Western Railroad Discussion > Mason St. in snow today, motorist oops, past 2 day views

Photos 1 and 2 - Very early this morning on these short days, a southbound Cheyenne-Denver train whistles down Mason St. in Fort Collins, CO, breaking the snow built up on the railheads as this was the first train in several hours. It is led by former Warbonnet swoosh BNSF 703. I am standing on the rooftop deck of the alfresco dining area of The Boot Grill, and those are bus transit shelters on either side of the street. In the second view it starts across the eastern edge of the CSU college campus as a woman walking on the sidewalk holds both hands to her ears to lessen the shrieking locomotive horns.

​Photo 3 - This unfortunate motorist took a turn a bit too fast on the ice to get onto Mason St., and bounced right over a curb, hanging a front tire over the side next to the BNSF main in the middle of the street, barely missing a reflector post. It happened in front of me (photo is through my windshield), and luckily for the driver, the southbound train, going the 25 mph allowed, had just cleared. This to me exposes a weakness that I see in this curbing construction as opposed to the continuous level crossing method this replaced. The traffic lanes are shoehorned next to the main so close, especially on this, the northbound lane, that there is no room left next to a train when snow and ice is ramped up next to the curbing and this happens. Even with this vehicle, it was not able to pull itself out of this position, as fifteen minutes later when I got home, the Front Range Dispatcher was issuing a warning about this vehicle blocking the tracks. Suppose the 25mph train was still going over the crossing when this happened next to it!
The city would like to make this street a no-whistle zone, but the FRA has said that fencing would have to be installed the entire length, including where the truck is in this photo, of course open at the intersecting street crossings. On top of being an eyesore and a garbage collector, it would need frequent repairs as would have been the result here.

There's mooore...



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/16 11:31 by highgreengraphics.

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Photo 4 - Thanks to a headsup from the other TO poster who posted shots of this, bright and early yesterday morning, a sand load for Great Western Railway at North Yard in Fort Collins crosses the Cache LaPoudre River, in Fort Collins, CO. The lead locomotive is an ex-UP SD70ACU rebuilt and repainted by NS. The first two units were detached and finished the trip light to Cheyenne. Note that these two units went southbound again on the ex-C&S as in Photos 1 and 2.

​Photo 5 - A full-light view of the ex-UP SD70ACU at North Yard in Fort Collins, CO. Hard to believe it was yellow...

Photo 6 - SD60M 1444 on the Longmont Local is beginning its return trip to Longmont, CO as it crosses the Cache LaPoudre River in Fort Collins, CO. The center SD40-2 has a frsh BNSF swoosh paint job.

There's mooore...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/16 16:21 by highgreengraphics.

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Guide rail or Jersey Barrier might have prevented this. But the appearance of both may not be pleasing to the eye compared to what is there now, plus maintenance of guide rail when dented. Also may not be desired by railroad.

Photo 7 - Well, in between the last two trains, the UP Local from LaSalle, CO traveled through Fort Collins, crossing the BNSF and going up the branch north of Fort Collins to Boettcher and the Holcim Cement Plant loadout. The train of inbound loads was heavy today, leading to the assignment of five big road engines for the steep grade leading to the cement loadout. Here it is backing upgrade into the plant, which no longer is a producing plant but is used to load trucks from the cement shipped in by rail from Florence, CO.

​Photo 8 - And the diamond the UP Local used is being run across the other way by the Longmont Local departing Fort Collins the day before on 12 -05, with the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery in the background.

​Photo 9 - One more, of a loaded concrete tie unit train going north, here approaching North Yard in Fort Collins, CO earlier in the day on 12-05. Yes, the entire train was loaded concrete tie flatcars.

Happy local railfanning! === === = === JLH

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Continuous pavement across tracks with flexible traffic delineators between train and traffic might improve visibility in snow and inclement weather. Or add traffic delineators to top of existing curbs. Again appearance compared to what is there now may not be pleasing to the community.

highgreengraphics Wrote:
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> ​Photo 3 - This unfortunate motorist took a turn
> a bit too fast on the ice to get onto Mason St.,
> and bounced right over a curb, hanging a front
> tire over the side next to the BNSF main in the
> middle of the street, barely missing a reflector
> post. It happened in front of me, and luckily for
> the driver, the sothbound train had just cleared.
> This to me exposes a weakness that I see in this
> curbing construction as opposed to the continuous
> level crossing method this replaced. The traffic
> lanes are shoehorned next to the main so close,
> especially on this, the northbound lane, that
> there is no room left next to a train when snow
> and ice is ramped up next to the curbing and this
> happens. Even with this vehicle, it was not able
> to pull itself out of this position, as fifteen
> minutes later when I got home, the Front Range
> Dispatcher was issuing a warning about this
> vehicle blocking the tracks.

