Roanoke District double track

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Robb,
     Nothing personal but, this sounds like the same mindset that took the
double track out to begin with and how wrong it was for a couple of reasons.
     The grade is fairly steep up both sides of Lofton. Since the double
track was taken out, northbound trains meeting southbounds at Pkin sometimes
have to stop on this steep grade. If they had left the track in they could
have continued over the mountain and met the southbound on a decending
grade.
Jimmy Lisle


Jimmy,
  Again, given the sparse traffic the line was seeing at the time, and still 
saw up to a few years ago, was it really, truly an issue?  How many 
northbounds actually had to stop on that grade (~%1.4) at Pkin? A day... a 
week?  Given the 8061' siding at Buena Vista 20 miles south... and the 6012' 
siding at Midvale 10 miles south.   It's reall easy to call something 
short-sighted when you're not the one paying for it (keep in mind, railroads 
were still regulated when N&W pulled the double track and took sidings out 
of service on the line)

Robb Fisher