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Post Number: 1
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Expatriate
Group: Members
Posts: 16696
Joined: Oct. 2004
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Posted on: Jun. 03 2016,6:25 am |
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First let me say I think transporting by rail is a good thing and I don't mind trains passing through the city.
But a few weeks ago the trains all started stopping before the crossing on Garfield Ave., they then use their whistle to sound some railroad morse code..I've heard one engineer sound his whistle over 20 times in a period of a few minutes.
At first I thought this is construction season and there must be maintenance crews on the mainline, but this goes on night day and even on the Holiday weekend..
My question, in a day of excellent radio/cell phone communication and minimal train crews/engineer and conductor, why is it necessary to sound that obnoxious whistle except when approaching a crossing to warn traffic?
-------------- History is no more than the lies agreed upon by the victors. ~NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
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Post Number: 2
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This is my real name
Group: Members
Posts: 1468
Joined: Sep. 2006
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Posted on: Jun. 03 2016,7:04 am |
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Maybe he was driving that train, high on cocaine.
Probably not, but I just wanted everyone to have that song stuck in their head.
-------------- PEZ the only candy you eat after your favorite fictional character spits it out of their tracheotomy hole.
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Post Number: 3
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Self-Banished
Group: Members
Posts: 22538
Joined: Feb. 2006
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Posted on: Jun. 03 2016,9:25 am |
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^^ was his name Casey Jones?
I'm not exactly sure how it's done but the mighty BN made a deal with some of the metro cities that it wouldn't sound horns at crossings.
I live just far enough away from the main line that I'd hear that whistle at night and it was kinda cool, a lonesome sound, sometimes I could cry.
-------------- Remember boys and girls,
Don’t be a Dick …
Or a “Wayne”
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Post Number: 4
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alcitizens
Albert Lea
Group: Members
Posts: 3664
Joined: Jul. 2009
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Posted on: Jun. 03 2016,12:25 pm |
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Four horn blasts at every intersection.. The City never brings up investing in quiet zone intersections..
It wouldn't take that much to invest in one intersection every year until done..
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Post Number: 5
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nzeroesc
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 258
Joined: Aug. 2005
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Posted on: Jun. 07 2016,3:16 am |
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In order to create a quiet zone covering Albert Lea from Margaretha to Hammer Rd there is really isn't that much to do. The Federal Railroad Administration rules for Quiet Zones dictate that all at-grade crossings in a QZ have gates. Well all of the roads in the city already do. The sticking point is there is a pedestrian crossing between the two sides of Johnson St on the end of Columbus Ave. There would need to be gates installed there, the crossing removed, or at a minimum somehow closing it between the hours of 10p-7a if we applied for a partial QZ designation.
The FRA also provides a calculator to figure out the risk index for a QZ. At least one of the two major grade crossings in town (Margaretha or Broadway/Front) would need to be upgraded to what are called quad gates (Gates on both sides of road on both sides of the tracks) or have centerline medians installed with reflective barricades that prevent cars from driving around the gate arms.
http://media.cleveland.com/north-r...410.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee93yveCDGM
In playing with the calculator, creating a zone covering the majority of town from 10p-7a can be accomplished surprisingly cheap if the NE neighborhood supports removal of that ped crossing, and the city installs barriers in appropriate locations to lower the risk score. Quad gates at Broadway and Main would be easiest due to the odd geometry of our busiest intersections, barriers at Margaretha won't work well, and Broadway / Front is impossible due the the intersection. Newton would be the easiest to install a center median on, and IMO would have the least impact on drivability in town.
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Post Number: 6
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alcitizens
Albert Lea
Group: Members
Posts: 3664
Joined: Jul. 2009
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Posted on: Jun. 07 2016,10:37 pm |
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Quad gates at Broadway and Main? I don't understand.. Main doesn't have a RR crossing, or does it?
Good information for those running for City Council, Thanks..
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Post Number: 7
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nzeroesc
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 258
Joined: Aug. 2005
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Posted on: Jun. 07 2016,11:17 pm |
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My bad. Was late when i typed that. Should be referring to Broadway / Front intersection.
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Post Number: 8
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Expatriate
Group: Members
Posts: 16696
Joined: Oct. 2004
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Posted on: Jun. 08 2016,6:57 am |
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It's not so much the crossing whistles I'm complaining about, the trains all seem to be stopping before the Garfield Ave. crossing. At that point I believe they signaling with their whistles-air brakes on-stopping- air brakes off- proceeding forward- when you add these whistle blows to the double crossing I've counted 20 whistles in a period of five minutes.
A quit zone would great but at the expense of the pedestrian crossing wouldn't be fair to the Hawthorne students. I'm sure building an overhead pedestrian bridge would be costly but a quite zone may be worth the expense.
-------------- History is no more than the lies agreed upon by the victors. ~NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
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Post Number: 9
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Post Number: 10
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alcitizens
Albert Lea
Group: Members
Posts: 3664
Joined: Jul. 2009
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Posted on: Jun. 10 2016,12:44 am |
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The Federal Railroad Administration says Trains will stop blowing their Horns with this simple improvement..
Mountable medians with Reflective Traffic Channelization Devices can be installed from Margaretha Ave. to Garfield Ave for a total of $91,000..
This would create a 24 Hour Quiet Zone in Albert Lea..
Attached Image
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