by Gilbert B Norman
Unless It's raining cats and dogs this Sunday, I expect to do the joyride I outlined earlier in the topic.
Railroad Forums
Moderator: CRail
chaz wrote:The Boynton Beach Police released the Brightline vidoe. After the advertisement, the accident is at 2:04.He didn't even look! How can you be so oblivious?
https://www.tcpalm.com/videos/news/loca ... 109776318/
Gilbert B Norman wrote:At the rate these fatal in incidents have occurred, some party is going to seek the Judiciary to deem AAF a public nuisance.Mr. Norman,
But I shall defer to our barristers around here to determine if AAF rises to the applicable standard.
gokeefe wrote:I totally agree with this one. GBN has been the one constant negative on Brightline for a long time. I don't look for somebody to be proven wrong but we ALL need to think positive and think passenger trains in Florida, better days are on the way and getting closer and closer.Gilbert B Norman wrote:At the rate these fatal in incidents have occurred, some party is going to seek the Judiciary to deem AAF a public nuisance.Mr. Norman,
But I shall defer to our barristers around here to determine if AAF rises to the applicable standard.
I think it is absurd that a railroad, an entity which has long been recognized as a public utility, would ever be treated in such a manner by the courts. If there was ever an example of why some might wonder if you hold animus against the operation this would be "Exhibit 1". Recalling and respecting as always your experience at "The Milwaukee Road" it seems that perhaps the idea of passenger service being financially viable for its own account must require a suspension of disbelief that is "beyond the pale". I can only write to say that some of the very best passenger rail executives in the entire country have worked on this project and I have no doubt that they would never have been involved if it was going to be doomed to failure.
There is every reason to believe that in such a heavily populated area such as the Florida Coast, along with today's higher energy prices (relative to the 1950's) and the overall higher cost of transportation that privately operated rail passenger service could be an economically viable offering. I also recall as always that even at the very end the SAL was still making money on the Florida services and that was without the benefit of access to the FEC.
Food for thought ...
Gilbert B Norman wrote:Now so far as the possibility AAF could be shut down as a "public nuisance", there have been three fatalities in about three weeks. It doesn't matter according to that legal definition I noted earlier if the fatalities arose from the victims' negligence (I couldn't agree more with Mr. Rockingham), the joyrides it presently provides cannot rise to a level of public benefit and accordingly there is exposure to being shut down at least until Miami service is inaugurated.I think I need only remind of the "Valparaiso Limited" which ran for decades under both PC and Amtrak to make the case that "public benefit" is probably not quite as narrowly construed as one might imagine. There are plenty of other examples but if I had stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night that's the case I would be making. If I really wanted to nail it down to Florida I would probably discuss the FEC in its final days, which even though they went to Miami was so schedule constricted as to be an almost meaningless offering.
Arlington wrote:If BL wanted to adapt its strategy and serve Central Florida and Tampa via CSX Auburndale division is there a place where a connection exists or could be made between the FEC and CSX that would be north of BL Fort Lauderdale station?Yes brand new and reactivated dead trackage just north of West Palm Beach being built right now. The Florida situation in the area is backwards. Freight goes down the FEC which goes through the populated downtowns of the cities and passenger trains go down CSX which is not as convenient.