Drunk driver takes out Holland grade crossing signal

[PM1946]

It would have been nice if M-Live had taken a pic of the damage, but this will have to do for now.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ ... river_home

[Saturnalia]

Well, now trains will have to stop and flag that crossing each and every time they cross, until CSX can replace that cantilever, which won't probably happen for a while. Coal train already take like 10 minutes to cross at slow speeds, now they get to stop and flag, too.

Now I'm not exactly sure, but when the headend is at Lakewood, has the rear end cleared 8th Ave in downtown Holland? I know for empties, they'll be fouling James, and maybe Riley as well.

[NYCMan]

Back in my years as a Claims Agent during the Penn Central era, something like this seemed to cross my desk every day, especially over long holiday weekends. Replacing the damaged equipment is no cheap expense, just a pole with flashing red lights and crossbucks ran upwards of $10,000 (back in 1970, and surely has skyrocketed upwards from then). I would always hope that local police were called to the scene and at least got a license plate number and (perhaps) the name and address of the driver. Amazingly, about 40 percent of the time, police actually FAILED to do so. They were more in tune with getting a tow truck our and getting the car moved. But, in these circumstances, I could usually trace down the driver via the towing company that was called. Then, I would have to hope that the vehicle had insurance. (I have heard rumors that, in southeast Michigan, upwards of 30 percent of motor vehicles have NO INSURANCE. And, my experiences over the years bears that statistic out.) Then, come the usual game with the insurance company wanting detailed reports showing every repair done to the crossing pole in question from the beginning of time until now, and then the game of trying to whittle the amount down to as little as possible. I found that when the railroad's legal department (located on the 4th floor of the MC Depot) would get involved and file a lawsuit, usually the insurance company involved would move a little faster and more reasonably toward paying for their insured's damages. I would say that less than one half the time did PC get reimbursed the full amount of its costs of repairing the damage done.

[barnstormer]

Well, now trains will have to stop and flag that crossing each and every time they cross, until CSX can replace that cantilever, which won't probably happen for a while. Coal train already take like 10 minutes to cross at slow speeds, now they get to stop and flag, too.

Now I'm not exactly sure, but when the headend is at Lakewood, has the rear end cleared 8th Ave in downtown Holland? I know for empties, they'll be fouling James, and maybe Riley as well.

When we stop at Lakewood ave., yes, we are clear of 8th ave. by approximately 400 ft., give/take 50 ft. Same goes for Riley st., by around 200-300 ft. at the most.

(btw, 2 engines & 92 cars fit between Riley & James streets)

-barny

[Saturnalia]

When we stop at Lakewood ave., yes, we are clear of 8th ave. by approximately 400 ft., give/take 50 ft. Same goes for Riley st., by around 200-300 ft. at the most.
-barny

Good to know! Thanks 'stormer!