1, 1962.
Also in the postwar era, MoPac's "Houstonian" and "Orleanean" ran between New Orleans and Houston, covering the 367 miles in nine or ten hours.


Streetcars in Los Angeles

Streetcars in Los Angeles over history have included horse-drawn streetcars and cable cars, and later extensive electric streetcar networks of the Los Angeles Railway and Pacific Electric Railway and their predecessors. Also included are modern light rail lines.
Horse-drawn streetcars (1874–1897).
Horse-drawn streetcars started with the Spring and Sixth Street Railroad in 1874. Single truck, open air cars traversed unpaved streets. Numerous companies built tracks, with some merging to form larger networks. More railroads of the era included the Main Street and Agricultural Park Railway, the Depot Railway, the City Railroad, and the Central Railroad. The last horsecars were converted to electric in 1897.
Cable cars (1885–1902).
Cable car street railways in Los Angeles first began operating up Bunker Hill in 1885, with a total of three companies operating in the period through 1902, when the lines were electrified and electric streetcars were introduced largely following the cable car routes. There were roughly of routes, connecting 1st and Main in what was then the Los Angeles Central Business District as far as the communities known today as Lincoln Heights, Echo Park/Filipinotown, and the Pico-Union district. A large viaduct over the Southern Pacific yard operated from 1889 to 1896, colloquially known as the Cape Horn Viaduct.
Angel's Flight should not be confused with cable cars because it is a funicular railway operating from Broadway up Bunker Hill.
Electric streetcar systems (1887–1969).
The use of cable traction in Los Angeles was short lived. The Los Angeles Electric Railway began operations in 1887. Electrically-powered streetcar systems were numerous, but were largely consolidated into two large networks.
In 1901, Henry Huntington bought various electric streetcar companies operating mostly within the City of Los Angeles (and not in the San Fernando Valley, Harbor area or Westside) and combined them into the Los Angeles Railway with its "yellow cars". This system operated with narrow gauge tracks and primarily provided local service along its lines. This was the most popular rail operator in Los Angeles based on passenger numbers.
In 1902, Huntington and banker Isaias W. Hellman established the Pacific Electric Railway, which would acquire other railways, providing interurban service to new suburban developments and surrounding towns in what is now Greater Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino County and Riverside Counties). The company operated distinctive "red cars".
The explosion of the highway construction and car ownership before and after World War II reduced the demand for passenger rail services, and many lines were controversially converted to bus service by 1955. After being transferred to municipal ownership under the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, all former Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railway services had ended by 1963. Elements of the film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" are loosely based on the closure and dismantling of Los Angeles' electric streetcars.
LACMTA Metro light rail (1990–present).
The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission was formed to coordinate transit planning in the county. After the passage of Proposition A in 1980, light rail had emerged as a preferred mode for new services. Partially rebuilt on former Pacific Electric corridors, the new rail lines differ from the last generation of services by operating almost entirely in a dedicated right of way without interference from cars. , the system consists of four lines:
Additional services are planned in the future:
Historic Downtown LA Streetcar (proposed).
The Historic Downtown Los Angeles Streetcar is a planned local streetcar in Downtown Los Angeles.


Brownsville and Rio Grande International Railroad

The Brownsville and Rio Grande International Railroad is a terminal switching railroad headquartered in Brownsville, Texas.
BRG operates of line at the Port of Brownsville, and interchanges with Union Pacific and TFM. BRG traffic includes steel, agricultural products, food products, and general commodities.
BRG commenced operations in 1984 when the Brownsville Navigation District (the owner of the rail line) reclaimed operations from the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The Brownsville Navigation District authority which manages the port of Brownsville, Texas, has appointed regional and shortline group OmniTRAX to manage the Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railroad on its behalf. The deal runs for 30 years, and includes the development of an industrial park on adjacent land.[1]


San Francisco Challenger

The San Francisco Challenger was a train operated by Southern Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad and Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Starting in 1936, it ran from Oakland, California to Chicago, Illinois via the Overland Route. Schedule was about 60 hours-- three nights and two days. In 1947 it was replaced by the "Gold Coast", which was discontinued in January 1955.


