Florida Transportation Today

CSX replaces some tracks

 SOUTH TAMPA -- Several small businesses in South Tampa are bracing for a major road closure scheduled for next week.

Dale Mabry, just north of Gandy Boulevard will be shut down in both direction for several days as CSX replaces some older railroad tracks, including ties and rails.

Florida DOT is handling the road closure part of the project, which will be north of Gandy Boulevard and south of Fair Oaks.

Detours will take traffic along Bay to Bay Boulevard and then north or south on either MacDill or Manhattan Avenue, depending upon which way drivers need to travel.

“It’s a busy stretch, but the only way to replace the rails is to shut it down, get it done quickly, and if we have good weather, we may be able to open it up earlier,” said FDOT spokesperson Kris Carson.

Two trains currently use the stretch of rail being replaced, making runs to the Port of Tampa five days a week, but some 34,000 motorist use the same section of road daily.

Several more closings are taking place this month, including August 15-18 at Howard Ave. between Watrous and Morrison Avenues; August 22-25, 21st Street between 5th and 7th Avenues in Ybor will be closed; and South MacDill at Santiago Street.

From August 29 through September 1, Euclid Ave. between Himes and Lynwood Avenues will be closed for rail work, as well as Doyle Carlton Drive between Cass and Polk streets.

Modest gains in weekly rail traffic

 
    File photo | Leo King

    General freight showed modest gains last week, says the AAR. This northbound local CSX train has just passed Wells Road in Orange Park in 2007.

  WASHINGTON – The Association of American Railroads (AAR) yesterday reported modest gains in weekly rail traffic, with U.S. railroads originating 287,321 carloads for the week ending August 6, 2011, up 0.4 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 235,568 trailers and containers, up 1.9 percent compared with the same week last year.

Thirteen of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases from the comparable week in 2010, including: iron and steel scrap, up 37.6 percent; metal and products, up 14.2 percent, and farm products excluding grain, up 13.6 percent. Groups showing a decrease in weekly traffic included: grain, down 22.5 percent, and waste and nonferrous scrap, down 14.2 percent.

Weekly carload volume on Eastern railroads was up 3.7 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, weekly carload volume was down 1.8 percent compared with the same week in 2010.

For the first 31 weeks of 2011, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 8,938,230 carloads, up 2.2 percent from the same point last year, and 6,987,350 trailers and containers, up 6.7 percent from last year.

Canadian railroads reported 72,493 carloads for the week, up 2.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and 47,353 trailers and containers, down 4.3 percent compared with 2010. For the first 31 weeks of 2011, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,296,140 carloads, up 2.4 percent from the same point last year, and 1,461,867 trailers and containers, up 2.2 percent from last year.

Mexican railroads reported 13,918 carloads for the week, up 1.6 percent compared with the same week last year, and 9,034 trailers and containers, up 23.9 percent.

Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 31 weeks of 2011 was 444,419 carloads, up 5 percent compared with the same point last year, and 247,706 trailers and containers, up 24.5 percent.

Combined North American rail volume for the first 31 weeks of 2011 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 11,678,789 carloads, up 2.3 percent compared with the same point last year, and 8,696,923 trailers and containers, up 6.3 percent compared with last year.

CSX okays 15-mile trail use extension

WASHINGTON – CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) said yesterday it’s okay to extend a deadline to make nearly 18 miles of its West Virginia track to become a trail.

Marion County Commissioners requested a notice of interim trail use-rail banking for approximately 17.51 miles of CSX railroad in its Southern Region, Huntington Division East, Fairmont Subdivision, between Barrackville, milepost BS-306.32 and Mannington, milepost BS-319.48, including the Dents Run Spur between milepost BSB 0.00 and milepost BSB 4.35.

The last extension of the negotiating period would have expired in September.

Richard Walton, the county’s Planning and Development Director, told the STB “A lot has transpired since the date of the last extension request. The county and CSXT have entered into an agreement for the corridor. There are a lot of details to the agreement including an environmental assessment. These details and tests are being worked out and the county and CSXT hope to have everything completed and the property transferred by December 31.”

