Category: Top News

InterMountain back to work after facility sustains only ‘minimal’ damage from Colorado flooding

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Sep 18th, 2013

InterMountain Railway Co., a top producer in model railroad cars and locomotives, sustained only “minimal” damage to its corporate facility from floods that have ravaged Colorado in recent days, the company announced Tuesday.

Executive Vice President and CFO Frank Angstead said floods damaged only the first floor of InterMountain’s three-story Longmont, CO, facility. Several homes and businesses in the city were damaged or destroyed by flooding that has affected 17 counties in Northern Colorado.

On Wednesday, the foothills of central Colorado’s front range received 6-10 inches of rain in 12 hours. Water flowed eastward toward Longmont and other communities on the east side of the mountains. By midday Thursday the rivers and streams in the area had breached their banks and created a Federal disaster area. Waters crested in Longmont on Thursday night but additional rain continued to flood the area through Saturday.

After waters had receded on Monday, InterMountain officials were able to access the damage of the 11,500-square-foot facility. Angstead said the 8,500 square feet of space on the second and third levels was not compromised. About a foot of water, however, penetrated the lower level, which houses the company’s machine shop and several offices. InterMountain’s warehouse and sales and administration departments were not affected.

Despite the damage, the company and employees are back to work.

“Inundation of the flood waters will cause us a minor inconvenience as we repair the damage but will not materially affect our operation in any way,” Angstead said in a written statement. “We have had a couple of days of sketchy phone service, our fax machine was down for three days, and shipping was held up for two business days. Most of our employees missed two and a half days of work. Other than that it has been business as usual.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have suffered these devastating losses.”

Angstead offered thanks to those who have expressed concern over the company’s situation in recent days.

“We appreciate our many friends, customers, and associates across the world,” he said. “These relationships make it all worthwhile.”

Demand for public transportation increases in 2012, rail ridership ticks upward

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Mar 11th, 2013

The demand for public transportation rose last year as Americans took 10.5 billion trips, the second highest ridership since 1957, and 154 million more trips than the previous year, according to a report released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Light rail, heavy rail and commuter rail ridership each increased as U.S. public transportation recorded more than 10 billion trips for the seventh straight year.

Ridership in 2012 was the second highest since 1957.

“Every mode of public transportation showed an increase in ridership,” APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy said. “Public transit ridership grew in all areas of the country – north, south, east, and west – in small, medium and large communities, with at least 16 public transit systems reporting record ridership.”

“Considering the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy on some of the nation’s largest systems, this record level of ridership is truly significant,” said Melaniphy.

According to APTA, 74 million trips were lost when public transit systems from Washington, D.C. to Boston were shut down due to Hurricane Sandy and the blizzard that followed the next week.

Melaniphy said higher ridership can be attributed to volatile gas prices and lower unemployment, as well as a change in attitude regarding travel.

“There is a sea change going on in the way that people look at transportation,” he said. “Americans want travel choices; they want to be able to choose the best travel option for their lives. This is an exciting time for the public transportation industry as more and more Americans support it and want it.”

Melaniphy also pointed out that more Americans are supporting public transportation investment, as evidenced by the large number of transit-oriented ballot initiatives that passed in 2012.

“Last year 49 out of 62 transit-oriented state and local ballot initiatives passed,” said Melaniphy. “That means there was a nearly 80 percent passage rate. This extremely high rate of success demonstrates how important public transportation is to people and to communities.”

Rail ridership spiked upward in several cities. Memphis, TN, Dallas, Los Angeles, Cleveland, San Francisco, Austin, Salt Lake City and Lewisville, TX, were top performers.

Light rail (modern streetcars, trolleys, and heritage trolleys) ridership increased 4.5 percent with 21 out of 28 transit systems reporting increases. A highlight was the new rail in Hampton, VA, which posted a 154 percent incease since opening in August 2011.

Memphis (28.4percent); Dallas (20.8 percent); Los Angeles (18.5 percent); Salt Lake City (14.7 percent); Pittsburgh, PA (14.7 percent); and Seattle, WA – Sound Transit (10.7 percent) each posted double-digit increases. Houston’s METRORail (5.8 percent) was among four cities that posted more than a 5 percent increase.

Heavy rail (subways and elevated trains) ridership increased by 1.4 percent as 10 out of 15 transit systems reported increases. Cleveland led the way with a 9.7 percent increase, followed by San Francisco (7.8 percent); Miami, FL (5.2 percent); Chicago (4.3 percent); and Los Angeles (3.7 percent).

Nationally, commuter rail ridership increased by 0.5 percent in 2012 as 18 out of 28 transit systems reported increases. With a new rail line extension that opened in June 2011, ridership on the Denton A-train  in Lewisville, TX, increased 97.3 percent. The A-train also serves Denton and Carrollton. Elsewhere, Austin, TX (26.8 percent); Salt Lake City (14.7 percent); Stockton, CA (14 percent); San Carlos, CA (13 percent); and Seattle (10.5 percent) each experienced double-digit ridership increases.

St. Louis marked a 7.1 percent increase in bus ridership, the largest in the country.

Sale of Texas State Railroad finalized; Iowa Pacific Holdings plans to run freight along tourist line

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Aug 15th, 2012

By Tim Blackwell/Cowcatcher Magazine

Freight trains will soon run on the Texas State Railroad.

 Iowa Pacific Holdings, operator of several freight and tourist railroads, inked a deal in early August with American Heritage Railways to assume ownership of the Texas State Railroad. Terms were not disclosed.

 According to Iowa Pacific President Ed Ellis, the Chicago-based short line will supplement tourist runs with freight service between Palestine and Rusk, TX.

The Texas State Railroad sold for the second time in three years. – Cowcatcher Magazine

“We are very excited about this opportunity to build on the substantial achievements that American Heritage has made, in cooperation with the Texas State Railroad Authority, in improving the Texas State Railroad’s infrastructure and in developing the tourist ridership,” he said in a prepared statement. “We are already taking steps to continue this progress by further developing passenger services, reconnecting the railroad with the national rail network at Palestine, and implementing freight service.”

TSRA President Steve Presley said Iowa Pacific’s freight ability brings an added dimension to TSR, which struggled financially in recent years but was on the road to profitability with AHR. Iowa Pacific operates six short line railroads in the United States and, through an affiliated company, operates three railways and related businesses in the United Kingdom.  

As part of the deal, Iowa Pacific acquired a dormant three-mile connection from the Palestine Depot to an interchange with the Union Pacific. Work already is under way on readying the track for service.

“They’re working on getting that stretch up and running and should get that open soon,” Presley said. “They’re also going to bring in more cars for Polar Express. I think the advantage here is that they have the background and knowledge to bring this freight business to the table that will help support the tourist business.”

AHR took over TSR in 2009 after the state had declared it would shutter the financially strapped line. The railroad was losing more than $1 million per year before AHR took over, but got within $150,000 of breaking even last year and was positioned to make a profit in 2012.

However, a nearly 1,000-gallon diesel spill in February was costly and forced AHR President Al Harper to seek additional funding and debt forgiveness. After being denied, Harper put TSR up for sale and Iowa Pacific expressed interest.

Negotiations moved swiftly but remediation of the spill became a sticking point. In July, TSRA adopted a resolution assuming responsibility of the $350,000 cleanup. AHR paid for some of the expense prior to transferring ownership to Iowa Pacific.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) gave its approval of the remediation but groundwater must be tested for chemicals.

“There’s no more spill but it’s going to require monitoring over the long haul,” Presley said. “Now, we’re trying to work out how we’ll reimburse American Heritage Railways for the money that was spent on it.”

While excited about TSR’s future under new ownership, Presley said TSRA can’t forget the contribution that AHR and Harper made.

“We would never be where we are today if not for Al Harper and American Heritage Railways,” Presley said. “Nobody else was in the picture to do it as well as they did it. It just worked out better for them that they not have this right now and for Iowa Pacific to have it. Without Al and American Heritage, it would have been closed. I’m extremely thankful to them for all they did for us.”

As part of the transaction, American Heritage Railways of Texas LLC will be renamed Rusk, Palestine and Pacific Railroad LLC, although it will continue doing business as the Texas State Railroad.

Texas State Railroad to get new owners

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May 11th, 2012

Ownership and operations of the Texas State Railroad could change hands within 90 days if a deal is reached between American Heritage Railways and Iowa Pacific Holdings.

Texas State Railroad Authority agreed Thursday to pursue the proposed acquisition of the railroad from current operator AHR to IPH. TSRA President Steve Presley said that the companies have discussed terms for the Chicago-based short line freight and tourist railroad group to take over the cash-strapped TSR. “I would say we’re within 60-90 days of having a closing,” Presley said.

IPH, according to published reports, wants to bring commercial freight operations to the line while maintaining tourist operations. The company is talking to Union Pacific about accessing a 3-mile stretch of line from the Palestine Depot to an interchange point. President Ed Ellis told a local radio station that IPH is interested in creating a transload facility for rail/truck transfer to move oil and timber industry products. IPH owns six railroads in the U.S. – including the Texas-New Mexico Railroad and West Texas & Lubbock Railway – and two lines in Great Britain.

AHR has struggled to make a profit since taking over TSR in 2009, Presley said. AHR President Al Harper made unsuccessful pitches earlier this year for additional funding and forgiveness of $2 million in loans. When AHR took over operations, TSR was losing more than $1 million per year and on the verge of shutdown by the state. Last year, TSR managed to get within $150,000 of break-even by managing costs, like shutting down steam runs from Palestine. But this year, remediation from a 1,000-gallon diesel fuel spill has taken a financial toll.

“AHR had almost gotten it to profitability,” Presley said. “They’ve gotten the railroad back from losing $1.5 million to break even. At this point, they didn’t have the cash flow because of unrelated issues to continue to keep the operation going.”