There's always talk on these forums about how this or that inactive rail line should be put back in service. What was the last major rail line where this actually happened?
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There is this one that was reactivated in Scotland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_Railway
54light15 There is this one that was reactivated in Scotland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_Railway
The Borders Railway is reopened from Edinburgh to Tweedbank. Though no new track has been laid beyond, survey s have been made to build the line to Carlisle. Difficulty is taking the line thru Hawick, then Whitrope Tunnel. Privately, The Waverley Route Heritage Association are laying track from Whitrope Summit towards Riccarton Junction.
The Varsity Line. The Government are committed to open 20 miles of the line from Oxford to Cambridge. Private investors are putting money in for the building of the remaing mileage.
David
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Stampede Pass.
A couple of these sorts of line are either pending or have been described in posts here as being in progress -- any of these would reset the clock on 'last one' when completed. Most of the Tennessee Pass options would in fact qualify.
I continue to wait for the Lackawanna Cutoff to be built, either to near Stroudsburg as NJT or, with Pennsylvania or Amtrak support, all the way to Scranton (ding, ding, Mr. Biden!) Even as single track with high-speed sidings this was already an opportunity decades ago; now that alternatives to initial full electrification for high speed exist, it is becoming further compelling...
Murphy Sidingtalk on these forums about how this or that inactive rail line should be put back in service.
Would you be willing to include the "re-double tracking" of the former B&O main across Indiana and Ohio to Chicago? 1990s I believe.
Washington state rebuilt a line south of Tacoma WA for Amtrak a couple of years ago, and I believe the first train to use it suffered a deadly derailment. I can't recall if that line was completely closed or just freight only before.
nanaimo73Washington state rebuilt a line south of Tacoma WA for Amtrak a couple of years ago, and I believe the first train to use it suffered a deadly derailment. I can't recall if that line was completely closed or just freight only before.
It had been a active 30 MPH freight only line.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
nanaimo73 Washington state rebuilt a line south of Tacoma WA for Amtrak a couple of years ago, and I believe the first train to use it suffered a deadly derailment. I can't recall if that line was completely closed or just freight only before.
Dale! Where the heck have you been hiding lately???
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
How about the old "Desert Line" running east from San Diego? Did they ever get that ironed out, or are the actors still proccupied trying to pick each other's pockets?
Seems as though I once heard that at least a portion in Mexico is now being operated by a short line.
blhanel Dale! Where the heck have you been hiding lately???
Good to see you again!
OvermodI continue to wait for the Lackawanna Cutoff to be built, either to near Stroudsburg as NJT or, with Pennsylvania or Amtrak support, all the way to Scranton
The line is already in freight operation between East Stroudsburg and Scranton. I rode the line from Scranton to the Delaware Water Gap in 2010 on a NRHS excursion.
It is not passenger standard, and I expect someone will have to subsidize the train service, at least at first.
i don't see either as showstopping, though: even a slow connection from Scranton to Stroudsburg with fast service east to Allied/Lautenberg and NYP is valuable.
Convicted One How about the old "Desert Line" running east from San Diego? Did they ever get that ironed out, or are the actors still proccupied trying to pick each other's pockets? Seems as though I once heard that at least a portion in Mexico is now being operated by a short line.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
Well, it appears that Murphy Siding really won the lottery with this thread. Instances where former mainlines were restored, and ultimately succeeded,... appear to be the exception, not the norm.
ericsp Convicted One How about the old "Desert Line" running east from San Diego? Did they ever get that ironed out, or are the actors still proccupied trying to pick each other's pockets? Seems as though I once heard that at least a portion in Mexico is now being operated by a short line. It was used for a while but has been out of service for years.
Not much info since 2020 but this is interesting
https://www.sdmts.com/sites/default/files/2020-7-28_sdae_final_pkg.pdf (Caution opens PDF)
Highlights:
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the Desert Line contract. As you know, a group with which I am associated opened the rail line in 2006 and we were able to export from Mexico ri-bar, as well as massive exportation of sand to the Campo facility. Unfortunately, the effort was taken over by a cabal from Las Vegas which not only destroyed the corporate organization but also did similar damage on the Mexican portion of the rail line.
One of the major problems with the operation of the line is the interference by government agencies. The 20-year mess by the PAN administration on the Mexican portion of the line is due to the corruption of Mexican officials to exact tribute to support a bloated , parasitic and redundant organization that was established to manage the assignment of the line from the central government. The recent misaccounting of the $20 million grant to upgrade the line is the latest of these fiascos.
