Snow Surprise... Amtrak at Rhinecliff

SST wrote:Mactraxx,
Are you a moderator or something? Why do you always seem to dictate where a story should be posted. You did the same thing to my post awhile back and here you are again trying to change this.

You might be on to something SST:

Forum rules

c. Members are asked to not act as "back seat moderators".

nydepot wrote:

SST wrote:Mactraxx,
Are you a moderator or something? Why do you always seem to dictate where a story should be posted. You did the same thing to my post awhile back and here you are again trying to change this.

You might be on to something SST:

Forum rules

c. Members are asked to not act as "back seat moderators".

SST: All I did was post a *suggestion* that this active topic at the Amtrak Forum about RHI
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=164942" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
My words were "Perhaps these two could be combined" which I now am drawing slack from
you for. In what way was I trying to change anything concerning this topic?

I agree with BR&P and think that this subject should remain in both NYS and Amtrak forums.

I have an idea which postings that you are referring to and we can hash this out by PM.

Everyone - Meanwhile - back to the subject at hand:

After watching variations of this video some more I did notice that there were stepboxes on the
platform. I have been through RHI many times by train but have not gotten on or off any train
there hence the question about the level of the platform being at tie level or slightly higher.

Was the OP of the video a rail enthusiast that posts regularly at YouTube or just someone that
just happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture this NYP bound train on video?
With the video now available from multiple sources the true origin may be tough to find...

In the other topic "east point" pointed out something that should be noted by how the platform
was cleared in that whoever did the work may have had strict instructions to stay out of the
track area noticing the sharp cutoff between the cleared area and the snow on the track.

I asked about if the horn was blown and one reply did note that the engine had its ditch lights
flashing and did blow the horn - it is barely noticeable in the original video - and now think the
snow itself may have muffled the horn in some manner the way that noise can be by snowpack.
There is no doubt that the engine crew was unaware of how deep the snow was at RHI and more
then likely they were just as startled as the passengers on the platform on what would happen...

Because of this incident most likely snow removal at RHI will be more scrutinized in the future
so that nothing resembling this could happen again. Thankfully no one was hurt in this one...

MACTRAXX

As I noted on the Trains forum on the same topic - that storm came with a lot of wind - a drift is not out of consideration here. My driveway was mostly clear, except for a drift in front of the garage door.

This was also a nor'easter - the wind came from an unusual direction from normal (westerlies), so the drift might have formed someplace they weren't used to it happening.

And, in my experience, the platforms are cleared by laborers - not station staff as such. In Utica, it's county employees - the station agent might not even venture out to the platform unless there is baggage or another issue that requires his/her attention. This might have been a case of being caught unawares by all involved.

Because of the drifting, and the nature of the snow, the drifts were pretty solid - not nice and fluffy.

MACTRAXX...

I did not post this in Amtrak nor I want to. This is NOT ABOUT passenger trains, even through it happened to be Amtrak going through.

It's about the train hitting the snowdrift and sending snow into people, whether they're passenger or not. And it happened to be in NYS and it happened to be at platform, instead of at grade crossing where pedestrians could had stopped at the grade crossing...

LEAVE MY TOPIC in this NYS forum! I don't venture over at Amtrak section.

Thanks

MACTRAXX:
When I read your first post on this thread, it "rang a bell." More like alert. I went back and checked my Kinzua posting and sure enough, theirs your "reporting marks" making 3 attempts to get the thread moved to PA. I came back to this thread and reread your post and I knew you'd start making further attempts to get it moved. That's why I "called you out." You certainly can state your opinion but to keep persisting is eventually going to draw a negative response. This does not improve the user experience railroad.net works so hard to provide its posters.

While Otto and I may not agree on location, he's the man.......you are not.

I too rarely look at Amtrak. NY was the first place I looked for this mishap.

sd80mac and SST:

Since I last posted about the RHI snow incident I found a third group of discussion in the Amtrak
Forum under "Amtrak Empire Service (NYS) Improvements Albany-Buffalo" (pages 63-64)
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=91157" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The suggestion I made - and again it was ONLY A SUGGESTION - was for all the posts about what
happened at RHI to be together in one place - but in at least the Amtrak and NYS Railfan Forums
as it is now for added exposure to users. The title "Snow Surprise...Amtrak at Rhinecliff" is the
best title. Just add the exact date that this happened and the train number if one knows...

I learned something that I found to be very interesting from this in that there are Railroad.net
members who do not look in some other forums let alone ever post in them.

I have been a member here for just over 12 years and there are forums I rarely look in and for
that matter have never posted in or had specific reason to do so. For me it is on a "traffic" basis.
I look at the Passenger Rail forums most often and least the slower forums without new posts.

One of the best benefits of Railroad.net membership is having this wealth of information at your
service when one may need it. I am just surprised that some members do not - or not wish to -
look at other forums when the need arises.

With the Kinzua Bridge topic I pointed out that geographically the location was in Pennsylvania.
What SST posted was really good - it answered many questions I had about the Bridge and what
happened there in 2003. Finding earlier topics and information out of the archives did add to the
Kinzua Bridge subject. I later found videos posted at YouTube of Kinzua Bridge,K&K and KBSP.

Back in the early days of my Railroad.net membership there were members that would "direct"
you to the proper forum area especially if you were uncertain where to place a topic or post.
Some of that was subtle or suggestive but were sometimes direct and more stern to newbies.

I am not a moderator nor do I want to be a "back seat driver" here. In this case I only would
like to see topics in their logical places. If Otto or someone in authority says "No" No means No.

Next time I will just ignore what I see to be an obvious error and let someone else in authority
change it since I can not change anything anyway. This is not worth the trouble to me any more.

I am here for the positive - and not negative - and wish to keep it that way...MACTRAXX

I saw multiple threads, and passed. Generally speaking, I'll try to limit multiple topics, preferring instead a single topic, and if necessary, a "pointer" thread with a link to the single topic and locked. I didn't mind in this case since it was a "one-off" so to speak. Since we're clearly beyond the original topic....