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All that snow makes the T go slow
By adamg on Thu, 03/08/2018 - 7:52am
Tree stopped the Riverside Line. Photo by MBTA.
Buses are running along the Riverside Line this morning after a tree tried to plunge to the ground early this morning only to be stopped by overhead wires. The C and E lines had issues, too, if not of the tree variety.
A Lowell Line train suffered a "slow-speed derailment," so good luck on that line.
A train died on the Red Line somewhere between Charles/MGH and Kendall (so, on the bridge?).
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Comments
Wire down on the 71 and 73
Wire down on the 71 and 73 trackless trolley routes, waiting for diesel buses to substitute for the trolley buses
With that, the Riverside problem, the Lowell deralment, the routine replacement of Mattapan trolley and articulated buses with regular buses, they must be real short on buses for everything else.
My Father Worked For The T
About 30 years ago we had a day like today where there was heavy wet snow that knocked down trees onto the Riverside line and shut service between Riverside and Reservoir, just like today. My dad was a driver of one of the shuttle buses and since most of the drivers were regular Boston city route drivers who did not know Newton as well as they could have.
My dad got a nice little accommodation for the way he instructed the other drivers on where to go and people called in to the T tip line to say how good he was getting things moving.
The problem is that 30 years later the T still hasn't figured out that the main problem with the Riverside line is trees falling on wires.
I know that there are these people called tree trimmers who go out and clear the area to the side of tracks with these things called chainsaws. They also are able to identify trees that may be a problem. Perhaps the T could call some of these tree people. give them a little money to prune some trees and everyone gets to work on time on a day like today. Crazy thought. Just thought I'd put that out there.
I was just having this
I was just having this conversation today. Even in good weather the D line has trees down. I know many are on homeowners properties but i don't understand the reason of the T not cutting everything that hangs over. There has to be a reason....inquiring minds want to know!
The T does do tree trimming.
The T does do tree trimming. But the problem is that they can't possibly clear every tree that could fall on the right of way, because that would require cutting down all the trees in abutting back yards, for example. They can cut down all they want within the right of way, but good luck getting an adjacent homeowner to agree to cut down the buffer they have between themselves and the tracks.
The T has the power of eminent domain
The T's problem is that they don't want to face the wrath of Newton and their residents.
There was an unwritten guideline for the drivers along the Riverside line that they were not allowed to blow their train horns (not the bells) so as not to annoy the gentle folk of the Garden City unless it was a life saving event. I don't know if this policy is still in place, but come on.
The line has been a transportation corridor in Newton since 1886 and an MBTA line since 1959. You buy property along the line, too bad, that was your choice. I would love to see anyone who has owned a house abutting the line since before 1959.
The vitality of the transportation corridor to the health and well being of the area is paramount, not your view.
This would not be an
This would not be an acceptable use of eminent domain. And even if the T attempted it, can you imagine the political backlash? And how expensive acquiring all that property would be? You could probably pay for the GLX with all the money they'd have to spend acquiring every property along the D line.
Public agencies can't use eminent domain to just go around seizing whatever they want. It's actually fairly limited, especially here in Mass, and they still have to pay market value for the property.
And while usually I'm the first to tell people to suck it up if they bought a house next to railroad tracks, this would be a substantial change that would not be fair to homeowners. Yes, you have to live with having trains come by behind your house, but you can mitigate it quite a bit with a tree buffer. It's not about the view, it's about making land next to a rail line habitable.
Trees fall in storms. It happens, and we have to deal with it, just like we do every time a tree falls on a road, I don't see you clamoring for 50 ft clear zones on each side of every road.
Sliver Takings and View Easements
They would not need to do a full taking of the entire house site. That is a ridiculous assumption. There can be small easements made a few feet from the ROW that restrict tree height in the area.
Hell, the T has gone after the owners of 9 Harcourt Street along the SW Corridor (above the tunnel by the way) that showed that a cornice had gone over the property line by a foot or so and the building was there since at least the 1920's. The T forced them to pay for the encumbrance that had zero affect on the operation of the trains below the ground.
How about the T start telling the owners of these trees, it falls on our tracks, you pay for all of the disruption? It may change a few minds and get a few chain saws into the mix.
But an easement of only a few
But an easement of only a few feet isn't going to solve anything. A 40 ft tree can still fall on the right of way and snag overhead lines even if it's planted 39 ft away from the right of way line, which is why I made that "ridiculous assumption".
If you want to clear trees on abutting property that could potentially snag overhead wires if they fall, you're going to need to clear a lot more than a few feet.
It's impossible to remove all hazards in a practical and cost-effective manner. We can't all live in plastic bubbles. Trees are going to fall in storms, and we just have to deal with them. Instead of proposing cutting down every tree that could possibly fall on an MBTA right of way, how about we properly fund the MBTA so that they can afford to employ enough workers to quickly remove fallen trees?
Please explain to me how
Please explain to me how living next to the tracks without trees makes it uninhabitable?
Uninhabitable was a bit of
Uninhabitable was a bit of hyperbole, but you seriously don't think there's a difference in quality of life between having a tree buffer and not having one?
Last year...
They cut down a massive amount of trees. There were piles of trunks at the Riverside lot and a co-worker told me at Woodland also. And still they have had 3 trees fall in the past week.
Fitchburg, Providence, and
Fitchburg, Providence, and Worcester lines had downed trees too - nothing from Fitchburg made it past Ayer until a few minutes ago (and even now only 1 track is clear) and Worcester trains are experiencing delays of up to an hour.
Lowell trains are going to be bused between Wilmington and Anderson/Woburn.
Lowell trains are going to be
.
Due to a derailed train at Wilmington.
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/03/08/mbta-commuter-train-derails-wilmin...
Yes, Adam mentioned the
Yes, Adam mentioned the derailment in the original post. I was providing the alternative service plan.
fitchburg
first train in on fitchburg line made it in on time, incident free. I was on it.
Computer problems
I was on a red line train stuck before savin hill.The driver announced that the train could not move until an official made his way from JFK station to reboot the computer. I would like to thank the official who must have been equipped with snowshoes and he managed to reboot the computers.
What was that computer running?
Windows Vista?
And they couldn't put an "is there an IT person on this train?" announcement on the PA?
lol, more like Win NT
lol, more like Win NT
Windows 3.1 actually.
Windows 3.1 actually.