In this age of huge heartless corporations trampling "normal people's" lives every day, I had to share this story with ya'll.
I live near the north-east mainline of the Norfolk Southern Railway. Nearby there is an underpass where the road makes an "S" turn to pass beneath and as long as I can remember stone, gravel and dirt have constantly trickled down the slope from the tracks onto the roadway. It's one of those places you're always cautious of if you know about it and dread to "discover" if you don't.
About two years ago, a young boy on his way home from work on his motorcycle hit some chit, slid into the abutment and died. His family has maintained one of those informal memorials at the site with a wooden cross and plastic flowers ever since.
This summer NS decided to upgrade the crossing with a new bridge and cleaning up the approaches. Their work should improve the situation tremendously for all drivers and especially motorcycles but the work necessitated removing the memorial.
N-S had absolutely NO OBLIGATION to do anything. What they did however was to make the memorial permanent!
In place of the wooden cross they embossed one into the new concrete abutment exactly (by chance I suppose) where the boy hit the bridge. They then went above and beyond by adding a copper urn for flowers on a concrete pedestal and when I stopped today to talk to the guys, they showed me a brass plaque to be affixed to the wall when the job is finished.
I was humbled to say the least. Next time you have to stop for a train crossing, instead of being irritated by the inconvenience of being detained a few minutes, remember what Norfolk Southern and their workers did near Sharpsburg, MD. to permanently honor the memory of a fellow biker.:cheers
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I live near the north-east mainline of the Norfolk Southern Railway. Nearby there is an underpass where the road makes an "S" turn to pass beneath and as long as I can remember stone, gravel and dirt have constantly trickled down the slope from the tracks onto the roadway. It's one of those places you're always cautious of if you know about it and dread to "discover" if you don't.
About two years ago, a young boy on his way home from work on his motorcycle hit some chit, slid into the abutment and died. His family has maintained one of those informal memorials at the site with a wooden cross and plastic flowers ever since.
This summer NS decided to upgrade the crossing with a new bridge and cleaning up the approaches. Their work should improve the situation tremendously for all drivers and especially motorcycles but the work necessitated removing the memorial.
N-S had absolutely NO OBLIGATION to do anything. What they did however was to make the memorial permanent!
In place of the wooden cross they embossed one into the new concrete abutment exactly (by chance I suppose) where the boy hit the bridge. They then went above and beyond by adding a copper urn for flowers on a concrete pedestal and when I stopped today to talk to the guys, they showed me a brass plaque to be affixed to the wall when the job is finished.
I was humbled to say the least. Next time you have to stop for a train crossing, instead of being irritated by the inconvenience of being detained a few minutes, remember what Norfolk Southern and their workers did near Sharpsburg, MD. to permanently honor the memory of a fellow biker.:cheers
