For NS, the CN provides a much shorter route to Birmingham via the West Tennessee, a former Illinois Central line, to Corinth, MS. Would CN get access to Birmingham from north of Chicago in exchange for shorter routes to Chicago and Saint Louis from the Southeast?
I would think that both companies would rather run from Saint Louis to Akin Jct on the much better engineered Edgewood Cutoff than via Carbondale.
A shorter CN route to Saint Louis, I’m amazed the difference is as much as 60 miles, doesn’t seem like much in return. Then there is only 73 miles via Champaign between Gilman and Bement compared to the proposed separate route of 69 miles. Wouldn’t consolidation via Tolono be less costly to maintain and improve?
I’ve said in the past for similar situations that consolidation facilitates grade separation and crossing elimination. This reduces exposure of hazmat shipments in addition to monetary loss.
Tolono is not a good interchange point for CN and NS. Unless it has changed, there is not a good NW quadrant transfer.
Regarding the mileage savings, are you considering the St. Louis traffic moves via Duquoin?
This is a very interesting situation. The CN line in Southern Illinois is under utilized and a couple of trains daily would fill in nicely. Also, the St. Louis to Southeast traffic is moving via Louisville which will be considerably more efficient via Sheffield. Obviously the CN St. Louis traffic will be more efficient and perhaps NS will now be able to build an entire Chicago-St. Louis train, with the combined traffic. The Decatur - St Louis line is not too busy, so the added traffic should not be a problem.
More interestingly, NS seems to be building capacity from Chicago to the east and southeast. Recently the NS received trackage rights between Chicago and Ft Wayne on the CFE (ex PRR). This line is seeing frequent movement of the NS 25A, a Chicago - Danville, Ky intermodal. Rumor has it that NS and Rail America will soon offer dedicated Chicago - Florida service. Thus, Rail America can handle both the Chicago - Ft Wayne and the Jacksonville - South Florida legs, with NS handling the middle. So, that frees up a slot on the ex NKP line.
Currently the NS runs 215/216/230/282 trains between Chicago and Atlanta (and points south). Take a look at the map and ask yourself, would it not be more efficient to run a couple of those trains down the IC to Fulton, Corinth and Atlanta? I dont know if it would, but it frees more capacity.
In these recessionary times, trains are shorter or annulled, but I find it interesting that the planning for the next big wave is already being implemented.
Will NS shift freight off of the ex Conrail line from Cleveland to Chicago o
There was a connection between the IC and NW in the NW quadrant at Tolono decades ago used by a short-lived Amtrak Decatur - Chicago train. I haven’t been by in years; but the Yahoo air photo shows a train on it. How bad can it be that it couldn’t be fixed up?
Also, I thought it was CN getting a better route from Chicago to Saint Louis, more for traffic from Michigan, the Upper Midwest, and Canada. NS still has its St Louis lane from the East and probably isn’t looking hard for traffic originating in and around Chicago.
The whole idea of the Mid-America Corridor is Chicago - Birmingham - Southeast that I assume includes Atlanta. Only thing, unless grades are better, the NS network east of Birmingham seems to be a hodge-podge of xSR branch lines with nothing as direct to Florida as the xCG-xACL City of Miami route, part of the CSX (C-Line?).
So your idea for the xNYC, xNKP, and xPR Eastern routes is to spread trains on each line and maintain them all to mainline standards? Maybe there is a short-term benefit; but I don’t see it.
A more interesting scenario would be to run CN freight over the NS from South Bend to Kirk Yard and save a few miles as well as head in the right direction. Intermodal would continue west on the xGTW to Markham Yard; and NS Saint Louis traffic could use the xGTW and EJEW from South Bend to the proposed connection at Richton Park.
The NW and NE quadrants have been taken out in the last couple of years. For the last 2 years, there have been no transfer set-out or pick-ups there. Years ago, NS used to park a couple of units there for a local. Most of the cars came off the IC/CN. One day, the local left with over 60 cars. There is a track on the SE corner, but that hasnt been used in years. Some kind of agreement with NS-IC at the time. Only caught one train using that and that was maybe 7 years ago.