Regional railroads

The following people at the Association of American Railroads provided me with helpful insights into the industry Peter French, William Browder, Patrick Ameen, Gary Held, and Louis Cemy. Alice Saylor and William Loftus of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association discussed with me their part of the industry. 

ASLRRA American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association CFR Code of Federal Regulations... 

The first-year study in Railroad Valley, conducted in 1984, consisted of a regional lineament evaluation made from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery and regional soil-gas probe sampling to identify areas of significant hydrocarbon seepage (Jones, et al. 1985). Railroad Valley was chosen for this research study because of the excellent surface expression of structural features. 

Fig. 5-35. Contour maps of 1984 regional soil-gas data. Railroad Valley, Nevada a) methane contour map b) propane contour map.

This study in Railroad Valley demonstrates a unique surface geochemical expression of one particular lineament, herein named the Currant Lineament, which appears to have a dramatic effect on the commercial possibilities for a subsurface oil deposit. The noncommercial Currant No. 1 well is located just to the southeast of a NE-SW linear feature, which crosses the valley through the town of Currant in northern part of Railroad Valley. The location of this lineament is obvious on all of the regional remote-sensing products. Although the lineament is dramatically expressed both northeast and southwest of Currant, it is not as obvious in the centre of the study area. Even more detailed aerial... 

Fig. 5-41. Comparison of propane contour maps for soil-gas data. Currant area. Railroad Valley, Nevada, illustrating importance of sample spacing a) 1984 regional survey and b) 1985 detailed survey.

In addition to being classified according to operating revenues, railroads are also grouped geographically for statistical purposes into three districts and eight subdistricts or regions. 

A railroad is usually assigned to that region (and district) in which the greater proportion of its mileage is located. A number of railroad companies operate in two or more regions or districts, but are classified in only one region and district. 

When commodity statistics of railroads in a particular area, district, or region are combined, they point up the peculiar production and traffic characteristics of areas which may have a bearing on such matters as freight car distribution. When the annual statistics of all railroads in the country are combined, a comprehensive picture of the producing and consuming areas is obtained as well as a clearer understanding of the vital part played by railroad transportation in the economic life of the nation. 

Not long ago water transport was the only means of cargo transit to the Amudarya delta and from this area to the railroad. In spite of construction of the new railroad Chardjou-Nukus-Kungrad water transport still remained most important for this region. 

Other applications were herbicides, primarily sodium arsenate, as weed killers for railroad and telephone posts, desiccators, mainly arsenic acid (H3ASO4), for example, to facilitate mechanical cotton harvesting and for tobacco and blueberry fields. Most of these compounds, their derivatives or decomposition products are still present in various regions and contribute significantly to the arsenic burden of soils and waters. 

The Northern Region s forests vary considerably as do their uses. Seventy-five percent of the timber volume is in hardwoods, which are utilized for furniture, veneer, pulp, pallets, and railroad ties (Table II). Softwood volume is the smallest of any region (25 percent). The stocking levels are the lowest in the country and the average annual growth per acre is quite low (Table III). It should be noted that these volume figures are based on commercial-sized timber and do not include wood present in small, non-merchantable trees and in the tops and limbs of merchantable trees. 

J Railroads The U.S. railroad operates 274,399km (170,508 miles) of railways all over the country including freight in regional and local railroads. The materials subject to corrosion are rail and steel spikes. An accurate cost of corrosion could not be determined with respect to railroad components. 

While the 1958 Transportation Act provided some relief to the rail industry, large portions of the rail industry [still] faced serious problems... (Teske et al., 1995, pg. 41). By 1973, several railroads in the northeast United States faced bankruptcy. Because of these financial strains, these railroads had spent less on maintenance (Keeler, 1983). The financial difficulties of the railroad industry during this period resulted in the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 (the 3-R Act). The 3-R Act focused on reorganization of the northeastern railroads under federal control. This reorganization resulted in the formation of Conrail, as well as the abandonment of about 3000 miles of track. 

The regional line manager that we interviewed acknowledged the safety challenges associated with limited resources and inheriting deteriorated track spun off from major railroads. However, he seemed to indicate that these challenges caused short-line management to be more proactive and to use their limited resources more efficiently. He also noted ... 

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