neatness counts in rail transportation

[JonMyrlennBailey]

Here is a train spraying to kill weeds:

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In Trainz 2022 PE, I am editing the West From Denver route. I'm removing all vegetation on or near the tracks. Weeds are ugly and trees and bushes too close to passing trains might scratch the paint. Going down into Denver from the Rockies foothills, there are some old rusty gravel hoppers parked along the side of a particular bend on a siding. I got rid of this junk and tore up the siding as well.

Playing Trainz, I always have the fantasy of being an American railroad owner and operator. I could only imagine my track work to be smooth as a baby's butt and have everything tidy and clean in appearance. I would never tolerate graffiti and I would deplore greasy/dirty/rusty looking rolling stock. All railroad employees would be nicely dressed and professional in appearance and demeanor.

Being a die-hard American pro-gunner, I would gladly allow my employees to be armed with handguns in fanny packs while on duty for personal security. A train crewman is vulnerable. Some escaped cons might jump his train or he might encounter a wild animal while throwing a switch lever in the woods at night. All such junctions would be well lit. I am also a fan of having working security dogs on railroads as in yards and/or accompanying train crews in some case. I like German Shepherds and have figures of these placed all over my various Trainz routes. As an avid dog lover, I would have a K9-friendly policy for my passengers.

 

[JCitron]

This isn't how it is in other parts of the world. Go for a cab ride on a YouTube video of routes in Germany and the UK for instance and you will see the difference. To be honest, I'd rather see the flora growing up rather than seeing everything killed back by cancer-causing poisonous weed killers.

Neatness counts yes, but some railroads here don't care. Take the former Guilford Transportation Industries, aka Pan Am Railways, that's no longer around. They let their branch lines weed up so high there wasn't any sign of tracks except for a locomotive crawling down the line. Their freight yards looked like dirt lots with the track buried up to the rails. In some places, the yards were so bad that the freight cars rolled over due to the ties rotting out beneath the rails.

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

This isn't how it is in other parts of the world. Go for a cab ride on a YouTube video of routes in Germany and the UK for instance and you will see the difference. To be honest, I'd rather see the flora growing up rather than seeing everything killed back by cancer-causing poisonous weed killers.

Neatness counts yes, but some railroads here don't care. Take the former Guilford Transportation Industries, aka Pan Am Railways, that's no longer around. They let their branch lines weed up so high there wasn't any sign of tracks except for a locomotive crawling down the line. Their freight yards looked like dirt lots with the track buried up to the rails. In some places, the yards were so bad that the freight cars rolled over due to the ties rotting out beneath the rails.

Rail transportation companies, like many other for-profit business entities, will often do whatever, or fail to do whatever, unless it generates profits UNLESS government regulation, customer boycott and/or public shaming persuades them to do more than just that.

I would like to think that if I were to own a railroad and operate it, it would be not-for-profit and I would be a payroll employee. I might cut myself $200K a year and that is it. I would not want to own and operate any business unless I could do so in the name of pride, reputation, pubic safety, fair and legitimate business practices and human health and welfare.

I frankly believe I could serve humanity much better as an ecologist, an American automobile manufacturer putting out "green", safe, fun, roomy, well-designed, quiet, good-looking, comfortable, spacious, long-lasting and reliable personal vehicles affordable for the common people, a leading renewable energy pioneer or a civil engineer.

 

[JCitron]

Rail transportation companies, like many other for-profit business entities, will often do whatever, or fail to do whatever, unless it generates profits UNLESS government regulation, customer boycott and/or public shaming persuades them to do more than just that.

True. Guilford, aka PAR later on, was run on a shoestring budget where 20 mph was considered a bonus and running out of fuel enroute wasn't uncommon, and neither was locomotives catching on fire. The 450-mile line between North Maine Junction and Mechanicville, NY was down to less than 5 mph in some places, causing crews to outlaw.
Guilford didn't care and actually went as far as to discourage customers and ignore court orders. Under PAR management, supporting existing business, let alone searching for new business was completely out of the question. It's been said that for Timothy Mellon and his operatives, the railroads were nothing more than a real estate grab and tax write off as they let things run into the ground.

About 20 years ago before Guilford changed their name to Pan Am Railways, Amtrak canceled their trains to Montreal and Burlington Vermont via the Connecticut River Line due to the track being in such poor shape. For a while, they were running an awkward route via New England Central to Palmer, MA where they reversed to Springfield then back the 10 or 20 miles back to Palmer before heading north. About 8 years ago, they switched to the Conn River Line again after the state took over the tracks.

Since CSX has taken over the lines in 2020, they have put millions into rebuilding the railroad and run far more freight than PAR ever did. As the papers were being signed and new management was moving in, they sent out MOW crews to rebuild the Worcester to Ayer, MA "Worcester mainline".

This once 40 mph freight line was down to 10 mph in some areas and a stretch of tracks that crosses over a reservoir was sinking into mud and dirt. The line has been rebuilt to at least 20 mph standards with hopes to bring it up to faster speeds.

The only track that had any maintenance, per se was the jointly operated Pan Am Southern (Norfolk Southern Crescent Corridor northeast portion plus Pan Am Railways). to Ayer Mass and that was only 20 mph until the line reached Gardner, MA or state-owned commuter track where freight operates at 40 mph and it took $28 million to bring this stretch up to 20 mph. It's pretty sad because previous to Guilford, the old Boston Maine and operated 60 mph passenger and 40 mph freight on their mainlines.

They did the same in Maine where CSX has been rebuilding the Waterville to Brownsville mainline The Waterville to Brownsville line now handles container traffic that is exchanged with CP-Rail who now owns the former Bangor and Aroostook lines. Rigby Yard, located just south of Portland, ME has been completely rebuilt. Under PAR and Guilford, the ties were rotted and tracks were splitting apart just like they were in Lawrence, Lowell, and East Deerfield.