The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread

[Dale]

Aside from 51 new buses, is the city making headway in its efforts to streamline the bus system ?

[smeagolsfree]

Not much publicly anyway except a study of the Dickerson Rd corridor. Woopty doo! We can do that study for them free of charge from folks here on the board and probably come up with a better option than they would.

[Vrtigo]

:Drives Dickerson:

Yup, needs improvement. Next!

[Dale]

Over on SSC, a Londoner popped in to say that Nashville is on the right track with Smart Corridor.

[e-dub]

Lots of railfans about this morning to take a look at this old girl at Kayne Yards.

[smeagolsfree]

Didnt you guys know they refurbished this for our new rail line.

[LA_TN]

[Tennessine]

I'm not a train geek in the least, but those pictures y'all have been sharing have me mezmerized. Is that a coal-powered locomotive? It looks similar to the Three Rivers Rambler in Knoxville.

I especially like the elegance of that train. It conjures an image of a 1940s Cadillac* in my mind; a very different thing, but the sleek, jet black features of both make me relate the two.

* 1941 Cadillac Duchess, made in Detroit. These things are effing sick. Call me a hipster if you will, but I would love for American makes to embody elegance again. I want Detroit's automotive legacy to stick around.

[e-dub]

26 minutes ago, nativetenn said:

Is that a coal-powered locomotive? It looks similar to the Three Rivers Rambler in Knoxville.

Yep, she burns coal to make steam that turns the wheels.

[titanhog]

5 hours ago, e-dub said:

Yep, she burns coal to make steam that turns the wheels.

I rode on a coal / steam train from Durango to Silverton, Colorado up the mountain.  Really fun...but my face was covered with soot / ashes by the time we got to the top.  It's the kinda thing that's fun for maybe an hour...then you can't wait to get off.

[CenterHill]

On 3/10/2019 at 1:01 AM, titanhog said:

I rode on a coal / steam train from Durango to Silverton, Colorado up the mountain.  Really fun...but my face was covered with soot / ashes by the time we got to the top.  It's the kinda thing that's fun for maybe an hour...then you can't wait to get off.

Ha, I rode that, too.    We took the kids on it when they were little.    One of those cool things you just have to do for the experience.   

[rookzie]

You know U're old when you were one year into life before that locomotive was retired from service (1952).  It was one of ten identical locos delivered from Schenectady around 1942 or so, allowed production during war-time to haul troops and material.  They died pretty young, with only 10 years of service, as the N.C.&St.L. (Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis) and the L&N (Louisville & Nashville), joint tenants of Nashville Union Station, were like most other railroads, especially in the South, where lines began to convert to diesel-electric prior to WW-II for their passenger ops.   When I was born, 1951, over half the nation's railroad operations were still steam-powered, either coal- or oil-fired.  Most oil-fired locos were operated out west.  That's one reason that Nashville was a rather gritty town when I was hatched, especially since most households in the urban district burned solid fuel for heat, primarily coal, and since Nashville still was full of billowing smokestacks long prior to pollution controls of the 1970s.

I posted the aerial a few years ago, of the former West Nashville Shops at Charlotte Ave, where One C!ty is now.  When I returned to Nashville in 1992, after a long absence, two of those shops buildings shown in the mid-upper left were still intact, although long abandoned.  Their foundations had remained even up until the last 5 years.  That track shown curving off to the right, was the lead from which that locomotive Nº576 was towed to its former berth at Centennial Park in 1953.  It had just been donated to the city and had remained there until two months ago (Jan 13, 2019), when it was trucked to a temporary berth beneath I-40 next to Herman Street, off Twelfth North.  The city closed off the south ramp of I-40 (eastbound) to Charlotte Ave, to allow wrong-way movement of the locomotive and its tender (separately) to be trucked to near12th and Herman.

After extensive air brake work was undertaken to render it rail worthy, last Saturday it was towed to the interchange near Herman and 14th Ave., where it was rolled from the Nashville and Western RR (purchased by R. J. Corman) on Jan 01) to the CSX line behind Marathon Village.  At that moment, it was repatriated to one of the very routes that it served, Nashville-Memphis (now the CSX Bruceton Sub-Division), and Nashville-Atlanta (now the Chattanooga Sub) via what now is the WeHo district.  That had been the city limit extent on the southeast until 1963.

Nº576 at West Nashville Shops turntable (roundhouse), Circa 1948

 

NC&StL West Nashville Shops around 1940 (Charlotte Ave west of 25th Ave., extending to around 31st Ave).  Note that 28th Ave North did not connect to Charlotte Ave until around 1987-90.  It's shown in the upper-left of the aerial, where it abruptly curved westward and became an extension of Felicia Street.

 

Being shoved (dead) to permanent display in park along temporary track removed shortly thereafter (1953).

 

Nº 576 (background) and tender being trucked to temporary site in Jan. 2019.  Note the locomotive being moved pointing rearward, and housed on a special self-propelled trailer (sounds like an oxymoron, but that's its formal name), tether-controlled from a pendant handheld by a worker on foot, and signaled by other personnel.

