Renaisance Festival sues railroad

I just find it frustrating. As an architect and construction consultant I have to be exact, I have to be clear in the details, and I have to have the support to back it up. This goes for designing a subgrade waterproofing scheme for a building, or working on litigation support for a lawsuit. If someone were to give me, say, a waterproofing detail and tell me that we should use it, and I use it without analyzing it or checking product specs, etc., and the building leaks, I would be derelict in my duty to my clients and it would hurt my reputation and that of my business, and in this field all one really has is a reputation - hard to build and easy to lose.

There are some good reporters, but they tend to be the minority. The business side of creating and presenting the news tends to put a lot of emphasis on whether something will attract viewers/readers and not on whether it is factually accurate or if the reporter did all his/her homework. This puts reporters in a bit of a conundrum, and, unfortunately, a lot of them take the easy way out by dressing up press releases.

I think that's what happened here. If the reporters got their information from documents filed by attorneys, then those attorneys are likely also at fault for this deception since, obviously, they also did not do their homework and are now leading their client, the Renaissance festival, down an expensive path that will likely result in just being out a bunch of money.

Anyway, back to trains. I also noticed that it was kind of ridiculous that they mention it was the engineer that walked the train. My grandfather tells me that the reason he wanted to be conductor and NOT engineer is that as conductor he did get to walk around, stretch his legs, etc., and didn't have to always sit in the engine.

Can you imagine had they not fixed that airhose connection or whatever it was. What then? a huge pile-up of train cars all over the grade crossing and lots of dead people in tunics and pantyhose?

I wouldn't worry about this one too much.

Adam

 

Well I know this area fairly well and even though I don't have all of the facts I would say this train must have had an issue for it to stop at that location. There are signals immediately before this location and the next signal is about 7200' away. This is a fair grade here and I have never found a train over that length on the line. No way this guy wanted to walk the train.
Steve

 

Right! So a dispatcher lets an engineer just stop a train because he wants to take a walk!

Suits like this is what has given we attorney's the reputation we apparently deserve.

 

Newspapers are in business to make money, not print the, "truth". Constantly presenting adversarial articles is a way to pique public interest and sell papers. Besides, the smaller the article, the more ad space is avaiable around it to sell. Look at the scenario:

1. Town has yearly, large even in progress. This generates cash for the local business and tax base. As it is held every year, the locals are not going to be too forgiving when the train blocks their access. "Don't they know we have this festival every year? Don't they read the local papers? Darn insensitive and uncaring railroad!!!!!".

2. Most locals only experience with the railroad is being, "held up" by the train..so they are already biased against the railroad. This makes for an easy story of the "us against them" press.

3. When you allow major corporations in other States(Countries) to run your local media, this is what you get. 10-15 years ago the LOCAL owner of the paper or station may have called the reporter in or had the story redone, in order to properly get all sides, including that of a major taxpayer (the railroad) to make sure he didn't catch Hell at the next Chamber of Commerce meeting. Instead, Klaus in Cologne or Bruce in Melbourne, and their band of accountants look at the ratings, the ratings and the ratings. Ratings down, stir the pot, create drama and controversy, "truth" be damned.

4. As the same major media companies have constantly been slashing staff to boost profits, you have a group of part time reporters, or the remains of the staff, to do the job. Part timers are part timers and the residual staff fear for their jobs, so neither has either the skills or the will to do any serious muck raking that will get them in hot water with the locals. Instead, identify an "out-of-town" bad guy and beat on them. It's easy and gutless...but what else can you expect them to do? We all have parts of our job that suck, but would YOU go raise hell with YOUR Boss because you felt they weren't, "sticking to the proper principles"...YOUR principles when it came to how they had you do your job? Really....I don't think so. It's easy to bag the reporter, but they do not decide what gets printed, the editors do. And the editors are ALWAYS one step down from the Boss....so it's the boss..not so much the reporter.

I have worked in the press...and against it. No, reporters do not get it right all the time. Neither does your weatherman and neither do you. It's not the individual, it's the system. But, this is Amercia and we are getting what we pay for. Salaries and benefits are down for the working stiffs in the media...not for the editors, accountants and owners.

 

I wonder if there is a similar discussion, though slanted the opposite way, over on RenaissanceFairBoard?

Many news organizations seem to be more interested in making money than reporting news anymore... and then they have the gall to wring their hands and wonder why people no longer subscribe to newspapers like they once did, couching it in terms like, "oh, how will the populace be informed?!"

