urbanMSP

No way we should cap it. It's a natural valley. Ayd Mill should be two lanes (at least until connected to 94) and a linear park in the valley is a wonderful idea. Now that Amtrak is at Union Depot, can we reroute the train and reclaim the rail right-of-way? Do any freight lines run along there? Ext...

Usually they use the 747s for Air Force One. "Usually", because "Air Force One" is actually the call-sign of whatever aircraft is carrying the president, not the name of the aircraft itself. The familiar 747s used since 1990 are specially modified and are known as "VC-25A&q...

The longest runway at St Paul is just under 6500 feet which makes it impossible for anything bigger than a 737 to land there. Usually they use the 747s for Air Force One.

I believe the Short line was part of the Milwaukee's line to the west coast, the line in Hopkins is a part of that, Now it ends at Hiawatha just north of Lake Street.

Air Force One usually flies into MSP, and Bush stayed in DC due to a hurricane in the Gulf during the RNC. Besides the St Paul airport has restriction on bigger aircraft flying in. although I did see 2 C130s there a couple days after the convention.

4/22 would make more sense especially considering it's an 11,000 foot long runway and they usually use that for the heaviest aircraft.

I got on at Dale and went to Union Depot where they only used the eastbound platform both ways, then to East bank (lunch at Applebee's) then to Target Field, then back to Dale. Trains were going at a pretty good clip both ways and were crowded. No signal issues that I noticed although we stopped a c...

Pretty much all the signals (except the ones on the depot tracks) on the west side of the depot have been cut in already, everything on the east side still needs to be cut in (at least judging by the turned signals).

It pretty much depends on when BNSF activates the signals on the east side of the depot.

Anybody know why the trains stop at 11th Ave. then take off again? I've seen it twice recently going both ways.

Doubt it will be before spring, BNSF still has signals that need to be finished and they didn't want to do it over the winter.

I apologize for reserructing an old topic, but are there any new updates on this? I haven't seen anything about it on either St Paul's or ramsey county's websites. Thanks in advance!

Amtrak has their own crews (both operating and on-board) for their trains not BNSF. Basically Amtrak pays BNSF for use of the track and that's it and BNSF has a time slot for them to run and if they are out of that slot, they are screwed.

The main problems this time with the Builder is a TON of Oil (and other freight) traffic coming from North Dakota, and a lack of crews to run them. The cold doesn't help matters either nor does a single track mainline west of Minot.

If I may ask, what other testing needs to be done before the line opens?

Is there any way to get to the railfan park without having to pay for parking?

Amtrak owns the Northeast Corridor except from New York to New Haven, and the line from Porter, IN to somewhere near Detroit. They also own the tracks within a mile give or take of Union Station in Chicago. AFAIK they don't own any other track.

I saw them testing the trains today, one was being pulled by a hi-rail vehicle and the other was under it's own power. I saw them go as far as Robert Street. It looked like they were also activating the signals where the Green line splits.

Does anyone know when the bike path along the Blue line between downtown Mpls and Cedar riverside opens up again? Thanks!

Thanks for the pics Mulad! I'm seriously considering taking a peek myself at the activity.