PAR train "abandoned" in Oakland for 5+ months

From The Portland Press Herald:

The Portland Press Herald wrote:Instead, the empty rail cars, most of them with open doors and covered in a combination of rust and graffiti, have remained on the discontinued rail line of Pan Am Railways for the last five months.

Family members said they made repeated attempts to contact Pan Am to ask that the train cars be moved, but to no avail.
. . .
Her father, Jame Easton, has made repeated unsuccessful efforts to contact the company by phone. About three weeks ago, he went in person to a local office of the railroad and talked to workers there, but they have not followed up with him, she said.
. . .
The family also can’t get a small tractor past the train to haul brush and otherwise maintain the far side of the property.
. . .
She said that the railroad has always recognized the intersection of the tracks and the trail as a crossing, but that it seems the company may be pulling back from that agreement.
. . .
Easton said that while she prefers the train cars be removed from the area altogether, she would also be satisfied with a gap being made that would allow her to access the rest of her land . . .

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.pressherald.com/news/Oakland ... _cars.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sounds like it's time to get a lawyer--or call the cops.......

All Pan Am has to do is uncouple the cars by the crossing, and pull them about a half-car length forward (it's not a very large "crossing").

Years ago, a town manager in Maine said to me, "The only time Guilford responds to us is after they've gotten a ton of bad press." The more things change, the more they stay the same!

perfect . just what we all know. this is an organization that has no intelligence. there is no reason for railcars to sit.
folk should not be subject to looking at rusting railcars. move them. either into interchange or to naporano to be cut up. ken patrick

First are the railcars owned by PAR or are they just storing them for the owner, and receiving a storage fee. Second is the Crossing an official "Private Crossing" or just one always used but never officially registered. If unofficial, it is high time to make it official or enforce the non-use. Official Private Crossings come with obligations to both parties, but also clarify legal status, such as what happens if a Third Party is killed or injured in using the crossing.

KEN PATRICK wrote:perfect . just what we all know. this is an organization that has no intelligence. there is no reason for railcars to sit.
folk should not be subject to looking at rusting railcars. move them. either into interchange or to naporano to be cut up. ken patrick

No one is looking at "rusting railcars". They're shoved down the Madison Branch, and the only way to see them is by walking through the woods to them. Regarding disposition, there is absolutely no reason Pan Am can't store unneeded cars on their own property until they do need them.

JayBee wrote:First are the railcars owned by PAR or are they just storing them for the owner, and receiving a storage fee. Second is the Crossing an official "Private Crossing" or just one always used but never officially registered. If unofficial, it is high time to make it official or enforce the non-use. Official Private Crossings come with obligations to both parties, but also clarify legal status, such as what happens if a Third Party is killed or injured in using the crossing.

As far as I know, they're owned by Pan Am. They're old BM/MEC boxcars, with some gondolas and hoppers thrown in.

There's another thread out there now about this type of problem. The solution is not complicated to fix this problem with the railroad.

KEN PATRICK wrote:perfect . just what we all know. this is an organization that has no intelligence. there is no reason for railcars to sit.
folk should not be subject to looking at rusting railcars. move them. either into interchange or to naporano to be cut up. ken patrick

Nonsense.

KEN PATRICK wrote:perfect . just what we all know. this is an organization that has no intelligence. there is no reason for railcars to sit.
folk should not be subject to looking at rusting railcars. move them. either into interchange or to naporano to be cut up. ken patrick

A quick search on the enternet reveales railroad across the country doing this. UP and the likes must have no intelligence either.

Here's a picture of some of the cars being stored (from April).

b&m 1566 wrote:

KEN PATRICK wrote:perfect . just what we all know. this is an organization that has no intelligence. there is no reason for railcars to sit.
folk should not be subject to looking at rusting railcars. move them. either into interchange or to naporano to be cut up. ken patrick

A quick search on the enternet reveales railroad across the country doing this. UP and the likes must have no intelligence either.

This is true, but the issue here is that the PAR cars in question are blocking a crossing, and the RR has not been responsive.

If it's not an official crossing, then Pan Am doesn't really have any obligation to move the cars.

690 wrote:If it's not an official crossing, then Pan Am doesn't really have any obligation to move the cars.

Right. No sense in being a good neighbor now, is there? This type of behavior, i.e., an apparent "who cares" attitude, is what gets this excuse for a railroad a bad reputation. This notion is not new; it's been discussed here in the past.

690 wrote:If it's not an official crossing, then Pan Am doesn't really have any obligation to move the cars.

Absolutely, but if that's the case they should've just said so in the beginning instead of ignoring the property owners' repeated complaints for the past five months. Again, basic Public Relations 101: Don't unnecessarily p!ss people off and bring negative media attention to yourself.

The family claims they've been using that crossing for 70-something years and never had any issues until now. Even if it was never written up as an official crossing, they've definitely got history on their side. If it's not official, then the railroad should offer to make it official, rather than just ignoring these people who have apparently made several good faith attempts to work with the railroad to resolve the issue.