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Re: (erielack) PA lanslide and possible effect on WNYP (2)



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On Sat, 23 Sep 2006, Rich Behrendt wrote:

> NS's ex-PRR mainline is blocked by a massive landslide that occurred near 
> Sewickley, which is about 6 +/- east of Conway yard.  A hugh WalMart 
> construction site gave way and took down a newly-constructured steep 
> embackment, blocking adjacent PA65.  Initially blocking only one track, the 
> hugh landslide continues to move, and is now blocking all NS tracks.
> 
> News clips that I've seen show the contractor with dozers and scrappers out 
> there trying to clean up the mess, but could take days...(?)
> 
> The only detours we've heard here are over the Wheeling, but other detours 
> are certainly likely if this continues through the weekend.
> 
> Rich Behrendt
> ELHS #384

These are some detours from yesterday (9/22) which were reported on a CSX
list:

X70121 (21M21) - Last OS: Buffalo, NY QC434 @ 04:30
X70222 (24M21) - B&O Ohio to Balitimore. Last OS: Wampum, PA @ 09:51
X70422 (20R20) - CSX Water Level Route/Riverline. Crew at Berea Uncalled
(9/22).
X70622 (20K21) - CSX Water Level Route/Riverline. Crew at Berea Uncalled
(9/22).
X70822 (58221) - Newell, PA to Youngstown
Z99022 (20622) - Rossford, OH to Bison Yard, NY to Buffalo Line/Southern Tier
Z99222 (24M22) - Rossford, OH to Bison Yard, NY to Buffalo Line
X70222 (24M21) Update Came down from Astabula,Oh to Haselton,Oh for the
connection onto CSX. Last reported by Cooks Mills,Pa BF186 9/22 at 18:34.

The landslide is from the old Dixmont state mental hospital property in
Emsworth, PA, about 3.2 miles east of Sewickley, about 7.5 miles east of
Conway Yard on Rt 65. and 8 miles west of downtown Pittsburgh. A developer
bought the 407 acre property and sold 75 of them to WalMart for a $28 million
Supercenter. They ripped down the historic 150 year old Dixmont State Hospital 
buildings and did a lot of regrading which is what caused the landslide.
There's a civic group opposed to the WalMart project which says they warned
that this wouild happen and were ignored. Some people think that the permits
were granted decause politicians were bought, imagine that. Apparently there
was a similar, but much smaller landslide in April which blocked Rt 65 for a
day or so. It was nearby or in the same place, not sure. I recall that around 
22,000 people travel that section of Rt 65 per day.

I attached a snippet from Google Earth of the landslide area, I think it is
from within the past 2 years.

If you want to see it on Terraserver, Google Earth or USA PhotoMaps you can
use these coordinates:

Lat: 40°30'58.97"N
Long: 80°6'43.41"W

For more info on Dixmont State Hospital:

http://www.dixmontstatehospital.com/
http://www.opacity.us/site60_dixmont_state_hospital.htm
http://www.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20030420dixmont2.asp

Historic photos including some of the PRR depot and RoW:
http://www.ohiotrespassers.com/dixmont/historic/dixHG.html

Henry

J. Henry Priebe Jr.    Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
www.bluemoon.net       Internet Access & Web Hosting
www.railfan.net        Railfan Network Services



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