Rail News 2012
“Trains chuffed into the world in the 1820s and ‘30s, bridging physical and temporal chasms that had held humans back for millennia. The historian Walter A. McDougall has described the upheaval wrought by this revolutionary technology (with supplemental help from the telegraph): “When [Andrew] Jackson entered the White House in 1829, people, goods, and information – even in the most advanced countries – could not travel overland any faster than they did in the time of Julius Caesar. Then all concepts of space, time, and volume exploded.” In the following two decades, chain reactions to the explosion rippled through the Eastern, Southern, and Central United States. By the 1850s, almost half of the world’s railroad tracks rested on American soil.” Dennis Drabelle, The Great American Railroad War
Yes, railroad opened up this country; and yes, truck transportation later took over for rail. Today many of the abandoned rail lines have been turned into public trails by local communities. However, with higher fuel costs and an interest in selling natural resource products abroad, there is a renewed business interest in rail. Read Canadian Geographic’s Railway Revival by Monte Paulsen and Tobin Grimshaw.
Now people have to decide whether to let go of their public rail trails and allow trains to chuff through their communities once again.
Sample Rail Advocacy:
Questions/Points to Ponder:
- Who owns the rail right-of-way today? If the rail right-of-way was given to The People. Does the local council have the right to sell the right-of-way to private interests? This question may have to be answered in court. Should the right-of-way be sold or leased?
- How much of the route is being established through expropriation/eminent domain?
- If the rail right-of-way has been adopted as a public multi-use trail system used for walking, biking, hiking, horseback riding, atving, skiing and snowmobiling, what social clubs are being affected? Are they aware of the issue?
- Do The People have any say in this matter? Let your local government know your opinion.
- Good things could come from rail – cheaper agriculture shipping and passenger commuter service (GO Train) for instance – but other scenarios are garbage from the city or aggregate from the country. Don’t forget uranium, radioactive or other toxic materials (crude oil traveling in inferior DOT 111 rail cars).
- Are all the existing bridges and overpasses safe or will they have to be rebuilt? Who is responsible for regularly checking for structural safety and to what standard? Who will pay the bill?
- Today the technology for rail is substantially different, even from 5 years ago. Rail cars are physically lighter. Distributed power – the practice of placing remote-controlled locomotives along the length of the train – has improved handling and performance and made longer trains possible. All the changes mean that Canada’s freight railways can move a tonne of freight nearly 200 km on one litre of fuel (source article). However, the downside is that container-carting intermodal trains can be 4 kms in length. These trains cannot stop quickly and can take 2 kms to come to a halt. If somebody or something gets in their way or the train derails, the damage is significant.
- Rail companies are asking for higher and higher track speeds.
- Rail crossings are a common site for train accidents especially with trains traveling at higher speeds. What safety precautions are being taken? Who pays?
- How much say will your community have in decisions being taken by the rail company (i.e. increasing track speeds, closing crossings, upgrading safety measures)?
- What kind of detailed record keeping does your community expect from the rail company, especially in regard to health/safety/accidents?
- If a 4 km train stops in your town, does traffic also stop? What is the impact?
- If the rail route goes past a school or through town, will the track be fenced? Who pays to keep the fence maintained (often fences are deliberately cut)?
- Rail companies operate under the premise that tracks are off-limits and people who cross or walk along rail tracks are trespassing. Therefore, rail companies refuse to take any responsibility for pedestrian deaths, which can include making any safety enhancements, reducing speeds, and/or keeping records, among other things.
- Do communities have the right to ticket slow or obstructive trains?
