Commuter rail in Wyoming

If you promise not to ask why I promise not to say, but I found this bit of oddness on the interweb.

http://www.dot.state.wy.us/files/live/s ... Report.pdf

You read right. In 2008 a study about the possiblity of commuter rail from Ft. Colins, CO, to Casper, WY, was made. I like riding on the train as much as anyone else here, but this just seems like lunacy on the face of it. Who would even ride that train?

That said, I could see a train making it to Cheyenne, WY, at some point.

Why was this study even done?

Pommels on each seat?

I LOL'd when I saw the thread title.

I gasped when I saw that its an actual state government plan.

mmi16 wrote:Pommels on each seat?

And lassos in every hand!

Mr. Roberts has a good point. I've advocated on this forum for regional rail from Cheyenne to Denver, since it's such a short distance and a potential payoff in state support of Amtrak in Congress. But Casper? Wooooowwwwwwww.

I definitely think there's a market between Green River and Rock Springs!

A study is a study is a study. There were a few important things to remember learned from the exercise. There were many rail studies performed that arose from the stimulus spurge in funding.

I'll start worrying about a train to Casper if a bill passes through the Wyoming legislature to pay for it. There are existing railroads to locations many would consider as nowhere today funded by States. My list of such trains to nowhere would include trains to Fairbanks and Brunswick. But whom am I to argue with what local governments are willing to spend funds on?

I can't believe that Amtrak will not spend any money on trains directly connecting the nation's 4th and 5th largest metros; that one of those metros doesn't even see one train per day per direction. But whom am I to argue with Amtrak?

In my next life I might want to be a consultant.

Bob Roberts wrote:I LOL'd when I saw the thread title.

I gasped when I saw that its an actual state government plan.

Kind of what I thought when I read it. As ExCon90 says, I'd like to be a consultant in my next life.

I offered to consult to one of my former railroads for the bargain price of $300/day, but was turned down.

Actually, the C&S and CB&Q offered passenger train service on this route out of Denver until Sept. 1, 1967. Trains 29 and 30 provided overnight service between Denver and Billings, Mont. At Billings, they connected with NP's North Coast Limited.

I think this route had potential, but was not adequately promoted. Ft. Collins is part of a megalopolis extending south through Denver almost to Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Ft. Collins is a major university town, and the whole corridor is home to a high-tech industrial base. There is a gap between Ft. Collins and Cheyenne. Cheyenne has the political consideration of being the State Capital, and Casper is the second-largest city in Wyoming. North of Casper is the underdeveloped tourist town of Thermopolis Hot Springs. The Northern Wyoming town of Deaver had a bus connection to Cody and Yellowstone Park. Billings would be rather a dead end now with no train to connect with.

The C&S/CB&Q did not upgrade these trains as they did their other passenger trains. 29&30 operated to the end with heavyweight equipment, no sleeping cars, and no diner in the final decade. The train stopped at towns at mealtimes so passengers could eat at restaurants.

CB&Q had a tourist hotel in Cody. Maybe this could have been upgraded along the lines of the Harvey House Hotels, and the Hot Springs resort capitalized in the manner of Idaho Valley or Winter Park.

Well, that was then, but what about now? Wyoming has become a major coal source for the whole country and maybe the world. Workers in the oil fields typically drive hundreds of miles from home to work a week or more at a time between trips home. Even if they kept a car at a station stop to get to work, it would save them hours of driving. Wyoming is still a popular destination for tourists and hunters. Casper is a center for oil production.

The further south you go along this corridor in Wyoming and Colorado, the denser the population until you reach Denver. I-25 between Denver and Ft. Collins carries heavy traffic at certain times of day. When a winter storm hits, this area becomes a driving nightmare.

I think train service from Denver as far as Ft. Collins would be a good start, then could be extended farther north as demand develops.

As it is now, C&S 29&30 provide regular service Denver-Billings, but only on my model railroad.


Les

That should have read "Sun Valley", not "Idaho Valley".

That railroad really blew it. My price has gone back to $500/day.

Les