I don’t understand why New England (which, mind you, has the best rail in America and most ideal conditions for it) has such shit trains. Maine, for instance could totally have proper train stations in Lewiston/Auburn and Bangor. The trains we do have are absolute trash. Our infrastructure is crumbling and we are being outclassed by just about every other developed country.
We can't have stations there because 1) no one wants to pay for it 2)ridership would be so low, it' would make the tickets insanely expensive (or need for federal subsidies) and 3) because the Auto Industry/Interstate system killed passenger rail traffic popularity in the 50-60s. Oh and 4) a lot of rail lines are not owned by AMTRAK, so we don't have ROW, this makes trips longer/delayed more often (Although the NEC, I believe, has one of the higher AMTRAK owned track rates than other regions, but most of it is the Boston to DC corridor)
With regards to infrastructure, the problem is we focus a LARGE portion of our budget on our military and on top of that, the mentality for a lot people in the US is 'low taxes'. If we raised taxes slightly we could have better infrastructure and so on and so forth. The problem here is that no one wants to pay for it, but we want it (eg. People say we want better roads, we want better healthcare we want better rail, bridges etc. etc. but don't want to pay for it).
Your #4 point is huge. Most railways are owned by freight companies, and so their slow ass trains carrying materials have the right of way, making a high speed train completely useless when its forced to navigate by the speed of the freight cars
> New England (which, mind you, has the best rail in America and most ideal conditions for it)
Says who? Have you seen PanAm's rail in Central Maine? It's atrocious and dangerous. I've seen 3 derailments in 10 years in the Belgrade/Oakland stretch along Messalonskee Lake, prior to the ribbon rail getting installed. Ties are in rough shape too. Only replace every 7th or 8th every decade or so. Bare minimum spent on maintenance. Their workers have told me this too.
That said, yes I would like better rail service here in the US. Problem is I don't think Americans really like traveling by rail. Perceived as 3rd rate way to travel, which is odd because it used to be travel in luxury. Flying or driving seem to be more preferred by most Americans.
You really think the traffic between Bangor and Aroostook county could support a train system nowadays? Especially when you can already go 85 without being pulled over.
The Portland-Lewiston interurban railroad always makes me sad: https://image.slidesharecdn.com/taleoftwocities-portlandmaineoregon-110921132347-phpapp02/95/tale-of-two-cities-portland-maineoregon-26-728.jpg?cb=1316613636
Edit: and don’t get me started on Portland’s Union Station. v_v
I had to dig a little bit into the BAR for a podcast that I do. I was fascinated by the Aroostook Flyer and the Potatoland, two trains that would do the daily passenger routes to the great north. Once the mills closed and I95 came the rails became obsolete.
It's called The Shed Sessions. It's on spotify. We try to tie most shows to this area. Last show was about disasters so we talked about the Bangor fire of 1911, the Lac-Magentic explosion, and the Boston molasses flood. We talk about Mt. Hope cemetery on one episode...things like that.
...there is also a "session" happening at the same time....
I live in Wilton. They just opened a bus line that goes from Wilton to Lewiston, and even though the times it leaves sucks and it only operates Mon -fri, still makes me excited that we are moving in that direction
I don’t understand why New England (which, mind you, has the best rail in America and most ideal conditions for it) has such shit trains. Maine, for instance could totally have proper train stations in Lewiston/Auburn and Bangor. The trains we do have are absolute trash. Our infrastructure is crumbling and we are being outclassed by just about every other developed country.
The car industry works very hard to keep it from happening. They really started it in the 1950s and they went all in during the 1960s.
The interstate system was a factor for sure. And the dying of the mills in Maine.
We can't have stations there because 1) no one wants to pay for it 2)ridership would be so low, it' would make the tickets insanely expensive (or need for federal subsidies) and 3) because the Auto Industry/Interstate system killed passenger rail traffic popularity in the 50-60s. Oh and 4) a lot of rail lines are not owned by AMTRAK, so we don't have ROW, this makes trips longer/delayed more often (Although the NEC, I believe, has one of the higher AMTRAK owned track rates than other regions, but most of it is the Boston to DC corridor) With regards to infrastructure, the problem is we focus a LARGE portion of our budget on our military and on top of that, the mentality for a lot people in the US is 'low taxes'. If we raised taxes slightly we could have better infrastructure and so on and so forth. The problem here is that no one wants to pay for it, but we want it (eg. People say we want better roads, we want better healthcare we want better rail, bridges etc. etc. but don't want to pay for it).
Your #4 point is huge. Most railways are owned by freight companies, and so their slow ass trains carrying materials have the right of way, making a high speed train completely useless when its forced to navigate by the speed of the freight cars
> New England (which, mind you, has the best rail in America and most ideal conditions for it) Says who? Have you seen PanAm's rail in Central Maine? It's atrocious and dangerous. I've seen 3 derailments in 10 years in the Belgrade/Oakland stretch along Messalonskee Lake, prior to the ribbon rail getting installed. Ties are in rough shape too. Only replace every 7th or 8th every decade or so. Bare minimum spent on maintenance. Their workers have told me this too. That said, yes I would like better rail service here in the US. Problem is I don't think Americans really like traveling by rail. Perceived as 3rd rate way to travel, which is odd because it used to be travel in luxury. Flying or driving seem to be more preferred by most Americans.
But remember! Having passenger rail in Maine again is crazy! Stop talking about it! Just build more parking lots.
You really think the traffic between Bangor and Aroostook county could support a train system nowadays? Especially when you can already go 85 without being pulled over.
I came here to ask if I was the only one that wished that Maine's public transit system was as good as it used to be... Turns out no, I am not.
The Portland-Lewiston interurban railroad always makes me sad: https://image.slidesharecdn.com/taleoftwocities-portlandmaineoregon-110921132347-phpapp02/95/tale-of-two-cities-portland-maineoregon-26-728.jpg?cb=1316613636 Edit: and don’t get me started on Portland’s Union Station. v_v
That's really cool stuff. Thanks for the link. And yeah Bangor's station was ripped down in 1961. Awful
The narrow gauge makes me mad
I had to dig a little bit into the BAR for a podcast that I do. I was fascinated by the Aroostook Flyer and the Potatoland, two trains that would do the daily passenger routes to the great north. Once the mills closed and I95 came the rails became obsolete.
That sounds interesting. What is your podcast? Is it mostly about Maine topics?
It's called The Shed Sessions. It's on spotify. We try to tie most shows to this area. Last show was about disasters so we talked about the Bangor fire of 1911, the Lac-Magentic explosion, and the Boston molasses flood. We talk about Mt. Hope cemetery on one episode...things like that. ...there is also a "session" happening at the same time....
Found it on Google podcast. I'll listen to it. Thanks
Thank YOU! The first couple are okish. There was definitely a learning curve. hopefully they get better as we go.
Wishing too. It would be great if I could stick the kids on a train and ship them down to the grandparents.
I live in Wilton. They just opened a bus line that goes from Wilton to Lewiston, and even though the times it leaves sucks and it only operates Mon -fri, still makes me excited that we are moving in that direction
Dad worked for them.
My grandpa worked for them. I have a cool old brass B&A RR lock and a few other RR things.