RR clear-cuts pine trees in right-of-way...

[OwlCaboose2853]

RR clear-cuts pine trees in right-of-way near Augusta

Also click at video see News 3 too; http://wwmt.com/engine.pl?station=wwmt& ... local.html

- CHARLESTON TOWNSHIP (NEWS 3) - It's a fight between public safety and privacy near a railroad crossing in kalamazoo county.

A woman in Augusta has learned she couldn't stop landscapers from tearing up the property near her home. She once had 20 to 30 foot-high pine trees near her front yard, but those are gone. The railroad company says it's to make a private rail crossing safer.

"I'm devastated, devastated," Janet Darling said. "It's nice to have a buffer between the house and the people trying to look in my windows."

But what Janet called a buffer, Norfolk Southern says was a safety hazard. The trees restricted sight lines at the crossing and because they were within the company's right of way, they had to go. A spokesperson for Norfolk Southern says the right-of-way extends 50 feet on either side of the track.

Another neighbor's flowers were also within that right-of-way.

"He drove right through my flower bed and just laughed about it," Bob Thomas said. "Everybody in the crew laughed about it."

But for these neighbors -- caught in the railroad's clear cutting -- this was nothing to laugh about.

"I cried," Janet said. "I couldn't watched them do it. I cried and cried all morning."

[jukeman]

I wonder if she gave them a nice long hug before they were taken down.
:roll:

[~Z~]

Thanks Owl..i needed a good laugh. That was some funny stuff. Not sure how a flower bed restricted view, but who cares, makes for a laughable news story.

[GreatLakesRailfan]

It's not so much that the flower bed restricted the view as that it was probably in the way of either the crew taking out the trees or possibly making a point about trespassing in the RoW. And you might be surprised how often stuff like this happens. It seems whenever there's a right of way the border's a person's property they feel like they have absolute say over what happens on or to it (ex. road rights of way).

[OwlCaboose2853]

I wonder if she gave them a nice long hug before they were taken down.

Hey Jukeman; one moment that, why not you buy the Kleenex tissue boxes send to Amtrak #90200 baggage drop it off to her? Because Janet said that, "I'm devastated, devastated," Janet Darling said. "It's nice to have a buffer between the house and the people trying to look in my windows."
... "I cried," Janet said. "I couldn't watched them do it. I cried and cried all morning."

Who can laugh her? She is comedy woman!

OWL Nasty!

[AARR]

Hey Owlcaboose - you're on a roll buddy. I'm LMAO at your post Thanks for all the good stuff you find and post for the rest of us

[Raildudes dad]

My employer bought a vison corner from a property owner adjacent to the CMGN a number of years ago. The corner had a high bank that made the crossing real blind. When the school district decided to build a school nearby, we cut the hill down and really improved the vison. In the mean time the property was sold to a guy that built a house there (knowing the Road Commission owned the vison corner). After we cut the hill down, the guy complained we ruined his privacy and he could now hear the sheet metal factory across the street and tracks (it had been there for years like the tracks ). The township planner requested we plant pine trees in the vison corner for noise and visual screening to satisfy the home owner. (I'm not making this up )

[GAP]

Imagine if the trees were still there and someone was hit and killed at that crossing. Then we'd be hearing a different complaint.

[patrick]

I think this all (including ALL your comments) is absolutley appaling!!! These homeowners pay taxes and have been there for a long time. to drive through a flowerbed and actually laugh in the face of the home owner, i've have (ADMIN EDIT). As far as cutting trees down, I understand the womans saddness, Weather their on NS' property not not, if they were in fact that close to the peopls houses, NS should have given these people some advance warning. Its not alot to ask, its called being civil, which apperantly railroads know nothing about. and if it was a private crossing, why in gods name are they all that worried anyways. it proabally sees what..2 maybe 3 cars a day?? comeon, it was proabally a driveway to the persons homes. Personally I think the NS' actions are bull and i'd be filing a complaint with whoever at the NS, and if I got nowhere with them i'd be filing a complaint with the local county commision and or with my lawyer.

[sd70accsxt700]

Well Patrick you are dead wrong on this one. The railroad was there first before any of these present owners were there (the only way the familes could have been there first was if there reletaves ownded the land when the railroad came through, and I highly dobut that). Second NS through mergers and accuasitions owns the ROW, to aproxmatl 50' each side. This being said it is there ROW, dose not matter if the people planted those trees, or if they grew naturally. The railroad owns it they can cut it down if they want. What you are saying would be akin to your land loard comming through and cutting the grass, and you crying because your favorate blade of grass was distroyed. To bad he owns it. Should NS at least given advance notice, well it would have been nice, but once again they own it if they want to take out the rails and build a river, thats there right, they paid money for it. Should the MOW forces been more sensitive over it, by all rights they should have. I think they should at least be talked to by upper managment. But they are just doing there job, if the flowers were planted on railroad ROW, then oh well. What would been made of it if there was a derailment and NS/R.J. Corman or some one else would have need to drive over them to clean up the mess?

