RE: (erielack) Lets get down to Earth........

[IntercityRailPal_@_netscape.net]

Steve, get rid of the tunnel, The DL didn't want one there anyway. This is not 1910 nor is it a model railroad. Tunnels are operational nightmares!..Lance

STEVEZ10_@_aol.com wrote:

>Some DL&W Cutoff reality's as opposed to the PADOT and Morris County DOT 
>recent fantasies on a 2006 completion date.........
>
>Some good points below from some fellow NEW JERSEY railfans!!!
>
>"I think if the Cut-Off was suddenly now 'in the works' it would be BIG news 
>- if not in the public media, certainly within the northest rail fan 
>community....
>I suspect that it would take a year to just clear and grade the entire route 
>before any rail related construction could commense.
>And then you've got stations with parking lots and access roads that need to 
>be built ( see how long it took NJT to build the Bay Street-Montclair station 
>)....and I strongly suspect that Roseville Tunnel is gonna require a full 
>concrete inner liner with stone/concrete portals at each end ( see how long 
>the Bergen Tunnel project has taken ). Then you get to the massive Paulins 
>Kill and Delaware River viaducts....you KNOW the engineering 'experts' are 
>gonna recommend - at the very least - that both spans have their respective 
>deckings completely rebuilt/fortified. After all this is completed, you got 
>26 miles of ballast, ties, rail, signal work to undertake.....all by 
>2007-2008....with NJT at the helm ???
>I kinda doubt it!!!
>
>And we haven't even addressed the work on the Pennsylvania 
>side....re-alignment of the existing one-track main in several locations from 
>what once was track #1 to track #2 and vice versa, installation of CWR, new 
>crossties, signalling, crossing gate apparatus installation at numerous grade 
>crossings, parking lots, access roads, station refurbishment, perhaps a 
>couple passing sidings....not to mention construction of a proposed/planned 
>storage yard at Anolomink and an adequate station complex with parking 
>somewhere in Scranton....there's ZERO available parking at the old and grand 
>former Lackawanna Station ( now a 4-star hotel ). My guess is a deal will 
>have to be arranged with the National Park Service for a loading 
>platform/trackage on the grounds of Steamtown adjacent to the latter's 
>excursion loading area with overhead access to the Mall and it's parking 
>garage....
>
>That's a quite alot to get done within 4-5 years....even if the money was 
>allocated, all engineering plans finalized, construction bids received and 
>chosen AND all NIMBYS pacified....TODAY !
>
>I'm not getting any younger....have been waiting for this since that bond 
>issue I voted for back about 14-15 years ago !!!
>Everyone knows that the traffic on Route 80 in Northwestern New Jersey (along 
>the Lackawanna Railroad) is not getting any less than that over the last 30 
>years.
>
>"When will it be completed" (only follows commencement )
>
>When will it begin?
>
>1) After I and everyone else is retired
>2) After most taxpayers leave New Jersey
>3) After performing more costly enviromental impact studies
>4) After building more ADA mini-high level platforms (that are hardlly ever 
>utilized by anyone; was there any evidence of useage by wheelchair tracks or 
>footprints on those ramps during or following a snow job?) 
>5) After building more Sound Walls (like the ones along Route 80 in Denville, 
>adjacent to the cemetary, Wendy's, Burger King, public and commuter parking 
>lots)"
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