When they pave over the tracks...

[BMR777]

In my town there has been a railroad spur that for years was used lightly to deliver to a few local lumberyards. The last time I remember a train being on it was a year or two ago, but I thought it was still in use.

A few days ago I'm driving down main street, where there's road construction, and what do I see? I see fresh pavement on the street, right over the railroad tracks! They just paved over the tracks, cutting them off from the rest of the railroad.

I take it that it's a bad sign and that there will never be trains on those tracks again.

 

[aviserated]

Yes it is sad, but just roll with the changes.

 

[Larry]

Here in my town about 1995 I was working at a Bus company that did custom Motorhomes. Right behind the building was a siding that crossed the road over to a Propane storage area. One day while I was eating lunch a paving company was redoing that road. I noticed they were paving over the tracks. I headed over to a pickup that had the paving co. name on it & told the foreman that the RR used that track to take & bring Propane cars into their yard. At the time there wasn't a Propane car sitting on the siding. They wouldn't listen to me & paved over the tracks about 3 layers.
About 2 weeks later I heard the train backing down that siding & ran to the back of the building just in time to see 2 full Propane cars wandering down the street(not on the rails). I finally waved the engine to stop & they couldn't beleive that the city paved over the tracks. It took them most of the day to get the cars rerailed w/the help of a local wrecker company.
The next day the city had a crew out there on that siding removing all of that asphalt. The workers were really pi@@ed that after they did all of that work they had to go in there w/a grinder & take up all that new asphalt.

 

[BMR777]

Here in my town about 1995 I was working at a Bus company that did custom Motorhomes. Right behind the building was a siding that crossed the road over to a Propane storage area. One day while I was eating lunch a paving company was redoing that road. I noticed they were paving over the tracks. I headed over to a pickup that had the paving co. name on it & told the foreman that the RR used that track to take & bring Propane cars into their yard. At the time there wasn't a Propane car sitting on the siding. They wouldn't listen to me & paved over the tracks about 3 layers.
About 2 weeks later I heard the train backing down that siding & ran to the back of the building just in time to see 2 full Propane cars wandering down the street(not on the rails). I finally waved the engine to stop & they couldn't beleive that the city paved over the tracks. It took them most of the day to get the cars rerailed w/the help of a local wrecker company.
The next day the city had a crew out there on that siding removing all of that asphalt. The workers were really pi@@ed that after they did all of that work they had to go in there w/a grinder & take up all that new asphalt.

WOW! I wonder if that's what's happening in my town. I wonder what the procedures are for cities doing road work at railroad crossings, how much communication is required between the city and the RR.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Something similar to that happened in my home town many years ago except that a train came through while the asphalt was still hot. No derailment, just a road foreman with egg, or asphalt, on his face.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Wow! The closest thing I've seen to that, is where the painters put in the stripes, crosswalk and "stop" sign on the freshly tarred road, apparently without realizing there was going to be a second layer of tar added the next day.

 

[thaddeusthudpucker]

The right hand knoweth not what the hell the left hand is up to...

 

[Trussrod]

Here in my town about 1995 I was working at a Bus company that did custom Motorhomes. Right behind the building was a siding that crossed the road over to a Propane storage area. One day while I was eating lunch a paving company was redoing that road. I noticed they were paving over the tracks. I headed over to a pickup that had the paving co. name on it & told the foreman that the RR used that track to take & bring Propane cars into their yard. At the time there wasn't a Propane car sitting on the siding. They wouldn't listen to me & paved over the tracks about 3 layers.
About 2 weeks later I heard the train backing down that siding & ran to the back of the building just in time to see 2 full Propane cars wandering down the street(not on the rails). I finally waved the engine to stop & they couldn't beleive that the city paved over the tracks. It took them most of the day to get the cars rerailed w/the help of a local wrecker company.
The next day the city had a crew out there on that siding removing all of that asphalt. The workers were really pi@@ed that after they did all of that work they had to go in there w/a grinder & take up all that new asphalt.

So of these people doing some of these jobs and or their boses just don't have any common sense. I would think they would have checked with the railroad first as to my understanding always the Right of way where the tracks are layed?

It a wonder the asphalt was strong enough to not be indented by the weight of the Propane tank cars.