UTU News Digest - Thursday, December 10, 1998

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Thursday, December 10, 1998

Union Pacific, Reno make deal to sink railroad tracks

RENO, Nev. – Gamblers in the world’s Biggest Little City no longer will have to dodge freight trains to get to the slot machines.

Union Pacific Corp. and Reno agreed to a $193 million project to sink railroad tracks through the heart of the casino district, where mammoth freight trains have long blocked streets and inconvenienced gamblers.

As part of the agreement, Union Pacific will contribute about $60 million in property along the tracks and materials for the construction. The city is raising funds for the project through a 1% tax on hotel rooms in the casino area and a special tax on downtown businesses that will benefit from the project.

For 60 years, Reno has wanted to sink the tracks below street level because trains have been disrupting vehicular and pedestrian traffic downtown. The problem has become worse, as casinos have grown on both sides of the tracks, and Union Pacific now wants to boost the number of freight trains through the city.

The trains were "lumbering . . . through the heart of a tourist area," said Christopher Good, a spokesman for the city. "This will get the trains out of the way of the cars and the people and open [an] area right downtown for new development."

The city said the planned channel would extend about two miles through the heart of downtown and create 11 unimpeded roadways across the top of the tracks.

Railroad police say boys' stories contain flaws

HAMILTON, Ohio -- Railroad police say they have found numerous flaws in the story told by two boys who said they were locked inside a railroad boxcar for eight days and survived by sipping beer.

Investigators for CSX Railroad said they concluded that Billy Ray Grimes Jr., 12, and John Wayne Riley, 15, were indeed locked inside in a boxcar for days before being rescued Dec. 1. But the boys' description of how and why they got there did not stand up to scrutiny.

"We knew there was a flaw in the boys' story from the beginning,'' said William Stumpf, a special agent for the railroad police. "We all thank God these boys are still alive, because they were still in there five or six days.''

Grimes and Riley have been confined since last week in the Butler County juvenile detention center on probation violations. They are due back in Butler County Juvenile Court on Friday to face charges of criminal trespassing for being in the boxcar.

The boys said they jumped a train behind a drugstore Nov. 23 to evade a gang of youths chasing them with sticks. But the tracks behind the drugstore belong to a different railroad and go to a different place than CSX goes, Stumpf said.

Stumpf said he interviewed Grimes, who admitted he and his friend planned to run away. Riley did not show up for a scheduled interview, Stumpf said.

"There was no gang members chasing them,'' Stumpf said. "Both Grimes and Riley had planned to run away that day.''

The boys told sheriff's deputies and reporters that they jumped a second train to return home, but awoke when the door slammed shut, locking them inside. But the door on the boxcar in which the boys were found does not work that way, Stumpf said.

"This door cannot slam shut. It slides over on a set of rails and somebody has to lock it and crank the lock,'' Stumpf said. "There's no way this door can slam shut.''

The boys apparently rode the first train as far as Lima, about 100 miles north of their hometown of Hamilton, before hopping onto the second train to return home, Stumpf said. The boys hid in a beer-hauling boxcar to evade railroad employees and were locked inside after spending a night in there, he said.

"They were definitely locked in the car,'' Stumpf said. "It wasn't an accident. Somebody intentionally locked that door. They had no reason to look.''

The train returned Nov. 26 to a rail yard at the Miller Brewing Co. near Trenton, where the boys were found Dec. 1 by railroad employees who heard their cries for help.

Amtrak and Kraft Put Fun on Menu for Kid Travelers This Holiday Season

CHICAGO -- Children traveling by train with their families during this holiday season will feel right at home ordering a meal in the dining car, thanks to a new partnership between Kraft Foods and Amtrak.

Through Dec. 31, children can choose dining car entrees that include Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Jell-O Brand Gelatins and Puddings, and Kool-Aid. Kraft condiments, garnishes, and cheesecake also will be available, among other items, on board long-distance Amtrak trains operating to holiday destinations coast-to-coast.

"Food is one of the highlights of any trip, and kids like to see the same things they eat at home," said Jack Davis, Director, Food and Beverage for Amtrak Intercity. "The Kraft brand name and its products are familiar to everyone, which adds to the overall comfort of long-distance train travel during the holidays," he said.

The partnership with Kraft is another example of the modern, customer-focused business strategies being employed by Amtrak, which set an all-time passenger revenue record in 1998 by topping the $1 billion revenue level for the first time in the railroad's 27-year history. The revenue record was driven by the largest ridership increase in a decade.

For information on holiday travel via Amtrak, travelers can visit a staffed Amtrak station, consult an authorized Amtrak travel agent, call 1-800-USA-RAIL, or visit Amtrak on the World Wide Web at www.amtrak.com.

Amtrak Intercity, which is headquartered at Chicago Union Station, operates 76 trains daily in 40 states, including most of Amtrak long-distance services. The company, which employs 6,400 people, is one of three business units of Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.

Man struck, killed by train is identified

PATERSON, NJ -- Authorities have identified the man who was struck and killed by a NJ Transit train in the city last week as Thomas R. Herbert of Bloomfield.

Herbert, 24, was struck around 7 p.m. on Dec. 1 at Slater Street and 20th Avenue by a train traveling from Hoboken to Waldwick, said NJ Transit spokesman Steve Coleman.

Coleman said the engineer saw Herbert on the tracks and sounded his horn. Herbert did not get off the tracks and the engineer applied his brakes, but the train did not stop in time.

Herbert was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities have not determined why he was on the tracks. Members of Herbert's family could not be reached for comment Tuesday.