I'd bring back the entire Southern Pacific system.
I enjoyed hearing their dispatchers giving and taking block authority under DTC rule 480.
Since I was one of the first to get on the Royal Gorge/Tennessee Pass bandwagon, I will restate my wish for that route to be revived. We lived in Canon City from 1999 to 2007 and it was a sad sight to see the tracks west of Parkdale gathering rust, weeds and fallen rocks. I would recommend a drive up US 50 from Canon City to Salida and then on US 285 /24 to Leadville and beyond to apprecaite the beauty of this line in the Arkansas Valley
During the years I was in CO there were rumors about the line such as: BNSF was going to by it to avoid trakage rights on the Moffat Route, UP was going to reopen it as an alternative for coal etc. But we left CO with the line still dormant.
Always thought it would be a great extension of the Canon City and Royal Gorge excursion train.
I only read the first page of posts, but I think I might even be in the majority by voting for the Royal Gorge route -- at least as far as passenger is concerned.
For freight, the question is more "what concept of transport would you revive?" For example; logging trains, mining trains; and obviously economics rule here.
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." Daniel Burnham
SALfan Where did this line go? I'm familiar with the Poteau - Heavener, OK neighborhood.
Where did this line go? I'm familiar with the Poteau - Heavener, OK neighborhood.
From Fort Smith, the line angled southwest through Poteau, Wister, Talihina, Antlers, Hugo, terminating in Paris, TX.
The Cumberland Valley Railroad, or at least the South Penn Branch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_Valley_Railroad
d_cathell.tripod.com/cvrrmain.html
MisterPleasant But my top wish would be for restoration of the old Frisco Kiamichi line, winding through the rugged mountains of SE Oklahoma.
But my top wish would be for restoration of the old Frisco Kiamichi line, winding through the rugged mountains of SE Oklahoma.
....Reviving an old RofW....It would be difficult to do now, {because of highway construction and some buildings since constructed}, but there was a coal hauling line 50-60 years ago {B&O, Boswell Branch}, and the portion I'd like to see would be from Friedens, Pa. to near Boswell....but now it would have to stop where route 30 east - west highway passes as the bridge was removed when that highway was rebuilt. It would make an excellent tourist line. It had a half dozen or more horseshoe curves, and about 4 of them were end to end. One location the railroad crossed a county highway {twice}, within a few hundred feet as it wound around a hillside mound {180 degrees}, simply to gain elevation and retain a good grade.
Quentin
ValleyX The ROW dipped udner the Big Four/New York Central/Penn Central/Conrail/CSX bridge but the clearances were less under the LE&W/NKP/N&W/NS bridge, tri-levels wouldn't fit under that bridge nor the bridge at Richmond, and I don't believe doublestacks would, either
....I forgot the the ROW did have to pass under the current CSX route, and guess I didn't realize either was a bit short in height.
Don't remember of hearing of the '83 or '84 incident you mention of creating lower roofed Fords. That would have been a bit of trouble.
Of course they could have lowered the track elevation {the floor under the overpasses}, to overcome that problem.
The IC "Mud Line" from southwest of Murphysboro to Thebes, Illinois
The GM&O from ESL to Cairo, Illinois
Omaha, Nebr. - Thursday, 20 Nov. 2008.
Maybe I've spent just a little too much time in Cook, Dupage, and Kane Counties (Illinois) over the past two years chasing the ghosts of electric traction, but I really would have loved to have seen the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin in action.
The C.& N.W. branchline between South Elgin and Crystal Lake, Ill. followed the bucolic Fox River Valley through some beautiful old industrial towns like East Dundee, Carpentersville, and Algonquin. It surely would have been great if the Illinois Railway Museum would have acquired and operated that line. Too bad too that the northern extension of this line doesn't go into Lake Geneva and Williams Bay, Wisc. anymore. That section of right-of-way should have been railbanked!
BNSF certainly wishes they could restore the former SP&S between Pasco and Spokane would certainly eliminate a large traffic bottleneck. Unfortunately it was donated to the state and became a bike and hiking trail.
The old NP line would cost more to double track than it would to buy back that particular line and rebuild for train service. BN certainly made an error in judgement when they eliminated that line.
And probably another error in judgement by BN was not rebuilding the CMSTP&P line over Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades after the bridge was destroyed. Would certainly come in handy with double stacks today.
Al - in - Stockton
espeefoamerSouthern Pacific's narrow gauge Carson & Colorado,s line from Fallon(?) Nevada to Keeler. It would be great to ride over Montgomery Pass,highest point on the SP system,on a narrow gauge train.
Pssst... Mound House . Later when the branch was standard guaged (to Tonopah, not over Montgomery) SP built a connection to Hazen (10 miles west of Fallon) bypassing the connection with the V&T. It sure would have been cool to see the Slim Princess in action , at least there is the museum town of Laws .
I grew up just west of Colorado Springs & I'd love to see the Colorado Midland running up Ute Pass again, also the old Short Line route from Colo Springs to Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek is now a big casino town, and there's actually been proposals to revive both these lines, but I think there's simply too much development along the routes now. Also I'll put in my vote for Tenn.Pass and also the RGS!!
For me it would be the L&N branch that ran from Bridgeport,AL to Pikeville,TN (I know that the Sequatchie Valley operates the Bridgeport to Jasper portion).
DO trolley lines count? There is one that went right through where I am in the early 1900s. I found out it started/terminated right by where I live and went right past where my job is. That would have been soooo convenient.
For some reason, I thought the bridges over the C&O that were too low belonged to PRR. Still, it would be fun to run if it were rebuilt, even if you have to duck once in a while.
