Re: Is NWP hanging on by a thread?
Author: BOB2
Date: 03-13-2014 - 16:51
There are many who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.....
I do believe it is 50 million to Ukiah. That would require a significant investment, but if it yielded 50-100 cars of aggregate a day, it might be worth it. A joint rehabilitation for freight and extended mid distance passenger services might also make some sense, in the future, and be needed to augment 101.
Now, back in the real world I live in (for better or worse?), I note, having dealt with the lunatic fringe nimby's on a number of issues, lately, that I just doubt that this level of mining would be approved. And, the uncertainty of years of potential litigation would cause many a potential backer to pause at either the mining or the RR investment. It's nearly up there with strip mining the last redwoods as a "likely" source of freight traffic.
Without a significant local "buy in" for "freight" jobs, or maybe for extended passenger services, or some other "miracle", public investment will also be unlikely.
Did anyone ever get an accurate count on recent weekly volumes?
So even with some potential for limited trans-loading, Cloverdale, or maybe just above, might be it for quite a while for any "restoration" of any more rail services on the NWP.