Early Snow Whacks Buffalo - NS

Limitedclear · October 13, 2006, 9:51am

Norfolk Southern Service Alert

Delays Around Buffalo, NY

October 13, 2006

Due to a heavy snow storm of 16-24 inches in the Buffalo, NY area
October 12, 2006, traffic in and out of the Buffalo may incur delays of
24 to 48 hours.

Norfolk Southern personnel are working to open our routes and
facilities in the Buffalo area. Approximately 250,000 homes are
reported to be without power this morning and roadways are slowly being
cleared.

Norfolk Southern Corporation
www.nscorp.com

Limitedclear · October 13, 2006, 3:26pm

Reports indicate that CSX has ceased local work and is running only thru trains until tracks and switches can be cleared. This is a particularly heavy wet snow and has snapped trees and power lines. Early estimates are that power to many of the 250,000 customers may be off for several days. This includes residential, business and industrial customers.

LC

coborn35 · October 13, 2006, 6:05pm

This is sad. When Conrail operated Buffalo they would run 24/7, but you can see that NS has gotten a tad lazy.

tree68 · October 13, 2006, 6:52pm

Two feet of wet, heavy snow is enough to cause anyone problems. Besides - with no power, many of the businesses that would need local work are closed. Why even call the jobs?

blhanel · October 13, 2006, 7:31pm

I suspect that the fact that alot of trees probably still had leaves in them didn’t help the situation, either, thus resulting in road/RR blockages as well as the power outages.

Murphy_Siding · October 13, 2006, 7:33pm

Well…when we get 2 feet of sloppy, wet snow all at once,our whole city tends to shut down for a few days…[;)]

Limitedclear · October 13, 2006, 10:09pm

I’m not sure when (or if) you worked in Buffalo for the NS or CR, but I have done both. NS is no worse than Conrail. Also, remember that CSX has also reduced to thru trains only in Buffalo. Unless you have real knowledge I wouldn’t jump to such foolish conclusions.

Oh, the latest update has 349,000 customers without power in the Buffalo area and Gov. George Pataki has declared a snow emergency and asked for a Federal Declaration as well.

LC

tree68 · October 13, 2006, 10:14pm

SEFUs (Storm Emergency Fire Units) have been dispatched into the area to assist. These are fire departments from unaffected areas that send in 3-5 member teams to assist affected fire departments with fire suppression, hazard abatement (cutting downed trees out of roadways, etc), and simple relief.

Our area hasn’t been tasked yet to send SEFUs, that I know of.

Limitedclear · October 13, 2006, 10:49pm

This is sad. When Conrail operated Buffalo they would run 24/7, but you can see that NS has gotten a tad lazy.

I’m not sure when (or if) you worked in Buffalo for the NS or CR, but I have done both. NS is no worse than Conrail. Also, remember that CSX has also reduced to thru trains only in Buffalo. Unless you have real knowledge I wouldn’t jump to such foolish conclusions.

Oh, the latest update has 349,000 customers without power in the Buffalo area and Gov. George Pataki has declared a snow emergency and asked for a Federal Declaration as well.

LC

SEFUs (Storm Emergency Fire Units) have been dispatched into the area to assist. These are fire departments from unaffected areas that send in 3-5 member teams to assist affected fire departments with fire suppression, hazard abatement (cutting downed trees out of roadways, etc), and simple relief.

Our area hasn’t been tasked yet to send SEFUs, that I know of.

Syracuse and Rochester are already sending Ambulances. I don’t know about fire yet…

LC

Limitedclear · October 13, 2006, 10:49pm

This is sad. When Conrail operated Buffalo they would run 24/7, but you can see that NS has gotten a tad lazy.

I’m not sure when (or if) you worked in Buffalo for the NS or CR, but I have done both. NS is no worse than Conrail. Also, remember that CSX has also reduced to thru trains only in Buffalo. Unless you have real knowledge I wouldn’t jump to such foolish conclusions.

Oh, the latest update has 349,000 customers without power in the Buffalo area and Gov. George Pataki has declared a snow emergency and asked for a Federal Declaration as well.

LC

SEFUs (Storm Emergency Fire Units) have been dispatched into the area to assist. These are fire departments from unaffected areas that send in 3-5 member teams to assist affected fire departments with fire suppression, hazard abatement (cutting downed trees out of roadways, etc), and simple relief.

Our area hasn’t been tasked yet to send SEFUs, that I know of.

Syracuse and Rochester are already sending Ambulances. I don’t know about fire yet…

LC

coborn35 · October 14, 2006, 9:35am

Well this my onw fault. I was thinking they had snow like we did. But obviously after watching the news, they did not. So I retract my statement. Also, does anyone know if they still have the dragons?

tree68 · October 14, 2006, 12:46pm

This is sad. When Conrail operated Buffalo they would run 24/7, but you can see that NS has gotten a tad lazy.

I’m not sure when (or if) you worked in Buffalo for the NS or CR, but I have done both. NS is no worse than Conrail. Also, remember that CSX has also reduced to thru trains only in Buffalo. Unless you have real knowledge I wouldn’t jump to such foolish conclusions.

Oh, the latest update has 349,000 customers without power in the Buffalo area and Gov. George Pataki has declared a snow emergency and asked for a Federal Declaration as well.

LC

SEFUs (Storm Emergency Fire Units) have been dispatched into the area to assist. These are fire departments from unaffected areas that send in 3-5 member teams to assist affected fire departments with fire suppression, hazard abatement (cutting downed trees out of roadways, etc), and simple relief.

Our area hasn’t been tasked yet to send SEFUs, that I know of.

Syracuse and Rochester are already sending Ambulances. I don’t know about fire yet…

LC

Fire units rolled out of Monroe County - saw it on the news.

Anonymous · October 14, 2006, 1:05pm

Never mind that the Thruway is shut in that area, there are several truckstops and LOTS of infrastructure that relies on both rail and road in that area. Never mind International.

Buffalo is tough and carry thier winters with a great attitude.

But enough snow quickly enough shuts us all down.

I like to see you try I-5 Medford or Montana in the face of a raging storm dumping 10 feet overnight with that talk.

When the winds die down there is gonna be a hell of alot more than 2 feet of snow on the ground.

People will do what they can, anyway they can. I dont know if the NS or any other outfit has gotten lazy but I say that a day or two of very heavy snow is sufficient to knock down a city for a while. I would prefer to see the workers take advantage of the down time to rest and eat because there is going to be alot of catching up to do.

Years ago Amtrack and all modes of travel staggered to a halt on the east coast in a historic snow storm. No one was complaining then.

Limitedclear · October 15, 2006, 10:17am

SNOW TEMPORARILY CLOSES CSXI’S BUFFALO TERMINAL: CSX Intermodal’s Buffalo terminal was closed on Friday due to the early October snow storm that hit western New York yesterday. Snowfall was expected to continue throughout the day yesterday. The terminal is expected to be open for business as usual today, Saturday,October 14th, 2006 - CSX

squeeze · October 15, 2006, 6:11pm

Must have re-routed the traffic south, as the “Curve” had alot of traffic today!

oltmannd · October 16, 2006, 7:28am

Uh, what about 1977?

Limitedclear · October 16, 2006, 9:46am

Norfolk Southern Service Alert

Force Majeure Cancelled for Buffalo, NY, Area

October 16, 2006

Note to customers with committed service agreements: Norfolk Southern cancelled Force Majeure effective 8:00 AM, October 16, 2006 on all traffic moving through the Buffalo, N.Y., area.

Norfolk Southern Corporation
www.nscorp.com