Ideas on railroad re-building

[Modelcar]

...One more thing about our Trail Head at Muncie....The building is on the National Historical Sites, etc....and when the renovation was accomplished the extrerior was dublicated to how the station looked when it was built. New {real}, tile roof, dormers added back on the roof and it still really looks like a railroad depot...A small museum inside has railroad artifacts and the building has some staffing and rest rooms etc....Very nice.
One can still see trains at this depot as the north / south NS line passes parallel to the trail at this point. A steel fence is in place for Trail users safety.

[Modelcar]

AntiGates....It might be considered scenic. Lots of nice shaded areas that are nice in the summer time. Beginning point is about 10 miles northwest of Muncie, Gaston and southeast out of Muncie about 20 miles and I believe another 7 or so miles on that end are under construction and some of the route down at Richmond, In. is in service too. Farther northwest beyond Gason there are more parts of it finished and in service. We will have about 60 miles of continous Trail here when all the area pieces are connected together. There is a 7or 8 mile section just northwest of Gaston that farmers somehow purchased the ROW and would not allow the Trail to be built on it....so there will be a gap in that area. It is a very nice trail paved with black top and nice and smooth. Our Depot at Muncie is now a Trail Head. It is really nice. $800,000 was spent on it for the renovation. It was put into service in June of 04. Try and stop by to downtown Muncie sometime and pull into the Depot..{Trail Head}, nice parking area there and check it out.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

Sure...most railfans would like all railroad ROW's to be active again...Just a comment on # 9: Much of it is a beautiful paved walking and biking trail now....We have close to 35 plus miles continous available to us here and more being finished now, in Muncie, In. {Old C&O route}.

is that old C&O path what you might call "scenic"? Sounds interesting. I look down ar that route often when I pass over it on I-69 and think about what it USED to be.

It would be fun to ride it.

What are the end points (towns) of the paved pathway?

[Anonymous]

Sorry about my mistake. For # 11 I meant the old Rock Island from St. Louis to Kansas City. I don't know how I got it mixed up with Chicago. For the others that some say need correction, I don't know the specifics of which parts of lines have been preserved and which have not. The input from others who know better about houses, malls and crap like that being placed over former ROW's is much appreciated.
I do like Futuremodal's ideas about resurrecting 12, 14 and 15. Especially since demographics are a lot different than they were 100 years ago. I guess probably the only lines that stand a good chance of ever coming back are the Cowboy line or the MILW road from Sheldon to Rapid City due to increasing coal traffic and the Rock from K.C. to St. Louis due to congestion on the former Mo-Pac. Last I checked this Rock ROW was still intact, but merely mothballed. Those ones and others in the South and West where there is a lot of population growth. Sadly I don't think the Midwest will ever be the industrial powerhouse it once was which means less need for rail.[:(]

[oscaletrains]

THE B&O BRANCH!!!

[Modelcar]

Sure...most railfans would like all railroad ROW's to be active again...Just a comment on # 9: Much of it is a beautiful paved walking and biking trail now....We have close to 35 plus miles continous available to us here and more being finished now, in Muncie, In. {Old C&O route}.

[Kevin C. Smith]

I'd vote for #1. Leaving the entire northern tier of states to one RR (BNSF) was not such a good idea. Of course, given the regulated environment in the 1970's it was assumed there would always be a Milwaukee Road for competition-we'll just rearrange the market to make it work. If C&NW had bowed out of the picture as the one granger too many, maybe UP could've been induced to shift traffic to the MR (at worst a shotgun merger ala' NH + PC). Corrallary to that: When UP bought SP, the WP & D&RG would've gone to BNSF.

[ValleyX]

This will never happen. I know that 7, 8, and 9 have had much of their structure destroyed, houses built, buildings built, heck, in Huntington, IN, there's a large four or five story building straddling what was once the EL main.

[Anonymous]

I've got a nostalgic interest in seeing the PCE restored, but otherwise I'd rather see what is left be profitable and vital. And the truly mainline routes of the country be free of grade crossings as the interstates are.

