[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 139 (Thursday, July 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42141-42142]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-14344]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), notice is hereby given that the Federal Railroad Administration 
(FRA) received a request for a waiver of compliance with certain 
requirements of its safety standards. The individual petition is 
described below, including the party seeking relief, the regulatory 
provisions involved, the nature of the relief being requested, and the 
petitioner's arguments in favour of relief.

[[Page 42142]]

Maine Narrow Gage Railroad & Museum

[Docket Number FRA-2005-21014]

    The Maine Narrow Gage Railroad & Museum (MNGR), a 2-foot gage 
museum railroad, seeks a waiver of compliance from the requirements of 
Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 230.51 Water glasses and 
gage cocks, number and location. The MNGR is not engaged in general 
railroad transportation, and provides only railroad tourist excursions 
on a limited schedule. The MNGR currently consists of approximately two 
miles of track, all located within the waterfront district of Portland, 
Maine, and adjacent to a park.
    This waiver would be for MNGR locomotives numbers 3 and 4, and 
specifically requests that the minimum reading for the water glasses on 
these two locomotives be retained at 1\1/2\ inches above the highest 
part of the crown sheet as originally designed, constructed, and 
operated since 1912. The current requirement, as specified by title 49 
CFR 230.51, requires a minimum water reading be visible at 3 inches 
above the highest part of the crown sheet. If locomotives numbers 3 and 
4 are brought into compliance with the regulatory requirement, raising 
the water glasses would result in the top or full reading being equal 
height with the top of the boiler. Thus, when the water glass indicates 
full, there is very little remaining volume for steam to accumulate, 
and water may carry over into the dry pipe, an unsafe condition. In 
addition, the boilers on these two locomotives are 37\1/8\ inches in 
diameter, which is significantly smaller than that found on standard 
gage locomotives. The petitioner believes that due to the difference in 
boiler diameters, an equivalent level of safety exists with their water 
glass at 1\1/2\ inches above the highest part of the crown sheet when 
compared to a standard gage locomotive set at 3 inches.
    Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings 
by submitting written views, data, or comments. FRA does not anticipate 
scheduling a public hearing in connection with these proceedings since 
the facts do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any interested party 
desires an opportunity for oral comment, they should notify FRA, in 
writing, before the end of the comment period and specify the basis for 
their request.
    All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the 
appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-
2005-21014) and must be submitted in triplicate to the Docket Clerk, 
DOT Central Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401, Washington, DC 
20590-0001. Communications received within 45 days of the date of this 
notice will be considered by FRA before final action is taken. Comments 
received after that date will be considered as far as practicable. All 
written communications concerning these proceedings are available for 
examination during regular business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m.) at DOT 
Central Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington. All documents in the public docket are 
also available for inspection and copying on the Internet at the docket 
facility's Web site at http://dms.dot.gov.
    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19377-78). The statement 
may also be found at http://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC on July 13, 2005.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 05-14344 Filed 7-20-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P