David Leavitt (banker)

David Leavitt (August 29, 1791 – December 30, 1879) was an early New York City banker and financier. As president of the American Exchange Bank of New York during the Financial Panic of 1837 he represented bondholders of the nascent Illinois and Michigan Canal, allowing completion of the historic canal linking the Midwest with the East Coast. For his role in helping prevent the collapse of the canal scheme, Chicago authorities named Leavitt Street after the financier. Leavitt was also an early art collector, and many of the artist Emanuel Leutze's paintings, including that of Washington at Valley Forge, were initially in Leavitt's collection housed at his Great Barrington, Massachusetts estate.
Biography.
David Leavitt was born in Bethlehem, Connecticut on August 29, 1791, to merchant and Connecticut legislator David Leavitt Sr. and his wife Lucy (Clark) Leavitt. The ambitious David Leavitt Jr. left rural Connecticut in 1813 at age 22 for New York City, where he began his career as a clerk in a produce and commission house. Three years later Leavitt's father died and, after inheriting a share of the elder Leavitt's estate, the son David Leavitt set himself up as a New York merchant and financier.
By 1815, Leavitt had gone into business with David Lee at 133 Front Street in Manhattan in the firm of Leavitt & Lee, wholesalers in the grocery business. By 1820 Leavitt & Lee had moved to 127 Front Street, and shortly afterwards the two partners dissolved their business. Leavitt left the grocery business and decided to set himself up as a financier. He decided to go it alone.
In one of Leavitt's first transactions, he bought an entire cargo of tea which the merchant John Jacob Astor had imported. When the German immigrant Astor inquired of Leavitt how he intended to pay for the cargo, Leavitt produced from his pocket a handful of notes written by Astor on his account, which Leavitt had bought up on the street.
In his next large transactions, the 25-year-old Leavitt again demonstrated his business acumen. The government of Colombia, facing a conflict at home, had paid a group of New York merchants to build a warship and equip it with armaments for use by the South American nation. Ultimately, those building the vessel were unable to complete the transaction, and Leavitt stepped in, paying for the ship's construction, and assuring that the United States government would help arm it with munitions. Leavitt then took command of the vessel, sailing it to South America, where the Colombian government paid him $100,000 in Colombian currency, and an additional $100,000 in a London bank draft.
On his way home, Leavitt stopped in Havana, where he converted the Colombian currency into Spanish doubloons, which he converted back into dollars when demand for doubloons soared. The London bank draft finally cleared in its entirety after several years' delay, during which Leavitt bided his time instead of selling the draft at a discount. The entire transaction had netted Leavitt a tidy profit, which he invested in other ventures.
In 1823, a local businessman had established a manufactory for white lead in the emerging city of Brooklyn. Acting as a lender to the business from its inception, Leavitt stepped in to take control in 1825 and founded the Brooklyn White Lead Company, later Dutch Boy Paint. Much of Leavitt's wealth derived from his early investment in lead manufacturing and importing.
Leavitt had already had a home built in Brooklyn, where he took up residence with his wife Maria Clarissa (Lewis), a native of Goshen, Connecticut. At the time of Leavitt's move to Brooklyn, there were only three homes visible from his own, and the New York merchant later bought up large tracts of Brooklyn real estate, and became a trustee of the village of Brooklyn Heights.
Leavitt also owned and operated the Fulton Street Ferry, until popular sentiment against Leavitt's large monopolies put an end to his ownership. In 1843, Leavitt financed construction of an elegant mansion in Brooklyn Heights, which he sold a decade later to Henry C. Bowen. (The Leavitt-Bowen Mansion was demolished in 1904). During this time, Brooklyn Heights was the residence of increasing numbers of New York City's most prominent merchants.
Seeking to find uses for his accumulated capital, Leavitt entered into several banking ventures. He was elected president of the Fulton Bank of New York City. Later, in 1838, he became president of the American Exchange Bank, a large lending institution headquartered in Manhattan, with which he served for 16 years. During his tenure at American Exchange, there was a financial panic, during which European bondholders of the State of Illinois declared their intention to foreclose on the bonds issuer. "Grave fears were entertained that the bonds would not be paid", wrote "The New York Times", "and several financiers had failed in placing them in the European market, but by pledging his own credit, Mr. Leavitt succeeded in creating a degree of confidence in the scheme, and it was a source of pride to him in after years that all the holders of the bonds eventually received both principal and interest." To reassure the bondholders, Leavitt not only advanced his own funds, but traveled to England to meet jittery European stakeholders.
For his role in averting the bond collapse, and allowing construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the growing city of Chicago, city elders ultimately named Leavitt Street after the New York financier. At the opening of the canal in April 1848, Leavitt – and the only other trustee of the canal's bondholders who had personally intervened to float the $1.6 million loan to complete the project – were feted at the opening ceremonies.
Leavitt acted as financier through the decades for other banks and financing packages. He served as Receiver of the North American Trust and Banking Company. In 1857, during another financial panic which swept the markets, Leavitt took to the steps of the American Exchange Bank building, where he addressed depositors, assuring them the institution would meet its obligations and stemming a run on the bank. By 1861, when "The Merchants' and Bankers' Almanac" was published by "Bankers' Magazine", the portrait of David Leavitt, along with those of George Peabody, Albert Gallatin, Erastus Corning, and Stephen Girard, graced the periodical's cover.
Leavitt later built a estate called "Brookside" in the Massachusetts Berkshires at Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where he established a gallery for his growing art collection, especially the works of Emanuel Leutze, from whom Leavitt had commissioned "The Battle of Monmouth". Leavitt was also painted in a portrait during his lifetime by the artist Francis Bicknell Carpenter. During his time in Massachusetts, Leavitt was chosen president of the Housatonic Railroad. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Leavitt was named permanent chairman of Great Barrington's committee to aid the Union effort. At the meeting, chairman Leavitt "proclaimed himself willing to contribute his means and, if necessary, his person, to the holy cause."
Leavitt built, in Gothic revival style, an enormous three-story 'cascade barn', measuring -by-, on his estate. The building received extensive write-ups in the following years, including one by Horace Greeley, for its mechanical ingenuity and devices, but nothing apart from the foundations remains today following an 1885 fire.
David Leavitt died at the home of his son Edward in Manhattan on December 30, 1879, at age 88. His wife predeceased him, dying in 1867 at age 76 at the couple's Great Barrington estate. Leavitt was a longtime member of the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, where he had worshipped for a half-century. While in Great Barrington, Leavitt attended the First Congregational Church of Great Barrington. David Leavitt and his wife had an only daughter, Elizabeth Leavitt Howe, whose son and grandson became New Jersey bankers and lived at "Fieldhead", the family estate in Princeton, New Jersey, as well as three sons, Edward, Henry and David Jr.
David Leavitt, Jr., moved to Dresden, Germany, where daughter Louise Walcott Leavitt married Baron Franz Oswald Trützschler von Falkenstein. Her sister Helen Hudson Leavitt married Baron Adolf von Strahlenheim. Hugh Toler Leavitt, brother of the Baronesses, became a German Army officer.
David Leavitt's nephew David Leavitt Hough, a lawyer educated at Middlebury College, settled at LaSalle, Illinois, where he acted as an attorney for the Trustees of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.


