where would I go to lobby for more detroit-chicago service?

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There is talks in the government about getting a train up and running to connect the southern part of the LP to the northern part. My ex-boss has a cabin up there and keeps tabs on the process, it's still in the 'just talking about it' phase. But maybe some year...

The biggest issue for getting more trains to run between Michigan & CHI, is not actually in Michigan. It's the short section where they run in Indiana. The line Amtrak currently uses is basically at capacity right now. There are plans to ease the capacity issues down there; but until that's done your not going to see really much in the way of expanded service.

peter

Edit/PS: just had a thought, why can't Amtrak negotiate to use the South Shore line in Indiana? That line is used a lot less & is kept up to a good standard for passenger service. It would probably even be easier to implement some high-speed services on it, as I'm sure NICTD would be more favorable to chipping in then NS. Amtrak services could transfer over just after the Michigan City station, and then come back over to the NS just before the Hammond stop. Not to mention the potential to add additional stops along the way using NICTD stations (no need to build infrastructure.)

peter
 
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CHamilton said:
tim54449 said:
SarahZ said:
But... how? There's no way to cross the Straits. They'd have to have a bus bridge between Mackinac City and St. Ignace.
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Wisconsin.
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Also train ferries.
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Yes, this is true, Charlie. The Mackinac Bridge did not exist during the time my mom was a young girl. She was born in 1934. However, I do believe she told me they rode the train from Holland, MI to Chicago and north to the U.P. of Michigan. She also remembers one of their trips, the train got stuck due to a snow drift, very similar to the one on the Pere Marquette a few days ago (that's why she brought the story up again, we were talking about the PM and it's snow drift issue).
 
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Wisconsin makes sense. I just thought you meant they went up north via the LP and then used a train ferry or something, as Charlie mentioned. :)
 
PerRock said:
The biggest issue for getting more trains to run between Michigan & CHI, is not actually in Michigan. It's the short section where they run in Indiana. The line Amtrak currently uses is basically at capacity right now. There are plans to ease the capacity issues down there; but until that's done your not going to see really much in the way of expanded service.

peter
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I've also mentioned this on other threads.....an A/C on the Pere Marquette informed me that a second train will be added on that line in conjunction with the opening of the new Intermodal station in Grand Rapids, which at the time I last talked to him in November, was slated for May.....now I hear from someone on another thread, that the open date for Amtrak usage has been pushed back to at least July, because CSX is dragging their feet (surprise! surprise!). The station will probably still open in May for bus service, and the additional train may still start running this spring, to the existing station. We'll see.
 
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tim54449 said:
Green Maned Lion said:
Or they could run a line over the mackinac bridge, which would probably be very simple.
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Not sure how they'd manage that....unless you close one lane of traffic in each direction and rail up the middle separating the two lanes.
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And let's not forget the interior lanes are a grate, not concrete. It's designed to let the wind through.

800px-Mackinac_Bridge.JPG


Also, considering how often the bridge is closed due to high winds, I can't imagine this would make for a reliable train route.
 
P.S. I love driving on the grate. The wind shifting my car around freaks passengers out, especially when I tell them to look down. ;) (Due to the speed, it looks like there's nothing underneath you.)
 
I'd feel invaded by a train running on the bridge as well. I love the Mackinac, the only suspension bridge I've ever been on. It always seems like you're in a whole different world once you get to the other side in St. Ignace. The air seems cleaner and crisper. I went over it last September for about the sixth time or so, and just like trains (for me) the novelty never ends. Of course, waiting for us on the other side.....

pastie.jpg

pasties.jpg
 
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I agree about entering another world, though. I always loved the scenery that greeted me when I came off the bridge and exited onto U.S. 2. That's when I knew I was "home".

i-075_nb_exit_344a_02.jpg
 
SarahZ said:
Mmm... pasties.

