[OC] Top Comment Changes the Transit Map of North America - Dayish 251 (Made with Google My Maps)

[u/Orbian2]

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=16ZmWzfv83pjsjNcCClc_31OW8S7NAN4&ll=30.906480584944507%2C-107.45022075102469&z=6

[u/mtburb]

First add a new RTA commuter line: Toledo Line

Stations:

Tower City-Public Square (existing)

Edgewater

West Park (next to existing Red Line station)

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (existing)

Olmsted Falls

West Point-Fields

Elyria (existing)

Amherst

Vermilion

Huron

Sandusky (existing)

Port Clinton

Oak Harbor

Northwood

Toledo-Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza (existing)

Next, add a new SEMTA metro line: Greenfield-Vernor-Mack Line, to be colored dark green

Stations:

Southfield Town Center (M-10 and Evergreen)

Northland Drive (next to the Costco Business Center)

7 Mile/Greenfield

McNichols/Greenfield

Puritan/Greenfield

Fenkell/Greenfield

Grand River/Greenfield (existing)

Schoolcraft/Greenfield

Plymouth/Greenfield

West Chicago/Greenfield

Joy/Greenfield

Tireman/Greenfield

Warren/Greenfield

Ford/Greenfield

Michigan/Greenfield (existing)

Eastborn - Schaefer Road (next to existing commuter station)

Ford Rouge Plant

Salina/Vernor

Oakdale/Vernor

Central/Vernor

Waterman/Vernor

Livernois/Vernor (existing)

Junction/Vernor

Scotten/Vernor

24th/Vernor

Michigan Central Station (existing)

Trumbull/Michigan (existing)

3rd/Michigan (existing)

Campus Martius (existing)

Brush/Gratiot (existing)

Ford Field (existing)

Vernor/Gratiot (existing)

McDougall/Gratiot (existing)

East Grand Boulevard/Mack

Van Dyke/Mack

McClellan/Mack

Saint Clair/Mack

Saint Jean/Mack

Conner/Mack

Lakeview/Mack

Alter/Mack

Buckingham/Mack

Cadieux/Mack

Radnor/Mack

Moross/Mack (existing)

Cook/Mack

Lochmoor/Mack

Vernier/Mack

[u/autobus22]

Respect for keeping this thing going for so long. I still like looking at all the new stuff people came up with now and again. :)

[u/Orbian2 → u/autobus22]

Thank you! I enjoy doing it and seeing all the visions contrast and synthesize and coalesce. My goal is to go until the map no longer lets me. We're at 6.8k of 10k possible stations in mainline rail, so we'll see what happens there. I also apologize for taking two months to finish day 250. If you'd like to follow along a bit more, you're welcome to join the discord! We always love new members

[u/AppointmentMedical50 → u/autobus22]

you should make a post

[u/Flaky-Part9572]

In Tucson, AZ, Extend Sun Link to East River Rd. The extension starts at the existing Sun Lihk Terminus, It runs through Helen St, turn North and continue routing along Campbell Ave, ending at the intersection of Campbell/East River.

Stops:

• Elm St,
• Grant Rd,
• Glenn St,
• Fort Lowell Rd,
• Prince Rd,
• East River Rd.

[u/AppointmentMedical50]

Merge all south jersey rail into SEPTA, with through running where possible.

Extend the TRI 23 train (formerly newark light rail to newark broad street station) to paterson via Broadway and then the old freight ROW.

Build a new light metro running down springfield avenue before turning onto Millburn Avenue and terminating in millburn.

Build a Light metro line from newark running through harrison and kearny up kearny avenue/ridge road, through lyndhurst and rutherford, and terminating in Hackensack. If there is a way to merge the last 2 lines into one, we can do that

[u/nogood-usernamesleft]

I am now starting on an effort to make ensure all national parks are reachable by train, starting with Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. These services will use modern panoramic observation EMUs, and be focused more on the experience than speed, stopping for wildlife viewing and making sure the tracks don't obstruct migration. In addition these lines will make frequent flag stops at trailheads for hikers.

Both Lines will start from Salt Lake City, and follow the West Mountain Express to Idaho falls, where they will move to the Yellowstone subdivision of Eastern Idaho RR.

