From: Bill Blackmore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 21:16:53 -0500
To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@spamarrest.com>
Subject: Quiet Train Initiative News
I confess that I have been slow about adding names to this list, but it now has 347 email addresses on it! That is not bad for very little effort. My address book is growing out of control, but that is a small price to pay. Here is some news:
- My wife Martha and I drove to Ames, IA about a month ago to see what are called "wayside horns", that were mentioned in the first report from QT. We were very impressed with what we saw, but these systems are expensive. On the same post that has lights mounted on it and from where the crossing guard descends, there are 2 horns. They are pointed very specifically at oncoming traffic from each direction. We had to wait about an hour for a train to come by, but we finally saw them in action. I heard the train approaching from some distance, but it did not honk its horn. Right about when the crossing guard started to come down, each horn honked several times. If you are right in front of them, as in a car that should not go onto the tracks, they are loud. But because they are directional, they do not make the kind of noise we have in Fairfield where you can hear the train coming from miles away, and hear it when you are miles away from the tracks. We took some videos and pictures.
- In talking with John Revolinski, the City Council member for the 2nd Ward, which includes most of the populated part of town close to the tracks, we felt that the first thing we need is a good idea of the cost of a complete solution. John Revolinski has a prior relationship with the Federal Railroad Administration, and is working to get the missing information from the FRA about the different options. Once we talk with the FRA, we should have a better idea of what of the various approved solutions would work for different crossings in Fairfield, and what it would cost.
- Personally I feel that once we have a better idea of the costs involved of a true quiet zone, we should have a meeting/forum to talk about possible approaches to getting what we all want.
- CONSENSUS-I am absolutely sold on the idea that we will not get a quiet zone unless we are able to build a substantial community consensus. This includes a lot of people who currently do not see this as a worthwhile project. Check out http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/pubs/Tech_News/2005/oct-dec/horn_rule.htm. This web page has a picture of a wayside horn, and at the bottom says "Make sure the community is behind the effort." This is going to take time, and a lot of work helping people to understand that a quiet train corridor will make Fairfield a much more livable city, and along with the new Civic Center, could help to revitalize certain parts of town to everyone's benefit.
__._,_.___
To subscribe, send a message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Or go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/
and click 'Join This Group!'
Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
