Rail Cars

An underground explosion that killed at least 25 coal miners was so powerful that it tossed rail cars and twisted steel tracks, officials said Tuesday, as workers continued efforts to find four missing miners who might have survived the blast. Crews worked feverishly Tuesday to carve an access road and drill three 1,000-foot ventilation shafts into the mountain to release the lethal buildup of methane gas and carbon monoxide that officials believe might have caused the disaster, as well as a fourth tunnel for rescue operations.

The board of Washington's Metro system is expected to vote Thursday on a staff recommendation for the purchase of a new generation of rail cars that is expected to push its oldest cars into retirement. Under the $2 billion program, Metro plans to eventually buy 648 new rail cars and rebuild 100 others. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority does not have the money to finance the entire purchase now but does have the funding to buy 64 cars to launch service on its planned Silver Line to Dulles International Airport, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel.

Officials for Washington's Metro system are preparing to install video cameras on an unspecified number of rail cars, the first step in what could become a systemwide surveillance network that officials say will help them better manage crowds and investigate criminal activity. The agency's board voted Thursday to accept $27.8 million in grants from the Department of Homeland Security to pay for cameras. Most of the money will put more cameras on buses, in ventilation shafts, at station entrances and near the ends of platforms over the next few years.

A rush-hour collision between two crowded trains on Washington's subway system killed at least six people Monday evening and injured dozens, trapping commuters in a stack of twisted rail cars still being scoured for victims hours later. A six-car train stopped near the Fort Totten station on the Metro's busy Red Line was rear-ended by another six-car train on the same track. The impact launched the first car of the oncoming train atop the stopped cars ahead of it, tearing open the passenger compartment and leaving a two-level snarl of debris.

Strasburg Rail Road Easter Bunny Train Where:: Strasburg Rail Road, Lancaster, Pa. When:: April 10-12. Train departs on the hour 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday and April 12; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. What:: Ride a coal-burning steam train on a springtime trip through scenic farmland with Peter Cottontail as the conductor. How much: : Adults and children 12 and older, $15-$22; children ages 3-11, $9-$11. Children younger than 3 are free. A dining car is available. Tickets may be limited, so call before you go. What's nearby:: Across the street, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania features a collection of more than 100 locomotives and rail cars on display.

It takes about two hours to fly from Baltimore to Chicago. But if you want to take public transit from Hunt Valley to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to catch that plane? The 25-mile trip is going to take at least as long. As problem-plagued as Baltimore's light rail system has been over its 15 years in service, one would think that every shortcoming had been exposed. Maryland Transit Administration officials have discovered a startling new one: falling leaves.

Baltimore, founded as an inland deep-water port, now finds itself losing a competitive struggle for the container traffic that carries much of the world's commerce. The Seagirt Marine Terminal, opened 18 years ago to help the port of Baltimore compete for this lucrative business, is struggling to cope with an array of operating disadvantages that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to remedy with no assurance of future success. A possible answer, port officials believe, is to lease the entire Seagirt facility for 30 to 40 years to a private operator willing to invest in making the facility a success.

OCEAN CITY -- Just weeks ago, New York City commuters were packed in 46 stainless steel subway cars like sardines. This week, the rail cars will begin housing real fish as part of a project to restore an offshore site favored by anglers but ravaged by time and the elements. Weather permitting, a barge is expected to move into position 19 miles off Ocean City at the "Jackspot" and offload the cars into 85 feet of water. Within days, biologists say, sea bass, tautog and smaller fish that serve as a food source will begin to fill the insides.

Past time to invest in improved transit I find it fascinating that in all the years I've sat in traffic on Interstate 83 or Interstate 695 or Light Street, sometimes for 15, 30, 60 minutes, I've never seen an article referring to the cars packed on our region's highways, going nowhere fast, as sardines ("Angry sardines," May 8). I think there is a clear bias here. Why can we sit patiently in traffic but are "frustrated and irritated," as Michael Dresser put it, waiting for the light rail?

When the single-car light rail train pulled into Mount Washington station about 3:30 p.m., it was so crowded that David Utley couldn't board it with his bicycle to get to his job at Penn Station. He decided to wait for the next train - which didn't come for another 50 minutes. And it was so overstuffed that Utley just gave up. "Time for Plan B," he said as he wheeled his bike away from the station. The Mount Washington man is one of thousands of light rail riders who have had their lives disrupted as the Maryland Transit Administration grapples with maintenance issues that have sidelined more than three-quarters of its rail cars at peak travel times.