A issue when the side of a car is ridden.
https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2022/04/28/national-transportation-safety-board-baltimore-rail-yard-death/
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Track centers at that location was what? (certainly less than 13 feet, well below13'-6")
How old were the tracks in their current location? (grandfathering issue)
When was the last time ties and rails marked for clearance point & foul zone. ( I assume the track forces were decimated to start with or further reduced after PSR)
When was the last time now non-extant field engineers out there to mark and check the CP's?
The local safety guy is still on the payroll? (maybe get the next one from the track department side as a replacement)
Maryland COMAR 09.12.91.04 (2-14-1986)
It happening in the NS's Bayview Yard - I have no knowledge.
Sorry BALT....sore point that goes back to the 1980's and should be a hot-button issue on all railroads. What's even worse is the lack of awareness in the crafts plus the the ignorance of industry track owners. (long story - predates the frustration with PSR priority crap)
NS ought to have a safety shutdown and then do a mass compliance issue...funded out of the $$$ that otherwise is distributed to the Wall Street Trash instead of invested in the plant.
Oh no no no.
Exactly what MC is saying... plus all the now-probably-forgotten knowledge on how peiple get on the cars, and off them, when flat-banging cars the PSR way...
mudchickenSorry BALT....sore point that goes back to the 1980's and should be a hot-button issue on all railroads. What's even worse is the lack of awareness in the crafts plus the the ignorance of industry track owners. (long story - predates the frustration with PSR priority crap) NS ought to have a safety shutdown and then do a mass compliance issue...funded out of the $$$ that otherwise is distributed to the Wall Street Trash instead of invested in the plant.
The sore point for me goes back to the early & mid 1970's when I was Trainmaster at the B&O's Bayview Yard (now CSX) - on the other side of the PRR Main tracks (today's NEC) from the PRR (PC-CR now NS) Bayview Yard.
Incident is so senseless on so many levels.
Amen...
If it weren't for the "Wall Street Trash" (aka the owners), you wouldn't have a railroad
BEAUSABREIf it weren't for the "Wall Street Trash" (aka the owners), you wouldn't have a railroad
Maybe the 'owners' should ride the side of cars!
BEAUSABRE If it weren't for the "Wall Street Trash" (aka the owners), you wouldn't have a railroad
Thinking of all the government owned rail systems in Europe and Asia, no Wall Street owners needed.....
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
You're right. The issue is the "investors" who are in it for the quick buck and not for growth over time. Ideally, a stockholder in the railroad should be interested in seeing their money put to best use to generate more money, so their portfolio grows.
Those investors looking for the quick buck only care about what shows up in their checkbook tomorrow.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68 BEAUSABRE If it weren't for the "Wall Street Trash" (aka the owners), you wouldn't have a railroad You're right. The issue is the "investors" who are in it for the quick buck and not for growth over time. Ideally, a stockholder in the railroad should be interested in seeing their money put to best use to generate more money, so their portfolio grows. Those investors looking for the quick buck only care about what shows up in their checkbook tomorrow.
I used to be invested in a mutual fund run by Ron Baron. It was called the Baron Asset Fund. It held stocks for the long-term and did very well. Ron retired and the new managers went to short-term profits. The fund started tanking and I bailed. I don't even know how it's doing nowadays.
Euclid tree68 BEAUSABRE If it weren't for the "Wall Street Trash" (aka the owners), you wouldn't have a railroad You're right. The issue is the "investors" who are in it for the quick buck and not for growth over time. Ideally, a stockholder in the railroad should be interested in seeing their money put to best use to generate more money, so their portfolio grows. Those investors looking for the quick buck only care about what shows up in their checkbook tomorrow. So how does a railroad get more of those ideal stockholders instead of those that just want a quick buck?
So how does a railroad get more of those ideal stockholders instead of those that just want a quick buck?
The quick buckers are endemic to the 21st Century World. Bean counters think they control the world; they only care about extracting the last penny out of their victims before rigor mortise sets in on the financial corpse they leave behind.
EuclidSo how does a railroad get more of those ideal stockholders instead of those that just want a quick buck?
Unfortunately, the stock market is open to anyone with the money to spend. The John Q Public's of the world don't have much clout - Their purchases (and sales) will be an insigificant trainsaction for virtually any stock.
The danger with when financial conglomerates get involved. They can trade huge amounts of stock, and will do what they can to bring in the yield - including getting representation on the board of directors, where they can try to manage the business so it best benefits them. The little guy be d****d.
As Balt notes, there are investment firms that seek a nice, consistent returns.
CSX was successful a few years in beating back The Children's Fund. But their intentions were kind of obvious. Now we've got PSR, an invenstment scheme masqurading as an operations plan.
It took the federal safety transportation board for three years to figure out the obvious???
Been to NS Bayveiw yard infrastructure is old in boxcar section is old and very little had been done since Conrail era and Pend Central era before that Yard expansion is constrained by N.E. corridor and Highway overpass. ground is swampy. Yard tracks look like they dated from 1930s
tree68... CSX was successful a few years in beating back The Children's Fund. But their intentions were kind of obvious. Now we've got PSR, an invenstment scheme masqurading as an operations plan.
