February 15, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Boomerang_Brian said: The nationalization of our road infrastructure is the only thing that enables the lifestyle that you repeatedly and incorrectly insist Americans prefer. Guys clearly never been to other countries to see how they do it.
February 15, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, E Rocc said: Fortunately that n word is still considered obscene in this country. Really? I bet you'd just have loved the hodge-podge system of privately owned toll roads that once covered the nation. Owners would build hotels at gateways and close the road for operating hours that practically forced you to purchase their food or accommodations while you waited to continue your journey. Why stop at a simple charge for you to use the right of way, when they could empty your pockets of even more of your cash? It was an era of great capitalism for sure!
February 16, 20241 yr Go to Mexico to see what private toll roads are like. Oftentimes they're right next to the public roads. Talk about income inequality. If a road in the U.S. has the suffix "Pike" that usually means it was a private toll road at some point.
February 16, 20241 yr 13 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said: The nationalization of our road infrastructure is the only thing that enables the lifestyle that you repeatedly and incorrectly insist Americans prefer. Leaving aside the fact that demographics and patterns of behavior suggest a different view of who is "incorrect", the road structure was not "nationalized" because it was built by government entities to begin with. "Nationalization" implies theft by a government entity.
February 16, 20241 yr 41 minutes ago, E Rocc said: Leaving aside the fact that demographics and patterns of behavior suggest a different view of who is "incorrect", the road structure was not "nationalized" because it was built by government entities to begin with. "Nationalization" implies theft by a government entity. No matter how many times the reasons for the patterns of development are patiently explained to you, you ignore them. “Nationalization” could include paying for assets. Alternatively it could also involve a commitment to maintain the infrastructure, thus reducing railroad costs. Railroads constantly tear out perfectly fine infrastructure to avoid maintenance costs! It could even mean buying up unused Right of Way and building a publicly accessible network. There are many different forms that government ownership of rail infrastructure could take. And that government ownership would open dramatic opportunity to improve transportation systems in this country. Much the way the original government investment in roads did! When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
February 17, 20241 yr On 2/13/2024 at 3:11 PM, KJP said: They do, if their recent USA maps are to believed. Brightline is too busy with So. Cal-Vegas and Orlando Tampa to think about anything else any time soon.
February 17, 20241 yr On 2/15/2024 at 8:42 PM, GCrites said: If a road in the U.S. has the suffix "Pike" that usually means it was a private toll road at some point. Or a privately-planned toll road that never got built until the gov't stepped in. Examples: the Ohio and PA tunpikes.
February 18, 20241 yr On 2/16/2024 at 6:45 AM, E Rocc said: "Nationalization" implies theft by a government entity. The framers of the Constitution understood that there are times when public benefit outweighs private interest, and they crafted the 5th amendment to ensure private property owners be fairly compensated when their property is needed for public benefit. That said, considering the direction the private railroads have gone since many of them have been taken over by hedge funds, some form of nationalization, as @boomerang_brian describes, might be worth considering. Publicly-owned rails with open access would likely change for the better the environment for both freight and passenger. Since the EU has mandated open access on all state-owned rail networks, that's exactly what's happening. More operators have entered the market on both sides of the industry. Edited February 19, 20241 yr by gildone Typo
February 18, 20241 yr ^ agreed. Nationalization of rail infrastructure is one of the things I've changed my mind on since joining this forum. It makes a lot of sense for the reasons laid out above, but the word sounds terrible and brings to mind banana republics. Step one in seeking this idea beyond train fans and urbanists, find a different word.
February 19, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, Ethan said: ^ agreed. Nationalization of rail infrastructure is one of the things I've changed my mind on since joining this forum. It makes a lot of sense for the reasons laid out above, but the word sounds terrible and brings to mind banana republics. Step one in seeking this idea beyond train fans and urbanists, find a different word. Reasonable suggestion. Any ideas?
February 19, 20241 yr 1 minute ago, gildone said: Reasonable suggestion. Any ideas? ... Unfortunately not. One idea I did have was to go about the whole thing in a sideways way, instead of nationalizing all rails, just pass a law requiring private owners to maintain their lines to certain standards, and empower the government to utilize eminent domain for any routes that are behind on maintenance. You could also (maybe) throw a nugget in there that any route currently utilized by Amtrak would go directly to their possession. I think this would be more politically feasible, and from the impression I've gotten from this forum a lot of routes would be eligible for eminent domain from day one. No idea what that would be called though, probably something related to maintenance.
