PDA

View Full Version : AT Trail closure in CT



Askus3
05-09-2005, 00:37
I and a fellow hiker just hiked an 11 mile piece of the AT southbound from Salisbury, CT to the Jct. of US 7 & CT 112. When I crossed Warren Tpk. there was a sign indicating that the AT was closed for the next half mile or so to Housatonic High School and to walk along the road. There was a yellow ribbon across the trail. The sign said that the reason was a railroad derailment that resulted in debris obliterating the trail. Well if that wasn't enticement, let me take a look. So we continued on the AT and yes there were two rail cars derailed, one overturned and debris obliterating the trail with yellow ribbon around the area. Well, the trail was well beaten down thru the area like it didn't take long for hikers to devise a route thru and around the debris. So I guess the closing and sign are like a magnet attraction to check it out.

So three things come to mind.
1) It is a shame since the trail pretty much parallells the road for that half mile that you really have to walk the road to go around a twenty yard closing, so I am glad I ignored the sign.

2) Curious when this accident took place that closed the trail. Does anybody know?
3) If the closing was for a more serious reason and you really want to prevent hikers from following the original route, what recommendations would you have for a temporary closing of the trail. Obviously a yellow ribbon and the placard indicating the alternate route and reason for closing is not sufficient.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this information with all.

LIhikers
05-09-2005, 07:15
My wife and I were through there the last week in April, and like you, just had to go see why they didn't want us on the trail. We were headed northbound and when we saw the yellow tape we decided to see what was wrong. We figured we could always turn around and come back the way we went in if need be. It was easy enough to go around that section of trail.

I don't know what kind of sign would have kept us out.

plodder
05-09-2005, 19:49
sounds like legal cover-butt. Haz-Mat sign?

LIhikers
05-10-2005, 07:30
Here's the story...........................................

FALLS VILLAGE - A derailed freight train full of lumber and plywood left quite a mess in Falls Village Sunday, officials said.

"It just went off the tracks and lost a lot of its lumber," Chief Curt Mechara of the Falls Village Fire Department said. "Mostly building materials went off the tracks and spilled along the banks."

The derailment occurred on the tracks off of Route 7, parallel with Warren Turnpike Road, near Housatonic Valley Regional High School, he said.

"It’s out in the woods," he said. "It’s kind of hard to get to. Access is limited."

Mechara said there were only two engineers on the train, neither of which was injured. Five or six cars came off the tracks, a few of which rolled over down an embankment, completely disconnecting and spilling their contents.

"It won’t be cleaned up for probably a week. It’s quite a mess," he said. "They’re going to have to redo probably 1,500 feet of rail and the bed’s all tore up."

State Police Troop B responded to the incident, as did the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"There were two tankers on the train that had the potential to spill but they didn’t spill, thank God," Mechara said.

Dwayne Gardner, spokes-person for the DEP, said the Falls Village Fire Department requested his department’s assistance in assessing the situation.

"The concern was that there were some rail cars that had ethyl alcohol, a solvent," he said. "Since there wasn’t a release, there really wasn’t much for us to do other than stand by."

Gardner said the rail company would maintain security overnight Sunday and on Monday they’d put the cars back on the track and clear the scene.

"First they have to unload all the cars. That’s going to take them a while," Mechara said. "There’s a lot of lumber there and it’s not easily accessible with any type of crane or anything."

Mechara said officials aren’t sure exactly what caused the derailment and the incident is under investigation.

"Not something you see around here very often," he said, "but it wasn’t a big, big deal."

Jeff
05-10-2005, 13:54
Hiked from Greenwood Lake, NY to North Adams, MA starting April 18, 2005. Ran into the "Train Wreck" near Falls River, CT. Here are some pics

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/7113/sort/1/cat/522/page/1

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/7114/sort/1/cat/522/page/1

gr8fulyankee
05-10-2005, 14:59
With all that wood just laying around, it looks like a good place for a new AT shelter. ;-)

hikerjohnd
05-10-2005, 17:31
With all that wood just laying around, it looks like a good place for a new AT shelter. ;-)
Don't forget a privy! :D

Smile
05-10-2005, 18:10
Great idea!

Askus3
05-10-2005, 20:16
OK. I see pictures from Jeff dated from a hike on April 18, and a new article with no date. So the accident date is still a mystery to me. Just curious how long it will take to clean this mess up and get the trail officially opened again. The way it sounds is that there is no strong interest in cleaning it up.

jlb2012
05-11-2005, 07:28
Accident date is April 17 per ATC link : http://www.appalachiantrail.org/trailnews/tn_marapr05.html

Nightwalker
05-14-2005, 22:40
3) If the closing was for a more serious reason and you really want to prevent hikers from following the original route, what recommendations would you have for a temporary closing of the trail. Obviously a yellow ribbon and the placard indicating the alternate route and reason for closing is not sufficient.
Near Licklog Gap in NC, there's a closed section with a go-around that's because of a number of slides. Nobody that I talked to went through to check it out; maybe because of the drastic tone of the warning. If the reason sounds bad enough, maybe folks listen? I was tired enough to NOT want to backtrack if it turned out to be true, so I used the probably-soon-to-be-permanent detour.

TakeABreak
05-15-2005, 00:39
The idea of a new shelter and privy sounds like a good one, I would bet that if they told the A.T.C. if they came in a cleaned up the lumber they could have it, that it be cleaned up up in no time. Volunteers from all over would be there in no time.

From the pictures up above in Jeff's comments, makes me think that the lumber is not damaged.

The rail road could save money on the clean up and get a huge tax deduction at the same time.

Askus3
05-16-2005, 23:59
Would you really want a shelter within 10 yards of a live railway and no water supply anywhere around? This location if it weren't for the trainwreck would be a bore to walk until you get back to walking along the Housatonic River after you cross the Warren Turnpike. Looking back on my hike, walking along the road is not that bad a substitute - it is only 1/2 mile of road walking substituting the same distance parallel to RR track in the woods (a dull walk for this stretch). But the sign closing the trail due to a train wreck peaked my curiosity to follow the closed trail.