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Mr. Norman, USDOT partially funded this work from last year's TIGER money. I reviewed the application, and as I recall the plan was to operate shuttle trains (no more than two round trips or so a day) from the port to Hialeah. There is no room on Dodge Island for a large container facility with trac...

Anyone is welcome to doubt the number of riders, but the ridership forecast linked in the previous post is 420 transfers from between River Line and ACL, most going to Atlantic City, and 150 River Line only riders (numbers are riders -- double the figure for trips). A total ridership of 420 to/from ...

Well, there are numerous good railfan spots in the region. It depends what you want to see. If it's freight, best choices are along the former Reading New York Branch in Bucks County (try the bridge over the Delaware in Yardley, or the West Trenton SEPTA station). Anywhere west of Abrams Yard on the...

Either "not many" is not the correct answer to the question, "How many trains go by Cove Road", or I'm a very lucky guy. There is usually a big train leaving Pavonia in mid-afternoon, and another coming in. I've seen both several times while riding the River Line. And about a dec...

The one Amtrak train I'd recommend to non-railfans for scenery is the California Zephyr. If you want to go coast to coast by train, that should be your first choice. Neither the Empire Builder nor the Southwest Chief come close in terms of scenery. The Sunset is pretty much a total washout unless yo...

Pardon me for laughing as this thread goes on for pages and pages about "duel-rail" third rail/diesel locos, catenary, and who knows what else? How quickly we forget! Not long after Amtrak took over passenger service in 1971, some FL9s were modified to run into Penn Station, and Amtrak mov...

Ummm...it would be nice if people posting on this thread knew what they were talking about. PTC (in the form of ARES) was successfully tested on BN in the mid-1980s. That's 25 years ago now. Railroads have been working on various flavors of the technology ever since. How does that qualify as "u...

I confess I haven't been following this issue as closely as I should, given that I work in USDOT's Policy Office, and one of my co-workers is USDOT's advocate for the handicapped (he was born with only vestigal arms and legs, and gets around in a motorized wheelchair). The original ADA rule prepared...

I have a looseleaf binder called "NEC 2010 Plan" or something similar that I got from my clients in Delaware DOT in the mid-1990s. This document is regularly updated, and represents a configuration for the NEC agreed among all the various parties. I would guess they're now up to a "20...

Hey everyone, read the original post. The post said he wanted to stay at EWR because the hotels were cheaper. So here's what I would do: 1) Take either Palmetto (business class) or Meteor from Charleston to Newark (not the airport, the downtown station). 2) Stay at the Robert Treat Hotel, recently r...

Let me add a bit to Mr. Norman's (as always) informative post. The deficiencies of the Shore Line alignment were known back in the 1960s when the High Speed Ground Transportation Demonstration Program was set up in the Commerce Department (USDOT didn't exist until 1967). I have seen the original aer...

It's interesting that the state's own management plan notes the railroad tracks are "still privately owned" and "the Federal government appropriated land along the Boreas River...". There is no mention of any sort of lease. I think Protect! is going to have some tough sledding at...

Well, not so fast. Protect! seems to be basing its challenge on the fact that part of the spur is on easements in NY State forest lands. However, the line was operated as a railroad until 1989, and I'm not sure it was ever formally abandoned (notwithstanding Protect!'s contention). If rail service w...

I rode an "Apple Blossom Special" revival in the mid-1980s from Baltimore to Winchester with former B&O (MARC, at the time) RDCs out the Old Main LIne to Point of Rocks and then down the branch to Winchester. The B&O station was still right next to the tracks. It was a very nice tr...

It's not in Pennsylvania, but the first NS "21st Century Steam" trip will be from Knoxville to Chattanooga one-way next Monday. TIckets are $65 from the Tennessee Valley RR Museum. Look for more trips next year. Since 630 (and later 4501) are based at, and will be maintained by, TVRM, you ...