Several hundred miles of idle boxcars at various spots around nation.

[Democrats_win]

http://cbs4denver.com/local/union.pacific.boxcars.2.905115.html

"One Thornton (Colorado) community is upset over a new, not so attractive, addition. They are now neighbors with dozens of empty boxcars, no longer used by Union Pacific railroad....

"Union Pacific says it wants to move the boxcars as soon as possible, but it's a function of the bad economy. They say they have several hundred miles worth of the boxcars idled at various spots because they are not being used. They say until business picks up, they have to put the boxcars somewhere."
---

Notes/editorial:
A. A local TV station ran this story and they made several mistakes. 1.This "herd" of boxcars stretches for about 4 miles now, not one mile.

2.They incorrectly gave the address of where the cars stop. It is at 168th avenue (not 160th)where they stop because someone paved over the railroad tracks at this location.

3. In the original report the Union Pacific spokesman said there are 423 miles of boxcars spread out in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. The article says "several hundred miles."

B. It's ok if the boxcars are there in the winter because everything is brown. But if they're still there in spring and summer, people will really be pissed.

C. If a normal person had graffiti like this on their property, they'd be given a ticket. Why not the railroads?

D. Colorado's politicians need to force the railroad to either move the cars or sell them for scrap. The railroads are owned by the richest people on earth. This isn't right that they're ghettoizing our neighborhood. People here pay premium prices for their homes and high property taxes. This is just a taste of how worthless our politicians are in Colorado. They do nothing except make laws for Sunday liquor sales. I guess they figure we won't mind if our standard of living craters if we're all drunk like them. Make sure you get on the Democrats in Washington before they become do-nothings like our Colorado Democrats.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

1. Bring them here...

we can use them as shelter for the growing homeless population :sarcasm:

[Steepler0t]

3. funny...kinda

I was actually thinking of this, I remember the old pictures of boxcars turned into apartments, was thinking how nice one of these abandoned ones would be fixed up.
Gotta love this economy.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

5. Seriously, there are some really creative ways to make these livable AND

environmentally friendly.

[TomClash]

9. Welcome to the Third World

I've seen containers used regularly as homes in several third world countries.

[shanti]

12. the boxcar children books

not sure if you're old enough to remember these mystery books, but the idea has been used :)

[Steepler0t]

2. Know anyone with a jackhammer?

Rent a jackhammer and pull up that paved over track so the cars can move on?
Just kidding, but your local govt. needs to clear that pavement off the track.

And the rail corps should try at least to keep their rolling stock painted also, some cars you see probably have not had a paint job since they were built.

Regardless, I would much rather have trains around then to scrap perfectly good rail and force more heavy trucks on the road to eat gas.

Rail freight is still troublesome but a lot better for the environment.

So silly that one intersection is tying up 400+ miles of rolling stock..

[grasswire]

4. I'll take one.

I'd very much like to have one. I hope they don't destroy them.

[bobd0]

6. Reminds me of a story I read in the NY Times a couple of days ago

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/business/economy/10airports.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=airports%20closing&st=cse

Lacking Airlines, Small Cities’ Economies Suffer

By HILLARY CHURA
Published: January 9, 2009

Santa Fe, N.M., lost its airline service a year ago, and its tourism-centered economy has definitely felt the pinch. “Either people come through a different airport, or they plain don’t come,” said the airport’s manager, Jim Montman.

In Moses Lake, Wash., without an airline for two years, travelers have a choice of driving 180 miles to Seattle or 105 miles to Spokane — assuming they can get through roads occasionally closed by snow.

Small cities in 25 states — almost 100 communities in all — have lost commercial air service in the last two years for a variety of reasons, among them airline mergers, high fuel costs, the expense of serving smaller markets and a reduction in government aid to airlines that serve small communities.

And many of those cities’ economies are suffering. While it is difficult to figure out how much of the lost revenue in the small cities is tied to lost commercial air service and how much is the result of the country’s overall economic downturn, it is clear that the loss of air service has hurt. In much of America, airlines represent more than just convenience.

When a city loses commercial air service — finding itself hundreds of miles from the closest airport — it gives up tourist dollars, airport revenue and income that otherwise would spread to Main Street. Because airplanes connect businesses with customers, partners, suppliers and consultants, remote communities without service are less likely to attract or retain businesses — be they local entrepreneurs or offshoots of big corporations — that view wasted time and wasted money with equal disdain.

And I'm afraid this is just the beginning.

[CoffeeCat]

7. Is it me...

...or are the articles getting eerily worse and worse with each passing day?

Several miles of unused rail boxcars. Abandoned airports in small towns.

Geez.

These stories sound like something out of the Great Depression.

[GliderGuider]

10. Yeah, you can feel the spiral, can't you?

It's like watching a tsunami roll in. What started as an innocuous thin white line on the ocean out near the horizon is now a wall of water looming ten meters over our heads, but we're still standing on dry land. Not for much longer though, methinks.

[ipfilter]

8. My local rail yard is full

of empty container carriers. They were parked right before Christmas and they are still just sitting there.

[anigbrowl]

11. As an aside, I don't really get your nitpicks

'eg 423' miles vs 'several hundred miles'. Well, 423 is several hundred...I'm a lot more worried about the fact that there's no demand for all that rolling stock than whether they look funky or not. OK, they're parked near your house rather than mine, but even so, I'm not sure this counts as 'ghettoizing your neighborhood'.