The top 10 railroad cities in the U.S.?

[Anonymous]

Murph…we need some parameters for the determination.

If it is pure economics, then it would be pretty easy to figure. If it is economic value per capita, then you start including communities such as North Platte and Galesburg. For pure entertainment value, it probably has to be a place such as Horseshoe Curve, or Rochelle, maybe even Fostoria. When of those three has the biggest economic impact? Probably Horseshoe Curve, based on $$$ spent by tourists, tho Rochelle no doubt is moving up the charts.

ed

How about average trains per day - inbound and outbound only, otherwise the top ten would all be in Nebraska! [C):-)]

[Anonymous]

Mr. Hadid:

Your comments please on the amount of freight currently moving into the New York City market. By “market” I am referring to the city, or immediate suburbs. I am not familiar with the NYC economy, nor the rail scene, but I would guess it is primarily a consuming market, with very little manufacturing…could be wrong tho. How much freight originates/terminates in the city or immediate suburbs? Is most of it intermodal? What about “boxcar” freight (including tank cars, covered hoppers, etc). I cannot imagine local crews street running in NYC with a old switcher and a couple of box cars and a few cars of scrap metal, like Chicago, but anything is possible.

ed

MP173: New York City is still the No. 1 manufacturing city in the U.S., if you rank cities by jobs in manufacturing under U.S. Department of Labor classifications, edging out Chicago and Los Angeles if only slightly. On a tonnage basis the Port of New York and New Jersey was No. 3 in the U.S. in 2004, at 152 million tons (Los Angeles/Long Beach combined was a mere 131 million tons). It handed 4.8 million TEUs (2.8 million actual boxes) in 2005 vs. 14.1 million TEUs at Los Angeles/Long Beach.

Don’t think of New York just as some boroughs on islands, though – the metro area includes northern New Jersey, where there is a tremendous volume of carload traffic both in and out, plus the ports and the intermodal and auto terminals. The city itself has very little carload traffic remaining.

S. Hadid

[MP173]

So, not much manufacturing in the city, but mainly in the New Jersey area. It would be interesting to see an article on freight operations in the city. I think there was an article not too long ago in Trains about the CP operations into and out of the city…not much there.

ed

[gabe]

I don’t think I can compete with the knowledge that has produced some of the answers thus far, so I will give my fascile list of amaturish cities that have not made anyone’s list:

Atlanta, Memphis, Dallas, and Kansas City. I realize there are probably reasons why these cities make the amature list, but I have seen as much mentioned in recent rail development of these cities as compared to any.

Another interesting list is declining cities, like St. Louis, which is still important but seems to have lost some of its luster.

Gabe

[CShaveRR]

Another interesting list is declining cities, like St. Louis, which is still important but seems to have lost some of its luster.

Gabe

That would be a long list–with the possible exception of North Platte and Bill, Wyoming, some of the luster has gone away from just about any railroad town–at least in somebody’s opinion!

[Anonymous]

I don’t think I can compete with the knowledge that has produced some of the answers thus far, so I will give my fascile list of amaturish cities that have not made anyone’s list:

Atlanta, Memphis, Dallas, and Kansas City. I realize there are probably reasons why these cities make the amature list, but I have seen as much mentioned in recent rail development of these cities as compared to any.

Another interesting list is declining cities, like St. Louis, which is still important but seems to have lost some of its luster.

Gabe

None of these cities, historically, generated the traffic base of the big Official Territory cities like Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia, or Detroit. Memphis was not a major east-west gateway in the realm of Chicago, St. Louis, or Kansas City.

Kansas City certainly has my vote as the most train-watchable city in the U.S. The action is much more compact than Chicago, and thanks to downtown being on a sizeable hill, there are good views. Chicago is regrettably flat.

Dallas? Substitute Fort Worth. Fort Worth was always the rail capital of the pair as it had the stockyards, grain elevators, and feed mills. Dallas had a nice Dallas Union Terminal but architecturally not very distinctive, in my opinion, in contrast to the fabulous art deco monster that the TP built in Fort Worth. The GC&SF (Santa Fe for those of you from elsewhere), reached Dallas on a virtual branchline, for chrissake. All these nuggets aside, Fort Worth was a regional articulation point and did not have the population or industrial base of Houston.

Atlanta is today a major traffic destination by virtue of sheer size, and growing in importance as a hub with the continued rapid growth of southeast ports such as Charleston.

City with the worst decline: Milwaukee. It’s a gaunt remnant of its former rail greatness.

[Murphy_Siding]

City with the worst decline: Milwaukee. It’s a gaunt remnant of its former rail greatness.

What made Milwaukee’s situation change so much? I would have thought that all the money I invested in beer back in college would still be carrying over that industry![:O]

[CShaveRR]

I suspect that a lot of your investment was directed toward other cities. Milwaukee isn’t the beer town that it once was. That, plus the decline of shipping on the Lakes (the St. Lawrence Seaway was obsolete almost as soon as it opened) and the elevators and industries associated with that, plus the demise of the Milwaukee Road, really stuck the dagger in and twisted it. I’m not sure that its decline was the worst, but it has to be right up there.

[oltmannd]

Well, since what the criteria is is open, I’ll define it as “most interesting railfan cities”, limited to places I’ve actually been …my top picks are:

Chicago

New York

Washington DC

San Francisco

based on variety and frequency of class 1 frt, Amtrak, commuter rail, shortlines, tourist lines and transit operations.

Second Tier:

Phila

KC

Dallas

Baltimore

Atlanta

Honorary US city:

Toronto

(you could probably talk me into St. Louis instead of Atlanta - but E. St Louis is just so…[censored] )

[nanaimo73]

Honorary US city:

Toronto

Take it away !

