Massive freight trains roll past Cody and Samantha Battaglia’s home in suburban Bartlett every day. But it’s not the rumbling sound of trains that bothers them. The couple says overgrown trees and fallen branches on the railroad’s property have damaged their backyard fence.
“Trees that are closer to the tracks further off of my property that have fallen down are causing the rest of this (brush) that’s closer to my property (to) push in to the fence,” said Cody Battaglia.
Battaglia said the brush was pushing his fence so severely that he had to prop it up with bricks and boards. He said he needs to keep the fence upright so his pet dachshunds don’t escape the backyard. He also wants to keep pesky critters from entering his backyard.
“I want my yard. My dogs need my yard,” Battaglia said.
Battaglia said he called Canadian National Railway last year to see if they could remove excess brush and address his damaged fence.
“There was never really, like, ‘we’ll help you or we won’t’”, Battaglia said. “It was just, ‘we got to take a look at some things’ and we just really never got anywhere with them.”
Meanwhile, a tree service quoted Battaglia $1,200 to trim the trees hanging over and around his fence. But that wouldn’t solve the root of the problem, according to Battaglia.
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“They could not cut anything down that’s not on our property,” Battaglia said.
Another company quoted the Battaglias $3,000 to install a new fence.
“We just had a newborn baby,” Battaglia said. “I don’t have the time or the money to do something.”
But several weeks after NBC 5 Responds contacted Canadian National regarding the couple’s concerns, the railroad company arranged for a tree trimming crew to clear the brush around the fence.
“I’m happy that they finally got rid of the trees,” Battaglia later texted NBC 5 Responds. “They did not dispose of any shrubs or trunks. It is not pushing the fence anymore, though.”
The trimming saved Battaglia more than $1,000, had he paid for a professional to do it. Battaglia also said Canadian National is paying to have his fence reconnected at the end.
A spokesperson for Canadian National said the company is “pleased that the issue is being resolved.”
The Illinois Commerce Commission urges homeowners who live next to railroads to contact the claims department of the railroad involved and file a claim if there is ever any damage to property. If this proves unsuccessful, homeowners can also contact the USDOT Federal Railroad Administration, according to the Illinois Department of Insurance.
