Author: Jim Pearson
ELIZABETHTOWN, KY (WAVE) – Paducah and Louisville Railway announced Feb. 21 that it will undertake a $9 million effort to replace a bridge built in the 1880’s that uses its tracks.
Next to Fort Knox, one of the two Muldraugh railroad bridges known as “Bridges to the Past,” will be replaced by a bridge 83 feet tall, spanning 570 feet. The railway says it will ensure freight service on the bridge is safe and reliable.
“This bridge provides an important link from western Kentucky, the Hardin County – Meade County area, Fort Knox and Louisville,” said Paducah and Louisville Railway representative Tom Garrett.
The bridge construction will support about 290 jobs in Hardin County.
Copyright 2011 WAVE News. All rights reserved.
Submitted by Bill Grady
While in a meeting with some friends this week at a local dive, we got into a discussion of comparing apps (application software) for smart phones such as the i-Phone, Blackberry, Droid, etc. I was introduced to 5-O Radio. It’s a web-based scanner app that pulls audio feed from scanners directed to internet sites. Although it does not allow you to simply input scanner frequencies, the $1.99 version (Pro) does allow you to do a search for particular sources. I came across several railroad subdivisions, but only one CSX sub – in Michigan. But, I can now listen in to local police, fire, EMS, and public safety calls on my i-Phone. If you have an App suggestion, drop me a line via phone, or email, bill@fbcmadisonville.com. My mailing address is Bill Thomas, 1025 Lakewood Drive, Madisonville, KY 42431. I look forward to hearing from you.
Amtrak is calling “all kids—young and old” to join the coast-to-coast celebration of train love. On Saturday, May 7th, hundreds of National Train Day festivities are taking place across the country including four major events in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago. At each you can enjoy: Free live entertainment, Interactive and educational exhibits, Kids activities, Model train displays, Tours of Amtrak equipment, freight and commuter trains, and of notable private railroad cars, and much more. You can attend an event near you, host one of your own, or participate online. Start the celebration today at nationaltrainday.com.
Join us on a truly rare mileage adventure May 6-9, 2011
Submitted by Don Clayton
Schedule: Thursday, May 5. Passengers may board equipment at St. Louis station any time after 8PM.
Friday, May 6. We leave for Paducah on CN/IC via Du Quion and Akin/Rust Jct. From Akin Jct. We take the Edgewood cutoff to Metropolis, cross the Ohio River and enter Paducah on the Paducah & Illinois RR. This afternoon we take a tour of the former IC locomotive shops. (now VMV division of NRE). Lunch courtesy of NRE. Dinner on your own in Paducah.
Saturday, May 7. Optional trip on the Paducah & Louisville RR (ex-IC) to Princeton, KY and return. Dinner on your own in Paducah.
Sunday, May 8. Paducah to Galesburg on the BNSF via Centralia and Beardstown. Overnight in Galesburg.
Monday, May 9. Galesburg to Chicago on BNSF via Denrock and Savanna.
Equipment will include ex-Santa Fe “Big Dome,” Cimarron River, Caritas and Swift Stream (6 dbr. Lounge; ex NYC).
Fares: St. Louis-Paducah to Chicago: $2995; roomette supplement: $200. Paducah and Louisville trip on Saturday, May 7: $250.
Contact:
HIGH IRON TRAVEL CORP.
P.O. BOX 337
Waunakee, WI 53597
608-467-7835
www.highirontravel.com
For the Government of Railfans Only
- West Kentucky NRHS Chapter Meeting – March 28, Madisonville, L&N Depot, 7pm.
- 401 (Southern) In Steam, April 16, 17, Monticello (IL) Railway Museum
- Nickel Plate 765 Excursions, several dates this summer, http://www.hoosiervalley.org/visit/schedules/steam-excursions/
- Rock Island IL Train Festival, July 21-24, 2011, http://www.trainfestival2011.com
2011 is shaping up to be a busy year for the Paducah & Louisville RR thanks to Cane Run Coal facility in Louisville and a new NS train. Cane Run is up to three loaded trains a week. The empties return to Armstrong Coal, at McHenry, KY, Ohio County, for reloading.
The NS unit coal train (70J and 71J) loads at Alliance Coal at Princeton, Indiana, proceeds east across the NS (former Southern Ry) to Louisville, and interchanges with P&L in Louisville. Then it travels P&L to Jessup, KY (Kentucky Lake) to be unloaded. This sequence runs about two times a week and has NS power. The Mill Creek trains are still a daily operation.
The freight business is steadily rebounding and management wants to start running LP3 (Louisville-Paducah, southbound) and PL4 (Paducah-Louisville, northbound) six nights a week – the way we used to do it. It’s my understanding the only thing stopping that right now is a crew and power shortage.
The cement plant at Kosmosdale and the daytime local that serves it should be in full swing sometime in March or April. – Submitted by Bill Grady, Louisville, KY
Those of you who know a little about using scanners to listen in on radio communications while railfanning know that the industry is changing with CSX is poised to lead the way.
However, this may come at a hefty price to railfans – the adoption of FCC emission designator 4K00F1E, otherwise known as NXDN digital format – something that is not available in any current scanners (not even the high end digital ones).
The NXDN realization hit home early in 2011 here in Lafayette as callsign KEX475, otherwise known as CSX’s license for Shops Yard, was modified to include the new NXDN digital format. This same format is utilized by Christian County for all of it’s public safety communications, and will soon be utilized by Hopkins County public safety. The format is proving very prevalent as a cost alternative to the more universal APCO-25 (like that used by Kentucky State Police and numerous other states).
So is this the end of railroad scanning? No, not yet. The switch is still a ways out, but there’s more than one way to skin the proverbial cat… There is a software application that allows listeners to decode the NXDN format – a similar type setup like myself and Steve Miller utilize to decode the ATCS signals used on CSX’s CTC system. – Chris Dees
The Frankfort, Kentucky “State Journal” has a front page story today (1-13-2011) about a group proposing to put in 70 MPH passenger train service between Winchester, Kentucky and Louisville, Kentucky (105 miles) using R J Corman and CSX track by 2012 for a cost of $75 million. Cost is given as $35 million for two diesel trains and $40 million for track improvement. Cost of ticket would be $8 between Lexington and Frankfort (25 miles). $40 million to upgrade 105 miles of 35 MPH track to 70 MPH?? All this done by October 2012?? === I would guess you would have to spend at least $70 million just to up grade on grade crossings with flashing lights and gates to run trains at 70 MPH, not to say any thing about track and signal upgrades, or building the proposed eleven stations with parking lots (Winchester, Lexington, Midway, Frankfort, Bagdad, Shelbyville, Simpsonville, Anchorage and elsewhere), plus constructing a new track connection to Union Station in Louisville. Wait a minute I forgot the EPA study that would have to be done before any work could be undertaken. This alone will cost $10 million and take ten years. Any way I would not plan on being trackside any time soon to photograph passenger train service between Winchester and Louisville. — Forgot to add they see no objections from people living along the track concerning this proposal.
Chuck Hinrichs