I was wondering since I have not heard or read anything about the Double tracking thru ado canyon anyone heard how it is going recently. Have they gotten the NIMBYS and those Banannas off their backs yet.
They have the tenative OK from the courts and the agencies to procede. They have started cautiously working into the canyon from both ends, testing certain processes before ramping-up the process. The monkeywrenching, legally and physically, has already started by the locally emotionally unstable NIMBYs et al. - This will likely be an armed struggle before it’s over.
…What are the physical properties of available space {useable space}, to get another track thru Abo Canyon…? Is there just one route available and will it require extreme measures to actually put another track in place due to limited space…?
With these NIMBY’s there is probably nothing that will satisfy them. After all of this time other alternates have been looked at, but unless they are 100 miles away and completely invisable this bunch with their relatively deep pockets will protest.
Unless you have been there it is difficult to visualize how rediculous these protestors are. There are jackrabbits and rattlesnakes and other species who have had a RR nearby for 100 years with no problems; and a 2nd track will not have any effect anything other than for these rediculous clowns who have the financial ability to delay.
The center third of the canyon is very narrow - more like a trench.
Amazing that (under the guise of environmental concern) these jokers inflict so much trouble on such an efficient and clean form of transportation.
Assuming that the work gets going (after all the pointless obstruction), it ought to be interesting to see how it unfolds. As I recall from reading sometime back, the project involves running some new grades on each side of the existing single track, and re-using different parts of it to make segments of both new lines.
This bottleneck (Abo Canyon) needs to be opened, and my layman’s impression that the plan is very well thought out.
By the way, wouldn’t completion of this work leave maybe just one or two very short single-track sections on the entire BNSF transcon?
From what I can gather Abo is the last single track area on the Transcon and they fleet the trains thru they ever get a second track thru there the transcon will be fluid as heck. Think of the NIMBY"S there as like the ones opposing the EJ&E the Rochestor Coaliltion on the DM&E people that bought a house next to the RR then all of a sudden realized oh S%%% that trains roll thru here all the time.
Here in California, my favorites are the people who bought homes in the flight path for MCAS El Toro, then started complaining about fighter jets passing overhead.
Was there an article in trains about ABO? What are the present operating parameters such as grade, degrees of curvature, operating speeds, length of the single track, etc? How is the double tracking going to affect these items? I realize that the plans are not final and BNSF may not know how they are going to blend the old and new alignments. Fluidity is most important not just under present operating loads but future loads. And BNSF can then get much important maintenance windows.
I think this happens everytime an airport is built, people knowing theres going to be an airport here soon…DUH
I have no sympathy for these folks protesting double tracking Abo Canyon,Go protest something worth protesting !
You mean after they have had to much white wine and drive their SUV’s to the meeting where they complain about the wasteful, dangerous and expensive railroad ?
I’m not talented enough to post the direct link for you, modelcar, but go to Youtube.com and key word “Abo Canyon”. You’ll be offered a 6:46 cab ride on an eastbound from end to end.
…canoncityxp:
Now that sounds interesting…I’ll give that a try. Thanks.
And M C: Thanks for your input.
Edit: I did the ride thru Abo {east bound}, and it was a great video. Now I can see it will really cost money to put the 2nd track thru there if it accompanies adjacent the first track.
I was impressed how smooth the single track did ride…The engine did not lob from side to side or did I see any rough bouncing vertical…The route thru there really seems well engineered that the train keeps it’s speed. Great video and now I have a much better idea what all the talk is about.
Trains articles on the subject:
April 2004, p. 10: Abo Canyon and other remaining gaps in the double-tracked transcon
March 2006, p. 20: General description of the Abo Canyon plan (no maps, though)