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Saturday
August 6, 2005
Railroad removal not
harmful at all
I write in response to Mr. Hagerman's
letter of July 24, regarding the removal of CSX Transportation's
First Street Industrial Track. Mr. Hagerman stated that this rail
line is a vital link between industries on the south side of
downtown, and that its abandonment would cause "over 100 jobs [to]
be lost." Mr. Hagerman's basis for this proclamation is that the
First Street I.T. is the sole rail line by which the rail-served
facilities can be accessed.
However, I find his claim to be
entirely invalid, based upon the actual operations of the railroads
serving these downtown industries.
I recently graduated from
Rose-Hulman, and during my tenure there I spent what little free
time I had away from classes volunteering at the Wabash Valley
Railroaders Museum and photographically documenting CSX
Transportation and Canadian Pacific Railway operations in and around
Terre Haute.
While not currently a railroad employee, I
participated in a cooperative education program with CSXT that
allowed me to obtain a year's experience in that railroad's
engineering department. Given this background, I feel that I am
qualified to present the following observations to argue against Mr.
Hagerman's "doom and gloom" statements of supposed
fact.
During my five years of studying Terre Haute
railroading, on exactly one occasion did I observe grain cars being
moved from Graham Grain north on the First Street I.T. The unit
grain trains of which Mr. Hagerman speaks have for years been
interchanged with CSXT at the Spring Hill junction on the south side
of the city. Graham Grain operates its own engine to run down the
rail line cutting southeast across Terre Haute to pick up from and
deliver to this interchange point.
Thus, CSXT provides no
direct service to the elevator from the north, and removal of the
trackage would not at all impact Graham Grain's operations or
employment levels. Period.
CSXT serves two other customers
via the First Street track: Graham Grain's salt dock, as mentioned
by Mr. Hagerman, and the International Paper mill along the river.
The side track which serves these two industries splits from the
track just north of the Graham Grain elevator, and its alignment
actually favors rail access from the south. It would not be
unfeasible to construct a connection between the Graham Grain line
and CPR's "South Belt" line near Sixth Avenue, which would permit
the industries to be accessed from the south. Alternately, access
could be provided via the existing trackage that runs through the
RailWorks and International Paper property.
Regardless of
which access route is selected, the substantial amount of rail
traffic Mr. Hagerman claims his proposed industry will generate
would give both CPR and CSXT incentive to upgrade their lines to
support the railcars necessary to provide this service, and thus
themselves be poised to gain from the economic benefits Mr.
Hagerman's industry would provide.
In this instance, the case presented by the
city, which is more involved than the Trib-Star article of June 29
indicates, is the correct course: Removing the First Street I.T.
will permit the combined sewer problem to be more easily remedied (a
federal mandate to improve the quality of our waterways) than if
heavy construction was attempted while keeping open an adjacent,
active rail line.
Reconstruction of the right-of-way after
the new sewers are installed would permit the existing First Street
alignment to be improved, providing an alternate local route to
bypass the busy Third Street corridor along with improving access to
the industrial facilities that line the river, and create space for
a greenway corridor that would connect the National Road Heritage
Trail with Fairbanks Park and future greenway developments.
I
hardly think that Mr. Hagerman speaks for CSXT when he says "they
vote no." Let's hear what the railroads - both CSXT and CPR - have
to say before prematurely reaching a decision.
- David
Honan, EI
RHIT BSCE '05
Indianapolis
Story created Aug 08, 2005 - 11:34:04 CDT.
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