City of Chicago Rebuttal to Andrew Morris Filing

[TBurke]

The Surface Transportation Board posted an interesting rebuttal today from the City of Chicago challenging points made by one Andrew Morris in a March filing with the STB.  From reading the rebuttal the City is apparently referring to an earlier filing by Morris supporting the Chicago Terminal Railroad in which he suggests potential rail shippers along Kingsbury among other things.

Go to www.stb.dot.gov to see the City of Chicago rebuttal.  

I could not find the filing by Morris against the City of Chicago\'s adverse abandonment petition on the STB\'s website.  

Does anyone know who Andrew Morris is?

[robertmroman]

Well, the City apparently knows who Morris is and where he works, at least judging by the rebuttal. There seems to be a distinction between filings and comments, Morris seems to have done the latter. Why the City would take the time to \"rebut\" a comment, dunno, though it suggests they really really want CTR gone from those tracks. Seems short-sighted to me, even if the prospects for regular shippers is almost nil in the short to medium term. One never knows for sure how the city will evolve over the long term. And then there are special, one-time uses that no one can foresee. But I\'d say CTR seriously irritated some businesses and property owners by exercising their rights to use those tracks, and I hope they\'re getting something in return for giving up those branches.
be well,
bob roman

[TBurke]

Bob:

That\'s an interesting suggestion that perhaps pressure from adjoining businesses pushed the City into action, maybe through calls to their local aldermen.

On the other hand Kingsbury south of North Avenue and Lakewood between Diversey and Wrightwood are in terrible shape and either way need to be rebuilt, with or without tracks.  

It would be a nice gesture if the city left a short section of track in place on Lakewood to recognize its heritage.  No flangeways would be needed, just rails 4\'8.5\" apart.  A historical plaque to the side-maybe at the site of Peerless-could talk about how the area was once industrial and rail served up to Wilmette over the street.

Tom