Tracks between highway lanes

[PaulM]

In the early 80's they tore the tracks out of this stretch (really t thinking ahead) only to put them back in the the late 90's for the Gold line.

Are you talking about the SWC's route in the middle of the Foothills Freeway; and are you sure it was early 80's. I traveled that frequently from Pasadena to STL, changing in KCY while on business, for an airline manufacturer no less, from 1986 to 1989. I thought a steak diner and a night cap in the lounge overlook the LA basin at dusk was one classiest things going.

 

[leemell]

In the early 80's they tore the tracks out of this stretch (really t thinking ahead) only to put them back in the the late 90's for the Gold line.

Are you talking about the SWC's route in the middle of the Foothills Freeway; and are you sure it was early 80's. I traveled that frequently from Pasadena to STL, changing in KCY while on business, for an airline manufacturer no less, from 1986 to 1989. I thought a steak diner and a night cap in the lounge overlook the LA basin at dusk was one classiest things going.

You are right, bad memory. They tore the tracks out in the early 90's and rebuilt them about 10 years later.

 

[JayPea]

The UP line in northern Oregon, along the Columbia River (the old route of the Pioneer) runs in the median of I-84 just west of The Dalles. Here, when old HHighway 30 was expanded to 4 lanes and became I-80N and later renamed I-84, there was no place to squeeze 4 lanes between the tracks and the river so the new lanes were built on the other side of the tracks from the old lanes.

 

[cirdan]

I'm on Cascades 506, traveling on the stretch of track just south of Kelso, Washington, where the train is in between the northbound and southbound lanes of I-5. I assume that this happens because the highway was widened at some point, after the tracks were already there.

I know I've seen similar configurations elsewhere, but can't remember where. Chicago, maybe? Any other ideas?

New Mexico Rai Runner. That stretch of line was even built after the highway, so it wasn't a case of the highway being fitted around the railroad but vice.versa.

At least one of the stations is also in the middle of the highway.

 

[transit54]

DART (Dallas) runs down the median of a highway on at least one of their light rail lines, IIRC. And while this is further pushing the boundaries of the definition, the JFK Airtrain in NYC runs on an overhead line that is in the middle of the Van Wyck Expressway.

 

[fairviewroad]

The UP line in northern Oregon, along the Columbia River (the old route of the Pioneer) runs in the median of I-84 just west of The Dalles. Here, when old HHighway 30 was expanded to 4 lanes and became I-80N and later renamed I-84, there was no place to squeeze 4 lanes between the tracks and the river so the new lanes were built on the other side of the tracks from the old lanes.

It's just east (not west) of The Dalles, but good example nonetheless. It would have been cool to be driving down I-84 and see The Pioneer along side.

Google Maps has a nice shot of a freight train on this section of the tracks:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=The+Dalles,+OR&hl=en&ll=45.638632,-121.088541&spn=0.011882,0.01929&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.489258,79.013672&oq=the+dall&hnear=The+Dalles,+Wasco,+Oregon&t=k&z=16

 

[JayPea]

You're right, it is just east of The Dalles. I'm usually not that geographically challenged :lol: One of those brain cramps at work!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Could anybody post some pictures of the Gold Line route? Also, any other pics to make this thread more interesting?

 

[johnny.menhennet]

I have a couple of things to say.

First, while the Pacific Surfliner runs in the median of the 5, it is for barely more than a mile south of Stuart Mesa (that is the name of the yard where Metrolink and Coaster store many of their trains). The rest of it has an arrow straight line and can get really fast. I think the speed limit may be 90, but I'm not sure. Back when I was six, my grandma (the same one I go to visit) used 10-rides and came down every Friday afternoon and left every Sunday evening. Sometimes, she would come down a day early and take us back up with her to spend the weekend in LA. She got to know many of the conductors very well, and one specifically named Franklin, who hasn't worked for Amtrak in a while, once brought all four of us (me, brother, sister, grandma) into the cab car just to show us what it was like. He knew how much I was into trains, even at that age, and we met the engineer. It was one of the coolest experiences. We were travelling south through Pendleton, before the 5 crosses to the west side of the tracks. The engineer let us honk the horn, and I remember seeing the speed gauge hit 93 at one point (don't worry, I promise he didn't let us control the train ) Right before we left, a crow smacked the window that the engineer sees through.

On the Pasadena tracks, they were torn up in the early 90's. They were restored as part of the fully-double-tracked Gold Line in the early 2000's to Sierra Madre (really in Pasadena, not yet Sierra Madre, but names after the street). They are currently working on extending the Gold Line to Azusa further down the San Gabriel Valley, with all of the new track staying in the median of the 210. This will be hard, since the previous right of way does not extend that far, but wen I was on the 210 a few months ago, I saw crews at work already grading.

Here is a link to the exact spot where the tracks used to exit from the 210, basically right next to Santa Anita:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=34.148008,-118.038939&spn=0.00356,0.005284&t=h&z=18

For Swadian, here is a pic of the tunnel the trains enter to get into the median of the freeway in downtown Pasadena:

This is the old train station that the Southwest Chief stopped at before going via Fullerton:

Last, here is the Gold Line running through the median of the 210 as it does today. Notice the VERY LIGHT (yes, VERY LIGHT, honestly no sarcasm involved, it's a sucky freeway) traffic:

Cirdan was right that at least one station is in the median of the 25 on the Rail Runner system. It is the Cerrillos Rd. station on the very south side of Santa Fe, the first station after the tracks split from the historical Glorieta/Raton Pass route.