Well, this could be good news for EJ&E fans. Various villages along the EJ&E are planning to fight the merge with CN due to increased rail traffic. The northwest suburb of Barrington is probably the strongest opposer of the merge, the mayo clinic of this deal you could say for almost the same reasons. Other villages strongly thinking of opposing the deal are Plainfield, New Lenox, Frankfort, many neithboring towns near Barrington, and in Indiana, Griffith is also expected to be against it. While this probably won’t cause the entire merger to be abandoned, being the EJ&E fan I am hopefully it puts a delay of a few months on when the deal happens, like what happened to the CP/DM&E merge. Lets hope the STB says it is at least a significant deal so The “J” has a few extra months.
Well, it seems to me that ever since Abraham Lincoln represented the Illinois Central in the 1850s, the principle almost always holds that the railroads got there first, so people crossing the track and building nearby had better heed to their own safety and comfort and not expect the RR to pick its way around the villagers / suburbanites.
I think you’re right that the merger will eventually clear. Postponed for a time by red tape? Maybe, the STB can be slow but probably not nearly so much as the late unlamented ICC. People who want to take their EJ&E heritage pictures might not want to wait for spring 2008.
Barrington, now there is a shock.[banghead] You want to talk about a town full of NIMBYS, unless it is a new Benz dealer!
I live about 5 minutes from the EJ&E Western Subdivision in the Joliet/Crest Hill area so I’ve been going out on almost a daily basis trying to see EJ&E trains, and plan to do so until whenever the merge actually happens. Hopefully something happens to add some delays to when the merge actually takes place. Yeah, I know the train traffic will increase, but it will just be CN trains that I can go 30 minutes and see now anyway. What a shocker Barrington is doing this, not! Plainfield is almost exactly the same as Barrington, only people are moving in by the EJ&E there, THEN complaining about the noise! If you don’t want the noise, don’t move by railroad tracks!
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=27100
Barrington, other suburbs oppose railroad’s plan
(Crain’s) - Far northwest suburban towns are lining up to oppose Canadian National Railway Co.'s purchase of a lightly used rail line to relieve train traffic congestion in Chicago and close-in suburbs. The suburban route is key to the railroad’s plan to abandon tracks along the city’s lakefront and in the South Loop, where freight trains have long been seen by Mayor Richard M. Daley and developers as an impediment to further gentrification. Barrington and neighboring municipalities predict Canadian National’s plans to significantly increase freight train volumes through their towns would lead to nightmarish traffic conditions. And residents worry that noise from lumbering locomotives will shatter the area’s bucolic character, undermining property values and small businesses. “Traffic is difficult now,” says Carol Nelson, a Lake Barrington resident. “I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen if we have 20 trains a day coming through. The serenity, peacefulness and quality of life will change quite drastically if that happens.” CN expects about 15 more freight trains passing through Barrington on top of the three to five trains a day already using the track on the 198-mile route from Waukegan to Gary, Ind.
Train volumes are likely to increase even more next year as CN hauls more freight into Chicago from a new container port in British Columbia. Within two years, the port will be able to handle at least a million shipping containers a year. Barrington and at least six neighboring towns intend to lodge objections with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board in hopes of blocking or restricting CN’s acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp.'s Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway for $300 million. Barrington an
The Barrington coalition will get the most publicity, but there are some south-suburban communities playing NIMBY, also. This is from UTU’s website:
| Communities to fight EJ&E railway sale |
|---|
| The proposed sale of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway would mean increased train traffic, and that has some Illinois communities along the route sounding the alarm, the Suburban Chicago News reports. Traffic on Frankfort area EJ&E tracks would increase from about six trains a day to 28, said Mayor Jim Holland. That could affect motorists’ safety, tie up traffic at railroad crossings and produce more noise in residential areas. “I can see no benefit to my constituents,” said Holland, who attended a committee of the whole meeting Wednesday to discuss the topic. Canadian National Railway Co. announced in September that it wanted to buy the EJ&E – which runs through Plainfield, Crest Hill, Joliet, New Lenox, Frankfort and Mokena in Will County – for $300 million. The company said it needs the tracks to detour around bottlenecks in Chicago. Traffic will increase on the U.S. Steel-owned EJ&E tracks if the deal is approved by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. Frankfort isn’t the only community concerned about increased train traffic. The city of Barrington and several surrounding communities have formed a coalition to fight the sale. “Given that freight trains can take up to 6 minutes to pass through a single railroad crossing – even when things are running smoothly – we are looking at the potential for a traffic flow nightmare of immense proportions in our near future,” Barrington officials posted on their Web site, www.barrington-il.gov. Holland said he has talked to the mayor of Barrington about the issue. He also has reached out to officials in the communities of New Lenox, Mokena, Matteson, Richton Park and Park Forest. Plain |
What do people want, really?
