rail roaders fed up

[csxengineer98]

how many of you people out in cyber space that look and post on this sight, are rail roaders...past or current, are fed up with people posting crap about "lets sue the rail road" over anything and everything!!! lets sound off people
csx engineer

[wabash1]

my post on the subject of sight for distance should say enough. how i feel and what i think about.

[eolafan]

While I am not a current or ex railroader, I still feel the American public has gone "sue crazy". For example, I heard that the family of hte woman who, with her little girl, died when she drove her SUV around lowered crossing gates the other day in Indiana, was going to sue Amtrak and CSX for their deaths should not worry so much about getting money and worry about somebody else getting killed due to sheer stupidity of going around crossing gates.

[edblysard]

Not so mad about the sue crazy people as the attorneys who promote the suits in the first place. And I am really PO'ed that most folks dont know that the crossings are not railroad property, but a part of their street system.
No one ever holds the civil engineer who designs a bad crossing responsible. And sadly, under the current law, when the DOT sues the railroad for access, they have the legal right to condemn the property along the right of way for 100s of feet, and could, if they wanted to, remove everything there to provide a clear line of sight. But they dont, due to the cost to the taxpayers.
And heres why railroad dont take it upon themselves to upgrade crossings. One, its expensive, you have to get permits, designers, civil engineers, and the local DOTs approval, before you can so much as change the style of the crossing arms. Two, say you have a really bad crossing, accidents there every two weeks. If the railroad did go through all the trouble to upgrade to, say a quad gate, not only would the public still come up with a way to attempt to defeat the device, they, (they public) would then expect the railroad to improve every single crossing system wide in the same manner, all at the railroad's cost.
Bet ole cabforward would see things a little different if the city decided to put a street through the middle of his property, expect him to pay 75% of the cost of materials, 100% of the cost of maintainance, the light bill to keep the street lights on, and he got sued every time someone did something stupid on the road that dosnt belong to him, and that he didnt want in the first place. Oh, and he is supposed to keep his neighbors property mowed, at his expense, so people can see the road. The concept that railroads have so much money, they should be willing to share is laughable. Just because your company makes a profit makes you somehow socially responsible when someone does something stupid? I wonder how many homeless people cabforward and mike p took to a motel, or fed a hot meal to this winter. They obvioulsy have the money, they can afford a computer, so following their rational, they should be obligated to spread the wealth, its not like they never see these people. But I bet the number is 0, and their excuse would be "I didnt create their problems, so its not my responsibility" And I bet mike and cab have a lot of space in their home they dont use, so why dont they let the homeless live there, rent free?
But the homeless have a need and a want, so why dont they and mike and cab dit down and compromise? Bet mike p abd cab dont even come to the table.
It really easy to solve the problem when its not your money or property, isnt it?
Ed

[csxns]

CSX engineer who started csx-sucks.com sound like an x employee.

[csxengineer98]

dont know who started it..but its just about how it is... but it wouldnt suprise me if it isnt a current employee

[csxengineer98]

j
i read that posting... very sorry for what happend..i personaly havent been in any train/auto crashes yet..and dreading the day it happenes...i have been an engineer for 5 years now...and i see stupid people all the time and wonder if one of theies days if its going to happen to me... the crossings on my run have plenty of line of sight and gates flashing lights bells...just about eveything you can put on a crossing short of a cop standing thier...and people still drive around...or try and beat the gates down...

im getting fed up with people tring to get my job becouse they where stupid... i know engineers that have been sued...but the won that good news in that deal...but at what cost... not only dose the engineer have to live the rest of his life with killing someone... he also has to take time off of work... lost money for his/her family... to go to court and defend themself aginst the family of someone that had a death wish..not to mention the cost of the attorny..and they arent cheep...
so know you see why im getting fed up with people trying to make the world safe for stupid people by taking away the job that feeds my family....

[Anonymous]

I use to fire for an old engineer who killed one of the last drivers at O'Dell Road near D.C. The road came up on an embankment at a 60o angle. This woman had just dropped her husband off at work and was on her way to work. The lights were flashing (there were no gates) and as she could see well to the south that nothing was coming, she pulled up on the track and looked this old engineer in the eye...just before he creamed her in a Budd car at 70mph. He told me, "Skeets, I can still see her face, the expression on it; I can even see the dress she had on." From where he was, he looked right down into her car. NOBODY should have to live with that. As far as CSXsucks is concerned, they are my least favorite company to work for after B&O, C&O and Chessie. But they are the only game in town. I'm going to try and ride this hoss to the barn.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I am a railroader, but not onboard. I don't have to put up with the fear of an accident on a daily basis, but it has happened to me, and especially to some of my friends.

I believe that Americans have become sue crazy, only because a large part of our society has lost its moral compass and is not willing to take responsibility for their contibution to an incident - until a court forces them to. Everybody tries to duck out - it seems.

But then cities, states, and big corporations are the worst at refusing responsibility. Even after a jury finds them culpable, they will wear you out in appeals court until you too are dead - or wished you were.

Yes that moral judgement applies to ignorant people who try to beat the train or trespass and then sue, but it applies even more to those who put the public hazard there in the first place, who should have known better.

And when did railroad management ever provide a the legal defense for their employees, or provide anything but a cup to pee in. Not in my lifetime!
My point is that railroad managements are a big part off the problem. They just don't give a d@&% about anything but the bottom line.

In my state, the grade crossing signals are paid for by the state. The railroads want the money. So sometimes, I am viewed as a loose cannon. I blab to much about public safety and not enough about the bottom line.

Even so, I do hold the public officials who created this problem even more accountable. I have spent years in my profession advocating the needed changes. But to very little avail. Neither do public officals listen, nor do railroad managements do anything but try to shut me up when I advocate eliminating all grade crossings.

But I do hold the highway designers most responsible. Yes the same ones that bleed the public dry subsidizing the competition also creat so many unnecessary public hazards (not just at grade crossing either) I don't understand how they get away with it. I know if any signal engineer did that, he risks changing his address to Leavenworth, Kansas for a few years.

For more detail - see my posts in the threads "Sight Distances..." and the thread on low viaducts.

RmC

[Anonymous]

I am also not a current or ex railroader, but as a rail photographer for about 24 years, I have met a number of rail employees.
My perspective is that Operation Lifesaver needs to be brought back. Maybe if some of the money that was spent on getting people to quit smoking could be used to get people to quit going around crossing gates, MAYBE it would save a few lives.
The good old US of A has become one of the most "sue crazy" countries in the world. Blame it on all those people who were not brought up in a home and taught to be responsible for their own actions!

[Anonymous]

Oh, baby! Guys like Operation Mike Saver really fire me up. People like that need to go save a whale or a spotted owl or sometinng....anything, just go away!
Ken

[Anonymous]

Sweet post, Ed. But Operation Mike Saver will disagree with rational thinking. It doesn't fit into his martyr bleeding heart storyline.
Ken