Got to love a feature about rail safety with a reporter casually strolling down a rail line within the gauge!
I think 10 News was one of or maybe the only station to wet their collective pants a year or two ago when a southbound BNSF crew died on the law and tied down their train in a siding north of Old Town a couple of miles and caught a cab before the replacement crew showed up. This was at about ten or so (conveniently just before the eleven o'clock news) and the news people were in full lather mode.
Ignorance knows no bounds nor does it get in the way of a sensational story. (Might be why I don't watch TV news, but the wife called my attention to that story.)
Looking at the story, I see trespassing, unnamed "experts" and a lot of iffy quoting practices and accusations that don't pass the smell test.
Tat may not be too far from where I saw a tie end sticking out of the ballast due to erosion of the roadbed. That has been recently been fixed (well before the news story).
Alignment of the track looks pretty good, so I rather doubt that there is an immediate danger.
Quick Summary of the Article:
An "investigative" news article was published today on the local news station's website regarding rotting ties and missing/loose spikes on the Surfliner route down here in San Diego. The news station's investigative team received a video from a viewer that showed loose/missing spikes and rotting crossties. The news station sent the video to the FRA and North County Transit District and both sent responses saying there were no immediate safety concerns.
From my understanding, loose/missing spikes are not uncommon and it takes a decent amount of loose/missing spikes to create a safety issue. To me this just seems like another example of the news media trying to stir the public up.
http://www.10news.com/news/investigations/bad-rails-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen
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