If the attorney took this case without getting ANY relevant information on rail operations I hope he/she is unable to collect his/her full fee from the Renaissance Fair organizers once they lose the suit.

Adam

Adam

 

Dang, how many cars have you hit??

 

Well there was an article in the local news paper this weekend and aparently the Engineer thought he had stopped past the crossing. So this one will probably head to court unless BNSF settles.
steve

 

too many. There are a lot of guys with at least 20.

 

Actually this would not be the first time BNSF has gotten into trouble for blocking crossing around here. Even the longest of Coal Trains are required to "Break" the train if they need to stop for any length of time if crossing are being blocked. With that said there has been a lot of work at several crossings to create under/over passes so traffic is not disrupted.

What the issue is locally is that US-85 (a.k.a. Santa Fe Drive) runs parallel to the tracks and is a major industrial highway. If crossings get block for long periods of time it does create a serious hazard in many ways so a law was passed that makes it illegal for BNSF to do this. The Renaissance Festival is to the south of the DENVER Metro area where crossings are few and far between and there is a total lack of under/over passes. At this point the tracks parallel CR-53 so the detour to get around any stopped train can be substantial.

Now issues can happen that is out of BNSF control so innocent until proven guilty but this will be interesting to watch.

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Douglas County News-Press
Renaissance Festival sues railway company

It's the Renaissance against the Industrial Age.


The Colorado Renaissance Festival's attorney filed a lawsuit last week in Douglas County District Court against the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway after a train blocked a road at a railroad crossing July 14 in Larkspur.

As a result of the train blocking traffic on East Perry Park Avenue, the main access to the fair, a 10-mile backup of cars was created on Interstate 25 all the way to Castle Rock, according to the complaint.

The suit, which names the railway and the company's engineer known only as "John Doe," claims the train blocked traffic for 45 minutes and cites negligence on the railroad's part regarding life safety issues and unspecified monetary damages.

After the July 14 train and traffic snarl, the Renaissance Festival had only two weekends left in its 2007 season.

"We've never had them stop at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday," said Jim Paradise Jr., marketing director for the Colorado Renaissance Festival. "There were people in their cars turning around."

The complaint in District Court is, in part, intended to draw some attention to life safety issues, not only for us and the people at the festival but for residents in Larkspur and Perry Park, he said.

The festival's suit requests unspecified monetary damages and a permanent injunction against the railway from blocking roadways except during normal and necessary operations as dictated by Colorado state statute.

In addition, there are federal statutes that prohibit standing trains, locomotives or other rail equipment from activating warning signs at grade crossings, unless the operations are part of normal train operations or switching movements, the complaint reads.

The engineer of the train blocked the intersection, even though "adequate room" existed both north and south of the intersection so the train could have stopped without blocking East Perry Park Avenue or activating the crossing guards, according to the complaint.

"In this instance, the train was not stopped at the location. ... to facilitate normal railroad operations, but rather, as part of a frolic or a detour on the part of [the engineer], who parked the train with full knowledge that it blocked the intersection," it reads. "Upon parking the train, [the engineer] proceeded to take what can be best described as a casual walk down the length of the tracks for no particular purpose. When [the engineer] was finally located by law enforcement, he was at such a distance from the train that he was transported back to his post by vehicle."

Perry Park Avenue is the only emergency vehicle access to the Renaissance Festival, and caused not only the traffic backup on I-25, but also a three-car crash, it reads.

The accident occurred on the road near the Renaissance Festival about 11:15 a.m. and could be attributed to the traffic backup, said fire chief Jamey Bumgarner, Larkspur Fire Protection District.

If Larkspur fire and emergency vehicles took an alternate route immediately from the fire station, there would probably be at least a 10-minute delay to get to the Renaissance Festival, he said.

However, there is a railroad right of way that could be used by smaller trucks, such as ambulances and brush trucks. But it is unusable for larger vehicles like fire engines and ladder trucks, he said.

If an emergency call came in from Perry Park, the delay might not be as great as 10 minutes. The southbound trains block Perry Park Boulevard for seven to eight minutes during their normal runs, he said.

For Bumgarner, the greater issue is what will be the long term solution to the Perry Park Boulevard train crossing.

