Mr. Morgan also make several recommendations as to how the train crew could have dealt better with the Barrington knuckle incident, which several critical posters mentioned on the thread here.
EJ&E makes a great fit into CN’s system. Yes, CN could be better neighbors in IL, personally I’m looking for the new CEO to change the corporate culture a bit. Plus the J engines look so nice in CN paint.
I don’t know if those would be “violations of the 10 minute barrier”, since US Operating Rule No. 526 (Public Crossings) as summarized above seems to contemplate only the situation of stopped trains - but all 4 of those crossing delays would have to be reported in the monthly and quarterly reports by CN to the STB as “blockages” under the decision, rules, and procedure now in effect for this case. And just failing to merely report any of them would be a violation of the terms and conditions of the STB’s decision, it now seems.
A familiar pattern - you’ll get in more trouble for the alleged cover-up or failure to disclose unfavorable information, than you will if you had come clean on it right from the beginning. Perhaps the Canadians don’t yet understand that principle or result in American politics, which has been effect since around Nixon and the “Watergate scandal” . . . [:-^]
- Paul North.
On the whole, I think it unlikely that we Canadians had much influence in the whole matter. Under Hunter Harrison CNR was very much run by Americans, even north of the border. While from the investment point of view CN may have bought IC, from an operating standpoint IC took over the CN.
Managers transferred from the southern parts of the IC not infrequently had difficulty understanding that winter, mountains, heavy grades, curves and other such unfamiliar things required different operating practices. Fortunately I worked for the other major Canadian carrier, but sad tales from trackside filtered across.
From what I have heard, it is quite possible that nobody dared to report correctly because Harrison would be looking for a scapegoat to blame for the problem.
John
John/ cx500, your point above about the Americans being in charge is noted and accepted as a correction to my comment above.
i like your turn of phrase, too - “sad tales from trackside filtered across” - without a doubt, the “sandhouse” (“grapevine” in other corporate cultures) communications worked just fine.
As far as the transfers - I noted in the e-mails related to the Oct. 15, 2010 broken coupler in Barrington a level of frustration at CN’s changing of managers on the former EJ&E, as follows:
10/18/2010 11:10 AM e-mail from Dennis S. Morgan to Bruce Bierman, on pages 11 - 12 of 13 of the PDF version (see below for link): “Hard to keep up with the changes at the CN, but I think you are still the Superintendent on the north end of the “J”.” And at the end of that e-mail: “If you are not in charge, advise who is and forward this request to their attention.” And then at 11:37 AM (page 11), Mr. Bierman responded to Dennis with “Will Noland is the Supt for the Chicago area and has all of the EJE operations.”
Also, I see in the response of from William Noland, GST Chicago, to Mr. Morgan on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 8:27 AM (pages 9 - 10) that apparently the CN train was further delayed by 2 METRA trains: “In second instance after together ran 2 Metra’s at Barrington before given permission to depart.” If you look a little further above that statement (at the middle of page 10 of 13), apparently after the train pulled forward to get the replacement knuckle on board, the Lake Zurick [sic] Rd. crossing was reopened for about 14 minutes (1655 - 1709 = 4:55 PM to 5: 09 PM), and the Route 14 crossing was cleared for about 4 minutes (1702 - 1706). But for those seeking to support or bash one side or another in this ongoing affair, don’t let these mere facts dissuade you from your mission . . . [:-^]
And - did anyone else
[(-D] I laugh at the mediocre railroad that only cares about the money [(-D]
Except that the money is what matters.
Irony is not dead.
The STB decision (see the links Paul provided) tells the whole story in considerable detail. But, for those who don’t want to wade through it, here’s the short version.
(1) In the begining (that is, when STB approved the CN-EJE merger), STB imposed a condition requiring the applicants to report any grade crossing blockages of more than 10 minutes.
(2) CN interpretted this requirement as requiring it to report grade crossing blockages by STOPPED trains. As a result, they deliberately didn’t report blockages exceeding 10 minutes which resulted from moving trains (for example, if a train was moving slowly, or more than one moving train caused a 10+ minute blockage). STB got wind of this, and had its environmental contractor look into it. Unfortunately for CN, its grade crossing signal system had created records of 10+ min crossing blockages from all causes, and they showed a whole lot more blockages than CN had reported to STB.
Now, lest we all think that the evil, nefarious CN did this because it was trying to play games with the Board, I should point out that most state laws on grade crossing “blockages” have long dealt only with stopped trains (either by the terms of the statutes or by court interpretation). In fact, the Ilinois blocked crossing law expressly does not apply to moving trains. So, it was not totally unreasonable for CN to interpret the STB “blockage” requirement to mean what they had always understood it to mean under state law. Trouble is that CN apparently never asked STB to clarify what STB had actually intended that CN report, which would have been the best thing to do. They simply acted based on what they assumed (or hoped) STB meant. That proved to be a bad mistake, and one which, I’m sure, CN now wishes it hadn’t made. It’s not so much the $250,000 fine (which, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t that much money to a company the size of CN, and
…and therein also lies an issue I have with how some news is ‘reported’.
