Because of problems with the DM&E running its coal traffic thru Rochester, MN, a new proposal is for them to use CN’s line from Lyle, MN and get on their own set of tracks (if they build them) in Waverly (IA). The DME line would then continue along the old CGW ROW out of Waverly, and on to Oelwein (IA) (former CGW headquarters). Then they would build a new line on the old CGW bed East of Oelwein, and go all the way to Chicago. Or they might just run on the CN all the way from Lyle, thru Waverly, thru Waterloo, and then on to Chicago (all via CN ex IC). However, it’d be a shoter route to build along the old CGW.
I heard this today and found it very interesting. Just some food for thought.
The DM&E seems to be betting the farm that the FRA loan will come through unabated - they have already committed to building their bridge parts at a new plant in Rapid City…
If they feel assured that the loan is a done deal without further negotiation, all this talk about using the ICE or CN to bypass Rochester may be moot.
I thought the line down through Waverly from Lyle was the Cedar River RR (CEDR), not CN. Did CN snatch it up? I won’t hold my breath on DM&E re-laying the old CGW line- those 867 friendly people and one old grump in Readlyn might not like it.
Cedar River was “the other company” affiliated with Chicago Central (I sure miss those green diamonds – maybe CN should bring 'em back!), and most likely became part of IC when CC was reacquired. Which, in turn, became CN…
The whole thing sounds like a cool plan, but… Somehow I doubt that a railroad abandoned most of 40 years ago would be so easily rebuilt! It would probably be a little more difficult than the DME’s current challenge…
Well then, how about routing the coal over CN from Lyle to Waterloo, then over the Iowa Northern to Cedar Rapids, then CRANDIC to Amana, then relay the Milwaukee Road to reach the powerplant and the IC&E at Ottumwa. From there it could reach KCS in KC.
If you think the NIMBYs in Rochester are bad, just wait 'til you propose that to the business community in downtown CR- they get steamed as it is from the traffic tie-ups due to UP, IA Northern, CNIC, and CRANDIC switching near Quaker Oats! And I suspect you’d get the same negative response from alot of folks in Waterloo.
I think if DM&E gets all their money, they will go ahead and upgrade their tracks on their right of way as is their right, regardless of the pendantic opposition from BNSF…
Oops! Did I say BNSF? Hmmmm…must have been a typo. I meant of course the Rochester Coalition.[;)]
Okay, other than arguing about spelling mistakes, which everyone makes (everyone!), doesn’t FM have a point?
If the DME’s loan is approved what is going to prevent them from upgrading their single track through Rochester? More court cases? The courts have sided consistently against the Mayo and Rochester.
Really, I think that if they get the money than everything’s a green light!
The scheme sounds like a railfan pipe dream. The DM&E already owns the ex-Milw line(IC&E) that runs south of Owatonna thru Austin, and they have trackage rights on Iowa Northern at Plymouth Jct so thaey can bypass Mason City and get on their own line to Marquette. Both ‘Monona’ hill on this line and the grade on the former CGW are tough, but I suspect the CGW line was better. The problem is that the CGW was torn up years ago and the property is in private hands.
The DM&E ‘loan’ is in the hands of the FRA. The actual court cases by Mayo/Rochester have run their course and Mayo/Rochester are now trying to lobby legislators to get the FRA to side with them. As far as the City of Rochester, DM&E offered to build ‘No Whistle’ grade crossings years ago and the City would not sign on. If the coal line is built, I suspect that the DM&E will route most of the traffic south of Owatonna via Marquette. The DM&E would not run more traffic through Rochester so they do not trip the ‘traffic’ mark set by the STB when additional things like the ‘No Whistle’ improvements will need to take effect.
I think that if this Schieffer character really believes that resorting to brinksmanship is going to buy him influence, then he’s not just sadly mistaken, …he’s whizzing up a rope
The whole DM&E thing has become somewhat of a personal whipping boy for me, I’ll admit. But only because in threads past when I dared to pose counterpoint, some folks here have taken it so gravely personal. And yes, I’ve found humor in that.
I don’t particularly care for the Mayo clinic, and don’t even know anyone in Rochester, OK?
But the seeming -hand over heart- pretense by some here that ‘if it rolls down rails, it can do no wrong’…is…entertaining.
I get the impression sometimes as though if DM&E eventually gets their go ahead, several people here will be thumbing their noses at me as though it was some great (personal) defeat for me. Which, considering Rochester is over 500 miles removed FROM MY BACK YARD, the “damage” I will have incurred will be manageable. [4:-)]
the cost we shall all be forced to bear if the loan fails, is entirely another matter. One that deserves microscopic scrutiny.
Well, you have yet to bring forth just what that “cost” would be. For all we know, if DM&E can’t repay the loan (say…oh, I don’t know…maybe PRB coal becomes commoditous non gratis when the Dems take over and occupy DC for the next few decades, thus leaving DM&E with nothing to haul on their brand new line), then the entity who produced the loan would have first dibs on taking over the said assets.
So the DM&E becomes government property and we have our first de facto open access railroad in the US - what’s wrong with that?[:D]
The point is, the rails will still be in place for someone to use, even if it is the [}:)] BNSF…[;)]