February 19, 20241 yr Equalizing the infrastructure and right-of-way ownership policies among all modes of transportation to preserve the rail network, reduce barriers to market entry, and promote greater competition among licensed rail carriers. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 15, 20241 yr Hamilton, OH has some plans in place for a stop on the Cardinal and (depending on the study) the 3C+D line. Article Orange is the Cardinal stop, Teal are the two options for 3C+D that the city is looking at.
April 15, 20241 yr 13 minutes ago, 10albersa said: Hamilton, OH has some plans in place for a stop on the Cardinal and (depending on the study) the 3C+D line. Article Orange is the Cardinal stop, Teal are the two options for 3C+D that the city is looking at. Why not combine the stations -- it looks like those rail lines converge just south of that image.
April 15, 20241 yr The orange location will probably make CSX happy since it's off the busier mainline. If funds were unlimited I would do something different. 😉 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 16, 20241 yr It would make more sense to build a combined station. I understand that they probably want the 3C station closer to downtown but two stations doesn't make sense especially if we get expanded Cardinal service or Cincinnati-Chicago service.
April 16, 20241 yr Agreed, it honestly just needs to be at the exact same spot as their old train station. If they want better connection to downtown, make MLK Jr a "complete street". It's a hostile and empty car sewer right now.
April 19, 20241 yr This article (from post Chi-Col-Pitt thread) has the best map of the currently proposed Ohio routes that I’ve seen. 16 hours ago, ColDayMan said: Hilliard ID’s Potential Sites for a Passenger Rail Station The City of Hilliard has two sites picked out that could work as potential passenger rail stations, according to a new report released yesterday. The suburb hired a consultant to complete a feasibility study, specifically looking at where a stop could be placed on a future route connecting Downtown Columbus to Chicago. The route, known as the Midwest Connect Corridor, was one of four in Ohio chosen last December by the Federal Railroad Administration as priorities for Amtrak expansion. The routes each received $500,000 in federal funding for planning work, as part of the FRA’s Corridor Identification and Development Program. The Midwest Connect Corridor would connect Chicago, Columbus and Pittsburgh, but the stops in between have yet to be finalized (the other routes receiving funding include the 3C+D Corridor, running new service between Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati; new service between Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit; and new daily service on the existing Cardinal line, which runs through Cincinnati). More below: https://columbusunderground.com/hilliard-ids-potential-sites-for-passenger-rail-stations-bw1/ When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
April 19, 20241 yr What the heck is that crazy jog in the line just south of Toledo? They're proposing to go from NS's ex-NYC in Toledo to the old T&OC/C&O now CSX to Fostoria, reverse west on CSX's Chicago Line to North Baltimore (need to build a track connection!) and then continue south on CSX's Scottslawn Sub to Columbus?? That bypasses Bowling Green -- a big mistake! Why not just stay on the CSX T&OC all the way to Columbus?? It seems they're not crazy about the route out of Toledo to get to the Scottslawn Sub, but the tracks do exist. If they're willing to recommend spending to build a brand-new track connection at North Baltimore, then they should be willing to recommend upgrading the existing connection at Toledo/Walbridge. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 19, 20241 yr 8 hours ago, KJP said: What the heck is that crazy jog in the line just south of Toledo? They're proposing to go from NS's ex-NYC in Toledo to the old T&OC/C&O now CSX to Fostoria, reverse west on CSX's Chicago Line to North Baltimore (need to build a track connection!) and then continue south on CSX's Scottslawn Sub to Columbus?? That bypasses Bowling Green -- a big mistake! Why not just stay on the CSX T&OC all the way to Columbus?? It seems they're not crazy about the route out of Toledo to get to the Scottslawn Sub, but the tracks do exist. If they're willing to recommend spending to build a brand-new track connection at North Baltimore, then they should be willing to recommend upgrading the existing connection at Toledo/Walbridge. I should probably emphasize that I don’t know who made that map and where they got their information. It wasn’t clear from the article. That said, I did like how it showed the current routes and clearly separated the corridor ID intercity routes from the proposed long distance routes. I don’t think specific RoW routes would be planned until later phases of Corridor ID. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
April 20, 20241 yr It would be very foolish to skip Bowling Green - Fostoria isn't the draw it used to be.