The Desert line has been the red-headed stepchild of the MTDB/MTS system. When my group had control of the situation, under a reasonable contract with a minimum fee and percentage, the line was opened and operating. But the imposition of a $1 million minimum fee was a stupid attempt by the past MTS CEO to show some return for this constant burr in his saddle. Through the reams of litigation and bankruptcies, the present Desert Line contractor is stuck with the realty of now catching up with a $1 million payment, which it obviously does not have. Extensions of the 1 January due date for the first half-million; and now 1 July for the second half-million, are met with pleadings for extensions and what are obdurately disingenuous justifications. Clearly the contractor has no ability to pay this minimum fee, much less following through with the other pie-in-the-sky demands of the contract, based upon MTS’s normal cost estimating under Davis-Bacon criteria. But seeing the potential to lose a million bucks seems like malfeasance by not running out the payment deadline in desperation.
But this fiasco must stop and this contract ended. It is unfortunate that the prior payments by the contractor have no recourse. But there seems to have been no plan in the first place, just great aspirations.
I ask the present MTS organization to terminate this contract and be prepared to sell the Desert line to a private party, so that the rail line can be opened, and real, 24-hour commerce returned to the region.
The acquisition of the line system from Southern Pacific had the obligation as a common carrier to keep the eastern freight railroad open. MTS has not done this. Having a single Class I carrier serving San Diego is not in the best interests of competition and movement of goods. The vulnerability of the coast rail line has been already seen at Del Mar and San Clemente.
Moreover, this line is a unique, international railroad and involved two nations, it is not some parochial,historic remnant.
R. Mitchel Beauchamp
28 July 2020
H'mmmm..."obdurately disingenuous"....I like that.
If the proposed railroad to Yucca Mountain ever gets built, both of the suggested routes contain some abandoned row.
Murphy Siding I do get the feeling that very few rail lines that go dormant ever come back. <SNIP>
I do get the feeling that very few rail lines that go dormant ever come back.
<SNIP>
Murphy,
I am actually a lot more optimistic about this. That must say something coming from me because I am an eternal pessimist.
I believe that "dormant" lines stand a good chance of being revived *BUT* that's only true on dormant lines WHERE THE RAILS HAVE BEEN LEFT INTACT.
I say this in part because the great expansion of highways and air travel probably hit its zenith in the 50-60 years following the Second World War. Cars and airplanes aren't going away but the greatest years of their expansion may be over. So, life and the economy goes on and continues to expand. Rail might turn out to be part of the answer.
On lines that have been dismantled such as the western end of the Milwaukee's line to Rapid City that we discussed on another thread, barring a real and true miracle, I see little chance for that.
Yes indeed, it could happen, but it's extremely unlikely.
The old Pennsy main line east from Tolleston, Indiana, had been removed completely. It was then restored when CSX agreed to lease it. The CR separation agreement gave the line to NS, though, and neither of the railroads were interested any more.I may have some of my facts wrong; perhaps Sir Mudchicken can provide some of the details. But some rail was definitely restored along this line at one point.(It's sad to think of any of this once-mighty main line being gone. When I head up Clark Road to visit what we now call "Pine Junction" (the original was west of there by a bit), one of the things I see is the old PRR track (rails intact in the road, but roadbed almost invisible everywhere else).
Carl
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CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
CShaveRR The old Pennsy main line east from Tolleston, Indiana, had been removed completely. It was then restored when CSX agreed to lease it. The CR separation agreement gave the line to NS, though, and neither of the railroads were interested any more.
The old Pennsy main line east from Tolleston, Indiana, had been removed completely. It was then restored when CSX agreed to lease it. The CR separation agreement gave the line to NS, though, and neither of the railroads were interested any more.
I'm not sure you're completely wrong but I think there are more details. When you say "East of Tolleston" that implies that the entire mainline across Indiana is gone. I don't think that's the case.
The former Pennsy mainline was downgraded under Conrail. First they single-tracked it then in the 1990s, after they booted Amtrak off the line, the automatic block signal system was deactivated and removed.
Today it's under the auspices of a short line. (We'll have to Google to see which one, I don't remember now). Among other things they handle CWR trains from a mill near Fort Wayne.
At the extreme western end of the line, where the Pennsy and NYC used to run parallel next to each other, CR combined the two mainlines using the best of the two. Part of the ex-NYC line was used then further west part of the PRR and the NYC was abandoned. (Or was it actually the other way around?) This could well be in the Tolleston area, I'm not sure. Does anybody know?
