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Re: Elko Amtrak Shuttle
Author: Jeff Moore
Date: 06-18-2021 - 08:10
It's a conundrum to be sure.
There are many basic problems at play. Moving the railroad out of downtown placed the track flush against the Humboldt River, which left no room for an eastbound loading platform to exist on the river side of the tracks basically anywhere but where they ended up, at what was then and now the far eastern edge of the "downtown" area. The following map is of the area in question:
[goo.gl]
The two Amtrak stations are to the right, noted by the yellow striping along either side of the tracks. I don't think there is really any room on either side of the right-of-way given existing streets, businesses, property lines, and the like for either an overpass or underpass, and given the close proximity to the river it might be a challenge keeping an underpass dry. It would be interesting to know if anybody considered crossovers at either end of the station, and if that was considered if SP and WP(UP) at the time opposed it. As it now stands if one gets off an eastbound train and has to walk to the westbound platform, that involves going west (uphill) on Sharps Access Road to 12th Street (no sidewalks or pedestrian pathway); there is a sidewalk across the 12th Street Bridge, but it is on the opposite side of 12th street from Sharps Access and in separated from travel lanes by a concrete crash barrier, so getting onto the sidewalk involves crossing 12th street (no formal crosswalk, and once across the street one has to climb over the crash barrier) or walking across the bridge on what little "shoulder" there is on the bridge with no protection at all from traffic. Beyond that it is left on River Street, then left on 11th Street, then left on Water Street, then proceed to the Amtrak station. As the article notes, sidewalks and street lighting are minimal to nonexistent in most of this stretch.
Most people who take Amtrak to and from town tend to get rides to and from the stations. I wouldn't want to trust a vehicle left in either parking lot to be either still intact or even there after several days of sitting in those lots.
one final note not mentioned in the article, Amtrack effectively does double duty in this town as Greyhound puts all of their bus passengers on the train between Reno and Salt Lake. I wonder if those numbers are included in the reported Amtrak ridership.
Jeff Moore
Elko, NV
There are many basic problems at play. Moving the railroad out of downtown placed the track flush against the Humboldt River, which left no room for an eastbound loading platform to exist on the river side of the tracks basically anywhere but where they ended up, at what was then and now the far eastern edge of the "downtown" area. The following map is of the area in question:
[goo.gl]
The two Amtrak stations are to the right, noted by the yellow striping along either side of the tracks. I don't think there is really any room on either side of the right-of-way given existing streets, businesses, property lines, and the like for either an overpass or underpass, and given the close proximity to the river it might be a challenge keeping an underpass dry. It would be interesting to know if anybody considered crossovers at either end of the station, and if that was considered if SP and WP(UP) at the time opposed it. As it now stands if one gets off an eastbound train and has to walk to the westbound platform, that involves going west (uphill) on Sharps Access Road to 12th Street (no sidewalks or pedestrian pathway); there is a sidewalk across the 12th Street Bridge, but it is on the opposite side of 12th street from Sharps Access and in separated from travel lanes by a concrete crash barrier, so getting onto the sidewalk involves crossing 12th street (no formal crosswalk, and once across the street one has to climb over the crash barrier) or walking across the bridge on what little "shoulder" there is on the bridge with no protection at all from traffic. Beyond that it is left on River Street, then left on 11th Street, then left on Water Street, then proceed to the Amtrak station. As the article notes, sidewalks and street lighting are minimal to nonexistent in most of this stretch.
Most people who take Amtrak to and from town tend to get rides to and from the stations. I wouldn't want to trust a vehicle left in either parking lot to be either still intact or even there after several days of sitting in those lots.
one final note not mentioned in the article, Amtrack effectively does double duty in this town as Greyhound puts all of their bus passengers on the train between Reno and Salt Lake. I wonder if those numbers are included in the reported Amtrak ridership.
Jeff Moore
Elko, NV
| Subject | Written By | Date/Time (PST) |
|---|---|---|
 Elko Amtrak Shuttle
|
E.H. Scaryman | 06-17-2021 - 12:34 |
|
Could they contract with Uber instead?
|
Your tax dollars at work | 06-17-2021 - 12:43 |
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Re: Could they contract with Uber instead?
|
Steamfan | 06-17-2021 - 16:10 |
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Re: Could they contract with Uber instead?
|
White River Junction | 06-17-2021 - 19:37 |
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Re: Elko Amtrak Shuttle
|
An Observer | 06-17-2021 - 17:52 |
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Re: Elko Amtrak Shuttle
|
An Overlooker | 06-17-2021 - 18:57 |
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Re: Elko Amtrak Shuttle
|
Alf Doten | 06-17-2021 - 21:38 |
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Re: Elko Amtrak Shuttle |
Jeff Moore | 06-18-2021 - 08:10 |
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Such a dumb government and UP fiasco
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Byzantine Joe | 06-18-2021 - 10:15 |
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Re: Such a dumb government and UP fiasco
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Alf Doten | 06-19-2021 - 07:41 |