E. S. Babcock

Elisha Spurr Babcock (May 1, 1848 – September 1, 1922) was an industrialist, tycoon, businessman, and entrepreneur. He is most famous for founding the Hotel del Coronado.
Biography.
Born to businessman Elisha Spurr Babcock Sr. (born 1815 at Utica, NY, settled in Evansville in 1838), and Agnes Southerland Davidson, a Scotland native. They had eight children; Oliver, Louisa, Elisha Spurr Jr., William D., Edgar, Frank, Amelia and John. Elisha Spurr Babcock Sr. shut his business in Evansville and went to San Diego in 1887.
E. S. Babcock Jr. was born on May 1, 1848 in Evansville, Indiana where he was raised, he graduated from Evansville High School. From the outset of his career he was active in business and started many business ventures. Babcock's first job was with the Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad, commencing as a freight clerk at the Evansville depot, and working himself up to the position of general freight agent of the road.
Eventually Babcock left the railroad service to engage in developing the Bell Telephone Company, which controlled a large territory extending from Evansville to New Orleans; at the same time he held sole ownership of the Eugene Ice Company, with some five large houses and a number of agencies, and was a partner in the firm of E. S. Babcock & Son. It is generally thought that Babcock became acquainted with Charles T. Hinde in Evansville during the 1870s.
He died on September 1, 1922. He was married to Isabella Graham Babcock (died 1932).
Hotel del Coronado.
Originally Babcock came to southern California to regain his health, but when he sensed opportunity he established the Coronado Beach Company and began planning massive real estate investments. Using his training as a civil engineer he planned the construction of dams for water, and the Hotel del Coronado. Babcock and partners bought the land for $110,000 in 1885. However, the economy began to struggle and Babcock summoned his good friend Charles T. Hinde to come and help him save his investments. Through some luck John D. Spreckels decided to invest in the Santa Fe wharf in San Diego, the Hotel del Coronado, and purchase the dams. Later, Babcock, Hinde, and Spreckels, founded the Spreckels Brothers Commercial Company.
Babcock gave the William E. Ritter's "Marine Biological Association of San Diego", which later became the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the use of Hotel Del's boathouse as a summer laboratory from 1903 to 1903.


