Ted,
The fill is wide enough for two tracks. I do not know
if any material was removed from Trempealeau
Mountain for that project. You may be looking at
evidence from the original construction. From
the Northwest corner of Termpealeau Mountain to
Winona Jct it was/is all fill. Before the Railroads
came there was no usable land there at all.
The C&NW stayed up against the bluff, the GB&W
built out towards the river on fill. The CB&Q built
in a generally straight line.
A little over 10'000 of the original Eastward track is
still there. It is configured as a siding and from a
Dispatching standpoint is just about useless. Every
Manager that comes to La Crosse proposes connecting
the siding with the Eastward track at MP 323.65 but
it just never seems to get approved. That would be a
cheap first step, putting in a second track from East
Winona to Winona Jct would be more expensive but
would require very little, if any, fill work. You would
lose the road but since almost all of the line along the
river has no access road this would be a minor issue.
You can drive all the way in from the former C&NW
crossing to MP 323.65. Have done it dozens of times
myself.
After Mr. Murphy retired the CB&Q was plagued with
weak leadership. The money was there but it was not
spent. Track conditions went downhill all over the
Railroad.
Russ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted Schnepf" <railsunl@f...>
To: <BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, 12 August, 2002 21:35
Subject: Re: [BRHSlist] Western Ave
> At 05:49 PM 8/12/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> >Norm,
> >
> >Almost to this day he is still blamed for restoring the
> >washed out area at East Winona as single track after
> >the 1965 flood.
> >
> >Russ
>
> When you look across the Mississippi River from the Minnesota side and see
> the gash in the side of "Trempleau (sp) Mountain". The Q would have moved
> all of that hill to provide a double track in that area, and this would
> have taken many more months and of course a great deal more money. Could
> the Q have afforded such a huge undertaking in 1965?
>
>
> Rails Unlimited
> Ted Schnepf
> 126 Will Scarlet
> Elgin, Ill 60120
> 847-697-5353 or 847-697-5366
> railsunl@f...
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