PHIL WIELAND: Welcome to Indiana's high-speed malfunction junction

The focus of the high-speed train world in the Midwest suddenly is on the town of Porter. I hope the attention doesn't go to the town's head.

Europe and Japan love high-speed trains. America, not so much. The federal government occasionally gives someone a truckload of cash for fixing up tracks so trains don't have to tiptoe along. Amtrak then must make its schedules even more inconvenient to avoid having annoying passengers clambering to board.

The latest recipient of the government's high speed largess was Michigan, which got $196.5 million to put a spit shine on the tracks planned as part of the Chicago-to-Detroit corridor. They got another $173 million for the corridor last year, but apparently they ran out of spit.

It could soon leave only the Indiana segment of the route to be "modernized." In this case, "modern" means bringing them up to late 19th century or early 20th century form, the last time U.S. trains approached 100 mph when not caught in a buffalo stampede.

The heart of the Indiana segment is the Porter junction, where about 90 freight and 14 passenger trains from Norfolk Southern, CSX and Amtrak do a delicate daily dodge and weave of delays through the maze of rails at the Porter-Chesterton border.

Indiana got approval for $71.4 million two years ago for the junction work and to update the tracks and signals all the way to the Illinois line. They are still trying to get the railroads to agree to the project. Meanwhile, a projected 703 construction jobs are in limbo.

Some think, if the rail work is done on either side of the Indiana segment, it will speed resolution of those problems here and trains will soon be zipping through the junction. These people apparently believe in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and intelligent design.

I'm reminded of a song from my youth, which I have rewritten for the occasion. I hope you'll join me now in the theme from "Petticoat Junction" as we sing ...

"Come and ride the Amtrak train when it's speeding down the tracks through the junction. (Porter town junction)

"If they ever get it built we'll all have heart attacks at the junction. (Porter town junction)

"Lots of trains, you bet, all converge when you get to the junction. (Porter town junction)

"There's a pile of fed'ral cash that could modernize the rails at the junction. (Porter town junction)

"So the trains don't have to move like some arth-a-ritic snails through the junction. (Porter town junction)

"But the railroads all know life is better when it's slow at the junction.

"Porter town junction."

The opinions are those of the writer. He can be reached at phil.wieland@nwi.com or (219) 548-4352.