MEETING REPORT

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY RAIL COMMITTEE

Stockton ACE station
September 10, 2004

Reported by Russ Jackson

The SJVRC meeting was held at the newly restored ex-SP depot, the "downtown" Stockton station, that is the terminal for ACE and also is a stop for Amtrak trains to/from Sacramento. The committee was given a short history of the building by Stacey Mortensen, the ACE Executive Director, who represents San Joaquin County on the SJVRC.

While the topic of the BNSF/Caltrans funded proposal to lengthen double tracking into Fresno's Amtrak station from the north was supposed to be discussed, it was put off to the end of the meeting for a private discussion between Fresno officials and the BNSF and Caltrans. Fresno has received an extra $1 million to spend on rebuilding its historic station. Sacramento TV Channel 10 covered the meeting and interviewed Art Lloyd regarding Amtrak's On Time Performance problems.

1. The BNSF update report was done by Mr. D. J. Mitchell, from BNSF HQ in Ft. Worth. The Committee was naturally very concerned about the On Time Performance of the San Joaquin trains, which according to Amtrak's figures for August were endpoint OT only 37%. Mr. Mitchell said it was closer to 40% on their tracks, the rest being on the UP segment. He stated that no freight trains have priority these days, what with so many of them out there mixed with Amtrak. (For a full discussion of the BNSF problems and future see Fred Frailey's article in the October TRAINS magazine.) The "root causes," according to the BNSF are:
   1. Double digit growth in traffic in the Los Angeles area results in some container ships coming into Oakland for unloading, which has put additional burdens on the BNSF single track main line in the Valley.
   2. Empty flatcars (called "baretables") from Seattle/Tacoma must be relocated to Oakland and/or Los Angeles for loading, and empty containers must also be relocated.
   3. The flood damage in June/July caused massive rerouting and delays. Normal service through the flood area, now at a 40 mph speed restriction, is expected in October.
   4. Some unusual service disruptions have occurred recently. There have been 6 broken rail situations this year, not a big problem, but there have been 31 accidents at crossings which have put big delays to through traffic. The railroad is working with Operation Lifesaver to improve communication to the local communities. The Committee asked to see the BNSF agreements the railroad has negotiated in Chicago which has speeded up the movement of trains following an accident.
   5. Maintenance of Way projects are underway in the summer, and with the UP doing major work over the Tehachapis using an 8 hour work window, through trains have had to squeeze into a 16 hour work day instead of 24 hours. With the BNSF running 6 to 8 more trains per day than a year ago, this has delayed implementation of the agreement with the UP to divert that many to the UP line. Therefore, the BNSF line is carrying more trains than was planned. The UP agreement will be signed by the end of September, which will bring relief, but both railroads are now in the midst of the influx of Christmas goods in containers so it will be after the first of the year before any relief of total trains can happen. (Editor's note: A UP general merchandise freight passed the Stockton station just before the meeting started, with three locomotives on the front and two as pushers in the flat San Joaquin Valley!)
   6. Several Caltrans funded rail projects are under way, Calwa to Bowles double tracking, CTC from Pittsburgh to Port Chicago, etc., which cause occasional delays. These projects are scheduled to be finished early next year.
   7. Hours of service laws have affected crew assignments as travel times lengthen for the freight service. Additional employees are being hired and trained as fast as possible, and 250 new locomotives will be purchased this year.

   In Summary, Mr. Mitchell said the future picture is bright. He looks for improvements by the end of October and will report then to the Committee, but cautioned that increased traffic in the next few years is inevitable. The average train size today is 156 cars. The BNSF will be doing a major rebuild of the Stockton subdivision in January, and will pay Amtrak for a 2-week bus bridge at that time.

2. The Committee then heard an interesting report from Mr. Michael Hart, CEO of the Sierra Railroad (and the Skunk Trains) about their project to convert their locomotive fleet to low pollutant fuels. Their tourist railroad owns 27 locomotives, all retired from running on the major railroads. They looked at using Liquid Petroleum Gas, but found that was not useable. Then they found "biodiesel" technology, used to create electricity, versus "carbdiesel." Biodiesel is VEGETABLE oil, using a catalytic process to take out the carb properties. It is renewable, and can use soy bean oil, mustard seed oil, or sunflower seed oil! All this, of course, was of great interest in the agriculture-rich, but smoggy San Joaquin Valley. Sierra has an EPA grant for testing it, and which results in a 95% reduction of emissions on a process that starts with rebuilding the old locomotives and installing catalytic reduction systems. The current estimated cost is $10,000 per ton. There is currently not public funding for this process, however the UC Davis Ag school is interested as a research project. They want to build an infrastructure facility for biodiesel, which now must be transported from Florida, and are seeking funding from the Feds, State, and locals.
3. Creation of a JPA for the San Joaquins like the one BART operates for the Capitol Corridor has been a study goal of the SJVRC for several years. Committee member Pete Snyder, also a member the CCJPA and a BART Director, reported on what BART went through to create their successful JPA. the CCJPA is very willing to work with the Committee in creation of a Valley JPA, as long as its costs are covered through full reimbursement, and would be interested in being its operator. He stated if the CCJPA model is followed, costs can be lowered. Theirs is the only similar agreement in the U.S. Tulare County Supervisor, Connie Conway, who is Chairman of the SJVRC, and Art Lloyd met with John Ferrera, Deputy Director to BTH Secretary McPeak, on September 9 to discuss many issues including this one. He will investigate the process from his end, and estimates that the startup cost would be $500K to get the plans started. Chairman Conway wrote a "headsup" letter to all affected County government Boards of Supervisors, and will push the followup. It was pointed out that the CCJPA consists not of County governments, but of County Transportation agencies along the route. The ball is finally rolling on this issue, but because the 12 affected Counties would be asked to contribute funds there is no guarantee that the project will proceed.

The next SJVRC meeting will be November 12 in Bakersfield.