If you guys think BNSF is bad, try living next to U.P. tracks. They do nothing as far as track maintenance or even putting a wooden cross buck at their grade crossings go. And my best advice to you guys who worry so much about train derailments and what not is this, don't build so close to the tracks then. Trains, especially the ones that BNSF have, are one of the safest modes of transportation, even safer than flying, and I flew an airplane myself. BNSF is not perfect, but they do their best when it comes to safety. As I mentioned before, it could be worse. U.P. derails almost once a month where I live. NS is by far and wide one of the safest railroads, and just last year they had a very bad derailment in Pennsylvannia. No one was telling them to move their tracks. O.K. so BNSF had an accident in Fresno. It could have just been a defective car on the train that caused it. But put this in perspective. If a truck carrying the same type of material on Highway 99, or any road for that matter, was to get in an accident, a lot of people would have been seriously hurt, if not killed, and damage would have been much worse. Here, with this BNSF derailment, no one was hurt, and the damage was kept confined to the railroad equipment. Owe it all to the train crew's handling and how the railroad responded to the accident. The tracks are already opened with the road not too far away from being opened. If this would have involved U.P. or C.N., it would have been much worse, and it would have took at least a couple weeks to clear up due to their lower safety standards. So as far as moving the tracks go, forget it! Pigs will spread wings and fly before that happens!

-roadwarrior, volunteer trackside security person for "those guys who need to move their tracks-"

You better get ready to fork out a couple $$$ billion then, the RR's ain't gonna move, they get $$$ billions moving goods around, I've never heard of any RR moving its tracks except when they consolidate via merger, & if you're ready to buy them out, fine; if you're gonna sue, fine; but if you think you're gonna get them to consolidate just by political action, you be dreaming, every major city has RR tracks through it, even LA, why should Fresno be different? & who's gonna pay? I don't want to, I don't think its fair, to make others pay for your convenience

the RR's were there first, built in a time past when people waved at the engineer as they rolled past & he blew the whistle in response
& to paraphrase Jefferson Starship's song, "they built this city"

& if they move the tracks, who will complain next, now that it's in their neighborhood?

There's a vast difference between a derailment, which no amount of horn honking can prevent, and a pedestrian vs. train type of accident. Had one of those cars with the liquid petroleum or the propane gone kablooey in a residential neighborhood, the potential is for dozens, if not hundreds, of deaths or serious injuries.

I used to live on Maroa near Shields, in a building and a neighborhood that most certainly *was* there before 40-50 trains a day came barreling through the 'hood.

What is it going to take before the "I got mine, screw you" contingent wakes up to the fact that these are people, friends, and neighbors with worthwhile lives who live in the path of those trains *regardless* of what was there first. Blaming the people who bought or rent the houses that *somebody* built along the BNSF line is going to bring no great satisfaction when there's a major derailment in the middle of town similar to the one just outside Madera last year.

Anyone take the Amtrak through there and SEE that? I did, and I sure as hell don't want to see that IN a city.

It's time to get serious about rail consolidation, once and for all.

The train had a derailment, the tanker car was carrying something flamable. (what gas was it that was being carried, by the way? Are there schedules where more toxic chems and hazardous freight is carried later when there is less traffic? (I know trucks follow this rule.)

What was it that caused the derailment, was it equipment failure? was something put on the tracks to cause the derailment? (It's kind of unusual that one car will come off for no reason, (and) that the balance of the train will remain on the tracks, -structurally that tells me one car had an issue, be it of itself, -or from somebody 'helping it,' to fail.

Yes, it's extremely tragic that a young man was killed trying to beat the train at the college, (both the initial time, with the football player, AND recently.)
-I think putting in the underpass was an excellent choice and shows a caring for the public health. (bravo.)

(---Now to try to do something with the canals...)

Another question?
-What was there first?
the Tracks or the college?
(This would be a question that comes up considering the line of reasoning in terms of 'the tracks being in the campus,' comment...
I mean, did they just take a college campus, safe as milk, and drop train tracks down it?
-or did the campus get larger and move closer to the tracks?

Finally:
'-Putting the responsibility on the people who try to beat the train is just cold and insensitive.'

Now... let me get this straight.

-It is an extremely well lit crossing.
(It's not some dark wooden white 'X' in podunk somewhere with several mile long coal trains that you cannot see rolling through...)

-It has flashing lights on the arms, which cut across two lanes, both sides
-and has bells and flashing lights on the main signals.
-It even controls the traffic signals on the road next to it.
-It's possibly on one of the only hills in fresno, and you have to drive up a steep grade to cross the tracks...

--The area that resulted in the unfortunate demise of the football player (presumabley the underpass area,)
Has tons of fencing around it and a person has to really WANT to cross the tracks (rather than use the underpass,)

By comparrison?
Look at the canals, (which usually have no fences around them, no lighting,-once you fall into fast moving water that is ice cold, it's almost impossible to get out of them, and you quickly can get swept under brigest and such with no clearance, once you go underwater, you also drown...

Train Tracks?
-How do you 'accidentally' fall in front of a train?
-How you accidentally stay in it's path (unless your foot is caught under a rail, and you're somewhere where (most fences,) prohibit you from going anyway?

Yeah, there is some what of a comparrison between a kid falling into a canal on the way home from school,
(and 'that parents should be more responsible, the kid made their choices, etc... which IS cold, by the way...)
---but even in a situation where there are extremely dangerous (wide open,) bodies of water
---folks STILL don't see how investing in fences will change anything.
And there, (where things are truly left wide open and a deathtrap, --the mindset is: leave 'em alone and just educate folks to stay away from them...'

In light of that logic...
-How does soembody (choosing,) to walk in front of a train, drive around a gate, walk around a gate, and get struck, (and these aren't even 'HighSpeed,' trains,) warrant more ('the train operators') responsibility?

I mean, I feel bad that someone may not value their own life, or the people that they're with to the extent that they need to walk or drive in front of a train,
(when the gate is down,
the lights are flashing,
the bells are ringing,
the locomotive has a already sounded it's horn well in advance of the crossing (by law,) and when they REALLY lay into it, it can rearrange your ribs it's so loud and piercing.

-But doing something SO careless doesn't really seem to be such an accident, to me.

Poor judgement and horrifically sad for the loss of life? You bet.

But, short of moving the tracks, (which, if you have trains in town, you'll have tracks in town,)
--what further can the train people do?

And when does it finally become the responsibility of the person who knowingly steps in front
(or pulls out of traffic, drives around a dropped gate,)
and is struck?

Sad situation? Yes, very.
-but why this stretch to absolve the person who went out of their way to do something so dangerous and and against logic and the law?

You should be thank full there are less track in the Fresno area now than there has been 30 years ago. That's right look at an old county map from the 1970s.