100 MPH bridge over 10 MPH track

[fuzzybroken]

One of the subjects that my brother did talk about Saturday was a new bridge over CP's M&P line, somewhere north of Madison. The line is good for 10 MPH, but since it is expected to be (someday! maybe!) part of the Midwest High-Speed Corridor, any construction related to the rail line has to fit to the High-Speed specs.

So one of those old, wooden flat on top, ramp on either side bridges was replaced with a new modern overpass, build with extra clearance for the high speed trains that will probably never run on this line. Reason being, the line was built with practically no grading work done, so when there's a hill, the rail line goes up, and when there's a valley, the rail line goes down! The train on this line is either throttling up or braking, all the way from Portage to Madison and back.

Anybody know where this bridge is? I wouldn't mind getting some pictures of another over-engineered project along this line... (See Madison, WI for some pictures of the soon-to-be relocated M&P around the "cushion" for the Dane County Airport, including the bridge 3 feet over the wetlands...)

[Anonymous]

I recall a while back seeing a Madison newspaper article about the airport improvement. It mentioned the rail realignment. Do you think anybody ever thought at all about incorporating a future high-speed rail platform through the airport terminal for easy transfer for passengers between modes, and to serve as Madison's travel hub? The article spoke in terms of getting the rail line out of the way.

The high-speed line would connect Madison's airport with Mitchell in Milwaukee.

[fuzzybroken]

Think? C'mon, this is a government project! [}:)]

It will probably be a lot like the Milwaukee Airport station, where the station is a mile away from the airport, and there's a shuttle to take people between train and plane...

[Rwulfsberg]

The realignment involves the railroad and a county trunk highway just north of the airport, where both are too close to the main runway, according to current FAA standards. Some properties have been condemned for additional buffer space, and a local road has been abandoned. The M&P line and county highway skirt a wetland; with the new alignment, they'll go over it.

The railroad goes along the west edge of the airport and is within walking distance of the terminal. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson was a big fan of the airport location when the Midwest High-Speed Rail was first unveiled. Others would prefer it a bit closer to town.

[Noah Hofrichter]

I flew back home into the Madison Airport last Saturday, and we flew right over the M&P sub just north of the airport. Because we were coming in for a landing I got a really good look at the new bridge over the swamp, and it looks really cool from the air. It looks pretty much complete now too, and I know the track approaches the existing line at the place where they will hook back up already. I don't know when they will make the connection though. Now we just need to get the CP to switch the M&P job to a morning start time, as this could make for an awesome photo prop. Problem is that trains rarely ever get down there in daylight anymore....

Noah

[mmathu]

The connection was made on 8/22/2006.

[mmathu]

> "The high-speed line would connect Madison's airport with Mitchell in Milwaukee. "


Certainly connecting an airport to other destinations by rail makes some sense, but why would emphasising a conection between Madison's airport and Milwaukee's have any value to travelers?

What benefit is an airport-to-airport connection by rail? If connecting the airports is a goal, why not connect them using air service? That would much, much, more direct.

[zardoz]

One of the subjects that my brother did talk about Saturday was a new bridge over CP's M&P line, somewhere north of Madison. The line is good for 10 MPH, but since it is expected to be (someday! maybe!) part of the Midwest High-Speed Corridor, any construction related to the rail line has to fit to the High-Speed specs.

Reminds me somewhat of the rail realignment project done in Milwaukee when they did the 794.  The rinky-dink 10mph track that sees one train per day between St. Francis and Jones Island was rebuilt at taxpayer expense with welded rail and all new foundations. 

Maybe someday it will be part of the Metra extension from Kenosha to Milwaukee?

[SALfan]

Reminds me of the humongous highway bridges built to carry roads over the Cross-Florida Barge Canal.  The one I traveled over was a very impressive, very long, very high bridge over a "river" less than 50 feet wide.  Ended up being a sick joke on the taxpayers, because the canal was never built. 

[DPD1]

There's a lift bridge in Joliet, IL that was originally built for two tracks. I believe the Army Corp. built it a long time ago... But they built the two smaller lead up bridges one track. So for years the main bridge has only had one track, even though the mains on both sides are more then one track as well. They stack a bunch of unused steel on the side of the lift bridge that doesn't have track, so it will be balanced correctly. Makes you wonder.

Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
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