To have a functioning transportation system that is going to be reliable, and bring their goods to market in a timely manner, smooth moving railroads have to be a part of it. The other option for these towns is increased truck traffic… now wouldn’t that be fun?
The problem is, that for the longest time in this country, the philosophy has been “me first” on both an individual as well as community level. Some places just don’t care what the consequences are for other towns, just so long as their interests are protected. Daley wants the trains out of the lakefront, and sections of downtown. Now these suburbs don’t want the trains by them. What are they to do? Well, unless they can get some powerful political support (i.e. senator, or congressman) in those towns, they will have to get used to the trains. As I have (probably) said before, most NIMBY’s or community activists are a shortsighted bunch that can’t see beyond defeating those they have chosen to make their enemy. Regardless of the greater good of any given project. And, as painful as it is, sometimes we don’t have a choice, because there is this thing called “progress”. Of course, you can’t speak rationally to some of them because all they see is their little world being interrupted, or changed, and they don’t want to deal with it, so they figure to stop what is going on, regardless of the larger picture, and the larger picture has little to do with them. Yes, change is difficult, and what not, but really, 20 trains a day averages out to less than a train an hour.
Sorry to finish on a cynical note, but this will become another Mayo vs DM&E type of saga, because you can bet, up in Barrington are some well connected people, who are, most likely, as of now, calling in as many political favors as they can muster. CN/EJ&E acquistion? It wi
Here in Joliet, they are saying the count could be 30 or more trains a day, and possibly even more with the new Prince Ruport intermodal port. There are daily UP and BNSF trains that use the EJ&E, plus 2-4 trains a day using the Illinois River Line that join the mainline in Plainfield, so it is already much busier then it used to be. I’ve heard CN plans on expanding both Joliet and Kirk Yards. I forgot to mention it also sounds like West Chicago is against this as well. Joliet and Crest Hill don’t seem to be on either side as of right now, but it sounded like Joliet was edging towards being in favor of the merge due to the job opportunities and businesses that could move to the area if the yard is expanded. Barrington even has a official website about this whole CN thing now. http://www.fightrailcongestion.com/ funny they use a BNSF train on the page instead of CN or EJ&E!
Seems to me that these people would be better advised to spend the money they are wasting on lawyers and publicists on sound walls and grade separation in advance of the traffic increase.
What’s to prevent the new traffic coming through even if the EJ&E remains a separate entity. Haven’t these folks ever heard of run-through and trackage rights agreements?
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
Chuck
The EJE ROW is a very valuable property, as we have discussed previously. It fits in quite nicely with the CN system.
However, I do believe residents of those communities have a concern. If traffic swells to the point that local automobile traffic is affected, then it can certainly affect the local quality of living. Hmmm does that sound like a traitor to you? Let me ask you this…what happens when CN decides to swap crews in downtown ___________(fill in the blank with a community) and blocks every crossing on all the way thru town for 20 minutes?
