Train blocks Kingston crossings - again - 1/6

A brake malfunction caused a freight train to grind to a halt and block all six street-level crossings in the city for three hours on Thursday. And Mayor James Sottile blew his stack.

"I am furious," the mayor said. "This train company (CSX Corp.) is not going to hold this city hostage and think that they can do whatever they please."

[snip]

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.c ... 4969&rfi=6

Well if this was a severe brake malfunction how would the train have moved anyway? This town just looks for any reason to blow up on CSX. Do many other towns give railroads this much trouble when stuff like this happens? It seems to me Kingston just feels like going after the railroad for any reason possible.

As a member of this site for a long time, it seems like whenever anything happens in Kingston, the mayor blows his lid. If Kingston's finest don't want to deal with CSX, then why does'nt the town just ante up and change the roads so they go under the tracks via an underpass? That way everyone is happy? I am sure CSX would like it, too!

Who knows what happened? Maybe Mr. RCBSD45 can add something as too what went on.

Maybe a new Tim Horton's opened??

The "brake malfunction" was "a piece of pipe" dragging under the car and reported [to the NJ Dispatcher, TJB) by an alert track crew. It was later determined that the problem was with the brake rigging/beams (They thought the car dept. may have been able to torch them off.) and the car dept. guy was in New Baltimore. Before a second train (Q 254 I think) could pull into the siding at Kingston, the yard job had to assist by pulling the car and setting it off on facing point siding on Greenkill Ave. To make matters worse, the traffic was rather heavy and the weather worse. Btw, the dispatcher was properly concerned with solving the problem, not unblocking one or more crossings. Btw, Mayor Sottile did have an agreement with CSX re blocked crossings and the V.P. in charge of this sort of thing was not available (as reported in the Daily Freeman).

Relatively cheap solution to the problem: CSX should find a surplus truck and equip it with a set of torches, spare air hoses, knuckles, and other items likely to be needed in a malfunction. This truck should be given to the town mayor, and the dispatcher should have the mayor's home, ofice, and cell numbers handy at all times. Maybe they could even arrange for a pager, or mount a surplus locomotive horn on top of city hall. When there's a problem within the town limits, the horn blows, the pager goes off, and hizzonor bolts into action. Hell, they could even put lights and a siren on the truck. Rather than bring a carman from Selkirk or wherever, help would be close at hand. Let's see how long it takes HIM to walk the train in a snowstorm looking for a broken hose or whatever. And then CSX - and the public - could scream at HIM for taking too long. I love it!

The car that caused the problem, an 80' flat with 4 empty and reeking garbage containers, is sitting on the team track on Greenkill Ave. (South Yard to us locals). The bad order tag says it is "missing a brake rod and the brake lever doesn't work."

I hope that there arent any houses by where this car is sitting because they might make a big stink about it and tell the mayor. Then the mayor will have just another reason to "blow his stack" on CSX.

Gotta admit I hadn't heard of this incident. I was off on my normal wed/Thurs round trip, but I have seen the car sitting on the lead by MP 88. This answers the question I had about it sitting there. Seems to me that ever since the "dunkin donuts incident", and ever since traffic has increased through the city, the whiners have come out in full force. Then CSX just recently upped the speed on the main track through town. It used to be from Flatbush Ave to the south end of the Wilber bridges( MP QR 88.8 to QR 86.4) was always 35 MPH. It is now 50 MPH, although therre is a temporary 40 MPH slow order over the bridge over Rondout Creek and the subsequent short tunnel immediately north of it. Think anyone in town noticed the 15 MPH speed increase?(the siding however still is at "restricted" speed, not in excess of 15 MPH, this has not changed)
As for the mayor and the rest of the locals, there is certainly something to be said for community relations, but it has to be a two way street. This falls under the "@%$@ happens category, and just like the dunkin donuts story, a few facts got lost in the shuffle, although this incident seems to actually highlight a mechanical problem with the car being the cause of the problems. Broadway goes under the tracks, so the town wasn't exactly isolated, although perhaps the crossings should have been cut to open at least a couple if not all the affected streets.
The railroad has had town meetings with the locals but still they are not satisfied. I have an idea, lets take just one train's freight and route it through the town via truck. Better yet, lets do this with the equivilent of all the freight that goes through town in a 24 hour period. The railroad was there over 150 years ago, and will outlast all those living today,so get used to it. Manure is gonna hit the air conditioner occasionally, and reactions such as this only exascerbate contacts between the railroad and the city. I for one will now make sure when I traverse the city, REGARDLESS of the hour of day or night, that I am in full compliance with all operating rules regarding horn/whistle signals. "Just doin my job, officer, looked like I was gonna hit someone on the tracks!"

How is going through town at 50 MPH now? Those crossings seem so close together that you might as well just lay on the horn all the way through the city. I wonder what Mr. Mayor would have to say about that.

Let's see how long it takes HIM to walk the train in a snowstorm looking for a broken hose or whatever. And then CSX - and the public - could scream at HIM for taking too long. I love it!

Aji-tater, that was an awesome post. I hope Hizzonor sees this and huts his trap..better yet somebody should call him a WAAAAmbulance for all his complaining!!!