I was reading some older Trains Magazines and read some articles about DM&E getting approved into Powder River years ago? Also buying I&M RailLink?
The DM&E has been trying to get approved to build into the the PRB since 1998 the NIMBYS have fought it all the way. The worst city has been Rochester MN home of the Mayo Clinic. They want to stop anything that will mean they may have to deal with something killing that cash cow for the city. I am sorry I am a former paitent of that clinic for epilepsy I will take the MINCEP clinic in the Twin cities over that place.
The DME acquired the IMRL trackage in Illinios (former MILW RD) a couple of years ago. edbenton is right. They have been trying to build a 280 mile line into Wyoming for the coal traffic, but so far they haven’t turned a shovel because of all kinds of legal manuvering. I think just about all of the communities that would be affected by the new rail line have agreed to a proposal for new trackage with the DME. Most have even supported it. Unfortunately, Rochester has been fighting this thing since the begining to protect its crown jewel, the Mayo clinic. Apparently the right of a hospital to have an old and dangerous rail line next to it is more important then having an upgraded line that is far safer. Not to mention the jobs it would create and the benefits to farmers through increased competition with BNSF.
Minnesota US Senator Mark Dayton has said he will lay down on the railroad tracks before he’d let a DME coal train thru Rochester. Hard to understand all the anti-train stuff about DME, I think the line they’d be using is the old CNW “Alco Line” which has been there since the 1860’s-70’s, not like it just showed up out of thin air. [banghead]
…some people ought to check their facts (solz)
Bah let him, politicians need to be recycled anyway.
Dayton also said that the Mayo Clinc is worth more than the entire state of South Dakota. Here in Sioux Falls, South Dakota we have state-of-the-art medical facilities, we have two major hospitals which are continuously expanding, and for the most part, people here no longer need to go to Rochester, Minnesota for medical attention or testing.
If Mark Dayton and a few other liberal, democratic politicians would lay down on the railroad tracks somewhere, them maybe we could be rid of them!
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
Coborn, just to clarify, the I&M Rail Link is the railroad the DM&E became affiliated with, not the Illinois & Midland (which is the former Chicago & Illinois Midland). The Iowa, Chicago & Eastern is the name of the former IMRL; ICE and DM&E are owned by the same company.
O! Yes that what I meant. But the article said the DM&E bought them, then CREATED ICE to run it.
DM&E’s holdup at this point is financing
I don’t claim to know everything, just what I have read which isn’t always right. If I was wrong please show me where.[%-)]
I wonder if it wouldn’t be cheaper to elevate the rail line through Rochester rather than build a bypass around it. It certainly would resolve alot of the issues (no traffic blockages, no need to obtain more land, minimize the environmental impact study, etc.). I understand everyone’s sympathy to the DM&E here, but I have equal sympathy for Mayo and their concerns, as I have a sister and another sister’s husband who are Mayo employees. And, as I mentioned back on the first page of the other thread on this topic, my wife is enjoying a much higher quality life today thanks to them. She had what they call the atom bomb of all surgeries, the removal of her entire colon and the creation of a psuedo-colon from the end of her small intestine. Granted, this operation is performed at other locations around the country, but I don’t think the prospects for a good outcome would have been as good anywhere else- the surgeon at Mayo has performed this procedure several thousand times.
Just for comparison RE: Mayo vs the railroad, in Spokane both of the major regional hospitals are a stones throw from the I-90 viaduct, and one of them actually straddles a major city arterial.
As far as I know, no one from the hospital is asking for I-90 to be reverted to it’s old US Highway 10 routing (via one way streets).
Just some food for thought, hoping some Mayo Maniacs will learn some perspective.
Um, it’s actually US Highway 14, and it’s also not a good comparison. If the freeway were to pass through there, it would not be a problem, as it would provide improved access to the clinic for the people trying to get there. A freight-only railroad does not. I do agree that some of the arguments presented by the Mayo side are pretty rediculous- I just wi***hat cooler heads would prevail and a compromise can be found.
I am sure the DME would like that too, but so far the concerns the Mayo clinic has that I have read about are ludicrous. I am not trying to pick a war or anything like that, but every concern I have read really doesn’t make sense.
No, no. My analogy is Spokane Washington, with the two major hospitals right by the I-90 viaduct. The point I’m trying to make is that the probability of a tanker truck turning over on the freeway is probably greater than the probability of a rail tanker derailing on new tracks.
Oh, you were referring to the Spokane situation in that paragraph- I thought you had switched back to Rochester. My mistake, I understand your argument now; also, the thought of a tanker accident did not cross my mind. All of which makes my suggestion of elevating the ROW even more preferable. A major fly in the ointment for all concerned, though, is the fact that US-52, which uses an overpass to cross the DM&E just west of downtown and has just been rebuilt into a six-lane expressway at a cost in the millions, will likely have to be RE-done to allow the elevation of the RR to increase.[sigh]
And they can’t really put it in a trench- it’d end up lower than the Zumbro River, which also runs through downtown.
I heard that Mayo’s got some equipment that couldn’t handle the small vibrations that the trains would produce. Sounds weird to me, but, that’s what I heard (from a PhD who works there).
I also heard that they continue to have heavy construction at the mayo clinic as well. Vibrations from the construction have no effect? Also, wouldn’t the vibrations be reduced if the DME put down CWR instead of the 80 year old jointed rail they have now? I am curious as to what their concerns really are.
Just for more clarification, the construction in question is the addition of a new high-rise building adjacent to the existing clinic, which is somewhat further away from the track. I’d be willing to bet that the vibration concern would be for something located in Methodist Hospital, which is the closest building to the track.