<div>Don and neighbors,</div>
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<div>Clearly the common sense requirement (I'm not certain if an actual legal requirement) for an effective flag system was not at work here. CSX in notorious for not informing local govt of their activities (ours or any others) so we are left to try to react with limited or sometimes no information. </div>
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<div>This description might help us get a little better response as this clearly could lead to deaths of motorists. We will try.</div>
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<div>Several important facts to keep in mind as we interact with CSX 1) Railroads are regulated by the federal gov't and even the state has very little legal leverage over them; 2) CSX (and probably all railroad companies) do not want to have any vehicle crossings and would be all to happy to simply see our crossing eliminated entirely. Thus, demanding safe practices invariable have them suggest a closing as the safest alternative--clearly an unacceptable alternative </div>
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<div>Best wishes,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Vern<br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 9:54 PM, Don Lynch <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dlynch@garretroomstudios.com">dlynch@garretroomstudios.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">Today I witnessed the most outrageous event that I have seen in a long<br>time.<br><br>CSX replaced the RR ties across the Queensbury crossing.<br>
<br>No, that's not the event.<br><br>During this operation they disabled the RR crossing gate and cars tried to<br>figure out if it was OK to cross after the specialized maintenance cars<br>crossed over Queensbury Rd.<br>
<br>Then it gets worse.<br><br>When they were done, CSX forgot to enable the crossing gate!<br><br>I did not notice this until I was working at the Farmers Market and saw a<br>MARC train speed past the crossing without the gates down.<br>
<br>We called the police department and they said they would contact CSX, but<br>it took more time than I would have considered reasonable before a police<br>car arrived at the crossing. The car parked next to the crossing but the<br>
officer didn't get out of his car and left before this situation was<br>resolved.<br><br>What I mean by that is CSX showed up and enabled the gates but shortly<br>thereafter cars were actually stuck in between the gates and on the<br>
tracks!<br><br>So the basic question is: Did the police department know that CSX was going<br>to disable the crossing gate today?<br><br>It is shocking that trains were traveling at a high rate of speed through<br>that crossing without anyone in authority knowing about it.<br>
<br>I made a comment when the bus was hit that the train didn't seem to have<br>the ability to see the bus and stop in time and no one one this list made a<br>comment.<br><br>Well, I think CSX should not be allowed to travel through our town at a<br>
rate faster than the speed limit on Queensbury Rd.<br><br>Its only a matter of time...<br><br>Don<br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>TownTalk mailing list<br>To post to the list, send mail to <a href="mailto:TownTalk@riverdale-park.org">TownTalk@riverdale-park.org</a><br>
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<br>For more information about Riverdale Park, visit <a href="http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info/" target="_blank">http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info</a><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all">
<div></div><br>-- <br>Vernon Archer, Mayor<br>Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland<br>