RE: [Winona] trains and more trains

[Glen & Diane Schumann]

I've inserted my comments below.   Glen Schumann Winona, MN   [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>   H: 507.454.3056   W: 507.453.3567  W FAX: 507.454.1440   Visit my Family Home Page: <http://www.hbci.com/~gschuman/home.him>         -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Chris Nelson Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 1:45 PM To: onlinedemocracy Subject: [Winona] trains and more trains I must say I wasn't shocked when I found out the Surface Transportation Board won't being holding DM and E responsible for noise abatement issues and the building of under and over passes in Winona. With the potential for 30 odd trains coming through Winona and with each train having more than 100 cars to it, I could see Winona being cut in half for a majority of the day.      GS:  I think this is an exaggeration.  I've timed the current coal trains passing through Winona.  They take 2 1/2 minutes to pass a crossing.  At 30 trains per day that comes to 75 minutes, if there are 30 each way that totals 150 minutes.  Either is a long way from a majority of the day.  The day totals 1440 minutes.    Rather than saying you life in the East End of town or the West End people might end up saying they live north or south of the tracks.   Emergency services will be greatly hampered with the increase of train traffic.  I can see the need for an ambulance garage south of the tracks and increasing fire personnel at the West Station.      GS: This is a valid concern.Two or three overpasses would go a long way to dealing with this, IMO.    With the new federal guidelines concerning the lay out of train tracks and roadway intersections, I would imagine trains will start blowing their whistles unless the intersections are fixed to meet the guidelines. With all the intersections Winona has and how far away a train has to start blowing its whistle before it gets to an intersection, there will be a lot more noise by the tracks and throughout the town which will in turn cause the quality of life to go down.    GS:   Where I live now (Goodview, less than four blocks from the tracks) there are already a lot of train whistles.  I found that after the first few weeks of living here (We used to be in Wincrest), I no longer noticed the train noise much.  This fits with my memory of visiting my grandparents who had a house just across the street from a double track main line for the Milwaukee Road in the 50s and 60s.  Trains traveled at high speeds and blew their whistles all the time.  It did not take long before they were mostly background noise.   What can this group do to make the Federal Government hear our concerns?  In light of this set back, does the city have any realistic hopes that the Federal Government will step in and help us out?  Is the city going to start the process for the construction of the over and under passes, or will it wait to see what the Feds are willing to do?   Chris