Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) is working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation and other organizations to observe the first national Rail Safety Week (RSW), September 24-30, 2017. Celebrating its 45th year, the launching the Safety Week fits its mission of reducing collisions, fatalities and injuries at highway-rail crossings.
While we have limited local crossings in Wichita Falls, and the number of highway-rail crossing collisions, deaths and injuries has dropped over the past five decades, it’s still a startling fact that about every three hours in the U.S., a person or vehicle is hit by a train.
The goal of raising awareness of the need for rail safety education and empower the general public to keep themselves safe near highway-rail grade crossings and railroad rights-of-way.
As we approach Rail Safety Week, let me share a personal story……
Derek Radenslaben, 17, and Michael Frederick, 16, left school the afternoon of Jan. 4, 1994 in the little town of Morrison, Il. Less than 5 minutes later they drove into the path of a westbound Union Pacific Railroad freight train just on the outside of town. Michael was driving and it appears he thought he could beat the train though the ungated intersection, like so many of the local kids had done before…. this time he misjudged!
Over a half mile later the train came to a stop with the vehicle impaled on the front of the train engine. I was on the Fire Dept at the time and was one of the first on the scene…. I can clearly remember the Engineer saying over and over. “I was blowing my horn and they just kept coming”.
There are many train v. car accidents that happen every day…. I reference this story as it was very close to my heart… You see Derek was the only son, of one of my employees at the time. There are many more details I could share but those may be too graphic for our young readers. As you can probably imagine… the devastation a train traveling at 60 miles / hour can have quite a lasting impression.
In 1998, Kimberly Zuidema, a friend of Radenslaben and Frederick, intentionally drove her vehicle into the path of a train at the same crossing. Those accidents resulted in a community campaign in 1999 to get gates and lights installed at the crossing.
You see I was raised in a rural area and had many railroad intersections to cross heading into town….. On several occasions, I may not have been patient when approaching those flashing red lights as I should have been…. if you catch my drift. But that day in 1994 forever changed my perspective on the massive power those mighty engines have…. and I have since shown them respect they deserve!
To finish up more on the lighter side…
Ever heard of a Cow Catcher… You guessed it… it’s the V-like shaped wedge on the front of a train, designed to deflect objects from the tracks at high speeds without disrupting the train. (appears cows quite often strayed onto the tracks in the Wild west) Invented in 1838 by British engineer Charles Babbage. In the modern day, a cow catcher is more commonly called a pilot.
The West Highland Line Train (Scotland) is the actual Hogwarts Express Train. It that was used in the Harry Potter movies. It is an active line and runs 3 trains each day from Glasgow to Mallaig via Fort William.
Japanese trains are known for their sharp time schedule. If a train is even 5 minutes late the passengers get an apology and a certificate that they can show at work to prove they were delayed. On the rare occasion that trains are 1 hour late or more, it can even make the news (the average delay of a train in Japan in 2012 was .6 minutes). Let’s see the airlines compete with that!!
In 1896, cadets at Auburn University greased the rail tracks at their station. The train carrying the opposing team couldn’t stop and slid halfway to the next town. Maybe that is where the term came “greasing the rails” comes from??