May 1, 20241 yr All of the blue lines are state-sponsored trains. Note the voids on this map. Either Iowa and Ohio have no cities or they have no state support for trains. Iowa has 3.2 million people -- the same population as the Cleveland-Akron-Canton consolidated metro area.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 1, 20241 yr 4 hours ago, KJP said: All of the blue lines are state-sponsored trains. Note the voids on this map. Either Iowa and Ohio have no cities or they have no state support for trains. Iowa has 3.2 million people -- the same population as the Cleveland-Akron-Canton consolidated metro area.... I feel like they should add a third line between MKE and Chicago on this graphic. The Hiawatha is by far the best Midwest rail service - it deserves a highlight. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
May 6, 20241 yr Cleveland: a target of rail competitors? By Ken Prendergast / May 6, 2024 Last week, two things happened in the rail world that are probably related. They have been brewing in the background for a while, but they finally appeared in public almost simultaneously. Federal corporation Amtrak and private-sector company Brightline showed their hands that they may compete for Ohio passenger rail expansions and real estate developments. And Cleveland may end up the winner. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/05/06/cleveland-a-target-of-rail-competitors/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 6, 20241 yr Transferring some consolidated thoughts to this thread.... The part about terminating the high speed line at Hopkins, and using the existing red line into Downtown very interesting. As most people on here know, it's what they are doing in LA too. Although I would love the Lakefront to get the Brightline station, crossing that draw bridge 10-20 times per day could be an issue. The existing partnerships between Edens and Haslam you mentioned could also be a reason for Jimmy/Brook Park/Hopkins maybe getting the fancy Cleveland Brightline station vs Downtown. IF Brightline is actually serious about this, I would love to see the 3C+D Amtrak line turned into more of a low budget line with more stops. Sort of like how there are faster direct routes and then slower routes hitting more cities in between 2 bigger destinations all across Europe. Have at least 1 stop in every county the line goes through. Add stops in places like Worthington and other mid sized suburbs/job centers near the bigger cities. If Amtrak and Brightline can partner up to improve/build track, the budget line with more stops could still take about as long as the current 3C+D line since it can now hit higher speeds. Either way, a stop would be a massive boost for the type of flights Hopkins could attract, as the only airport in the state and region with local and intercity train service, along with 2 higher speed lines. I believe the next closest airports with intercity train stops are DC and Chicago. I would think we'd land more direct international destinations, as now the customer base could potentially spread as far as the Detroit and Cincy metro areas. That could also maybe encourage that dream of automating the red line with better frequency, then shifting those drivers to streetcar routes or a Lakewood rapid line(with extra money this could just be elevated through Lakewood and automated too). Cleveland could become a top 5 car free tourist destination in the country with that Lakewood rapid line, 2 commuter rails out to Cedar Point to the west, wine/waterfall country to the east, and getting the CVNP Scenic Rail line or improved commuter line from Downtown Cleveland to Canton. Fly to Cleveland and stay Downtown. Go to Cedar Point, Rock Hall, Art Museum, other popular local neighborhoods, Pro Football HOF, CVNP, and even a Buckeye or Blue Jackets game without renting a car. Aside from all of that, it'd be pretty crazy for people from Columbus and Toledo to potentially get from their home to their Browns game seat the stadium faster than someone from nearby counties like Ashtabula, Stark, Geauga, and parks of Lake and Summit who would have to deal with all of the traffic, parking lots, and 1 mile walk from the cheapest $60+ parking spot option. It could be really popular to use for people to see more sporting events and concerts in all of the big cities. Cleveland should be doing everything possible to transform itself into Ohio's rail hub. Try to start discussions about 2-3 trains per day from Pittsburgh and Buffalo/Western NY similar to the Cleveland/Toledo/Detroit line. Or maybe have 5-6 daily round trips on the Detroit line, with half terminating in Pittsburgh, and the other half in Buffalo. Edited May 6, 20241 yr by PlanCleveland
May 6, 20241 yr Cleveland won't be a rail hub if an intercity line terminated at Hopkins rather than downtown.
May 6, 20241 yr 21 minutes ago, jam40jeff said: Cleveland won't be a rail hub if an intercity line terminated at Hopkins rather than downtown. Well that would just be Brightline. All Amtrak lines are still going Downtown.
May 7, 20241 yr If a hypothetical Brightline 3C route were to terminate at the airport, how would westbound Brightline trains get to Toledo/Chicago etc if this were to be its “Hub”?
