Possilby this has been answered in a previous thread, and if so excuse me. Possibly NP ED is the best to answer:
When the Milwaukee's Pacific Extension was abandoned in 1980, why did not BN take over the line from Bristol or Easton west to Black River Junction and use it with the NP East of Bristoil or Easton? Westbound ruling grade 0.70% vs. 2.3% on the NP and 2.34% on the GN. Eastbound 1.74% vs. 2.45 NP and 2.52 GN. Is this still possible?
The reasoning as I understand it was that the Milwaukee let the route fall apart and it would've needed a lot of capital to rebuild, especially as the route has extensive bridging. In the 1980s there wasn't much going over Stampede either and BN eventually sold it off (temporarily).
Most of the route is now a trail and theoretically could be rebuilt.
The BN did buy the line over Snoqualmie Pass. From Easton I recall. The story I read is that it was for anticipated export coal traffic that didn't develope. One of the trestles had a section collapse when trees and debris got caught on one of the piers during a flood. The build up put side pressure on the pier that it wasn't designed for and failed. Since the anticipated traffic hadn't developed, the BN abandoned the line and pulled up the rails.
When the state put in the John Wayne Trail, they repaired the trestle for trail use.
A picture of the repaired trestle is on the trail website.
https://www.traillink.com/trail/john-wayne-pioneer-trail/
Jeff
There are a couple of other issues that no one else has mentioned.
First, the MILW route included several blocks of street running in Renton. Slow at best and irritating for both sides. I heard stories that there was a plan to build a connection between the MILW and NP somewhere in the Maple Valley (MILW) Covington (NP) area. That would have introduced a hump in the profile but probably less bad than Renton in the long run.
Second, I doubt this plan would have allowed removal of Stampede Pass line, which was part of the NP land grant main line. To the best of my knowledge, NONE of that line has been abandoned. BN/BNSF lawyers probably figure that would trigger a lawsuit to recover associated land grants. At the time this was a live issue, those lands were held in a railroad subsidiary, or in the resource side of the holding company. Today ownership of those lands has long since been separated from the railroad, so the land may be less of an issue now.
Mac
Dave:
Thank you for the compliment, but I don't know anything about the west end of the Northern Pacific. The other commentators have made good observations.
Ed Burns
Mac: You apparently missed the war between Kent and BNSF. BNSF had to beat off the local good-ol-boys on that issue more than once. It's intact, BNSF made sure of it.
BNSF was still looking at Snoqualmie whilst Stampede was rehabbed in the late '90s... Some was railbanked (and some should have been I've been told)
Mud,
I think you mean Auburn, not Kent. Auburn locals pitched a fit when BNSF reactivated Stampede Pass, even spent a bunch of money on lawyers. All to no avail from their point of view.
Kent was and is on the NP Double Track, now BNSF two MT, line between Seattle and Vancouver WA/Portland OR which has always been busy.
Auburn is more correct than Kent, but I seem to remember Kent was a party to the court case. (during that case and project, I never worked west of the tunnel...I was near there the day the bulldozer fell off the MILW bridge at Bristol...
As for the city attorney's or the city itself the proceedings were a new chapter in Dumb and Dumber!
I can not imagine why Kent would want to borrow Auburn's trouble, but that does not mean they did not.
PNWRMNM Mud, I can not imagine why Kent would want to borrow Auburn's trouble, but that does not mean they did not. Mac
Johnny
Good ol' boys that think they can make the rules as they go. sub-luddites.
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