UTU News Digest - Friday, July 30, 1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Friday, July 30, 1999

WASHINGTON: NS, CSX report steady improvement

WASHINGTON -- Service to former Conrail Inc. customers improved for the third consecutive week as Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation trains ran faster and terminals were more efficient, the Journal of Commerce reported today.

The reports, made available late Wednesday and Thursday, gauge the progress made after weeks of delays and congestion that resulted after each railroad began operating portions of Conrail on June 1. Anecdotal comments from shippers who are upset with either railroad's service also appear to have declined.

But the combined traffic on the Eastern rail system continued to lag as carloads trailed the same week of last year by 6%.

Danford Price, CSX assistant vice president, said in a letter to the Surface Transportation Board that "this week's reports again showed improvement from the previous week. All areas continue to remain within normal operational control limits."

Jon Manetta, NS senior vice president, told the STB that he expects the trend to continue into August "as we work to reduce the number of cars on line by improving our road train transit and yard dwell times."

Average train speeds on NS reached 19.1 mph last week, 3% faster than the previous week. CSX trains ran 2% faster at an average of 19.5 mph.

Freight cars were handled faster at 12 of 15 major terminals on CSX, while 11 of 14 terminals on NS also reported week-to-week improvement. NS reduced switching time by 15% or more at Elkhart, Ind., and Bellevue and Columbus, Ohio. Those terminals experienced extensive delays last month.

CSX reduced switching time by 30% at Russell, Ky., a major staging area for coal trains. Average freight car dwell time at all CSX terminals was reduced by 4% to 29.5 hours.

The NS report claimed week-to-week improvement at jointly used New Jersey and Michigan terminals where delays and congestion were widespread earlier this summer. Car switching was faster than the week before at all three terminals, but the Newark, N.J., terminal still had more cars on hand than its practical capacity.

TEXAS: Sister of "railroad killer" gets reward money

HOUSTON -- The sister of alleged railroad killer Angel Maturino Resendiz has received $86,000 in reward money for helping to arrange his surrender, the FBI said.

Manuela Maturino of Albuquerque, N.M., could receive up to $40,000 more if her brother is convicted, the agency said Thursday.

"The reward was set up for whoever provided information that led to his getting arrested, and that's exactly what we feel like she did," said Bill Livingston, chief of police in Weimar, Texas, where Maturino Resendiz is suspected of killing a minister and his wife last May.

Maturino Resendiz, 39, ended a nationwide manhunt by surrendering on July 13, after his sister brokered an arrangement with a rookie sergeant in the Texas Rangers. Maturino Resendiz is jailed without bond in Houston.

The rail-riding Mexican drifter is suspected of killing six people in Texas, two in Illinois and a college student in Lexington, Ky. He is charged with five murders.

WASHINGTON: CSX Transport helped create 2,754 jobs in 17 states

WASHINGTON -- CSX Transportation said it has participated in industrial development programs that created 2,754 jobs in 17 states during the first half of 1999.

That number was 30% more than the number of projects supported by CSX in the first half of last year. Those 43 projects created nearly 2,000 jobs, CSX said.

CSX said it participated in new projects in 17 states, including places such as Massachusetts and New Jersey where the railroad recently took over operations from Conrail Inc.

The new business created by this year's projects is expected to produce more than 70,000 additional carloads, the company said.

CSX said 12 new projects in the forest and paper industry accounted for approximately $140 million in investment capital.

The single largest traffic generator for the railroad is a minerals plant at Lehigh, Fla., that should boost carloads by 7,000 shipments a year. Another major project was a $90 million wallboard plant at Silver Grove, Ky., that is expected to generate more than 2,500 carloads. An asphalt and paving plant in Kent, Ohio, is expected to create 4,000 more loads annually.

FLORIDA: CSX announces new VP of human resources

JACKSONVILLE -- CSX Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John W. Snow announced today that William J. Ryan has been named senior vice president of human resources for CSX. He will be responsible for all human resources functions at CSX and its principal operating units, including employee relations, compensation and benefits.

