McDonnell proposes passenger rail plan to Roanoke! (Richmond, Lynchburg: 2013, theater)

[roanoker 4]

There is a very nice, safe downtown parking garage next to Hotel Roanoke which would be ideal for those driving to town to catch a train. I don't know why the old train station, visitor center can't be used initially for the train but I have heard yet another train station is in the works downtown, go figure! The railroad buffs can't get enough of building train stations, even miniature ones! The downtown transit center is an easy walk
over the bridge from the train station where public bus can be arranged, also cabs are common. The free trolley is operated by Carilion Hospitals so they say where it goes, right now it goes from downtown to the Hospital/VT Medical Center and back downtown all day. It connects the Jefferson Street corridor. Since the streetcar didn't get built, the trolley is the next best thing. If anyone has been to New Orleans, there is a
streetcar which just goes up and down the waterfront taking tourists, etc and to the museums, etc. I have
noticed there is a perfect train track which connects the Hospital area with downtown with options for people to get on/off and access to downtown streets. I believe Norfolk Southern owns this track and is not interested in allowing an inner city type of light rail. Eventually I feel with more people visiting downtown a new travel option will be realized.

[Joe the Photog]

As an outsider to Roanoke, but one who loves the city and, admittedly, is an aforementioned "train buff," I find it a bit odd that Roanoke has no passenger train service. The old station (now visitors center) had the old train timetable from Mr. Link's photograh and in it's hey day, there were passenger trains in and out of Roanoke.


Roanoke, Virginia Passenger Station by Joseph C. Hinson Photography, on Flickr

Roanoke has also done well in preserving it's rich railroad heritage that it would be interesting to say the least to see passenger service return. The politics of this subject bores me to tears, so I won't go there. But I agree with others that the nation as a whole needs to look seriously at other modes of transportation and get out of the car. For example, I live in Columbia. If I wanted to even think about heading north on a train to either DC or New York (though I'd probably choose Philadelphia) I'd have to be at the Columbia Amtrak station in the middle of the nighta and hope the north bound Silver Star was running on time. (Though tpypically it's the south bound that runs late.)

A trip on Amtrak from Columbia (CLB) to Richmond (RVR) for me, my wife adn two kids under 15 would be 372 dollars and take 8 and a half hours. If I drove there, I could get there quicker (if I didn't take the scenic route and didn't venture too far off I-95, which I probably would) and for much less money. Again, with out taking any side trips off 95, I could fill up in Columbia and then fill up again in Richmond for less than a hundred backs total.

Point being that train travel isn't going to work for most when it's cheaper to take the car.

[sregorat3]

Originally Posted by Joe the Photog

As an outsider to Roanoke, but one who loves the city and, admittedly, is an aforementioned "train buff," I find it a bit odd that Roanoke has no passenger train service. The old station (now visitors center) had the old train timetable from Mr. Link's photograh and in it's hey day, there were passenger trains in and out of Roanoke.


Roanoke, Virginia Passenger Station by Joseph C. Hinson Photography, on Flickr

Roanoke has also done well in preserving it's rich railroad heritage that it would be interesting to say the least to see passenger service return. The politics of this subject bores me to tears, so I won't go there. But I agree with others that the nation as a whole needs to look seriously at other modes of transportation and get out of the car. For example, I live in Columbia. If I wanted to even think about heading north on a train to either DC or New York (though I'd probably choose Philadelphia) I'd have to be at the Columbia Amtrak station in the middle of the nighta and hope the north bound Silver Star was running on time. (Though tpypically it's the south bound that runs late.)

A trip on Amtrak from Columbia (CLB) to Richmond (RVR) for me, my wife adn two kids under 15 would be 372 dollars and take 8 and a half hours. If I drove there, I could get there quicker (if I didn't take the scenic route and didn't venture too far off I-95, which I probably would) and for much less money. Again, with out taking any side trips off 95, I could fill up in Columbia and then fill up again in Richmond for less than a hundred backs total.

Point being that train travel isn't going to work for most when it's cheaper to take the car.

The great thing that folks in Lynchburg, Charlottesville, an to a lesser extent, Roanoke have enjoyed is being able to take a train that goes places that we want to visit or work in- and just happen to be places that we don't need cars to get around in. Not only is the train from Lynchburg to DC as fast as a car, it also has a similar cost when you figure in gas, parking, and time.

[Joke Insurance]

Originally Posted by SwampFox35

there is no demand for this. I like Roanoke a lot but this isn't something taxpayers should be forced to fund.

Typical anti-rail propaganda without any credible sources behind it.

[Kreutz]

Originally Posted by Joke Insurance

Typical anti-rail propaganda without any credible sources behind it.

Indeed, I'd much rather take a train that drive to visit family in NY. Much less stress.