[patrick]

NS may be in the right as far as owning the land, but morally what they did isn't right. think about it from the home owners point of view. suppose you lived someplace for a long time, as i'm guessing these home owners didnt just move in last week, and someone cut down your trees and totally Farked up your yard. you'd be pissed too. and for this crew to come in and LAUGH about destroying things. I'm being very honest when I say i'd have (ADMIN EDIT AGAIN PATRICK). in my oppion NS owes these people answers, and appologies.

[Stitch]

NS may be in the right as far as owning the land, but morally what they did isn't right. think about it from the home owners point of view. suppose you lived someplace for a long time, as i'm guessing these home owners didnt just move in last week, and someone cut down your trees and totally Farked up your yard. you'd be pissed too. and for this crew to come in and LAUGH about destroying things. I'm being very honest when I say i'd have (ADMIN EDIT AGAIN PATRICK). in my oppion NS owes these people answers, and appologies.

Morals and business really have no meaning anymore. Personally a little notice would have been nice. Do the utlity companies do the same? Of course they barely take care of their right of ways but they to could come in your back yard and cutdown all the trees down that they deem are touching their wires, etc.....

As far as the flower bed who knows why they were laughing the story is pretty vague on the information.

One also has to ask why did the property ower plant the trees in the right of way in the first place? Why not plant the trees on her property? Same goes for the flower bed? Its like parking your car in your neighbors driveway, without permission, and going on vacation for a year do you really think your cars going to be there when you get back?

[AARR]

Patrick - Go to the off the topics board and read about you can't believe what you see. As you know you can believe less of what you read. As the story Owlcaboose posted reads it's wrong how the home owners were treated. However, I don't believe what we read was the whole story. It's from the home owners side only. The single sentence from the NS spokesperson conveniently lacks details and doesn't give NS side. The story, as written, is designed to generate negative emotion against the railroad which sells papers. It was not written to tell the facts from both sides. I'd be very surprised if the NS personnel acted as despicable as the story makes them out. If they did then of course action should be taken.

[Raildudes dad]

I don't want to get into an argument with Patrick but the RR did not cut the lady's trees down nor mess up her yard (according to the article). They were on NS property cutting NS trees. My employer gets flack for cutting trees on public highway right of way so we try to give advance notice where possible. I've also had to investigate complaints regarding my "rude" employees. Sometimes it's tough to be polite when they're cursing you out with language that would make a sailor blush. They are so nice and polite when their telling their story to the boss or news media. My guess, the truth is somewheres in between.

[OwlCaboose2853]

I had been reading an articles round communities of states about private crossings are very dangerous many accidents between the trains and any vehicles cause block from the woods neither great fat brushes from who owner properties. They tried made them slow pushes to closing the railroads. They know better about that. You had already read that “A spokesperson for Norfolk Southern says the right-of-way extends 50 feet on either side of the track. “

Long ago in 1988, I did learn that Washtenaw County of Road and Drain Commission told me that the right-of-way extends 66 feet divide of 33 feet center on side of the gravel road between my property and their property.

Image, Your house has four lines in property area. Whatever, Neighbor property push the plants a little thief over your line property. What do you about the neighbor‘s thief line?

[~Z~]

I can see why NS would be quite concerned with private crossings on the Michigan line.. they've had a recent string of fatal accidents, many of which were at private crossings. Maybe the line of sight wasn't the best at those crossings. I remember reading about a lawsuit where UP was blamed for not having a good line of sight near a crossing, and ended up having to settle out of court for a death at a crossing...happens a lot.

If they'd like a barrier between their house and the railway, they should put up some trees on their own property and not the NS ROW. Back at my parents old house in Owosso, M-52 had traffic going by at 55 MPH. My parents built a large berm along the entire back perimeter of the house, with a line of pine trees along the top.. this blocked most sound and all sights of the road. This berm wasn't built on the M-52 ROW, but on our property. The people in Augusta probably don't need to go to that length, but they can help to make a buffer on their own property if they need to.

[cmgnnut]

Well as I see things those people trespassed and planted on NS Property and knew it all the while. As far as comments about how someone did or didn't act if you were not there quit complaining. It's the old thing he said -she said and won't hold squat in a legal court.
Things happen for a reason and in this case NS felt it was the right thing to do thanks to some lawsuit happy people
my $0.02

[CAT345C]

For a second I thought it was gonna be about the E&LS line from North Escanaba to Channing, it actually has pine tree growing tween the rails. I'll have to stop and take a photo of it in November when I go by it. And the line isn't even abondoned. Just dormat.

[i995impalass]

Well i just like to point out that there the ones that bought the house next to the tracks, the tracks just dident apear out of thin air, so if they dont like it they can move, so that one of us can buy the property Chris

[amtrak1007]

It never ceases to amaze me how people assume that the property that is ajcent to their property which is held by either the utlity companies or the railroad is up to them to develop. What the railroad did is what any other property owner would have done to an incursion on their property. Remove the offending items duh! Trees, flowers, and litter oh my!