Connecticut Colonials?

[XRails]

Has anyone been following the bid by a Massachusetts developer to buy the Montreal Expos and move them to Hartford (and rename them the Connecticut Colonials)? If this were to happen, what would be your speculation about commuter rail implications (if any)? Service on the inland route? The Valley Line?

[DutchRailnut]

The Fine Govenor of Connecticut can't even plan for moving regular commuters, now you want them to move sportsfans ?? yeah right.

[TomNelligan]

There is not the slightest chance that the Expos will move to Connecticut -- the Red Sox and Yankees would never permit an incursion into their territory by another major league team, and without their approval a team can't locate there. In any case, the Washington/Northern Virginia market (which is where Les Expos *are* headed) is much bigger.

But to get the discussion back to railroading, special trains to major sports events are not at all unknown around here -- for years the MBTA has been running trains from Boston and Providence to Patriots games at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on CSX's Framingham-Mansfield line, and to Red Sox games at Fenway Park at Yawkey Station on the B&A. In both cases a rail line runs within a few hundred feet of the sports venue. MBTA specials to Foxboro also run for soccer games and major concerts.

[XRails]

Well, the Fine Governer of Connecticut is about to be impeached, so I wouldn't worry much about him. Yeah, personally I don't see how such a move is at all logical, given that most of Connecticut is populated by either fierce Sox or Yankees fans, who would be unlikely to change affiliations. Aside from that, Connecticut can't even support a AAA team, much less an MLB team. Still, $125 million is the bid on the table, and the prospective buyer says the stadium construction will not require outside funds, so maybe...
I think commuter rail on the inland route would be interesting, though there are more Hartford commuters on the Valley Line. Maybe airline/valley line service from New Haven ==> Middletown ==> Hartford? Ok, that would never happen, but it would be a good way to put those tracks to use.

[shadyjay]

Back when the Patriots almost moved to Hartford, there was talk of the same thing... trains to bring the spectators in. The stadium would have been built at Adriaen's Landing in Hartford which is just a stones throw away from the Valley Line (up from Middletown). Anyways, after the whole Patriots thing, I doubt CT is going to take any move by a sports team to the region that seriously. But that's another story!

-Jay Hogan

[omar]

Another scheme to spend taxpayer dollars on a dubious enterprise.

Hey, lets build a $400,000,000 stadium so our (soon to be late) great governor can get a skybox seat without paying.....

[XRails]

Like I said before, the prospective buyer claims that no public funds will be needed for construction, unlike the Patriots deal. It still sounds crazy, but who knows?

[omar]

Right! & I have a bridge you may be interested in buying.

When was the last time a "developer" paid for a stadium with private funds? At least over 50 years ago.

But, I don't want to get into a urinating contest so I'll can it at this point.

[XRails]

I agree with you on that one, though personal seat licences can go a ways... Like I said, I think Hartford should see how it draws with a AAA team before even thinking about the MLB (public or private interest regardless). And of course on the railroading side the state would need to provide an infrastructure, so there goes some $$$ right there. Personally I think the 3rd coming of the Washington Senators would be best for the team and baseball in general.

[zz4]

I know nothing about these things but maybe something would fly if it was given as a free gift?


A little off-topic but these free gifts gotta have some influence.


Now even that Supreme Court 'person' under fire for some free vacations to Cheney land.


Take me to McDonalds and I'll forget all about it.


The Rowland jokes are sort of on-topic as he (I think) was so anti-rail. Even tried to get rid of Metro-North in lieu of buses.

[XRails]

The Rowland jokes are sort of on-topic as he (I think) was so anti-rail. Even tried to get rid of Metro-North in lieu of buses.

Yeah, what is this whole thing about republicans being opposed to rail trainsit? Bush, McCain, Rowland... Do they want to just keep piling on lanes to their precious highways? If they want to cut dependance on foreign oil they can just switch 15% of trucked freight to rail travel and they'd save 280 million gallons of fuel oil a year! Plus the US road system is the #1 producer of greenhouse gas (which BTW skyrocketed to record levels this year) on the planet. Do they not see sense??? If we are going to do something about it, the people in charge need to get off their [butts] and get moving! More reasearch you say? Is the fact that 5 out of the last 6 summers have been the warmest in recorded history enough? And no, it's not a natural cycle. Rising temperatures over the past 100 years correspond directly to rising CO2 (and other greenhouse gas) emissions. And yes, it is a big deal. Crop faliure, rising ocean levels (aka New York becomes the next Atlantis) and even the next ice age are all possible consequences. Something needs to be done now, and subsidizing the railroads to the same extent we do the highways is a strong first step.

Think about it:
600 trucks = 3 diesel locomotives (300 car double stack)
3 trucks = 1 boxcar
hmmmm... which is more efficient?

Sorry, I get a little carried away on this stuff

[Otto Vondrak]

If the Hartford Whalers ever came back, would we have trains to serve the extra Civic Center traffic? I don't think so.

-otto-