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For faster train travel, Amtrak wants to fix railway bottlenecks in Maryland
For faster train travel, Amtrak wants to fix railway bottlenecks in Maryland
By Colin Campbell
cmcampbell@baltsun.com
twitter.com/cmcampbell6
The Baltimore Sun
May 2, 2016 5:22 p.m.
As Amtrak trains whisk passengers hundreds of miles along the East Coast between Boston and Washington, they're forced to slow down at four pinch points in Maryland, where ancient railroad infrastructure can't accommodate the high speeds and capacity of modern train technology.
Officials have begun planning to fix two of the bottlenecks, the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge, which opened 110 years ago, and the even older Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, built under the city in the decade after the Civil War. ... Eliminating those choke points would speed up travel along the Northeast Corridor, officials say, bringing Amtrak closer to its goal: a two-hour trip between New York and Washington. ... Paying for it, however, is another issue.
Final design unveiled for replacement Susquehanna River Rail Bridge
While Congress has funded the relatively inexpensive planning studies, replacing the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge project could take up to a decade and cost between $800 million and $1 billion, according to Amtrak estimates. The B&P Tunnel is a $4 billion project. Neither has been funded for construction. ... The other two aging pinch points, the Gunpowder River Bridge between Chase and Joppa, and the Bush River Bridge between Edgewood and Perryman, have not received money to be studied, said Paul DelSignore, senior director for structures at Amtrak.
....
While Kathy Epple, president of a group called Residents Against the Tunnels, supports an improved Northeast Corridor, she has a slew of concerns about the B&P project. Vibrations from the trains could damage her 121-year-old, brick-and-plaster rowhouse on Eutaw Place, she wrote in a letter of testimony in February. ... If a developer's vision of a separate, magnetic levitation train between Baltimore and Washington, supported by Gov. Larry Hogan, becomes a reality, Epple wrote, it could poach passengers from Amtrak, leaving the tunnel to take on more freight traffic. Hazardous materials such as nuclear fuel traveling under her neighborhood are another cause for concern, as are the toxins released from diesel engines, she said. ... "I believe it is wrong to expose highly populated areas to these dangers," she wrote.
By Colin Campbell
cmcampbell@baltsun.com
twitter.com/cmcampbell6
The Baltimore Sun
May 2, 2016 5:22 p.m.
As Amtrak trains whisk passengers hundreds of miles along the East Coast between Boston and Washington, they're forced to slow down at four pinch points in Maryland, where ancient railroad infrastructure can't accommodate the high speeds and capacity of modern train technology.
Officials have begun planning to fix two of the bottlenecks, the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge, which opened 110 years ago, and the even older Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, built under the city in the decade after the Civil War. ... Eliminating those choke points would speed up travel along the Northeast Corridor, officials say, bringing Amtrak closer to its goal: a two-hour trip between New York and Washington. ... Paying for it, however, is another issue.
Final design unveiled for replacement Susquehanna River Rail Bridge
While Congress has funded the relatively inexpensive planning studies, replacing the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge project could take up to a decade and cost between $800 million and $1 billion, according to Amtrak estimates. The B&P Tunnel is a $4 billion project. Neither has been funded for construction. ... The other two aging pinch points, the Gunpowder River Bridge between Chase and Joppa, and the Bush River Bridge between Edgewood and Perryman, have not received money to be studied, said Paul DelSignore, senior director for structures at Amtrak.
....
While Kathy Epple, president of a group called Residents Against the Tunnels, supports an improved Northeast Corridor, she has a slew of concerns about the B&P project. Vibrations from the trains could damage her 121-year-old, brick-and-plaster rowhouse on Eutaw Place, she wrote in a letter of testimony in February. ... If a developer's vision of a separate, magnetic levitation train between Baltimore and Washington, supported by Gov. Larry Hogan, becomes a reality, Epple wrote, it could poach passengers from Amtrak, leaving the tunnel to take on more freight traffic. Hazardous materials such as nuclear fuel traveling under her neighborhood are another cause for concern, as are the toxins released from diesel engines, she said. ... "I believe it is wrong to expose highly populated areas to these dangers," she wrote.
Uhhh, you live just northwest of downtown Baltimore, one block south of U.S. Route 1. (Seriously. Google Eutaw Place.) Would you rather have all that freight being transported on highways instead?
Residents Against the Tunnels
From vibrations to mosquitoes, plans to replace B&P tunnel draw concerns
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
That's all on CSX, and CSX's entire fleet of locomotives is diesel.
The original mainline railroad electrification project in this country was the B&O's Howard Street Tunnel, but the wires came down in ... oh, now I have to go to Wikipedia. Hold on.
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.
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Baltimore Belt Line
Electrification
Baltimore & Ohio electric engine
By this time the Pennsylvania Railroad line through Baltimore and points south had been in operation for twenty years. Due to the built-up nature of the area traversed and the hilly terrain, much of its line through town was in tunnels, which posed severe ventilation problems. Large chimneys were constructed above the Pennsylvania line, in a not entirely successful attempt to disperse the fumes from the coal-fired locomotives. However, by 1890 electric locomotion was beginning to appear possible, and in 1892 the B&O thus contracted with General Electric (GE) for electric locomotives, powerhouse equipment, and an electrical distribution system. This equipment was delivered beginning in 1895, and the first train pulled by an electric locomotive operated through the Howard Street Tunnel on June 27, 1895.
....
The electrification was finally discontinued in 1952 when dieselization made it unnecessary.
Electrification
Baltimore & Ohio electric engine
By this time the Pennsylvania Railroad line through Baltimore and points south had been in operation for twenty years. Due to the built-up nature of the area traversed and the hilly terrain, much of its line through town was in tunnels, which posed severe ventilation problems. Large chimneys were constructed above the Pennsylvania line, in a not entirely successful attempt to disperse the fumes from the coal-fired locomotives. However, by 1890 electric locomotion was beginning to appear possible, and in 1892 the B&O thus contracted with General Electric (GE) for electric locomotives, powerhouse equipment, and an electrical distribution system. This equipment was delivered beginning in 1895, and the first train pulled by an electric locomotive operated through the Howard Street Tunnel on June 27, 1895.
....
The electrification was finally discontinued in 1952 when dieselization made it unnecessary.
Highly recommended:
I see (this morning, for the first time) that there is a second edition:
When the Steam Railroads Electrified, Revised Second Edition
The author, William D. Middleton, died a few years back. I have the honor of having an autographed copy of the first edition.