Those would be CSX, possibly KCS though they’re more regional. They all have agreements to use each others tracks. Each company has their own philosophy of maintaining class of track. I worked for the number two outfit in the country. The number one outfit generally operates condition scheduled blitzes to bring them to max standard and wears them down until the next round is required. We used to keep ours just above minimum perpetually. The old heads told us about how it was done before the merger when the bean counters decided they could run railroads too.Ok I’m gonna sound like some sort of tin foil hat guy but it is what it is. I live a quarter mile from railroad tracks. It’s quite often a train stops on our crossing waiting to go into Claremore. Then you ain’t going nowhere for 15mins to 2hrs unless you want to go 2 miles cross country. I say that to qualify myself as an expert on trains. Lol. Anyhow, we have rarely and it seems very rarely seen black engines pulling trains through this area. About the only engines we’ve seen in the 9 years we’ve lived here were yellow and black BNSF engines. Well it seems that I recall the first two derailments I heard of this year had black engines pulling them (I can’t recall the logo on them at this moment). Maybe it’s coincidence or I’m a nut or just overthinking. But I promise these black engines ain’t been near as common until this year. No this ain’t a daggum racist black vs white comment! The color is a way to best describe the engines and what many of us that live along these tracks have noticed. It’s aliens driving them ain’t it!? Lmao. Just a weird coincidence I’m sure.
Between malice and idiocy I reckon you can brace up for more of the same. It’s not the dirty hands in the ballast that are the problem. Your time would be better spent working down from the other end.
I have worked several industries in diverse sectors that hold this country together. I can tell you for a fact that we’re just a gnat fart away from spending the rest of our days between Mad Max and Little House on the Prairie. I was always told to never attribute to malice what can be blamed on incompetence. When you have both in play it’s anyone’s guess. That first derailment on the crossing is just a seasonal perfect storm from watching the video. Hard to tell without getting your boots muddy. My crystal ball sees some overtime soon.