Western Railroad Discussion > An interesting rail post found on the web

A Tail of Two Cities
From: Fullerton & Placentia Ca.
Date: 07 May 2001
Time: 12:05:01


Comments
On Saturday I had some time off so I went to Fullerton Ca. "Railroad Days" where the City honors the Old Santa Fe (New BNSF) with a festival with Model trains, food, live entertainment, and displays of railroad equipment including the Steam Engine 3751. I saw lots of people of all ages enjoying themselves, as trains would pass everyone would wave and smile at the passing trains and it just about brought a tear to my eye! I felt proud to work for the Railroad and to run through the City of Fullerton.....

Now just down the tracks (next to the city of Fullerton) you have an entirely different world! as in the Spoiled-Brat capitol of the world the City of Placentia! Where in the past 2 months I have been rocked, flipped off, threatened by the citizens and the city council that I might be bombed, arrested, or ticketed for doing our jobs aka whistling because the City refuses to stop trespassers from getting in our way! Fullerton has put in 6 overpasses and closed 1 crossing over the years leaving 3 in the City on the East side in which they are going to become underpasses. So except for the occasional Trespasser we never whistle from just East Of Valley View Ave to Raymond Street (about 6 miles!) The Lazy City of Placentia has 10 at grade crossings! WHY!? Why hasn’t this lazy City closed at least 1/2 of them and put the major streets in Underpasses! Because they would rather show their worthless, lazy, stupid side in threading me and the railroad and letting there people trespass!!! I think if these Spoiled Brats were to try something, if I was in charge of the railroad I would get a work train and drop K-Rail dividers at every crossing in Placentia and tell them there right to pass is revoked and the good news is now we won't have to whistle! I hope to come back to railroad days next year, in the mean time I will wave at the people of Fullerton and flip off the spoiled brats of Placentia!! God Bless Fullerton!!! PLACENTIA!!!

Who came first, the railroad or the City?

fullerton is a mature city that has coexisted with the railroad for
years, the people understand/respect the railroad. the same coexistence can be found in kansas, illinois, arizona, etc. where the
towns grew up with the railroad. placentia (and other towns in the santa ana canyon) is a developing city where people with money are moving in and buying property next to the right of way without understanding the ramifications. (a railroader would not get a motel room near a major grade xing on a transcon mainline)
-
years ago, in flagstaff, an idiot wondered why the trains had to go right through town. he wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper suggesting that then a.t.s.f. build a re-route main line around the city, totally unaware that the city was there because the railroad went through it, also unaware of the staggering cost of a re-route, also unaware of the boost to the local economy that the many railroaders paychecks provided.
-
you have people who don't understand how goods and services get to them. it takes transportation, manufacturing, plants, real work by real people to keep things going. spoiled brats are raised by spoiled, idiot parents.
-
i think engineers who whistle through placentia are refered to as renegade engineers by the city council. very pathetic!!

Don't whistle through the town. See how long it takes them to blame you for the deaths it causes. Better yet, place a permanent 5 mph speed restriction through there because of the safety issues. That'll get their attention.

From what i understand the Placentia city seal has a train on it.
HOW IRONIC!....and yes the railroad was there first.

George

Love to hear those horns! Reminds me of the folks who live near Seal Beach NWS who complain about the possibility of nukes being stored there.