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Badger Rails
May-June, 2013

Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers (WisARP)

Volume 31, Issue 3

Reduced State Rail Budget Maintains Hiawatha

State funding for Amtrak Hiawatha service will continue in the next biennium albeit at a reduced level, calling into question the future of other potential service enhancements. The Legislatures Joint Finance Committee voted April 30 to reduce the amount of funding for passenger rail programs by $1.1 million. Discussions with Amtrak about the cost to continue Hiawatha service under provisions of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) revealed lower costs going forward. Instead of reinvesting that cost savings in other rail services, the Legislature instead chose to reduce money available to passenger rail by a like amount, maintaining the status quo. Walker was expected to sign the budget into law sometime in June.
In a May 14 letter to Mike McCoy, president of All Aboard Wisconsin, State Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb said that current studies looking at increasing Hiawatha frequencies as well as adding a second Twin Cities train would continue this year, but future steps were in question. studies or activities will cost.

The feasibility study for a second daily Empire Builder frequency between Chicago and the Twin Cities is well underway, Gottlieb continued. The Wisconsin share of the study is funded with currentyear funds and will not be impacted by the reduction. Similar to the additional Hiawatha frequencies study, the next steps cannot be determined until the study is complete. Unlike the Hiawatha study, this study is in the initial stage feasibility. Once the feasibility study is complete, the various parties can review and discuss it. If all parties agree to proceed, next steps will be determined. However, at this time, future activities and costs are unknown. Gottlieb also commented on the status of renovations to the trainshed, or concourse, at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station (MIS). The improvements to the passenger concourse at the MIS are a priority, Gottlieb said. State and federal funding for that project has been secured for some time. The delays in the project have largely been due to federal oversight and federal regulations. The project is currently being redesigned due to a recent change in federal regulations and it is anticipated that the construction project contract will be let this fall. Until the redesign is complete, we will not have an updated cost estimate. However, the reduction is not anticipated to have an impact on the project. The issue surrounding the concourse redesign Continued on Page 2
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The current study regarding additional Hiawatha service frequencies is funded with current-year funds and will not be impacted by the reduction, Gottlieb said. As I understand it, the current study will stop somewhat short of full preliminary engineering. The results of the study and discussions with the various stakeholders will determine the next steps. However, at this time, it is not possible to determine what additional studies or activities will be needed, nor how much those

The State Budget and WisARPs Goals

By John Parkyn
Wisconsin's next budget is proceeding through the process in Madison at this time. I'll try to relate the current process to our goals (in bold): Maintain current service frequency on Hiawatha Service. The current estimate, as Amtrak is having other states come up to a support standard that we meet, is that we will maintain our current service levels at a cost of about $1.1M less. This has been a primary WisARP goal. Maintain Empire Builder service on the existing route. This is not a state funded effort and not at any kind of risk. Establish a second daily train to and from the Twin Cities on the existing route. The feasibility study which is multi-state is currently fully funded in the exiting state budget and will be completed. The next stage will be to consider implementation once costs are known. This will require additional funding and will be a WisARP priority for involvement. We will keep you informed on this outcome. It would require action in future budgets. Actions which are not specific WisARP goals but which we support: - Improvements to the Milwaukee passenger concourse have been delayed due to federal regulation changes. A construction contract is expected this fall and funds are secured, unless there is a great cost change. - Increased frequency of Hiawatha service. This study is fully funded and not impacted by the proposed budget. The next round will be negotiations and detailed cost studies. That round will need future funding. Any increased frequency will need future funding. As Wisconsin moves forward we will need to keep our legislators informed regarding our interest in maintaining current service and in expanding it.
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The state budget going forward does not appear to have the large deficits of some previous ones and this will make our case easier to advance if we persist with a rational but continuous message. If you have any concerns or suggestions, please contact me. -- John Parkyn, WisARP President

Budget

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hinges on accessibility to trains for persons with disabilities. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) had issued a revised rule in September, 2011 for station platforms to become compatible with standards as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act. WisDOT previously had a plan in place for the Concourse renovation but it did not meet the requirements of the revised rule. The State announced in September, 2012 that it would be seeking a waiver from the federal accessibility standards from the FRA, but that waiver was not forthcoming. The State therefore has had to modify its plans. Complicating the redesign is the varying door heights of equipment used at Milwaukee, with Horizon car doors 48 inches above the top of the rail and Superliner doors 15 inches above the rail. A high level, roll-on, roll-off platform might work for the former, but be too high for the latter. There are also issues related to platform set-backs from the tracks required by freight railroads which could put platforms further from the car, requiring bridge plates. This is an issue not only at Milwaukee: Amtrak faces the same issues at more than 400 stations nationwide. One solution for the Hiawatha corridor could have involved the Talgo equipment, which contains onboard wheelchair lifts. There is nothing new to report on the fate of the two Wisconsin trains, as litigation between Talgo and the State continues in Dane County Circuit Court.

