Sante Fe train ticketed for illegal parking

[Anonymous]

I ran across this news article and thought some of you guys might get a kick out of it.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/top/a15ticket.htm

If only it was Union Pacific!

[philnrunt]

Some of the newbies on our dept talked about doing this once, but the chance never came up.
At the Operation Lifesaver Schools, it absolutely flabergasts the officers when they are told that there is not too much they can do to a train crew, as they are covered under federal laws for the most part. It's fun to see new officers be told that engineers don't need driver's licenses,that the engineer wasn't in charge of the train that plowed into the car, that if there is a problem the officer needs to contact the railroad and basically do nothing.
And if you ever get a chance to go to one, do it, you get freebies and cab rides!

[EL PARRo]

lol... that reminds me of something that I once saw. My dad's office is just across the street from a small train yard that is switched by a couple Geeps. The yard is connected (or used to be- they've ripped out the track recently because it isn't needed) to a line that goes downtown, which is a couple miles a way and goes through a street. Well one day I saw one of the train crews drive their loco towards downtown, but they stopped on a corner just before going into the street, which is two or three hundred yards from the yard. They all got out (there was about two or three of them) and ran into a fast-food restaraunt across the street! lol

[Don Gibson]

Most towns like Rhodes wouldn't EXIST if it weren't for the railroad, and the town had to get permission from the railroad to cross it's tracks . How soon they forget.

Now the town has to decide if they can afford to build an underpass. That's what other towns do. Maybe the BNSF will donate their $5000 as deposit.

[Anonymous]

LOL I always CSX, UP, and BNSF doing that.

[cwclark]

the sheriff was right though...most townships, cities, and county's have laws pertaining to the time a train can block an intersection (mostly about 15 minutes max.) ...the reason is because they can block emergency vehicles for too long ...they can also get ticketed for a train's speed thru many municipalities..here in Harris county, (the Houston, Texas area) a train cannot exceed 15 m.p.h. in about 80% of the county...They are some really slow moving freight trains but having a speed that slow has prevented a lot of unnecessary car-train accidents...Chuck[:D]

[skir4d]

I believe that there are some federal rules that also cover how long a train can block a crossing. Of course, herein Reno, NV, they decided to subgrade the entire railroad so the roads downtown aren't blocked. Of course, they tried to get SP to pay for it (before the recent merger) but that went over like a lead balloon when they were kindly infromed that since the railroad was here first they weren't interested in paying for it.

Jack W

[philnrunt]

Chuck- one thing railroads stress and stress is that there are no car-train accidents. They maintain these are incidents . It always seemed like a very fine point to me, but their lawyers tell the speakers at the Oper Life to make sure each officer knows the train has NO choice in the matter. True.
Then they show you a picture of a bread truck that struck the side of some NW coal hoppers in the middle of a rainy night, and even with it being a flash picture with emergency vehicles lighting the scene, you can barely make out the hoppers. They ask you if you have any suggestions about improving the situation, you mention reflective tape or white paint, and they tell you that these are coal cars, they would just get dirty. You say flat grey is much more visible than flat black and they shake their heads and ask for any other suggestions.
Arn't lawyers just the best thing in the whole wide world?

[Anonymous]

he he. If it had only been NS

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CNWfan5525

he he. If it had only been NS

[#ditto]

[Anonymous]

As a commuter that regularly gets stopped by CSX not having enough power on the Old Main Line, I say You GO Sherriff!!!
If this happened often enough here, there WOULD be enough power on westbounds, so that a major commuter route or 2 would not get blocked regularly. (Yes, the have blocked 2 commuter routes simultaniously on more than 1 occasion. The grade crossings are about a mile and a half apart!)