Originally Posted by
alan s
Regardless who is legally responsible for fixing the footbridge, CSX should do the right thing and have it repaired. They are solely to blame for the damage and will take the brunt of bad PR.
Totally agree. On the flip side I can see their point as well. They know any addition or agreement they make for people to share or add on to their property becomes an expense and liability to them. They can just say... We don't want a walkway attached to our bridge because we don't want to be at risk or responsible in an accident if people die or as a minimum we have to pay to repair it. Look at this case.. If there was no foot bridge in HF.. Other than the recovery of their own cars and some cleanup and minimal landscaping, they would be done now. Back in the day we used to ride BMX and dirt bikes/ATV on the active Norfolk Southern rail access roads to get between old abandon mine and slag dumps (common in western PA). Both the state of PA and the NS police? often chased us down. These areas were totally useless and wasteland with no houses or anything within miles but they did not want to deal with liability. Granted we were young punk kids, not a family enjoying a casual stroll and the view of Harpers Ferry but the underlying reasons remain the same. Again.. let me restate.. I do agree CSX could throw a bone for good PR but much worse PR when a train derails and a family of 5 enjoying their vacation are thrown off a bridge.
As a side note.. Coming down from Frostburg on the GAP is this. Most people probably don't think about it but the first thing that crossed my mind was someone had to jump through hoops for this setup. I don't know the logistics behind the casual tourist train that runs on these tracks and maybe they are locally owned so less red tape but I have no doubt there was some serious discussion about this setup.
