Lineville Sub - TRAINS

[Gilbert B Norman]

I find the Don Phillips column in March TRAINS most interesting.

It is hard to believe that Yäger wanted to upgrade a secondary line including the Lineville Sub simply to route traffic from WayX to the Midwest away from bottlenecks like Atlanta and Chattanooga. That does not fit with Precision Railroading.

Of course, a Marketing minded outfit would want to such so that they could say to customers "we keep your freight moving", but Yäger was "myopic" about his Operating Ratio" or the catch all "GTMTH" (Gross Ton Miles Train Hour) measurement.

From the column, it would appear the Lineville Sub is an "over hill over dale" profile; all told it will be interesting to see what Yäger's disciples ("Footmen"; whoever) will do. Maybe if some of them are Marketing men, that upgrade might well continue.

[mmi16]

I find the Don Phillips column in March TRAINS most interesting.

It is hard to believe that Yäger wanted to upgrade a secondary line including the Lineville Sub simply to route traffic from WayX to the Midwest away from bottlenecks like Atlanta and Chattanooga. That does not fit with Precision Railroading.

Of course, a Marketing minded outfit would want to such so that they could say to customers "we keep your freight moving", but Yäger was "myopic" about his Operating Ratio" or the catch all "GTMTH" (Gross Ton Miles Train Hour) measurement.

From the column, it would appear the Lineville Sub is an "over hill over dale" profile; all told it will be interesting to see what Yäger's disciples ("Footmen"; whoever) will do. Maybe if some of them are Marketing men, that upgrade might well continue.

Long before EHH came on the scene, the Lineville Sub has been the preferred route between Chicago and Waycross. The alternative to the Lineville sub has been the Bow Line (the Dothan and Valdosta Subs) between Montgomery and Waycross, which is a Dark, 25 MPH route for most of it's distance. The W&A between Chattanooga and Atlanta has always been congested with the traffic that has no other possible routing.

Phillips memory and reality are in conflict.

[MattW]

I find the Don Phillips column in March TRAINS most interesting.

It is hard to believe that Yäger wanted to upgrade a secondary line including the Lineville Sub simply to route traffic from WayX to the Midwest away from bottlenecks like Atlanta and Chattanooga. That does not fit with Precision Railroading.

Of course, a Marketing minded outfit would want to such so that they could say to customers "we keep your freight moving", but Yäger was "myopic" about his Operating Ratio" or the catch all "GTMTH" (Gross Ton Miles Train Hour) measurement.

From the column, it would appear the Lineville Sub is an "over hill over dale" profile; all told it will be interesting to see what Yäger's disciples ("Footmen"; whoever) will do. Maybe if some of them are Marketing men, that upgrade might well continue.

Long before EHH came on the scene, the Lineville Sub has been the preferred route between Chicago and Waycross. The alternative to the Lineville sub has been the Bow Line (the Dothan and Valdosta Subs) between Montgomery and Waycross, which is a Dark, 25 MPH route for most of it's distance. The W&A between Chattanooga and Atlanta has always been congested with the traffic that has no other possible routing.

Phillips memory and reality are in conflict.

What traffic on the W&A has no other possible routing? Aside from locals and trains terminating along the route.

[roberttosh]

I find the Don Phillips column in March TRAINS most interesting.

It is hard to believe that Yäger wanted to upgrade a secondary line including the Lineville Sub simply to route traffic from WayX to the Midwest away from bottlenecks like Atlanta and Chattanooga. That does not fit with Precision Railroading.

Of course, a Marketing minded outfit would want to such so that they could say to customers "we keep your freight moving", but Yäger was "myopic" about his Operating Ratio" or the catch all "GTMTH" (Gross Ton Miles Train Hour) measurement.

From the column, it would appear the Lineville Sub is an "over hill over dale" profile; all told it will be interesting to see what Yäger's disciples ("Footmen"; whoever) will do. Maybe if some of them are Marketing men, that upgrade might well continue.

Long before EHH came on the scene, the Lineville Sub has been the preferred route between Chicago and Waycross. The alternative to the Lineville sub has been the Bow Line (the Dothan and Valdosta Subs) between Montgomery and Waycross, which is a Dark, 25 MPH route for most of it's distance. The W&A between Chattanooga and Atlanta has always been congested with the traffic that has no other possible routing.

Phillips memory and reality are in conflict.

What traffic on the W&A has no other possible routing? Aside from locals and trains terminating along the route.

Anything heading South to Atlanta. Obviously you could go south to Lagrange on the Lineville sub then North to Atlanta but that's not really practical.

[MattW]

There doesn't seem to be much actually serving Atlanta anymore. Maybe 6-8 train pairs in total?

[roberttosh]

I don't know the train counts but between IM, autos, general freight and unit trains, there must several trains per day coming into Atlanta from the North via Nashville. There's probably also unit coal trains coming down from the Knoxville side as well as east-west traffic going though Atlanta heading to or from Hamlet. Most of that traffic makes sense to route through Atlanta.