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Milwaukee Road history - Wikipedia version

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[quote user="billbtrain"] Some questions about the PCE makeup.1) How did the 19'6" tunnel clearances compare to BN's Cascade and Flathead tunnels?[/quote]Remember, the Cascade Tunnel was electrified from it's inception until the 1950's, so it also had double stack clearances built in.  It's the Stampede Pass Tunnel that has no such clearances, and that's why BNSF is trying to con the State of Washington into paying for increasing the clearances in that tunnel to allow double stacks.  And when I say "con", I mean getting public financing without a corresponding public good, aka allowing UP or some other railroad to get trackage rights over this route.  Plus the eternal fact that the entire Stampede Pass line is rather convaluted, so crowing the tunnel is akin to the Biblical analogy of sewing new patches onto old wineskins.  A better option would be to revive the ex-Milwaukee Snoqualmie Pass line with it's ready made double stack clearances intact.  A second best option would be to build a brand new longer lower tunnel underneath the current Stampede Pass alignment aka Cascade Tunnel II to eliminate some of the 2.2% grades and reverse curvature.  And with either option, it would be judicious to also construct a series of short tunnels in the Yakima River canyon to eliminate all those horseshoe curves, and increase track speeds from the current 10 mph to a more reasonable 40 or so mph.That way, the PNW railroads could use the NP water level grade south of Ellensburg to Pasco for grain and coal trains, and the proposed Ellensburg-Lind rebuild of the ex-Milwaukee line can be used for primarily intermodals and eastbound empties.But like I say, if it's soley for BNSF's use, then not one penny of taxpayer money should be used, since the WSDOT rail plan specifically calls for "increased competition".
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