BNSF trains on acid; thousands stranded

[railfanespee4449]

BNSF trains of acid.....
I get the image of some dash-9's in a dark corner of the yard saying "DUUUDE! There's no such thing as Heritage II paint. You're like, totally an illusion"
"DUUUDE! Like, would we, like, be wearing warbonnets if we were ten years younger!"
"Duuuuude! Dont, like, dream about the past, man. Live in the future, dude!"
"Oh **** man, here comes that totally unfair SD40-2 He's gonna totally, like, flip out."
"DUUUUDE! Free your mind and your 645 and Hi-traction trucks will follow."

I could go on and on

[n012944]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Poppa_Zit

QUOTE: Originally posted by AMTK200

I will say Metra did a crappy Job handling everyone they should have provided Alternative Transportation, when I went to Photograph 5(15) At Fairview, people were mad about how Metra ***ed it up. Downers Grove brought there Shuttle Busses over to Fairview and Pace Tried to go pick up people in Hinsdale that would usually get off in Clardian Hills. All in all if we have a disaster e.g. A Nuclar Reactor Blows up etc, we are screwed. My Dad who rode one of the Trains said Metra was Abaslutley No Help. Even the Crew on one of the Amtrak Trains stuck were annoyed with the lack of info.

OK, now that you've registered your complaint, how should in your opinion this have been handled? Keep in mind you don't find enough buses to move 12,000 people with just a few minutes' notice.

Maybe Metra could have 200 buses on standby every day just for such an event -- ask your Dad if he wouldn't mind paying an extra $5 per trip so he won't be inconvenienced if something like this ever happens again.

Metra over its history has been an extremely reliable form of transportation. No one has a right to complain. This was a railroad and EPA issue, not Metra. So let someone else handle the tough stuff, and you keep working on your Spelling, Capitalization and Grammar.

And if a "nuclar reactor" blows up, don't look to Metra for help. You'll be an instant Crispy Critter. [:D]

Good response, bite the kids head off. How about this, Metra is part of the RTA, as is PACE. Some of the PACE buses could have been used to help out. And whenever you just left somewhere in the middle of your trip you have the right to complain.


Bert

[Poppa_Zit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by n012944

QUOTE: Originally posted by Poppa_Zit

QUOTE: Originally posted by AMTK200

I will say Metra did a crappy Job handling everyone they should have provided Alternative Transportation, when I went to Photograph 5(15) At Fairview, people were mad about how Metra ***ed it up. Downers Grove brought there Shuttle Busses over to Fairview and Pace Tried to go pick up people in Hinsdale that would usually get off in Clardian Hills. All in all if we have a disaster e.g. A Nuclar Reactor Blows up etc, we are screwed. My Dad who rode one of the Trains said Metra was Abaslutley No Help. Even the Crew on one of the Amtrak Trains stuck were annoyed with the lack of info.

OK, now that you've registered your complaint, how should in your opinion this have been handled? Keep in mind you don't find enough buses to move 12,000 people with just a few minutes' notice.

Maybe Metra could have 200 buses on standby every day just for such an event -- ask your Dad if he wouldn't mind paying an extra $5 per trip so he won't be inconvenienced if something like this ever happens again.

Metra over its history has been an extremely reliable form of transportation. No one has a right to complain. This was a railroad and EPA issue, not Metra. So let someone else handle the tough stuff, and you keep working on your Spelling, Capitalization and Grammar.

And if a "nuclar reactor" blows up, don't look to Metra for help. You'll be an instant Crispy Critter. [:D]

Good response, bite the kids head off. How about this, Metra is part of the RTA, as is PACE. Some of the PACE buses could have been used to help out. And whenever you just left somewhere in the middle of your trip you have the right to complain.


Bert

I didn't bite anyone's head off. By posting here, we imply consent to all opposing viewpoints. That's the point of a forum -- an intelligent exchange of ideas. In an effort to provide a degree of fairness and balance, some of us try to respond with common sense to posters making silly, irresponsible statements.

Now to your interesting statement.

"Some of the PACE buses could have been used to help out."

OK, how's this: Let's be realistic and do a hypothetical based on your suggestion and say they [Metra, Pace] did have 100 buses just sitting somewhere, available, gassed up and ready to go -- remember, there were 12,000 stranded passengers, so you'd be cramming 60 in each bus, and each bus would have to make at least two trips. If such a fleet was maintained, taxpayers would then complain having so many extra buses just sitting idle 364 days a year is a monumental waste of tax dollars. I know I would.

How often would they be used? Where exactly would you stage them so they could respond quickly to an incident during the height of rush hour traffic? Northern suburbs? West? South? What if they were staged 50 miles from the area where they were needed? Where would you get 100 drivers on very short notice, all of whom would have to first drive to the bus staging area during the same rush-hour traffic gridlock, then drive to the scene of the emergency?

If not 100 buses on expensive standby, how do you decide which in-service PACE buses to shift over? How do you decide which train passengers get a ride to their destination, and which do not? Do you strand the bus passengers on the original routes after reassigning their buses?

