Modernizing the Erie Canal

A very interesting idea. I don't know what condition the Erie canal is in today. It may need to be deepened, expanded, made wider, locks rebuilt, etc. Transportation vessels would have to be built to suit increased traffic and types of materials to be transported. Railroads is another viable solution, but again trackage has been abandoned, torn up and at the very least would be in a high deteriorated state. The only other option is over-the-road trucking.

Ronseto, you should look at the railroads again. They are in the best shape that they have ever been in, in the past 30-40 years! In the last 10 years, there has been a lot of track installed and put back in, not to mention the heavy investment into infrastructure.

The locks on the Erie Canal don't look big enough for major shipping. Maybe that's why there is talk of modernizing it. Regardless, it sure looks like a slow way to ship anything.

I haven't been back to that area of the country in over 50 years so I have no idea what condition the railroads are in. If they are in as good a shape as you say, I think that would be the way to go. Thanks for the RR update.

Since I receive barge pushes up the Mississippi and Ohio to Pittsburgh on occasion (the depth of Winter included), I think the Canal as it now stands could take the barges.

We had 7 ships fully loaded come into The Port of Albany and up the Hudson from NYC last year because The Albany Port has the cheapest stevedore and docking rates on the Mideast Atlantic Coast. From there the product (SAW Line Pipe) was transferred to trucks and shipped to Western NY. Comparative costs for barge would have been cheaper.

Sometime this year several more ships are bound for Ashtabula, OH and they would have to come thru the Seaway. If the economy had not crashed in late 2008, an attempt to ship thru the Seaway before winter shutdown was contemplated. In this era of fast tracking and just in time, the Seaway is becoming a bit obsolete if it cannot be used in winter.

The RRs are much more expensive than other ground methods and are slower in most cases, but they have improved the infrastructure of what was left after lines were decommissioned.

I knew that it was cheaper by barge on the Mississippi, but until recently, I thought the St Lawrence was open year round.

I drive by the Erie several times a year and have stopped to watch. All I have ever seen has been pleasure boats. I guess I haven't been there at the right time. I did know one person that was relocated to upper NY, and he decided to use the canel to bring his very large pleasure boat to his new home. After the trip, he said "next time, it's going by truck".

I can only quote about Seaway and I may have been misinformed.

Something worth checking on later.

I favor the RRs over trucking for the large and long hauls, probably part nostalgia on my part.

I wonder if any Infrastructure monies from the Stimulus will be allotted to these alternatives to Highways and Bridges?

Good question. Probally if the infrastucture is state owned, yes. From what I read, the rr's don't like to "get in bed" with the government, too many strings.

By the way, my hobby is railroads, but I also realize that they are not the answer for eveything in transportation.

As someone who lives in this general area, I cant honestly say it wouldnt be a waste of taxpayer money while there is a perfectly functioning rail system running from NYC all the way to Buffalo, alongside the Hudson and Mohawk rivers for which the canal is based on, stopping in all major cities except Troy (which is close enough to albany anyway) and maybe Amsterdam (I cant remember). Rail spurs even already exist to bring cargo directly into large manufacturing facillities such as the GE plant in Schenectady.