Eastern Railroad Discussion > [Group] FEC "mismanages" several rail bridges

An activist group opposed to All Aboard Florida has asked the US Coast Guard to sanction Florida East Coast for its mismanagement of three south Florida bridges. The substance of the complaint is the bridges frequently fail to operate, or remain in a down position for unreasonable periods of time.  That is an enormously sensitive subject in many areas, as yacht basins are located west / inland of the bridges. 

Based on several years of watching the Stuart bridge (over the St Lucie river, one of the bridges mentioned), I could probably identify ten or 15 incidents of unusually long down position. That's absolutely nothing over several years.

Issues with the St. Lucie, Loxatachee and New river train bridges have resulted in "unreasonable obstructions to navigation" that need to be "dramatically altered," CARE's attorney, Stephen Ryan, said in the letter.Each of the bridges has failed to operate "numerous times" due to malfunctioning equipment, and the St. Lucie bridge has "often stayed closed for hours," according to the letter.
TCPalm:

Dangerous railroad bridges?

Spoiled brats

RDG630 Wrote:
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> Spoiled brats

Or, more politely, well-to-do opponents with good lawyers.  This style is often seen in Illinois:  if you want to persuade/dissuade someone regarding an action you want/don't want them to take, you get your government friends to send in the inspectors with instructions to rigorously enforce laws and regulations that are usually somewhat overlooked.  For example, sending in the Department of Revenue to do a sales tax audit at a small business that doesn't want to sell a critical piece of property needed for a large development by a politically well-connected builder.  [I'm happy to report that the small business survived and the development is dead, though perhaps the real estate collapse in 2008 had something to do with that.]

Considering all the difficulties Amtrak had with recreational boating interests along the Shore Line from New Haven to Boston when they wanted to electrify, it will be interesting to see if this goes anywhere.  Does anyone here know if the AAF project involves replacing or upgrading the three cited bridges?  That would deal with their alleged mechanical/electrical problems.

name call all ya want but navigation has ALWAYS had the priority and the Coast Guard vehemently enforces it ... Amtrak had incidents at Beach Bridge in Atlantic City and the CG gave an ultimatum especially when the bridge was rwmoted from CETC ... "Clear tbe waterway or someone is going to jail" ... Amtrak supervision had the waterway clear in a matter of a 1/2 hr ...

Ask the commercial mariners on the Great Lakes what they think of how railroad bridges are operated and you'll also get dirty looks. And some of that disgust is justified. When I rode a lake freighter out of Toledo on an early December evening for a story many years ago, we waited for half an hour for the CSX bridge to open and, during that time, no trains went across it. As far as I could tell from listening to a scanner, there was no maintenance or anything else going on, either. The captain said he was going to file a complaint with the Coast Guard but, as far as I could ever find out, nothing became of it, which is how the ship company said those usually turn out.
 

The Stuart bridge used to be so predictable that you can almost set your watch by it.  From the HONK-HOMK-HONK to the bridge beginning to descend is always the same length of time.   I posted the usual schedule last year.

But there have been some anomalies.  Last week, I noticed the bridge go through its usual warnings, descend, and stay down for about five minutes. And then rise again.  No sign of a train.  It's possible there could have been a switcher working the CEMEX lead, or shuffling cars at Triumph, or spotting an LPG car at Indian Street, but I didn't see any activity as far south as Cove  Road.

So, who knows?  But I do know there are two mega-yachts for sale at the basin just west of the bridge.  One has a big sign, asking a million two for the bucket. Folks who own that kind of toy often own a few politicians, or at least get their calls answered...

toledopatch Wrote:
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 The captain said he was going to file a
> complaint with the Coast Guard but, as far as I
> could ever find out, nothing became of it, which
> is how the ship company said those usually turn
> out.

The railroads are bigger and stronger than the shipping companies, which are a shell of their former selves. Commercial shipping should take priority over railroading for obvious reasons, but railroading should take priority over recreational boating for obvious reasons, size and expense of yachts notwithstanding. Are there no marinas on the other side at these locations?

JG 

jgilmore Wrote:
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> toledopatch Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>  The captain said he was going to file a
> > complaint with the Coast Guard but, as far as I
> > could ever find out, nothing became of it,
> which
> > is how the ship company said those usually turn
> > out.
>
> The railroads are bigger and stronger than the
> shipping companies, which are a shell of their
> former selves. Commercial shipping should take
> priority over railroading for obvious reasons,
> but railroading should take priority over
> recreational boating for obvious reasons, size
> and expense of yachts notwithstanding. Are there
> no marinas on the other side at these locations?

In Toledo most of the yachting marinas are downriver from the drawbridges. In the Stuart area there are marinas on both sides of the FEC bridge. I imagine the ones downstream are able to charge more for berths because of demand from impatient boaters.

Along the Connecticut coast there also are marinas on both sides of the Amtrak drawbridges, although in several cases they're mostly upstream because that's where the sheltered waters and/or dry riverbank (no marshes/wetlands) are.
 

toledopatch Wrote:
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>(snip)
> In Toledo most of the yachting marinas are
> downriver from the drawbridges. In the Stuart area
> there are marinas on both sides of the FEC bridge.
> I imagine the ones downstream are able to charge
> more for berths because of demand from impatient
> boaters.
>
> Along the Connecticut coast there also are marinas
> on both sides of the Amtrak drawbridges, although
> in several cases they're mostly upstream because
> that's where the sheltered waters and/or dry
> riverbank (no marshes/wetlands) are.
>  

That's the case in Stuart, as well.  Several huge yachts are docked in the many marinas just upriver from the rail and highway bridges. I'd throw out a rough estimate of 500 boats (sailboats, power boats, etc) in the marinas on the lower reaches of the  St Lucie River.  Another complication is that some of the private communities have their own secured dock space.  That's always an issue when President Obama drops by Huizenga's house to play some golf.  The waterway is essentially locked down for a mile or so.

Saw it off and float it to Cuba.