[(-D]

[MP173]

Might as well jump in on this.

My favorite place to watch trains is Flagstaff, Az.

ed

[jclass]

What about the Twin Cities? There were rail lines all over the place.

Way back when - Buffalo?

[Ishmael]

Sorry to say, I agree with Oltmannd about St. Louis. My old home town used to be the most interesting to be found anywhere, excepting Chicago and Kansas City.

Many of our old lines and branches are now hiking trails, and even a drive down the river reveals more abandoned lines. West Alton used to be very active but the flood of 1993 finished it off. I could go on and on. We do get all six of the present major railroads, UP, BNSF, CSX, NS, CN and KCS but mostly runthrough, not much switching.

But let me say in defense of East St. Louis, it’s not very dangerous. Not much is left over there but vacant lots. I go there from time to time, but I know my way around.

[PBenham]

OK, Buffalo is not what it was, we only lead the way in raising taxes! Before CSX kills it we still have lots of trains on the old NYC. But, that could be over at the least provocation, something the NYSSR is far too good at for my comfort! So…

10. Milwaukee, WI (I am NOT kissing up!!)[:I]OK, Atlanta.

11. San Bernadino,CA

12. Bill, WY!

13. Selkirk NYSSR

6.Orbisonia,PA

5. Durango, CO.

6. Altoona, PA

3.Cleveland OH

2. Ft. Worth-Dallas Metroplex!

3. (drumroll, please) Binghamton, NYSSR (if you read a certain regional rail newsmag![B)][:o)][swg][D)])

[wcfan4ever]

1. Porter, IN NS/Amtrak–BNSF/CP/CN/CSX/IC/GTW/NS/SP/UP/WC Power

2. Rochelle, IL UP/BNSF --BNSF/CP/CN/CSX/NS/SP/UP Power

3. Twin Cities, MN BNSF/CP/CN/SOO/UP Power

4. Kansas City, MO Everyone’s Power

5. Boone, IA Mostly UP Power

6. Chicago, IL Everyone’s Power

7. North Fond du Lac, WI CN --BNSF/CN/IC/GTW/NS/UP/WC Power

8. Ames, IA Mostly UP Power

9. Wellsboro, IN CN/CSX --BNSF/CP/CN/CSX/IC/GTW/NS/SP/UP/WC Power

10. Gibbon, NE UP --CN/CSX/NS/SP/UP Power

There, I went my personall railfanning favorite locations! I also belive that Porter/Chesterton, IN has the best variety of different railroads locomotives running on NS’s tracks. One summer

[espeefoamer]

1.Chicago

2.New York/Northern New Jersey area

3.Kansas City

4.Fort Worth/Dallas

5.Los Angeles

6.Portland OR. for variety and scenery

7.St. Louis

8.Philadelphia

9.Minneapolis/St.Paul

10.Vancouver,B.C.( I know this is Canada, but it is a great train watching city.)

[Jack_S]

I know that Chicago has always been considered the #1 railroad city, for obvious reasons. My city might rank around 983. What would you say is the top 10, as far as railroad cities in our country? My guess would put Kansas as #2. Beyond that, it gets a little hazy, perhaps St. Louis,Memphis, Los Angelos,Omaha, and Houston? What do you think?

Are there any cities that would have been in the top 10 list 100 years, that wouldn’t be today? Milwaukee, perhaps?

Chicago has got to be at the top of any list. 3 years ago, looking down from the Sears Tower it was obvious the place is a rail yard with stations around which a city is laid out.

I will, however vote for Fullerton, CA as the most comfortable and convenient place that I know of to watch a variety of trains. Easy access by rail or road, lots of good places to get a bite to eat, nearby hotels, a restored 1930s vintage station still in use, and, on weekdays, about 90 to 100 trains, and a sizable group of congenial local railfans. Commuter, CA Amtrak, long distance Amtrak, and lot of long heavy freights.

jack

[Jack_S]

I know that Chicago has always been considered the #1 railroad city, for obvious reasons. My city might rank around 983. What would you say is the top 10, as far as railroad cities in our country? My guess would put Kansas as #2. Beyond that, it gets a little hazy, perhaps St. Louis,Memphis, Los Angelos,Omaha, and Houston? What do you think?

Are there any cities that would have been in the top 10 list 100 years, that wouldn’t be today? Milwaukee, perhaps?

Chicago has got to be at the top of any list. 3 years ago, looking down from the Sears Tower it was obvious the place is a rail yard with stations around which a city is laid out.

I will, however vote for Fullerton, CA as the most comfortable and convenient place that I know of to watch a variety of trains. Easy access by rail or road, lots of good places to get a bite to eat, nearby hotels, a restored 1930s vintage station still in use, and, on weekdays, about 90 to 100 trains, and a sizable group of congenial local railfans. Commuter, CA Amtrak, long distance Amtrak, and lot of long heavy freights.

jack

[PigFarmer1]

North Platte. Incredible volume of trains AND approximately 10% of the city’s population is employed by UP. Any way one looks at it N. Platte is a railroad town.

[MP173]

I stopped in at North Platte in 1978 and was blown away. At breakfast at the Hump Cafe, right by the yard. It is probably gone by now.

Chicago has such an amazing diverse amount of railroading…elevated and subways (I am not a fan of either), Metra trains, Amtrak, the major class 1’s, yards, junctions, towers (!), shortlines, industrials, steelmill operations(Indiana), the southside port operation…etc.etc etc.

BRC, IHB, and EJE are great terminal/switching railroads and the South Shore adds an electric element.

I missed it during the 60’s and didnt spend nearly as much time as I should have during the 70’s, but I appreciate it today.

ed