Eastern Railroad Discussion > Proposed NEW Chicago RR bypass touts new alignment

http://www.rtands.com/index.php/track-maintenance/off-track-maintenance/proposed-great-lakes-basin-rail-line-files-new-preferred-route.html?channel=286

That's the LINK, including a MAP of the proposed rail line, to the article at the Railway Track & Structures website where the proposed Chicago bypass rail line, called "Great Lakes Basin Rail," has proposed a new, "preferred" alignment.  Here is a brief text excerpt:

"....The route originally ran 281 miles; the new route is 260.26 miles, which GLBT believes will result in fewer environmental issues. The new route completely avoids Boone County, Ill., where the proposal met strong opposition from farmers and other community members....."

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.greatlakesbasin.net/
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/16 09:17 by rbx551985.

While I admire the determination and vision to build the first private belt line around Chicago in probably over 100 years, I am not sure I see where this makes money.  It feels like if CN could double track the old EJE (not easily done given the NIMBY opposition) along with a few other improvements (better connectivity and use of the IHB, better use of the NS Kankakee belt with some possible extensions at either end), that these would be much better solutions to some of the problems Chicago has faced in the past.

From what I can see, there is no current Class I money being used to fund this.  Is there even a sense that the railroads would use the line if it were built?

I wonder if this is just an effort to get a few links built with access to two or more major railroads?  With neutral access like that, the surrounding land would become prime for industrial development.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/16 12:32 by ts1457.

NS has already announced that they want NO PART of the bypass routing ...

The Kankakee Belt would give you 80% of what they propose, and most of it still has track.

TP&W would provide much of the same benefit, as well.

Posted from Android

kbmiflyer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> While I admire the determination and vision to
> build the first private belt line around Chicago
> in probably over 100 years, I am not sure I see
> where this makes money.  It feels like if CN
> could double track the old EJE (not easily done
> given the NIMBY opposition) along with a few other
> improvements (better connectivity and use of the
> IHB, better use of the NS Kankakee belt with some
> possible extensions at either end), that these
> would be much better solutions to some of the
> problems Chicago has faced in the past.
>
> From what I can see, there is no current Class I
> money being used to fund this.  Is there even a
> sense that the railroads would use the line if it
> were built?

​Exactly,  from living in the middle of this I can tell you it's opposed everywhere by the people they have to supposedly buy the land from.  Also is supposed to be 100% privately funded (not a chance), and cross countless roads, waterways, and interstates.  Much cheaper alternatives if they want to really do something about it. It would be in litigation past my lifetime...

My opinion is that the proposed bypass is unnecessary for the following reasons after the bad Chicago congestion 2-3 years ago:

Market / traffic reasons:
- Crude Oil.......volume is way down since price of crude has dropped so much; Lackawanna 484 could explain much better than I. Anyway, not likely to resume to those levels only 2 years ago.
- Coal from the West....also on the decline no matter who you blame. Any older Eastern power plant that converts to gas or other resource very unlikely to go back to coal. And most of the plants, even the big ones are older.
- Intermodal......now that the bigger Panama Canal is completed (even tho it still cannot accept the BIGGEST boxships being built) the railroads do not know and will have a hard time predicting for several years what the impact of the bigger canal locks will have or intermodal volumes thru Chicago.
- Grain & feeds.....Most is in unit trains and goes to SE destinations and volumes should remain constant unless there is a population explosion in the East.
-  Automotive.....The economy has improved over eight years or more and might not be able to maintain that much longer. Many folks have already bought newer cars, and car dealers are pushing owners of newer cars (like my 2014 Dodge Caravan) to trade them because newer used cars are in demand. Constant or lower volume.
- Mixed carload traffic.....big railroads don't seem to really care about it; only regionals and shortlines do, and of that which passes thru Chicago about 2/3 is switched at BRC, IHB or other yards; that is my guess.

Railroad infrastructure:
- Given the above, if essentially correct, then the completion of all of the Chicago area CREATE projects should really ease congestion and make a new bypass railroad around Chicago moot. The new Englewood overpass has eased NS congestion a lot from what I hear.
- The CREATE projects East of BRC's Clearing yard would be next.
- All of the three existing Chicago belt railroads are owned by one to all of the carriers entering the Chicago area and if trackage rights are not already in place they can be agreed upon by the railroads amongst themselves.
- The Staggers Act of 1980 makes the arrangements various railroads for trackage rights, rates and other agreements virtually free of Governmental regulation if they want to do so. And in a place like Chicago. with all it's operational complexities, cooperation should be forthcoming.
- CP could improve it's desired straight-forward connection to BRC at Cragin by offering to buy at a good price what appears to be a normal small business property to build a new wye connection. It requires crossing all three mainline tracks between Tower A5 and Craigin but the crossovers are already there!
- The ex-EJE could possibly be re-doubled track, but not in all areas, like West Chicago, a neat and busy junction with UP's ex-CNW triple track mainline. and CN could grant trackage rights to others, which it has done in some cases.
- The Kankakee Belt was used by the NYC then PC to connect thru trains to ATSF and RI years ago, and it worked, and still does but capacity is only about two trains per day in each direction. In the CR years the East part was abandoned because the goal then was to preserve Conrail's existence in years of traffic decline and the growth of 20-40 years later was unpredictable. Now it connects to the 'Chicago Line' of NS at a congested point; but I agree, it is certainly still viable.

i'm invested in all RR stocks, but if the Great lakes Basin Rwy were an IPO, I would not invest right now give the traffic uncertainties of the future and maybe the political ones as well. And all politics affects railroads.