[Anonymous]

I agree - all of them (more or less) - although in some cases it would probably be better to build new lines from scratch rather than resurrecting older ROW's from the late 1800's. My understanding is that those old RI ROW's weren't exactly "engineered" in a way that would make them useful today.

You also should have included some of the lesser known Western ex-railroads, like....

12. Tonopah & Tidewater - a good north south alignment that could have been added to down to LA/San Diego and up to the inland PNW. North south routes may be a better fit today than traditional east west routes.

13. Nevada Northern + UP's ex Twin Falls (ID) to Wells (NV) - same thing, a north south alignment that could be stretched farther to connect more logical terminals.

14. The Modoc line - once a somewhat viable alternative to UP's OSL routing for traffic between the PNW and UP's central corridor.

15. BNSF's Havre to Great Falls, Great Falls to Helena, and Helena to Butte segments - part of the erstwhile I-15 corridor between Alberta and LA. Too bad UP and BNSF can't cooperate more for such multi-carrier alignments.

There's probably more, but I want to point out that such rebuilds probably should not simply relay track on the entire old grade. Be better to do some realigments to avoid certain grades and such.

[blhanel]

#3 will never happen, especially on the original ROW. There's already a four-lane divided highway running down it through the north side of Cedar Rapids, and they're in the process of erecting a commercial building on the ROW across from where I work.

[Philcal]

Luke, I assume I'm allowed to dream a little here. I'd love to see all the line you referenced be rebuilt. I've always felt that the Rock Island suffered an especially unfair fate. The old Milwaukee Rd extension was a wonderful application of electric power, with GE boxcabs built in the 19 teens serving right into the 1970s. Certainly deferred maintenence was the rule in the late 60s,early 70s, but that was one awesome piece of railroad.

[Anonymous]

The Rock Island never went from Chicago to St. Louis directly. It went way way way out of the way via Kansas City I believe. Chicago, Davenport, Kansas City and then back east to St. Louis. Number 11 is moot.

And there's no such thing as a wise politician.

[mudchicken]

He also be a little geography challenged. 11,9,8,and 7 are flawed in some form or another.

[BaltACD]

If and when it makes economic sense for the Carriers to put these lines back in operation, the necessary investment will be secured to do it, however, puttting these lines back in through operation will have to be the lowest cost alternative when it is done. Don't hold your breath.

[Anonymous]

Which of the following abandonded rail lines would you like to see re-built?

1. Former MILW Pacific Coast Extension
2. Former MILW from Sheldon, Iowa to Rapid City
3. Former MILW from Omaha to Savannah, Iowa or maybe it's Illinois
4. Former C&NW Cowboy Line
5. Former B&O Parkersburg line
6. Former SAL from Richmond to Jacksonville, Florida
7. Former NS/Nickel Plate from St. Louis to Toledo
8. The old Eire lines from Chicago and Cincinnatti to Cleveland
9. Former C&O from Chicago to Cincinnatti
10. Former Rock Island Choctaw route from Amarillo to Memphis
11. Former Rock Island from St. Louis to Chicago

In my opinion I think all of them should be re-built, because I heard some projections from the census bureau which say that by 2040 there will be over 400 million Americans and perhaps as many as 500 million! Personally I think re-building number 1 would be good to take pressure off the congested BNSF and UP in the Southwest moving so much trade from Asia. Routes 5-9 would be good for freight by-passing a lot of congestion. Especially for route 6 since there is so much growth along the former ACL/I-95 corridor which I'm pretty sure will mean more passenger trains over the next 20-30 years. Number 10 would be a great complement to BNSF which would allow a very straight route from L.A. to Memphis and hook-up with the former Frisco to Birmingham and Mobile, with perhaps trackage rights to Atlanta. Number 11 would be good for passenger trains in Missouri since the former Mo-Pac is getting crowded.
I know it sounds big and grand to many on this forum, but just look at how much the railroad industry has come back in the last 26 years! Not to mention how expensive fossil fuels are becoming as well as real estate for more freeways and airports. Not to sound too political, but looking at many trends I think much wiser folks will be elected later this year and in 2008 which will take us a lot closer to this vision. [:D]