Passenger Trains > No 8 on the 24th drops 4 hours out of the gate . . . ?

So Empire Builder No 8(24) departs Seattle OT and then, 36 miles down the line, departs Everett 4 hours late. Any word on why? Trespasser strike? Freight with pulled drawbar? Broken rail? Excessive dew on the tracks?

Mudslide and bus bridge.

PacNWZ12 Wrote:
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> Mudslide

...which are much more frequent now than they were 1977 - 1990 when I handled that territory, due to the runoff from extensive urban sprawl.

TAW

TAW Wrote:
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> PacNWZ12 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Mudslide
>
> ...which are much more frequent now than they were
> 1977 - 1990 when I handled that territory, due to
> the runoff from extensive urban sprawl.
>
> TAW

That's the kind of stuff the extensive environmental impact statements are supposed to measure.  And developers provide remediation.

May be too late for this area, but that's the stuff the railroad should be watching as potential incursions on the right of way.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> TAW Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > PacNWZ12 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Mudslide
> >
> > ...which are much more frequent now than they
> were
> > 1977 - 1990 when I handled that territory, due
> to
> > the runoff from extensive urban sprawl.
> >
> > TAW
>
> That's the kind of stuff the extensive
> environmental impact statements are supposed to
> measure.  And developers provide remediation.
>
> May be too late for this area, but that's the
> stuff the railroad should be watching as potential
> incursions on the right of way.

You forget that that the land developer/real estate lobby essentially owns the land use and zoning process at the local level just about everywhere, especially where high-dollar McMansions are going to be built.   "Privatize the profits, socialize the costs" is their mantra.  Even a Class I railroad will have trouble trying to stand in the way of those special interests. 

WW Wrote:
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(snip)
>
> You forget that that the land developer/real
> estate lobby essentially owns the land use and
> zoning process at the local level just about
> everywhere, especially where high-dollar
> McMansions are going to be built.   "Privatize
> the profits, socialize the costs" is their mantra.
>  Even a Class I railroad will have trouble trying
> to stand in the way of those special interests. 

Agreed, but railroads aren't lacking in their own resources.  Every developer's fear is time, and being on the wrong side of a market move. Every month or year spent on studies and litigation is money down the rathole. BNSF or UP has resources and the means to hold up a project for years. Even if the developer has bought the local land use people. You can bulldoze a citizens' group, but you come to terms with a more powerful opponent.

It's often better to cut a deal and get your project moving than to wait 24 months...

WW Wrote:
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> You forget that that the land developer/real
> estate lobby essentially owns the land use and
> zoning process at the local level just about
> everywhere, especially where high-dollar
> McMansions are going to be built.   "Privatize
> the profits, socialize the costs" is their mantra.
>  Even a Class I railroad will have trouble trying
> to stand in the way of those special interests. 

Actually, I didn't - just left that open to connection of the dots.

TAW