(The following story by John Whitson appeared on the New Hampshire Union Leader Staff website on August 2. Bill Remington is a Legislative Representative of BLET 191.)
MANCHESTER – Mayor Frank Guinta said he considers the train left idling in a North End neighborhood for 15 hours Monday a closed issue after speaking with the president of Pan Am Railways yesterday.
Meanwhile, a similar incident apparently took place in Hooksett three days earlier. Last Friday, a coal train parked in front of the Hooksett wastewater treatment plant at 1 Egawes Drive and idled for three hours, according to an e-mail from Linda O’Keefe, a wastewater treatment plant worker.
A taxi picked up the workers, and three hours later another crew showed up, O’Keefe said.
“The only difference in this is that the train was locked and in a secluded area,” said O’Keefe, who said she’s never seen a parked train in the 20 years she’s worked at the plant. “A lot of weirdos,” she noted, ply paths around the tracks.
On Monday, a crew working a Pan Am freight train ended its shift beside Manchester’s Chauncey Avenue at 4 a.m., and the still-idling locomotive remained there until a relief crew finally showed up at 7 p.m.
For the second day, Pan Am officials did not return requests for comment.
An official in the union that represents Pan Am engineers said retirements have left the company short-staffed, the likely reason for a 15-hour delay in finding a replacement crew for the Manchester train. Bill Remington, a representative with the Teamster-affiliated Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Trainmen, said engineers must strictly follow regulations on working hours.
Remington said three 12-hour shifts are needed to drive coal trains from Schenectady, N.Y., to the power plant in Bow. That is because track speed for coal trains is 10 or 25 mph, depending on the condition of the tracks. Earlier this decade, trains ran as fast as 40 mph, he said.
In Manchester, the idling train generated complaints about noise and air pollution from neighbors, and city firefighters worried about someone driving off with the train and its contents.
The mayor said he did not ask David Fink, president of the North Billerica, Mass., company, why workers chose to leave the train in a residential area, but said he was assured by the company official that it was not proper procedure.
“It’s not part of their practice,” said Guinta. “They regret it and say it is a mistake. I’m very confident it won’t happen again.” He said the Hooksett incident does not alter his feelings on the subject.
Alderman Mark Roy, whose Ward 1 includes Chauncey Avenue, said he’s willing to accept the assurances received by Guinta.
James Martin, a spokesman with the Department of Environmental Services, said anti-idling laws address only motor vehicles.
Martin said there are no state or federal regulations he’s aware of that address an idling diesel locomotive, but that the department’s air quality officers do get complaints about fumes from idling trains.
“DES would be willing to work with the city if they were convening some sort of group to examine the idling of these engines in and around the Manchester area,” said Martin. “And we would be happy to provide them with some information that we have about the effects of idling as well as give them some contacts on the EPA level that might be helpful to them.”
Remington said the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 gives states the ability to regulate some aspects of train traffic. He believes state government could prohibit idling but would be less likely to specify where a train may park.
Guinta said he sees no reason to further examine the issue of idling.
“I don’t believe that there is reason to expect future incidents, and therefore at this time I would consider this a closed issue.”