I'm thinking that Milwaukee-Muskegon could turn a profit.
There used to be a ferry across the Royal Gorge? How'd they do that?
Too bad about the Tennesse Pass Route. A tourist train could do great on it by running Pueblo-SLC through the Pass and other scenic attractions. It could even make a profit off the tourists.The Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River has no ferry across it. Only the bridge, (the world's highest), plus an aerial tram, plus a funicular railway from the top of the gorge down to the former D&RGW station at the bottom. The Rio Grande tracks themselves are suspended by a 'Hanging Bridge' at that point. All in all, an interesting collection of engineering in one compact location. Unfortunately, the park is currently closed due to a devastating wildfire in June, and will need to be rebuilt.
Doesn't the Chicago Skyway cross the Calumet River? I remember what a savings in time it was, and well worth the toll, as compared with taking I-94. I also remember there used to be a Fred Harvey restaurant, at the toll plaza, similar to the Oasis rest stops on the Illinois Tollway. Now I believe it's a McDonald's.....Progress?
Here's a little more on the Maine <> NS "Nova Star" with some interior shots (the video link is the same as posted before)
Too bad about the Tennesse Pass Route. A tourist train could do great on it by running Pueblo-SLC through the Pass and other scenic attractions. It could even make a profit off the tourists.The Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River has no ferry across it. Only the bridge, (the world's highest), plus an aerial tram, plus a funicular railway from the top of the gorge down to the former D&RGW station at the bottom. The Rio Grande tracks themselves are suspended by a 'Hanging Bridge' at that point. All in all, an interesting collection of engineering in one compact location. Unfortunately, the park is currently closed due to a devastating wildfire in June, and will need to be rebuilt.
Doesn't the Chicago Skyway cross the Calumet River? I remember what a savings in time it was, and well worth the toll, as compared with taking I-94. I also remember there used to be a Fred Harvey restaurant, at the toll plaza, similar to the Oasis rest stops on the Illinois Tollway. Now I believe it's a McDonald's.....Progress?
Now that I check my maps, the Chicago Skyway does cross the Calumet River. The route sure is much faster than taking US 41 south from Lake Shore Drive. It must make a mighty profit for the private operators.
Once again, thanks for your great links and photo's!
From what it sounds like, the route is set pretty well for around a 10-hour run (give or take an hour). That basically means either one side of the trip per ship is overnight or you lose half of your potential equipment time...there was a railroad in New Zealand that did something like this on a major intercity run that was about 8-9 hours: They simply got a running pair of trains and ran each one way in the day and the other at night.
I haven’t seen any proposed schedule yet but when the Scotia Prince operated, it was 11 hours overnight to Yarmouth with a daytime return to Portland. But if you go back to the ‘70s......there were two ferries a day each way.
What about all the other tollways built in Illinois? If they were prohibitied by state law, why did the state build other tollways around of Chicago?Too bad about the Tennesse Pass Route. A tourist train could do great on it by running Pueblo-SLC through the Pass and other scenic attractions. It could even make a profit off the tourists.The Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River has no ferry across it. Only the bridge, (the world's highest), plus an aerial tram, plus a funicular railway from the top of the gorge down to the former D&RGW station at the bottom. The Rio Grande tracks themselves are suspended by a 'Hanging Bridge' at that point. All in all, an interesting collection of engineering in one compact location. Unfortunately, the park is currently closed due to a devastating wildfire in June, and will need to be rebuilt.
Doesn't the Chicago Skyway cross the Calumet River? I remember what a savings in time it was, and well worth the toll, as compared with taking I-94. I also remember there used to be a Fred Harvey restaurant, at the toll plaza, similar to the Oasis rest stops on the Illinois Tollway. Now I believe it's a McDonald's.....Progress?
Now that I check my maps, the Chicago Skyway does cross the Calumet River. The route sure is much faster than taking US 41 south from Lake Shore Drive. It must make a mighty profit for the private operators.
I'm not sure how the private operators are doing but the City of Chicago lost money for years on the Skyway. It only became profitable when a casino was built in Hammond on the Indiana state line.
By the way, the skyway is officially a bridge. The city was prohibited by state law from building a toll highway, but it could build a toll bridge, thus the Skyway is officially a bridge with very long approaches.
Do these Cable Ferries have their own power or are they pulled along a cable? I have very little knowledge about ferries.
