The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 105

E-2 Pittsburgh Press, June 10, 1982 East Allegheny Hikes School Tax UVi Mills Debt service and assessment reductions have prompted an .11 Vi-mill tax increase for residents of the East Allegheny School District. The school board last week adopted a preliminary 1982-83 budget of $8,283,000, one percent higher than this year's budget. But a $1.2 million bond issue floated by the district last month will require almost four mills of taxation to repay. About $700,000 of the loan will cover unanticipated debts in the district, while another $500,000 will be used for capital improvements. The boost to 78 "6 mills is expected to cost the average taxpayer about $110, according to district officials.

lift I) 'i-l 't FATHER'S DAY IT'S HIS TIME Press Photo by Carol Morton Wayne Norm checks window on 1937-vintage caboose. Tiny Railroad Gets On Track Two-tone $225 jc Two-tone Daydate $165 Give him a new, ultra-slim dress model or the sporty new daydate. Both: water resistant, step motion, sweep second hand. Battery life, 8 years, with Citizen Quartz accuracy. CITIZEN WE'RE MAKING THE MOST OF TIME.

he's more interested in style than speed. The train is no toy, but a vital part of the family enterprise. No matter how practical the Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad might be, though, Wayne Norris admits he's proud to be running a working piece of Turtle Creek Valley history. Rooting through old deeds, Norris found that the spur line was built around 1895 as the Turtle Creek Valley Railroad, a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. "They built it for the coal that was being dug out of hillsides all over this Manordale Valley," Norris said gazing up at a slag pile hulking above Export.

"Coal gave the borough its name, because that's all they did here export coal." The mines played out more than a quarter of a century ago, about the same time that small manufacturers and warehouses started crop- Ring up along the rail spur. J.M. (orris, now 63, set up Dura-Bond with his son in 1960. At one time, the line ran all the way to Blairsville and carried passenger trains along with hundreds of coal cars each day. Now, the tracks fade into the brush just beyond the Dura-Bond plant.

"I was born and raised here in Export. I remember steam engines rolling through here. The trains were a part of our lives. I guess I never really thought about it all that (Continued from Page E-l) those curves a bit," be said. In all, Norris figures on making an investment in excess of $600,000 before it's all over.

It's been a long, complicated process, full of meetings on financing, setting up hauling rates and surcharges, obtaining an interchange agreement and hundreds of other details. "If I bad known all the trouble it would be to set this thing up, I'm not sure we'd have done it. Sometimes, it helps to be a little naive," Norris said with a chuckle. "Still, we had to do it. It was a matter of survival." The railroad will hire four new employees for the operation, although the engineer's position is already filled by Jim Norris, 21, Wayne's youngest brother.

"We've had a switch engine to push cars into the shops for years now," so we've got some background for this," the younger Norris said. "I've been handling that engine for about a year. I'm ready to get started hauling cars," he said, taking the locomotive for a trial run through Export. Chugging along at a maximum of 10 miles an hour, the green and yellow engine isn't exactly the Hoo-tersville Cannonball, but as he finesses the brakes and caresses the throttle, Jim Norris makes it clear making the fledgling line a money-making venture. "We're going to be charging $250 a car.

We can take up to 10 cars at a time up this grade with this engine. The track winds so much that you risk derailing with any more cars than that. That's why we bought the caboose, so we could post a lookout at the back of the train. "Of course, we're going to fix that caboose up a little, too." It already sports a coal stove which will be spruced up, and there's an icebox and seating for eight. "The bar will fit nicely right in this space," Norris said, sizing up the interior with his hands.

"After all, we're not all work around here." Norris figures the TCIRR will haul between 500 and 1,000 cars a year to start out. "If more industry locates along here, which the state Commerce Department is promoting, or if the economy picks up, we'd like to haul more like 2,000. It would take about 1,500 cars a year for us to show a profit. "Our contract with Conrail stipulates we must run the branch for two years and we can't resell it for five, so we're committed to this for a while." It only takes an hour or so to run the length of the line, but the steep grade makes the engine guzzle die-sel fuel. The frequency of trips will "depend largely on how many cars are waiting to be moved and how urgently they are needed by customers.

"We'll give better service than Conrail, because the managers along the line all know me and can call me when they have problems. Freight cars cost you money just sitting on a siding, so we'll be running pretty often," Norris said. much until this deal came along. I certainly never thought I'd own a railroad. "I'd read somewhere that a community suffers psychologically when it loses its rail service, and I believe there's some truth to it.

When people heard that we were going to buy the line, they'd come up to me in the post office and say things like 'it just wouldn't be the same here without the Norris said he's gotten dozens of phone calls from rail buffs inquiring about rides and other trivia. "A lot of them want to know if we're going to run excursions. It would be a pretty ride down through that gorge The gorge carrying Turtle Creek down to Trafford is a scenic delight, full of wildlife and rugged cliffs. Two recreation areas Duff Park in Murrysville and the BY Pond in Trafford already lie adjacent to the stream, which is crossed by the railroad seven times. The stretch also is a candidate for state Wild and Scenic River status.

The state Fish Commission has deemed the creek ideal for trout stocking. Only the acid drainage from the old mines upstream mars the area, and the Turtle Creek Watershed Association is continuing efforts to cleanse the water. Norris breaks out of his business mind-set for a moment to muse over the railroad's possibilities. "I like adventurous things. I'm a bit of a dreamer I like to do things that are different but you can get carried away." The Turtle Creek Passenger Railroad is, at least for now, shelved in the back of Norris' mind.

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The Monroeville Council has finally approved a human relations ordinance setting up a local commission to review alleged discrimination. The measure approved Tuesday establishes a seven-member board to investigate and seek settlement of complaints of discriminatory practices in such areas as employment and housing. Members of the commission will be appointed to four-year terms by the council, which also voted to advertise for candidates from a broad spectrum of the community, including civic and religious leaders. The commission will also have power to hold hearings, subpoena witnesses and issue findings of fact. If the panel is unable to resolve a dispute at the local level, it can refer its findings to the appropriate county, state or federal agency.

First proposed by the East Allegheny chapter of the NAACP more than a year ago, the ordinance was delayed for months while, municipal officials sought comments from the state Human Relations Commission and the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. The language of the ordinance was also revised somewhat after several members of council expressed concern that the Monroeville commission not duplicate the work of civil rights agencies in other levels of government. Correction The Plum youth arrested for a May 23 hit and run accident involving a stolen car was Ronald Blu-baugh, 18, of 9036 Saltsburg Road. Press East last week incorrectly reported that the suspect was Kerry P.

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