“I guess you’re not aware of railroad speed limits? How can that be?
I traveled by Amtrak quite often throughout the US and became aware of the speed limits. Not only can the feds regulate the speed, but state and local entities have a say in them also.”
I’m quite aware of RR speed limits. I was a railroad locomotive engineman for 32+ years. I daresay that in all your train travels, you have but a drop in the ocean of time I spent running locomotives.
Yes, some towns can request that a railroad lower the speeds through certain areas, but in the end, it’s pretty much the railroad’s call as to whether they’ll comply.
I can only think of one example in the territory in which I worked (from New York to Boston, from New Haven to Springfield, MA, both sides of the Hudson from NY/NJ to Albany, through the Southern Tier of NY, etc.), and that was after a bad accident at a grade crossing in Wallingford, Connecticut. I don’t know for sure if the town tried to compel Amtrak to reduce speeds through there (numerous grade crossings within a short distance), or whether the railroad decided to do that on their own. They did lower speeds there.
But in other places, they RAISED speeds. I’m thinking through the Bronx, the south end of Boston, etc. In most places the tracks are fenced off, but that still doesn’t prevent trespassers from getting in.
The FRA classification for track speed has NOTHING to do with where the tracks are — and everything to do with how the track is constructed. That’s why they can do 100-125 just a few miles outside of Boston South Station — because it’s high-speed track with concrete ties and appropriate signaling.
But, like the other poster mentioned, there are speed limits that you questioned like youi never heard about them. The other poster was correct in the original post, and you were wrong to question it. I don’t care what you did or how long you did it. You may know East coast, but apparently not the rest of the country.