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Eric and all interested: Regarding the discussion of the UP overhead rights over BNSF thru Spokane WA and the long waits UP crews endure at Fish Lake and East Spokane to get permission to the BNSF line, one option mentioned was UP rebuilding it's own line through Spokane to stop dependancy on BNSF dispatchers. Of course, the old UP line through Spokane (probably the best rail line through Spokane at the time) was torn out for the 1974 Expo, and UP negotiated rights over BN from Fish Lake to East Spokane. Back then, UP traffic over the "Washy" line was light anyway, so it was no big deal. But now, with CP sending more and more traffic over UP via Eastport ID, traffic on the Washy is increasing. Although not anywhere near capacity yet, it is conceivable that traffic could increase to the point where the BNSF bottleneck can become a hotbed of costly delays. Well, I had a chance yesterday to drive around the Spokane area on my own and eyeball potential UP reroutes. The option I had previously mentioned of UP constructing a southern bypass may be more difficult than first thought, since housing growth in the Spokane Valley and LIberty Lake has taken out a possible southern bypass along the hillsides south of the valley. But what did occur to me in studying the Spokane area geography is this: A new line running northeast to southwest via a 3 mile tunnel under the South Hill from near the Hamilton Street bridge to Latah Creek near the old NP bridge over the creek. The rest of the line is simply a matter of rebuilding over the old UP/Milwaukee ROW from Latah Creek to Fish Lake. The only hitch I could see with this idea is how to connect the UP line at Fish Lake with the old UP ROW from Scribner east, since BNSF now has a crossover from the old NP main to the old SP&S main, meaning a rebuilt UP would have to go over, under, or a diamond crossing at grade at that BNSF crossover. Going over or under means deviating from the steady grade out of the Latah creek valley to the Cheney plains, while a new diamond presents some other obvious problems........
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