Edgewater Village townhouses under construction on June 5.
Talk about having a front-seat view of railroading. Or better yet a front-window view.
The Edgewater Village development between Water Avenue and the Dave Clark Path on the Willamette River is on one of my favorite bike routes through Albany. Which may explain the frequency with which you are treated — or subjected — to varying views as the construction there makes progress.
For a few months now Baldwin, the Albany construction company, has been busy putting up five more detached houses and about two dozen townhouses, some of which are situated along the old Oregon Electric rail line.
On YouTube, you can find countless videos of locomotives and trains doing what they do. Rolling down the track, and sometimes just standing still. Rail fans love that stuff, even though in a contest of excitement, most of it may not be eligible for first prize.
So if you’re a rail fan, imagine living in one of these townhouses. Most days, the Portland & Western will put on a show for you, as trains rumble down the line at 8 or 10 mph on their way to and from Eugene.
So what if it takes place in the middle of the night. All the more intriguing to the true fan of rail. All anybody like that could want is more trains. (hh)
Interesting take on this. Many years ago we lived within a block of a train. All I can suggest is don’t get interested in a TV program, you’ll miss part of it, plan your kids’ nap times around train times, don’t get attached to a pet cat, plan any meaningful conversations around train times (it’s pretty difficult to sound reasonable when you’re yelling over the sound of the train). Make certain your phone has a pretty loud volume setting so you can hear what the other person is saying. Oh, and be sure to plan any needs for egress around the train schedule. Other than that, ENJOY!
With a straight face a used car salesman once tried to tell me that a big dent was an anti-theft feature.
This article reminded me of that experience.
I love trains, too. But I love sleeping more.
I don’t like these future homes. It seems to me that they are trying to cram as many people in there as they can. They had to put the front doors within a few feet of the tracks? What about yard space for children to play? Oh well!
At a snails pace that the train would proceed I don’t find it too interesting. Gawd forbid the legal hassle when the first kid that gets hurt trying to jump/ride a box car!!! A better train experience would be at the ‘ole folks home on Salem Ave. Right along the trains mainline. More variety of trains coming thru. Plus, one could leave out the hearing aids as a dead person could hear the sound of those offending horns!!!
Years ago while on the PD I covered a parking complaint. Seems a resident dimwit parked his car across the tracks protesting their movement along the street. He got jailed & car towed! The R/R holds that track area as their private property which THEY allow us to use/cross.
As I type this, my next-door neighbor is running her dishwasher. It produces a pulsating hum which resonates in my living room and will continue for 2 hours, caused by stupid design and architecture. I don’t have a legitimate gripe with the neighbor or the apartment management; they are simply conducting themselves as is generally accepted.
I can’t imagine a train rumbling past for a few minutes to be any worse, though the possibility of derailment scares me.
The point I intended to make and forgot is that buyers of these houses will know exactly what they’re getting into; everyone, everywhere else, won’t know.
The ongoing ghettoization of Albany is fallout of Tina Kotek’s and Peter Courtney’s and Boshart-Davis’ effort to derail our dearest norms. Having grown accustomed to freedom of movement, we expect not to be treated like caged mice, shoehorned into New Ghetto conditions by invisible hands. Adding insult to injury, residents will be regularly tormented by the roar of belching diesel engines. You get what you pay for.