Lynchburg VA NE Regional (ext. to Roanoke and Bristol)

I'm glad the state went with the Cambria Depot (Cambria is a town you've never heard of right in the middle of Chris-Black)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/PrD1orEdjFAwetSE7

It does make it possible to keep going to Bristol, but (as discussed back in March) I really hope they just stick with Bus to Bristol.

My final stop on the line would be Wytheville, which is where I-81 and I-77 and US-11 all cross, making it a perfect place for a bus-to-rail hub
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ny6eD8ZxoApUBtt78

Arlington wrote:I'm glad the state went with the Cambria Depot (Cambria is a town you've never heard of right in the middle of Chris-Black)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/PrD1orEdjFAwetSE7

It does make it possible to keep going to Bristol, but (as discussed back in March) I really hope they just stick with Bus to Bristol.

My final stop on the line would be Wytheville, which is where I-81 and I-77 and US-11 all cross, making it a perfect place for a bus-to-rail hub
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ny6eD8ZxoApUBtt78

Bristol and the tri cities is an actual destination. That’s just, frankly weird to stop at Wytheville and have no train service past that. If you ever do plan to go beyond Christianburg/Blacksburg just go all the way.

Steamguy73 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 20, 2024 11:11 am
Bristol and the tri cities is an actual destination. That’s just, frankly weird to stop at Wytheville and have no train service past that. If you ever do plan to go beyond Christianburg/Blacksburg just go all the way.

Have to kind of disagree.

I grew up in Bristol and would definitely like to see Amtrak finally there but the N&W ROW would need major rework. That rework along with the SOU RR Bristol to Bulls Gap would really help NS with their desire to run many IM traffic trains.

Bristol was a strange city for passengers. Grew up there so some observations. There were 3 round trips from NYP to Memphis, New Orleans & BHM -with connection to NOL Roanoke connections to Charleston, Harrisburg, Virginia coast & Richmond. Connections to Nashville & ATL at Chattanooga. Knoxville connections sort of Ashville and Cincinnati. Those 3 trains usually had 3 or 4 coaches sometimes 5. (52 seaters). 2 - 5 Pullmans each train with 4 sleepers that terminated at Bristol in the mornings. When you looked at the number of riders at Bristol in the coaches the numbers were always the lowest at Bristol. Usually not even one coach's worth.

Cannot speak about Pullmans. Gradually riders increased to almost full by Roanoke and Knoxville with standing room only during high traffic times. rode in restrooms more than once. Father and mother told me it was really bad crowding during WW-2 at those locations.

The N&W line was built to follow winding creeks that really limited max speeds. 3:45 was best time RNK <> Bristol with definite slow sections especially west of Radford. That was with CTC and many sidings along the way. Probably many of those short sidings are long gone, That traffic curve history may be why Wytheville was mentioned.

Bristol... Bristol...

Oh, the quarter-mile motor racing racetrack and drag strip complex. That thing's active for... maybe four weeks out of a year? Six?

Yeah, I can't see anyone regularly going there and back. For special events like NASCAR racing, sure, but you're still busing from the train station and back. Not quite worth it. Might as well... fly... hell, where's the airport?!?

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2024 9:44 am Bristol... Bristol...
Might as well... fly... hell, where's the airport?!?

West of the speedway. But drivers have to go north or south from speedway to get to the airport with some 2 lane roads. All three cities Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City have some difficulty to reach the airport as it is located near 2 rivers and Boone lake that is formed by the rivers There are several smaller airports that are actually quicker driving

What is also interesting is that a long abandoned SOU RR (V&SW) (Virginia and Southwestern RR) ROW from Bristol is under the eastern speedway parking lot.

The route to Bristol and Beyond may have taken major damages from Helene. Reports sketchy. Both the N&W and SOU RR tracks go thru many areas that may have landslides and / or flooding

So far, NS typically squeezes $2m to $10m per mile out of Virginia for train extensions.

It's 120 miles from Cambria to Bristol. You're talking $1 to $2B for track between Cambria and Bristol where you'd be lucky to average 60mph in passenger ops. (slow, it's going to take expensive upgrades) Versus I-81 which has NO FIXED CAPITAL COSTS AT ALL.

Run a bus, save $2B in capital costs (and years in startup time). And they'd easily average 70mph. (I-81 truck traffic is annoying, but it moves at 75mph at all times. Buses are superior in just about every way south of Cambria.

And elsewhere in VA $2B of Virginia's money could do amazing things double-tracking and high-speeding services between real year round origin/destination centers.

Or they could spend $2 billion on NS to improve both freight and passenger traffic through the I-81 corridor instead of spending $4 billion to widen I-81 in that region.

RandallW wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2024 5:57 pm Or they could spend $2 billion on NS to improve both freight and passenger traffic through the I-81 corridor instead of spending $4 billion to widen I-81 in that region.

That makes too much sense. The I-81 from Harrisburg to where it joins I-40 in Tennessee is a nightmare of truck traffic. A non stop trip I made from Bristol to past Harrisburg I averaged just over 40 MPH. If VA and to lesser extent TN would rebuild the NS for 80 MPH Passenger and 60 MPH IM the trucking industry would welcome the ability to not have to drive I-81. As well the route would definitely support more than one round trip passenger train for the service locations listed in previous post on SEPT 20.

west point wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2024 11:12 pm

RandallW wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2024 5:57 pm Or they could spend $2 billion on NS to improve both freight and passenger traffic through the I-81 corridor instead of spending $4 billion to widen I-81 in that region.

That makes too much sense. The I-81 from Harrisburg to where it joins I-40 in Tennessee is a nightmare of truck traffic. A non stop trip I made from Bristol to past Harrisburg I averaged just over 40 MPH. If VA and to lesser extent TN would rebuild the NS for 80 MPH Passenger and 60 MPH IM the trucking industry would welcome the ability to not have to drive I-81. As well the route would definitely support more than one round trip passenger train for the service locations listed in previous post on SEPT 20.

There is a Maryland Dot Study for passenger service from DC to Hagerstown. One of the Proposed routes would use the NS Hagerstown District. They demand an additional track , for the service.
If the states got together, They could rebuild it back to class 4 , double tracked.(since I'm pretty sure Norfolk and Western ran passenger trains at 79, and fast freight) and get trucks off 81, for less than the cost of adding lanes and bridges to 81.
Virginia purchased the ROW for a track on the RF&P, why not there, too?
One could go even further , and grant CSX trackage rights on the new track, from Shenendoah junction to Waynesboro (with new connections) and the Buckingham Branch, and use that as a bypass for southbond trains from the Metropolitan Branch. That way MARC would have additional slots between Silver Spring and DC.
I would suggest upgrading the B line, But I don't know if those bridges could take the weight of 2 mile unit trains.