=I was out snowmobling today and met some other sledders that said that there club has a trail next to the Conrail tracks in the western portion of Erie county(Erie PA). How the [}:)][8][8][}:)] did they get the insurance for that and permision for there trail groomers warrents some investigation. I have heard other clubs getting RR permission to run the access roads next to train tracks and have paid upwards of 100,000 for insurance. I just cant see a shifted load of lumber or a peice of scrap metal coming off a freight train at 50 miles per hour hitting a sledder…Any snowmobilers our there?
I don’t snowmobile, but you wouldn’t see me playing around close to the right-of-way.
There’s just too much that could happen.
Sounds the same as taking a ride down the shoulder of a busy highway.
My little village on a state road in the mountains has some new sidewalks that the town seems for some reason to groom for the use of snowmobilers. They run a big front end loader down to level the snow on the sidewalks, I assume so the the snowmobilers don’t have ride on the road where pedestrians are forced to walk.
It’s my impression that snowmobilers want access to ride anywhere they want, yet as we see here, complain about it when they get it.
Am I wrong in my perception?
Wayne
I think taking a look at the video in the thread title “Check this Out” would change your mind. See what happens when people screw around near railroad tracks?[xx(][xx(][xx(]
Hi Dunkirkeriestation! Yes, it seems anything goes in Erie. I was a carknocker there for 4 yrs. at the changeover & just got back to Ashtabula about 2 yrs. ago. Used to big problems there, kids would jump over trains, pull cutting levers, turn anglecocks, several suicides, flying over tracks when gates come down, the list goes on & on. I worked Dunkirk also. A car could derail at a crossing, or from a hot brg. burned off, whatever. They really shouldn’t be on those rightaways. Just not safe. Well, nice forum you guys have here, I’m usually up on the O-gauge one, so, take care, & thanks, John
Change my mind about what? I don’t care where the nitwits go play if they stay off our sidewalks. They go through the ice up here on a regular basis but somehow, there always seem to be replacements for them. Must be a captive breeding program somewhere.
While I’m obviously no fan of snowmobiles, I doubt very much that the snowmobile trail in Pennsylvania goes down the tracks. Do you know exactly how close to the tracks is the snowmobile trail in question? Are they riding immediatly next to it? Is it 10 feet away? Is it 10 yards away? I’m not going to worry about them, especially when we really don’t know the conditions
Wayne
I agree with you on this one!! I sure wouldn’t b playing around next to a right of way anything could happen and I’ve seen things happen. Many of the people around West Conshohocken, PA were I railfan most of the time ride their quads and MX bikes next to the tracks. They need some mental help, that is an accident waiting to happen and, I’ll tell you what when it does happen the person riding the quad or whatever is going to want to sue the railroad (yea JUST TRY!!)
Ooooh, the snowmobile topic is a sore spot with me. In my home town, a snowmobile driver riding on and along the railroad property was decapitated when meeting a wire cable that served as a gate to the property. As a local surveyor, I became involved in the aftermath of the incident to determine whether the cable and post assembly that ended the man’s life was on or off railroad property. Turns out that half of the contraption was within the right-of-way of an unimproved city street, with the end result being that both the city and the railroad paid out big bucks as part of a settlement. I ended up giving a deposition to an attorney who was tough to the point where I felt like I had caused the fatality. Not a pleasant memory, and to this day it greatly irritates me to see snowmobile tracks on private property. I can’t believe any railroad would allow such entry.
Sounds like fun to me. Where I am only palm trees no snow & ice so I have never had the thrill of going snowmobiling. [:D]
Snowmobile clubs have Bomardiar groomer that grade the right of way of
trails. They have a drag that compacts and levals the trail. These groomers can run 100,000 a peice.