Rail roads and their tracks.

[CobyRupert]

Demand for self-driving cars may take a hit if commuters don't need to go to the office anymore.

So would the demand for each household to have a 2nd,or 3rd car; one (or two) for each member like we had pre-2020. Thus, on the occasional day that the 2nd person needs a car, they could just call a (24 hour) automated self driving car service.

 

[bcp]

Rain in BC Canada washed out some lines. This looks like pretty light gauge and not ribbon rail.

I think that is Southern Railway of British Columbia, a local line, not CN or CP.

Bruce

 

[RoyJackson]

So would the demand for each household to have a 2nd,or 3rd car; one (or two) for each member like we had pre-2020. Thus, on the occasional day that the 2nd person needs a car, they could just call a (24 hour) automated self driving car service.

Demand for self-driving cars may take a hit if commuters don't need to go to the office anymore.

Don't really see that many people working from home...most jobs require employees on site
Even though I'm working from home, until my wife can get around on her own, it's not going to be a permanent situation. Even in my situation, I need to be on-site at least one day a week

 

[RobS]

Sorta related and proud parent brag buried within:

Our younger son graduated from UofM (Go Blue) in the spring. Finally landed a good job. He'll be relocating to Dallas and is immediately disappointed in the public transportation options. He's a car guy (we just finished watching the F1 race) but has no interest in a daily commute by car. He'll start full time in the office but may be able to work "hybrid" after a few months. I'm quite envious as I too love cars but would also love to not need to own one.

 

[MossRoad]

We like to have a pair and a spare when it comes to cars. Especially when the kids were still living here. Now, with the wife working from home mostly, we would be fine with just two. And seriously, if push came to shove, we could do one car, as our work hours are similar and we work about 1.5 miles apart. She could drop me off at work and then drive to her work. I could get off work and walk to her work before she got done.

Heck, we did just that for about 25 years when we both worked downtown. We'd drive the kids to school and daycare, I'd drop her off at work, park the car in the garage that was right between our employers, and walk to work. We'd either walk or drive to lunch every day. And we'd do reverse order on the way home. 25 years! Man I miss that.

Anyhow, I wonder how this will effect the push for the South Shore to double track? If ridership starts dropping, who knows. My guess is they'll do it anyway.

 

[RobS]

Hey, speaking of South Shore, and getting this back on track...

Are they still talking about a re-route and/or station location change in South Bend? Plus the double track. Plus the west lake corridor extension. A lot going on!

 

[MossRoad]

Hey, speaking of South Shore, and getting this back on track...

Are they still talking about a re-route and/or station location change in South Bend? Plus the double track. Plus the west lake corridor extension. A lot going on!

As far as I know, the west lake corridor extension down towards Munster has started.

The double tracking over in other counties is still a go.

They have not made a decision on the best location for the South Bend station re-location. Local politicians are still pushing for moving it from the east side of the airport to the west side, despite their own economic impact report that they commissioned saying the best return on investment would be to put it downtown at Union Station. Even if that's a go, they're still pushing for a rail freight terminal at the west side of the airport, and hey, if the track's already there, we might as well put the passenger terminal there instead of downtown.

For some reason, they still think the South Bend airport is going to become an international air freight hub. Their master plan shows expanding the runway to the west. That would mean relocating the bypass, or burying it.

I can't see Chicago allowing South Bend to take business from them. Or Indy. Or Detroit. Or Cleveland.

In reality, who's going to use the most expensive and fastest form of freight shipping (air) to fly stuff to South Bend to put it onto the slowest form of freight shipping (rail) to get it into Chicago??? Rail shipping is only cost-effective for bulk materials. Bulk materials don't get shipped by air.

I don't know if you recall the South Shore tracks used to go up along the east side of Bendix Dr. and terminated 1/4 mile south of Lathrop? They crossed to the west to serve a couple factories just past Voorde Dr. Sometime in the 70's, they extended the tracks to the north, across Lathrop, then west across Bendix into the newly built Airport Industrial Park, and north all the way to old Cleveland Rd. 'They' said businesses were clamoring to be close to the airport, and were clamoring for rail service. Well, the tracks sat there until about 8-9 years ago, and they ripped them out. Not one railcar ever went in or out of that industrial park. Not one. So about 40 years of nothing. It kinda proves a point. Rail to small factories is not needed. It's only cost effective for bulk shipping. Trucks can handle the lower volumes.

 

[the old grind]

With a friend's 32' sailboat berthed at Monroe Harbor Marina and pricey parking ~a block from Grant park we plotted to pick up a commuter train in MI vs drive through the perpetual road work in the bottle-neck going around the lake. Dan sold the boat & we never tried it.

 

[LouNY]

As far as I know, the west lake corridor extension down towards Munster has started.

The double tracking over in other counties is still a go.

They have not made a decision on the best location for the South Bend station re-location. Local politicians are still pushing for moving it from the east side of the airport to the west side, despite their own economic impact report that they commissioned saying the best return on investment would be to put it downtown at Union Station. Even if that's a go, they're still pushing for a rail freight terminal at the west side of the airport, and hey, if the track's already there, we might as well put the passenger terminal there instead of downtown.

For some reason, they still think the South Bend airport is going to become an international air freight hub. Their master plan shows expanding the runway to the west. That would mean relocating the bypass, or burying it.

I can't see Chicago allowing South Bend to take business from them. Or Indy. Or Detroit. Or Cleveland.

In reality, who's going to use the most expensive and fastest form of freight shipping (air) to fly stuff to South Bend to put it onto the slowest form of freight shipping (rail) to get it into Chicago??? Rail shipping is only cost-effective for bulk materials. Bulk materials don't get shipped by air.

I don't know if you recall the South Shore tracks used to go up along the east side of Bendix Dr. and terminated 1/4 mile south of Lathrop? They crossed to the west to serve a couple factories just past Voorde Dr. Sometime in the 70's, they extended the tracks to the north, across Lathrop, then west across Bendix into the newly built Airport Industrial Park, and north all the way to old Cleveland Rd. 'They' said businesses were clamoring to be close to the airport, and were clamoring for rail service. Well, the tracks sat there until about 8-9 years ago, and they ripped them out. Not one railcar ever went in or out of that industrial park. Not one. So about 40 years of nothing. It kinda proves a point. Rail to small factories is not needed. It's only cost effective for bulk shipping. Trucks can handle the lower volumes.

I believe that much of the lack of business for rail is due to the rail roads themselves. I know a couple of small business's 2 in particular that have sidings at their locations but still get much of the bulk shipping done by truck rather then rail. Even when buying bulk products that would fill 2 -4 cars trucks are often prefered because the rail road will not provide a schedule or even a reasonable estimate of shipping time. When fertilizer sits for 3 months in some frieght yard instead of being delivered is it any wonder that trucks are used and cost more. That has been an issue for many years. Many of the old sidings sit unused because the RR doesn't care to provide decent service.

 

[5030]

+ 1 on that Lou. One of my hunting buddies owns the local propane dealership (no I don't get a discount other than dryer gas which is tax exempt) and he has a rather large tank (bottle) farm in Adrian, Michigan with a siding. He usually fills them via truck because the rail is very inconsistent with deliveries and interestingly, if the deliver rail bottles, they have to be emptied in a very short time span or the rail charges detention (think it's called on them) and he told me this year, trucking was actually less than rail. If I remember correctly, he has 25 10,000 gallon bottles there. All fenced and key carded too.