Adrian & Blissfield Railroad to Ottawa Lake connection

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Adrian & Blissfield Railroad to Ottawa Lake connection

Unread post by rail_watcher »

http://www.lenconnect.com/article/20121 ... 95#art-boob

Toward the end of the article, on page 2, it talks about a $17 Million proposal that would directly connect Lenawee County to Toledo by rail, via the Adrian & Blissfield Railroad.

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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Looks like it would be pretty easy to just relay the rail along the existing right-of-way, except in Ottawa Lake where a business put a warehouse on it, but lots of farm fields around it to just go around if needed. I bet a mod from here would love an increase of traffic on the Clinton Industrial in Toledo.
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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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This has been looked into and there are some numbers floating around on what it would take to make it happen. I think ADBF would like it so they can move the deliveries of unit grain trains away from Adrian to Ottawa Lake or maybe even Toledo. Might even open up unit ethanol train possibilities.
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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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BnOEngr wrote:Maybe the ADBF has given up on trying to establish the other unit train "shortcut". One can always hope I guess.
I thought that was long a dead issue but who knows :? The current unit train interchange in Adrian seems to upset some people so it would be nice if they can find another.
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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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BnOEngr wrote:7 cars at a time can be irritating for anyone.
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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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I can see three reasons where this would kind of make sense. 1. This would be cheaper than making the interchange at Adrian workable for a better flow. 2. NS would rather interchange grain in Toledo than Adrian. 3. A&B would purchase the Clinton the rest of the way into Toledo, and be responsible for switching the Elevator just north of Sylvania. Even then, is this the best place to spend that money? One other thing to consider, even though the ROW is intact, who currently owns it?

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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I would guess when PC/CR was line cutting it went back to the farm and land owners as it did North of Clinton. It would make sense for the time as they weren't expecting the current state of the Lenawee County/ABDF. A lot can change in 30 years (only reason why I can say 30 years is this was SMRS 30th Anniversary).

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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It could have also stayed with the PC Estate/American Premier Unerwriters as they still have a subsidary called Penn Central Real Estate Group (now what - if any actual land holdings beyond Grand Central Terminal in NYC, I don't know).
TrainWatcher wrote:I would guess when PC/CR was line cutting it went back to the farm and land owners as it did North of Clinton. It would make sense for the time as they weren't expecting the current state of the Lenawee County/ABDF. A lot can change in 30 years (only reason why I can say 30 years is this was SMRS 30th Anniversary).

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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From Mark Keaton at MIRR.com
From "Trains" mag online news:

Michigan short line proposes rebuilding direct link to Toledo

Published: November 15, 2012

BLISSFIELD, Mich. – The Adrian & Blissfield Rail Road, which operates five separate line segments in the state, proposes rebuilding a portion of railroad between Riga and Ottawa Lake, Mich., that has been abandoned for 30 years. The new connection would expedite its interchange with Norfolk Southern and was once part of the original Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway main line between Toledo, Ohio, and Elkhart, Ind.

Railroad President Mark Dobronski tells Trains News Wire that rebuilding 5.3 miles of rail line would save 560 miles and four days of transit time on 90% of the cars the short line handles. Currently, NS interchange traffic is handled at Adrian, Mich., and Norfolk Southern must route traffic through Montpelier, Ohio, and Fort Wayne and Elkhart, Ind., before it can be sent east. About 90% of the railroad's traffic travels to or from points east of Toledo.

The line, a part of the first railroad constructed west of the Appalachian Mountains, was later bypassed by a more direct route between Toledo and Elkhart. The route survived into Penn Central ownership, but was set to be abandoned at the creation of Conrail. The state of Michigan stepped in and purchased the majority of the route that is now owned and operated by the A&B, but allowed Conrail to abandon and remove the short stretch between Riga and Ottawa Lake.

A recent report by the Adrian Daily Telegram mentions the reconstruction would cost about $17 million, however, Dobronski says the actual price would be much lower than that. He declined to give an exact price for the project or a timeline for construction and operation. Dobronski did say that right-of-way is intact between, except for a warehouse built across it in Ottawa Lake, but a solution to that impediment is in the works.

Norfolk Southern operates the line branch to Ottawa Lake to serve a large ADM facility there.

The A&B also owns and operates the Delray Connecting Railroad in the Detroit area, the Jackson & Lansing Railroad, the Charlotte Southern Railroad, and the Lapeer Industrial Railroad. It also operates dinner trains on the Adrian & Blissfield and Charlotte Southern lines.
Correction, ADBF owns Detroit Connecting, not Delray connecting.
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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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BnOEngr wrote:
From "Trains" mag online news:

A recent report by the Adrian Daily Telegram mentions the reconstruction would cost about $17 million, however, Dobronski says the actual price would be much lower than that.
Must be planning on hiring Midwest Rail to utilize their all volunteer workforce.
I don't recall what rating ADBF bid it for. Probably 10-25mph range. I think $17 million is for 110 mph cause you know those unit grain trains have to move quickly between Blissfield and Toledo :lol:
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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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I thought the going rate was about 3 million per mile...

I wish Mark and the team at the ADBF the best of luck with their endeavor.
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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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CERY wrote:I thought the going rate was about 3 million per mile...

I wish Mark and the team at the ADBF the best of luck with their endeavor.
From what I have read its about $1 million per mile but many factors can make it a little lower or much higher.

Probably the highest cost for relaying track is legal battles with government and nimby's. :wink:
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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

Unread post by tyler_phillips »

This news is pretty exciting for our local economy in Lenawee County. It also sounds like this is an actual proposal and possibly a plan in the works, not just a rumor like we've heard in years past. Good luck to everyone involved.

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

Unread post by MSchwiebert »

I'm sure a new interlocking with the I&O at Riga wouldn't come cheap either...

AARR wrote:
CERY wrote:I thought the going rate was about 3 million per mile...

I wish Mark and the team at the ADBF the best of luck with their endeavor.
From what I have read its about $1 million per mile but many factors can make it a little lower or much higher.

Probably the highest cost for relaying track is legal battles with government and nimby's. :wink:

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

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^^
I would imagine that would require signaling as well...

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Re: Interesting Newspaper Article in Lenawee County

Unread post by canpac08 »

you could do the interlocking with as little as 8 signals depending on if the I&O is signaled or not. all you need is the signal at the junction for all four directions and four distant signals.It would be set up to some degree like the one in Adrian.
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