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The St. Paul Union Depot (SPUD) Facebook page just announced that the DOT's from Minnesota and Wisconsin have requested Amtrak to do a feasibility study of a 2nd daily train between the Chicago and the Twin Cities, possibly even further west to St. Cloud.
There are some nice maps, and about 70 pics suitable for foamers too (Click on exhibits 2 and 3).
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Adding another train between MSP and Chicago sounds like a good idea, but I must say that I have my doubts about it happening any time soon. Why? This feasibility study was presented on May 6, 2015 and the introduction to the study begins with this sentence:
quote: This report was prepared by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in response to a study request from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) in May 2012.
Three years for Amtrak to complete a feasibility study! How long will it take Amtrak to plan and design the infrastructure work, hire and schedule the crews and fulfill all the other punch list items that must be completed before new service can commence? MnDOT should be made fully aware that they will have to assume leadership of this project and not expect Amtrak to provide the lead. Otherwise, this 2nd train won't turn a wheel until flying jet packs or personal drones have replaced train travel.
Posts: 831 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jan 2011
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Lucky you! At another railfan site a bunch of links to USGS Guidebooks, published between 1915-33, has just appeared. The guidebooks follow the main east-west rail lines and contain maps of the routes. The guides are focused on the geology of the areas that the trains pass through, but there's plenty of other historical information included in the guides.
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Thanks for those, Vincent206. I see many hours in front of a computer in my future. And since I live at Milepost 7 on the Northern Pacific, I'm also learning about the geology of my neighborhood.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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Vincent -- yes, indeed! I too use those bulletins for some of my railroad guides. They are all available from the U.S. Geological Survey on line at http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod/
And let me add: SP route (NOL-LAX) -- USGS Bulletin #845 D&RGW route -- USGS Bulletin #707
The ones Vincent found are from the 1910-1915 period, but the ones I added were published in the 1930's.
I actually have hard copies of all these, which I got when we thinned out our library of non-used publications at one of my former places of employment. I had stored them in a bookcase in the basement of one of my previous homes on the bottom shelf, then had a flood in the basement, so the bulletins, precious and valuable as they are, are basically ruined now, but a few pages survived, and I can either use what is still usable in my books, or use the USGS on-line publications.
Good find, Vincent!
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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