Much preliminary work already had been undertaken at Centennial Park since 2016, in preparation for the move, including removal of vital running-gear and chassis components for specialized welding build-up and machining to restore dimensional integrity.  Additional work shown below was performed during the 2 months prior to last Saturday., while beneath I-40.

Now that the locomotive has been moved to South Nashville, to its rebuilding facility off Willow Street (at the Tennessee Central Railway Museum) the boiler tubes, internal apparatus and running gear must be restored and re-certified for high-pressure and thermal safety.  Asbestos abatement had to be performed early on.  Below is shown the completely restored double drawbar and spherical spring-loaded buffer between the loco and its tender.

Edited March 12, 2019 by rookzie

[smeagolsfree]

Thanks Rookzie. We can always count on you for an interesting and complete, not top mention Great history lesson. You need to get on here and post you dimes worth more often.

[jkc2j]

Looks like transit may be happening after all.

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville

[PaulChinetti]

A rail from the airport to the convention center would be a good way to get people used to the idea of riding in something other than a car. 

[LA_TN]

6 minutes ago, jkc2j said:

Looks like transit may be happening after all.

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville

Everything in that article is what was publicly said during the master planning meeting. Number one goal is transportation for employees

Edited March 14, 2019 by LA_TN

[BnaBreaker]

39 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

A rail from the airport to the convention center would be a good way to get people used to the idea of riding in something other than a car. 

I agree that it would make sense as the starter line in a larger system.  However, I would hope that if investment is going to be made that a larger system is actually the goal and they plan to make it something that can be expanded upon rather than just being a token 'toy' for tourists that goes to one specific end point and we leave it there.

[PaulChinetti]

Some people didn’t want AMP, some people didn’t want light rail. So maybe everyone will be fine with it for tourists. 

Then once it becomes “accepted” we add another line then another and so on. 

[MidTenn1]

I still wonder why using the commuter rail tracks for a light rail airport to downtown would not work. It seems like an obvious solution.

[nashwatcher]

Great idea. Anyone think Amazon would sponsor? 

Add in a circulator from the SoBro hub that goes up Lafayette across to Broadway, etc (a route that hits the most important spots for businesses/tourists) and circles back down 4th and you’ve got a winner

Prime Line. Let’s get this thing built!

Edited March 14, 2019 by nashwatcher

[grilled_cheese]

Didn't Memphis look into an airport route but decided against it? 

[Bos2Nash]

10 hours ago, PHofKS said:

I still wonder why using the commuter rail tracks for a light rail airport to downtown would not work. It seems like an obvious solution.

So are you recommending we replace the commuter rail entirely with light rail? Because the two modes cannot co-exist on the same line. 

The biggest problem with this is the service scope. Because the light rail would run along the river, it would miss a very wide scope of people. Running it through a populated area - while expensive from land ROW wise - serves a population of people and allows them to move freely, ala get employees to work. Also, you have to pick one mode or the other as a light rail cannot be safely on the same track line as a heavy locomotive. 

[MidTenn1]

1 minute ago, Bos2Nash said:

So are you recommending we replace the commuter rail entirely with light rail? Because the two modes cannot co-exist on the same line. 

The biggest problem with this is the service scope. Because the light rail would run along the river, it would miss a very wide scope of people. Running it through a populated area - while expensive from land ROW wise - serves a population of people and allows them to move freely, ala get employees to work. Also, you have to pick one mode or the other as a light rail cannot be safely on the same track line as a heavy locomotive. 

I was thinking that, at least, an exclusive airport to downtown line be created. There could be two other stops at Lebanon Road  and at the large industrial area just southeast of downtown which could be re-zoned to allow 'Gulch' type development.

As for the type of carrier, perhaps a customized commuter rail train could be adapted. Just spitballin' and I appreciate the response.

[Craiger]

The current commuter rail is also shared in parts I think so scheduling the frequency necessary would be difficult. If I remember correctly, there are also regulations that require that line to be upgraded with positive train control before more passengers could travel on it. 

[Bos2Nash]

6 minutes ago, PHofKS said:

I was thinking that, at least, an exclusive airport to downtown line be created. There could be two other stops at Lebanon Road  and at the large industrial area just southeast of downtown which could be re-zoned to allow 'Gulch' type development.

As for the type of carrier, perhaps a customized commuter rail train could be adapted. Just spitballin' and I appreciate the response.

That would be a great idea.

I think electrification of the entire line would be good. Then if we went to an EMU style train (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_multiple_unit) we could have the original line and the airport line function together.

Having an EMU would be perfect for building a tunnel under downtown in the future too, because the electrification will already be somewhat in place. 

1 minute ago, Craiger said:

The current commuter rail is also shared in parts I think so scheduling the frequency necessary would be difficult. If I remember correctly, there are also regulations that require that line to be upgraded with positive train control before more passengers could travel on it. 

Correct. They actually cut back on the total trips so they wouldn't have to install the safety system. But if the line were to be electrified then a whole new, modern system would be installed including that safety protocol.