Earlier last week, The Daily Herald gave readers a brief look at an upcoming project that will make rail traffic in Tyrone just a little quieter.
\nEven more recently, Jeff Stover, director of SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority, returned a call and shed even more light on the multi-million dollar project.
\n\u201cThe residents of Tyrone are going to notice a definite difference by the end of summer,\u201d said Stover. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to this much-needed project and are getting all our ducks in order as we speak. It won\u2019t be too long before we get going on it.\u201d
\nAccording to Stover, the project calls for the addition of 5,000 new ties and 12-miles of welded rail from above the Tyrone Rail Station to Port Matilda. It will cost roughly $2 million.
\n\u201cSome of the tracks and equipment that are being used now dates back to the late 1920s,\u201d said Stover. \u201cThe stuff that was in there really lasted a long time. But now we\u2019ve seen an increase with the Bald Eagle Nittany line and Norfolk Southern. This is a significant increase in traffic on this rail line, so we need to be sure it\u2019s in the best shape as possible.\u201d
\nStover said the new rail line will be welded, not the stick-type that\u2019s currently in place.
\n\u201cWhen the train wheels hit the joints of the stick-type rails, it makes that distinguished clacking sound,\u201d said Stover. \u201cBut with the welded rails, there won\u2019t be any joints present to cause those sounds. The result will be much smoother, quieter rail travel.\u201d
\nOther work includes the removal of the crossing at 14th Street and the addition of pre-cast concrete panels.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s the only bad crossing in Tyrone,\u201d said Stover. \u201cWe checked 12th and 13th Streets, but they seem to be in pretty good shape.\u201d
\nThe project is scheduled to begin in July and should be completed sometime in September. He said most likely, the work in Tyrone would be completed first, then work up the line to Port Matilda.
\nAlthough project costs are estimated at around $2 million, SEDA-COG noted that a number of state agencies, including the state Department of Transportation, is helping with some of the costs.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of support from the legislators who represent Northern Blair County,\u201d said Stover. \u201cRepresentative Larry Sather and Senator Robert Jubelirer have been instrumental in making sure this project has come to light.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re just excited to get out there and work on it.\u201d
\nAs far as future plans, Stover said there shouldn\u2019t be much more the rail line needs in or around Tyrone.
\n\u201cThis really should do it,\u201d said Stover. \u201cWe\u2019ve done a pretty thorough inspection and found this is what needed to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Earlier last week, The Daily Herald gave readers a brief look at an upcoming project that will make rail traffic in Tyrone just a little quieter. Even more recently, Jeff Stover, director of SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority, returned a call and shed even more light on the multi-million dollar project. \u201cThe residents of Tyrone are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}