The ferries are powered and pull themselves along the cable or use it as a guide. There is a lot of slack in the cable and it just falls away to the bottom so there is no impediment to navigation. You will see the cable in front of the ferry as it is pulling.....getting close to shore.
If the ferries themselves are powered, why not just get rid of the cable and sterr the boat across?
The other tollways were built by the state, which is allowed by state law. Municipalities are barred from building toll roads.What about all the other tollways built in Illinois? If they were prohibitied by state law, why did the state build other tollways around of Chicago?Too bad about the Tennesse Pass Route. A tourist train could do great on it by running Pueblo-SLC through the Pass and other scenic attractions. It could even make a profit off the tourists.The Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River has no ferry across it. Only the bridge, (the world's highest), plus an aerial tram, plus a funicular railway from the top of the gorge down to the former D&RGW station at the bottom. The Rio Grande tracks themselves are suspended by a 'Hanging Bridge' at that point. All in all, an interesting collection of engineering in one compact location. Unfortunately, the park is currently closed due to a devastating wildfire in June, and will need to be rebuilt.
Doesn't the Chicago Skyway cross the Calumet River? I remember what a savings in time it was, and well worth the toll, as compared with taking I-94. I also remember there used to be a Fred Harvey restaurant, at the toll plaza, similar to the Oasis rest stops on the Illinois Tollway. Now I believe it's a McDonald's.....Progress?
Now that I check my maps, the Chicago Skyway does cross the Calumet River. The route sure is much faster than taking US 41 south from Lake Shore Drive. It must make a mighty profit for the private operators.
I'm not sure how the private operators are doing but the City of Chicago lost money for years on the Skyway. It only became profitable when a casino was built in Hammond on the Indiana state line.
By the way, the skyway is officially a bridge. The city was prohibited by state law from building a toll highway, but it could build a toll bridge, thus the Skyway is officially a bridge with very long approaches.
Do these Cable Ferries have their own power or are they pulled along a cable? I have very little knowledge about ferries.
Just used Whites ferry las year. Saved me a ton of driving time to Dulles, from where I was. http://canal.mcmullans.org/whites_ferry.htm
The state should have just built the Skyway themselves.The other tollways were built by the state, which is allowed by state law. Municipalities are barred from building toll roads.What about all the other tollways built in Illinois? If they were prohibitied by state law, why did the state build other tollways around of Chicago?Too bad about the Tennesse Pass Route. A tourist train could do great on it by running Pueblo-SLC through the Pass and other scenic attractions. It could even make a profit off the tourists.The Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River has no ferry across it. Only the bridge, (the world's highest), plus an aerial tram, plus a funicular railway from the top of the gorge down to the former D&RGW station at the bottom. The Rio Grande tracks themselves are suspended by a 'Hanging Bridge' at that point. All in all, an interesting collection of engineering in one compact location. Unfortunately, the park is currently closed due to a devastating wildfire in June, and will need to be rebuilt.
Doesn't the Chicago Skyway cross the Calumet River? I remember what a savings in time it was, and well worth the toll, as compared with taking I-94. I also remember there used to be a Fred Harvey restaurant, at the toll plaza, similar to the Oasis rest stops on the Illinois Tollway. Now I believe it's a McDonald's.....Progress?
Now that I check my maps, the Chicago Skyway does cross the Calumet River. The route sure is much faster than taking US 41 south from Lake Shore Drive. It must make a mighty profit for the private operators.
I'm not sure how the private operators are doing but the City of Chicago lost money for years on the Skyway. It only became profitable when a casino was built in Hammond on the Indiana state line.
By the way, the skyway is officially a bridge. The city was prohibited by state law from building a toll highway, but it could build a toll bridge, thus the Skyway is officially a bridge with very long approaches.
Do these Cable Ferries have their own power or are they pulled along a cable? I have very little knowledge about ferries.
An update on the ferry between Nova Scotia and Maine. An official agreement was signed on September 6th 2013 between Nova Scotia's government and Quest Navigation worth CAD $21 million in direct subsidies over 7 years. Quest Navigation, a Maine company, is now in the final stages of finalizing the deal that would have them buying the ship "Nova Star" from Singapore-based ST Marine for use in this service. The ferry service is scheduled to begin in 2014 with a prospective schedule as follows:
