Railroad plans include new restroom, dredging, and undisclosed coal facility improvements

Posted on: February 22, 2010 | musiclover | 3 Comments | Print Article | Rate Post:

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(By Heidi Zemach for SCN)

The Alaska Railroad held an open house at the Breeze Inn in Seward Friday, Feb 19. Alaska Railroad Chief Engineer and Vice President of Engineering Tom Brooks gave an update of the railroad’s capital project program plans for the upcoming year at the Seward Chamber of Commerce, Conference and Visitor’s Bureau membership meeting luncheon.

The Alaska Railroad saw a significant decrease in the number of passengers last year, Brooks said. Nevertheless, 75,000 people rode the train to Seward. And last year was also a record year for coal exports from Seward’s coal facility: The railroad operated 133 export coal trains to Seward in 2009 to meet the demand.12 ships were loaded with about 800,000 tons in 2009. This compares to 75 coal trains in 2008. Twelve ships have been scheduled for 2010, and tonnage is expected to be similar to last year.

The railroad’s main project for Seward this year is building a new 24.5’ x 26’ restroom facility about 20 feet from the depot to accommodate customers and employees. It will be equipped with separate facilities for women and men, and will include modern plumbing and electrical systems. Also, a power hook-up will be installed beside the track, allowing trains to plug-in to support onboard food and beverage service. This eliminates the need for trains to run their engines to supply power while parked at the depot. The entire $750,000 project is funded with federal Stimulus money. The railroad came up with the project in order to make use of a grant for shovel-ready projects that were not already going to be done, Brooks said. The railroad had already designed a restroom for the Talkeetna Depot, so they could use the same design here, Brooks said.

The railroad also has budgeted $100,000 to modify a chute and replace aging pulleys at the Seward coal loading facility, in addition to any environmental projects approved in negotiations by the Alaska Department of Conservation. The first is part of the facilities’ regular maintenance work, said Paul Farnsworth, the railroad’s facilities director. The rest of the work, such as expenditures to mitigate dust as a result of two ADEC (Air Quality Act) Notice of Violations issued April 2007 and March 2008, are to be announced following settlement negotiations with DEC, Farnsworth said. The work will be done in lieu of penalties (fines) for those NOVs, he said. Railroad officials would not provide specific information about these improvements because they are still in litigation, said Phyllis Johnson, the railroad vice president and general counsel. Nor will railroad officials discuss issues involving alleged water quality violations—the subject of a more recent lawsuit brought by two Alaska environmental organizations against the railroad and Aurora Energy Services.

Addressing a question about the amount of black soot-covered snow recently in evidence around the coal loading operations, Farnsworth would only say that operators continually check the weather and spray down the coal on the chute, and if an operator sees signs of any coal dust flying in the wind, they shut down operations according to their Standard Operating Procedures. Those SOPs are being revised, based on discussions with DEC, he said.

Some 16 full-time Aurora Energy Services employees work at the Seward facility, and about 53 others take part in the Seward coal export activities, according to railroad documents, and Louis BenCardino, the Alaska Railroads’ Seward representative. These include 3 brake-men per train, and 3-4 railroad workers who stay here all winter. Two steady long-term railroad employees live in Moose Pass. Other workers often stay at the new Seward Hotel for as many as 5-6 days, Cardino said.

Another Seward project the railroad plans is dredging around all of Seward’s docks, including the East, West and the coal loading dock using Cruise Ship Tax money. The dredging should begin in the fall, according to city officials. The railroad also has been installing a 2,000-foot security fence around the East Dock, a $162,400 project funded with federal stimulus money.

The railroad and U.S. Forest Service are co-developing a whistle stop service in Chugach National Forest. The plans call for five recreational sites between Portage and Moose Pass that will be accessibly by rail and interconnected by trail. The first stop site, at Spencer Glacier, was completed in 2007, and a two-level self-propelled diesel multiple unit rail car was delivered last spring. Three thousand people rode the whistle-stop train last year, Brooks said. With USFS, the Spencer site will be improved this year, which may include developing additional trails, camp sites and viewing facilities.

Another subject of concern for Seward officials is the planned Port MacKenzie Rail Extension, a new 30-45 mile rail line to connect the port to the main line. If it is built, they fear it would provide immense competition, if not spell the end to coal shipping in Seward. The railroad is working with the Mat-Su Borough, its sponsor, to determine a route for the rail extension. Already, $27 million has been allocated by the state legislature to fund an environmental impact statement. The Surface Transportation Board is overseeing the EIS, and the draft statement is expected to be completed in 2010.

Not to worry, that project, if it is indeed done, would be at least 20-25 years down the road, Farnsworth told the Seward City News. At the chamber luncheon, Tom Brooks admitted that any additional railroad line built must be maintained by the railroad forever, a costly proposition for a financially-ailing railroad. The total cost of design and construction is estimated at up to $250 million, depending on route selection.

“We don’t know where the revenue will come from,” Brooks said.

Meanwhile, the corporation continues to be self-sustaining, supported only through its freight, passenger, and real estate net earnings. They totaled $169.5 million last year, with $155.9 million in expenses, or a Net Income of $13.6 million. Freight accounted for almost half of its revenues. 

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