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Railroad Tracks Are 'In Dire Need Of Service,' Man Says

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By ANGELA DELGADO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 30, 2008

COUNTRYWAY - Recently, Don Baker was surveying the landscaping maintenance in his community when he came upon something else he felt needed maintenance: the railroad tracks that run parallel to Countryway and Westchase.

Behind the bushes and foliage were tracks he said were in "terrible shape." That concerned him about the safety of nearby homes and schoolchildren at Lowry Elementary at 11505 Country Hollow Drive, where the playground is several feet away from the tracks.

Baker found wooden crossties, tie plates and spikes were missing; some were lying next to the tracks.

"I do not profess to be an expert on railroads," said Baker, a board member for the Countryway Home Owners Association. But "I think that the track area appears to be in dire need of some service and inspection."

Those inspections are done once a week, said CSX Transportation spokesman Gary Sease, and they are recorded as required by company policy and federal regulations.

The train that runs on those tracks is a local train that operates from a terminal in the city, he said, and it moves at 25 mph.

The last time the tracks underwent a major repair was in 2000, but Sease said it is scheduled for another heavy repair in 2009. In the meantime, if inspectors find maintenance items on the tracks that need repair, Sease said a temporary slow order will be put out.

"We slow them even slower than 25 mph to make sure that until we do the repair there will be no derailment," he said.

As for the tie plates, spikes and crossties seen loose along the tracks, Sease said they likely are left over from minor repairs. The company has someone pick them up after work is done and recycle them, he said.

"One important thing to remember is this is a low-speed track," Sease said. "When we install crossties that go between the rails, even when we install spikes, we build in redundancy so that if a crosstie is defective or missing a spike, there are other components nearby that can take the additional work load until a new one can be installed.

"The redundancy that we build into the track structure is very important," he continued. "It gives us the opportunity to go back and install those components when we need to, but we don't have to do it immediately."
Sease also said CSX saw a 20 percent reduction in train accidents last year over its performance in 2006.

"I think that speaks volumes to the fact that we maintain our railroad very well," he said.

Baker said CSX's reply has satisfied him.

"They've acknowledged that there's some work that needs to be done," he said. "It's up to them to determine the time frame in which they need to respond to it."

Reporter Angela Delgado can be reached at (813) 865-1501 or adelgado@tampatrib.com.

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