Modelcar rrnut282IIRC, the clearance problems on the C&O were bridges in Richmond and Muncie that no longer serve rail Mike.....I'm trying to figure out where there were bridges {with clearance problems}, here {Muncie}, on the C&O line.....?? That ROW is still intact with our Cardinal Greenway Trail. East of our C&O Depot...{now Trail Head}, near route 32, there is an underpass {NS operates over the top still}, but having biked under it many times I didn't get the impression it was minimal clearance....and I don't know of any other {underpass}, the ROW passed under near here......
rrnut282IIRC, the clearance problems on the C&O were bridges in Richmond and Muncie that no longer serve rail
Mike.....I'm trying to figure out where there were bridges {with clearance problems}, here {Muncie}, on the C&O line.....?? That ROW is still intact with our Cardinal Greenway Trail.
East of our C&O Depot...{now Trail Head}, near route 32, there is an underpass {NS operates over the top still}, but having biked under it many times I didn't get the impression it was minimal clearance....and I don't know of any other {underpass}, the ROW passed under near here......
The ROW dipped udner the Big Four/New York Central/Penn Central/Conrail/CSX bridge but the clearances were less under the LE&W/NKP/N&W/NS bridge, tri-levels wouldn't fit under that bridge nor the bridge at Richmond, and I don't believe doublestacks would, either.
Several automobiles were made into instant convertibles circa 1983 or 84 when an NS train was shoved onto the Chessie at Muncie and detoured down the C&O to Hamilton. Crew was stopped at Cottage Grove and told to inspect their train and found severe damage to several loads of (I think it was) Fords. The pilot crew was severely reprimanded for not checking out the train for restricted heighth cars. Don't know what the final outcome of that was.
Oh, trains were detouring because of heavy rains and flooding, resulting in track being washed out around Somerville, OH, as well as Seven Mile and possibly Collinsville.
The CGW line from Chicago to St. Paul would be first choice followed by Milwaukee Road's Green Island to Council Bluffs.
Jeff
www.mountainmonthly.com/logging.html
Alamagordo and Sacramento Mountains Railroad. Interesting old logging RR.
The Santa Monica Branch (the old Santa Monica Air Line) from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica, CA, and with it the branches to Inglewood, Soldiers' Home, and Hollywood through Beverly Hills.
Reason is purely personal. I have to drive such huge distances to railfan now. If these lines were reinstated, I could just step out my door and railfan! That would be fun.
The Montgomery Pass line is pretty spectacular for an arid environment. I was part of a group of four OERM buddies who went on a camping trip to the Owens Valley in Oct 1992 - part of the trip was going down the line from the pass - most memorable scene was going through a short cut and then coming across a panoramic view of the valley below the pass.
Southern Pacific's narrow gauge Carson & Colorado,s line from Fallon(?) Nevada to Keeler. It would be great to ride over Montgomery Pass,highest point on the SP system,on a narrow gauge train.
I agree with other postors that the North Shore Line was the most useful line to be abandoned.
rrnut282 ValleyX The C&O of Indiana got abandoned because of heavy grades and clearances. Could the E-L, in conjunction with the Kankakee Belt, work well as a bypass around Chicago? B&O west of Parkersburg was a financial and clearances decision. Today, I'm sure they wish they hadn't hurried. Revive the NKP from Arcadia to the Indiana state line, it's all still there but R. J. Corman has it west of Lima and the NS is using it as a storage lot west of the state line to Portland, IN. Still think that was an NS "Hurry up and get rid of it", shortsighted decision. IIRC, the clearance problems on the C&O were bridges in Richmond and Muncie that no longer serve rail. As part of the revival the grades could be lessened. I'd like to see the NKP revived, too, but is there any traffic other than the ethanol plant in Portland?
ValleyX The C&O of Indiana got abandoned because of heavy grades and clearances. Could the E-L, in conjunction with the Kankakee Belt, work well as a bypass around Chicago? B&O west of Parkersburg was a financial and clearances decision. Today, I'm sure they wish they hadn't hurried. Revive the NKP from Arcadia to the Indiana state line, it's all still there but R. J. Corman has it west of Lima and the NS is using it as a storage lot west of the state line to Portland, IN. Still think that was an NS "Hurry up and get rid of it", shortsighted decision.
The C&O of Indiana got abandoned because of heavy grades and clearances.
Could the E-L, in conjunction with the Kankakee Belt, work well as a bypass around Chicago?
B&O west of Parkersburg was a financial and clearances decision. Today, I'm sure they wish they hadn't hurried.
Revive the NKP from Arcadia to the Indiana state line, it's all still there but R. J. Corman has it west of Lima and the NS is using it as a storage lot west of the state line to Portland, IN. Still think that was an NS "Hurry up and get rid of it", shortsighted decision.
IIRC, the clearance problems on the C&O were bridges in Richmond and Muncie that no longer serve rail. As part of the revival the grades could be lessened.
I'd like to see the NKP revived, too, but is there any traffic other than the ethanol plant in Portland?
The only rail not served would be that of the C&O. The bridges are the current NS New Castle District at Richmond and the Frankfort District and the now CSX Indianapolis main at Muncie.
The grades could be lessened but what would it take, it's a pretty good climb up out of Peru, IN.
Well, as far as traffic goes on the NKP, there's everything that Corman currently serves between Lima and Coldwater, don't think there's any rail business at Fort Recovery now, there's still Mershberger Stone and Red Gold at Portland, business out of Dunkirk that NS now handles via Muncie, and nothing at Albany.
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