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Seven miles were torn up by Conrail in the early 80s. It dead ends in Ottawa Lake at Sterns road up from Ohio.

Who's got $7-mill to do the project. It's supposed to start this year, but MDOT doesn't have the money for it. Feds don't care, Adrian & Blissfield railroad will only pay for a fraction. Norfolk Southern in Ottawa Lake should pay for it also. Anyways it's got to get started.

Anyways, its got to get started....why? If someone (tax payers) are spending 7 million they need to know ....why.

Joshua Niederkohr wrote:Who's got $7-mill to do the project. It's supposed to start this year, but MDOT doesn't have the money for it. Feds don't care, Adrian & Blissfield railroad will only pay for a fraction. Norfolk Southern in Ottawa Lake should pay for it also. Anyways it's got to get started.

If Adrian & Blissfield wants to rebuild that line, they should pay for it or find a way to pay for it. From what I've read in other threads on this site, they're doing everything they can to get the money to do so, and they're making progress. BUT because the project is something that will primarily benefit the ADBF, and possibly their local area, the financial burden should be borne by those the project will directly benefit (i.e. the ADBF, the city of Adrian and its residents, etc.).

Why should NS pay for any of it? It's not their boondoggle, and unless they sell the Ottawa Lake line to ADBF once the project is complete, their interest will end where their interest currently ends- at the end of the track in Ottawa Lake.

Projects like this take time. Even if the ADBF had all of the necessary funding for the project, you wouldn't necessarily see progress being made this year- between encroachment on the right of way (apparently someone put a building over it) and all of the preliminary work that would need to be done before any visible construction can take place (i.e. planning, surveying, relocating utilities, etc.), it may not look like anything is being done.

If the project needs to be done so quickly, perhaps the OP and other parties wanting it to be done quickly should help ADBF raise the money. Hold a bake sale, car wash or collect pop bottles and donate the money to the Riga-Ottawa Lake railroad project.

There seems to a building or two on the old row.

Looking at Google Earth, it looks like there is room to go around the bldg. a bit without having to get in a big deal of cutting part of it off.

Wasn't there already a thread on this? And, if you're going to start a new one, shouldn't the first post contain some new information? This literally starts of with just:

Seven miles were torn up by Conrail in the early 80s. It dead ends in Ottawa Lake at Sterns road up from Ohio.

What is that supposed to mean? Shouldn't you post something about whether it's been started or not?

There is a thread from early 2015. Nothing really new with the exception of this December article, which I probably shared earlier as well:

http://www.lenconnect.com/article/20151 ... 9/0/SEARCH

I will say SMRS has noticed some survey markers showing up along our ROW north of Lenawee Junction recently, they look to be marking out property lines.

I would be more than willing to give money to ADBF for this project. Get the project done starting this year.

I'll kick in $10, maybe would buy one tie!

Pixl wrote:I'll kick in $10, maybe would buy one tie!

1

$10 will get you a landscape quality tie at Home Depot

#1 relay tie is about $40-$50 each right now and good luck finding them. That tie powered power plant up north is sucking up every tie that isn't nailed down to a rail.

SousaKerry wrote:#1 relay tie is about $40-$50 each right now and good luck finding them. That tie powered power plant up north is sucking up every tie that isn't nailed down to a rail.

Why would a power plant that burns ties, be buying $40 to $50 relay ties, when $10 landscape ones burn just the same for ~20% of the cost?

Not sure on the details really but they have been signing contracts with railroads to buy everything they take out causing a shortage. All the ties that Amtrak took out of the Michigan line went that way. Word was that the State of Michigan considered them toxic wastes from the creosote so they had to be disposed of in accordance with EPA guidelines. I think it is a load of hogwash and somebody in Lansing got a nice perk in their pocket.

All I know is more then one person approached them about purchase or donation to the SMRS and that was what we were told. It was a real shame as some of those ties were in less then 5 years as they were the last ones NS put in.

As to why they want railroad ties and will pay premium prices see tree hugger article below.

http://www.ecoverse.net/news/viking-ene ... households

If I were an electric customer of theirs, and I got wind they were paying $50 for ties to burn when $10 were readily available, I'd be raising holy hell.

I never said they were paying 40-50 bucks a tie, I have no idea what they are paying just that they are creating a supply problem and driving up the price of relay ties. BTW new ties are about $60 each. So we bought new ties this summer to replace crossings.

SousaKerry wrote:I never said they were paying 40-50 bucks a tie, I have no idea what they are paying just that they are creating a supply problem and driving up the price of relay ties. BTW new ties are about $60 each. So we bought new ties this summer to replace crossings.

What you wrote alluded they were "sucking up every tie not nailed down." Must be why I was confused....

Every SCRAP tie not nailed down. Never said it but in the context of the duscussion thats what I assumed. Who in their right mind would buy new ties and grind them up for fuel? Seems they were getting some slightly used ties off the Michigan Line though...but you have the monies you gets the ties....and would someone pay for the sorting equipment and people? Probably not. Perhaps they could approach the Viking people and get them to do it...probably not....even for the right price? Probably not.

Someone posted photos of a contractor building the spur. I asked the engineer who designed the spur if they were getting their ties out of the ones sent to burn. He smiled and said yes. Appears it more cost effective to burn everything rather than sort out the relays