Deputy Ron Hanavan, Douglas County Sheriff's Office public information officer confirmed there was a train parked across East Perry Park Road for 40-45 minutes that caused major traffic congestion in the area.

He was unwilling to comment on actions drivers were taking to get out of the traffic congestion in Larkspur.

The railway's attorneys had not seen a copy of the lawsuit at press time and could not comment on it, said Steve Forsberg, spokesman for Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway.

Under company policy, their legal team will review the suit and respond through the legal process, he said.

Contact Kiersten J. Mayer at 303-663-7174 or kmayer@ccnewspapers.com.

 

Wow! Times have changed. People are too impatient. Just imagine if those at Woodstock had decided the traffic jam was too much. There wouldn't have been a Woodstock!

 

Man, that first one must have really made you pucker!

 

This is also why I will wait to see what the facts truly are and hear what BNSF views are which will likely not be heard until a court proceeding of some sort.

:zip: :zip: :zip: :zip:
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This topic is getting somewhat heated and emotional. From Evil Media to Evil smalltown business. lol I know I've had my fair share of internet blood boiling moments.

Though I'm no RenFester by any means. It looks like the Festival does have a legal claim here. Yes, the suit has pretty fiery and floral language, but you have to look at the facts.

1. Train did block said crossing for an extended period of time. I believe the regulations limit the amount of grade crossing stoppage to be something really short like 2-5 minutes. That's what is is up north here. If the engineer has been running this line regularly he should know that, or dispatch should have asked "are you clear of the grade crossings". It's not like some new thing just popping up out of nowhere, this regulation has been in place for years. Chances are the engineer really thought he was clear and wanted to take a smoke break. I don't know, I wasn't there.

2. Engineer does appear to be on record as having moved away from the train a larger then expected distance. If he was walking the train he'd be on the ROW. Maybe some of our engineer friends can speak for this.

3. For a festival to have it's gates blocked for 40-45 minutes, along with the ensuing untangling of a traffic jam, is a loss of revenue. i;'m not sure what the daily revenue for the Ren Fest is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was atleast 50,000.00$ not exactly chump change. I don't know about you, but making money is pretty serious stuff. If someone prevents you from doing so, you may have to take legal recourse.

I don't think this is a frivolous suit by any means. If they were suing for 12 million dollars because the train tooted its horn disrupting the medieval mood, now that would be frivolous. The most that the Renfesters can get is the projected loss of revenue. Besides, all they have done is filed a suit. BNSF has yet to fire back their response on this one. I'll bet they'll look at the suit, look at the local regulations, then decide what their odds are in court. It may be easier for them just to settle out of court and save the legal fees.

I don't really care who wins this. Not my problem. I just think that this is not frivolous or even vindictive. It's business.

 

Its to bad the Police or some one did not direct them to another entrance to the Fest. I know its out of the way but there are several other ways in to that area not just via Larkspur. I actually go through Castle Rock to beat all of the traffic when I'm forced to attend. Oh well its a law suit world these days I just hope I never make a mistake and get a trip through the legal system.
Steve

 

I agree that you have to look at the facts. I'm not sure we are "looking at facts" below.

You are assuming that there were no mechanical problems or other events preventing the train from moving.

This reminds me of the responses I get sometimes in the (rare) event a server goes down. "I HAVE to get this e-mail sent out IMMEDIATELY, it's a press release ordered by the CEO to go out this morning". "Ummm, OK, let me just sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the server and you'll be all set".

If the train lost its air, or broke a knuckle, or derailed, or lost a locomotive the train is probably not going anywhere for a bit. Perhaps "RenFest" should invest in an alternate entry point or bridge? I'm not SUPER familiar with the area, but I am almost certain the tracks were there when RenFest decided to rent the cow pasture for next to nothing so they could rake in 50K per day.

Did it say he wasn't on the ROW? I got the impression he was "walking the train" to inspect for damage and they happened to catch him at the other end (about a mile away from his "post") and gave him a ride back. While it is sensational to think that the engineer was AWOL and they found him underneath a bridge drinking whiskey and chanting "down with RenFest", :teeth: I kinda doubt it was anything more than a safety inspection he was performing.

Well, what's bigger business is BNSF protecting its train. A derailment would make $50,000 TRULY look like chump change. And boy if it happened in front of "RenFest" they might be shut down for 45 HOURS instead of 45 minutes.

Again, we should all heed your opening statement and look at the "facts" if and when they are presented.