I have personally been delayed 20 minutes by such an event. Big deal you say, get over it…well, what if that is either you or one of yours in the ambulance or the fire truck is attempting to get to a local fire, or perhaps …I can go on .
These communities have a point. Let me add the disclaimer right now that not only am I a railfan, but a CN shareholder, so you know where I am not only in my hobby, but also financially.
Perhaps a few questions should be asked…What shape is the EJE track in? Is this 25mph or 60mph track? That will affect the time it takes for train passage. Where are the sidings? If the line is single track, there will be a considerable number of meets daily. Do those sidings block the roads/streets? It isnt much of an issue when 3 trains a day run on a line, but for 25 per day, the dynamics of operation change drastically.
Is the ROW grade separated from streets? If not, does each community have at least one overpass? If not, who pays for it? The city or CN, or both?
This is definately going to change the landscape of Chicago railroading. Soon you will have Mayor Daley vs Cities of Barrington, West Chicago, Joliet, Frankfort, Griffith, et al.
Ah, politics.
BTW, the local US Representative for Indiana, Peter Viscloskey (one of the recently crowned Kings of Pork fo
Let’s see now…I move to the Florida coastline area and complain about hurricanes and the summer heat…I then move to Nebraska and complain about tornadoes…then I move to a home next to O’Hare airport and complain about the airplane noise…then to the Pacific coast near L.A. and complain about the noise of the waves crashing onto the shore…then finally to Barrington and complain about the EJ&E moving more trains than they did sixty years ago…HMMMMM, seems to me the Barrington snobs better get their big rich noses out of the stratosphere or they might get frost bite on their nose tips due to the altitude (oh yes, then they would complain about planes from O’Hare hitting their noses!).
I can understand why Barrington is concerned. Even without additional trains on the J they have screwed themselves into a pretty awful traffic situation. I am saying that it is now so bad that if one wants to get through Barrington during the morning and evening rush hour, with the Metra trains blocking the crossings, one would best go around. Alternate routes via Toledo or St Louis come to mind.
The only streets crossing the J are the east-west Lake Cook Road, the North South Route 59-Barrington Road and Route 14-Northwest Hwy and a little to the Northeast of the downtown area, Lake Zurich Road, kind of an dditional route feeding traffic into the downtown area. All of these streets cross the UP-Metra and the J at grade
These street not only bring traffic into the downtown area (mainly commuters riding Metra Northwest Union Pacific-ex C&NW), but are major through routes for the area.
In addition, the J crosses the UP at grade just a little northwest of the downtown area. This suggest that J-CN freight trains will to stop for the higher priority Metra trains, but if they happen to be crossing and block Metra trains, it is gridlock city. Fortunately, the CN would have one factor in their favor. There are about mile long stretches of J track both to the (compass) northeast and southwest of the towntown Barrington area without any street crossings. One could assume that the home signals governing the J crossing of the UP would be set up to hold CN trains at these points.
Like many of the suburban towns around Chicago, Barrington owes its existance to commuter train service. The C&NW was a early provider of such service. As was common for the day, the downtown area of Barrington was built up close to the ROW, so elevation or trenching of the ROW or the building of underpasses for the highways would be enormously expensive. You can bet the entire amount o
Is it possible that down here in along the BNSF Chicago to Aurora corridor, that the people are used to it? Between LaGrange and Western Springs, there are 4 streets, Wolf, Gilbert, Brainard and Wolf Rd that cross the BNSF at grade, traffic on all of these streets is no treat in morning, or evening rush hours. But, I don’t hear too much in the way of complaining from fellow residents. There is a “by-pass” of sorts for downtown LaGrange, but it involves crossing the IHB tracks, so it’s not really an option.
