Eastern Railroad Discussion > Baltimore update

From CSXT News 07/23/01:

"All cars are now out of the tunnel in Baltimore. Inspection to begin soon. 7:45 am."

Also, hi world! I'm new on TO, although been lurking without a subscription for quite a few months.

-Dave
http://davehonan.50megs.com/

Any idea when the tunnel will be re-opened? I would imagine that new track and ties need to be laid. A few more days?

The Selkirk D&C office is being treated like a starved mushroom with regards to the tunnel, but a VERY thorough inspection will have to be performed before it can be reopened. Of course, if the NIMBYs decide to get involved...

Theoretically speaking, if the tunnel can't reopen due to whatever issues... what options will CSX have for permanently rerouting traffic?

-Dave

>
> Theoretically speaking, if the tunnel can't reopen due to
> whatever issues... what options will CSX have for permanently
> rerouting traffic?
>
> -Dave

Congress needs to force Amtrak to grant CSX and NS rights on the NEC
at a reasonable price thus enabling them to use the B&P Tunnels.

Would that force a radical scheduling change for CSX? I'm sure Amtrak would not want CSX trains on the NEC during the daily rushes...Roadrat

What Congress really needs to do is to provide the money for the 4-track tunnel that would replace both Howard Street and B&P Tunnels. (Apparently PRR purchased the easement a long time ago.) A tunnel like that would be large enough for passenger and freight. There's very little chance of that: it would be incredibly expensive. The other thing is that the companies involved would still hesitate to mix that much passenger and freight on the NEC. Admittedly, the accident at Chase happened a long time ago, but it still looms large with insurance rates, etc.

BTW: Welcome to TO, Dave.

twinbrook wrote:

> BTW: Welcome to TO, Dave.

Thanks!! Great to be able to be part of such a great community.
-Dave
http://davehonan.50megs.com/

The situation in the Baltimore tunnel impresses upon me how little I know about the tunnels in Baltimore. Could someone point me to a source on the web that would let me learn more about Amtrak's and CSX's (and ??) tunnels in and routes through the Baltimore area? Many thanks !

js

The CSX Howard Street tunnel runs north and south directly beneath Howard Street in the downtown area. There is a lot of urban infrastructure over the tunnel. The NEC tunnels, three of them, are north and west of downtown and are located in residential and industrial sections. I'd like to know just exactly where this proposed four track tunnel would be.

It wouldn't be a four-track tunnel. In the 1930s, PRR obtained easements for a tunnel on a new alignment parallel to the B&P tunnel. The idea was to do exactly what was done with the Union Tunnel north (east) of Baltimore station: build a new two-track tunnel and single-track the old one. I guess PRR ran out of money before that could be done.

However, the easement passed into Conrail's hands, and then to Amtrak when the NEC was conveyed by CR. So Amtrak owns the necessary easements to build a new two-track tunnel. The old B&P tunnel would be single-tracked, and presumably both freight and passenger trains would use both structures. This is actually in Amtrak's "2010 Plan", a looseleaf planning document covering needed investments in the NEC (and identifying financial responsibility for each).

This would certainly ease the problem, but it would also be very nice to have a new CSX route through Baltimore. A tunnel between Penn Mary Yard and Curtis Bay has been discussed. Will this happen? Maybe now that a derailment has threatened to either burn down or suffocate downtown Baltimore, someone might take another look.