Big news for Reno residents and visitors.
Interesting article.
Here’s another one, with a picture:
Alameda Corridor North! Looks like the same thing they did down here between Compton and Vernon. Out here they want to extend the Alameda Corridor eastward along the old SP now UP ROW thru Alhambra out to Baldwin Park
In a dense downtown like shown in the pic this makes alot of sense, get the train down below, keep the traffic aboveand theres no way a moron can try to beat the train. I wonder how many other cities would benifit from doing this.
I see a little blob that I think is supposed to be a picture… Couldn’t they put up some bigger pictures? I can’t even tell what that is… [V]
(I know, I’m spoiled…[swg])
Right click on the picture and select “view image”
It should yield an image roughly twice the size as shown inline with the article
or, run a google for “Reno retrac”
If my feeble mind doesn’t fail me, I think you will find Sir Mudchicken’s fingerprints on this! Sometime during the summer heat…?
So, when it rains, where does the water go? A couple million dollar pumping facility?
Ooo, look, a slightly bigger blob! [}:)] I’ll just have to be patient.
That would be my guess.
Here in Indiana, things are really flat. And I mean 'billiard table" flat, for mile after mile.
The nearby small town of Garrett, on the CSX mainline to chicago, built an impressive (by small town standards) underpass for their main drag through town, to pass under the CSX main.
Probably easing decades of pent up frustration caused by this busy rail artery that bisected their sleepy little community.
Still, it’s hard to overlook that it is with out a doubt, the deepest hole in the ground for 50 miles in any direction, save for an occassional gravel pit.
I can only imagine that they must have some elaborate pumping station built into the bottom of this pit, hopefully with a back up pump and a standby generator too, because we get some mid summer monsoons around here that could fill up that pit with no problem.
In a way, I have to feel that the Reno solution is better for the town, because if the pump fails, it isn’t the city streets that get flooded.
Yep, I’m sure this project was totally paid for by the private railroad company. No public funds used here! (insert sarcastic smilie here)
If it is in Nevada, the “public” is those folks who left some coin on the tables.
Futurte,
The benefit of this goes to Reno landowners. The railroad should not have put a dime into it. I would happily retire on the many dimes they did put up.
Mac
…and yet you are one of the many who claim railroads get no subsidies. This is a project that benefits the railroad, public funds are being used, egro the railroad is getting a subsidy.
PS - I didn’t say this was a bad project.
Near as I can tell, the only financial benefit the railroad might get out of this is reduced risk of hitting cars or pedestrians.
That’s something, but what else might there be?
SP did this sort of project in El Paso over 50 years ago.
The north Orange County (CA) city of Placentia lies on the BNSF main Transcon Line and has many grade crossings. The main complaint was not traffic but noise, specifically trains whistling for the crossings. The traffic runs 24 hours a day through a densely populated suburban-***-urban area
Placentia created a multi-million dollar program to study and implement an elimination of al the grade crossings with a trench. The project foundered on charges of misappropriation and squandering of funds. Now it looks like even bridges or underpasses will not be built. The city’s resources are being spent on lawsuits.
Hey, cool, thanks! [:D] That is really a neat project. Reminds me of something I saw a few years ago, a newspaper clipping from the previous turn of the century of Milwaukee requesting that the Milwaukee Road (actually CM&StP at the time) elevate their line through the city so as to separate the railroad from the roads. Worked pretty well, too, the only grade crossings on the MILW main (oh yeah, that’s CP now…) are at 45th Street (lightly used industrial road), 2nd Street (right next to the depot), and Waterford Avenue (lightly used, unless you’re a railfan!). Milwaukee had a lot of foresight in those days…
Sad how some of these things end up. A lot of money wasted, for nothing…[V]
Well, I think we can both agree that this project has similarities to the Alameda Corridor project, and the railroads were really pushing hard for that one, so there must be some critical financial advantage to the railroad(s) for such projects. Perhaps the reduced auto and pedestrian congestion is worth more than you think.
The Reno trench and the Alameda Corridor are completely different both in purpose and scope. Clearing tracks from a downtown is completely different from a project built to allow better speeds and more efficient rail access to a major port. Unless We really have “The Big One” in CA, Reno isn’t beach front property and won’t be anytime soon. Of course, FM does have some things in common with Dr. Strangelove, so you never know…LOL…
LC