ALBANY COUNTY — CSX told federal regulators none of the concerns recently raised by Voorheesville or the Altamont Free Library over its attempt to acquire Pan Am Railways rose to the level of “extraordinary circumstances,” meaning they required no action from the Surface Transportation Board and could be handled in-house by CSX.

The STB, the federal agency charged with economic oversight of the nation’s major freight carriers, decided in July to allow CSX to move forward with its attempt to acquire the Massachusetts-based regional rail company.

In its July 30 ruling, the railroad regulator additionally said issues brought to its attention by the village in a July 20 letter would be dealt with in future decisions handed down by the board. 

CSX argues in its Sept. 24 filing that “comments on environmental issues have been limited and focused on a few discrete issues and geographic regions,” and don’t require STB invention. 

Voorheesville’s letter covered three issues, CSX asserted in its latest filing: plans for a Quiet Zone, so trains wouldn’t blow their whistles; closure of three at-grade crossings; and a deteriorating railroad bridge.

Altamont Free Library

On Aug. 19, Joe Burke, director of the Altamont Free Library, penned a letter to the STB, expressing concerns about the impact of running two 9,000-foot-long trains over Main Street in the village, CSX said in its filing, Burke was also concerned about “potential damage” to the library itself, due to its proximity to an active rail line. 

CSX asserts that the vibrations from Norfolk Southern’s trains as they pass by the library “will be neither extraordinary nor significant,” arguing, the Altamont Free Library “building is a former train station, which has apparently been located adjacent to an active railroad line for over 120 years.”

But CSX said Norfolk Southern would commit to installing “continuous welded rail on the tracks adjacent to the library, which should minimize any vibration impacts from the [Norfolk Southern] operations.

Burke also expressed concern that the 1.7-mile-long train would cause back-ups along Main Street.

CSX maintains the impact of running two 9,000-foot-long trains would “be limited to a few minutes per day and is typical of any at-grade crossing.” CSX puts the amount of time it would take a Norfolk Southern train, traveling at 25 miles per hour, between four and five minutes to clear the Main Street crossing.

Quiet Zone

Voorheesville maintained the rehabilitation of the tracks crossing over Main Street would affect its efforts with Albany County to establish a Quiet Zone in the village.

In 2003, the Delaware and Hudson Railway Company abandoned nine miles of line from Albany to Voorheesville — which then became the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail — having previously reactivated its rail between the village and Delanson three years early in anticipation of the move.

Approximately 1,000 feet of this former D&H line, now owned by Norfolk Southern, are due for a full track and crossing rebuild. This stretch lies between milepost 11, which starts in Voorheesville at about the midpoint of Prospect Street between Skyler Lane and Main Street, and a CSX connection, which is located behind 18, 22, and 28 South Main Street, the home formerly of Phillips Hardware, of Gio Culinary Studio, and of Old Goat Wood Shop, respectively.

“Voorheesville’s most significant concern appears to be establishing a quiet zone,” the Sept. 24 CSX filing states. 

CSX claims neither the rehabilitation of the tracks over Main Street nor Norfolk Southern’s operations would interfere with the nearly-decade-long attempt to establish the Quiet Zone. This is in part because Norfolk Southern would be adding just two trains to the daily average of nearly 33 that already run through the village, while CSX’s train traffic would not increase. Additionally, CSX asserts, the agreement between it and Norfolk Southern would not “alter the requirements” for the Quiet Zone at the Main Street and Voorheesville Avenue crossings.

CSX states in its Sept. 24 filing that it “understands that funding and political obstacles have hindered the quiet zone effort in the last several years, but CSXT will assist Voorheesville in addressing those obstacles.”

During the Sept. 28 board of trustees meeting, Mayor Rich Straut said Albany County is “still working through the funding questions” with the Quiet Zone.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York funding is supposed to be used for an asset — in this case, the four-quadrant gate system — that the municipality, Albany County, is going to have some type of ownership of or an extended lease interest in. 

Straut said that CSX “seemed agreeable” to the county owning the gates while the rail company would maintain them, but nothing has yet been formalized. Straut said there’s a verbal agreement with CSX that the county would own the gate system that would be placed on CSX’s land — the county would have a permanent easement, village attorney Rich Reilly said. 

“We’re working on trying to bring these concepts to a written agreement,” Straut said. “So, then that can go to DASNY,” he said of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. “DASNY can check that box and send the money.”

Crossings

Voorheesville, in its July 20 letter, expressed concern about the simultaneous closure of at-grade crossings on School Road, Main Street, and Voorheesville Avenue as a result of Norfolk Southern’s 9,000-foot-long train passing through the village, CSX states in its Sept. 24 regulatory filing. 

“Voorheesville focused its concern on the possibility that these blocked crossings could interfere with emergency vehicle response times,” the CSX filing says. “Voorheesville’s concern is understandable but unavoidable for train movements over grade crossings. CSXT understands that NSR [Norfolk Southern Railway] is willing to commit to stage and operate its trains to reduce potential impacts on Voorheesville.”

A map included with CSX’s filing says that the School Road crossing, which is near the Voorheesville Public Library, is about 3,000 feet from the Main Street crossing, which is about 1,100 feet from the Voorheesville Avenue crossing. 

“The short time that a particular grade crossing will be blocked as the [Norfolk Southern] train moves through Voorheesville is typical of any at-grade crossing,” CSX asserts, and “there is nothing extraordinary about the [Norfolk Southern] trains.

CSX concedes there may be times when the three crossings are blocked simultaneously, but argues the period of time would be small “given the distance between the crossings.”

Railroad bridge

Voorheesville also expressed concern about the railroad bridge running over Maple Avenue, CSX states in its latest filing to the STB. 

The village in its July 20 letter claimed that the bridge’s concrete was in “deteriorating condition,” CSX asserts, and that, by adding two 9,000-foot-long Norfolk Southern trains each day, the condition of the bridge would be worsened. 

“Upon learning about Voorheesville’s concerns,” CSX claims, it “confirmed that the bridge has no structural deficiencies,” but said, it “shares Voorheesville’s concerns about safety related to this overpass and is committed to working with Voorheesville and relevant stakeholders to explore ways to address” what it says are “cosmetic issues associated with the concrete walls.”