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CN purchase of outlying RR tracks

(24 posts)
  • Started 3 years ago by MikeTomecek
  • Latest reply from spatny
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  1. MikeT
    Member

    I'd like to keep track of this story. If CN purchases the outlying RR tracks, it will have a beneficial effect on inner ring communities that traverse tracks such as Riverside. It would promise to make the tunnel closing a little easier to accept, too.

    It made the front page of the Tribune today - despite there being no new news to the story. It painted the CN acquisition in dark foreboding colors, saying that the decision to approve the purchase would unleash 'monster trains ' 2 miles long. It did not say whether those same trains wd appear if the acquisition is not approved. It seems to me that the opposition to the RR acquisition is pretty media savvy and organized. They got this opposition-slanted article out on the front page of the tribune. They have a bunch of websites as well as letter writing efforts.

    So please register your support of the CN acquisition of the outlying RR lines.

    .
    As Pres Wiaduck writes in his letter, seen in the Landmark*

    I urge all Riverside residents to confirm the benefit to our community by contacting the Surface Transportation Board at 1-800-347-0689 or visiting the STB website at www.stb.dot.gov, E-filing, Other Submissions (Correspondence, Comments) to register their support for this very important transaction.

    Jack Wiaduck, president
    Riverside Village Board

    .

    The Trib writer did quote an acquisition supporter viewpoint (emphasis is mine)

    Christopher Barkan, a rail transportation expert at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, saysusing the EJ&E as a bypass "will convert an underutilized transportation asset to a much more useful link in the national transportation network."

    Barkan said public officials who have lined up against the CN proposal are being short-sighted.

    "I understand people in Barrington will see an increase in freight train traffic, but there are millions of people in Chicago who will see a decrease in the same trains every day," he said. "We live in a world of trade-offs. This is one time in which the positives vastly outweigh the negatives."

    Here is the full article...

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-big-trains-12-aug12,0,5846745.story?page=1

    ...............................................
    *Earlier Pres. Wiaduck and the Lyons super. wrote nice letters supporting the CN purchase. I saw them in the Landmark.

    http://rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=17&ArticleID=3999&TM=24376.23

    .
    Here is another recent tribune article, fyi, on this subject...

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-cn-railroad_both_07aug07,0,3979594.story

    .
    and here is another link to collect like info

    http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic.php?id=543&page=2&replies=62#post-6273

    Posted Tuesday Aug 12, 2008 23:57 #

  2. MikeT
    Member

    Here is the nuts and bolts detail I was looking for. Please express your support of the CN purchase via the ways noted in thie following email from the Village. Less freight traffic and less stalled trains is all good for Riverside. We've done more than our fair share bearing the brunt of train traffic the last 140 yrs.

    Making Your Voice Heard on the the EJ&E Transaction

    CN's proposed acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway offers significant transportation benefits to the entire Chicago region. In late August and early September, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) will hold a series of 8 public hearings on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that has been prepared by the STB's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) to assess the potential impacts on the communities through which CN freight trains pass today and those to which the CN freight trains would be shifted after the transaction. You can participate several ways:

    1. Written Comments: Comment forms will be provided at the public meetings and will be accepted on site or by mail. Additionally, comment forms or written letters may be postmarked by September 30, 2008, to:

    Phillis Johnson-Ball
    Surface Transportation Board
    395 E Street, SW
    Washington, DC 20423
    Ref: STB Finance Docket No. 35087

    2. Recorded Comments: Court reporters will be available at the public meetings for those who wish to dictate their comments in a more informal setting. Comments may also be recorded at any time during the comment period on the project hotline: 1-800-347-0689.

    3. Electronic Comments: Comments may be filed electronically on the Board's website, www.stb.dot.gov, by clicking on the E-FILING link. Please refer to STB Finance Docket No. 35087.

    4. Attend Transportation Rally: You are invited to attend a Transportation Rally with Congressman Dan Lipinski supporting the purchase of the CJ&E by Canadian National. The rally is being held on August 21, 2008 at 10:00 a.m at the North Riverside Village Hall.

    Posted Sunday Aug 17, 2008 16:13 #

  3. Catherine
    Member

    http://www.stbfinancedocket35087.com/html/contactinfo.html

    Posted Tuesday Aug 19, 2008 08:28 #

  4. spatny
    Member

    Mike - Barrington is where "lifers" at the Tribune go to live. They are "special" and can't be treated the same as lower forms of life - like you and me. I drove in past Barrington yesterday and the highway is plastered with signs and people sanding at corners. Too bad a few of them didn't enlist and go to Afghanistan and grab Osama instead of staying home watching Fox in their home theaters.