I can understand the aggravation from traffic, and things like that, but, what is supposed to be done? The railroads, the government, and the tax payers cannot keep everyone happy. Look I know about fighting and losing. Back in the early 80’s after the Hillside Quarry closed down, and had remained idle for a couple of years, a company bought it with the intent of making it a landfilld. The long and short of it was, the residents lost, and the landfill went in. As far as vermin, smell, and noise problems went, they were, from what I understand, less than anticipated. So, sometimes change is inevitable, and one just simply has to get used to it. Not everyone is going to be happy with the increase in rail traffic, but they will get used to it, just like every other change.
Think about how much change has take place in your community since it’s founding. Now imagine what each place would be like, if the citizens fought every change, and nothing ever progressed. Change and progress are inevitable, they aren’t always welcome, but they are inevitable. And that is the reality of the situation.
So, while the changes are going to very real, I think some compromises can and will be made, I can’t see, in this case, where anyone has a choice.
These people are stupid, they move into an area that already has track’s expecting that some day whoever owns them will just go out of business and the annoying trains will be gone from there lives with the tracks removed with a bike trail put in its place
I hope it goes to court and the Judge tells them all “If you dont like it, move”
granted that the plainfield crossing can really get backed up when the trains come through, thats not the RR’s fault though thats poor planning on the towns part counting on the railroad going out of business some day and pulling up there tracks.
Also in the last year or so they closed and have ripped up sections of old Normantown road that ran along the tracks and there putting in all sorts of new subdivisions, condos’s and schools right in there along the tracks [%-)]
This whole thing is just another classic example of people expecting the rest of the world to adhere to there own stupidity
The only reason Plainfield ripped up Normantown Road was to make sure their stupid whistle bad could go into effect. They didn’t want to modify the crossing, so they just ripped it up.
If Canadian National would double track the J’s mainline from a point about 7500-ft. north of Cuba Road to a point about 7500-ft. south of Main St. (Lake Cook Rd.), that alone would ensure the quick passage of trains through the most street traffic sensitive parts of Barrington. The right of way certainly is wide enough to support a 2nd main track.
In Barrington the controlled signal governing the J’s southbound movements over the C.& N.W.'s Harvard Subdivison was moved quite a distance northwards a few years ago. Today that signal is just a short distance south of the Lake Zurich Rd. crossing. Just about any train stopped for that signal will clear the Cuba Rd., Lake Zurich Rd., Northwest Highway, and Hough Street crossings.
It would be pretty hard to double track the EJ&E in some towns. A good example would be West Chicago where some of the homes are very close to the single track.
My first reaction is a deep sigh. Second one is to wonder if any of these NIMBY twits have ever, ever stopped to think about anyone except ‘me first’. Then the third thought which crosses my mind is… the dear ol’ USA is now set up in such a way as to heavily favour the NIMBY; although in this case (and the CP/DM&E case) (oh yeah, and Abo Canyon on the Transcon and rail/highway crossings on the Sunset) it seems unlikely that they will be able to actually block the merger, they can create enough of a court hassle to delay it long enough to, perhaps, make it less economically attractive. All they have to do is provide the legal talent, and since that is in plentiful supply in the towns which are b____ching, it will probably come free for them – and most lawyers (Gabe excepted!!!) seem to have no morals at all, which doesn’t help.
Bottom line? Decreased productivity and economic activity in the whole region; decreased competitiveness across much of the eastern US. Does anyone really wonder why the dollar is dropping like a lead balloon in comparison to the loonie, the euro, the pound, the yen? Why all the manufacturing is going overseas? Just look around you and count the NIMBYs.
Go back to reaction one… sigh…
I miss that road, back in the day they used to not even have a speed limit posted on it [:D]
Nice place to watch the freights on the siding there too [;)]
Yes. YES! Well put. Seems like people wait until the school is closing from demographic reasons, the church is being closed by church authorities, the rail line is about to change hands and THEN they rush to make it 1970 again.
It is foolish and wasteful. Improvements like walls, berms and grade separation(s) would keep up the quality of life for the supposedly afflicted, as well as protect property values. - al