(The Richmond Times-Dispatch posted the following story by Chip Jones on its website on July 14.)
RICHMOND, Va. — CSX Corp. has stopped feuding with some outspoken folks in the mountains.
Officials in Scott County confirmed last week that Florida-based CSX has formally backed off its earlier threats to close railroad crossings that, in some cases, provide residents the only access to homes and family farms.
Dean Foster, the county’s attorney, said last week that he had gotten written assurances from a CSX executive that the crossings would not be closed.
Although one of the railroad’s officials made similar verbal promises last month, Foster said local landowners were glad to see it in writing.
Dozens of residents became alarmed in late May after CSX’s property management department posted orange warning signs at rail crossings along a 30-mile stretch in the rural Southwest Virginia county.
They warned landowners that they could lose road access unless they could prove they held the legal right to cross the railroad.
CSX also sent certified letters to the residents – many of whom had owned the land for decades, sometimes for more than a century. The company informed them they could face $150 annual fees to cross the railroad to get home.
The postings and warning letters were roundly condemned by the county Board of Supervisors and drew in various elected representatives who were only too happy to leap to the defense of widows, retirees and children.
CSX had the sense to send in a legal eagle – Vice President Robert W. Shinn of Richmond – who worked to quell what was called widespread “turmoil and consternation” rippling through the hills and valleys of Scott County in the state’s southwestern tip.
Shinn managed to soothe the landowners’ fears and work outmany of the lingering rail-crossing questions, according to Foster.
And by last week, CSX had completed the track upgrades it planned through the area – replacing old rail, ties and other infrastructure.
Called a “jamboree,” the repair project prompted the original postings and letters to landowners.
The repair work stretches more than 300 miles from Kentucky to South Carolina, and involves 1,000 CSX workers.
They are slated to replace 181,000 cross-ties and 170,000 feet of rail.
Private crossings often lack safety signals or crossing arms so they can endanger motorists and train crews alike. While it makes sense for CSX to try to find ways to limit the number of private crossings, its officials said the company never intended to “land lock” Scott’s residents.
Last week, Shinn reported, “The jamboree has come and gone, and everyone is very happy the way things turned out. In most instances, the quality of crossings is better now.”
County attorney Foster said he wished the railroad hadn’t caused such a fuss in the first place. But he praised Shinn’s local diplomacy.
“Once Mr. Shinn got involved, plus our state and federal representatives, it came to CSX’s attention the way it should have been at the start,” he said.