Ryan, 60, becomes part of the newly created Office of the Chairman and reports to Andrew B. Fogarty, senior vice president of corporate services.

"I am delighted that a seasoned, high-energy professional like Bill will be moving from a very successful tenure heading up Sea-Land's human resources to assume overall leadership for CSX's human resources function," Snow said. "I am counting on Bill to be a critical link between the Office of the Chairman, senior management at our principal operating units, and the CSX Board of Directors as we continue to pursue innovative approaches to enhance employee relations and human resources management."

Ryan joined CSX in 1989 as vice president of human resources for Sea-Land Service Inc., CSX's container-shipping subsidiary. He became senior vice president of human resources for Sea-Land in 1996. Ryan joined CSX from Polaroid Corporation, where he rose to director of human resources, commercial business units after 20 years of progressively more responsible human resources positions. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1961 to 1966, rising to captain. A native of Boston, Ryan holds a bachelor's degree from Boston College.

ENGLAND: UK rail watchdog snubs Railtrack plea for delay extension

LONDON -- U.K. rail regulator Tom Winsor said Friday that he's told Railtrack PLC that its request to take two years instead of one to improve passenger delays is "completely unacceptable."

In a letter to Railtrack Chief Executive Gerald Corbett, Winsor demanded Railtrack make up the shortfall on performance, measured by passenger delay minutes.

He told Corbett that "these published targets are Railtrack's own targets" and, "that as late as January this year you confirmed your commitment to those targets."

He added: "It cannot be right that an important public commitment of that nature by a regulated company should be subjected to amendment or withdrawal at the discretion of the company."

Railtrack must achieve the cumulative reduction in delays per passenger train of 7.5% per year, or 14.4% over two years by 31 March 2000.

NEW YORK: Lionel hopes web site will bring new train collectors on board

WASHINGTON -- Lionel LLC, the world's largest toy-train manufacturer, is hoping a newly elected president and a medley of online services will steer its tiny trains into the hearts and minds of a generation more tuned into video games.

Richard Maddox, a 62-year-old former marketing vice president at Lionel competitor Bachmann Industries Inc., this week was named Lionel's president and chief operating officer.

Mr. Maddox says he is taking the controls of a closely held company that has seen steady sales growth and wider appeal in the past five years. But he concedes that when it comes to train collecting, marketers work overtime to sell the hobby to an age bracket caught up in Nintendos and GameBoys.

"Exposing young people to trains is a problem for all train manufacturers today," he said. "But when I see the looks in their eyes when they watch them, I know that kids still love trains."

He and his team will concentrate on the company's Web site, www.lionel.com, where customers can order trains, join collectors' clubs and learn about the 100-year-old company.

Julie Laird, a company spokeswoman, says a new line of train sets, which comes with a CD-ROM package and computer games, should appeal to the younger generation. The company's licensing projects, ranging from towels to watches, have been extremely successful, she says.

Mr. Maddox says there is also a solid market of adult collectors who buy sophisticated toy trains, and he expects Lionel, which is based in Chesterfield, Mich., to keep growing.

The train company's history, however, is a tale of corporate derailments. The original Lionel Corp. was founded in New York in 1900, but by the 1970s the only part that remained was a holding company that leased the Lionel name to General Mills Inc. In 1982, General Mills shocked Lionel employees by moving the company's headquarters and main production site to Mexico. The move was disastrous, and production returned to Michigan in 1984.

General Mills sold its toy divisions in 1985, and Lionel was absorbed by toy company Kenner-Parker. In 1986, Richard Kughn, a Detroit real-estate developer and railroad enthusiast, bought the company brand and established Lionel Trains, but then sold Lionel to Wellspring Associates LLC, an investment-banking group, in 1995. Lionel doesn't disclose sales or earnings figures.