In 2006 I hosted a website called "Save The Railroad" to inform people about what I called "A vital branch line in peril." Eastside Rail Now! now runs with that torch; it's a group whose sole purpose is to promote and protect the former Woodinville Subdivision. They have provided community level guidance to decision makers on the line, and all the while providing ideas for the tracks' use in this busy corridor.Since 2003, BNSF has had the Woodinville Subdivision up for sale, with King County as the primary suitor. This line runs from Renton to Snohomish, plus a link to Redmond via Woodinville. Ultimately that line was purchased by the Port of Seattle, in a deal that keeps King County involved with the line in some measure.
For BNSF it was a low producer with minimal traffic from the perspective of a nationwide carrier. For short lines - currently bidding on the opportunity to serve the customers along those rails - it's a way to get more business. For history buffs it's one of the last vestiges of the Northern Pacific that exists in the area; NP once had tracks on both sides of Lake Washington, and the northbound route ran all the way to the Canadian border. What remains serves three big customers and few smaller ones. Some of the tracks date to the 1940s and maximum speed on the line is about 30mph in most places.
Plenty can be found on the Internet about the rough back-n-forth political battle that has shrouded this purchase. What lingers still is the uncertainty over what will happen with this route. Bits of it are being whittled away slowly from the south. In 2007 it was announced that the right-of-way just north of Interstate 90 would be abandoned because it was too costly to add rail into an upcoming freeway project that the line crossed over (the line has since been severed, and the crossover removed from I-405). This leaves the historic Wilburton Trestle unused, along with all the track between Factoria and Coulon Park in Renton.
Eastside Rail Now! has done a great job of keeping the potential uses of this line alive in the minds of the region's decision makers, and continues to remain involved as transportation plans for the are formulated.
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BNSF is dangerously shortsighted in allowing this line to be severed.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Traffic from Canada. If the Great Northern tunnel under Seattle has to be closed for any reason, or the coast-hugging route north of Seattle gets washed out or flooded, all traffic from Canada has to be diverted through, let's see, in order:
Golden, BC
Moyje Springs, Idaho
Spokane, WA
Pasco, WA
Far too long a diversion to consider. So it could all be carfloated, but I don't think the carfloat facilities are available.
So in fact, any disruption on the Seattle-Everett line now means that all the freight traffic will shift to trucks (or if we're lucky to ships). That's just not smart for BNSF. Losing a crucial diversionary line seems unwise.
It's a scary thought but very very true. In hindsight it was probably a mistake to close the Snoqualmie Pass route after they bought it from the Milwaukee Road in 1980, but at the time there was more track than traffic.
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