Gee, why when you have a plan at some point in the future to build a HSR system between KC and St. Louis would you abandon and tear up the rail on a line like this. Understood it has some ridiculous curves (which can be straghtened). To me though makes sense to keep it a rail line and start to incrementally rehab it as a state property. I am just amazed that in 2017 all the rail and ties have to be torn up and then they have to start to look for ways to finance its conversion to a bike trail. Seems to me someone in Missouri is not thinking ahead.
When Dallas-Ft. Worth bought it's portion of the Rock Island (which later would become Trinity Railway Express) it was sensible enough to keep the rail in place and continue to lease out sections to other rail companies.......pocketing the revenue.
80's thinlk! Railroads are a archaic from of transportation and won't exist in the 21st Century.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I really wonder if all these old abandoned road beds are worth as much as railfans think they are. Are there folks running the Class I's really saying "Gee I wish we hadn't done that"?
BLS53 I really wonder if all these old abandoned road beds are worth as much as railfans think they are. Are there folks running the Class I's really saying "Gee I wish we hadn't done that"?
The Rock Island was never a major player in passenger traffic between St. Louis and Kansas City. The Rock Island between St. Louis and Kansas City was the long way around. In addition, the Rock Island missed any major points in between.
The same reasons not to Route Rock remain.
CSSHEGEWISCH BLS53 I really wonder if all these old abandoned road beds are worth as much as railfans think they are. Are there folks running the Class I's really saying "Gee I wish we hadn't done that"? The point is well made. RI's St. Louis-Kansas City main was abandoned in all but fact long before the railroad was liquidated in the 1980's. When SP bought the KC-Tucumcari line, it took trackage rights over the former MP St. Louis-KC main instead of trying to rebuild the RI line.
The St Louis - KC line was in relatively good shape until the mid to late 70s. The RI wanted to run coal trains to the Labadie power plant. They ran a few trains and it destroyed the track structure. (Kind of like on the CNW when the engineering dept was asked if they could run a coal train over the old Cowboy line across Nebraska. Yes, you they could run one, but they'ld never run another one.) One of the last engineer's classes on the RI was to qualify more crews because they couldn't make it over the two crew disticts on HOS. Eldon, MO was the crew change on the line.
The St. Louis - KC line was where RI was testing operating trains by voice control directly by radio. Sort of a cross between track warrants and direct traffic control.
Jeff
The line also seems to get attention everytime the muddy Missouri river starts to rise as well ..
Victrola1 The Rock Island was never a major player in passenger traffic between St. Louis and Kansas City. The Rock Island between St. Louis and Kansas City was the long way around. In addition, the Rock Island missed any major points in between. The same reasons not to Route Rock remain.
I have a reasonable memory of St. Louis passenger trains, but can't recall RI ever running trains to KC. The only RI I remember was a joint deal with the Burlington, from St. Louis to Minneapolis.
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