After the May 17 show at the Hartford Civic Center in Connecticut, RBB&B 128th Blue Unit Circus Train will be loaded for departure to Conrail as CIR-301.  CIR-301 will operate via the River Line to the Lehigh, Reading and Harrisuburg Lines to Hershey, PA.  The train is scheduled to arrive for unloading on May 19.
 

Upon completion at Hershey on May 25, the train will again be loaded and depart in a reverse routing from which it arrived.  The train will arrive in Albany, NY on May 26. -Kevin Burkholder

SD70MAC UPDATE

Conrail did not let any dust settle on SD70MAC's 4140 and 4141 after their release for service.  After arriving Conway on ATPI-5, they were assigned to power a coal train to Ashtabula, OH.  Two pairs of the SD70MAC's are now in coal service for which they were built.  CSX plans to use these SD70MAC's to supplement their existing fleet for coal servic.  Only the 4142, 4143 and 4144 remain in the shop.  The 4142 will be released early next week and the final two should be done before Memorial Day.  SD70 2559 should be entering the shops today for assembly. -Kevin Burkholder

Here are where the SD70MAC's line up:

CSX AC60CW has returned from the AAR Pueblo, CO test facility and was interchanged at Memphis, TN yesterday.  The unit was dispatched eastbound on train Q-536-15.  AC60CW 601 was in coal service at Hazard, KY on train N-144-14 and 602 was at Cayce, SC on train  N-129-12.

45 WANDERINGS

Several varieties of SD45 and SD45-2's are continuing service at various locations on the CSX system.  The remaining Conrail SD45-2 was returned to Conrail at Cincinnati.  Here is what and where they are this morning:

CHESSIE AND PUMPKIN PAINT
 

• 2012 was at Walbridge, OH on Q-506-15
• 2019 and 2021 were in Chatham, Ontario on D-725-16
• 2065 was in Ottawa, IL on train J-746-15
• 2068 was in Hamlet, NC on train S-494-15
• 2082 was at Bellwood, VA on train F-712-15
• 2111 was at Luke, MD on train B-771-15

• 9550 at Ravenna, KY on W-037-14
• 9552 at Atlanta, GA on W-0350-14

• 9710 at Walbridge, OH on Q-509-14
• 9714 at Cincinnati, OH on Q-505-15
• 9719 at Cincinnati, OH on Q-505-15
• 9720 at Spartanburg, SC on Q-693-15
• 9728 at Cincinnati, OH on Q-505-15

MORE EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS

The appointments of Thomas E. Hoppin as senior vice president - executive department and Jesse R. Mohorovic as group vice president - corporate communications and investor relations of CSX Corporation were announced today by John W. Snow, chairman and chief executive officer of the international transportation company. Concurrently, Snow announced Robert W. Shinn will become executive assistant to the chairman. The appointments are effective immediately.

Hoppin had been vice president - corporate communications for CSX. He will report to and work with Snow on a variety of corporate and industry assignments until his scheduled retirement early next year. Mohorovic, who will report to Mark G. Aron, executive vice president - law and public affairs, assumes responsibility for the corporate communications function from Hoppin and will continue to direct the company's investor relations program, working closely with Snow and senior management of the company. He previously was vice president - corporate relations for CSX.

"With the appointments of Tom and Jesse," Snow said, "we are implementing a long-standing succession plan that enables CSX to retain and enhance expertise, experience and institutional knowledge of the company and the transportation industry and provide for a smooth transition of leadership for our increasingly important communications function."

Hoppin, who joined CSX from Conrail in 1981 as director - financial communications, has headed the corporate communications function at CSX since 1986 and has nearly 40 years of experience in journalism and public relations. He has worked in a wide variety of communications positions in the rail and transportation industry for the past 30 years. He earned a bachelor's degree at Eastern Illinois University.

Mohorovic, 56, came to the CSX corporate staff in 1995 as vice president-executive department after heading the corporate communications departments of CSX Transportation, the company's rail unit, and, previously, Sea-Land, the CSX container-shipping subsidiary. Prior to joining Sea-Land in 1989, Mohorovic served as a senior investor relations and public relations executive at a number of companies and independent agencies. He earned a bachelor's degree at Fordham University.

Shinn, 34, will continue as CSX resident vice president - Virginia in addition to his new responsibilities in the chairman's office. He joined CSX in 1990 as director-state relations and advanced to resident vice president for Virginia in 1991. Shinn earned a bachelor's degree at Ohio Wesleyan University and a law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law. He is a member of the Virginia Bar Association. -CSX Corporation

Canadian Pacific Railway has nine MLW's in service on trains this morning.  RS18u's 1837, 1838, 1839, and C424 4240 are on train 503-16 at Montreal; RS18u 1865 with C424's 4204 and 4210 were at Smiths Falls, Ontario on train 923-16; C424 4219 was also at Montreal this morning on train 928-11; and 4230 was in Detroit, MI on train 505-14. The remainder of the MLW's, RS18u 1822, 1828, 1842 and C424 4216, 4237 are listed at St. Luc and not assigned.

The SD40-2F fleet continues to see service into the Eastern Provinces and the US.  This morning, four of the 9000-series units were in Ontario.  9006 was at Mactier on train 434-16; 9007 was at White River on train 481-15; 9009 was at Sudbury on train 626-13; 9024 was in Chicago, IL on train 426-12.

HUMMING BIRD EXPRESS
Birmingham Railroad Heritage Museum, Inc. will be operating the "Humming Bird Express",  a special Amtrak excursion train from Birmingham, AL to Nashville, TN, over CSX trackage on Saturday, May 16, 1998 and Sunday, May 17, 1998. The train will ready for boarding at 6:30 a.m at Birmingham's Amtrak station at 1819 Morris Ave. Departure northbound both days will be at 7:00 a.m., with a stop at Decatur, Alabama's Union Station at 8:30 a.m.,
arriving Nashville's Broadway Dinner Train station at the foot of Broadway on the banks of the Cumberland River at 12:00 noon.  Departure southbound from Nashville at 3:00 p.m., arrive Decatur 6:30 p.m., arrive Birmingham
8:00 p.m.  All times are Central Daylight Time. Roundtrip fares are $95.00. Train consist will be Amtrak Superliner and some privately owned cars.  Amtrak locomotives will serve as motive power for the train.

Passenger rail advocates in Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky are hoping to use the excursion as a springboard to call for new Amtrak service in the South, specifically Chicago-Florida through Louisville, Nashville, and Atlanta; and Cincinnati-New Orleans through Louisville, Nashville and Birmingham. This will be the first public passenger train operated over CSX's former L&N Birmingham-Nashville mainline since the discontinuance of Amtrak's "Floridian" in October, 1979.  -Ken McGarry