But then the next time some trespasser gets hit while crossing a very busy rail line, the lawyer representing the deceased would be in a position to put some BNSF person on the stand and grill them “You do permit people to walk on your tracks in Missouri don’t you. In fact don’t you even encourage it? How were these tracks marked any differently? How was this poor widow’s husband to know whether it was Ok fro him to walk on those tracks or not?” Grouse about lawyers all you like, but it is a jury that starts nodding its collective head at that line of argument. Best to be able to say “we do not permit trespassing on our tracks even if there has been no train on them for a decade.”
Arrogance at its best. Maybe if the city fined BNSF several thousand dollars to clean up their own mess, it would be different.
Personally i really dont see a issue here, except that they put in a gravel path that encourages kids to walk on the tracks. I do have to give bnsf brownie points for hireing a contractor to care for the unused trackage sence they did not want volenteers doing it. Now just have to wait and see if it is cared for
This is private property. What part of private property does the community not comprehend? Odds are the people living in that community will encounter a vast moving object on those tracks at some point in the future, and they will blame the railroad for using its own property when one or more of the community members gets run over. These people are trespassing. Little wonder the railfans’ hobby is getting more difficult. In the community I live, the local police would have arrested every last one of the trespassers, with the local railfan group being disgusted by the trespassers, despite warnings from the railfan group.
Now if the community in question had any brains, and they apparently don’t, they would have checked in first with the railroad to see if they could get permission. Or ask nicely of the railroad to clean up the property. Or better yet, stop throwing trash out the window so it ends up on the railroad.
No doubt a BNSF lawyer correctly realized that in today’s litigious society, not making a statement now could come back to bite BNSF at some future date. On the other hand, BNSF probably wasn’t going to blanket the area with Special Agents. Truth is, in far too many cases the appearance of railroad property is allowed to deteriorate to the detriment of nearby property owners.
Mr.Johnston-Arrogance?Try reality.Cities and states have no jurisdiction over railroads.Anyone (or thing for that matter)that ends up on RR property is TRESPASSING.This includes crossings at grade.
Well, this did get BNSF off it’s duff. Maybe BNSF should either decide to use the line or abandon it. Just leaving it there isn’t working, is it?
Like everything else in this country: it’s all about LIABILITY. The greedy lawyers in this country have ruined many individuals idea of “personal responsibility”. Corporations are faced with frivolous lawsuits everyday. It’s no wonder BNSF has taken this position. Remember the lady who won 2 million dollars from McDona
come on, guys, there hasn’t been any trains there since 2002!
It appears to me that BNSF has delayed the cleanup of its unused tracks pending the outcome of its litigation with DOE. Well even so, when you own property that is, in effect, right in the middle of a town one should keep it maintained in the same condition as the rest of the town. On the other hand the community of Steelville most assuredly should have talked to BNSF about its cleanup plans. (Maybe they have not gotten a response from them) Anyhoo, building the gravel path for students to use for walking the tracks to and from school is about as unbelievable an action as I’ve ever heard. Enroll those deep thinkers in grade #1.
It should also be noted that the Lead Line Sub is listed as Out of Service south of Cuba, MO. The point is that it’s railroad property, and nobody else has any business there, regardless of their good intentions.