The route of the Washington & Old Dominion ran through what are now very populated suburbs in Virginia outside Washington, D.C. The availability of rail commuter service on this line would help many people have a smoother daily commute. Anyone who looks at a map of the old line would see that it would have served many populated communities in an area that studies say has some of the worst traffic jams in the nation.
So now all you need is billons of dollars for infrastructure, grade crossing protection, rolling stock, maintenance facilites, and a whole bunch of lawyers for nimby objections, epa, dot, osha regulations,union demands and public acceptance. Then it can start to lose money through operation.
As best as I can recall, there were articles in Trains as far back as 1966 (by Michael J. Dunn III ?) mentioning that the W&OD R-O-W should have been saved for that purpose, and certainly some more since then. "Coulda, woulda, shoulda . . . ". [sigh]
- Paul North.
Paul, I am with you on that. I did not remember who or when, but I do remember the comment.
Perhaps one of these articles, since that original one:
“Turntable: On ripups, ripoffs, and resurrections - putting back railroads shortly after they are abandoned”
by Ullman, John E.
from Trains, November 1973, p. 58
“Turntable: Abandonment: is it progress?”
by Williams, Bruce D.
from Trains, June 1980, p. 6
“Rails-to-trails: history underfoot - good recreation; good railroading”
by Cupper, Dan
from Trains, May 1991, p. 24
“The truth about rails with trails - can trains and trails exist together?”
by Vernarelli, Mark
from Trains, September 2005, p. 50
- Paul North.
One of the ICC administrative law judges, in the decision allowing abandonment, raised this point. Read the history.
Even if the ROW was preserved there would be a big fight by the people who live along the abandoned ROW. It is the NIMBY syndrome again. I think back to the stink raised many years ago when Pacific Great Eastern, later called British Columbia Rail, built along Howe Sound from North Vancouver to Squamish (spelling?). A lot of complaining about a train in the back yard of the expensive homes but the rails went in.
Date ? Can you provide a citation to the ICC docket no. for the decision ?
This was addressed in a pretty funny series of editorial catoons that were reprinted in Trains a few years later:
“How to replace a railway - cartoons about Pacific Great Eastern’s new (old) line into North Vancouver”
by Norris, Len, and Tyckoson, Garth
from Trains, May 1965, p. 26 - 28 (or so).
- Paul North.
Virtually every mile of right of way could be totally different from every other mile of right of way in how it is handled if the line is abandoned and the track itself is ripped up. This has been discussed and ripped apart and put back together several times over the years here and on other forums. There is no one answer but the one that fits that section of that right of way. Some ROW’s of course were held onto and leased or rented to utilities for power, phone, pipes, etc. all above or below ground; others were sold to utilities for the same reason. Some, abandoned entirely, might be turned back into the original deed or deed owner, or be claimed by a government or agency, or be sold in its entirety to virtually anybody. Some are abandoned outright and left to be grabbed by whoever wants to grab it…and that owner can sell it or whatever. But, as I said, each section has to be answered differently with no broad generalizations. And, these instances, are lawyers’ friends.
If they need a commuter line bad enough, why don’t the use the right of way of a road that has other streets parallel to it. Maybe it could be done without removing any houses?
I have the book Rails to the Blue Ridge by H. H. Harwood, and took a quick look to try to find the ICC Docket No. Couldn’t find the docket number, but the date was January 23, 1968. The ALJ’s comment isn’t mentioned in Harwood’s book, at least as far as I could tell from my quick look; I must have read about it somewhere else.
Thanks, SALFAN. That comports with my recollection, and all of the articles in Trains that I referenced above are after that, so it could have been mentioned in any of them, or maybe subsequent books about our nation’s dysfunctional transportation policy, etc.
- Paul North.