Passenger Trains > New book about the NEC

Bloomberg had a little article and a Q&A with the author about a new book on the Northeast Corridor that was released this month.  The author David Alff is an English professor at the State University of New York - Buffalo and the book is published by The University of Chicago Press.  The article and Q&A were interesting, I will have to try and snag a copy of the book, looks like I can get it as an eBook via an interlibrary loan.  The one quote from Alff in the article that I liked the best was "We need to be realistic that these are the tracks that we have. This is where they run — unless we want to displace thousands of people to create an entirely new and faster line. We should instead focus on incremental improvements."  I wish that had been the approach for CalHSR.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-12/how-the-northeast-corridor-became-amtrak-s-essential-rail-line?srnd=homepage-americas (possible paywall)

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/N/bo212886389.html - publishers site

Nathan

atsf121 Wrote in part:
-------------------------------------------------------
>.  The one quote from Alff in the article
> that I liked the best was "We need to be realistic
> that these are the tracks that we have. This is
> where they run — unless we want to displace
> thousands of people to create an entirely new and
> faster line. We should instead focus on
> incremental improvements."  I wish that had been
> the approach for CalHSR.
>
Doesn't always have to be incremental.  CaHSR could have built its new and faster line along I5 and not have displaced anyone.  OK maybe a few gas stations:-)

WP17

atsf121 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bloomberg had a little article and a Q&A with the
> author about a new book on the Northeast Corridor
> that was released this month.  The author David
> Alff is an English professor at the State
> University of New York - Buffalo and the book is
> published by The University of Chicago Press.
>  The article and Q&A were interesting, I will
> have to try and snag a copy of the book, looks
> like I can get it as an eBook via an interlibrary
> loan.  The one quote from Alff in the article
> that I liked the best was "We need to be realistic
> that these are the tracks that we have. This is
> where they run — unless we want to displace
> thousands of people to create an entirely new and
> faster line. We should instead focus on
> incremental improvements."  I wish that had been
> the approach for CalHSR.
>
> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-12
> /how-the-northeast-corridor-became-amtrak-s-essent
> ial-rail-line?srnd=homepage-americas (possible
> paywall)
>
> https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/
> N/bo212886389.html - publishers site
>
> Nathan

that’s apples and oranges. The northeast corridor has been a fast railroad for 100 years or more. There is no comparable route in California that could’ve been upgraded to give decent running times from Los Angeles to the Bay Area. California has those nasty things called mountains. Which results in a hilly, curvy railroad, unable to make good running time. The northeast corridor is flat as a table top and pretty straight allowing high speeds.

Posted from iPhone

alan2955 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> The northeast corridor is flat as a table top and pretty straight allowing high speeds.

Except for a few places (Elizabeth, Philly, Wilmington, Baltimore), the NEC is "pretty straight" between DC and NY, not so much between NY and Boston, especially east of New Haven.

atsf121 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bloomberg had a little article and a Q&A with the
> author about a new book on the Northeast Corridor
> Nathan

You might've mentioned the title of the book, to wit: "Northeast Corridor: The Trains, The People, The History, The Region".

It's cheap enough ($27.75 at Ron's Books), but I don't think I'll be in any rush to buy a book written by a SUNY English professor.
/Ted



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/24 09:32 by WM_1109.

WP17 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> atsf121 Wrote in part:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >.  The one quote from Alff in the article
> > that I liked the best was "We need to be
> realistic
> > that these are the tracks that we have. This is
> > where they run — unless we want to displace
> > thousands of people to create an entirely new
> and
> > faster line. We should instead focus on
> > incremental improvements."  I wish that had
> been
> > the approach for CalHSR.
> >
> Doesn't always have to be incremental.  CaHSR
> could have built its new and faster line along I5
> and not have displaced anyone.  OK maybe a few
> gas stations:-)
>
> WP17

Fair point!  I do think that would have been the much easier approach, but it would have missed a huge block of potential ridership on the east side of the Central Valley.  As for incremental, I probably should have clarified what I meant:
1 - build a new route from Bakersfield to Lancaster/Palmdale to close the gap
2 - upgrade Lancaster/Palmdale to LA Union Station with faster alignments, electrification, grade separations, etc in stages
3 - upgrade San Jose to San Francisco along the same lines
4 - connect San Jose to the Central Valley
5 - built out the Central Valley

alan2955 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> atsf121 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Bloomberg had a little article and a Q&A with
> the
> > author about a new book on the Northeast
> Corridor
> > that was released this month.  The author
> David
> > Alff is an English professor at the State
> > University of New York - Buffalo and the book
> is
> > published by The University of Chicago Press.
> >  The article and Q&A were interesting, I will
> > have to try and snag a copy of the book, looks
> > like I can get it as an eBook via an
> interlibrary
> > loan.  The one quote from Alff in the article
> > that I liked the best was "We need to be
> realistic
> > that these are the tracks that we have. This is
> > where they run — unless we want to displace
> > thousands of people to create an entirely new
> and
> > faster line. We should instead focus on
> > incremental improvements."  I wish that had
> been
> > the approach for CalHSR.
> >
> >
> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-12
>
> >
> /how-the-northeast-corridor-became-amtrak-s-essent
>
> > ial-rail-line?srnd=homepage-americas (possible
> > paywall)
> >
> >
> https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/
>
> > N/bo212886389.html - publishers site
> >
> > Nathan
>
> that’s apples and oranges. The northeast
> corridor has been a fast railroad for 100 years or
> more. There is no comparable route in California
> that could’ve been upgraded to give decent
> running times from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.
> California has those nasty things called
> mountains. Which results in a hilly, curvy
> railroad, unable to make good running time. The
> northeast corridor is flat as a table top and
> pretty straight allowing high speeds.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Having grown up in California and chased and ridden trains through a large part of it, the mountains are a factor, but to your point, if done correctly, would make a huge difference in overall running times if that was fixed first (the first increment).  Once that part was done, the Central Valley is as flat as it comes.  And the LA or SF sections would have challenges, but again, incremental upgrades would be doable.

Nathan

Nathan

WM_1109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> atsf121 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Bloomberg had a little article and a Q&A with
> the
> > author about a new book on the Northeast
> Corridor
> > Nathan
>
> You might've mentioned the title of the book, to
> wit: "Northeast Corridor: The Trains, The People,
> The History, The Region".
>
> It's cheap enough ($27.75 at Ron's Books), but I
> don't think I'll be in any rush to buy a book
> written by a SUNY English professor.
> /Ted

Sorry Ted, figured the link was good enough for those interested.

Nathan

atsf121 Wrote:
> Sorry Ted, figured the link was good enough for
> those interested.
> Nathan

Understood, Nathan. But if someone wants to find your posting...say two months from now, they can't search for a link, but they can search for the title. I only commented because your post is, in fact, valuable, as the linked interview is a worthwhile read before one purchases the book.
/Ted

Found another really good quote in the interview with the author:

"But I think the railroad had some structural disadvantages that other forms of transportation didn’t face. For instance, we don’t expect airline carriers to create their own airports or run traffic control, but we did ask that of railroads. Similarly, buses only pay a small share of the cost of laying highway infrastructure. We put railroads at a disadvantage to these other public carriers."