After reading Taylor Chase’s article in the July 14, Wisconsin State Journal “Rail traffic creates new conflicts,” I had to make some observations/comments. When folks live next to rail facilities, which is a choice they made, do they assume the trains are going away? They probably do not remember when steam locomotives made their way through many towns and villages. Train traffic used to be much noisier, but folks did little or no complaining. We’ve become a nation of whiners. As I traveled north on I90, I took the “scenic” route on Hwy 12 from Black River Falls to Augusta. That drive takes you by several frac sand facilities, and also parallels the rail line. I noticed the railroad had made major improvements to the rail bed, and rail sidings have been built into the sand facilities. The demand for products conveyed by rail has produced the revenue for the rail companies to upgrade their infrastructure. Rails are still the most cost efficient method (and least polluting) to move products long distances. The exception to this would be moving petroleum products by pipeline. What I did not see were any of the issues sited by the whiners. It’s ironic that the same people that want energy efficiency still complain when efficiency involves fossil fuel production, transportation, and consumption.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 14:49:35 +0000
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