Looks like the CN/IC has bought themselves a real basket of problems with their purchase of the J. The adjudication of those issues will keep a company of lawyers busy for some time as they do what lawyers do.
As with lots of companies and Corporations. The orders flow down and the information flows upward against the current and counter to individual agendas along the informational flow chart. The ability to make excuses is built in, not to mention a level of plausible deniability. All is further complicated by the addition of regulators and politicians which bring the defense of their own agendas to the table.### My guess is that CN/IC will continue to run trains along the **J’**s former track and possibly retalliate with shorter trains and more frequent trains(?)
The signal equipment will continue to log the time violations, the lawyers will interprete and most of all the NIMBY’s will continue to count coup on the railroad and be a burr under the saddle of any politician and regulator that that will listen to their carping.
{ Remember the story of Ed Benton’s, of the guy who bought the house in Streetor, Il? He was constantly carping about the trains disturbing his peace to any one who would listen, the railroad was along side his home when he bought it? Similarly, the folks out in California who bought homes in a subdivision built next to an existing wind farm, and then complained about the noise the wind mills made(?)
Amid all the blaming of regulators, lawyers and NIMBY’s and the defenses of CN/IC/EJ&E, I would point out one salient point. You don’t hear much in the way of complaints about the UP, BNSF or the other many rail lines running through the Chicago suburbs. Could it just be that they are good neighbors, while the CN is something else? The suggestion that the CN would “retaliate” is indefensible.
I agree on the retaliation point. Not being familiar with the area, perhaps the BNSF, UP & other roads have had roughly the same traffic levels for some time on the lines they use. The mindset akin to buying a house near a rail line because the realtor said the line was hardly used and then being shocked and upset when the new homeowner finds out the realtor may not have told the truth…or known the truth for that matter.
Actually, the traffic level on the EJ&E isn’t all that much higher now compared to pre-CN, at least not yet. The change seems to be longer trains at all hours. And the UP did increase traffic when it took over the CNW, but has tried to address concerns of residents and remediate pretty successfully. My impression is the UP doesn’t block crossings for 10 minutes, whether stopping or running, as they run their freights at a pretty fast speed. The difference in the two cases is one of attitude, and the CN still seems stuck in its Hunter Harrison regime often referred to by employees as a “culture of fear.”
I know several CN employees, and none of them has ever said to me that the supposed ‘culture of fear’ exists. They do their jobs, collect their paycheck, and go home.
Having said that, I’m certain managers who can be extremely difficult to work under, but question whether Harrison was responsible. He made a lot of changes at CN. Many of them were for the better.
I know several CN employees, and none of them has ever said to me that the supposed ‘culture of fear’ exists. They do their jobs, collect their paycheck, and go home.
Having said that, I’m certain managers who can be extremely difficult to work under, but question whether Harrison was responsible. He made a lot of changes at CN. Many of them were for the better.
Well, I suppose it depends on who you talk with. I know two retired employees of CN, one of whom was on the IC under Harrison. Both indicated that Harrison and his former IC minions seem to have a rather adversarial relationship with the unions. Additionally, a 2007 panel established to review CN and the Canadian safety management system found the latter’s aims are undermined by CN’s policy of detecting infractions and punishing (or threatening to) rather than educating and prevention.
I speculated in my 12/23 post that the grade crossing blockages on EJE might be concentrated in a few locations, primarily around yards, rather than in NIMBY hotbeds like Barringon.
That speculation appears to be correct. The link below will take you to CN’s report for November 2010 (filed 12/15/10) which includes grade crossing delays from all sources, not just stopped trains.
http://www.stbfinancedocket35087.com/html/pdfs/monthly/OperationsReportDec2010.pdf
The thing to look for in this report is the narrative listing of grade crossing delays (45 pages). If you have some familiarity with the geography of the area, a few interesting patterns appear.
(1) There are VERY few blockages occuring on EJE north of Elgin. This is the segment which includes Barrington and other NIMBY hotbeds. The only grade crossing occupancies in excess of 10 minutes which occurred on this segment during November were as follows:
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Barrington 11/2 - 3 crossings occupied 12 minutes by train moving 10 mph due to broken rail.
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Mundelein 11/3 - 1 crossing occupied 12 minutes by train moving 10 mph around curve on connecting track (presumably at Leighton)
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Mundelein 11/14 - 1 crossing occupied 13 minutes due to trackwork.
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Lake Zurich 11/22 - 2 crossings occupied 11-12 minutes due to trackwork.
(2) The vast majority of the remaining blockages appear to be concentrated at a relatively small number of crossings near yards. Here are the big hitters:
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Spaulding Yard near Elgin (variously reported as “Bartlett” or “Elgin”) - Trains using Spaulding Yard often block Bartlett, Stearns and/or Spaulding Roads for switching operations (Bartlett Road seems to be affected more than the other two)
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West Chicago - UP trackage rights trains moving between EJE and the UP Geneva Sub need to go around a 10 mph conne