Inlight of the Lac-Megantic Rail explosion
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2...explosion.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montre...d.html?cmp=rss
Does your fair community have a rail line through town ?
Inlight of the Lac-Megantic Rail explosion
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2...explosion.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montre...d.html?cmp=rss
Does your fair community have a rail line through town ?
Oddball
Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?
Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here?
Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
From Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Are you sure you're not hurt ?
No. Just some parts wake up faster than others.
Broke parts take a little longer, though.
From Electric Horseman (1979)
We have several... in fact many are run by Canadian companies!
We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes - Fr Gabriel Richard 1805
Ours are all for grain.
Need a planner? Why not Dvd?
We pay for a different addiction: coal trains. Many, many coal trains. Nevertheless, Arkansas and now this. Our oil addiction will ensure we will be talking about accidents like these all too often.Originally posted by JNA
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Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
I've got one town with a railroad right through the middle. The train doesn't even stop in the town anymore; it's just thru freight. It's a traffic nightmare that we can't figure out how to solve, other than move the entire downtown over a few blocks to get around it, but then that puts rail crossings between downtown and the riverfront.
Aside from the runaway train issue (terrible, but statistically unusual), the crossing grades present way too many opportunities for collisions. Also bisects the town for fire and rescue purposes when a long train is creeping through.
Oh yeah. The railroad tracks go right through town. Back in the late 1980s, a Montana Rail Link train lost 48 freight cars near the top of Mullan Pass and the runaway cars ran downslope for about 12 miles before slamming into another train and derailing in town at about 50 mph or so. An explosion released toxic gas, there was a whole lot of properrty damage, but miraculously no one was killed.
http://www.calamityjanet.com/more-ab...ain-wreck.html
"I am very good at reading women, but I get into trouble for using the Braille method."
~ Otterpop ~
Breakbulk off-loaded at the port and steel pipe manufactured near the port is shipped by rail through town.
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place — like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
They made a big deal about this accident during my conductor training in Montana.
While I was working in Montana and North Dakota, there was about one derailment per month on the main lines and about the same amount in yards for various reasons.
On the ground, protecting the Cyburbia Shove since 2004.
I think my room in college was about 50 feet or so from the railroad tracks. The railroad line included both freight and passenger services. In my hometown, there are two different rail lines. One is the far outskirts of the city (canyon) and provides freight infrastructure and the other line, which bisects downtown, is currently abandoned (though the ROW is still there). Right now they are doing the environmental review in order to convert the abandoned lines into a light-rail type system for the city, which will connect to the larger regional rail service.
Has any analysis been done on doing a grade-separated crossing?
And that concludes staff’s presentation...
Yes, our rail line runs right through downtown (in fact, Central Avenue used to be called Railroad Avenue). It runs a regional commuter line, Amtrak and freight at various times. Where I live and work there are still some old spurs that served industry. Some nasty pollution under them rails.
The purpose of life is a life of purpose
As the unofficial central rail hub of North America, the Chicago area has some of the busiest rail lines, many of which incorporate both freight and passenger service, including national passenger (Amtrak) and local commuter (Metra). The commuter rail system is I think 2nd only to New York's in terms of ridership and frequency of service, and Chicago is a significant hub for dozens of Amtrak lines, both regional and national. The Union Pacific West and Burlington Northern Santa Fe lines, which extend west out of Chicago, are also two of the busiest freight lines in North America. Luckily, things seem pretty well-managed in that we have thankfully not had many significant train derailments, explosions, etc. in recent years, especially given how busy the rail lines are here and all of the things that need to be considered and coordinated. More problematic are the large amount of level crossings, which make many suburban Chicago communities ground-zero for train-pedestrian and train-car incidents. Some are suicides, but many are accidents, many of which result from pedestrians and drivers that fail to look before crossing or fail to obey rail crossing signals.
"Life's a journey, not a destination"
-Steven Tyler
It's been talked about, but no land, no money.
The railroad is a funny thing in that it has at times been percieved as a harbinger of freedom and boon to development as when they first began building the rail lines into formerly remote areas of the country back in the mid to late 1800's. They have also at one time been THE mode of transportation for the nation, then more recently a cheaper and effective mode of freight movement that is almost seen as a nuisance to most communities because of the noise and potential traffic obstruction that comes with it. Still, there is a huge following of railheads who will flock to places where they can catch glimpses and photos of many different types of locomotives in action.
I have an interesting relationship with the railroad, I suppose. I was in a railway unit during my time in the Army so learned all about locomotive and railcar maintenance and operations. I laid track by hand and with machinery. I had a model railroad setup in my old house that I started when I was a pre-teen and improved until I left home at 18. I have a cousin who always was fascinated by trains so moved to a remote corner of Illinois where he would be close to a major switchyard. A cousin of mine worked his way up from a switchman to VP of Southern Pacific (before it was acquired by UP) and then was CEO of a railroad in Brazil for several years. He has all kinds of really cool railroad memorabilia he's collected over the years, from old spikes and crossing gates to scale models of locomotives he helped design and manage. His son is now working for the railroad, too.
There are some tracks near where I live now that run down to Tucson. Trains probably roll through there 10 or more times a day carrying coal, gravel, or automobiles. In my old community there were tracks that went through but it only served one industrial facility (Solo Cup), so maybe 2 trains per week went through carrying only a few cars. The old passenger station had been converted to a playhouse. The city had formerly been home to the Big 4 Railroad shops where it employed hundreds of workers. All of those buildings were torn down decades before to make way for redevelopment. Some wanted the tracks decommisioned and turned into a rails to trails pathway. Only way that will happen will be if the factory closes, which would be too bad because it employs around 600 people.
"When life gives you lemons, just say 'No thanks'." - Henry Rollins
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