May 7, 20241 yr 27 minutes ago, CleCaneFan said: If a hypothetical Brightline 3C route were to terminate at the airport, how would westbound Brightline trains get to Toledo/Chicago etc if this were to be its “Hub”? Red= current Amtrak. Note all westbound routes (Chicago, Toledo) pass just east and south of the airport. Blue = to Columbus / 3C+D Yellow = route through Cleveland if CUT / Cleveland Union Terminal / Tower City is used for passenger rail. Note this routing would enable a future station in University Circle at the current Cedar red line station. Also would be slightly less convenient for the airport station, but still manageable. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
May 7, 20241 yr Regarding the airport station's convenience for the Columbus train, why not have it leave the yellow NS line via the "short line," switch to the Chicago line to pass the airport, and then switch back to CSX in Berea. EDIT: Does that yellow line still cross the short line at grade in all directions, or did they limit movememts to east <> south and west <> north, when Conrail was split up? Edited May 7, 20241 yr by urb-a-saurus
May 7, 20241 yr Here's a crazy idea. If Brightline wants to serve Chicago-Fort Wayne-Lima-Columbus, they could lease/buy the rights of way from their owners. In the case of the longest single segment, the 220 miles from Gary, IN to Dunkirk, OH is owned by the Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern (CFE). Brightline could position itself to serve three busy travel corridors if it went a little farther, possibly buying the shares of CFE for about $200 million based how much CFE's parent Genesee & Wyoming sold for in 2019. That would give it a route from Gary to Crestline, OH. Brightline could give G&W trackage rights. Getting to Crestline gets Brightline to the 3C&D corridor. So Brightline buys.... + CFE corporate -- Gary, IN-Crestline, OH (270 miles) + CSX Scottslawn Sub -- Dunkirk, OH-Columbus (71 miles) + CSX Columbus Line Sub -- Galion-Columbus (60 miles) + Right of way alongside CSX Greenwich Sub -- Crestline-Berea (63 miles) + Right of way alongside NS Chicago Line -- Berea-Hopkins Airport (3 miles) + Vacant double-track right of way alongside CN's IC line -- Kensington, IL-Chicago (13 miles) Brightline leases.... South Shore Line -- Gary-Kensington (16 miles) There will have to be major investments to these lines. The Chicago-Kensington section is probably a $750 million project right there but it gets you a 125 mph already grade-separated route into central Chicago. That doesn't include a Chicago station which I would put on the St. Charles Air Line between Clark and State with stations added to CTA Orange/Green line and Metra's LaSalle Street Station access. This station location will allow expansions to O'Hare Airport, Milwaukee and even St. Louis. To avoid having to double-track the entire CFE line, I would combine off-peak Cleveland-Chicago and Columbus-Chicago trains at Dunkirk. Sections of double-track would still have to be built based on proposed schedule patterns. The Crestline-Cleveland line will be expensive. It will have to be double-tracked and since it is new, I would grade-separate the entire 63-mile route. That's probably a $3 billion project. But it gets you a 125-mph route with diesel power. South of Galion to Columbus, trains can cruise on the upgraded former CSX line at 110 mph, allowing a Cleveland-Columbus trip time of about 85-90 minutes and a Cleveland-Chicago trip time of about four hours. The crazy thing is that Hopkins-Crestline-Chicago is 348 miles while the current Amtrak route is 341 miles downtown-downtown. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 7, 20241 yr Along with a map: "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 7, 20241 yr 11 minutes ago, Ethan said: What do the colors mean? Red is the existing Cleveland-Chicago Amtrak route Blue are potential Brightline routes into Cleveland. Black are potential Brightline routes into Detroit. Yellow are potential Brightline routes into Columbus. