On Tuesday, I heard a story on the local NPR station that seemed to defy all logic and reason. The mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson, is attempting to get a bill passed that will make permit trains to pass through an area in/near downtown SLC without having to sound their horns! The line in question hasn’t been used in roughly three (3) years, but with the renovations to downtown SLC, Union Pacific Railroad has been running “test trains” to determine whether or not to reopen the line. Some of the issues that this raises are:

  • It crosses a fairly major street;
  • Part of the area is zoned as residential;
  • Federal laws mandate that trains must sound their horns when approaching ALL rail/road crossings. (Sidebar: They blow the letter “Q” in the Morse Code – the Doppler Effect allows one to determine how far the engine is from the intersection.)

So far, I haven’t been able to find any articles that reference the “no-horn” proposal, but here are some related links to the issue:

::: boggle :::

This is something that I’m going to keep an eye on. It will be interesting to see how it develops as a resident of the greater SLC metro area and as a train buff. Also, it bears watching to see if Union Pacific is willing to make any accomodations or concessions for the residents of the area who were told that the line was not going to be reactivated.

Meanwhile…
From : “…would anyone be interested in a genuine compliment? Im feeling nice today. ”

[09:52] ShadoRunr: What’s the catch….?
[09:52] ShadoRunr: 😉
[09:52] THE niliyo: lol
[09:52] THE niliyo: hmm
[09:52] THE niliyo: nothing
[09:53] THE niliyo: maybe a lil sarcasm here n there but that’s normal
[09:53] ShadoRunr: Wow.
[09:53] ShadoRunr: Sign me up, then!
[09:53] THE niliyo: cant be sure if youll get a real one or a sarcastic one tho
[09:53] THE niliyo: u sure?
[09:54] ShadoRunr: Are you kidding?!!? If I can drive to Vegas to take my chances on roulette in Caesar’s Palace, what have I got to lose by asking for a comment?
[09:57] ShadoRunr: ….besides, I trust you.
[09:57] ShadoRunr: ::: genuflect :::
[09:57] THE niliyo: ok then
[09:58] THE niliyo: you have nice hair