Stewartstown Railroad (STRT) has petitioned the FRA for a waiver of compliance from part 215 (railroad freight car safety standards), part 223 (safety glazing standards), and part 224 (reflectorization of rail freight rolling stock) of the federal railroad safety regulations.
STRT owns 7.4 miles of track that runs between Stewartstown and New Freedom Pennsylvania. Volunteers have made upgrades and repairs to portions of the track, rolling stock, and locomotives. Currently STRT is planning on using less than a mile of the track for tourist railroad operations. Neither the Plymouth locomotive or the caboose being used will exceed ten miles per hour. As more of the track is restored and upgraded STRT will expand the route to include these sections. The caboose being used in the passenger excursions was constructed more than 50 years ago. In order to keep this car in service STRT is requesting a waiver of compliance from part 215.
The caboose does not meet the current glazing requirements due to the construction date. STRT stated in the waiver of compliance petition for part 223 that there is no history of vandalism and they do not interchange equipment so retrofitting the caboose to meet the current glazing standards would be too expensive.
STRT has also petitioned for a waiver of compliance on part 224 because there is currently no freight service on this line and are there plans to have freight service on this line in the future.
FRA does not plan on holding a public hearing on this matter but interested parties may submit comments until December 23, 2015.