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 7, 20241 yr Here's another couple of crazy ideas. And I don't know why I never thought of this before, perhaps because I was too hyper-focused on repurposing old railroad lines. One of those is the former New York Central, now Camp Chase Industrial track, from Columbus to London, OH which offers a potential 110-mph route but only for 25 miles. But things align very well to create a dedicated passenger-only rail line from Columbus all the way to Cincinnati via Dayton. Here's how you do it..... Leave Columbus on the former New York Central but only for about 2 miles until you go under I-670. Acquire and demolish four small businesses to shift over to and alongside the north side of I-70. Just east of the interchange with I-270, enter the median of I-70. Travel in the median of I-70 for 52 miles until Enon, OH, southwest of Springfield, where I-70 crosses the ex-New York Central (now the mainline of Norfolk Southern) AND the parallel Erie Railroad which has been gone for nearly 50 years but is relatively undisturbed. Both are mostly straight with gentle curves and there's only 10 at-grade road crossings in 17 miles with three of them in the last three miles before arriving Dayton. An extra benefit is that the vacated Erie RR is off-set from the NS tracks by about 75 feet so passenger trains can travel at 110 mph, or even 125 mph in 14 miles if seven of the grade crossings are replaced with overpasses. Into central Dayton, the elevated railroad of NS/CSX is four tracks wide but has only two tracks on it. A new bridge is needed over the Great Miami River just west of Dayton Union Station (still plenty of room here for a multi-track station). West and south of Dayton, keep NS and CSX on the same right of way by moving CSX over to NS all the way into Cincinnati. Brightline gets the CSX route into Cincinnati. I picked CSX because it has very little industry and even fewer customers along it. And at Hamilton, an enhanced passenger rail line to Chicago can split off and share tracks from Hamilton into Cincinnati. Some major trackwork is needed in Hamilton. South of Winton Place near Cincinnati, I'd build a new, dedicated HSR line into downtown Cincinnati between Mill Creek and the freight tracks, then cross over Mill Creek to the former B&O to avoid Queensgate Yard entirely and take that right of way to near Paycor Stadium (Bengals), travel below Second Street and put my station in the "Riverfront Transit Center." "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 7, 20241 yr Not sure Brightine would want to skip Sandusky and Toledo. Sandusky is a ridership generator from late spring through early fall. Still, it's a way to get both CLE-CHI and the northern part of the 3c at once.
May 7, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, KJP said: The Crestline-Cleveland line will be expensive. It will have to be double-tracked and since it is new, I would grade-separate the entire 63-mile route. That's probably a $3 billion project. But it gets you a 125-mph route with diesel power. South of Galion to Columbus, trains can cruise on the upgraded former CSX line at 110 mph, allowing a Cleveland-Columbus trip time of about 85-90 minutes and a Cleveland-Chicago trip time of about four hours. To add onto your crazy idea.... Say a miracle happens and Ohio goes all in on this project. Brightline/Fed/State decide to acquire/build track and electrify the line as well. What would that cost look like? It's a big question with a lot of parts so I don't expect a precise answer here haha. Obviously it would involve a lot more grade separation. We could only do the full grade separation and true high speed on the long empty stretches, so the biggest benefit would be to the Cleveland to Columbus portion. Then electrify existing infrastructure into and near the cities since we won't be flying through those sections at 200mph anyway. I would imagine it could get Cleveland to Columbus close to an hour which could be absolutely insane for the states economy.
May 7, 20241 yr 2 minutes ago, gildone said: Not sure Brightine would want to skip Sandusky and Toledo. Sandusky is a ridership generator from late spring through early fall. Still, it's a way to get both CLE-CHI and the northern part of the 3c at once. Ya I was thinking about what these routes could do for Sandusky tourism. It's already a very popular place for people from Southern Michigan, Indiana, and Chicago. Imagine if they could easily take a train there and back in the same day. Same for those who could connect to it from the 3C+D lines. I don't think I would go to Cedar Point on a Saturday or Sunday ever again haha.
May 7, 20241 yr I'm wondering if Brightline came in and asked Ohio to help with some of the most expensive capital projects on whatever routing(s) they'd choose, but they wouldn't ask for any operating subsidies, if Ohio would go for it. Amtrak, by contrast, is going to want public funds for all infrastructure work, and they are going to want their high operating subsidies too.