Now, having said all this, what was abandoned was the eastern end of the line between Pittsburgh and eastern Ohio sometimes known as "The Panhandle Line". I think that really is gone and that's a shame. It would now be kinda hard to establish high-speed or higher speed intercity rail passenger service between Pittsburgh and Columbus, OH. (If that's what they really wanna do.)
Columbus was on the St. Louis line but I think both lines used the panhandle route for a distance west of Pittsburgh.
Maybe there are some Pennsy fans on our group that can clarify this a bit.
One more re-instated mainline that I can think of is a short portion of the extreme northern end of the Monon line north of CNR. The tracks were gone. They are getting relaid for a new branch of the South Shore commuter rail line to Dyer, IN. My understanding is that when the new line is opened it will at first be Diesel-powered but they have plans to "possibly" electrify the line at a later date.
One rather dumb decision (in my own personal, honest and humble opinion) is the plan to use a different depot at Dyer than what Amtrak currently uses. That makes any possible connection difficult. Not impossible but just awkward.
Someone once quipped in a passenger train magazine that if anything connects to anything else in America, it's simply by sheer coincidence.
Convicted One Murphy Siding talk on these forums about how this or that inactive rail line should be put back in service. Would you be willing to include the "re-double tracking" of the former B&O main across Indiana and Ohio to Chicago? 1990s I believe.
Murphy Siding talk on these forums about how this or that inactive rail line should be put back in service.
Is adding back a double track back in fairly easy to do, compared to say, trying to revive a long dormant rail line? Would there be any opposition to something like that?
Murphy Siding Is adding back a double track back in fairly easy to do, compared to say, trying to revive a long dormant rail line? Would there be any opposition to something like that?
As far as any NIMBYs are concerned, I'm not sure how much or how far they'd object to double-tracking or if they'd even be aware of a double-track project.
What I have seen is sometimes NIMBYs can raise a real stink if they learn that a railroad plans to dramaticlly increase traffic on a certain line or lines. I think there was an issue about this in the Chicago area. In fact, weren't some NIMBYs objecting to the installation of a new siding on CN? So, yeah, that would be part of your answer 'cause that is a form of a double track although only for a short stretch.
One mainline track that I'm aware of that might someday get relaid is the #1 track over Donner Pass. It was ripped out by the SP but the UP has considered re-installing it. They were looking at that a few years ago but decided against it at that time.
If traffic levels increase they have the Feather River Canyon Line at their disposal. But someday the Feather River Line could be downgraded, abandoned or perhaps sold to another railroad. Then later if traffic levels warrant, they could reinstall the second track over Donner Pass. I seem to recall that although the track is gone, it was never "legally" abandoned although perhaps I'm wrong there.
There would be few if any NIMBYs who would object but I'm sure the environmentalists would scream like bloody murder.
Murphy SidingIs adding back a double track back in fairly easy to do, compared to say, trying to revive a long dormant rail line? Would there be any opposition to something like that?
Most, if not all, of the ROW for the NYC four-track line through NYS could conceivably be returned to four tracks, not that anyone would want to do so. While there might be some places where it would be troublesome (ie, some stations, signal bridges, bridges that may have been replace with just two tracks, etc), it could be possible.
I would opine that in former two-track territory it would be relatively easy. It was done on the former B&O west of Deshler some years ago.
I would agree that short of some local opposition due to increased traffic, etc., such construction would be chiefly under the radar.
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Well, as we've previously discussed, the "smart eggs" often put language into the transfer of property to the railroads stipulating that the land conveyed had to be used for the intended purpose, and failure to do so would cause the title to the land to revert back to the previous owner.
So, potentially, a "redoubling" would have one less hurdle to cross than a line that went fully dormant, possibly triggering reversion. (or whatever it's rightly called).
But, at the heart of my original post, is the need to distinguish motive behind any restoration. Business vs emotion.
Lots of railfans have emotional ties to favored lines, and would love dearly to see their pet memories revived. I believe it is that ambition driving the Saluda grade threads, and the Tennessee pass threads we see here from time to time.... Rotsa Ruck.
I think that any restorations we are likely to see will have to build a compelling business case, before anyone is going to invest in dirt, steel, and perspiration. That is why I submitted the line I suggested.
The recent discussion about UP's lease for the Moffat tunnel expiring in a few years, puts an interesting twist into the discussion pertaining to Tennesse pass. (I was totally unaware of this) Such a variable could definitely make things happen, that normally otherwise wouldn't.
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