Recent content by leccy

As a medium term project I'd love to see the Pittsburgh to Columbus line rehabbed. There is 99% of a route. Unfortunately it is shortline/regional railroad standard and would need a fair bit of work to bring it up to modern passengers standard.

What I have read from a few years ago is that the CSX route through Youngstown and Akron (the New Castle subdivision) is an incredibly busy freight line and there would be no capacity to run passenger trains. Even if they did find a slot the reliability would be horrendous. Personally, I would...

These ideas are not new. I suspect AMTRAK is floating them to see if the states will bite. Lobby groups are pushing hard for political support. I guess time will tell. (edited to add) I wonder if there is even track capacity to add all these services, especially into and out of Cleveland.

Broadening the question a bit, is there any real difference between host railroads in general? Do some play more hard ball than others?

There was supposed to be a curve built between the AA railroad and the AMTRAK line at Ann Arbor for a Grand Rapids - Detroit service. Anyone know the status of that?

The Lake Short Ltd is only once a day - in each direction. Would there be any potential to run it round the Belt Line so it can go through Exchange?

Ignoring for the moment the "managerial and political obstacles" are there any real infrastructure problems remaining (east of NOL) ? Are there any big stretches with permanent speed restrictions or weight limits? Any stretches of the line that are at capacity and need more passing loops etc? Or...