Notes on Wisconsin Service from WisARPs April Meeting

By Mark Weitenbeck Milwaukee Downtown Station. Requests for bids
Ron Adams of the Wisconsin DOT started by talking about the PRIIA act, state supported Amtrak services, and how it would affect Wisconsin. He talked about how costs are calculated and he felt that Wisconsins payment to Amtrak wouldnt change much. He believed there was enough money in the budget to cover the projected costs. He also mentioned how California, Washington, New York and Michigan would now have to start paying for services that were part of the national system, but that under PRIIA would require state payments. On other topics: Hiawatha Service. Ron acknowledged that there is a problem with standees on some trains. The trainsets currently have six coaches. If a seventh coach is added a second assistant conductor would need to be added to the crew. WisDOT, along with the FRA, Metra, CP and UP, is studying what it would take to add three more frequencies. (Two of the three would be Hiawatha Service and the third would be a second Chicago St. Paul frequency.) At a yet to be determined increase in frequencies, CP is willing to give up use of its line from Milwaukee to Rondout (Metra owns the track from Rondout south) and run their freights on the UP New Line. This study is supposed to be done sometime this fall. New Midwest Bilevel cars. The bid on the Midwest bilevels (ordered by Illlinois, Michigan, etc.) came in at 30% under budget. This means 12 more bilevels could be built and still be within budget. WisDOT is working with the other states to see if the 12 could be built for Wisconsin. The other states need to approve the Wisconsin proposal. If these were used to replace the Horizon cars in Hiawatha service, capacity on each trainset would go from 420 to 500+. Locomotives. Wisconsin will participate with other states in a locomotive order. The order will be for a minimum of 35 locomotives. Milwaukee Airport Station. The platform extension project is complete.
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Milwaukee Downtown Station. Requests for bids should go out this summer for the trainshed/concourse reconstruction. The project will take 15-18 months to complete. The caf in the station is expanding. Second Frequency Chicago St Paul. The study should be out in June. There is support for a second train. Additional service on an existing route is a much easier sell than new service on a new route. In addition, Minnesota is doing a multiple frequency study with CP and Amtrak. Minnesota is also doing a Twin Cities Duluth study. State Railplan. WisDOT now has approval to complete the railplan. There should be public hearings in May. The railplan needs to be done in order to qualify for certain federal programs. Commuter Rail. Since the legislature abolished the RTAs, commuter rail is dead for now. Talgo Trainsets. Since the litigation involving the Talgo trainsets is ongoing, Ron could not comment on their status. Ron ended by telling us that he would be retiring in July and that people were already applying for his position. (Editorial note: Ron will be missed by WisARP. He was always willing to speak to us. His openness will be missed. We can only hope that his successor will show the same respect for openness that Ron did.)

Illinois Manages Locomotive Purchase

Locomotive builders' efforts to create the next generation of U.S. high speed rail passenger locomotives will start with Illinois. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced March 21 that the Federal Railroad Administration chose the state transportation department as the lead agency to purchase at least 35 locomotives. Once purchased, the equipment would be destined for statesponsored systems in Illinois, California, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington. Continued on Page 4

Illinois from Page 3

This decision by the federal government is a testament to Illinois role as a national leader in high-speed rail, Gov. Quinn says. This important multi-state procurement is a key to success for highspeed rail throughout the nation, and I have directed my administration to move forward quickly. According to the governor's office, the Illinois Department of Transportation will be responsible to the FRA for managing much of the federal agency's $808 million set aside for purchasing the locomotives. IDOT will plan and collaborate with other states' DOTs and the FRA to best meet the needs and requirements of each partnering government. Following significant analysis and consideration, FRA recommends that IDOT be the lead agency for the multi-state locomotive procurement, the FRA states in its decision letter. We are confident that your team jointly with the significant contributions from California, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington will manage the procurement process and stakeholder involvement that will lead to a successful contract award. In 2012, IDOT was part of a California-led multistate effort to purchase 130 next-generation bi-level rail cars for high-speed service. Railcars from that contract are being built by Nippon-Sharyo in its Rochelle, Ill., factory, 88 of which are slated for use on Chicago-based high speed rail corridors. Costs for production of these new cars is reportedly running 30% below budget, possibly making funding available for additional cars. In related news, Nippon-Sharyo broke ground April 30 on an expansion of the firms Rochelle factory. The expansion involves construction of a new building for the metal fabrication and machining production. In the new facility, major parts and components for the car bodies will be manufactured using U.S. made raw materials. The company said that a continuous process from raw material to the complete car body under the strict production and quality control is expected to lower the overall costs.
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Second Talgo Train Heads to Seattle

Mt. Bachelor westbound at Duplainville. Andre Wehrle photo.

