urbanMSP

I bet the local residents will have some great feedback on the project!

Yeah, as I did some follow up research after my post, it does seem like you're correct -- the plan to service the Powder River Basin never actually went into full effect, and CP sold off the trackage that DM&E had acquired beyond Minnesota. I do wonder how viable that line is without coal to jus...

Per MNdot, there are an average of 6 freight trains a day using this section of tracks (north of the junction at Coon Rapids). It's mostly single tracked with some sidings for passing. I'm not an expert on this project, but with 100% certainty I'll tell you that it's not going to be entirely double ...

I was sort of surprised that they were including the data centers in the sale, which seem to be in very high demand these days. Maybe they're old centers and no longer up to current standards, or maybe companies would rather that service be outsourced to the cloud? In any case, this really is a huge...

I'm wondering if the decline of coal, with power generation rapidly shifting away from coal burning and steel mills being replaced by electric arc furnaces, will eventually lead to further changes in Minnesota's rail network. I'm thinking specifically of the DM&E from Brookings to Winona, which ...

I'm not super optimistic that we'll see a rapid build-up of rail service in the Midwest -- at the end of the day, I honestly remain skeptical that it will pencil out on most of these routes given distances and populations. That said, passenger rail service can make for strange political bedfellows. ...

In terms of utility, don't sleep on the Kansas City train, because if timed correctly, that would allow connections to the California Zephyr and the Southwest Chief without having to connect through Chicago.

Somebody said that it was because people had entered the tunnel, so it had to be swept and secured before the could run trains through it again.

Theoretically walkable to the high school?

If I had to guess, I'd say that the facilities located on the superblock bounded by 7th and 8th Streets and Chicago and 10th Avenue are the oldest and least efficient portions of their campus.

Is the train able to reverse directions at the Duluth end? I can't picture where that would happen.

Yes, NW quadrant! And that General Mills building was exactly the site that I was looking at. I'm unclear what the rules are for running push-pull service, but if they can get away with it on NLX, then I'd agree coming into Target Field station is better, and for the few riders continuing on to St. ...

This may be what Matt was suggesting, but I'd look at the NE quadrant of Central and Broadway. Looks like there's some room there, including what appears to be a lightly used siding track. It's past the wye, so it could be served by Northstar.

The SPUD article in the Strib this weekend seemed to allude to the possibility that NLX still might terminate there.

Is it time to start thinking about an in-line station for Minneapolis in northeast?

My (limited) understanding of the tax code is that if a non-profit entity owns land but leases it for profit, they do have to pay taxes on it. The University, however, is not your typical non-profit, and as a quasi-independent government body, I have no idea what would apply to this situation. Typic...

I'd have to imagine that the Minnesota delegation is lobbying like crazy to get federal infrastructure bill money to fill in the rest of the gap.

If your suggestion is that the enlightened few who show up for caucuses save us from the tyranny of unsophisticated DFL primary voters, I'd say that's a telling but not particularly compelling argument.

[Quick reminder that caucuses are terrible and should be eliminated.]

I think boosting internet connectivity through rural towns would be good. This is something that everybody loves to get behind, but where's the cut-off where a part of the state is too remote or too sparsely populated to justify extending this service to? Especially if there are satellite based opt...