will be on July 31st when the dinner train will take it's last run! A very sad day indeed. I've been watching trains come thru Renton for about 25 years now and I still can't believe they want to turn it into a "bike" path!:angry: Even if it ends up a light rail line, it still won't be the same.:no: From Northern Pacific and Milwaukee Road, to BN and BNSF, that's alot of heritage!
And somewhere in the future, your taxes will skyrocket, to replace this much needed rail link. I can't believe the greenies there, who screech, wail and moan through every day, can't see this huge mistake. First the line to Issaquah is gone, and now this loop is broken. You're aboard a ship of fools. mg::sad: Boxcab E50
I don't oppose all bike trails but in my area there are enough and yet the bikers want more -- without contributing funds. We non-bikers must pay more taxes. The remaining pieces of the former Milwaukee Road through Marion, Iowa, have been removed. Proposed for the roadbed is (are you ready?) another bike trail.
I went on the Dinner Train in 2002 and 2006. The difference was dramatic. The Dinner train in 2002 was a smooth ride. The Dinner train in 2006 rode like it was constanly going over a washboard. My wife had some back problems at the time due to a car accident, and the ride in the dome car really aggravated her back. My friend and his wife went on it last weekend, and when I asked him how it was, the first thing he said was "rough." I don't want to see this line go away either, but it is in bad shape. To make a commuter or light rail line out of it would probably take either a complete tearing up or almost complete tearing up. I'm curious as to how Boeing is going to get planes in to Renton. FYI, there was a rumor for a while that has since disappeared that the Dinner Train was going to run from Snohomish to Woodinville. Also, BNSF sort of "traded" this land to the county, in exchange for "help"(probably land and money) to build a new, and more than likely huge, intermodal facility in King County. Site selection isn't completed yet.
Roughening of the track is no surprise. Once they began consideration of parting with that line, they also started (SOP), deferred maintenance. :sad: Boxcab E50
I worked the line out to boeing a couple weeks ago, granted I was only on a short section of it but it was some pretty rough track, the rail was not to bad but I doubt there has been a major tie replacement on the line in the last 25 years. I also heard at work that the state does not want to pay for Stampedee this year, could that affect the line? Kevin
Kevin- What you worked, you mean Black River through downtown Renton? If so, how'd you like the street running? Rough, as it's not ex-NP. But former Pacific Coast RR. Which since the Milw left, BN/BNSF has put virtually nothing into it. The old NP begins near the park at Coulon Beach. Boxcab E50
I worked the Maltby Turn but we only went as far as Boeing. The street running was cool and while we were waiting for the dinner train to depart (they had a lunch special) I climbed up in there F-unit. From what I have been told by the older guys who worked for BN is that the SF side does not like to put any money into much besides the main lines and the branch's that have survived are just getting worse and worse. Kevin
The Santa Fe did always seem to be about the mainline. No rail-to-trails project around here, of course, there don't seem to be as many rabid "enviro-nuts" down here, and the environmentalists that there are here, are focused on other things; the rail lines through Austin are heavily trafficked mains.
