<div dir="ltr">Thank you, Vern!<div><br></div><div>(This is why we love living in Riverdale Park!)</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Feb 10, 2015 at 6:01 AM, Vernon Archer <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:varcher@gmail.com" target="_blank">varcher@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Thanks for the reminder about this. I'll check on this let you know</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="h5">On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 11:04 PM, Dwight Holmes <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dwightrholmes@gmail.com" target="_blank">dwightrholmes@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div class="h5"><div dir="ltr">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!<div><br></div><div>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?<br><div><br><div>Here's an account of the accident from 3/19/12:</div><div><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.8000001907349px;line-height:15.6160001754761px">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.</span><br style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.8000001907349px;line-height:15.6160001754761px"><br style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.8000001907349px;line-height:15.6160001754761px"><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.8000001907349px;line-height:15.6160001754761px">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 </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.8000001907349px;line-height:15.6160001754761px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">bench</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.8000001907349px;line-height:15.6160001754761px">. The truck ended up as a crumpled mass at the base of one of the trees that shaded the </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.8000001907349px;line-height:15.6160001754761px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">bench</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.8000001907349px;line-height:15.6160001754761px">.</span><br style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:12.8000001907349px;line-height:15.6160001754761px"></div></div></div></div><div><div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 10:44 PM, Dwight Holmes <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dwightrholmes@gmail.com" target="_blank">dwightrholmes@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">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:<br><br><a href="http://hyattsvillelife.com/council-discusses-moving-forward-with-csx-quiet-zone/" target="_blank">http://hyattsvillelife.com/council-discusses-moving-forward-with-csx-quiet-zone/</a><br><br>This short paragraph grabbed my attention:<br>"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."<br><br>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!<br><br>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, <a href="http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/details/L03055" target="_blank">here</a>.)<div><br></div><div>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!</div><span><font color="#888888"><div><br></div><div>Dwight Holmes</div><div>Half-a-block from the tracks :)<br><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></font></span></div>
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<br></span></blockquote></div><span class=""><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div>Vernon Archer, Mayor<br>Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland</div>
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