CSX-Sucks.com :: Headline News

"Witnesses said the crossing gates were up because another train had come through not long before, and there wasn't enough time for them to come back down before the other train passed."

"The day after the deadly collision that killed John and Jean O'Connor, CSX officials admitted the gates weren't working properly. CSX Vice President John Caselllini said that that morning all trains were ordered to stop before crossing Winton Road, but that's not what the company told federal investigators."

"In the last two weeks, I've called 911 at least six times to say the gates were malfunctioning," said Hassett, whose restaurant is at 3050 S. Winton Road. "I was like, 'Someone is going to get killed out here.' They said that CSX had been notified. A lot of times, a train would come, the gates would come down and they wouldn't go back up. But today, the gates didn't go down. That's what's really weird."

"We have been trying to get a CSX repair crew out here to look at the tracks for most of the day. They have not responded," [Gates Police Chief] Roche said. "The response time is unacceptable."

"Witnesses told deputies that the warning gate of the railroad crossing was not down."

As Thomas pondered her next step, CSX called her three times in the past week to remind her to pay the charge, Thomas said. But after a Palm Beach Post reporter asked about the company's policy on Tuesday, Thomas got a fourth call about an hour later. "We have waived the bill," Hollingsworth said.

Since Snow left the eastern railroad system to become Treasury secretary, his successor as chief executive... acknowledged that CSX for years paid more attention to its finances than to the condition of its track.

Witnesses Robert Spitznagel, 28, and Paul DePrimo, 26, were in a car just a few feet in front of Castro's at the crossing. Both men said they never saw the safety gates come down.

A company memo, obtained by The Times-Dispatch, states, "Heat building to no more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit in winter, when occupied."
Asked whether the policy directive from Florida could hurt morale, Sullivan said, "I don't think so."

Jury finds CSX Transportation negligent; company plans to seek reversal of verdict

"The conductor, L. K. Lucas, was trapped beneath the dump truck for about two hours until rescue workers cut him out of the wreckage with welding equipment. He was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital and is now in extremely critical condition with massive leg injuries."

"James Weber of CSX inspected the train for damage. He said that while the crossing was marked, it had no bells, with the sight line for motorists being about 1,000 feet at the site of the crash."
Does anyone know how fast the train was going, or what the track speed is? Does anyone know how long it takes (in seconds) a delivery truck full of ice to cross those tracks? Can we do the math?

"One car was carrying about 90 tons of chlorine and the other was carrying about 100 tons of potassium hydroxide to Brenntag. Both substances are considered hazardous."

"Investigators have concluded that Brenda McCulley died while trying to free her mother, Lillian Vitatoe, whose foot got stuck in a gap by the tracks as a CSX train was coming."

"Train derailments are rare, but it's not uncommon for them to happen", [CSX spokesman Dan] Murphy said.
WTF??? Talk about double-speak!!

"A 37-minute delay by CSX Transportation in reporting the 2001 train tunnel fire under downtown Baltimore hampered firefighters and allowed the chemical blaze to expand within the tunnel, according to a federal report released Monday."

"It was ripping open the box cars like a can opener"

Four people interviewed said the caution lights began flashing too late to provide an adequate warning.
"It was all too quick," said Pamela Dobson, a driver who looked back at the accident.
"It was a matter of seconds after the lights came on that the train hit the truck," said Zondra Baker, 24, of Lakeland.

"Salt thrown on the roads to prevent a build up of ice and snow is seeping into train tracks, triggering the track's signal system. Salt water acts like a conductor on the tracks, short-circuiting the operation of signals that warn when a train is coming, according to CSX trainmaster Jack Bengston."

"CSX investigators will try to reconstruct what happened" - I'm sure they're impartial.
"Sease [CSX spokesperson] said he is unaware of any investigators from FRA visiting the Manlius accident site."

"Bush's new treasury secretary, the guy who's now in charge of our nation's tax policy. Snow had headed CSX Corporation and had lept through so many loopholes that in three of the past four years, CSX paid zero in federal income taxes, even though it had banked nearly a billion dollars in profit. Even trickier, CSX got $164 million in tax rebates during those years."

"A CSX spokeswoman said local authorities are handling the investigation."

"Shannon said the crossing has been the scene of several fatal train-vehicle accidents... Trees grow within several yards of the crossing and may have limited visibility..."

"If CEO perks were pills, Snow would have overdosed."
"CSX will pay him $2.47 million a year for life."
"Having Snow, a world-class tax dodger and the lamest railroad man since Casey Jones, at the controls of our sputtering economy -- the Disorient Express -- has all the makings of a world-class train wreck."

"[Robert Willett] on his way home from working a 12-hour shift at CSX Railroad -- with only an hour of sleep the day before -- was killed nearly three weeks ago after his car slammed into the back of a semi on U.S. 20. Lana thinks it's possible her husband may have fallen asleep at the wheel."

"Snow has pledged to quit every job, directorship and trusteeship he currently holds -- 32 positions in all."
"... he belongs to no fewer than 18 clubs."
Holding 32 positions and being a member of 18 clubs would indicate to this webmaster that he is not providing any service to any of these commitments, except possibly his connection$.

"Burnside, 38, said the arms went down seconds before the car crossed the tracks.... He said residents in the community had complained previously about the crossing arms."

"It's a fast track (and) that's just inexcusable. It's an accident waiting to happen... It's hard for the train to see the truck and it's hard for the truck to see the train."

OK, check this out - The WV city of Parkersburg is going to pay to clean up and old CSX site, so it can be used by John Snow's new employer, the U.S. Department of the Treasury!!!
"Extent of the contamination is unknown"

"[CSX spokeswoman Misty] Skipper was at a loss to explain why the layoffs came at a time when rival carrier Norfolk Southern hired 23 conductor trainees in Huntington and Portsmouth, Ohio, last month."

"Investigators said Oak, of Carrollton, Kentucky, was driving a company pickup truck in the Queensgate railyard when an automated train backed into him, dragging his body."

"[the conductor] was working on only eight hours of rest when the early-morning accident occurred... The carrier is short of people at Evansville and the railroad won't hire anyone. I think fatigue might have a lot to do in this. It was a big factor."

"It's not an exaggeration to say that we've been lied to." -- Mayor Johnson

"They just don't seem to get that they spilled this [Acetone & Methylene chloride] in a community."

"It's pretty gruesome."

"The Democrat and Chronicle - through a Freedom of Information Act request - obtained 330 pages of documents detailing correspondence between the city and CSX, company lawyers and cleanup contractor, Department of Environmental Conservation and Monroe County Health Department."

"... the fire in the train tunnel reached temperatures as high as 1,500°F... burned out of control all day long, overnight, and well into the next day... [The] criteria for high-level nuclear waste containers only calls for casks to be able to withstand a 1,475° fire for 30 minutes."

"It's a big boom, You knew something hit the train or the train hit something, having heard it so many times before."