More than 1,200 people participated in a monthlong Oregon DOT survey to name Oregons new Talgo passenger trains, and the winners rose easily above the others: Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Bachelor are the names for the two new 13-car trainsets. Oregonians were invited to rank names that included the above plus Mt. McLoughlin, Mt. Scott and Mt. Thielsen. All of the names received some votes for most favorite, but in the end, Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Bachelor topped the lists by several hundred votes. The first trainset, formerly known as ODOT No. 1 and now known as Mt. Jefferson, is in Seattle undergoing employee familiarization and corridor testing. When it arrived in Oregon in April, Oregon DOT staff videotaped portions of its journey; the video is now available on YouTube. ODOT No. 2 (or Mt. Bachelor) left Milwaukee for Seattle May 21. The two new trains will join five others on the Amtrak Cascades corridor, providing service from Eugene to Vancouver, B.C. Each of the new trains offers seating for 275 passengers, a bistro car, a dining car, bicycle storage, business class seating and other amenities. Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Bachelor will be rotated into revenue service later this summer.
Source: Oregon DOT

Work Slated to Minimize Dangers of Washington State Mudslides

BNSF, Amtrak, Sound Transit, and the Washington State Department of Transportation will spend $16.1 million to study and ease the problem of mudslides, focusing on six different sites near Everett where 95 percent of the slides have occurred. According to WSDOT program manager David Smelser, the work will include ditch and slope stabilization and constructing concrete retaining walls. Since November 2012, mudslides have plagued BNSF's Scenic Subdivision between Everett and Seattle in one of the worse slide years in the railroad's history. In less than six months, more than 200 mudslides have fallen along the mainline, 56 of which blocked the tracks. This winter, more than 330 Amtrak Cascades or Sound Transit passenger trains were canceled or disrupted and on April 7, in perhaps the most dramatic episode yet, three-cars of the westbound Empire Builder derailed after being hit with a slide. It was the second train hit since December. Based on historic data and measuring systems, we can honestly say this has been one of the most problematic years we've ever had, BNSF Railway spokesperson Gus Melonas said. Mudslides have always been a problem for railroads in the Pacific Northwest, especially the former Great Northern along Puget Sound. Leaving Seattle, the mainline runs north with water on one side and 200 to 300 foot cliffs on the other. In fact, this year is not the first time the Empire Builder fell victim to the earth. On Dec. 27, 1959, four diesel locomotives were swept into the Puget Sound after being hit by two landslides from a 150-foot hillside. No passengers were hurt in the slide, but the Coast Guard had to rescue the engineer and fireman. Melonas says slides and wet winters are a part of railroading in the Pacific Northwest, but the last two years have been especially tough. Two winters ago, there were four slides that blocked the mainline. A year later there were 44 blocking events. Melonas blames the 56 slides this winter on an endless amount of rain.
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Other possible contributors to the slides are home developments high above the ledges and aging water systems draining out on the face of the slope. A lot of the slides don't start on (railroad) property, Melonas says. But we're stuck at the bottom with a shovel. WSDOT's David Smelser says the state and railroad will be working with local residents and municipalities to improve water drainage from the top of the slopes. Smelser says extending culverts from the middle of a slope all the way to the ditch at the bottom could alleviate some of the issues. A $16.1 million federal grant, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will pay for the work. Primary engineering and design work began in late 2012. Construction at the first location should begin sometime during the summer of 2013. Officials hoped the work could reduce the number of slides along BNSF's Scenic Subdivision, but no one pretended it would be catchall solution. After all that's the challenge of building a railroad through a rainforest, Melonas said.
Source: Trains Newswire

Seattle Station Renovated

The city of Seattle officially reopened King Street Stations main waiting room April 24, completing a major public space renovation and seismic retrofit. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and other guests officially reopened the waiting room to public use by ceremonially relighting its grand chandelier. Rescuing it from decades of neglect, the Seattle Department of Transportation performed a top to bottom rehabilitation of the stations public spaces while also repairing and improving the main building, clock tower and all building systems. Rail passengers will now enjoy modern station amenities alongside historic beauty. "King Street Station is a great example of how Seattle works hard to protect and make use of its Continued on Page 6

