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Pueblo eyes pot taxes to study ‘Southwest Chief’ re-routing
good old weed wheres the world going??? ridiculous
You would think the BNSF would be more than happy to fund the study. After all, if the SW Chief is rerouted, then the existing route becomes redundant and subject for abandonment as the only train to use it is Amtrak.
I remember the TV show Dragnet and its stance on drug usage. Who would have ever thought a state government would consider revenue from this “starter” drug? Unbelievable.
Jim, The most common “starter drugs” are alcohol and tobacco. States get an awful lot of revenue from those. Unbelievable.
@LAURENCE CARBONETTI - In fairness, as I once heard a comedian say, Pot absolutely is a gateway drug to more dangerous addictions - if you smoke pot, you’ll next do Kentucky Fried Chicken…
The proposed source of funding for the study makes sense because obviously Sal Pace is smoking something if he things routing the Southwest Chief through Pueblo makes any sense. In addition to the fact that train 3 would be running against both the “current of traffic” between La Junta and Pueblo for southward trains and between Pueblo and Trinidad for northward trains in BNSF’s directional operation between Pueblo and Amarillo, to access the station site in Pueblo would require a backup move. Even if the scores of millions of dollars were available to upgrade the track were available, the increased running time (about three hours each way) would either sever some connections in Chicago or decrease equipment turnaround time in Los Angeles to the point that another set of equipment for the Southwest Chief would be needed.
And, these untold millions for this pipedream project would still not make the Southwest Chief any more stable overall; it would still be the only train using the route from Trinidad to Lamy, which in spite of receiving minimal funding like the TIGER grant (to the city of Garden City) still needs much more funding in perpetuity to keep up the track and replace an aging signal system. The current routing over the long run is untenable unless a dedicated long-term funding source is identified. In the mean time, intermittent shots of sporadic funding to keep the route on life support only give fuel to opponents of long-distance trains everywhere as the Southwest Chief is the poster child for what is perceived by some as an inefficient operation. It’s bad enough that most other long distance routes don’t get the economies of scale that is gained with multiple frequencies on the same route; the Southwest Chief route between La Junta and Lamy is all the worse: It doesn’t even get the luxury of having freight traffic provide its track infrastructure.
Clearly, the Southwest Chief should have been rerouted via Amarillo and Clovis in 1996 when BNSF offe
I think BNSF should sell the right-of-way to the three states involved. Amtrak could operate a day train between Chicago and Kansas City, thus freeing up diners and sleepers on that portion. Amtrak could operate overnight between Gallup and Los Angles on the southern portion. The three states could pool their resources to contract with Iowa Pacific or someone else to upgrade the right-of-way and provide crews and equipment to operate between K.C. and Gallup. If BNSF doesn’t want to sell and Amtrak doesn’t want to lose the service then stop whining about the cost and just fix the track and run the trains.
Yeah, tax the weed, they’ll be too stoned to notice as well as too busy panhandling for pizza money afterward.
BNSF has no interest in maintaining a lightly trafficked freight line to passenger train standards, so if the taxpayers want passenger service over it, track upgrades are part of the cost. If the track maintenance cost is included in the costs, the subsidy compared to revenues becomes ridiculous, giving ammunition to opponents of long distance trains and passenger trains in general. This is why I think it is time to give up this fight, route the train via Amarillo, and substitute a thruway bus over Raton. I don’t really like it either but I think fighting for services that cost a lot of money for a few passenger miles jeopardizes the entire long distance system.
Personally, I think the taxpayers would be better off rerouting the Chief through Amarillo, using the money to upgrade track for a Denver-Kansas City service, possibly via La Junta, and running a thruway bus between Denver and Albuquerque connecting with the Chief and the Zephyr. The bus would be far faster than any train over Raton.
Now if only the old Rock Island were in place and in good condition between Oklahoma City and Amarillo, the Chief could serve Oklahoma City and offer connections with the Heartland Flyer!
By the way, I sincerely hope I am wrong. If the line is upgraded, I would be delighted if BNSF brought back enough freight that they would continue maintaining it and the Chief could live happily ever after. It just doesn’t seem likely to me.
Bring back Desert Wind Amtrak 35&36 as Chicago to LAX, Ca train again.
Pueblo already has a Thruway bus connection to the SWC at Raton, NM. One wonders how many folks in the Pueblo area use the service or are even aware that it is available.
I could not agree more with Messrs. Rowell and Bedell. Case is stated.
I like it… " High on Trains". So many twisted views… from the 1940’s on here. I’m 58. Weed tax for passenger service would be a good thing. Florida is next. We got All Aboard coming online in late 2017.
Hmmmm… Maybe time for a new ‘Chief Connection’? Also, I would bring back the San Frnacisco chief and end certain transportation subsidies.