Posted by Can't tell on 10/13/2001, 4:22 pm
At the begining of September things really heated up over the battle of the West End. The KJRY ordered one of their train crews to operate a train of ten grain empties from Laharpe to Blandinsville with no track warrant or authority to do so. The KJRY crews have trackage rights from MP 194 to MP 196. No further. The train got on the Main line and ran from Mp 196 to mp 188.5. This could have caused a serious accident as the TP&W runs 25 mph around a blind curve at Blandinsville. The KJ spotted the 10 cars to the United Feed on the east edge of Blandinsville and returned to Laharpe with just the engine. The TP&W has since changed the locks and even considered removing some of the rail going into the spur to prevent the KJ from getting the cars back. Management from the United Feed said that they hadn't ordered any empties and didn't know why the KJ put them there. The FRA is now involved in the whole incident. The train crew from Pioneer was barred off the property for making the dangerous move and comitting a variy of serious rule violations that would normally decertify an engineer. The Pioneer Railcorp is now trying to buy the West End, but Railamerica is not interested in selling it to them whether they can afford it or not. Traffic going to FT. Madison is finished for good. Or so it would appear as the switch at Lomax has been removed. The BNSF diamond at Canton, Il has also been straight railed. Track speed is being lowered by the day on this subdivision and traffic is minimal. The future of the line looks dim.
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