May 7, 20241 yr Plus, Ohio is a big pay-to-play state when it comes to state politics. Tough to get anything done, let alone something big and new, without paying the pipers. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 7, 20241 yr 24 minutes ago, KJP said: Here's another couple of crazy ideas. And I don't know why I never thought of this before, perhaps because I was too hyper-focused on repurposing old railroad lines. One of those is the former New York Central, now Camp Chase Industrial track, from Columbus to London, OH which offers a potential 110-mph route but only for 25 miles. But things align very well to create a dedicated passenger-only rail line from Columbus all the way to Cincinnati via Dayton. Here's how you do it..... Leave Columbus on the former New York Central but only for about 2 miles until you go under I-670. Acquire and demolish four small businesses to shift over to and alongside the north side of I-70. Just east of the interchange with I-270, enter the median of I-70. Travel in the median of I-70 for 52 miles until Enon, OH, southwest of Springfield, where I-70 crosses the ex-New York Central (now the mainline of Norfolk Southern) AND the parallel Erie Railroad which has been gone for nearly 50 years but is relatively undisturbed. Both are mostly straight with gentle curves and there's only 10 at-grade road crossings in 17 miles with three of them in the last three miles before arriving Dayton. An extra benefit is that the vacated Erie RR is off-set from the NS tracks by about 75 feet so passenger trains can travel at 110 mph, or even 125 mph in 14 miles if seven of the grade crossings are replaced with overpasses. Into central Dayton, the elevated railroad of NS/CSX is four tracks wide but has only two tracks on it. A new bridge is needed over the Great Miami River just west of Dayton Union Station (still plenty of room here for a multi-track station). West and south of Dayton, keep NS and CSX on the same right of way by moving CSX over to NS all the way into Cincinnati. Brightline gets the CSX route into Cincinnati. I picked CSX because it has very little industry and even fewer customers along it. And at Hamilton, an enhanced passenger rail line to Chicago can split off and share tracks from Hamilton into Cincinnati. Some major trackwork is needed in Hamilton. South of Winton Place near Cincinnati, I'd build a new, dedicated HSR line into downtown Cincinnati between Mill Creek and the freight tracks, then cross over Mill Creek to the former B&O to avoid Queensgate Yard entirely and take that right of way to near Paycor Stadium (Bengals), travel below Second Street and put my station in the "Riverfront Transit Center." I thought about using I-70 for some time and one of the old 1980's HSR plans called for skirting around Springfield on I-70 as well. I-70 ROW is broad enough to add tracks without too many problems and only has a few small interchanges to contend with. Trains could easily run at 110-125 mph there.
May 7, 20241 yr What's cool is that, because I-70 was built early on, all of the new highways and interchanged that have been built since were built above it. The medians through those interchanges are appear to be free and clear of obstructions. I'd like to try and serve the Sandusky area. The challenge is it's hard to serve with rail unless you restore the old New York Central line along the Sandusky waterfront. Otherwise you have to transfer to local transportation for everything and sometimes transfer twice. For example, transferring to the Islands means transferring to a bus to get to the boat -- unless you add a station at Port Clinton where the Jet Express is an easy 5- to 10-minute walk from the tracks and the former station site. In the 70s and 80s, the high-speed rail plans completely bypassed Sandusky and several navigable water inlets in favor of traveling next to the Ohio Turnpike. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 7, 20241 yr 21 minutes ago, KJP said: What's cool is that, because I-70 was built early on, all of the new highways and interchanged that have been built since were built above it. The medians through those interchanges are appear to be free and clear of obstructions. I'd like to try and serve the Sandusky area. The challenge is it's hard to serve with rail unless you restore the old New York Central line along the Sandusky waterfront. Otherwise you have to transfer to local transportation for everything and sometimes transfer twice. For example, transferring to the Islands means transferring to a bus to get to the boat -- unless you add a station at Port Clinton where the Jet Express is an easy 5- to 10-minute walk from the tracks and the former station site. In the 70s and 80s, the high-speed rail plans completely bypassed Sandusky and several navigable water inlets in favor of traveling next to the Ohio Turnpike. Looking at I-70 on Google Earth and it appears to have been widened to six lanes throughout and as a result, the median looks too narrow to squeeze in a pair of tracks. However, the outer part of the ROW along the north side looks plenty wide tho there would have to be some jockeying around to get past interchanges.
May 8, 20241 yr I measured 50 feet. In Florida, Brightline is seeking to have I-4's median preserved at 44 feet for the extension to Tampa. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 8, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, KJP said: I measured 50 feet. In Florida, Brightline is seeking to have I-4's median preserved at 44 feet for the extension to Tampa. Well, if they can make it work, great!
May 9, 20241 yr ORDC released the scope of work for the CLE-TOL-DET and 3C&D Corridor ID studies for interested firms last week.
May 9, 20241 yr 24 minutes ago, GHOST TRACKS said: ORDC released the scope of work for the CLE-TOL-DET and 3C&D Corridor ID studies for interested firms last week. Hey that’s great news - can you share more? I ask because I haven’t heard that anywhere else yet. Did they publish an RFP? When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
May 9, 20241 yr 8 hours ago, GHOST TRACKS said: ORDC released the scope of work for the CLE-TOL-DET and 3C&D Corridor ID studies for interested firms last week. @KJP sent it to me: https://ftp.dot.state.oh.us/pub/Contracts/Consult/Scope2024MAY06/var-stw-3c_d_rail_corridor-id_scope.pdf When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
May 9, 20241 yr I was thinking of sharing it in an article but then I looked through it last night and I didn't see anything really newsworthy in it. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
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