[headnsouth]

Last December I went to NY for a touristy family Christmas-season weekend. Took the bus from Campbell Court in Roanoke to Lynchburg where I got on Amtrak, met up with family at Union Station in DC who joined me for the rest of the trip. It was fantastic. Clean, modern, spacious, comfortable.

A car doesn't compare unless you have business in the suburbs. In DC the train takes you right to a Metro stop, in NY you wouldn't want a car at all anyway.

My only complaint is that the return bus from Lynchburg doesn't have the same stops as the departing bus from Roanoke! You can leave from Campbell Court but it only returns to the Civic Center. A half-dozen or so people got off the bus and had to walk over the bridge, carrying their luggage, back to where they'd left their cars. That makes no sense at all. It won't be a problem once the train comes to Roanoke though. Can't wait.

[roanoker 4]

I had the same experience when I took the bus to Lynchburg. I was not comfortable leaving my car at the civic center. When the train finally arrives here I will use the new parking garage at Gainsboro. I have heard from so many friends who live in the DC area who are excited about the new train and who are planning to visit Roanoke.

[Joe the Photog]

Freight railroads largely support themselves without many subsidies. Passenger trains use freight railroads except in the North East Corridor. Even if you never ride Amtrak, you do use railroads. The car you are driving likely was transported via rail after it left the assembly plant, whether it hit American rails ouside an American factory or after being imported to an American port. The materials used to make that car, especially if domestic, was almost certainly transported via rail at some point.

Even if you fly, chances are a large part of that plane went by rail before it became a plane. Not arguing a point either way, just saying that we all use rail just like we use the highway system in this country.

[Joe the Photog]

Originally Posted by ClemsonTiger45

I think this is a specious argument. If I buy a car, then I am indirectly paying for any transportation methods they used, and I am somewhat skeptical it is railroad. At least in the south, most of the rail lines have been dug up in the past 20 years or so.

It's true that a lot of rail lines have been pulled up, not just in the south, but everywhere. But it's not true at all that most of the lines have been pulled up. It makes perfect sense that there are less rail lines now than in the 50s and 60s. The Interstate system helped that. Trucks are longer and can haul more on a trip and with all that government and taxpayer money funding the interstates, the trucks can often beat the railroads especially on short milage roads.

You also said you're not sure how your car got to you via rail. Not sure what kind of car you drive, but let's use that BMW plant on I-85 as an example. Next time you're in the area, drive by the plant. I believe the rail comes in the back. There should be box cars, etc. for the incoming stuff and auto racks for the finished product. One very long train a day leaves BMW, goes up to Spartanburg and takes a right down through Columbia on the way to the ports in Charleston for export. It is full of BMWs being made in South Carolina for sale and they leave the plant via a train.

Aditionally, CSX brings one train a day out of Ohio full of news cars in auto racks. They unload the cars in Dixiana at an uloading facility and car dealerships come and get them and take them to sell. This is Columbia, not exactly a major transporation hub. In the north, more trains run soley for the car builders than down here, obviously.

Originally Posted by ClemsonTiger45

I am all for train travel, i just don't think it is right to make one group of middle class people fund the transportation choices of other middle class people,

I'm not a big proponent of the current Amtrak way. I would love to see more railroads get back into the passenger business, but we are past that point in time. I looked at a trip out of Columbia to Philadelphia via the Silver Star for a family of four and the costs were incredible. Driving was much, much MUCh cheaper. Not to mention when we got there, we'd have to rent a car.

Originally Posted by ClemsonTiger45

One thing I do love about Roanoke is all the traintracks downtown and the smell of coal in the air.

Yep. Coal traffic is huge in Roanoke and the tracks through town are way cool. Roanoke has kept it's railroad tradition adn seems proud of it with the Hotel Roanoke (used to be owned by the NW), the restored depot that houses Mr. Link's museum, the N&W offices and shops. And not to mention the Virginia Museum of Transportation which will have a press conference in about an hour to announce they are going to restore the Norfolk & Western steam egnine #611 to working condition!

Originally Posted by ClemsonTiger45

It reminds me of Florence SC which started out as a railroad hub and was the biggest railraod town in SC in the 1940s or so. Now there are none there, and the track is a walking trail. LOL, its funny how things change so fast in a relaltive short amount of time.

I will be sure to tell one of my friends that he no longer needs to go to work for CSX in Florence because there are no tracks there. LOL Florence is still a railroad town and sees two Amtrak trains a day. In addition to the big CSX yard and tracks leading out of town, they also serve the South Carolina Central which is a fairly big shortline railroad in South Carolina.

[Joe the Photog]

Most of the railroad folks I know are train crews, either conductors or egineers. I believe he's still a conductor down there. Railroad crews complain about the long hours and the lack of regular hours. The longer you've been with a company, the more you can start to shape your own working hours.