Allegheny and South Side Railway

The Allegheny and South Side Railway is an historic railroad that operated in Pennsylvania.
It was incorporated on September 20, 1892, to build from the city of Allegheny to the South Side of Pittsburgh, with a stated distance of 12 miles; A branch of 7 miles from Allegheny to 39th St. in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville section was also included. As Oliver had at the time recently purchased a portion of the Pittsburg Steel Casting Company at 36th St. and Smallman, and already owned a mill in the Woods Run section of what was then Allegheny, the line was clearly intended to connect all these. The Street Railway Journal described it as a private street railway chartered by Oliver and Roberts Wire, an Oliver Iron and Steel Company predecessor, and a submission to Poor's Manual of the railroads of the United States in 1894 reported completion of trackage between South 4th and South 22nd Sts., Pittsburgh as well as between Woods Run and the Point Bridge in what was then Allegheny. Its initial board of directors was composed of David, Henry, George and James Oliver, Charles Black and Henry Lupton. The officers were David Oliver, President, James Oliver, Vice President, Henry Lupton, Secretary-Auditor, James Oliver, Treasurer and D. S. Kamerer, General Superintendent. It was controlled through stock ownership by the Oliver Iron and Steel Company and for most of its existence had the purpose of performing a terminal switching service in the South Side section of Pittsburgh. (71 I.C.C. 90, 1922) By 1903, John Oliver had become President of the railroad. The railway maintained connections with the Pennsylvania Railroad's Monongahela Branch (technically with the Whitehall Branch, a branch from the Monongahela Branch), and with the main line of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad.
The early years.
While the original line paralleling the P&LE had been constructed under the guise of Oliver as the Pittsburgh & Whitehall Railroad, that road was subsequently sold to the PRR; Ultimately, only the portion paralleling the P&LE was leased back, to be operated in conjunction with trackage inside Oliver Iron and adjacent factories.
The initial locomotive, A&SS 9, was a 0-6-0 constructed by the Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works in 1896 on contract number 1605, was later sold to the Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Railway, where it retained its number. Number 11, also a Pittsburgh-built 0-6-0, arrived in 1898, built under contract 1862.
The trackage in Allegheny was not subsequently reported as part of the Allegheny and South Side, while at the same time the Oliver-founded [Pittsburgh and Western Railroad] had both prior and since included trackage in the area; Given the Lower Works passing from Oliver Iron's hands in 1897 a switching line for the iron company would have had little need for the trackage.
The company entered into agreements with the P&LE in 1904 and with the PRR in 1905 to switch carload freight to industries located between South 3rd St and South 21st Street. Loads came from the P&LE yard at South 10th St and the PRR yard at South 21st St. The company was reimbursed $1 per car by the PRR and the cost of the service performed by the P&LE. Because of the additional traffic, Baldwin 0-6-0T number 4 (contract 34710 of 1910), ALCo (Pittsburgh) 0-4-0T number 5 (contract 39950 of 1906) and 0-6-0T number 6 (contract 42745 of 1907) were delivered.
After the Industrial Railways Case (29 I.C.C. 212) was decided, the contracts were abrogated on April 1, 1914. The company continued to provide switching service over the intervening months, until new contracts subsequent to 32 I.C.C. 129 being decided (on November 2, 1914) were effected on December 9, 1914, with the PRR, and on December 22, 1914, with the P&LE. The contracts were applied retroactively to April 1. Under the new contracts, both trunk line railroads paid the actual cost of switching industries except A&SS owner Oliver Iron. On June 1, 1917, reimbursement of cost, up to 97 cents per car, began being paid for cars delivered to Oliver Iron.
Between the Wars.
It was decided in a 1921 Interstate Commerce Commission case 62 I.C.C. 248 Allegheny and S.S. Ry. Co. vs. Director General that the railroad did not meet the requirements of a common carrier, despite serving the unaffiliated Mackintosh-Hemphill Garrison Foundry Co., American Sheet and Tin Plate Co., and Newsome Feed and Grain Co., none of which were directly served by either of the Allegheny and South Side's connections. Not until 277 I.C.C. 119 nearly 30 years later would the commission reverse itself on petition from the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. In spite of this, when Oliver Iron sued the P&LE over needing to bear its own switching costs when certain local competitors did not during the period between the new 1914 contracts being signed and the 1917 beginning of reimbursement of costs for switching cars to Oliver Iron, the I.C.C. awarded Oliver costs for the 30-month period in which none had been paid to the A&SS, in 64 I.C.C. 477.
