"MERIDIAN, Miss. – America is back to working on the railroads.
"For decades, stretches of track west of this town were so rough that trains couldn’t run faster than 25 miles an hour. Lanie Keith, a locomotive engineer for Kansas City Southern, recalls waiting for hours when trains stalled on a steep curve on a stretch of single track between Meridian and Shreveport, La.
"But over the past two years, at a cost of $300 million, track crews have transformed the 320-mile route. Installing 960,000 crossties and 80 miles of new rail, they’ve turned a railroad backwater into a key link in a resurging national transport network. Mr. Keith now skims parts of the improved track, called the Meridian Speedway, at nearly 60 miles an hour. “You went from moving like a turtle to a jack rabbit,” he says.
“The upgrade is part of a railroad renaissance under way across much of the U.S.”
In my remaining lifetime, I think we will see at least two and possibly three significant main lines (or big chunks of them) re-established or at least on their way to coming back. We may also possibly see some significant new construction on entirely new lines through virgin territory because it will be less expensive than trying to add capacity to a few of the existing main lines that pass through very tough terrain.
Branch lines and secondary mains – no, almost nothing will come back from the grave. Quite the opposite, there is still a lot of branch line and secondary main line mileage for which abandonment looms in the immediate future unless state governments want to start spending serious money to purchase, maintain, and operate them. For a mid-size state that wants to cling to its branch lines and secondaries it can easily expect to spend $150-250 million per year just to hold the status quo.
The KCS has another project underway which is a noteworthy exception to this. I’m referring to the complete rebuilding of the 90 mile former Southern Pacific branch between Victoria and Rosenberg, TX. When the SP discontinued service on this line years ago the rails were left in place. To date the old rails and ties have been removed and some 20 miles have been regraded. The KCS expects approval of its $100 million RRIF loan application for completion of this project by mid-year 2008. The rebuild involves installation of all new ties and ballast, 136# CWR and CTC, several totally new passing tracks and reconstruction of all bridges. When complete it will become part of the KCS mainline and will eliminate some 120 miles of trackage rights over the UP’s congested Sunset Route which it now uses to reach Laredo and its connection with the KCSdeM.
The Shreveport to Meridian line was nearing abandonment when the KCS acquired it as a part of its purchase of the former MidSouth Rail Corp. a few years ago. It had suffered some 50+ years of neglect by the Illinois Central and later the MidSouth. Tain speeds were limited to mostly 10 mph and traffic was down to a single daily train in each direction by the latter days of MidSouth ownership. Since then the KCS has rehabbed it to main line condition with all new CWR, ties and CTC. Wooden trestles have been replaced with concrete deck spans,
I was involved with both the projects you mention at one time. While both make use of what was a secondary main line in their prime – and a feeder line in their decline – one is reconstructed, and the other on its way, not to serve as branch lines or secondaries but as main lines. I apologize if my earlier post misled you, I should have been more explicit that what the future holds is track being rebuilt/reconstructed to serve as main lines and not to serve as feeders or secondaries. The prior use is not important except from a cost perspective.
The point I originally wanted to make, but didn’t make clear, is that there is little chance that anything more than 5% of the tens of thousands of abandoned branch line miles will ever come back from the dead, in order to serve as branch lines. The economics are almost never there except when the customer at the other end is immovable and generates large, long-term volumes, e.g., a mine, a port, a terminal area, a major construction project like a dam. Almost every other customer finds it cheaper to move.
Another problem that railroads are encountering with rebuild projects is the NIMBYs out there. I am also familiar with the KCS Rosenberg-Victoria project (I have family in a town along the line) and they have been sued by ranchers attempting to keep them from rebuilding. Now, the law squarely supports KCS’ right to refurbish the line, no question. However, there are still lawyers to pay and court battles to fight and all of that slows any momentum that might build in that direction. It’s unfortunate but most people don’t appear sophisticated enough to understand that just because a railroad is gone today doesn’t mean that it can’t be in the same place tomorrow.
I understood the point you were making about the revival of abandoned branch lines as resurrected branches and agree with you 100%.
I’m reminded of the following which took place nearly 20 years ago now. The MoPac had a 30 odd mile branch it had inherited from the T&P that ran north from Shreveport to Hosston, LA. It had at one time served cotton gins, fertilizer and ag implement dealers along the line but in its later years had as its only remaining customer, a small oil refinery at the Hosston end of the line. The railroad had a long term contract to supply service as long as the refinery shipped some number of carloads each month and the MP trundled some six or so tank cars once or twice a week to and from the refinery at a financial loss. Apparently the refinery ownership forgot about the terms of the contract or perhaps didn’t think the MP would enforce them. In any event they shut down the refinery for either major equipment repairs or plant modifications. 30 days went by during which time the refinery had no call for rail service and on the 31st day the MP cut the line at its Shreveport end.
I don’t know how the MP got away with it but think they may have initially embargoed the line citing the deteriorating condition of its several small trestles then filed for total abandonment. In any event when the refinery started back up they no longer had ra