News – Rail (2012 & earlier)
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Date |
Source |
Title |
Comment |
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2012-12-29 |
GreatFallsTribune.com |
Carole Ann Clark Dennis Drabelle “The Great American Railroad War: How Ambrose Bierce and Frank Norris Took on the Notorious Central Pacific Railroad” |
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2012-12-27 |
Petaluma360.com |
Janelle Wetzstein Rail vandalism + 70 mph Do you think Amtrak slows down just because it is in a town? No. Do you think freight trains slow down just because they are going through town? No. Speed limits on railroads is strictly on what class of track the railroad wishes to maintain it as. Now, weather (sic) or not SMART will do 70mph is based upon the class of track, the distance between stations, acceleration, and deceleration rates of the trains. Comment by Lawrence Labranche |
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2012-12-24 |
Mlive |
Police: Midland man drunkenly drives SUV onto railroad tracks, where it catches fire |
Cole Waterman |
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2012-12-23 |
theTimesHerald.com |
Dipentene |
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2012-12-23 |
ChartiersValleyPatch |
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2012-12-23 |
The Republic |
Newspaper: Pedestrian railroad accidents receive little attention, despite numerous deaths |
Todd C. Frankel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
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2012-12-21 |
Redding.com |
Copper wiring used to control railroad crossing arms stolen, deputies say |
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2012-12-20 |
Bloomberg Businessweek |
Dexter Roberts Transportation costs |
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2012-12-20 |
Daily Herald |
Marni Pyke 2nd of 3 parts quad gates |
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2012-12-19 |
Daily Herald |
Marni Pyke 1st of 3 parts 3 people a month die from collisions with trains in Chicago region |
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2012-12-19 |
Colorqadoan.com |
Car stuck on Mason St. railroad tracks in downtown Fort Collins |
Trevor Hughes |
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2012-12-19 |
Manassas Patch |
Jamie M. Rogers |
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2012-12-19 |
Mining Weekly.com |
Henry Lazenby |
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2012-12-17 |
TheStarPress.com |
Keith Roysdon Train types and speeds. |
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2012-12-15 |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Editorial: Railroad industry, government, can work together to save lives |
Crossing the rails: It’s illegal. It’s stupid. It shouldn’t happen. But it does. |
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2012-12-14 |
Union Pacific press release |
Union Pacific Railroad using ultra low-emission locomotives in Chicago Rail Yard |
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2012-12-14 |
Alabama Blog |
Van attempting to turn around on Gurley railroad crossing clipped by train, knocked into ditch |
Lee Roop Ensure enough room to turn around? |
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2012-12-13 |
WLKY.com |
Duane Pohlman |
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2012-12-13 |
DC.Streetsblog.org |
Blog - Tanya Snyder Does Cdn federal law require that railroads provide GPS coordinates of pedestrian/train crashes? |
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2012-12-13 |
LaCrosseTribune.com |
Chris Hubbuch Citing safety concerns, company seeks to close at-grade crossings to reduce potential risk |
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2012-12-12 |
Fox 28 |
Amir Abbas Who pays for railroad crossing protection? Cost cited at $450,000 |
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2012-12-10 |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Towns, train fight over fences – and responsibility for safety |
Todd C. Frankel pedestrian-train accidents are leading cause of death on USA’s railroad system |
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2012-12-10 |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Criticism of fencing disappears from railroad regulator’s memo |
Todd C. Frankel |
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2012-12-10 |
Bloomberg |
Philip Scranton |
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2012-12-09 |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Todd C. Frankel Based on the miles driven each year, pedestrians are killed by freight and passenger trains at many times the rate they are killed by motor vehicles.
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2012-12-08 |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
A mother killed, her son injured, yet the railroad refuses to whistle |
Todd C. Frankel |
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2012-12-08 |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Todd C. Frankel Railroad companies across the country at times refuse to take even small steps to deal with the problem of people walking on their tracks + death statistics |
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2012-12-07 |
Milford Daily News |
Mike Gleason Idling trains, noise at crossings |
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2012-12-07 |
ChillicotheGazette |
Matthew Kent Melvin Parks |
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2012-12-07 |
Chicago Tribune |
Railroad will allow track, signal tests in Texas crash probe |
Matthew Waller Road signal warning times |
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2012-12-05 |
Miami Herald |
Associated Press to ferry both passengers and minerals |
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2012-12-02 |
CBC News Toronto |
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2012-12-04 |
Associated Press |
Pollution & cost savings – applies also to truck idling |
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2012-12-01 |
The Republic |
Texas rail crossing deaths rise in 2012 despite federally mandated plan for improving safety |
Danny Robbins Associated Press |
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2012-11-30 |
Associated Press |
Geoff Mulvihull Paulsboro, New Jersey, USA Who is responsible for inspecting the rail line and bridges for structural safety?
