Whipping Topper- Times

So far as I'm concerned Gray Lady is "whipping Topper" so far as this "crusade" goes. What with East Palestine, where there were no personal injuries and the environmental impact was brought under control, the Times now feels its their place to sling another arrow at the industry, which I'm sorry to say has has more "bad press" recently than otherwise.

Fair Use:

Blocked Rail Crossings Snarl Towns, but Congress Won’t Act.

The industry has used its muscle to prevent federal, state and local governments from penalizing companies that park freight trains across roads for hours or days.

The railroad was there before the community; I believe it's the community's obligation to separate their streets from the railroads, and if they choose not, "you take what you get".

Of course, the reporter just had to note that the community in question, York, Alabama, is predominantly Black.

Incidentally this community (municipality), through which the Amtrak Crescent passes through (stops Meridian, MS - ten miles away) also got into the anals of railroad "skullduggery". This became the "terminus" of a passenger train. The New York-Bristol, TN-New Orleans, The Pelican, that the SRY wanted gone during '69. They got the Mississippi State Regulatory agency to agree, but hadn't yet gotten Alabama's approval. So this train terminated in York as it was on the border.

And oh, at a very convenient 1235A heading Southward.

The Times simply won't give Topper a break:

Fair Use:

After a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed a year ago in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents and upending life in the town for months, the rail industry pledged to work to become safer, and members of Congress vowed to pass legislation to prevent similar disasters.

No bill was passed. And accidents went up.

Derailments rose at the top five freight railroads in 2023, according to regulatory reports for the first 10 months of the year, the most recent period for which data exists for all five companies.

And there was a steep increase in the mechanical problem — an overheated wheel bearing — that regulators think caused the derailment of the 1.75-mile-long train in East Palestine.

Norfolk Southern, the operator of the train and the owner of the track that runs through the town, was the only railroad among the five to report a decline in accidents in the period...

Lest we forget and the media take note, East Palestine is not Megantic. There were no injuries arising from the incident - and I'd dare say too many of the parties in interest, have delayed the cleanup to further such interests.

Let it go!!!!

NBC News

As I noted immediately above, this incident is not Megantic, and besides, Topper "has more pressing problems" in his oat bin:

Wall Street Journal

Fair Use:

An investor group led by Ancora Holdings has taken a big stake in Norfolk Southern and plans to run a proxy fight aimed at overhauling the railroad operator’s board and replacing its chief executive.

The group has built a roughly $1 billion stake and nominated a majority slate of directors to Norfolk Southern’s board in a bid to oust Chief Executive Alan Shaw, according to people familiar with the matter.

Thinking about the stock portfolio is exactly what brings us to this event. Have you thought that all the environmental damage and possibility of cancer for the people that live there could be a slow burning Lac Magantic? If the news and the regulators don't keep the heat on the next time it could be a heck of a lot worse than Lac Magantic.