CSXT attorney Louis Gitomer responded, “CSXT agrees to the 180-day extension of time until March 4, 2012 to negotiate interim trail use-rail banking for the 17.51-mile rail line.”

Now both parties await the three STB members to decide if the extension is okay.

CSX is headquartered in Jacksonville.

Why CSX sues successful asbestos lawyers for racketeering: RICO

 
Photo | Leo King

CSX is taking a prominent West Virginia law firm to court.

 Editor’s note: The following article came to us from Litigation & Trial blog, www.litigationandtrial.com/ as Rich Lord reported at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 PITTSBURGH – The quarry has turned on the hunter in a West Virginia courtroom, and now one of the nation’s biggest transportation companies is locked in a bitter fight with one of Pittsburgh’s most prominent trial law firms.

After years of feeling like they were being railroaded by asbestosis lawsuits, lawyers for CSX Transportation in 2005 sued Robert Peirce & Associates, accusing it of fraud and negligence in the massive cases it brought. The Jacksonville-based corporation lost a 2009 trial, but in court filings in recent weeks it detailed a new theory — that the Peirce firm is a racketeering-influenced corrupt organization that has committed wire fraud and mail fraud in its pursuit of claimants and settlements.

Prominent advocates for both the plaintiffs’ bar and defense bar said they could not think of another case in which a corporation that endured mass litigation retaliated by turning the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statute against its tormentor. They disagreed on the significance of the development.

“The requirements [to prove RICO] are significant and pretty hard to meet under most circumstances,” said Christopher Placitella, a prominent litigator and writer on asbestosis law with the Philadelphia-based plaintiffs’ firm Cohen Placitella & Roth.

“You really have to have a unique set of facts” including a conspiracy, multiple criminal acts and a resulting loss of property.

As a result, other plaintiffs’ firms aren’t likely to be chilled by one RICO case, he said.

This isn’t entirely breaking news; six months ago the Fourth Circuit reinstated the case over statute of limitations defenses, reported about here by the anti-consumer folks at Forbes. The full complaint is new, though.

Suing trial lawyers for bringing successful mass torts cases is something of a fad these days. On the verge of losing litigation they asked be transferred to Ecuador, Chevron has sued the lawyers for the Lago Agrio Ecuadorian plaintiffs alleging RICO violations in the form of judicial tampering. Last year, Illinois Central Railroad won a verdict against two plaintiffs’ attorneys in Mississippi, alleging fraud in the pursuit of two asbestos cases by way of the plaintiffs’ lawyers failure to notify the railroad that the plaintiffs had participated in a prior asbestos-related case.

Placitella said, “I don’t fault the reporter for knowing about it, but I do indeed know of another, just like the new CSX lawsuit against Robert Peirce, in which:

 •a large corporation did something bad that harmed a lot of people,

 •a particular plaintiffs’ law firm developed a specialty in those claims,

 •the plaintiffs’ firm got so good at their niche that they were consistently making a lot of money, and, armed with just the right discovery, legal theories, and experts, were able to negotiate premium settlement, then, after a few cases didn’t win, the large corporation turned around and sued the trial lawyers under RICO allegations, alleging the whole thing was a scheme to defraud the corporation, etc.”

The complete article can be found at www.litigationandtrial.com/

Man dies after train hits him

 ORLANDO – A man who may have been intoxicated died early Wednesday when he was struck by a train in downtown Orlando, police said.

The man may have been walking on the tracks when the CSX train hit him near South Street about 1:30 a.m. Police think the man may have been homeless and under the influence of alcohol, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The man has not yet been identified, according to Orlando police.

CSX builds Louisville intermodal hub

 

    Photo | Leo King

        Louisville is getting a new intermodal terminal.

 JACKSONVILLE. – CSX said yesterday that a privately-funded $15 million, 34-acre intermodal terminal will be constructed in Louisville, Ky. The railroad is headquarteres in this Northeastern Florida city.

The terminal is slated to begin operations in early 2012 and will be built and operated by CSX Intermodal Terminals and will employ about a dozen people. When it opens, it will provide inbound and outbound daily train service connecting through the company’s Northwest Ohio Intermodal Terminal to markets across CSX Transportation’s (CSXT) broader 21,000-route mile network. From there, shipments will connect to service destined throughout the country.

