Crossing safety

Please take it seriously

Picture the average, fully loaded, 5,000-ton freight train. It consists of three high horsepower diesel locomotives and 60 massive freight cars. It probably looks like the one at right.

It is exactly one mile long, weighs nearly 10 million pounds (10,000,000), and physically touches a mere two square feet of rail—that's right, just two feet. It's no wonder such a train, in an emergency, will slide for more than half its length with its wheels locked.

During my days as a newspaper reporter, I interviewed a number of engineers after grade crossing accidents—they all described the same feeling of total helplessness as they prayed their trains would stop in time.

They risk everything to protect you
The engineers said railroad rules mandated stoppling immediately, knowing the futility of the gesture, because juries were more inclined to deny lawsuit damages. These crews knew every wheel on the train would require expensive grinding to make them round again.

I've actually heard engineers make their whistles extra lo-o-o-o-o-ng, hoping to "wake up" irresponsible or inattentive motorists before a collision occurs. Most of them said it took some deep breathing and serious soul searching to climb onto another locomotive, even when their livelihoods required it.

The engineers asked me to tell readers to "Save lives by stopping, looking, and being smart" about a fast moving device that weighs at least 2500 times what your car does. In other words—"Look, Listen, and Live"

Freights are legally permitted to operate up to 69 miles per hour (79 mph in many locations) and these engineers said they hated going through towns and cities, knowing some idiot might see them as a challenge—or worse, NOT see them at all.

I saw such an accident, standing on a hill above Wilson Creek, Wash., looking down at the Burlington Northern main line. I watched a man drive his car across the tracks in front of a train. Even though I was more than a mile away, I could hear the whistle clearly. He turned around, and tried to beat the fast moving train back across. It struck his trunk, spun him around like a child's toy, and crushed his engine compartment. Fortunately, he walked away, but he was still shaken when I got down there.

And how did he explain it? "I thought I had time."

What you can do
A national non-profit organization, Operation Lifesaver, Inc., is doing a wonderful job of educating about the dangers of grade crossing accidents.

Support is given by railroad employees who experienced the horror of these accidents first hand and are willing to talk about it at schools, civic organizations, and transportation safety hearings. When Operation Lifesaver's volunteers give presentations at your local schools or community centers, please pay attention and heed their message. There ARE thing you can do to protect yourself.

The United States Department of Transportation published statistics showing that the average grade crossing accident occurs in daylight in clear weather. In other words, they happen when there are NO visibility problems. Look around—all ways—when you approach rails in the street. Don't be a statistic.

Watch out for the second train. A lot of railroads have paired track and run fast trains in both directions at the same time. If the sight line is impaired by a train already in the crossing, the second train will surely be hidden. Dashing across the tracks the moment train one passes is an open invitation to winding up under train two.

USDOT also has studies showing that grade crossing fatalities increase sharply in municipalities where city laws prohibit or restrict blowing train whistles when approaching street level crossings. Please contact your city and county council persons and beg them to rescind these dangerous noise abatement ordinances.