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Re: "A Sad Look at the Northwestern Pacific RR Today"
Author: Holly Gibson
Date: 12-22-2010 - 10:46
Joel M Wrote:
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> Does anyone with any sense still that that trains will ever run on the northern stretch again?
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Well, if it ever happens, it will take government money (federal or state) and a will to make an investment in that area. It wouldn't be any more of a political "pork barrel" project than the South Branch Valley Railroad. For the uninitiated, here's what Wilipedia has to say about the SBVR:
The South Branch Valley Railroad (reporting mark SBVR) consists of a 52.4 mile (84.33 km) length of railroad in the U.S. state of West Virginia extending north along the South Branch Potomac River from Petersburg to the CSXT mainline at Green Spring adjacent to the Potomac River. At Green Spring, the CSXT mainline connects the SBVR to Cumberland, Maryland to the west and Martinsburg, West Virginia to the east. SBVR has been owned and operated by the West Virginia State Rail Authority (SRA) since it was sold by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad on October 11, 1978. Upon purchasing the B&O's South Branch line, West Virginia became the first state in the United States to both own and operate a commercial freight railroad. In 1985, major flooding of the South Branch Valley destroyed most of the rail line, including all three bridges that crossed the South Branch Potomac River. Despite talk of shutting down the railroad after the flood, reconstruction began two years later.
The West Virginia State Rail Authority, owner and operator of the South Branch Valley Railroad, is headquartered in Moorefield. The SBVR is also the host line for the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad stationed in Romney.
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As I see it, the "problem" is that California doesn't have a politician with the same degree of "politcal horsepower" that West Virginia did in the form of the late Senator Robert Byrd. It's safe to say that the SBVR exists only because of the power and influence he had on Capitol Hill. Hey, I'd rather see my tax dollars going toward restoring the rail line through Eel River Canyon instead of being spent on nuclear power aircraft carrier, Tomahawk missles, B-1 and B-2 bombers, M-1 tanks, and Pradator Drones. Wasn't anyone listening to Dwight Eisenhower when he tried to warn us of the power and influence of the Military Industrial Complex? And, with the unemployment rate being what it is in California and elsewhere, don't you think you could, in the words of FDR, "put the people to work" by giving them some shovels and spike mauls and come up with a WPA-type program? Nah . . . instead we have commuter operations like Metrolink IMPORT new rail passenger cars from South Korea. I guess the unemployment rate just isn't high enough yet.
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> Does anyone with any sense still that that trains will ever run on the northern stretch again?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, if it ever happens, it will take government money (federal or state) and a will to make an investment in that area. It wouldn't be any more of a political "pork barrel" project than the South Branch Valley Railroad. For the uninitiated, here's what Wilipedia has to say about the SBVR:
The South Branch Valley Railroad (reporting mark SBVR) consists of a 52.4 mile (84.33 km) length of railroad in the U.S. state of West Virginia extending north along the South Branch Potomac River from Petersburg to the CSXT mainline at Green Spring adjacent to the Potomac River. At Green Spring, the CSXT mainline connects the SBVR to Cumberland, Maryland to the west and Martinsburg, West Virginia to the east. SBVR has been owned and operated by the West Virginia State Rail Authority (SRA) since it was sold by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad on October 11, 1978. Upon purchasing the B&O's South Branch line, West Virginia became the first state in the United States to both own and operate a commercial freight railroad. In 1985, major flooding of the South Branch Valley destroyed most of the rail line, including all three bridges that crossed the South Branch Potomac River. Despite talk of shutting down the railroad after the flood, reconstruction began two years later.
The West Virginia State Rail Authority, owner and operator of the South Branch Valley Railroad, is headquartered in Moorefield. The SBVR is also the host line for the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad stationed in Romney.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I see it, the "problem" is that California doesn't have a politician with the same degree of "politcal horsepower" that West Virginia did in the form of the late Senator Robert Byrd. It's safe to say that the SBVR exists only because of the power and influence he had on Capitol Hill. Hey, I'd rather see my tax dollars going toward restoring the rail line through Eel River Canyon instead of being spent on nuclear power aircraft carrier, Tomahawk missles, B-1 and B-2 bombers, M-1 tanks, and Pradator Drones. Wasn't anyone listening to Dwight Eisenhower when he tried to warn us of the power and influence of the Military Industrial Complex? And, with the unemployment rate being what it is in California and elsewhere, don't you think you could, in the words of FDR, "put the people to work" by giving them some shovels and spike mauls and come up with a WPA-type program? Nah . . . instead we have commuter operations like Metrolink IMPORT new rail passenger cars from South Korea. I guess the unemployment rate just isn't high enough yet.