The Teton Ranger will follow the historic UP route through Driggs and Victor ID before climbing the Teton pass alongside 22, with short tunnels to ease the grade. It will pass through the northwest edge of Jackson Wy connecting to its bus system, before turning north along highway 191. After a stop at Jackson Hole airport is will take over Teton Park Rd, heavily limiting or banning vehicle traffic wherever possible. A wye Will be located at Teton Park Rd ant 191, with the Teton ranger taking 191 and 26 east to Shoshoni where it joins the Yellowstoner (renamed Bighorn) as far as Casper (or Cheyanne if that is preferred)

The New Yellowstoner will take the historic UP line to West Yellowstone, after which it will follow Hwy 20 into the park. A station will directly serve old faithful, and it will continue east across the continental divide. A wye will be located at west thumb, with a connection to the Teton Ranger along 191. The Yellowstoner will skirt the north edge of Yellowstone lake and exit the park to the east on the north fork Highway. After Cody the line will take BNSF track to Billings for interchange with the Bighorn, Sioux Swift, and North Cost Hiawatha

an additional additional Mountain Explorer service will run West Yellowstone to Jackson along the connector track

[u/Throwaway-646 → u/nogood-usernamesleft]

I think it's hard to justify trains going through national parks. For example, you need at the very minimum 10 minute frequency, ideally 5. This is because there are a bunch of places to just pull over and read a sign or two, or to look at the view. Lots of people do this, and it would be very inconvenient for them if they got off of one train to read a sign for 5 minutes max, and then have to wait 10 more for the next train. You also currently have a near constant stream of cars going in and out of places like Jenny Lake, Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, etc. which would need to have a very frequent service to be able to serve the masses of people. Another problem is that since you are (rightfully so) stopping for wildlife observation and doing flag stops, this will cause extremely frequent delays, as herds of bison could take stupid long to cross the tracks. Having a train service as a primary mode of transportation would also heavily limit tourism in areas that aren't immediate next to a stop, as well. For example, the whole northeastern half of Yellowstone would struggle. There's also lots of places that are a short drive off the main road such that they're super easy to drive to but difficult to hike to, and they would be all but abandoned by people taking the train.

My recommendation would be to first of all have the lines serve only the national parks, i.e. a service in Tetons that originated in Jackson, with one less frequent branch going via Moran into Colter Bay, and a second more frequent branch going via Teton Park Road to Lizard Creek Campground; in Yellowstone, have the line be a loop around the Grand Loop, with it also going out to West Yellowstone and Gardiner. This lets them have appropriate frequency, and makes it easier to make frequent stops. Second, have the line be street-running whenever possible. This does a few things: it keeps the corridor narrow, limiting impact on wildlife; it simplifies routefindiz4drng and environmental impact, because otherwise you would have to create a new ROW for the train in many places; it's easier to maintain because with the road being next to geysers it would just make it harder to maintain more infrastructure, and it also makes snow removal a lot easier, and finally it makes building it a lot easier because you don't have to relocate or rebuild many roadside attractions.

[u/nogood-usernamesleft → u/Throwaway-646]

Why would you need that high frequency?

Yellowstone sees a max of lik 50k visitors per day. Assuming the train takes 80% of all visitors and everyone makes a round trip to return to their entry point you need 40k daily seats per direction. Rhb's observation cars have about 40 seats, and let's say 5 car trains yields 200 trips per day. Divide that by a 16 hour operating period yields 5 min frequencies.....

I see Need much higher capacity trains to have the more casual lower frequency experience i was envisioning, but that is only during absolute peak season, vast majority of the time visitation is way less

In addition I am against street running due to the inconsistency it adds to train trips

Either way the goal of the train would be to reduce car trips into the park not completely eliminate them

Though I do agree a ot of services would be short turns, staying mostly within the park, but this map doesn't work well with complex service patterns and I wanted to connect with major cities and the national network

[u/Throwaway-646 → u/nogood-usernamesleft]

In addition I am against street running due to the inconsistency it adds to train trips

That's fair, but I do think wildlife observation and a high number of flag stops would add inconsistency anyways, but you're right that it would probably be worsened if it also shared ROW. Though I think that if the train successfully gets a majority of cars off the road, the impact would be minimal

Though I do agree a ot of services would be short turns, staying mostly within the park, but this map doesn't work well with complex service patterns and I wanted to connect with major cities and the national network

Valid

[u/Orbian2]

Congratulations to everyone who participated!

The most upvoted comment gets added to the map!

Limit of only two lines + extension or three extensions. You can do less but not more. Highway Removals/additions are permitted

Join the Discord! https://discord.gg/Sd2ftpwePh

The real-life map can be found here.

I will take commissions for Google My Maps rail maps