Baseball used to be the National Pastime. Now it seems to be finding an easy target (like government agencies) and blaming it for everything. So Metra passengers had to endure some inconvenience one time in, maybe, five years. They could always opt to drive their own car and sit in that traffic gridlock themselves. Heck, I've been delayed at airports many times for a lot longer than the Metra passengers were stranded.

I still say Metra is run very well, and while I agree that passengers have a right to complain, I have yet to hear a viable alternative plan for mitigating what happened last Thursday.

[n012944]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Poppa_Zit

QUOTE: Originally posted by n012944

QUOTE: Originally posted by Poppa_Zit

QUOTE: Originally posted by AMTK200

I will say Metra did a crappy Job handling everyone they should have provided Alternative Transportation, when I went to Photograph 5(15) At Fairview, people were mad about how Metra ***ed it up. Downers Grove brought there Shuttle Busses over to Fairview and Pace Tried to go pick up people in Hinsdale that would usually get off in Clardian Hills. All in all if we have a disaster e.g. A Nuclar Reactor Blows up etc, we are screwed. My Dad who rode one of the Trains said Metra was Abaslutley No Help. Even the Crew on one of the Amtrak Trains stuck were annoyed with the lack of info.

OK, now that you've registered your complaint, how should in your opinion this have been handled? Keep in mind you don't find enough buses to move 12,000 people with just a few minutes' notice.

Maybe Metra could have 200 buses on standby every day just for such an event -- ask your Dad if he wouldn't mind paying an extra $5 per trip so he won't be inconvenienced if something like this ever happens again.

Metra over its history has been an extremely reliable form of transportation. No one has a right to complain. This was a railroad and EPA issue, not Metra. So let someone else handle the tough stuff, and you keep working on your Spelling, Capitalization and Grammar.

And if a "nuclar reactor" blows up, don't look to Metra for help. You'll be an instant Crispy Critter.

Good response, bite the kids head off. How about this, Metra is part of the RTA, as is PACE. Some of the PACE buses could have been used to help out. And whenever you just left somewhere in the middle of your trip you have the right to complain.

I
"Some of the PACE buses could have been used to help out."

OK, how's this: Let's be realistic and do a hypothetical based on your suggestion and say they [Metra, Pace] did have 100 buses just sitting somewhere, available, gassed up and ready to go -- remember, there were 12,000 stranded passengers, so you'd be cramming 60 in each bus, and each bus would have to make at least two trips. If such a fleet was maintained, taxpayers would then complain having so many extra buses just sitting idle 364 days a year is a monumental waste of tax dollars. I know I would.

How often would they be used? Where exactly would you stage them so they could respond quickly to an incident during the height of rush hour traffic? Northern suburbs? West? South? What if they were staged 50 miles from the area where they were needed? Where would you get 100 drivers on very short notice, all of whom would have to first drive to the bus staging area during the same rush-hour traffic gridlock, then drive to the scene of the emergency?

If not 100 buses on expensive standby, how do you decide which in-service PACE buses to shift over? How do you decide which train passengers get a ride to their destination, and which do not? Do you strand the bus passengers on the original routes after reassigning their buses?

I still say Metra is run very well, and while I agree that passengers have a right to complain, I have yet to hear a viable alternative plan for mitigating what happened last Thursday.

One of the things that Metra and Pace do well is moving people from the train station to there homes. There as always several buses waiting at each train station during rush hour to take passengers to their homes. Once Metra shut down these buses no longer had passengers. They should have been used to move passengers that were abandon at the sububan stations, runing along the line and stopping at the stations all the way to the end. I think the people that were stuck downtown had other options, however those who were on trains that were stopped and left were somewhat screwed. I also think that Metra is a well run company, and for the most part it does a good job with things. I do think that they messed this up, however I am sure that there is a boardroom full of people this week making sure that they do have a plan if something like this were to happen again.

[CShaveRR]

All right--you take the buses away from the stations, because no passengers will be arriving. They go to Hinsdale or wherever, pick up the stranded passengers, and take them to every station down the road. So now what do you do for the passengers who get off the rubber-tired Dinky and need to catch the bus to their neighborhood stop?

The big problem here was the overreaction to what was a harmless spill. Hindsight is wonderful, and the official reaction was followed as it probably should have been. But allowances for common sense no longer seem to be made. If the stuff was in danger of becoming airborne due to fast-moving trains, then slow the trains down--but keep them moving!

As Poppa said, bird poop is probably more dangerous. And stearic acid is less acidic than vinegar.

[n012944]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CShaveRR

All right--you take the buses away from the stations, because no passengers will be arriving. They go to Hinsdale or wherever, pick up the stranded passengers, and take them to every station down the road. So now what do you do for the passengers who get off the rubber-tired Dinky and need to catch the bus to their neighborhood stop?

Get the people as close as they can, it is a much shorter walk.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by locomutt

Seems like another good Headline would read:

RAILROAD COMES CLEAN AS TO WHAT MYSTERIOUS POWDER REALLY WAS

Yes but I doubt that will happen, a friend who was the sceen said it was Soap Acid.