Since the track related incidents appear to be occurring more frequently on the former ConRail territory than the former CSX territory, I would have to draw two conclusions.
The materials installed by ConRail on this territory are inferior to the materials that CSX installed on it’s own territory during the similar span of time…(In general rail replacement is calculated on age and gross ton miles that the rail has handled since it was installed…all railroads keep records that generate this data…inferior quality rail would begin failing before it’s time, or before the standard quality rail.)
The maintenance provided by the former ConRail employees has been inferior on their territory to the maintenance provided by the former CSX employees on the former CSX territory.
One reality of any railroad operation…Maintenance of Way management/employees always want more money and materials to take care of the property than those that control the purse strings are willing to allot…that is the way of the world. Maintenance is not flashy, never has been and never will be…REQUIRED but not the sizzle when selling the steak/
Just a note: Technically the above image does not depict a derailed locomotive. It’s true that each truck is on a different track but all 8 wheels are on the rail.
Chef Javier: Do you really want to be known as only the “CSX sucks” guy on this forum? Please tell me that your interest in trains has a little more depth than acting like a junior high kid.
i was a CSX trainman for a few years…my biggest problem wasnt the company nor its managment…it was my [censored] union reps that spent more time in the local managments pocket (and my wallet) then doing any good for the workers their suppoda represent…weres the Nazi Southern websites…when i was employed by CSX the NS crews id meet either swappin cars or in the hotels had way way more bad things to say about their managment then our guys had to say about CSX…i was treated very fairly by the managment on CSX and they also treated the track gangs well…at least on the Detroit division…which by the way has very very few derailments related to track stucture…
Back on topic - I was standing alongside the Chicago Line at Utica Union Station yesterday afternoon. The volume of traffic would lead one to believe that everything is pretty well back to normal - with the exception of that ballast train that went through westbound…
The corollary thinking also exists in managment…management must be in bed with the Crafts…giving the company away for nothing.
The reality is that the Labor/Management relationship is one of give & take with a level of mutual cooperation. There are no perfect relationships, from either side of the equation.
