Editor:
In his letter of July 26, “Railbanking Sham,” Mr. Mitchell seems to believe that restoring rail travel will be as simple as putting trains back on existing tracks. He writes, “It would be a tragedy to see this 100-year-old asset simply vanish due to unnecessary destruction of the railway.”
All one has to do is walk the tracks between Eureka and Arcata to see that the rails are rusted and the ties disintegrating. No train could run on those tracks as is — the entire line would have to be torn up and replaced no matter what. So, why not use the path as a trail until such time as trains run again?
Edward “Buzz” Webb, McKinleyville
This article appears in Humboldt’s Mayberry.
Rehabilitating a closed rail line such as the NWP is about one million dollars a mile considering a number of factors….several hundred thousand per mile under the best circumstances (ie just tie replacement and retamping).Just getting a few miles from Samoa to Arcata up to snuff to haul passengers for THA’s tourist train is going to take a small fortune even though the rails are still there.
A good idea of the costs involved to restore a “heritage railroad” is Nevada’s Virginia & Truckee. It took 6 years and 54 million dollars to restore ten miles of mountain railroad, roughly 2/3 of the total project. Rails had to be acquired and a relocation of right-of-way was necessary in one location which added to the costs. Even at less than half that cost it’s a price few organizations or communities can afford.
Just railbank the Bay and give them a trail.
What Alfred fails to tell you about the V&T, it required filling in a open pit, in addition to tunnels, and a new bridge over a highway.
Restoring the line around the bay is no where near a million per mile.