If BNSF is Multitracking their transcons so then where is the Eastern Railroads going to stuff it down the bottleneck?

[Unionman]

When they have single tracked parts of there lines because of percieved cost savings via PTC?

[MidlandMike]

Both of the eastern lines that meet BNSF in Chicago (CSX and NS) are double tracked. 

[BaltACD]

MidlandMike

Both of the eastern lines that meet BNSF in Chicago (CSX and NS) are double tracked. 

CSX has a segment of 2.7 miles between Fort Hill and Pinkerton that is Single Track between Connellsville and Cumberland.  Other than that it is double track from Chicago to Baltimore - it is single track from Baltimore to Philadelphia and on the former Conrail to Selkirk.  From Chicago to Selkirk it is predominately double track except for some lines around Clevelan.

[daveklepper]

Eastern RRs are not demonstrating any capacity problems.

Problems resulted from bad planning for mergers, crew shortages, floods, terror, but not capacity.

[Overmod]

In the days of regulation there was less concern over 'bottlenecking' because there were still many competing routes.  

Famously the old Water Level Route was converted from 4 tracks to 2 with CTC in the Fifties (I always heard under Perlman) with little loss of 'throughput', although I suspect some of this is due to the great collapse of Great Steel Fleet passenger traffic around that time.

I think the great 'slashing' of Eastern 'capacity' (and route 'options' or opportunities for directional-main running or bridge-traffic fleeting) occurred more in the 1980s, when many nominally double-tracked sections were single-tracked, and whole lines, some of great fame or promise, were removed or drastically downsized -- we often bewail much of this as shortsighted, but even with short-term congestion as seen with the fad for oil trains, we've seen little of the 'double-tracking' push for multiple mains on the Western lines.

Experience watching the ex-NYC and the parallel NKP line across eastern Ohio and upper-left-corner Pennsylvania is that traffic on the single-track line east of Cleveland appears greater than on the much faster and higher-capacity line... and any time I have been to the Sandusky area I have seen no traffic on it at all aside from Amtrak.  This is the route to Selkirk mentioned in Balt's post, and I see no technical barrier imposed by capacity at all.

Whether it would ever be practical to re-establish some of the lost capacity to east and southeast is something I'll leave to those with more interest or experience.  While it is far easier than it ever has been to relay very high-quality track quickly, I suspect a great many of these lines have been 'Canada Southerned' for various more or less Machiavellian strategic reasons, or short-term perceptions, and in any case cyclical variation in loading alone would make restoration a fragile thing finance-wise especially in these years of crazed OR-specific traffic-shucking emphasis.

[caldreamer]

Two examples of removing multi track that I am very familiar with is removal of the third track over horseshoe cureve (now two tracks).  The other was the removal of two of the track over the Rockville bridge over the susquhanna river in Harrisburg, PA.  now down to two tracks.

[tree68]

Capacity constraints rarely have anything to do with the mainlines themselves.  The problem is usually in the destinations, be they yards or customers.

I've seen the diamond at Deshler devoid of traffic for upwards of three hours - clearly capacity is not a problem.

I've also seen trains backed up two deep outside of Deshler with both northbounds turning east, and eastbounds.  The reason - no room at the Northwest Ohio (North Baltimore) facility.  

For that matter, I've seen the Chicago Line through Utica, NY, have no traffic for several hours.

[MP173]

I have been currently monitoring the Berea, Oh web cam/scanner for the past couple of months - the joy of working at home!  Previously I monitored Fostoria and Chesterton, In.

I dont see any capacity issues with either NS or CSX thru Cleveland, based on the web cam/scanner.   Sure there are days of traffic jams, but the trains for both railroads seem to be very well scheduled and adhered to and the traffic flows.  NS seems to slow down at the drawbridge and CSX has a little log jam at times at Collinwood, but traffic seems steady.  

That being said...trains are much larger now.  Today Q161 was 16,000 ft.  That is the equivilant of 2 trains 10 years ago.  Trains are combined...NS24Z regularly handles a block of general freight cars plus 250 or so containers...nearly all domestic JBH, EMP, and Hubs.  Even the hottest of UPS trains on CSX (Q010) now carries a large block of international containers.

Also...container traffic is now tilting to east coast to MidAmerica as the global logistics change (see last months Trains article on East Coast Intermodal).

The general freights tend to block swap and set out en route.  An Avon - Selkirk CSX manifest (Q364) carries a block of autorack and works intermediate yards.  Years ago Conrail would run East St. Louis - Selkirk train, UP (St. Elmo) - Selkirk, and Avon - Selkirk and probably a couple others from points west.  Now mostly consolidated into one train.

I think the rails are in a great spot right now.  The volumes are obviously lower due to Covid related economy but operations seem solid.  As traffic ramps back up adjustments will be made in the form of more trains, or longer trains.

One negetive is obviously the reduction in energy trains...

 

Ed

[mvlandsw]

BaltACD

 

MidlandMike

Both of the eastern lines that meet BNSF in Chicago (CSX and NS) are double tracked. 

 

 

CSX has a segment of 2.7 miles between Fort Hill and Pinkerton that is Single Track between Connellsville and Cumberland.  Other than that it is double track from Chicago to Baltimore - it is single track from Baltimore to Philadelphia and on the former Conrail to Selkirk.  From Chicago to Selkirk it is predominately double track except for some lines around Clevelan.

 

There are three segments of CSX, ex P&LE, single track that total about 26 miles.

There is also 9 miles of single track between Warwick and Lambert, Ohio

[MidlandMike]

BaltACD

 

 

MidlandMike

Both of the eastern lines that meet BNSF in Chicago (CSX and NS) are double tracked. 

 

 

CSX has a segment of 2.7 miles between Fort Hill and Pinkerton that is Single Track between Connellsville and Cumberland.  Other than that it is double track from Chicago to Baltimore - it is single track from Baltimore to Philadelphia and on the former Conrail to Selkirk.  From Chicago to Selkirk it is predominately double track except for some lines around Clevelan.

 

I remember the ex-PL&E is single track in the Beaver Falls area.  It still shows single in satellite view.  I didn't know of the single track in the Cleveland area, I guess on the old Belt Line.

[BaltACD]

MidlandMike

 

BaltACD 

MidlandMike

Both of the eastern lines that meet BNSF in Chicago (CSX and NS) are double tracked.  

CSX has a segment of 2.7 miles between Fort Hill and Pinkerton that is Single Track between Connellsville and Cumberland.  Other than that it is double track from Chicago to Baltimore - it is single track from Baltimore to Philadelphia and on the former Conrail to Selkirk.  From Chicago to Selkirk it is predominately double track except for some lines around Cleveland. 

I remember the ex-PL&E is single track in the Beaver Falls area.  It still shows single in satellite view.  I didn't know of the single track in the Cleveland area, I guess on the old Belt Line.

In the years prior to CSX acquiring the P&LE it was gutted from being a 3 and 4 track Main line between New Castle and McKeesport into what it is today - a 40 MPH nominally single track line.  For through traffic, fortunately Pittsburgh and its enviorns are no longer the Steel City.  The bottom line however, would benefit from all the traffic the on line steel mills once generated.