CSX really wasn't successful in its proxy fight against The Childrens Fund - they did manage to get control of CSX, however, with their financial losses TCF was experiencing with their other holdings during the 2008/09 financial downturn they had to sell most of their CSX shares, and thus control, to cover the losses in their other holdings. The very short period of time that TCF had control they weren't able to do any material damage to CSX's financial standing or operating plan.
BaltACD Euclid tree68 BEAUSABRE If it weren't for the "Wall Street Trash" (aka the owners), you wouldn't have a railroad You're right. The issue is the "investors" who are in it for the quick buck and not for growth over time. Ideally, a stockholder in the railroad should be interested in seeing their money put to best use to generate more money, so their portfolio grows. Those investors looking for the quick buck only care about what shows up in their checkbook tomorrow. So how does a railroad get more of those ideal stockholders instead of those that just want a quick buck? The quick buckers are endemic to the 21st Century World. Bean counters think they control the world; they only care about extracting the last penny out of their victims before rigor mortise sets in on the financial corpse they leave behind.
It sounds dire. What is the solution to the problem?
I'm not sure that there is a solution. Henry Ford kept Ford Motor Company privately held because there was no way that he could keep shares out of the hands of speculators. David LeVan had to deal with arbitrageurs who forced his hand in the sale of Conrail to NS and CSX. You can't control who owns the shares.
There are some people who show up at the lottery counter with a fist full of "successful" scraatch off tickets. Watch them and you'll note that they usually spend their winnings on buying more lottery tickets. Not that much different from the "activist" investors. Looking for a quick buck. Retirement? Who's worried about that?
Others of us buy a ticket now and then, mostly on a lark. Maybe we'll win big, maybe we'll win two bucks, but it's just a game. It's no big deal if we don't win.
Back to riding cars - we usually have a vestibule to stand in, or at least an end door. I've hung off the sides of our passenger cars, but in doing so it's very apparent that your average railroad worker of the 1950's was a tad shorter than me. One more grab iron higher would be nice...
tree68 I've hung off the sides of our passenger cars, but in doing so it's very apparent that your average railroad worker of the 1950's was a tad shorter than me. One more grab iron higher would be nice...
I've hung off the sides of our passenger cars, but in doing so it's very apparent that your average railroad worker of the 1950's was a tad shorter than me. One more grab iron higher would be nice...
Um, Larry, the average worker TODAY is a tad shorter than you (and me)...
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
CSSHEGEWISCH I'm not sure that there is a solution. Henry Ford kept Ford Motor Company privately held because there was no way that he could keep shares out of the hands of speculators. David LeVan had to deal with arbitrageurs who forced his hand in the sale of Conrail to NS and CSX. You can't control who owns the shares.
It seems like it would be real simple to put up something equivilent to a tell-tale type thing on the side of the tracks that matches the width of the clearance. If the rider bonked into a lightweight sign instead of something solid, the outcome would be way better. As an aside, the BNSF had us replace signs that said "No clearance" at the sides of our ramp because they were faded, so someone at BNSF checks things like that in our area.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
blhanelUm, Larry, the average worker TODAY is a tad shorter than you (and me)...
True that, but... Just one more rung...
tree68 blhanel Um, Larry, the average worker TODAY is a tad shorter than you (and me)... True that, but... Just one more rung...
blhanel Um, Larry, the average worker TODAY is a tad shorter than you (and me)...
One more rung = 16 or 18 inches of 3/4 or 1 inch round steel with bolt/rivet holes - 4 corners 100K cars.
Well if there is no solution to the problem, and it leaves railroads as a financial corpse, will the railroad business simply come to an end soon?
Euclid BaltACD Euclid tree68 BEAUSABRE If it weren't for the "Wall Street Trash" (aka the owners), you wouldn't have a railroad You're right. The issue is the "investors" who are in it for the quick buck and not for growth over time. Ideally, a stockholder in the railroad should be interested in seeing their money put to best use to generate more money, so their portfolio grows. Those investors looking for the quick buck only care about what shows up in their checkbook tomorrow. So how does a railroad get more of those ideal stockholders instead of those that just want a quick buck? The quick buckers are endemic to the 21st Century World. Bean counters think they control the world; they only care about extracting the last penny out of their victims before rigor mortise sets in on the financial corpse they leave behind. Well if there is no solution to the problem, and it leaves railroads as a financial corpse, will the railroad business simply come to an end soon?
I don't see railroading coming to a end.
With the carriers (bean counters) pursuing PSR to the extent they are and PO'ing customers to the extent they are - Nationalization is not that far outside the realm of possibility. Bean Counters are the killers of geese that lay golden eggs...once they have killed one species of golden geese, they just move on to some other species.
Murphy Siding It seems like it would be real simple to put up something equivilent to a tell-tale type thing on the side of the tracks that matches the width of the clearance. If the rider bonked into a lightweight sign instead of something solid, the outcome would be way better. As an aside, the BNSF had us replace signs that said "No clearance" at the sides of our ramp because they were faded, so someone at BNSF checks things like that in our area.
blhanel tree68 I've hung off the sides of our passenger cars, but in doing so it's very apparent that your average railroad worker of the 1950's was a tad shorter than me. One more grab iron higher would be nice... Um, Larry, the average worker TODAY is a tad shorter than you (and me)...
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