Detroit river railroad tunnel

[Wesley Mouch]

I doubt if they would raise the roof of the tunnel, except maybe to notch it for containers. What is more likely is that they would lower the floor, like BNSF did for the Cascade Tunnel a number of years ago. Dropping the floor wouldn't cause structural problems raising the roof would.

If I remember correctly, they did this about 20 years ago now. But they were not able to get it as large as the Port Huron tunnel --- don't know why. But they did it to make it handle much more traffic that it could before the change.

Look at the bottom of the entrances.

[douglasm]

The Port Huron tunnel project involved "digging" a new tunnel.

[Downriviera]

Lots of highly combustible Canadian oil coming through the tunnel. Are all the tank cars up to code or are there older thin skinned versions? Are all the communities these trains pass through after coming through the tunnel prepared for spills, fire, explosions these trains are known for? Are they even aware that these trains are going through their towns? I know CSX is training communities in other states for this but I've heard nothing about it here.

[canuck]

Lots of highly combustible Canadian oil coming through the tunnel. Are all the tank cars up to code or are there older thin skinned versions? Are all the communities these trains pass through after coming through the tunnel prepared for spills, fire, explosions these trains are known for? Are they even aware that these trains are going through their towns? I know CSX is training communities in other states for this but I've heard nothing about it here.

Heard a segment on an NPR news program from Vermont yesterday about the aging of railroad infrastructure and how inadequate the funds allocated are in spite of massive amounts in the past ten years. 30 billion I think it was and is still a drop in the bucket.

I didn't catch their mileage rate of highways vs railways in the US, so I looked it up and in Wikipedia, the miles of highway infrastructure is at 200,000 miles vs 140,000 miles in railways.
One can imagine the burden on private companies to check for booboos.

The train derailment that happened in the town of Lac Megantic Quebec was a huge wake-up call to bring in a new generation of double clad tank cars. The whole downtown was blown away.

[Frenchy]

Actually, in the early 1970s, it was commonly believed that people on bicycles smuggled hashish through those tunnels. Although I can't remember reading about anybody actually getting caught at it. And I'm sure there are lots of motion censors and ccvs in place down there nowadays.

[renf]

I believe I have seen references to early versions of architectural drawings for the bridge across the Straits of Mackinac. One version, I think, had a deck designed for rail traffic. I think that was dropped at an early stage of the planning. I have never heard any discussion of a deck for rail on the new Gordie Howe bridge

[Jimaz]

I believe I have seen references to early versions of architectural drawings for the bridge across the Straits of Mackinac. One version, I think, had a deck designed for rail traffic....

From Wikipedia:

The preliminary plans for the bridge featured a 3-lane roadway, a railroad crossing on the underdeck of the span, and a center-anchorage double-suspension bridge configuration similar to the design of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge.

[Wesley Mouch]

Lots of highly combustible Canadian oil coming through the tunnel. Are all the tank cars up to code or are there older thin skinned versions? Are all the communities these trains pass through after coming through the tunnel prepared for spills, fire, explosions these trains are known for? Are they even aware that these trains are going through their towns? I know CSX is training communities in other states for this but I've heard nothing about it here.

Anyone who isn't hiding in a cave is aware. 1) News Coverage of the ~50 deaths and destruction of Lac Megantic Que 2) Northern Gateway pipeline advocates are screaming about the bad decision to use rail instead of pipe lines, 3) You can tell an oil tanker car easily. Anyone with an ounce of curiousity just has to look.

While I'm sure we get tanker trains, we are not on the mainline of oil -- which mainly starts in the upper western US and Alberta Canada. So I'd expect Chicago, Minneapolis, Fargo, Lima, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Denver, etc. Maybe some Canadian coming across over Lake Superior to Toronto and then back our way? Curious minds want to know.

[Ray1936]

As a side note, there are some great tapes of trains using the tunnel on YouTube. Just type in "Detroit River Railroad Tunnel" in the search box, and nearly a dozen contributions can be seen. Includes great views of the Windsor side of the entrance. And, yes, the large car carrier cars are now using the tunnel; you can see them enter with good clearance.

[Hypestyles]

someone post photos of the tunnel.

[mikeg19]

Rail freight, by all comparisons, is the most economical way to transport just about anything. Opening up more rail traffic volume should be a priority, with Chicago as a main hub of rail traffic and tons of freight going through Canada, Detroit could be a major player in that game. If only we had a large train station near the boarder with access to major rail lines..........


A little off topic, but isn't passenger rail supposed to be cheap? Looked into taking the train to Chicago and it was like $90 each way. I can drive there and back cheaper, and it takes less time.

[Richard]

Lots of highly combustible Canadian oil coming through the tunnel. Are all the tank cars up to code or are there older thin skinned versions? Are all the communities these trains pass through after coming through the tunnel prepared for spills, fire, explosions these trains are known for? Are they even aware that these trains are going through their towns? I know CSX is training communities in other states for this but I've heard nothing about it here.

Fracking created a big demand for oil tanker cars and updating existing.

National Rail car of Canada gets $500 + million in pension funds to build the 2.6 million sq ft facility in Alabama [[packard) to supply the cars,[[2007) Albert Kahn and associates designs it.

Plant is built and employees pretty much are paid $15 per hour to pick up rocks,they spend time using multi million dollar plasma cutters to make puzzles for the employee Xmas presents.

No cars are built,it is a private company in business from 1911 and the CEO gets arrested on security fraud.

Not sure if it was supposed to be a lend lease situation where you own the cars and lease them to the railroads,the funds were there and greed decided that lives and the rail future should be in jeopardy.

Detroit and the state has more rail suppliers then any other state,not sure why they did not just go over the border and build there.

[MikeM]

While I'm sure we get tanker trains, we are not on the mainline of oil -- which mainly starts in the upper western US and Alberta Canada. So I'd expect Chicago, Minneapolis, Fargo, Lima, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Denver, etc. Maybe some Canadian coming across over Lake Superior to Toronto and then back our way? Curious minds want to know.

Rail shipment of crude goes mainly to both coasts. On the Atlantic, that means mostly the Philadelphia area, Albany, and St John, New Brunswick. The lack of pipelines to the coasts means refineries there have to rely on imported oil. Rail is an expensive option but when the differential between imported and domestic oil is high enough to cover the cost of shipping by rail, coastal refiners will use rail to bring in relatively cheaper crude from the mid-continent.

[Downriviera]

Canadian Pacific, via trackage rights on Norfolk Southern, move several long unit trains of Canadian oil through the tunnel every day. These trains travel west through Southwest Detroit, Melvindale, Lincoln Park, Allen Park, Taylor and Romulus alongside I 94. They continue southwest through Belleville. I've not heard of any drills or training to handle a derailment in these communities. These trains travel right through the middle of the Marathon Refinery as well.