CUMBERLAND — A CSX spokesman disputed what West Virginia Rails 2010 event organizers called an “11th hour” decision to pull support from this weekend’s 100th anniversary celebration of railroad in Petersburg, W.Va.
Bob Sullivan contradicted statements made two days earlier by Jason Johnson, event promoter, and said it’s been the policy of CSX not to allow steam locomotives on its tracks because of increased risk and liability. Sullivan said West Virginia Rails 2010 organizers have known “since the middle of March that we were not going to allow the locomotive to run.”
Officials from the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad had arranged to have steam locomotive No. 734 go to the Petersburg festival from Cumberland. It needed to use about 10 miles of CSX tracks to get there.
“The decision on the steam locomotive is consistent with CSX’s policy of not permitting the movement of antique rail equipment over our lines,” Sullivan said in an e-mail to the Times-News. “CSX’s experience is that movements of antique rail equipment on current infrastructure create at least four serious business and safety concerns.”
Those concerns, Sullivan said, include drawing a crowd close to working rail lines, disrupting essential service to area businesses, impairing the track and equipment which are not designed for current configurations, and creating “serious and potentially expensive insurance concerns.”
Sullivan noted CSX had agreed to become “a major sponsor of the event, in keeping with (the company’s) ongoing citizenship efforts in West Virginia.”
However, “the company has concluded that the most responsible and fair approach is to decline all requests for steam locomotive movements on their own wheels,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said CSX has a history of providing support to a number of worthy causes in West Virginia, including a $5,000 donation to the American Red Cross to help with flooding in Logan County; a $30,000 donation to the Upper Big Branch Miners Fund; and a donation of about 100 CSX employees who volunteered “time, energy and company philanthropy” to rebuild a baseball field in Huntington.
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad is instead sending a diesel locomotive to the festival. Johnson said those who purchased tickets to ride the steam locomotive will receive a voucher for a future ride that will depart from the Western Maryland Railway Station in Cumberland.
Kevin Spradlin can be reached at kspradlin@times-news.com.
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