The Train Barrier

Trains have always been fascinating to me and so when I found out that a major line ran straight through our riverfront site I got excited. However, with this excitement comes the knowledge that trains can sometimes be incredibly difficult to work with when you are trying to design something around them. For one, train companies don't like to deal with anyone normally. They are extremely protective of their tracks and land. Trains and pedestrians also don't mix very well and usually there must be walls or fences up to ensure that everyone stays away from the tracks. Apart from that, bridging over or under the tracks are doable but it usually requires a whole lot of negotiating.

Well currently there is a pedestrian bridge on site that bridges over the tracks and provides essentially the only connection to the river and our site. What our group is proposing would be to create another bridge over these tracks (through either a building or land bridge) that would allow additional connections to this limited access site.
I also found out that the train company is proposing to take a new line off of the above track and also run that through our site which would add yet another barrier to what we are doing. Currently the area it would be running through is an old dirt road that is surrounded by archaeological sites of the original town of Kansas.

As for the two pictures that you guys are seeing, I took both of them from on top of the Town of Kansas pedestrian bridge that I mentioned earlier. The top image is facing East and interests me a lot since the train seems to snake through the landscape. The other image to the right I thought was cool since there are multiple trains going in different directions and at different elevations.

Anyways, enough about that, I couldn't decide which train image was better so I threw both of them up there and will let you guys decide upon them.