General railway discussions

[just east of the creek]

CN also had lines that have since been ripped up. My point is that there needs to be a point where it should not have been allowed. You only need to look at how high tolls on the 407 have gotten.There was a time that it was about 10 cents per km, now it is over 3 times that much. Has that company provided us 3 times better driving experience? I know how capitalism works. I am saying we are living in the proof that the way it is working does not work well for consumers. It only works well for shareholders.

See the attached, and then log into JSTOR //www.jstor.org/stable/40213401

The review, set in 1992 $, for the privatization of CN in 1995, makes for interesting reading.

The background to CN's creation, its years of subsidized existence, reorganization in the late 1970's into a profitable enterprise, and eventual privatization, followed by immense growth, are well summarized in Wikopedia under Canadian National Railways. (And elsewhere there is much written on the subject)

Whether we like it or not, private companies, publicly traded, have immense responsibilities to their shareholders, and in today's age of the activist shareholder, companies such as CN are very driven to increase shareholder values.

Now if we were to speak of the abandonment of lines and ROWS from a long term planning perspective of industrial, agricultural, natural resource,urban development or other national self interests, and we were to look at these lines and the preservation of their ROW (at the various least) as essential, we are going to need and require a higher level of planning and policy from both the Feds and the Provinces.

 

[micheal_can]

See the attached, and then log into JSTOR //www.jstor.org/stable/40213401

The review, set in 1992 $, for the privatization of CN in 1995, makes for interesting reading.

The background to CN's creation, its years of subsidized existence, reorganization in the late 1970's into a profitable enterprise, and eventual privatization, followed by immense growth, are well summarized in Wikopedia under Canadian National Railways. (And elsewhere there is much written on the subject)

Whether we like it or not, private companies, publicly traded, have immense responsibilities to their shareholders, and in today's age of the activist shareholder, companies such as CN are very driven to increase shareholder values.

Now if we were to speak of the abandonment of lines and ROWS from a long term planning perspective of industrial, agricultural, natural resource,urban development or other national self interests, and we were to look at these lines and the preservation of their ROW (at the various least) as essential, we are going to need and require a higher level of planning and policy from both the Feds and the Provinces.

View attachment 558039

Maybe we need to create a new crown corporation for abandoned lines to hold them when needed... and then once they become useful, sell them off and not gain anything from them. Things like this I will never like, regardless of if it is how it is.

 

[lenaitch]

Maybe we need to create a new crown corporation for abandoned lines to hold them when needed... and then once they become useful, sell them off and not gain anything from them. Things like this I will never like, regardless of if it is how it is.

No need to create anything new. The Canada Lands Company already exists. All they would need is a mandate from the government and the budget to buy and hold. Whether or not it should be within the federal sphere to hold lands for intra-provincial transportation I suppose is another discussion.

 

[Bordercollie]

On another note, it appears CN has bought a stake in the Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia RR, which they spun off several years ago. Some think this may mean something positive for the ~150 mile abandoned portion on the Island. The cynic in me says they just want a chunk of the scrap steel value when it is lifted. I recall something similar some years ago when they bought back their former Beachburg sub from the Ottawa Central RR only to rip it up.

I thought there is a proposal to build an LRT along this route?

 

[micheal_can]

No need to create anything new. The Canada Lands Company already exists. All they would need is a mandate from the government and the budget to buy and hold. Whether or not it should be within the federal sphere to hold lands for intra-provincial transportation I suppose is another discussion.

You did not get the joke.

 

[urbancog]

I thought there is a proposal to build an LRT along this route?

Strait of Canso Superport Corporation Limited | Transportation

The Strait of Canso Port is located on the East Coast of Canada between mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. It is one of the finest natural deep-water harbours on the eastern seaboard of North America.

www.straitsuperport.com

This is related to a proposed new "super port"

 

[lenaitch]

I thought there is a proposal to build an LRT along this route?

It is just a provincial commitment to fund a study (which I think is fairly fanciful) and it would just be in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, which is the 'greater Sydney area' and the east end of the Island.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/lrt-cbrm-feasibility-study-existing-unused-rail-lines-1.7165958

You did not get the joke.

Apparently.

Strait of Canso Superport Corporation Limited | Transportation

The Strait of Canso Port is located on the East Coast of Canada between mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. It is one of the finest natural deep-water harbours on the eastern seaboard of North America.

www.straitsuperport.com

This is related to a proposed new "super port"

The proposed port is at Canso Strait. The rail line is still in service to Port Tupper which is just on the Island side of the strait.

 

[micheal_can]

Apparently.

The joke is,I described what CN was as a crown corporation.

 

[Northern Light]

Apparently, last night, 5 rail cars, part of an in-motion CPKC train in London, ON caught fire.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-ontario-fire-cpr-railway-cars-downtown-london-1.7180715

From the above:

Fortunately, no injuries, and comparatively minor damage.

Still from CBC Video:

 

[drum118]

From Sin City to the City of Angels, building starts on high-speed rail line​

 

[Allandale25]

 

[Allandale25]

Cool overhead shot here I'll bring forward. Also, exceprt from an article from over 100 years ago. Definately apparent why the grade separation was needed given how close to the yard this road crossed the tracks.

Jeff Smith on LinkedIn: #wearewsp #withusyoucan

Adelaide Street is open to traffic! What a milestone for the City of London, Canada, to open this grade separation - 100+ years in the making - to traffic…

www.linkedin.com

 

[drum118]

Cool overhead shot here I'll bring forward. Also, exceprt from an article from over 100 years ago. Definately apparent why the grade separation was needed given how close to the yard this road crossed the tracks.

Jeff Smith on LinkedIn: #wearewsp #withusyoucan

Adelaide Street is open to traffic! What a milestone for the City of London, Canada, to open this grade separation - 100+ years in the making - to traffic…

www.linkedin.com

View attachment 558669
View attachment 558670

It was quite common that the crossing was blocked as much as 20 minutes or more from my visits over the years. Sometime, a westbound train had to be made up that was on 2-3 tracks to be one long train. At times, shunting was done on the west end instead of the east end.

The mainline is one track west of Adelaide St and where it becomes two over Adelaide with the south track becoming a yard lead track less than 50' east of the crossing.

From the picture above, the new southbound lane is now open with the northbound ready to open. Once the northbound traffic is shifted, the crossing is history, but a lot of work still to be done to build the east retaining wall for the two northbound lanes. The car folks will be over joy with the removal of the crossing and not have to wait for trains to clear the crossing.

 

[Bordercollie]

It is just a provincial commitment to fund a study (which I think is fairly fanciful) and it would just be in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, which is the 'greater Sydney area' and the east end of the Island.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/lrt-cbrm-feasibility-study-existing-unused-rail-lines-1.7165958

Apparently.

The proposed port is at Canso Strait. The rail line is still in service to Port Tupper which is just on the Island side of the strait.

If the rail is built to handle freight they could do some interchange agreement where freight can be served while the line is not in use. Similar to ION

 

[lenaitch]

If the rail is built to handle freight they could do some interchange agreement where freight can be served while the line is not in use. Similar to ION

Perhaps, but the bigger issue is the approx. 110 miles that separates the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (Sydney) at the east end and the rest of the network at the west end near the Canso Strait. It is out of service because there is no revenue to justify it.