KJP

The Detroit-Chicago route has no state funded trains (in terms of operating subsidy) but the state has put some bucks into upgrading stations and bringing the section between Kalamazoo, MI and Porter, IN up to 110 mph standards. Only one of the Chicago-Detroit trains has a schedule that allows a connection with VIA's Windsor-Toronto service, but requires a taxi ride across the border or a few bus transfers. But you are correct that the other two Michigan routes (Chicago-Grand Rapids and Chicago-Port Huron) are state subsidized and are in constant jeopardy because their funding is subjected to the whims of the political process -- just as Amtrak is every year in Washington D.C.

Port authority? You mean the Division of Port Control.

You look at that map and consider your part of Indiana, which had four double-tracked (or better) rail lines passing through on the way to Chicago... New York Central (now NS), Baltimore & Ohio (CSX), Pennsylvania RR (now CSX-leased to RailAmerica) and Erie RR (gone). It's pretty pathetic that, at one point in the late 1990s, there was only one double-tracked line left in your area -- the former New York Central. So I guess we could say that things are getting better after CSX plunked down $200+ million to put the second track back on the old B&O!

Here's a map of the U.S. rail system that may be of interest... The colored lines not only indicate which lines are owned by which companies, but which lines are double-tracked (ie: has continuous sections of two parallel tracks like a two-way street). We here in Cleveland are fortunate to have two double-tracked rail lines -- CSX Transportation's and Norfolk Southern's east-west mainlines. Among other functions, they serve as a bypass route for Pacific-Atlantic ocean container traffic that can't go through the Panama Canal because the ships are too large. But I digress...here's the map: While this map is slightly out of date, as more and more sections are seeing double track built/restored to handle booming rail traffic growth, it still saddens me that we lost so much capacity from the 1950s into the 1980s. Imagine the map having three times as much double-tracked rail lines as there are now...

And the right of way was actually designed to be 10 tracks wide, but eight tracks was the max, from 1955-1970: CTS/RTA Red Line: 2 tracks (active) NKP/N&W/NS: 2 tracks (active) NYC/PC/CR/CSX: 2 tracks (active, second track restored in 1999) CUT/PC: 2 tracks (abandoned in 1971) CUT: 2 tracks for future expansion (never built)

Thanks. Sounds like an old interurban's name... Elyria, Medina, Hooterville & Traction Co.

Nasty. Just...nasty.

I am just seeing this thread for the first time but still want to play... More trivia please!

I got it at Staples for the list price of $89, but I had a $73 Staples rewards card. Tax on the $16 difference brought the total to $18 plus change. The discount card was mailed to me because I'm enrolled in Staples' rewards program where past purchases count toward future discounts.

I just did a quick scan of this thread and couldn't find a reference to the name of the engineering firm doing the work. Which firm is it?

He's too busy right now trying to assemble a new office chair bought on discount for $18!

Last week, the Pennsylvania Transportation Commission approved a 12-year plan that calls for providing about $40 billion to improve freight-rail, public transit, highway and aviation infrastructure. During the next four fiscal years (from Oct. 1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2010), the commission will provide about $9 billion for highway and bridge projects, $5.4 billion for public transit improvements, $614 million for aviation projects and $174 million for freight-rail improvements. The commission comprises 10 appointees, several private citizens, and the majority and minority chairmen of the state House and Senate transportation committees. Under state law, the commission must review and update the 12-year plan every two years. Access Ohio is supposed to be our statewide transportation plan. How often is updated and when will it be taken seriously? Do you think Cleveland/Northeast Ohio can secede from Ohio and become a part of Pennsylvania?

The big problem is it's happening so quickly. While the warning signs have been around for a long time, we've chosen to ignore them. We in the U.S. have developed an oil-dependent economy and oil-dependent cities over the last 50-60 years. Our cities (and to a lesser degree Canada's cities) are truly unique in the world and in world history, in terms that density and walking are discouraged, and that food sources are transported an average of 1,000 miles to U.S. consumers. The surrounding countrysides no longer provide a substantial amount of food for each U.S. city. But we don't have 50-60 years to transition back to a modern day version of the pre-WWII urban model. As it stands now, we would be very fortunate have to 20 years to make that change. And, as history has shown us, swift change often causes more severe consequences rather than relative discomfort resulting from gradual change. And I use the word "relative" because even the U.S.'s transition in the post-war years to more sprawling, car-dependent cities caused great turmoil in our cities in the 1960s. The coming transition could pose similar upheavals, and possibly worse, depending on how fast it happens and our ability to manage it. As we watch it unfold, and place doubt on our future as a society, it would be best to keep things in perspective. Remember that these kinds of changes in society have happened before. Read about past transitions and learn how people coped with them. It will help us prepare and keep the fear at bay.

Could it also include investments made by the railroads themselves? Or do they have to be made in the context of a project in which a public entity is the project sponsor (ala the CSX capacity enhancement project northward from Parsons Yard, through Marysville and beyond)? I ask because a number of routes might benefit from substantial recent investments made by the railroads, including NS adding a GPS-based signal system on its mainline southeast of Cleveland.

