chicago-council bluffs...

[Anonymous]

with the talk of a couple now defunct midwestern railroads, i was just a little curious as to who had (or would have) the best route between the two cities. i'm talking in present day terms.

this is one of those 'what if' things. take all 7, 8 or however many routes there were and equip them with double track, ctc and what not... if you were so and so's railroad which would you take from council bluffs east? i'd like to hear which one would be the best in only operating terms, in terms of connections on either end and which one had the most online traffic and maybe best all around.

i might be reaching a little deep here but this has been in the back of my mind for a while. just like to hear some honest opinions from some of the pro's out there..

[blhanel]

I think the C&NW line, which is now UP's transcon, has always had the advantage in terms of traffic and the capability to handle it. Seems to me that it also has/had better routing and gentler grades. The Milwaukee Road, which ran parallel to the C&NW north of it, had more grades and curves to contend with. I don't know much about the BN route across southern Iowa, so I can't compare with that.

[CShaveRR]

There was a time when BN handled more Chicago-Omaha traffic than CNW did, because its route was in better shape.

Having said that, I suspect that the shortest distance between the two cities was along the Rock Island's route (someone can verify or refute that; I'd appreciate his efforts).

However, getting between those cities wasn't the whole story in capturing UP interchange traffic to the east. The shortest route between Chicago and North Platte would be CNW's, since the traffic could go from Missouri Valley to Fremont via Blair, instead of heading south into Council Bluffs on CNW and back north(west) out of Omaha on UP. UP didn't get as big a cut of the revenue when this routing was used, but overall time was saved.

[nanaimo73]

I would go with the C&NW route because it went to Fremont and freights could bypass Omaha. The CRI&P would have been the best for on line traffic as it cut through the Quad Cities and Des Moines and I believe the CMSP&P had the fastest route. The CB&Q route used by Amtrak has a lot of problems with spring flooding but freights could also bypass Omaha to the south. Those four are all better than the Illinois Central, Chicago Great Western and Wabash routes. I'm not even sure if the Wabash handled any Chicago to Council Bluffs traffic.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CShaveRR

There was a time when BN handled more Chicago-Omaha traffic than CNW did, because its route was in better shape.

Having said that, I suspect that the shortest distance between the two cities was along the Rock Island's route (someone can verify or refute that; I'd appreciate his efforts).

However, getting between those cities wasn't the whole story in capturing UP interchange traffic to the east. The shortest route between Chicago and North Platte would be CNW's, since the traffic could go from Missouri Valley to Fremont via Blair, instead of heading south into Council Bluffs on CNW and back north(west) out of Omaha on UP. UP didn't get as big a cut of the revenue when this routing was used, but overall time was saved.

No,the problem with line is,it realy sucks. You get one very Heavy Train to clime the Hill at Blair,and all Hell breaks loose. Everything from a broken nuckle to less HP which leads to a stalled Train. The Blair line sucks. You talk about a Train scews nightmare! And I am very sure that any Train crew on this forum who reads this will agree. Allan.

[Chris30]

In the summer of 1993 there was severe flooding in Iowa. The only east/west main that was open in its entirety was the CNW main. Since the UP has taken over the CNW they have improved the physical plant in Iowa - double track, full ctc, etc. So, I've got to go with the CNW/UP from Chicago to Omaha.

CC

[CShaveRR]

Ok, I think I get what the Farmer was trying to ask:

If UP could have its choice of lines to buy and completely upgrade (money no object) to get from Council Bluffs to Chicago, which route would it choose?

Probably Rock Island's line, both because of its short route between the two regions, and the fact that it connects with eastern railroads in Chicago at a point far more to the south than anyone else's line, saving a little distance that way. It would have been no problem for UP to have built a head-end connection with GTW/CN at Blue Island, if that were warranted, and the South Chicago yard would work well for CSX and NS connections.

Alas, the poor CNW under this scenario would probably have fallen apart under the weight of the few coal trains to Wisconsin (and Waukegan) that would remain along its route.

And, just before its merger with CNW, UP did make quite an investment in IAIS, if I remember correctly.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

We need to remember that all things are NOT equal. Each route had its advantages and disadvantages. Part of the picture is that six different routes existed between Chicago and the UP to compete for traffic to and from UP, not all had equal connections on each end, the various UP connections have been discussed above and the pros and cons of the various Chicago connections with the east have been discussed elsewhere.