In 1923, the Schnabel Company, builders of coach bodies, became a tenant in the A&SS building at South 10th and Muriel Streets.
In 1936, the Pennsylvania Railroad delivered 8000 carloads to the A&SS during the first 11 months of the year.
The Postwar Era.
In the years after World War 2, the property dieselized with the purchase of a 1944 Whitcomb 65 ton 65DE-19a (ex-US Army) switcher, serial number 60410, from Mississippi Valley Equipment, their number 51, formerly Lancaster and Chester Railway; That unit became A&SS 100. It was soon followed by an EMD SW1 purchased new, with money loaned by the PRR and P&LE and repaid over time according to former officer Kenneth Haberman; That unit, serial number 14058, became A&SS 101. Haberman also reported that 2 EMD employees trained the railroad employees for a month on the SW1. It was painted the same green as A&SS 100. These 2 units replaced the 3 steam locomotives which formerly provided all service.
On March 12, 1952, the PRR, the P&LE and the A&SS drafted a new agreement regarding switching services which would be performed by the A&SS on behalf of the two larger railroads. A letter from P&LE Vice President C.M. Yohe to his counterpart J.A. Appleton at the PRR dated April 24, 1952, notes that this contract has been executed by all concerned parties, supplanting the December, 1914 contracts. This contract named Theodore F. Smith as the president of the A&SS in 1951 and 1952, and James C. Beech as secretary of the A&SS in 1952. Since at least 1929, Smith had been President of Oliver Iron & Steel.
The contract provided that the A&SS would operate switching services for the trunk line railroads at tariff, on tracks between South 3rd and South 21st Streets owned by the PRR as their Whitehall Branch, and on side tracks of the P&LE between those same streets, including intra-mill switching services. The exception was that tariffs would not be paid to the A&SS for switching the mills of its parent, the Oliver Iron and Steel Company. Further, tracks belonging to the Iron and Steel Company between 10th and 11th Streets were required by the contract to be maintained by the P&LE.
The files of the American Short Line Railroad Association show that subsequent to the I.C.C.'s 1950 decision, the Association solicited the A&SS for membership; Some time later, George B. Moser was appointed president, a position which he already held with the P&OV. (He was also trainmaster with the PC&Y at McKees Rocks.)
Advertising by the railroad in February 1959 listed the office at 1101 Muriel Street, Pittsburgh 3, Pa, and the officers as G.B. Moser, President, W.I. Schaffer, Vice President, and K.J. Haberman, Secretary-Treasurer-Controller. At the time they owned 3 freight cars and 2 diesel-electric locomotives.
Operations in the 1950s.
Kenneth J. Haberman, initially Chief Clerk, and then Secretary-Treasurer, recounted some details of operations.
The end.
The railroad's affairs were entwined in that of its parent company, and an insurance policy was issued to the parent company (beginning with the November 1957 policy, the Oliver Tyrone Corporation) for the facilities of the Iron and Steel company (including remote offices and the Berry Division in Corinth, Mississippi) as well as for the railroad. As a result of the June 1956 sale of the Oliver fastener business to Pittsburgh Screw and Bolt Company, that company first became a tenant in the Oliver facilities, and then pulled out entirely with the opening of their new plant just south of Mt. Pleasant. The last insurance policy on file with the P&LE was dated May 8, 1959, and was issued only to the railroad, as the former Oliver facilities including the railroad had been sold to Carson Industrial Development Corporation.
The railroad dissolved August 1, 1959, and the line became jointly operated by the PRR and the P&LE at that time, according to documents of the P&LE. The files of the American Short Line Railroad Association suggest that a new Buda diesel prime mover had been purchased to remotor the railroad's Whitcomb, but the Whitcomb itself had been resold to the nearby Jones and Laughlin Steel Company plant leaving the orphaned Buda to sell. This exchange happened in December, 1959, at which point Hiram Milton, later with the County Industrial Development Authority and then the Regional Industrial Development Corporation, was listed as representing the A&SS. EMD SW1 101 was sold to the Pittsburgh and Ohio Valley Railway where it continued its service into the 1990s and possibly later as Pittsburgh and Ohio Valley Railway 5. It was part of a group of EMD switchers which replaced 65 ton Whitcomb units like its former sibling at the A&SS. Details provided by Haberman suggest 30 days notice of cancellation were provided by the A&SS, after which the trackage was donated to the P&LE.
Customers.
The railroad serviced customers including the following, shown on ICC valuation maps: