(link below)

to the idiots complaining about "pollution and fumes"...when are you giving up your car?

if you would like to send the town a note, they can be reached here:
NewHopeBorough@comcast.net

sscotsman@yahoo.com

new hope story
sscotsman@yahoo.com

My $.02 to the borough:

To whom it may concern,

I feel a need to express my thoughts regarding the article "New Hope sues railroad over the bells and smells" that appears in the Burlington County Times.

How sad the relationship between the borough and the railroad has deteriorated to such a degree that you have come to the conclusion that a lawsuit is the only way to solve your problems.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the railroad has been a part of the community for close to 100 years, first as the Reading and then as the New Hope & Ivyland.

As an out of town visitor, I have made many trips (starting with my parents in the early 70's) to New Hope to not only ride the train, but to spend my dollars in your town.

Surely, there has to be a better win-win solution for both parties involved?

This seems to be a case of killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Have you legitimately tried to work with the railroad in a constructive way to reach reasonable solutions instead of imposing unrealistic and costly mandates like relocating their maintenance/repair facilities outside of the borough or only allowing their locomotives to idle for a maximum of 10 minutes?

In addition, the railroad has been in the same place for decades, why should they be penalized and incur an added financial burden because of complaints by residents who decided to move close to an operating railroad?

Those conditions were quit apparent and pre-existing before the choice to buy was ever made.

Common sense seems to dictate that you are better off finding a more amicable way of resolving your differences rather than antagonizing a business that's been an integral part of New Hope's great success and uniqueness as a wonderful tourist destination.

Best of luck,

M. Shirk

http://www.readingrailroad.org

A very good message Mike....
Ya know, it just drives me nuts when crap like this happens. So basically, every moron in this town should stop breathing the air we breath because of all the s^&t in it....There are thousands of trucks onthe road today, many of which do more pollution than a locomotive.... Many factories pollute the air with the crap they spew out....Hell, what about these idiots cars!?!?
Maybe they all walk where they need to go, and don't need to drive....How about the fact that these morons are polluting the air everytime they start thier car!! It's like people who buy a house backing on to a very busy highway, then tell the ministry of transport we want a really big concrete fence because the cars are too noisy..
HELLOOOOOOO, YOU BOUGHT THE HOUSE NEXT TO THE HIGHWAY, it was there when you bought it, did you think the cars were going to stop using it because YOU moved in???? NO, so, it's the same damn principaly with the railway....If ya don't like noise, or smoke, then don't buy your frickin house next to the tracks, try the airport, i'm sure it's much quieter there....

Ken


digitekfx@kwic.com

> A very good message Mike....

I would think the burden of proof should be on the Borough ...what specific laws are being violated ???
Unless the Borough can quote chapter and verse along with data documenting the alleged violations the case should not stand much of a chance ...if the RR has the money for the legal battle. It's another sad state of affairs when the side with the most money wins the case ...equal justice before the law just don't happen

"Quality of life" is the latest line of BS thrown at you ...well the RR has been there for a long time, doing the same thing every day and has been a definite factor in the "quality of life" for anyone in the vicinity. Simply because ones head is suddenly exposed to the atmosphere after spending most of its existence "where the sun don't shine" is no reason for a lawsuit, but I ain't a lawyer.


lamontdc@adelphia.net

A Personal pet peave of mine reguarding noise and air polution. I'm sure all Of the pepole complaining have one or more of these also. Lawn mowers, Weed wackers, Leave blowers, roto-tillers, Etc Etc. As a whole these devices cause more noise and air polution than any locomotive.
If I had my way anyone running a weed wacker before 9 am should be straped to the front of the speaker bank at a Mettalica concert for an hour!

I work around locomotives everyday. When there idleing you can carry on a conversation. Try that when someone's running their Edeger to make a neat line by thier sidewalk! Air polution by yard care items is far worse than a locomotive! Most Weed wackers are 2 stroke engines that NEVER get service untill they don't run!

If I ran the railroad I would love to start sueing everyone that fired up a lawn mower etc everytime they cut or trimed or maintained thier lawn. It makes as much sense as sueing the railroad that was there long before the winers bought thier house. Hell If we are going to waste the court's time lets do it up right!


irrs@eriecoast.com

I will send an e-mail to the town also.

This greatly infuriates me!!!! I have been following this story, as a fan of all tourist railroads. And the fact that they want them to move their facilites out of town......where will they go, somewhere else so that town can sue them.

Anybody in this country can sue for any reason. But the town and these fools cannot win, because railroads are governed by the federal government, not anybody else. I lived in New Jersey in 1989, when they re-opened the Atlantic City line. Amtrak trains were running at 80mph plus then, and some of the towns wanted them to go slower. One town even tried having cops sitting along the railroad with a radar gun, with the intent on giving tickets to Amtrak, if the train exceeded the speed limit. The federal government stepped in and forced the town to stop this.

The reason I say this is because federal law dictates that only THEY can dictate what a railroad does on federally controlled tracks. That means hours of operation, (hey I live in Middletown Delaware in a new house, and Norfork Southern blares it's horn a 3 or 4 every morning with a heavy freight train, and I'm not complaining, noise, soot, smell, appearance.....everything. The most the residents can do is try to come to a compromise, but if the railroad wants, they can tell them all to hit the road, which they did.

They don't have any legal ground to stand on.

They don't call the RIGHTS OF WAY for nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paul

plc95@yahoo.com

Just a reminder here for everybody. As far as I can tell, NHI is still a valid, freight-carrying shortline as well as a tourist railroad, connected to the general freight system. That gives them a SUBSTANTIAL advantage in this situation - it preserves federal, common-carrier transportation rights. If you are a tourist-railroad only, not a common-carrier, this kind of anti-train stuff can actually stick - ask the Minnesota Transportation Museum. So while this particular case may (should!) be pretty-much one sided for NHI - don't think that just cause you run trains makes you a 'railroad' in the eyes of the law. You can be subject to FRA and NOT be a common-carrier, which means that the locals can legislate against you. Doesn't necessarily matter how long the track has been there, or if if predated any of the development around it.

Generally, if you're surrounded by NIMBY's, you really don't want to do anything deliberately to make it worse, even if you have the ironclad right to. Defending yourself is expensive, too,even when you are right. You can file a countersuit to recover legal costs in PA though. I know of cases where the tourist railroad DELIBERATELY did boiler blowdowns behind the houses occupied by NIMBY organizers - that kind of thing - and that doesn't help.

Notes I see indicate the tourist operation started in 1966. On a personal note, if there is a 'class action defense' here, I think that ARM, TRAIN, et.al. should certainly be participating and encouraging NHI to stand firm.

randygustafson@stoneconsulting.com

That's a fairly old article. I had heard that a judge threw it out of court, but I've never seen confirmation in print.

Anyone from NH&I on Interchange that can shed some light on this?

> I will send an e-mail to the town also.

> This greatly infuriates me!!!! I have been
> following this story, as a fan of all
> tourist railroads. And the fact that they
> want them to move their facilites out of
> town......where will they go, somewhere else
> so that town can sue them.

> Anybody in this country can sue for any
> reason. But the town and these fools cannot
> win, because railroads are governed by the
> federal government, not anybody else. I
> lived in New Jersey in 1989, when they
> re-opened the Atlantic City line. Amtrak
> trains were running at 80mph plus then, and
> some of the towns wanted them to go slower.
> One town even tried having cops sitting
> along the railroad with a radar gun, with
> the intent on giving tickets to Amtrak, if
> the train exceeded the speed limit. The
> federal government stepped in and forced the
> town to stop this.

> The reason I say this is because federal law
> dictates that only THEY can dictate what a
> railroad does on federally controlled
> tracks. That means hours of operation, (hey
> I live in Middletown Delaware in a new
> house, and Norfork Southern blares it's horn
> a 3 or 4 every morning with a heavy freight
> train, and I'm not complaining, noise, soot,
> smell, appearance.....everything. The most
> the residents can do is try to come to a
> compromise, but if the railroad wants, they
> can tell them all to hit the road, which
> they did.

> They don't have any legal ground to stand
> on.

> They don't call the RIGHTS OF WAY for
> nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

> Paul


acp19809@yahoo.com

Egg on my face.

This story originally ran May 8, 2003.


http://www.readingrailroad.org

That was an old article, and these same people have been trying to place a case against the line since 1991 and have failed numerous times. The NH&I is secure, dont expect it to go anywhere soon.

By the way, this weekend (sept 13-14) is their railfan weekend. Steamer 40 while pull the first revenue freight for the NH&I under its current managemnet/ownership. Check out the website and stop on by.


http://www.newhoperailroad.com

jeff@compucomis.net

> That was an old article, and these same
> people have been trying to place a case
> against the line since 1991 and have failed
> numerous times. The NH&I is secure, dont
> expect it to go anywhere soon.

> By the way, this weekend (sept 13-14) is
> their railfan weekend. Steamer 40 while pull
> the first revenue freight for the NH&I
> under its current managemnet/ownership.
> Check out the website and stop on by.
why does the town sue? because the minbys vote and give $ to the pols. get it its the american way.

staybolt2@netscape.net