Add to that that the San Pete and Thistle entries to the old DRGW Marysville Sub are roaded over or cut-off entirely, so there it goes. Johnny can always hope the Vernal extension happens (nobody ever quite got there yet, although Horace Sumner had Tom Milner survey a line in that direction from the D&SL railhead at Craig. Moffat was out of $$$ and died shortly thereafter.)
Tunnels and Bridges have never been cheap!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
In difficult terrain it sounds to be in the ballpark. CPR's Rogers Pass Project from 30 years ago cost $500-600 million dollars for 21 miles of new alignment. Nearly half the distance was in two tunnels (1 and 9 miles respectively). However with various bridges and retaining walls the open section cost close to the same as the tunnels. Factor for 30 years of inflation and the number looks pretty comparable.
John
I would opine that the bulk of the cost would have been tied up in that eight mile tunnel and other engineering challenges. Grading roadbed and laying track would be much less as a part of the overall project.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
A new RR line through very rough topography can be very expensive construction. Then you add the ROW acquisition costs along with the litigation and its associated delays; the time value of money and necessity to be able to pay your bills on time comprise probably 85% or more of the $50 million.
Murphy Siding A story in the news section http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2014/12/utah-drops-plan-to-build-new-oil-field-railroad says that a Utah oil railroad proposal has been dropped. It would have been a 100 mile, $5 billion project. That's $50 million per mile! The article mentions 2.4% ruling grade, an 8 mile tunnel and several dozen bridges. Can this be right? Can a rail line cost $9470 per foot? The good news, I suppose, is that the folks involved figured out it didn't make economic sense to pursue this before spending a gazillion dollars.
A story in the news section http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2014/12/utah-drops-plan-to-build-new-oil-field-railroad says that a Utah oil railroad proposal has been dropped. It would have been a 100 mile, $5 billion project. That's $50 million per mile! The article mentions 2.4% ruling grade, an 8 mile tunnel and several dozen bridges. Can this be right? Can a rail line cost $9470 per foot? The good news, I suppose, is that the folks involved figured out it didn't make economic sense to pursue this before spending a gazillion dollars.
Johnny
Miracle of miracles- I somehow managed to get the link to light up.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
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