Dennis Byrne (a former reporter for several Chicago newspapers) has an interesting new entry in his blog titled "Key to energy reform: Let our oil prices soar" which I posted at: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2706.msg116508#msg116508

http://dennisbyrne.blogspot.com/ Monday, August 07, 2006 Key to energy reform: Let our oil prices soar It will take tough love and market realism to spur alternatives to America's dependency on petroleum By Dennis Byrne Chicago Tribune I'm rootin' for higher gas and oil prices. And honest environmentalists would admit that they are too. Am I insane? No more insane than folks who would wait until the oil gauge is on empty and gasoline is at $80 a gallon. Having higher oil prices now is the only way to brake oil consumption and develop other ways to fuel America. No amount of government decrees will do it. No recycling or conservation. No appeals to give up Humvees and other rolling tanks. Money being the biggest economic motivator, $5- to $10-a-gallon gasoline would be crippling now to a world economy built on oil. But it would be the only way to set off an energy revolution of the sort that changed American in the mid-1800s when we began our oil dependency.

Wow, that's excellent. Lotsa grade-separation projects can be included!

From the I Love Cleveland thread in City Discussion. I laughed out loud when I read this...

Nah, if you've seen one dried-up corpse, you've seen 'em all.

It also allows states to "grandfather" their current expenditure of state and local $$$ for rail and highway-related rail projects all the way back to the year 200 I could make a smart-ass comment here, but I really would like to know what year the states can go back to for leveraging past investments.

I guess I shouldn't be shocked, but I am anyway. Nice find, Noozer.

To some slaving away in the paragraph factories, they don't understand the differences in the types of vehicles that ride on rails. That can be a problem or that can be a benefit. The outcome of the 1982 statewide vote on high-speed rail was a definite problem for the conventional speed proposals which followed. But the latest developments can be used to show the emergence of grassroots support for all things rail. One stat I didn't like in Ewinger's column (not an op-ed piece) is that the Cleveland Rapid system has only 15 percent of RTA's ridership. Um, considering that RTA has more than 45 transit lines and only two of them are rail rapid transit, I'd say that 15 percent is disproportionately large.

Wow. Let's see.... Oil prices have contributed to more than a $1.50-worth of increase since only last year and the state gas tax has risen by just six cents over the last three years (to the painful sum of 24 cents). So, it's pretty clear that's where the problem lies! And, I'm not sure I understand how turning the roadways of this state into an imitation of the moon's cratered surface is a good idea. But since they have such heavy-duty, gas-hogging, ready-to-run-off-road vehicles, I guess they just don't care!

At the following website, there are links and action buttons to follow-up on contacting your congressperson and senator on this important bill... http://webmail.east.cox.net/do/mail/message/view?msgId=INBOXDELIM14040&l=en-US&v=cox 8/4 SENATOR LOTT: AMTRAK LEGISLATION MOVING FORWARD WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Trent Lott (R-MS) Thursday night reached an agreement with Senate leaders to bring up the lawmakers’ landmark legislation to strengthen and reform the nation’s passenger rail system. The Lott/Lautenberg Amtrak legislation will provide $11.4 billion over the next six years for Amtrak capital improvements and a new state grant program for passenger rail infrastructure. Under the agreement reached Thursday, the bill will likely go to the Senate floor in September when the Senate returns from its August recess. "Record gas prices, increased highway traffic congestion, and airport delays make it more important than ever to strengthen our nation’s passenger rail system," said Lautenberg. "Our bill will allow Amtrak to help states develop new corridors for improved rail service." "If our economy is to continue to be the world’s best, we must invest in transportation for the long term," Senator Lott said. "Looking at the uncertainties of our energy supply, the terrorist threat, and congested airports and highways, and considering the rapid rail advancements being made by other nations, I believe we must continue national rail passenger service." The Senate has not considered Amtrak Reauthorization legislation since 1997. Please urge your Senators to co-sponsor this important legislaton. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Send an e-mail to your Senators and Congresspersons: Below is a sample letter: Subject: Please co-sponsor S. 1516 Dear [decision maker name inserted here], In an era of $3.50 gasoline, highway and airport congestion, and shrinking rural transportation choices, America needs better passenger rail service now more than ever. Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Lott (R-MS)have introduced legislation to provide the long-term funding necessary to improve passenger rail. Please join them in co-sponsoring this important legislation. Rail is an integral part of our nation's surface transportation network, moving goods and people and fueling economic growth and development. Yet, unlike every other mode of transportation, a dedicated, sustainable source of federal funding does not exist for rail infrastructure. Their bill would rectify this situation. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, [Your Name]

BTW, whoever did that map, must've done it with their eyes closed. The East 120th/Euclid & Mayfield station locations are in the wrong place. Do these guys know what a rail line looks like on an aerial photo??