What do you know about railroads

[jon f mn]

I’d call BNSF. Try 1-800-832-5452

I called this number yesterday. I'll try again today during business hours

 

[Russ from MN]

Now that's an excellent idea! I was going to say I was going to try my new to keep boring machine. Lol

I helped my neighbor jet a line under his driveway once for his sprinklers, the next spring his blacktop caved in!

 

[crsutton81]

A railroad runs on the west side of my property. This spring I have this.

View attachment 69007

Walked out to check the cause and found the culvert under the tracks is plugged. They drove some pieces of track into the bank, likely for erosion control, and they drove one right through the culvert. Now it's plugged and flooding my place. It's the BNSF railway. Who would I call to get this fixed?

Get in contact with the track inspector. If it's like it is here with Northern Southern, this individual will ride the tracks once a week to check things out. Worse case scenario, flag him down while in the area and get them to look at it, as he will probably be the one to get the situation corrected. The railroad can be a major pita. If they see where it's a concern for the line to stay open, they will promptly fix any issues. Otherwise there is no hurry or concern whatsoever on they're part as to what any side effects the line has on your property. They have more control over your property than you might think......

 

[timcasbolt]

Here's the sum total of what I know about railroads:

We can't live without them
They've never made a dime
The taxpayers are doing their part to help the rich get richer

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

BNSF doesn't have many lines north east of the cities. One to Duluth, one from Duluth to Staples and then the one from the cities up to Crookston. The railroad likes it if you go through the proper channels, but I dealt with them for many years and had best results going to the closest yard, and working from the bottom up. The Track Master is who your looking for. I think there's a yard in Little Falls yet and Staples. You can call the number that is posted on the crossing arm control boxes and give them the MP number (mile post) of the closest one to you. Someone in you county highway department will also know how to get a hold of them as well. If you can deal with the local TM you'll get better results. Threatening a rail road or using attorneys 1st go around will do nothing but set you back, they don't respond well to that. I was told once they have more attorneys than rail cars.

Who's threatening? It's just a certified notification so he has a paper trail to go back on if nothing happens, or anything happens. The railroad can't say they weren't aware of the situation, and can't blame the OP if there's a washout and a derailment.

 

[NY 986]

A railroad runs on the west side of my property. This spring I have this.

View attachment 69007

Walked out to check the cause and found the culvert under the tracks is plugged. They drove some pieces of track into the bank, likely for erosion control, and they drove one right through the culvert. Now it's plugged and flooding my place. It's the BNSF railway. Who would I call to get this fixed?

I'd start with a phone call to BN today. Call on a cell phone which would establish the day and time you made the call. Unless you are on a first name basis with your lawyer it may take a week or two just to set up a session for them to get started. To this point in time BN has not told you to pound sand so why not give them a chance. A year ago I called the area utility about a low hanging wire I did not want to clip with a tall exhaust pipe. Everybody said I was wasting my time. They responded in less than two days to correct the problem. You have nothing to lose by calling today and maybe that puts you ahead of some big job they plan to start soon. Your local law enforcement or fire department may have a contact number not seen at the rail bed next to you. Get going on it today!

 

[Janicholson]

If it were me, I'd spent a little money right away and have a lawyer send a letter complete with photos of the blockage and resulting flooding and not only send it to the BNSF legal department but to the local water board as well. That way you have begun to establish a undeniable paper trail that can be used in court later if legal action is necessary. A phone call may or may not produce results, and if the later, offers little undeniable proof that you tried to alert them to the situation. Alerting the BNSF legal department and the water board will gain the attention of the powers that be faster than waiting for a phone message to wind it's way through to someone empowered to correct the situation.

Agree. It takes more than one call, but a paper trail is absolute. Jim

 

[Janicholson]

Agree. It takes more than one call, but a paper trail is absolute. Jim

Letting them know that the water backup is saturating the roadbed compromising the safety of traffic! I have called BNSF on a safety issue about a loose track component on a turnout (switch) the call was transferred 3 times until it got to the local yard. within 10 minutes a Pickup on ral wheels was at the switch. They held trains for 2 hours until they fixed it. This is similar. Paper trail of text messages is a start. Jim

 

[rustred]

Doing anything "yourself" to a railroad right of way may get you a trip to GITMO

A trip to the crowbar hotel. ! Lol

 

[ss55]

A railroad runs on the west side of my property. This spring I have this.

View attachment 69007

Walked out to check the cause and found the culvert under the tracks is plugged. They drove some pieces of track into the bank, likely for erosion control, and they drove one right through the culvert. Now it's plugged and flooding my place. It's the BNSF railway. Who would I call to get this fixed?

