I woke up to a trainwreck in my front yard...

Waukesha Train Wreck
By Stephanie Graham
Story Updated: Mar 1, 2008
WAUKESHA - Waukesha Police say a Canadian Pacific train hit the back of a semi on College Avenue near Maple Street around 8 a.m. Saturday. The flatbed truck was carrying concrete to a building site at Carroll College. Police say the rig got stuck on the tracks, and the train couldn't stop in time. The engine of the train hit the back of the flatbed. The 72-year-old male driver appears to be OK. He was taken to Waukesha Memorial Hospital to be checked out. The train engine is totaled, so a new engine will have to be brought in to remove the train. The intersection will be closed for awhile.

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/16144257.html

...ah, I see March is off to a whizbang start for me...as always...

Well, let's get a few facts straight...it is NOT Carroll College. It is a private developer who says it is housing for Carroll College students...affiliated with the College? dunno. I'm betting CC will disavow all relationship after this clusterfark. I do know who is building it..son of ex-state senator and local businessman...and i'm way too polite to mention politics. Do your own homework.
Non-union project.
Betting non-union driver...and what is a 72 year old man doing jockeying a load that big on active train tracks at 8 am on a Saturday, solo? It didn't get "stuck"...it was where it shouldn't have been at a time it should not have been there. Pure and simple.
No one was injured, and that is the good news.
The bad news is there is massive property damage.
I have been opposed to this project from the beginning as have many of my neighbors, but given the principals involved, we knew it was going to be ramrodded down our throats. The workers have been cluttering our snow-snagged streets and making for an unsafe way off Hinman onto College Avenue...obstructed...and terrible. Only a matter of time before something bad happens there too.

They work on Sundays. What kind of "good Christian" works their people on Sundays? Are they paying them doubletime? I know, no law says you HAVE TO. always the "law"....

But then there is the Law of the Universe....

On a more positive note, the building project will be a good thing for college students; they won't have to travel quite so far for their drugs....but that's a whole 'nother rant.and I am x-posting to my other blog "o waukesha"

EVEN MORE INTERESTING EDIT:http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/16144037.html
where it says:
Train Hits Truck in Waukesha
Sean O'Flaherty
WAUKESHA - A northbound Canadian Pacific train struck the back of a semi truck on College Ave. near Maple Street on Saturday morning.Police say the flat bed truck was hauling concrete forms to a building site at Carroll College.The truck backed up on to the tracks for some reason and then the railroad gates came down. The driver could not get his rig off the tracks quickly enough and the engine of the train hit the back of the flatbed.The 72-year-old male truck driver did not appear to be injured, but was taken to Waukesha Memorial Hospital to be checked out.The train engine was damaged too badly to be used, so another engine will have to be brought in to remove train.
The railroad intersections (that's where it ends)....

Notice how the truck "backed on to tracks for some reason and then gates came down"...uh...I live right next to those tracks and there is plenty of warning...visual and audible that there is an approaching train....it is FLAT as it approaches from the south...NO OBSTRUCTIONS TO VIEW.

hmmmm...I say, hmmmm....