Norfolk and Southern: Only railway activity seen on the Hampton Roads Peninsula taoday was a maintenance vehicle working on the tracks. Any idea what they're up to? Given the proximity from the road, and the absence of the railroad warning lights flashing, my guess would be that they were replacing the equip that activates the railroad crossing security arms/lights. Didn't wanna stop from 45mph to ask. Any other trainspotters out there w/info?

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 03, 2000

Answers

Hokie,

I haven't seen or heard a train in my area since just before the rollover. Because I live close to a main route from the L.A. Harbor I hear at least 3 trains per day, when paying attention.

Maybe I'm just not paying attention.

Mike

====================================================================

-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 03, 2000.

Hokie...was probably a wet, rabid, kamikazi, squirrel flying a Mylar balloon with 'Y2K' printed on it's sides that crashed into the track disrupting all the signals on the East coast...not Y2K related tho'...never that!

Won't be long before those 2000 terrorist doves released in the middle East skillfuly evade our radar and start crashing planes by bashing themselves into the windshields.... };-]

-- Satanta (EventHoriz@n.com), January 03, 2000.

Earlier thread with some excellent posts on this same topic. Seems to be a rich vein for followup. Maybe someone can to a link.

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), January 03, 2000.

Say, didn't those c4i hoaxsters say something to the effect that the trains would move, but slowly?

-- CD (cdokeefe@firstva.com), January 03, 2000.

Actually Norfolk Southern and Canadian Pacific are busier than normal around here. Looks like they're flushing out a lot of trains held in the yards for crews to have the holiday off.

At your location I suggest that port operations being stopped for the holiday is the reason the trains haven't been moving too much. Look for traffic to pick up after the first container ship docks and begins unloading/loading. Same for the folks out in the LA Basin.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), January 03, 2000.

Yep, I finally got down to the other post. Didn't see any report of maintenance vehicles. I'll let you guys know when trains are moving here again, or if I spot more maintenance veh's.

LA? ...but Pacific's web site and report to the feds was so pretty... author a non-techie though, so go figure.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 03, 2000.

I live right next to a railroad track in Northern California. Freights & Commuter trains have been going by all weekend, as usual. No unusual "quiet" time...

-- Hope Full (notareal@address.com), January 03, 2000.

We got a bunch of cans in today from UPRR. But I think they had arrived before New Years.

-- John McCall (karennjohn@earthlink.net), January 03, 2000.

Full text at http://www.dot.gov/affairs/dot0300.htm

Sorry don't know how to hotlink.

I bugged out to Kailua-Kona on the Big Island so I can't verify this myself. We have no trains here except the ones that run around the Kalikimaka tree by the gifts.

"U.S. Transportation Secretary Slater Confirms Successful Transition to 2000 By Nations Transportation Systems

U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater stated today that U.S. transportation systems continued to function normally as the world transitioned to a new century and entered the new millennium."

-- Tired of runnin' around like a chicken with its head cut off (flopping@the.stump), January 03, 2000.