Hours before Maddenfest (formally Brentwood Days) was about to start, Brentwood Mayor Pat Kelly got a call from a representative of the railroad (un-named) that runs between Russell Avenue and Brentwood Park, who told Kelly the tracks needed to be roped off. Kelly told residents about it at his coffee Friday.
The tracks are a spur, for delivering lumber to the lumber yard, Kelly said.
“Our inspector was going by Brentwood Park today, and he noticed that you’ve built steps on our property,” Kelly said the railroad representative said. “There’s steps on the berm, and that’s our property, and you need to remove those.”
“I said, ‘I hate to tell you this, it’s right before our carnival is going to start, and it’s not going to happen.’” Kelly said.
Kelly said he told him the steps have been there since he was a little kid, then said, “and when was the last time your inspector was out here?”
Kelly said the man said that doesn’t make it right. He also told Kelly that the tracks need to be closed off so nobody can cross over the railroad tracks and get to the fair. He said it’s trespassing.
Kelly said there’d be no way for all the people to get in and out if the only entrance was the drive at the west end.
Kelly said anytime someone is hurt on some tracks the railroad is sued, which may be the issue. He has met with a lawyer from the railroad since that call, and Wednesday afternoon City Administrator Bola Akande said talks are ongoing.
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Sounds rediculious the railroad is being so strict.
The city needs to acquire the land through eminent domain if necessary. The tracks are obsolete and useless. There is no railroad crossing where the tracks cross Brentwood Blvd, and the tracks have been removed from where they used to cross Manchester near the Trainwreck. Thus, they serve no purpose other than to cut the general public off from a community park.
By ‘obsolete’ do you mean trains are not allowed to go on that portion of track? If so, then isn’t this all a moot point?
Believe it or not the tracks are used. I’ve seen it myself. Crossing or no crossing, there is a train that does service that lumber yard and crosses Brentwood BLVD. I read somewhere (here or on Patch site?) that it is an electric train that comes in about once a month.
The railroad got a lot of power in the 1800’s and 1900’s and the big business folks in Washington, have never put that power back into the hands of the municipalities. Now, with all of the Natural Security issues, it has gotten worse, particularly on the rail lines that handle energy commodities. Spur lines not dealing with energy resources are seldom checked. Either 1. A resident called the RR or 2. They have been checking spur lines because of the recent accidents involved with children and teenagers.
The railroad has a point, though. People fall off of trestles, trip over rails and ties, fall off of sitting rail cars, hurt themselves sliding on ballast and falling down. As far as BRENTWOOD DAYS is concerned, maybe Brentwood can get a two day insurance rider to cover the railroad’s butt.
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