The initial train service will be designed to capture the immediate market demands of the Louisville area and provide capacity for growth as business demands.

The new facility is between CSXT’s Osborne Yard and the Louisville Industrial Center near Louisville International Airport (Standiford-SDF). Trucks serving the terminal are expected to use I-65, the Outer Loop and National Turnpike.

The terminal development project includes installing new track, pavement, drainage, gates for inbound and outbound containers, and refurbishing two buildings for offices.

“CSX consistently looks to provide quality rail service for the regions it serves,” said Wilby Whitt, president of CSX Intermodal Terminals. “We have a long and proud history of helping Kentucky’s economy thrive, and we believe this new facility will help increase the benefits available to businesses and residents in the greater Louisville region.”

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer “CSX’s private investment in a new intermodal terminal in Louisville is good news on many fronts. It is a statement of confidence in the region’s economy by a private sector company, it will create jobs, and it will further strengthen the region’s transportation infrastructure, providing businesses access to more efficient, cost-effective transportation.”

CSX engine overturns in Georgia

 DOCTORTOWN, Ga. — Authorities say a man has been taken to a hospital after he was injured when a train derailed in south Georgia.

WTOC-TV Savannah reports the derailment happened Thursday in the small Wayne County town of Doctortown, on CSX tracks west of U.S. Highway 84.

Authorities said an engine on a CSX freight train turned on its side and several cars derailed.

Officials said the accident occurred in a remote area, and an injured man had to be driven in a truck to a waiting ambulance on a main road.

The man’s condition was not available nor his name. The cause of the derailment is under investigation by authorities and CSX.

Useful website: http://www.wtoctv.com/

SunRail grade crossings ok’d

 ORLANDO – At its July meeting, the MetroPlan Orlando board approved a staff analysis of the 96 crossings along phase one of the SunRail corridor to determine what is necessary to bring the crossings to a quiet zone-ready state.

To improve safety at railroad crossings, the Federal Railroad Administration established the latest version of the federal train horn rule in 2005, requiring train operators to sound train horns in advance of all highway crossings. The rule gives communities along rail lines the option of silencing horns by establishing quiet zones. In order to exercise this option, crossings must have the required safety engineering improvements to reduce the risk of collisions.

“SunRail is the region’s number one transportation priority and keeping the community safe at railroad crossings is crucial,” said MetroPlan Orlando Chairman and Orange County Commissioner Bill Segal.

“I’m pleased that the Municipal Advisory Committee brought this matter to the board’s attention. It’s an opportunity for us to coordinate with the communities along the SunRail line and improve safety for everyone,” he added.

The advisory committee, which is made up of elected officials from Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties, initially decided to form a Quiet Zone Subcommittee in March 2010 to discuss ways to improve safety and ensure quality of life for municipalities in the SunRail Corridor Committee members concluded that support was needed from the MetroPlan Orlando board to conduct the quiet zones analysis.

The staff analysis will include coordination with the Florida DOT and Volusia Transportation Planning Organization.

Once complete, staff will make a recommendation on the potential project cost and scope of work and will strive to identify funding within the MetroPlan Orlando work program that may be used should contractual services be required. If staff determines that contractual services are needed, they will approach the board for approval at the September meeting.

The Federal Railroad Administration recently instructed FDOT to complete a statewide plan to improve safety at railroad crossings. The quiet zones analysis will put Central Florida ahead of the curve on this issue.

MetroPlan Orlando is the metropolitan transportation planning organization for Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties.

Trains abound in Jacksonville

Passenger and freight trains crawl across the city

Photo feature | Leo King

JACKSONVILLE – This northeastern Florida city is rife with trains. For example, consider this CSX intermodal train leaving the city and Moncrief Yard today. The engineer is looking at a restricting signal – yellow on the bottom of a stack of three – to continue southward to the Florida East Coast Ry. connection. The upper lights on the mast are red. Lead engine 7329 is an ex-Conral CW40-8. Amtrak will follow part of this route in less than one hour. Other CSX crews are switching various branch lines around the city, from the docks at JaxPort to the former Seaboard Air Line route to Yulee.