Besides the railroad, I would also talk to one of your county commissioners.

 

[DoubleO7]

crossing

What crossing?

 

[Dopp Creek]

A railroad runs on the west side of my property. This spring I have this.

View attachment 69007

Walked out to check the cause and found the culvert under the tracks is plugged. They drove some pieces of track into the bank, likely for erosion control, and they drove one right through the culvert. Now it's plugged and flooding my place. It's the BNSF railway. Who would I call to get this fixed?

A farmer I worked after college took his backhoe down to clear out a mess like that. Within three weeks, when it got real wet with fall rains, the local train that hauled lumber, seed and steel derailed at that very spot. He never fessed up. I was fascinated to watch the salvage crew cut a boxcar in half with an oxygen lance and drag it out of the field with a D8 (that blew smoke rings when cold starting; never saw that before either).

 

[HFJ]

David, you've caused me to rethink my my original reaction. you're no fun

 

[NY 986]

I called this number yesterday. I'll try again today during business hours

Does your local law enforcement, fire department, or highway department have a different number for them that might prompt a quicker response?

 

[Mule Meat]

You may not be able get anything done about it. The culvert is on RR property.
Use caution when involving the government. They could come in and declare the property wet lands. If that happens the only thing you can do with the property after that is pay taxes on it. It's happened here more than once.

Go the legal route. Messing with railroad property is risky business.

 

[SweetFeet]

A railroad runs on the west side of my property. This spring I have this.

View attachment 69007

Walked out to check the cause and found the culvert under the tracks is plugged. They drove some pieces of track into the bank, likely for erosion control, and they drove one right through the culvert. Now it's plugged and flooding my place. It's the BNSF railway. Who would I call to get this fixed?

A railroad runs on the west side of my property. This spring I have this.

View attachment 69007

Walked out to check the cause and found the culvert under the tracks is plugged. They drove some pieces of track into the bank, likely for erosion control, and they drove one right through the culvert. Now it's plugged and flooding my place. It's the BNSF railway. Who would I call to get this fixed?

If you reach somebody on the phone - get an emsil address to send an email and photos. Email is proof of the correspondence... in a phone call, you have no proof of what was actually said.

Annnd if somebody calls you... then tell them to email their response, after that conversation.

 

[SweetFeet]

If you reach somebody on the phone - get an emsil address to send an email and photos. Email is proof of the correspondence... in a phone call, you have no proof of what was actually said.

Annnd if somebody calls you... then tell them to email their response, after that conversation.

And I hope you can get the problem solved a.s.a.p, Jon F.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

You might be surprised what the local guys can do if you have a yard in a nearby town go pay them a visit. It looks bad on them too if they caused a problem it’s my 2 cents this gets fixed much quicker than something county related. Honestly the water board and shaking the tree as it were isn’t going to get you any fruit here unless you want to be in this for the long haul. The railroad has a lot of resources to put to a problem such as this and once the water recedes it could get resolved tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise you are going to be dealing with this trying to get the board involved unless you have ties to a board member. I’ve found it’s best to try the up front route first then waste money and time with the government and possibly a lawyer all it takes is them decide if that even this mistake was for the good of the roadbed and there isn’t anything you can do about it. I worked on a few wheel loaders for both the CP and a BNSF subsidiary. From the guys on the track gang I asked for a rail to grade my yard. All it took was asking they asked me what length I wanted and weight and how many holes. Sent a guy out with a telehandler and found a heavy older one with the flange holes the perfect length he probably spent an hour digging for the right one. They both said it was refreshing to see someone who asked and wasn’t trying to steal for scrap. Wanted to know what it was for thought it was neat. The point is go find a crew in person and see if they can help you out

As someone said before there is a number on the cross buck at the nearest crossing that will get you in touch with someone 24 7 since it’s a non emergency that would mostly just be reported to the next person down the line the next day but that would be my option 2 as it IS a problem with the roadbed

 

[jimmyjoe]

A railroad runs on the west side of my property. This spring I have this.

View attachment 69007

Contact Us Form | BNSF

Here is our form to contact various departments within BNSF.

www.bnsf.com

I called this number yesterday. I'll try again today during business hours

when I worked that line the track department went to work in Hinckley. If you see them out on the line stop and talk to them.

 

[TheHillsAreAlive]

I called this number yesterday. I'll try again today during business hours

I've been through this before, your call won't lead to anything. You have to call your governors office and explain the issue, they will force BNSF to rectify the issue and compensate for any damages/loss.