Western Railroad Discussion > Coaster threatening to put up a 6 foot chainlink fence in Del Mar

Coaster is trying to block access to the bluff and the beach. The city wrote a letter to the NCTD and will be releasing it to the public today. The mayor says that the fence will destabilize the bluff.





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/22 06:55 by Sp1110.

NCTD is trying to block off tresspassing on their right of way. Not block off beach access.

People need to cross the right of way to get to the beach.

Sp1110 Wrote:
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> People need to cross the right of way to get to
> the beach.

Pleeeeze.
People may want to cross the right of way but they don't have the right to do so except at official grade crossings.

 

If you know anything about Del Mar and its government,  planning for and execution of a project can be an extremely long process.  I worked with them on a new City Hall financing for over two years and 28 years later the old dump is still there and functioning quite nicely.   Any fence will last about a week before holes appear wherever the traditional crossings are.   But just in case,  I suggest getting your photos soon.  I need one more spring to get shots with flowers in the foreground.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/22 07:51 by masterphots.

Sp1110 Wrote:
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> People need to cross the right of way to get to
> the beach.


That's called trespassing.

Get your shots now!

Posted from iPhone

Also not necessarily true. California has a code of some type, or had, that allows crossing of railroad right of way when a crossing is more than a certain distance away. I do not recall number or exact distance.
JB

AlcoRSD15 Wrote:
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> Get your shots now!
>
> Posted from iPhone

Tetanus can be annoying

NCTD's been threatening to put up the fence for nearly two years now. The Del Martians have been universally opposed to it, but they're also opposed to the railroad running at all. There's a vocal NIMBY group that's highly connected to the Del Mar political apparatus which claims the Railroad is responsible for bluff ersosion and destroys the natural beauty of the area, and it should be relocated at a minimum or preferably shut down entirely. I pointed out that engineering studies have shown the largest contributor to erosion is actually people (illegally) walking along and up/down the bluffs, and how their concern for the "natural beauty" of the bluffs magically vanished when they wanted to bulldoze dozens of acres along the bluffs to build two parks covered with concrete, lawn grass, and unnatural and highly invasive plants like ice plant.  That got me booted from their Facebook group. 

An ideal compromise would be to build some ped bridges over the ROW in a couple locations where most people hike down to the beach (there was one such bridge back in the day), and enforce trespassing charges along the rest of the bluffs. This won't solve the erosion problem, but I doubt the fence will either. 

suvart Wrote:
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> NCTD's been threatening to put up the fence for
> nearly two years now. The Del Martians have been
> universally opposed to it, but they're also
> opposed to the railroad running at all. There's a
> vocal NIMBY group that's highly connected to the
> Del Mar political apparatus which claims the
> Railroad is responsible for bluff ersosion and
> destroys the natural beauty of the area, and it
> should be relocated at a minimum or preferably
> shut down entirely. I pointed out that engineering
> studies have shown the largest contributor to
> erosion is actually people (illegally) walking
> along and up/down the bluffs, and how their
> concern for the "natural beauty" of the bluffs
> magically vanished when they wanted to bulldoze
> dozens of acres along the bluffs to build two
> parks covered with concrete, lawn grass, and
> unnatural and highly invasive plants like ice
> plant.  That got me booted from their Facebook
> group. 
>
> An ideal compromise would be to build some ped
> bridges over the ROW in a couple locations where
> most people hike down to the beach (there was one
> such bridge back in the day), and enforce
> trespassing charges along the rest of the bluffs.
> This won't solve the erosion problem, but I doubt
> the fence will either. 

That's NIMBYS in a heartbeat, tell the truth and have the facts, and they really get offended!

SDNR is claiming that they have been sued by the families of people that were run over by trains. They say it is a safety issue. The board chair said that today’s trains on the line are quieter than in years past. Is that true?

BNSF will probably prefer that the fence go up. Do they still run GP60s on that line? What about B units? If the bluff collapses underneath the track, BNSF may have to look into taking over the Desert Line of the SD&AE.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/22 22:32 by Sp1110.

For those unfamilier with the area, enjoy...

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Sp1110 Wrote:
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> SDNR is claiming that they have been sued by the
> families of people that were run over by trains.
> They say it is a safety issue. The board chair
> said that today’s trains on the line are quieter
> than in years past. Is that true?
>
> BNSF will probably prefer that the fence go up. Do
> they still run GP60s on that line? What about B
> units? If the bluff collapses underneath the
> track, BNSF may have to look into taking over the
> Desert Line of the SD&AE.

How many people have been killed by a Coaster train since they started operating 25 years ago?  Has the railroad posted names, dates and locations,  as well as citing the lawsuits.  Probably not.   Unless the railroad wants to have 24/7 guard checkpoints they will never keep people off the bluffs.  After 100 years or so,  it's in the DNA of locals, so to speak.   Having lived around there for 35 years,   I can think of four deaths,  the worst being at the Del Mar Amtrak station when a Santa Fe freight killed two women when one thought she'd miss her Amtrak train and ran across the tracks and tripped.  The second woman tried to pull her off the track at the station platform and was hit by the train.  The other couple were surfers on trestles around the area.

NCTD is claiming that four people have been run over by trains since 2016.

masterphots Wrote:
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> Sp1110 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > SDNR is claiming that they have been sued by
> the
> > families of people that were run over by
> trains.
> > They say it is a safety issue. 
> 
> How many people have been killed by a Coaster
> train since they started operating 25 years ago? 

Actual trespasser strikes are pretty infrequent, but NCTD's big concern here is liability. They've been sued by next of kin enough times that they don't want to get burned again. They offered to back off on the giant chain link fence and put up a small wooden post and cable one (that could be easily stepped over) if Del Mar took on all Liability since they're the ones who don't want the fence, but Del Mar didn't want that burden either.  

People will always taken the shortest route. UP has a fence in the west side of the Mojave Yard and people are always cutting holes, etc.
I have a photo of a couple taking their little kids, one in a carriage, UNDER a train with live engines... Fortunatley we have not had any fatalityies lately.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

MojaveBill Wrote:
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> People will always taken the shortest route. UP
> has a fence in the west side of the Mojave Yard
> and people are always cutting holes, etc.
> I have a photo of a couple taking their little
> kids, one in a carriage, UNDER a train with live
> engines... Fortunatley we have not had any
> fatalityies lately.

When I railfanned that yard back in the 90s when I was in HS I always made sure to watch where I was at and be as safe as possible sad how things have changed up there, plus it doesn't look as busy either compared to when SP ran the place!

rgzfan Wrote:
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> The people who cross the tracks know what they're
> getting into and they are willing to die in order
> to get to the beach. I say leave things as they
> are. 

Horrendous delays to trains. Lots of paperwork. Lots of work for lawyers.

TAW

Sp1110 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SDNR is claiming that they have been sued by the
> families of people that were run over by trains.
> They say it is a safety issue. The board chair
> said that today’s trains on the line are quieter
> than in years past. Is that true?
>
> BNSF will probably prefer that the fence go up. Do
> they still run GP60s on that line? What about B
> units? If the bluff collapses underneath the
> track, BNSF may have to look into taking over the
> Desert Line of the SD&AE.

No, the BNSF will just quit serving San Diego.