Anyone know what the status is on this? I just went through there (Tonopah to Caliente) and didn't see any signs of activity whatsoever.
Effectively shelved.
mudchicken Effectively shelved.
Details please.
With the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository shelved by the Obama administration pending another review of potential spent fuel repository sites, there is no need for the railroad to handle spent fuel shipments.
Thanks Erikem, So I guess we're just going to keep the 'waste' in the basements????
'Fraid so for the moment. OTOH, letting the spent fuel cool down a few more years before placing in the repository will ease the thermal loading as decay heat drops with time to the minus 1.2 power.
-Erik
What was this line's clain to fame in it's hey-daY?
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Murphy SidingWhat was this line's clain to fame in it's hey-daY?
STB filing for new rail construction under DOE auspices
ETA: Looks like they chose the Caliente corridor routing - many dead links on this site, but the map link still works
Murphy,
Its hey-day has not happened yet. Yucca Mountain was to be the national repository for spent fuel from nuclear reactors all over the country. The fuel comes out more radioactive than when it goes in.
The site is excellent in terms of geology, but Nevada decided they did not want to be the "dumping ground" for the entire country. Harry Reid in from Nevada. Result is the spent fuel is sitting in tanks at n-plants all over the country.
IIRC Trains had an article on the proposed line some 10-20 years ago.
Mac
My bad. I thought this line was part of an abandoned, or at least out of service line that was planned to be brought back to life. It makes sense now. Thanks
chad s thomas Anyone know what the status is on this? I just went through there (Tonopah to Caliente) and didn't see any signs of activity whatsoever.
First: Chad it is good to see you dropping back in.... Missed your popcorn!
Seems like the Politicians are still playing a game of football with this Project (?)
This story is dated 10 Sept 2013
"Yucca Mountain Still a Radioactive Issue on Capitol Hill"
http://news.yahoo.com/yucca-mountain-still-radioactive-issue-capitol-hill-232816567--politics.html;_ylt=A2KLOzFNwkBSsgoAGTTQtDMD
FTA: [snip] "...The back-and-forth at a contentious hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy showed that even with Syria dominating the news, Yucca hasn’t lost its place among Capitol Hill’s most polarizing topics. The Obama administration put the Yucca Mountain project on ice in 2011 but a federal Appeals Court ruled in August that it must complete the licensing process with a full review and either a denial or approval..."[snip]
And he following link might be of some interest in this Thread:
http://www.inyoregister.com/node/5101
Dated 20 Sept. 2013 from the Inyo ( Calif) Register
"Energy Dept. resurrects Yucca Mountain project"
AND A CHRONOLOGY FROM THE NY TIME ON YUCCA MTN Project
@ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/national/usstatesterritoriesandpossessions/nevada/yucca-mountain/index.html
This about the Railroad from 2007: From the Las Vegas Review Journal @
Link: http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/yucca-mountain/railroad-cost-estimates-yucca-top-3-billion
and this story link as well: "Hearings on Yucca rail line doable" from the same LVRJ Paper
Link:http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/yucca-mountain/hearings-yucca-rail-line-doable
and this link also: http://www.yuccamountain.org/transport.htm
From this site:
:
Murph - You aren't totally off - part of the line was to be situated roughly on the abandoned 1890-1907-1985 UP/LA&SL/PPR Pioche Branch.
Capital UGLY neighborhood.
PNWRMNM Result is the spent fuel is sitting in tanks at n-plants all over the country.
Result is the spent fuel is sitting in tanks at n-plants all over the country.
Good plan.
Thanks for the links (and the kind words) Sam . Much appriciated.
MS, As MC mentioned a portion of the line was to be built on the Pioche branch, but most of it was to be new construction. It was to turn west above Pioche and cross Nevada roughly folowing 375 (the extratrestrial highway) and US 6 to within a stones throw of Tonopah and then turn southeast following US95 to Yucca mt. Much of US95 was also built on the old Las Vegas & Tonopah railroad (senator Clark's railroad). Some questioned why the LV&T right of way wasn't revived for this instead of new construction (160 mi vs. 350 mi) but as mentioned much of US95 occupies that row and it was an 1900 railroad anyway. Besides apperently Las Vegas antimatly opposed the idea of all our nuke waste going through there.
chutton01 Murphy SidingWhat was this line's clain to fame in it's hey-daY?I think the proposed route is all new construction from the nearest UP mainline (Beowawe) - this study is nearing 10 years of age, but perhaps it can still help clarify things STB filing for new rail construction under DOE auspices ETA: Looks like they chose the Caliente corridor routing - many dead links on this site, but the map link still works
Thanks for the links.
I was wondering why the C&C/SP line to Hawthorne Naval Weapons station wasn't used as a starting point. There were a couple of lines built from the old Carson & Colorado to the Tonopah area.
- Erik
I thought about that myself. The old Mina branch is intact to Thorne (jct. with the Navy/Army munitions repository rr) I believe the SP unloaded the southern end of it (Schurz south) to the government in the early 90s (when SP filed for abandonment the Navy? was told 'use it or loose it' and ended up buying it). From Thorne to Soda Springs the right of way is basicley intact. Soda Springs is where the Tonopah railway originaly built from the C&C to Tonopah. A water dispute (or extortion) effecivly forced the interchange (and dual guage) north to Mina. Mina is where the branch ended untill the last retrenchment (1948?). That segment is remarkably good considering how long it's been out of use. Beyond Mina the grade is not so good. There terrain is a bit more treacherous between Sodaville and Coaldale jct. but is doable. Going into Tonopah is a different story. Back when the Tonopah railroad (and the LV&T , T&G and T&T) were built Tonopah, and later the Bullfrog mining district, were THE epicenters of the latest mining boom and promised to be important locations. Tonopah was the focus of activity and thats where the railroads met, but Tonopah was not an ideal location as it essentialy sits in the saddle of a rather high mountainous pass with steep approaches from any direction. If the railroad were built west of, and bypassed, Tonopah (where the Silver Peak railroad once ran south) a much more favorable grade could be had into Goldfield where the last (20-30?) miles could be build on the end of the now proposed 'Caliente" route.
It seems more feesable to me to do that (150 miles?) then the 350 or so miles of new construction on the 'Caliente route' and with more favorable grades. But then again if your goal is to avoid population centers the the 'Caliente' route would be hard to beat. That area is desolate even by Nevada standards.
Another factor is indian resistance. A big chunk of that line goes through the Schurz indian reservation and the natives have resisted this project all along.
Opposition to the Yucca Mountain project is just about the only thing that Nevada GOP and Dems agree on - don't want it, don't need it, can't use it in their business - and as long as Harry Reid is the tail wagging the Senate's dog, that's the way it will be.
When politics walks in the door, logic and good sense go out the window.
DOE recently started moving increased amounts of low-level radioactive waste to another site in Southern Nevada. Judging by the hullabaloo in the local media, we here in Las Vegas now have a multi-megaton weapon RIGHT THERE! (At least 100 miles away, and none of the stuff stored there is anywhere near weapons grade.)
In my past life I was a lot closer then 100 miles to multiple silos full of warheads. Never had any safety problems, and the only protesters we ever saw had to drive all the way up from Southern California to South Dakota. Then they found out the silos were unmanned, and the locals didn't care...
Chuck, MSgt(ret) USAF
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050118/
What will happen if Yucca Mountain happens.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050177/
What will happen if a shipment bound for Yucca Mountain derails in Downstate Illinois.
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