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2012-11-29 |
WQOW.com |
Repaired railroad almost ready for train traffic in Barron County |
Wisconsin, USA frack sand |
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2012-11-26 |
Mining for the Truth in Melancthon (Blog) |
Check blog for other “rail” entries |
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2012-11-26 |
Telegraph |
Julian Ryall, Tokyo electromagnetic |
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2012-11-24 |
Associated Press |
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2012-11-22 |
Orangeville Citizen |
Highland abandons plans for both mega-quarry, rail-line purchase |
Dan Pelton & Wes Keller |
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2012-11-21 |
Highland Companies |
The Highland Companies Withdraws its Application for a Quarry in Melancthon Township |
Also discontinuing efforts to restore rail corridor through Dufferin County |
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2012-11-17 |
Associated Press |
Mamdouh Thabet |
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2012-11-17
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Associated Press
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Juan Carlos Llorca
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2012-11-16 |
ABC News |
Steve Portnoy |
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2012-11-16 |
Associated Press |
Joan Lowy |
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2012-11-15 |
Science Daily |
Stony Brook University |
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2012-10-28 |
TheStarPress |
Farmland USA |
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2012-10-26 |
Daily Commercial News and Construction Record |
Ontario Northland Transportation Commission eyes Ring of Fire Future |
“The new Ring of Fire rail line will be designed and built to ship thousands of tons per day of chromite, nickel and other minerals and finished products to markets globally.“ Any limestone or limestone alternatives? |
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2012-10-18 |
Daily Commercial News and Construction Record |
Korky Koroluk |
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2012-09-28 |
Toronto Star |
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2012-09-05 |
Orangeville.com / Orangeville Banner |
Chris Halliday, County may consider multi-use recreational trails |
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2012-07-23 |
Daily Herald |
Most derailments are harmless. But what about the one that isn’t? |
Marni Pyke
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2012-07-22 |
Daily Herald |
Marni Pyke
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2012-07-11 |
ABC News |
Kevin Dolak |
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2012-04-17 |
Telegraph |
David Millward, Japanese trains up & running normally 50 days after earthquake & tsunami |
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2012-04-11 |
CTV News |
Port Credit, ON |
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2012-02-26 |
National Post |
Joe Rayment |
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2012-02-09 |
Orangeville Citizen |
Dan Pelton |
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2011-11-03 |
Daily Herald |
Brian Hill |
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2011-08-02 |
New York Times |
Kristina Shevory |
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2011-07-31 |
Canadian Geographic |
Monte Paulsen / Tobin Grimshaw |
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2011-07-22 |
Mining for the Truth in Melancthon (Blog) |
Check blog for other “rail” entries |
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2011-03-30 |
Orangeville.com |
Chris Halliday |
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2011-01-27 |
Barrie Examiner |
Sara Ross |
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2011-01-26 |
CNews |
Sara Ross Severn Falls |
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2010-07-23 |
Youtube / Manudomaes YT |
Track Building Train Ever wondered how they build mile after mile |
Laying new track |
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2009-04-21 |
The Highland Rail Group |
A restored railway means jobs, a cleaner environment and local economic development |
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2009-02-18 |
The Highland Rail Group |
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2008-14-15
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Orangeville Ontario Canada |
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2008-06-05 |
Orangeville Citizen |
Editorial |
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n/a |
Wikipedia |
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1980-10-22
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Peat Marwick and Partners; M.M. Dillon Limited |
Commissioned by Minister of Natural Resources. Report is “not to be construed as statement of government policy”. |
Other Information:
Barrie Collingwood Railway http://www.bcryrr.com
"Death should not be the penalty for making a mistake, and yet it is the penalty if you make a mistake at a railway crossing." Lanny Wilson, Chairman of the DuPage Railroad Safety Council (article)
*** Notice that the information on this web page and the associated website have been compiled through private amateur research for the purpose of allowing the reader to make an informed and educated decision. However, while the information is believed to be reliable, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. ***
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