locomotive – I Ride The Harlem Line

Following the Northstar – Minnesota’s Commuter Rail

Emily — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 15:17:38 +0000

During my first visit to Minneapolis several years ago, I took lots of photos of the new Hiawatha light rail line (now known as the Blue Line), but completely missed out a chance to check out their commuter rail. On my more recent trip to the Twin Cities, I made sure to see the Northstar. A few trains in the state have used variations on the name Northstar, including a now-defunct Amtrak train, a name which derives from Minnesota’s nickname as the North Star State, as it is the northernmost of the contiguous US states. Although it might not be glowing, this Northstar, is hard to miss, painted in an attractive blue, yellow, and red scheme.

In terms of transportation systems, the Northstar is relatively young, with passenger service starting at the end of 2009. Operating on an already-existing BNSF freight line, money was invested to purchase equipment, build stations, and to construct a maintenance facility near Big Lake. The line stretches from Target Field in Minneapolis, where it connects with the light rail, to Big Lake in the north. Although hopes were for the line to continue all the way to the city of St. Cloud, just north of Big Lake there is a several mile stretch of only single track, and it would be a significant expenditure to add another track so the line can continue to accommodate both freight and commuter traffic. Instead, bus service called the Northstar Link carries passengers from Big Lake to St. Cloud.

There are a lot of comparisons one could make with Metro-North – the most obvious being the overpasses used on the line. Along the Hudson Line there are severe limitations on the height of freight trains due to low bridges and overpasses. The line on which Northstar runs, being mostly freight, in contrast has very high overpasses to allow the plentiful freights to pass underneath. Another leg up the Northstar has over Metro-North is the fact that each passenger coach is equipped with wi-fi, something customers here have been wanting for years. On the other hand, service on the Northstar is very limited, focused around commuting hours with an occasional extra train for baseball games and concerts at Target Field. Much of this limitation is due to the frequent freight on the line, which can often delay trains (especially Amtrak’s Empire Builder).

All in all it was an interesting trip to see another one of the country’s commuter rail systems. Enjoy a collection of photos from Northstar:

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Valladolid, Mexico’s Abandoned Station, and the High-Speed Trans-Peninsular Rail Project

Emily — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 17:40:46 +0000

As an escape from New York’s winter cold, I recently spent a week in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Considering that I like to visit diverse places such as Alaska in the winter, and Chernobyl, a beach locale like Mexico sounds relatively normal trip. The area doesn’t have much in the way of trains, either, which sounds really normal. However, a few hour trek toward the ruins at ChichÃ©n ItzÃ¡ on the libre (free road), as opposed to the cuota (toll road), will yield you an encounter with a lone grade crossing just west of the city of Valladolid. This rail line extends from Valladolid to YucatÃ¡n’s capital of MÃ©rida, and although freight runs are semi frequent, regular passenger service is long gone. Many of the former train stations are abandoned and in disrepair, such as the one in Valladolid, which I found after a bit of poking around.

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Now when I said that passenger service was long gone, I’m referring to regular service. Several years ago there were in fact tourist tour trains that operated along the line, and south from MÃ©rida to Campeche – the Maya Express. Consisting of four coaches with seating for 64 passengers each, along with a club car, the train was not quite luxury, but definitely upscale. Unfortunately, the Maya Express ceased operations in 2011, and the equipment was sold off. Though the train was certainly a nice idea, a good number of the area’s tourists come from the CancÃºn area, which was quite separated from these trains. A rail system that tapped into that market would certainly get plenty of passengers, which brings us to a proposal for high speed rail on the peninsula…

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The defunct Maya Express passenger train. Photos by Erick Pavel Gutierrez.

A proposed plan for establishing a high-speed rail system across the peninsula was first announced in 2012 by incoming Mexican president Enrique PeÃ±a Nieto. Early in his presidency, PeÃ±a Nieto detailed a list of 13 actions the government should take to benefit the country – one of which was the return of passenger trains. The Metro in Monterrey, and the light rail in Guadalajara would be expanded, and two high-speed rail networks would be established. One would connect Mexico City to Queretaro, and the other would connect the states of YucatÃ¡n and Quintana Roo on the YucatÃ¡n Peninsula. Although many hoped work for Trans-Peninsular project would begin in 2014, it is likely being delayed until at least 2018, when PeÃ±a Nieto’s six year term is complete, leaving decisions regarding the plan for the newly elected president.