    Posted Wednesday Aug 20, 2008 09:07 #

  5. MikeT
    Member

    in case anyone sees this b4 10 am on thurs, 8/21 - try to attend the rally if you can. As Spatny said, the small number of Barringtonians have alot of power, so we have to show that we care about this issue, too. Otherwise send something in at the link that Catherine cited above.

    Making Your Voice Heard on the the EJ&E Transaction

    Attend Transportation Rally:

    You are invited to attend a Transportation Rally with Congressman Dan Lipinski supporting the purchase of the CJ&E by Canadian National. The rally is being held on August 21, 2008 at 10:00 a.m at the North Riverside Village Hall.

    North Riverside Village Commons

    2401 S Des Plaines Avenue

    Gymnasium

    Posted Thursday Aug 21, 2008 00:51 #

  6. spatny
    Member

    I attended and thought it was very well organized. President Jack Wiaduck did a good job with this, and I for one will try and make a written statement and an eloquent (sic) appeal to the Surface Transportation Board at one or more of the hearings. Anyone want to go to the meeting at Barrington on the 27th and get booed?

    Posted Thursday Aug 21, 2008 13:35 #

  7. MikeT
    Member

    Curiously, there are no public hearing in the inner ring area (our area). I wonder why? I tried to ask this question, along with my epxression of support of ther CN purchase, through the e filing method that is noted on catherine's link above. You have to create a login acct first and refer to STB Finance Docket No. 35087

    Here is the public hearing schedule:

    http://www.stbfinancedocket35087.com/html/publicinvolv.html

    1 Monday
    August 25, 2008 Holiday Inn Hotel
    500 Holiday Plaza Drive
    Matteson, IL 60443

    2 Tuesday
    August 26, 2008 Crowne Plaza Chicago
    North Shore
    510 E Route 83
    Mundelein, IL 60060

    3 Wednesday
    August 27, 2008 Barrington High School
    616 W Main Street
    Barrington, IL 60010

    4 Thursday
    August 28, 2008 Bartlett High School
    701 Schick Road
    Bartlett, IL 60103

    5 Monday
    September 8, 2008 Loyola University
    Rubloff Auditorium
    25 E Pearson
    Chicago, IL 60611

    6 Tuesday
    September 9, 2008

    West Aurora High School
    1201 W New York Street
    Aurora, IL 60506

    7 Wednesday
    September 10, 2008 Indiana University Northwest
    Auditorium
    3400 Broadway
    Gary, IN 46408

    8 Thursday
    September 11, 2008 Holiday Inn Hotel
    411 S Larkin Avenue
    Joliet, IL 60436

    Posted Friday Aug 22, 2008 14:48 #

  8. Catherine
    Member

    I did write in to support at the website, but was out of town during the rally. I should think the clout of Naperville, Hinsdale and even LaGrange would count for a lot. I imagine they are governing themselves accordingly.

    Yes, the sense of entitlement of these folks is truly laughable, but I suppose anyone would try to keep our train traffic out if they could! Yet, as all benefit, all should share.

    Posted Wednesday Aug 27, 2008 09:03 #

  9. MikeT
    Member

    spatny, did you go to the meeting in Barrington on the 27th? I noticed that it recvd a bunch of coverage - I saw it on two different TV stations on the 1000 pm news, both of the event itself along with some backstory outside the meeting.

    I only heard a quick brief hint of what was prompting the acquisition, or the benefits of the acquisition. There were many images of families parading with big placards.

    Again, submit your voice to the STB and try to come to a public hearing, if you can.

    Posted Thursday Aug 28, 2008 02:01 #

  10. spatny
    Member

    I couldn't get anyone to go with me so I stayed home and watched the convention. But I mailed in my comments supporting the purchase. I saw the clip on the Trib web site this morning - all the whining NIMBYs marching and the senile old guy moaning about a foreign corporation pressuring his community. Barrington is like going into the Stone Age, a bunch of people running to Menards to buy cheap "stuff" and then moaning when the railroad wants to send some through their "community." Mostly they are people that fled from changing neighborhoods and want the status quo forever. Upchuck.

    Posted Thursday Aug 28, 2008 11:38 #

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