Seattle from Page 5

historical buildings," Mayor McGinn says. "I congratulate SDOT on reaching this important milestone in their work. And I invite everyone to come down and check out the beautiful waiting room." Over the past five years, the SDOT has completed the following station enhancements: - Refurbished the clock tower, repaired its clock and removed the old microwave antenna mast; - Installed a new terracotta roof to replace the old, leaky roof; - Seismically strengthened the station and its tower; - Upgraded all mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems; - Created a new Jackson Street Plaza from an old parking lot; - Restored the grand staircase to use (open to the public in early May); - Created a new ticketing area, baggage area and office space for Amtrak; - Installed an elevator to make the station ADA compliant; - Rehabilitated the main waiting room to feature its elegant plaster ceiling, marble walls, terrazzo tile floor and grand chandelier. "Even though the King Street Station had fallen on hard times, the City seized the opportunity to breathe new life into a beautiful building that has served travelers to and from Seattle since 1906," City council member Tom Rasmussen says. "The City paid BNSF Railway $10 for the station and Seattle voters approved spending $10 million to help pay for restoration. The result is all that we had hoped for. Seattle is proud of the King Street Station, which is ready to welcome millions of visitors in its second century of service." King Street Station serves more than four million passengers a year using Amtrak trains, Amtrak Thruway Motorcoaches and Sounder commuter rail, and the station remained fully operational throughout construction. It also acts as one of three intermodal transportation hubs in downtown Seattle. For the southern portion of the city, the station
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enhances transportation connections between long distance rail, commuter rail and intercity buses, along with convenient access to Link light rail, Metro buses and, in the future, the First Hill Streetcar line. The multi-year project was financed with $10 million from the city as well as significant contributions from the Federal Railroad Administration ($16.7 million), Federal Transit Administration ($18.9 million), and Washington State ($10.1 million). The installation of seismic steel to strengthen the historic train station was a significant part of the projects construction costs. Of the $55 million total project budget, 42 percent of it was spent on steel and its design and installation to protect the station during an earthquake. The stations clock was stopped and disassembled to aid with seismic steel installation. The department plans to restart it in early May.
Source: Trains Newswire

Badger Rails is published 6 times per year by the Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers, a notfor-profit Wisconsin membership association. WisARP President is John Parkyn, Stoddard, WI, (608)7887004, email: cen10297@centurytel.net Badger Rails Editor is Jim Sponholz. Please send comments or news items to: badgerrails@gmail.com Send membership questions/address changes to: Mark Weitenbeck, 3385 S. 119th St., West Allis, WI 53227 email: weitenbeck@sbcglobal.net Important Links: WisARP on the Web: www.wisarp.org National Association of Railroad Passengers: www.narprail.org Midwest High Speed Rail Association: http://www.midwesthsr.org/ AllAboardWisconsin Twitter Site: https://twitter.com/allaboardwis

Minot Depot Back in Service after 2011 Flood

Minot's Amtrak depot is back to the condition it was in prior to historic Souris River flooding in 2011. The depot and boarding platform were damaged by the high water, and passenger service was interrupted for five months. In November 2011, officials began using a temporary waiting room and ticket office. When the Empire Builder pulled into the depot on April 23, it was the first time the main waiting room and ticket office were used since the flood, the Minot Daily News reported. "This is an important stop on the Empire Builder route, and it was heartbreaking to us at Amtrak when the flood came, after everything the community had done to turn the station into a showcase here in this part of North Dakota," Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. Repairs to the building cost half a million dollars, he said. An open house celebration at the depot was held on May 11, National Train Day.
Source: Trains Newswire

Celebrations Held on Train Day 2013

Train Day 2013, was celebrated in a number of cities on the route of the Empire Builder and elsewhere, with speeches and displays. The May 11 events marked the 6th anniversary of the national movement celebrating railroads. At Chicago Union Station, thousands of visitors thronged the Great Hall. Representatives of WisARP and the National Railroad Historical Society's Wisconsin Chapter staffed a table on behalf of Talgo, adjacent to a table manned by the editors of Trains Magazine. The Midwest High Speed Rail Association also had representatives handing out information. In Milwaukee, All Aboard Wisconsin held a press conference officially kicking off the group's activities in the State. The event was covered by local media outlets. At LaCrosse, a press event was held by Mayor Tim Kabat, assisted by WisARP members. A slightly tardy Empire Builder arrived late for the party. In Winona, MN, there were refreshments and a presentation on the town's railroad history as well as the station's recent nomination to the National Historic Register. In St. Paul, there was a presentation on the renovation of the historic station, a concert and station tours.

Oil Field Stop for Empire Builder Studied

Amtrak plans to study the feasibility of adding a stop in Culbertson, MT for people traveling to the Baaken region for work. The Billings Gazette reported May 22 that U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus requested the study to give oil field workers another travel option. They note that the oil field jobs are drawing workers from all over Montana, but some are finding it difficult to make the long commute. The senators' letter to Amtrak notes that housing, an extended-stay motel and two other motels are being built in Culbertson to accommodate the increasing number of oilfield workers. Culbertson Mayor Gordon Oelkers said the town has a building where the Amtrak stop could be located.
Source: billingsgazette.com

Above: Train Day at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station

Talgo train Mt. Bachelor heads west May 21, 2013 near Columbus, WI. Den Adler photo.