Well, what do you expect from a Chevy?

Seriously though, I agree with nm2320. This should be continueous pavement across the tracks. In snow country, have the 18" tall yellow reflecter thingies.

Or the more obvious solution, get drivers to get their collective head out of their phone (or wherever else it might be).

Out

callum_out Wrote:
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> Or the more obvious solution, get drivers to get
> their collective head out of their phone (or
> wherever else it might be).
>
> Out

Even the best of drivers can on occasion find them self sliding a bit on slippery pavement. Like the OP said, this was a case of just a bit too fast on the corner. Nothing major, just a simple little slide. What makes this a problem is it drops off onto the RR roadbed. That is a bad design. Any other configuration, a normal curb, more pavement, the vehicle probably would have slid another couple feet then continue on the way.

I agree that fully paving would make that part of things much better though rail maintenance suffers.
Series of bolt on pavers much as used on some crossings would sure help.

Out

NICE pics!!

callum_out Wrote:
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> Or the more obvious solution, get drivers to get
> their collective head out of their phone (or
> wherever else it might be).
>
> Out

When driving in snowy, icy conditions. You don't need a cell phone to get into trouble.

The lighting in the last one is really neat!

Marty

Great show, Jim.  I still have to get into Avogadro's Number.   Gerry

jst3751 Wrote:
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> This should be continueous pavement across
> the tracks. In snow country, have the 18" tall
> yellow reflecter thingies.

In places where there is continuous pavement the maintenance costs are higher. NICTD in Michigan City is trying to get rid of their continuous pavement "street running" segments. They plan to move the railroad south of the current alignment to get out of 10th St and change 11th St to be a double track exposed railroad with a single eastbound lane for road traffic.

Every time there is an issue with the tracks in Michigan City (or other "paved across the tracks" locations) the railroad has to remove the asphalt to get to the tracks. Track inspectors cannot see the ties and how well the rail is attached unless the asphalt is removed. Mile long crossings are not optimal.

As a driver I appreciate the "pavement across the tracks" as it gives a margin of error in case a car leaves a lane due to an accident or incident. The curb pictured above made a minor oops a major problem. Perhaps a better design where the balast was at road level and solid enough to drive off of would be helpful. But pavement across the tracks is an expensive solution.

Awesome photos.

Very nice stuff, Jim! Congrats of IOTD. The snow shots on Mason Street came out really nice.

John Crisanti
Longmont, CO

callum_out Wrote:
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> Or the more obvious solution, get drivers to get
> their collective head out of their phone (or
> wherever else it might be).
>
> Out

far easier to insert a few dozen reflector poles than it is to extract several hundred heads...

People are amazing, though you have to give some leeway because there are a number of warmer climate people having
recently moved into the Longmont/Ft Collins corridor. But it's like Reno, which sees snow every year and people lose their
minds every time a little snow hits. It was so bad that before 5 PM everyday the city spotted tow trucks and police units at
the I-80/395 Spaghetti Bowl knowing full well what was going to happen. I know everyone now wants to be kind and dismissive
of bonehead moves but in the end this comes down to the driver's actions.

Out

justalurker66 Wrote:
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> jst3751 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This should be continueous pavement across
> > the tracks. In snow country, have the 18" tall
> > yellow reflecter thingies.
>
> In places where there is continuous pavement the
> maintenance costs are higher. NICTD in Michigan
> City is trying to get rid of their continuous
> pavement "street running" segments. They plan to
> move the railroad south of the current alignment
> to get out of 10th St and change 11th St to be a
> double track exposed railroad with a single
> eastbound lane for road traffic.
>
> Every time there is an issue with the tracks in
> Michigan City (or other "paved across the tracks"
> locations) the railroad has to remove the asphalt
> to get to the tracks. Track inspectors cannot see
> the ties and how well the rail is attached unless
> the asphalt is removed. Mile long crossings are
> not optimal.
>
> As a driver I appreciate the "pavement across the
> tracks" as it gives a margin of error in case a
> car leaves a lane due to an accident or incident.
> The curb pictured above made a minor oops a major
> problem. Perhaps a better design where the balast
> was at road level and solid enough to drive off of
> would be helpful. But pavement across the tracks
> is an expensive solution.

I get that it is much more expensive both in terms of installation and in maintenance. However the problem with having the tracks at pavement level but having gravel between the rail and pavement is that over time that gravel is going to end up against the rail and between the rails and they will still have to move it to inspect the ties.

The city is very aware that there are no easy answers, I certainly liked it better when it was paved across and only one-way traffic, but it is what it is now, and it is easier maintenance and inspection for the railroad. === === = === JLH