Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX train stops...on the tracks!

Saw this article and had to crack up...some of our news media really make you wonder.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/csx-angers-dade-city-officials-when-train-stops-on-tracks-8212-again/2193615

I don't know what's so funny. Trains outlawing while fouling strings of crossings is INEXCUSABLE unless a mechanical problem caused the train to stop there and the crew ran out of time before it was fixed.

Why did the article crack you up and make you wonder? Other than the trite "chug through town" I thought it was a pretty good article. The reporter did a pretty fair job of explaining hours of service. Most citizens would be clueless why this train is stopping blocking our crossings.

I don't know the railroad situation, but I find it hard to believe that the train could not have been stopped 2 or 3 minutes sooner so as to NOT inconvenience residents. Again not being familiar with the railroad, I think the crew made a pretty poor choice. I think city officials have a legitimate gripe.

toledopatch Wrote:
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> I don't know what's so funny.


Apparently somebody at the times figured out the absurdity of the headline and fixed it. Look at the file name.

TAW

I wish I could just stop what I'm doing and walk off when my eight hours is up.
Seems like this could have been avoided, but who knows...


Jay



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/14 18:49 by Benched_it.

From a crew stand point you can't always blame us for the blockages. A bad dispatcher can ruin it as well. I've had crossings blocked for hours because a dispatcher refused to give me a heads up as to what's going on ahead. I try to stay off crossings as much as possible but sometimes it's unavoidable.

toledopatch Wrote:
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> I don't know what's so funny. Trains outlawing
> while fouling strings of crossings is INEXCUSABLE
> unless a mechanical problem caused the train to
> stop there and the crew ran out of time before it
> was fixed.


Just ask the people in Deshler Ohio, they had an CSX train that blocked 3 crossings for 2 1/2 days in July because of no crews... also INEXCUSABLE, CSX could have made a better plan on what to do with that train, they knew well in advance that the crew would "dog" out on the main...The people were not laughing in Deshler about this and CSX could care less...

Cry me a river.....

Technically, if the headline read CSX Angers Dade City Officials When Train Stops On Tacks Again, it was actually correct -- maybe a bit odd in the wording chosen. But the train did, in fact, stop on the tracks. Not all trains do. The article was pretty well written and the reporter went for more of an angle than a short blurb of train stopped over roads. It tried to explain why it could have happened. Most article don't.

The article mentioned a time here in Columbia when a CSX coal train stopped in downtown over three crossings. I don't remember that specific incident, but every CSX train heading to the Eastover Sub stops to get clearance over NS, so coal trains stop all the time and piss off motorists. Train traffic in Columbia is busy in the morning and NS may have had the BMWs coming through (28T) and that train typically recrews in Columbia and will block CSX. CSX will often stop trains further back, but if they have other trains that need to get by they may have sent it on down anyway. Or maybe they didn't know.

Local leaders want to take trains off that stretch of track. In an odd alignment, CSX and NS cross each other twice within a mile. So that coal train would have crossed NS in Devine Junction and then had to cross again at the head of the yard. It would be real easy to get trains onto NS at Devine Junction, but there could be capacity issues not to mention getting them back on the Eastover Sub. Truth is, local leaders could do something about the problem in Columbia, but they should not expect the railroads to pay.

With regard to the situation in Columbia, there are probably dozens of special agreements etc that were executed to get BMW (and Honda, Boeing, etc) to locate in the state.

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the politicians agreed to concessions with regard to BMW traffic and don't have many options other than build a few overpasses.

That is an interesting point about BMW. If there are concessions stating BMW gets through first, that would mean CSX may have to stop coal trains coming off the CN&L and going to the Eastover Sub which could then stop other CSX traffic whereas letting the train get stopped at the crossing to the yard clears up their railroad... but closes three road crossings. Never thought of it that way, but it's a good point.

Typhoon Wrote:
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> Cry me a river.....


You would be if the emergency vehicle you are waiting on was stuck on the wrong side of the tracks trying to get to you...

Considering the amount of hell CSX catches around here for stopping off the tracks, I suppose stopping on them would be news-worthy.