RR project will run coal to Keystone plant

CLARKSBURG--Coal trains are expected to begin rolling from Saltsburg to this Conemaugh Township village next year, on a new Norfolk Southern rail connection which recently began construction along 5.26 miles bordering Rt. 286 and the Blacklegs Creek.

It's part of a $45 million project which will provide a new, shorter route for coal headed from mines in Greene County to the Keystone Power Plant near Shelocta. As part of that route, Norfolk Southern also intends to rehabilitate and reactivate 11 miles of dormant tracks between Clarksburg and Shelocta.

Representatives from Norfolk Southern and state, federal and local officials gathered Monday morning at the former Evergreen Farms, at Rt. 286 and Clarksburg Road, to officially break ground on what is known as the Keystone-Shelocta rail project.

Several speakers touted environmental benefits which are expected to result from the new train route, chiefly through elimination of some of the heavy trucks which currently haul coal to the Keystone generating station.

"This project is a win-win situation," said Ron Listwak, assistant vice president of utility service in Norfolk Southern's northern sector.

He indicated the new track will carry one or two 130-car trains per day, each transporting about 14,000 tons of coal to the power plant and then returning empty via the same route.

At Saltsburg, trains will switch to the new track from Norfolk Southern's existing Conemaugh line.

The new route will slash 102 miles off the round-trip distance coal trains currently cover on a circuitous line that heads further north and then south again, on the way to the Keystone plant.

Due to steep grades, Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband noted, trains of no more than 100 cars are able to use that existing route--which passes through Freeport, Punxsutawney and Creekside en route to Shelocta.

Husband indicated each rail car can carry the same amount of coal as four fully-loaded trucks.

"That will replace hundreds of daily truck trips on local highways," Listwak said. "It's a much safer, environmentally-friendly way to go."

With fewer coal trucks rumbling over them, "The roads are going to take less of a beating," noted Congressman Bill Shuster, while, "There will be an increase in air quality, with less exhaust fumes from trucks."

"This is a grand slam for Pennsylvania and for transportation," Shuster said. "We're going to be moving coal out of Pennsylvania mines more efficiently."

Indiana County Commissioner Bernie Smith noted he grew up nearby, in the Young Township village of McIntyre. "This is home for me," he said, suggesting the new rail line "will bring some economic vitality to the area."

From an initial plan in 1995, the route to the rail project "wasn't easy," he said, referring to a drawn-out permitting process and negotiations which occurred over the past several years among the ail company, various agencies and organizations and property owners along the rail corridor.

"A lot of talks took place to make this happen," he said.

Listwak said completion of the new rail route should "keep the cost of generating electricity at the Keystone station competitive, and it will also benefit the coal mines in Greene County which will produce most of the coal that's going to come in here."

He added that the new tracks could in the future be used to transport coal with higher sulfur content from Rosebud Mining operations along the Allegheny River. But scrubbers first would have to be installed at the Keystone plant.

To complete the Keystone-Shelocta project, Norfolk Southern is investing $35 million of its own funds. It also will use a $10 million Federal Highway Administration grant designated for congestion mitigation and air quality.

Husband said between 12 and 16 months of work remain for completion of the new track, with progress depending on the weather.

"Sometime in 2006 the first train will be running through here," he said, but added, "It's not easy to predict when."

Throughout Monday's ceremony, crews employed by the project contractor, Charles J. Merlo of Mineral Point, remained busy excavating a cut on a hillside just east of Clarksburg Road.

Trucks hauled the ground to the west side of the road, to build up the rail grade there.

Husband said blasting was scheduled for later this week.

He indicated trestles will be constructed to bring the new track across Clarksburg Road, with a clearance of at least 18 feet, and then across Rt. 286 not far to the east, with a clearance of more than 20 feet.

At the same time, culverts are being constructed further west along the new line, near a planned at-grade crossing of Conemaugh Township's Bell Road.

The township supervisors had wanted a trestle crossing at the Bell Road location, as well.

Husband indicated that crossing will be installed with a full range of safety features, including gates and flashing lights. Also, improvements are being considered to the adjacent section of Bell Road.

Once the coal trains begin arriving, local motorists also will have to contend with six reactivated at-grade rail crossings along the existing track between Clarksburg and Shelocta.

Husband said those will remain "passive" crossings, marked only by warning signs.

On the other hand, officials pointed out 50 other at-grade crossings will be eliminated on roadways further north, once Norfolk Southern discontinues the existing coal train route to the Keystone station.

State Sen. Don White said cooperation between Norfolk Southern and Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection has set the stage for local improvements in water quality.

Listwak indicated Norfolk Southern has set aside more than $1 million to assist efforts by the Blackleggs Creek Watershed Association to clean up acid mine drainage in the Blacklegs Creek and its tributaries.

According to watershed official Art Grguric, recent negotiations, which also involved the Army Corps of Engineers, resulted in an agreement for the watershed group to expand its wetlands-based acid mine drainage treatment sites along Sportsman Road, as a replacement for wetlands the railroad project will disturb.

Norfolk Southern's financial contribution will be used toward the expected $1.3 million cost of that expansion.

In a related matter, Grguric said the watershed association has reached a separate agreement with the rail company to maintain public access for fishing along much of the section of Blacklegs Creek bordering the new train route.

But access no longer will be permitted in areas near the trestle crossings.

The watershed group stocks portions of the Blacklegs with trout it raises at an affiliated local nursery.