Albany’s Water Avenue is a gift for rail fans like me. The old Oregon Electric track runs down the middle of the street for seven blocks, and right next to it for 14 more, giving us a close look at train operations. And sometimes a different sort of rig. For residents on Water this is […]
One little change in operations would reduce the number of traffic delays at Albany’s Queen Avenue railroad crossing, and thus cut down on complaints about long waits as well.
For 39 years I’ve crossed the railroad tracks on North Albany Road just about twice every day. In yet on Monday I and maybe a couple dozen other motorists were treated to a sight that was novel at least for me.
This was Monday afternoon and it could have been bad. Flaggers were regulating traffic on North Albany road, and the line of stopped northbound vehicles stretched back across the railroad tracks when the crossing lights started flashing and, moments later, the gates came down.
All year long I’ve been wondering and occasionally asking the Portland & Western when the railroad would start using the new section of Albany track that the state gave it nearly $7 million to construct. Now the long-awaited occasion has come and gone, and I missed it.
Whether it’s a right turn or a left turn depends on which direction the trains are going. But it will be a few more weeks before they use a new Albany track to turn either right or left. That’s the word from Kevin R. Haugh, the general manager of the Portland & Western Railroad.
Train horn complaint lands at city council
[youtube video=”r4AVIWF5_a8″] Doug Hiddleson and some of his neighbors on S.W. Washington Street are fed up with the volume of the horn of Switch Engine 1501 of the Portland & Western Railroad, and they’ve turned to the city for help.
Tags: Albany railroads, Doug Hiddleson, Portland & Western Railroad, Queen Avenue crossing, Train horns