[RP TownTalk] CSX and Riverdale Park Police coordination?

[Don Lynch]

Today I witnessed the most outrageous event that I have seen in a long 
time.

CSX replaced the RR ties across the Queensbury crossing.

No, that's not the event.

During this operation they disabled the RR crossing gate and cars tried to 
figure out if it was OK to cross after the specialized maintenance cars 
crossed over Queensbury Rd.

Then it gets worse.

When they were done, CSX forgot to enable the crossing gate!

I did not notice this until I was working at the Farmers Market and saw a 
MARC train speed past the crossing without the gates down.

We called the police department and they said they would contact CSX, but 
it took more time than I would have considered reasonable before a police 
car arrived at the crossing. The car parked next to the crossing but the 
officer didn't get out of his car and left before this situation was 
resolved.

What I mean by that is CSX showed up and enabled the gates but shortly 
thereafter cars were actually stuck in between the gates and on the 
tracks!

So the basic question is: Did the police department know that CSX was going 
to disable the crossing gate today?

It is shocking that trains were traveling at a high rate of speed through 
that crossing without anyone in authority knowing about it.

I made a comment when the bus was hit that the train didn't seem to have 
the ability to see the bus and stop in time and no one one this list made a 
comment.

Well, I think CSX should not be allowed to travel through our town at a 
rate faster than the speed limit on Queensbury Rd.

Its only a matter of time...

Don