Was the Lucin cut-off worth the effort?

[Murphy Siding]

     For all the money and work involved, would the SP have been better off just improving the existing route north of lake?

[Shadow the Cats owner]

According to every book I have read it was worth it.  They saveds 50 miles of slow running heavy grade track and also got rid of 2 helper districts.

[wanswheel]

Sure, anything helped win the war was worth it.

 

 

[BaltACD]

In a similar vein - at the turn of the next century, will the Gotthard Base Tunnel have been considered a good investment?  It has cost considerably more than the Lucin cutoff.

[MikeF90]

Murphy Siding

For all the money and work involved, would the SP have been better off just improving the existing route north of lake?

110 years ago the Lucin Cutoff was the best tradeoff. Improving the former Lucin to Corinne ROW would not have been practical until more efficient earthmoving equipment was available after WWII.

If Overland Route traffic ever picks up enough, the plans to connect the ex-SP Lakeside and ex-WP Shafter subs might have to be revived. Otherwise they'll just have to keep maintaining the causeway.