Smoothest and roughest track in the US?

[SouthernRailway]

After a rocky ride on some Metro-North M-7s yesterday, combined with memories of a silk-smooth ride on Norfolk Southern rails in Virginia a while back:

Which railroad has the smoothest track, and which railroad has the roughest track, in the US?

Is there any info available to show how much different railroads spend on track maintenance?

Thanks.

[scottychaos]

I dont think there can be an actual "smoothest"..simply because many Class-1 lines throughout America
are equally "smooth"..as smooth as humanly possible, because they are in excellent shape..

The CSX line across upstate NY (Former New York Central mainline) is in beautiful condition,
hundreds of miles of welded rail, very well maintained and nice and smooth...I dont know if it could even be improved.
im sure many other lines across the country are the same..So I dont think it will be possible to declare one "smoothest" line..
there are probably dozens, if not hundreds, of equally smooth routes..

A current contender for "roughest" would be the Maumee & Western shortline in Ohio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlzG81V8p6o" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 389&nseq=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

although they were recently purchased by another company, and improvements will
hopefully be underway soon..

Scot

[mtuandrew]

A current contender for "roughest" would be the Maumee & Western shortline in Ohio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlzG81V8p6o" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 389&nseq=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

although they were recently purchased by another company, and improvements will
hopefully be underway soon..

Scot

Yep, now the Napoleon, Defiance & Western. Reports elsewhere on the web state that Pioneer Railcorp has invested in the track structure already, though the bed needs considerably more work (having been built right through the center of the Great Black Swamp and not having had much maintenance since its N&W days.)

Moderator's Note: Since this doesn't specifically have to do with passenger railroad track quality, I'm moving this thread to General Discussion: Railroad Operations.

[amm in ny]

After a rocky ride on some Metro-North M-7s yesterday, combined with memories of a silk-smooth ride on Norfolk Southern rails in Virginia a while back:

Which railroad has the smoothest track, and which railroad has the roughest track, in the US?

I don't think the track is the only factor in a smooth ride.

I remember when the M7a's first appeared on the Hudson Line (Metro-North, NYC area), the ride was so rough I asked the Conductor if they'd had problems with derailments. It was noticeably worse than the predecessors (M-3, M-5) There was a definite lurch-slam, lurch-slam character to the ride, especially at higher speeds. I'm guessing the trucks were "hunting" from side to side.

I haven't noticed it so much any more, but it may be just that I've gotten inured to it. I know I still can't write checks on the train and I have to hold on to something whenever I walk through the train or I'll end up in someone's lap.

[25Hz]

The worst track i know of is between NFL and NFS on the whirlpool bridge. The best track i know of is 3 and 4 between County and Nassau in NJ as far as passenger rails. As far as freight.... there is some downright grubby track out there with 10 mph restrictions, though i think they run the trains at about 3 mph. Here's some footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUCU2GhG8zE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;