(Note to others: it's pronounced PAST-ee, with a short "a")

They are so delicious. There's a store in Richland that sells authentic pasties if you're ever out this way. It's right on M-89.

https://www.facebook.com/UpNorthSandwichPastyCo
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No way! My mom has been looking for a place. She makes her own, however, and made a batch when I was there for Christmas. I believe she has two left and could be saving them for me when I'm in Holland next week. She bought one at a farmer's market in Downtown Holland, and said it wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. I'll have to plan a day trip for her and her best friend and we'll have to check it out in a few months, after I'm settled in Holland.

There are no good pasties here in Wisconsin, by the way, unless you go up toward the Michigan border. I guess since there aren't many mineral mines in this part of the state, the tradition hasn't hit here. They do, however, have frozen ones in our grocery store. I'd give them a C-, D+ as my standards are high. Muldoon's pasties were okay....but not as good as what we had in 2012 at my mom's cousin. A nearby shrine in Baraga makes them to order.

Easiest of all, I should get my mom to teach me how to make them.
 
Of course, I hijacked the thread to mention some of my favorite food......or did I hijack it? Maybe it fits in as a motivator to get Amtrak trains to the Upper Peninsula. And yes, my mom feels the same way, once she's on US-2 in St. Ignace and headed west, she's approaching "home". I guess people cannot understand what we are talking about until they experience it,
 
tim54449 said:
There are no good pasties here in Wisconsin, by the way, unless you go up toward the Michigan border. I guess since there aren't many mineral mines in this part of the state, the tradition hasn't hit here. They do, however, have frozen ones in our grocery store. I'd give them a C-, D+ as my standards are high. Muldoon's pasties were okay....but not as good as what we had in 2012 at my mom's cousin. A nearby shrine in Baraga makes them to order.

Easiest of all, I should get my mom to teach me how to make them.
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Perish the thought. Have you never been to Mineral Point? Great pasties down, there, especially if you can get the ones the Methodist church ladies make for bake sales.
 
Ispolkom said:
tim54449 said:
There are no good pasties here in Wisconsin, by the way, unless you go up toward the Michigan border. I guess since there aren't many mineral mines in this part of the state, the tradition hasn't hit here. They do, however, have frozen ones in our grocery store. I'd give them a C-, D+ as my standards are high. Muldoon's pasties were okay....but not as good as what we had in 2012 at my mom's cousin. A nearby shrine in Baraga makes them to order.

Easiest of all, I should get my mom to teach me how to make them.
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Perish the thought. Have you never been to Mineral Point? Great pasties down, there, especially if you can get the ones the Methodist church ladies make for bake sales.
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I had never heard of it and had to look it up on a map. I'm pretty surprised they have them down that far south and west. The only place I've seen them in Wisconsin was when I went up to the Apostle Islands on that same trip in 2012 and sadly the lady who made them was off for a few days. That was on the south side of Bayfield, along WI-13. I guess I wish I'd heard of Mineral Point at an earlier time....it would have made a good day trip for me to check that out.
 
SarahZ said:
Mmm... pasties.

(Note to others: it's pronounced PAST-ee, with a short "a")

They are so delicious. There's a store in Richland that sells authentic pasties if you're ever out this way. It's right on M-89.

https://www.facebook.com/UpNorthSandwichPastyCo
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Talking on the other thread again about pasties, made me want to look at the link. The page is gone. Then I google searched the place, and found a link, but when I accessed it, it rerouted me to a page saying the domain was for sale. Could it be that they closed down? :( I'm so hungry for one, and luckily my mom has told me she still has two from her batch she made for us back around Thanksgiving.....we'll have them next week when I'm there.
 
Yes, strange indeed....I tried again got the facebook page to come up, but they have no links to a webpage on it. I'll have to show my mom when I am out there, as she does not do facebook. The place should not be difficult for us to find as we've been down that way many times.
 
SarahZ said:
I would love to have a train that not only went up to GR, but Traverse City as well. It would be great for tourism. :)
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When I visited Grand Rapids and Lansing this winter, the sheer number of people who were discussing visiting Traverse City was *far* higher then I would have imagined had I not seen it for myself. On paper, Traverse City doesn't look like a sensible passenger railroad route, but in practice it probably is.
 

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