[RP TownTalk] Hyattsville council discusses RxR quiet zone for Decatur crossing

[Dwight Holmes]

Thank you, Vern!

(This is why we love living in Riverdale Park!)

On Tue, Feb 10, 2015 at 6:01 AM, Vernon Archer <varcher at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the reminder about this. I'll check on this let you know
>
> On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 11:04 PM, Dwight Holmes <dwightrholmes at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Not to hijack my own thread, but this reminded me of another CSX-related
>> issue.  Those who were living here 3 years ago will remember when a train
>> hit a car AND the tow truck that was called to pull the car off the tracks
>> where it had gotten stuck.  With the force of the collision, the tow truck
>> was launched like a missile and wiped out a lamp post, newspaper stands,
>> and a park bench at our train station.  The more colorful description from
>> the Riverdale Railfans email list at the time is quoted below!
>>
>> My recollection is that we were told at the time that CSX had promised to
>> replace/restore the street lamp and park bench that were wiped out in that
>> accident.  It will have been 3 years come March.  Fair to say they are
>> overdue on that task? Any chance the town could nudge them into making our
>> station whole again?
>>
>> Here's an account of the accident from 3/19/12:
>> For those who haven't heard yet, about 8:30 last night, a train hit a car
>> AND a towtruck at the Queensbury road crossing at the Riverdale MARC
>> station.
>>
>> Yes, it finally happened. Another drunk driver turned onto the tracks and
>> got stuck. A tow truck was called and,as it was trying to get the car off
>> the tracks, an autorack train came along and made short work of both
>> vehicles. Fortunately noone was hurt, but the towtruck was thrown and wiped
>> out the newspaper boxes, bushes, and our beloved bench. The truck ended
>> up as a crumpled mass at the base of one of the trees that shaded the
>> bench.
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 10:44 PM, Dwight Holmes <dwightrholmes at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> The Hyattsville Life & Times's new issue reports on discussions at
>>> Hyattsville's city council re the process of applying for a quiet zone for
>>> the Decatur St CSX crossing.  You can access the article here:
>>>
>>>
>>> http://hyattsvillelife.com/council-discusses-moving-forward-with-csx-quiet-zone/
>>>
>>> This short paragraph grabbed my attention:
>>> "In Oct. 2010, Riverdale Park completed upgrades of the CSX crossing at
>>> Queensbury Road after multiple motor vehicle accidents, according to a City
>>> of Hyattsville memo. One of those accidents reportedly included a bus in
>>> March 2009."
>>>
>>> I don't trust my memory for much of anything anymore, but I don't recall
>>> that a rash of accidents was given as a reason for the upgrade.  (Anyone
>>> knowing otherwise, please correct me!)  I thought that it was done - or at
>>> least was originally initiated by then-council member Rob Oppenheim - as a
>>> necessary step in the process of attaining quiet zone status.  And I do
>>> remember that the process of upgrading the crossing gates, from start to
>>> finish, took an amazingly long time, and certainly was begun well prior to
>>> March, 2009.  In fact, looking back in my email just now, I see that I
>>> posted to TownTalk in March, 2008 that CSX was unloading equipment as part
>>> of the installation of the new gates!
>>>
>>> Anyway, I'd be interested to hear from Mayor Archer or one of our
>>> council members what the status is of the quiet zone application process?
>>> Is it something the town is still actively pursuing? If so, are there any
>>> signs of progress?  What step of the process are on at this point?  (The
>>> HL&T article links to the Federal Railroad Administration's "How To Create
>>> A Quiet Zone" PDF, here <http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/details/L03055>.)
>>>
>>> Presumably none of us moved here not knowing there was a railroad in
>>> town.  Personally, I've always been fond of train horns (and trains in
>>> general).  But given the fortress nature of our new upgraded crossing
>>> gates, the volume *and* duration of the horn blowing does seem excessive.
>>> If it's within our powers to force CSX to turn down the noise, I would be
>>> all for it!
>>>
>>> Dwight Holmes
>>> Half-a-block from the tracks :)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Vernon Archer, Mayor
> Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland
>
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