Why is it that a....(LV SIDE)

[Tamping Pick]

Messed up question,but.....
Why is it that a regional(grain o salt) railroad , that has gottin MILLIONS of tax payer money have all the problems that they currently(3,4-04)have?
Reason why I asked this is , which I linked in the old forum, the R&N has
been given well over 8 million dollars of PA. and Federal tax dollars to fix the LV side of there railroad. Maybe Mike or a very lucky and OVER payed school teacher would know.
Why are the the trains that pay the R&N bills always going on the ground in Pittston, why??
PICK

[lvrr353]

Good question! I missed the beginning of the story on the 6:00 news tonite, but it appears there was another wreck today in Pittston. I think they said it is now 5 in 4 months or so. I don't recall the LV or even Conrail having that much trouble there.

[Urban D Kaye]

Just scanning Scranton-Wilkes Barre news on the net...seems 3 cars left the rails last nite around 1:00 a.m. No hazmat cargo, and traffic on nearby Oak Street in Pittston was not disturbed. The cars were righted this morning. No details on the cause.

[Tamping Pick]

Thanks for the replies people,
R&N has gottin lots(millions) of money for the rehab of the Lehigh side of the RR. Let alone the funding for the power. LV NEVER had problems on the Mountain Cut Off , at least like this, but then again they (crews) knew how to handle the trains. I have more opion to post.
PICK

[RDG Mallet]

Pick,

Me thinks you better do a bit more research prior to posting. There have been many wrecks along the ENTIRE Lehigh Division prior to the RBMN takeover (including the LV, D&H, and CR). Yes, this includes the current OAK Street, DUPONT derailment sight.

There is even a dirt ramp built up to the sight at Oak street that was built by Conrail (I think) to clean up a derailment that was there years ago.
The LV had their fair share of wrecks also. Granted that some of these wrecks were not track related, however, some were.

Mike

READING LINES "BEE LINE SERVICE"

[Whut]

Its because only about 25% of the money seems to go to track work, the rest seems to disapear into things like jet fuel, old bridges and swans.
There was another derailment at the same site as three others but just a few hours before the last one the FRA hi-railed on the same track and said it was OK.
CP now says they will not use the RN lehigh line until it is Sperry tested but they just put about 15 cars on the ground on their own railroad near Wilkes-Barre detouring around the RN.

[Prof John Frink]

Readers and Posters,

The last post by Mr. Whut and the poster Whut is no way related to the ever popular cartoon character called the Flying Copter Head that is seen on many freight cars far and abroad.

As some of you know this Flying Copter Head would always be seen with the words "Whut Whut Whut" blaring from his mouth.

So please don't confuse the poster Whut with the Flying Copter Head and the Prof.

Thank You.

Although Mr Whut I do not disagree with your statements.

CEW

[Prof John Frink]

Mr Pick,

As we wait for more of your opion's.

I need to understand your statement a little better.

The one about " but then again they (crews) knew how to handle the trains".

I just want to make sure that you don't mean that the
RBM&N, NS, CP- D&H crews have no knowledge of handling trains up on the former LVRR Mountain Cutoff or any part of the Lehigh Line.

As a LV fan and railroader myself, I am aware of the Valley men that are still running trains on the former Valley and that are still working for the railroads that operate over that line.

These are the experienced men that are handing down their skills to the next generation of railroaders.

Although there are a few Valley men left, those who are not original Valley men have learned from the best.

As far as your previous statements about the tax dollars and spendings,
that I can understand and I can agree with you on that.

Sooner or Later something will break, Band-Aides will only hold up for so long.

CEW

[/quote]

[TheAngryBrakeman]

<<I need to understand your statement a little better.

The one about " but then again they (crews) knew how to handle the trains". >>

Yeah I was wondering the same thing

[RBMN-ENGR.]

Thanks for the replies people,
R&N has gottin lots(millions) of money for the rehab of the Lehigh side of the RR. Let alone the funding for the power. LV NEVER had problems on the Mountain Cut Off , at least like this, but then again they (crews) knew how to handle the trains. I have more opion to post.
PICK

Well, I have to say I'm offended by the train handling statement.
Ya know, in my 18 years on the R&N, I've never had a train handling related derailment. I was shown how to run the Mountain by one of our best. A 38 year veteran. But I guess I don't know what I'm doing. Come out and show me sometime! Just remember this, don't let your mouth write a check that your ???can't cash.

[Tamping Pick]

This topic is about 2 things,
Train handling and track$$$$$$.
First track- CR tried to replace stick(trk.2) with ribbon some where around '85 there abouts, I may have the year wrong.
Was done ,I think in colder months , and as we all know the "gorge doesn't get much sun", Around the "OXBOW", this is well documented , D&H was flopping westbounds(northbounds) almost weekly. Mainly covered hoppers.
Second was new D&H crews going back to the '80's.
I'm not knockin the D&H guys, I saw those "coke" trains come by Oak Street at 40 per, which I have a lot of those on video, some of those scared me! Just on the old threads I linked the amount of money R&N got to rebuild the Lehigh side of this railroad, it is public knowledge, R&N got many millions to rebuild this segment of RR. Let alone the fundinding for the "COAL" bridge thing and the Mehoopany to Coxton thing.
JUst do a search on the PENNDOT site RR.
Had the link posted on the old threads, but......
Waiting for replies....
PICK

[Tamping Pick]

AS for the R&N guys that run trains on the "mountain".
You don't pull anything close to the 8'000 ton(and then some) trains that LV pulled up there.
D&H(CP/NS) trains WAY out weigh anything you guys pull anywhere on the R&N.
PICK

[RR_Fan]

I can only see where this topic is going....

[Prof John Frink]

The RBM&N has run 8000+ ton trains over the Lehigh Line even 10,000+ ton trains. This was evident of the 4-6 unit pushers on the rear coming out of Coxton and pushers going west. Of course not on a regular basis as if it were the "Valley " years ago, but they have done it and are capable of handling such trains.

I have worked for the RBM&N and know that these tonnage factors are true. Although I mainly worked the Reading Division I have seen the car counts and tonnage reports and knew what those crews were handling.

I have worked with those guys first hand and continue to work with some of those guys right now. Believe me, they can handle it, they have handled it and continue to do so.

Every railroad has their unfortunate incidents and it happened (s) to them all. There is no question of why the present Lehigh Line is in such poor condition today with all the gov't money invested and I don't want to argue of who is the best or who is the worst in handling a train on the Lehigh. I am simply stating the facts of what I have experienced on the RBM&N.

It seems to me Mr. Pick that you are knowledgable about the L.V. and maybe even worked for the Valley, or maybe worked for a railroad for some amount of time. I have never worked for the Valley, but I do know that they had a true brotherhood. I have worked for the RBM&N and I have experienced the same true brotherhood.

Send an e-mail if you wish.

CEW

[RR_Fan]

I agree with what Prof says. I know many of the R&N crews first hand including RDG Mallet, Diesel engineer, RBMN ENGR, Prof John Frink, TheAngryBrakeman, Railfan Undertaker, and many others that dont participate in the forums. I also keep track of what cars and locos are on what train and how long they are, how many cars are on each and stuff like that. It may sound dumb to some people but living next to the R&N and following what they are about and what they are doing is quite interesting and always will be. All of the train service people on R&N work to their fullest abilities when they operate the trains. I for one don't think Pick said the right things in his post about the R&N employees.

Take Care.
Jeff