Throughout the summer, State, County and local officials have been urging Pan Am Railway to do something about an undersized culvert (disputed by Pan Am) that they contend is undermining the rail bed on a section of track near Railroad Avenue. County Legislator Bruce Patire and Hoosick Councilman Jerry McAuliffe have been leading the charge for the repairs, citing a NYS Department of Transportation safety inspection that said there is movement of the tracks when heavy freights trains pass over them, but also said it was within tolerance as long as trains do not exceed 10 miles per hour. Mr. Patire, Mr. McAuliffe and neighbors disagreed. Legislator Patire told The Eastwick Press on one visit to the site they found rail spikes that have worked their way loose because of the severe movement of the tracks. Others, he says, were sticking up 1 to 4 inches from the rail bed. He called that an obvious safety issue that could cause a derailment, impacting several nearby homes. Such an occurrence, he contends, could become catastrophic because several of the rail cars passing over the site contain propane or oil.
Now, it seems their concerns have finally made it past some deaf ears, as Monday, December 6, repair crews from Pan Am were boring along the side of the tracks, pouring concrete into the holes to help stabilize the rail bed. They were also planning some other containment measures. Mr. Patire says they told him they do not plan to replace the 75-year-old track, at least not at this time, but he was pleased that some action was being taken to help prevent a potentially serious accident at the site.
The slow speed trains were restricted to has created other problems in the Village. Lengthy backups have taken place at many intersections, delaying school buses and bringing about concerns that emergency vehicles would have to divert around such backups, delaying precious response time.
