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The Schroeders haven’t moved in to their recently purchased home on Martz-Paulin Road just past the crossing Cindy Schroeder said for the past three weeks, they have been able to cross the crossing three days in a row without waiting on a stopped train to move through the crossing.
“What are you supposed to do in an emergency?” Schroeder asked.
She said a Franklin Twp. firefighter at the adjacent Station 20 told her on Sunday that a train was sitting in the crossing was there at midnight and was still there at 8:30 a.m. that morning.
Cindy Schroeder said “it’s a daily occurrence” as she was blocked on Tuesday and Wednesday for 23 and 42 minutes respectively. She said she went around crossing which took an additional seven minutes.
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“It’s definitely a nuisance,” she said. “Had we known about this before, I could almost guarantee we wouldn’t have bought the house. It’s a daily occurrence.”
Larry Schroeder said he’s called the number posted at the rail crossing before and after a number of prompts and hold music, he was able to leave a message for CSX, which later sent him an email confirming receipt of his call.
Cara McGinnis told the Journal-News that trains stop multiple times a day at the Martz-Paulin road crossing.
“I have seen them sit there for up to nine hours at a time,” she wrote in an email. “The kicker? It is right next to a fire station!”
McGinnis said she has contacted CSX “a countless number of times and they always seem to say ‘we haven’t had any reports from the conductor, we’ll see what’s going on.’” She also said she has contacted the Federal Railroad Administration “who basically said it’s not their issue.”
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“CSX strives to be a good neighbor in the communities where our trains operate,” said Gail Lobin of CSX Corporate Communications, in an email response. “We understand it can be frustrating when trains block road crossings and we work to prevent that from happening whenever possible. Trains operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and much like public highways, we have peak traffic times when we may experience congestion on the network.”
Lobin said CSX is working to reduce impacts in the area and apologizes for the disruptions and inconvenience to area residents. She encourages residents to report interruptions caused by trains moving through the community by calling toll-free 877-TELL-CSX (877-835-5249).
At every public rail crossing, there is a blue sign that lists the federal rail crossing identification number and a phone number of the railroad that owns that crossing.
According to the last Federal Railroad Administration Rail Crossing Inventory report done on July 10, 2014, an estimated 27 trains go through the crossing in a 24-hour period at speeds of 45 to 50 mph. Prior to the crossing being improved with warning lights and gates, the FRA Safety Analysis Office reported eight crashes there between 1975 and 1989 that had claimed the lives of three people and injuring three others.
“We have a problem with stopped trains there,” said Traci Stivers, Franklin Twp. administrator. “I thought we were making some headway six to seven months ago when CSX said they’d open an investigation but we haven’t heard anything yet.”
She said, “It’s extremely problematic for the fire department because it adds a lot of response time for fire calls. It’s a volunteer fire department and already has a built-in delay for firefighters coming from home or work to the fire station. It’s not an ideal situation at all.”
Franklin Twp. Fire Station 20 is at the corner of Martz-Paulin and Keays roads. The station, which was built in the 1970s, houses a fire engine and an Joint Emergency Medical Services ambulance that services the township west of the Great Miami River.
Stivers said she has encouraged residents on the township’s Facebook page to contact CSX when the a train blocks the rail crossing.
“I think people are getting used to it and are giving up and not wanting to deal with it,” she said. “They shouldn’t have to put up with these inconveniences.
Franklin Twp. fire Chief Steve Bishop said the problem has been going on for years.
“It’s terrible,” he said. “It’s blocked just about everyday from 20 minutes to an hour. Guys coming in have to go around the crossing and it’s delaying the (JEMS) squad.”
Bishop said the average response time for township firefighters is about 11 minutes but can add another five to six minutes when the train is blocking the crossing as fire units have to drive several miles to get around to the next crossing.
“It’s just a pain in the butt,” Bishop said. “Residents and the (Warren County) sheriff have been calling (CSX) but it hasn’t done anything. Seems like its gotten worse over the past year.”
JEMS Chief Andy Riddiogh said EMS units have had to be re-routed occasionally and said he could only recall one time in the last month that “dramatically impacted a response.”
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