Amtrak’s lengthy Silver Meteor train No. 97, is running about 20 minutes late as it rounds CSX’s south leg of Honeymoon wye en route to Miami. The train originated in New York City yesterday at 3:15 p.m. in Penn Station (NYP). The engineer has a clear signal leaving Jacksonville. A pair of P-42s, each developing 4,200 horsepower, are moving the train at the posted passenger train speed limit,30 mph (25 for freights), around the curve and Duke’s Crossing. That’s a place that used to connect over a diamond to the right in the photo, which is out of service. Track has been torn up and major rock distributor Conrad Yelvington Distributors gets its rocks from another entryway, on the far side of Yelvington yard, to the right of the passenger train. They even have their own switcher. The other leg of the wye has been long gone, so if commuter service ever begins along this route, it will have to be rebuilt. The diamond is still in place where No. 97 is traveling, but it has been removed from the other track. Duke's Crossing is disconnected at both ends on what was Yelvington's lead.

 

 
 No. 97 traverses CSX’s posted speed sign. The engines are passing MP 643.

 

 

 

Yelvington’s switcher appears to be an elderly GP-30.

 

After Amtrak’s No 97 cleared the Moncrief yard tracks and was on its way down CSX’s A Line to Miami, a Norfolk Southern intermodal train made its way from Simpson Yard in northern Jacksonville and passes Moncrief toward the FEC. It’s a run-through that will become FEC’s No. 101 – FEC’s only hotshot. It will depart Bowden Yard at around 1:30 p.m. today and arrive at Hialeah Yard in Miami at about 8:30 tonight.

 

 
 Map | Google Earth 

 These photos were snapped on July 28 between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. The sites were near Dennis Street in one of the city’s industrial neighborhoods.

Last updated July 28 at 11:30 p.m. EDT.

 

Ward won’t agree with feds over HSR

Photo | Leo King

CSX’s Ward won’t agree with feds over high-speed rail, nor higher-speed rail.

 

 NEW YORK – President Barack Obama’s plan to connect 80 percent of Americans to high-speed rail service within 25 years depends on the cooperation of all of the biggest U.S. railroads but CSX’s Michael Ward is standing in his way.

Ward is CSX Corp. CEO, and is the only major U.S. rail CEO who hasn’t struck a final agreement with federal regulators to raise the speed of passenger trains that run on his tracks. The railroad is headquartered in Jacksonville.

Earlier this year, Gov. Rick Scott, R, spurned $2.5 billion in federal funds for what would have been Florida's first high-speed railroad.

Bloomberg News reported today Ward, who tripled profit to $1.56 billion after taking over in 2003, says faster passenger trains may disrupt freight service. They could have the biggest effect in congested New York, home to three of CSX’s major yards.

Ward is resisting government efforts to solve what he calls a “societal issue” by moving people by rail, when it conflicts with shareholder interests.

If the theme sounds familiar, it should: It’s one underpinning of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” the anti-regulation manifesto Ward has read seven times.

 “You can’t make money hauling passengers, so why would I want to do that?” Ward said in an interview in April. “That wouldn’t be fair to my shareholders.”

Ward is fighting in New York to limit passenger-train speed on CSX’s upstate lines to 90 mph. That pits him against the state, which demands 110 mph to offer riders the fastest travel and more frequent service between Albany and Buffalo.

Ward insists the state build separate, dedicated tracks if it wants faster passenger trains.

“You’ve got this fight between ‘Are the passengers going to be late or are the intermodal trains going to be late?’“ said John Mims, an analyst with BB&T Capital Markets.

Intermodal shipments, which can move by rail, highway and sea, are climbing at the four biggest U.S. railroads as long-haul shipping shifts to trains.

“Where the rails have stepped up — and CSX is at [the] top of this — is their ability to deliver a comparable product” to trucks, Mims said. That includes ensuring on-time delivery, historically rail’s weak point against trucking.

“For years, we’d been losing business to trucks,” Ward said. “There’s no more efficient way to move things on ground than a steel wheel on the steel rail.”