Map of the proposed high speed rail line. Note that it consists of existing trackage, and tracks that would have to be installed. Existing trackage would need to be updated for high speed use.

The Trans-Peninsular project plan consisted of two phases – the first called for new tracks to be constructed from Valladolid to Punta Veneado on the coast, which is about halfway in between CancÃºn and Tulum. Existing tracks from MÃ©rida to Valladolid would also be upgraded to accommodate higher speeds. A small spur line connecting ChichÃ©n ItzÃ¡ to the existing rail would also be added. In the second phase of the plan, a line would be constructed from CancÃºn to Tulum, connecting with the first phase at Punta Veneado, and the already existing tracks from Campeche to MÃ©rida would be upgraded for high speed. Spurs to Uxmal and Progreso would also be added.

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Top: The ruins at CobÃ¡, generally considered “off the beaten track,” would be connected in the proposed Trans-Peninsular High-Speed Rail plan. Bottom Left: ChichÃ©n ItzÃ¡, perhaps Mexico’s most well-known ruins, would be on a special spur of the proposed rail line. Bottom right: Buses line up at the popular ChichÃ©n ItzÃ¡. Trains would add a new, potentially quicker, method of transport to the ruins.

Conceptually, the plan is a good one – it supplements the already existing freight railroad, and gives it sea access on all three sides of the peninsula. For passengers, it connects some major tourist centers on the coast, namely CancÃºn’s International Airport, to almost all of the major archaeological parks – ChichÃ©n ItzÃ¡, CobÃ¡, Tulum, and even the far off Uxmal. Undoubtedly it would shake up the local tour industry, which is established on buses, which are often quite slow. And it would certainly give tourists the ability to completely eschew the tours and journey themselves without the hassle.

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Freight along the Merida – Valladolid line:
Top: A Chiapas-Mayab train along the MÃ©rida-Valladolid line, photo by Dominique de Champeaux.
Middle left: A train operates alongside a road in MÃ©rida, photo by Raymundo Tziu Cuxim. Middle right: The crumbling former station at Uayma, photo by Ferrobeto.
Bottom: An ex-Southern locomotive next to Valladolid station photo by Dominique de Champeaux.

Despite the lack of any concrete decisions about the plan, just outside the abandoned Valladolid station visitors can see work crews toiling along the tracks. Newly installed concrete ties provide a stark contrast to the abandoned building right next to it. At minimum, the tracks from MÃ©rida to Valladolid are being upgraded to at least allow higher speeds for the existing freight traffic. Whether the rest of the plan begins in earnest remains to be seen…

Work on upgrading the tracks outside Valladolid

#GEInstaWalk – Touring GE’s rail locomotive production facility, Fort Worth, Texas

Emily — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 14:45:24 +0000

It’s not every day that a railfan gets to visit the place where mighty railroad locomotives are born (forged of steel and bound together by lots and lots of welding)… Recently, however, I got an invite to tour GE’s new locomotive manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Right now they’re producing the Evolution Series Tier 3 locomotive (ES44C4) for BNSF, and I got an up close and personal view of the process from start to finish. The entire locomotive creation process takes about 60 days, and the facility had various locomotives in all stages of that process. Every week six locomotives are completed… six gleaming, shiny powerhouses…

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A shiny new locomotive, ready to be tested on GE’s test track…

My invite to GE Manufacturing Solutions came with their #GEInstaWalk program – which opens some of GE’s state-of-the-art facilities to Instagram photographers and fans. This was the third InstaWalk to be held, the first being at GE Aviation’s jet engine testing facility in Peebles, OH, and the second was to see the two GE wind turbines at the Cape Cod Air Force Facility in Massachusetts. Each event was a unique opportunity for the attendees to get a VIP experience “behind-the-scenes” of some amazing technology.

Our day-long tour of the Texas facility introduced us to many of the fine GE employees that make their locomotives, all of whom seemed legitimately interested in what we were doing, and were proud to show us their part of the elaborate process of creating a massive locomotive. Throughout the day we shared some of the things we observed on our Instagram accounts. Lots of photos were taken, though only a fraction of that made it to Instagram. What didn’t make it there, you’ll find here… this is my collection of photos from the day, and how a locomotive comes to life.

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