The Fogel Family tragedy at Itamar got me thinking about both rail and highway safety. Why? Possibly your news outlet didn't go into depth, but the security guard (possibly a volunteer) did get an alarm signal but assumed that an animal had set it off!
I reflected on the sad ending of both Jay Meader's career and of Milwaukee Speedrail. If you or I had been on that fantrip, would you or I have had the courage to get a posse together and get Jay away from the controler saying "I don't care if you are President of this railroad but you are not going to run through that red signal!" If some of the fans had done so, possibly Milwaykee would have commuter rail and/or light rail today.
About 40 years ago, at a certain trolley museum, the incident did cross my mind as I was helping an expert with repair of a roof of car . I had already been qualified for all operating positions, and even had served as acting dispatcher . So I was puzzled when a saw a two-man operated car proceeding past a siding (no signal protection back then) where normally a back-into the siding meet occured. I thought quickly, scambled off the roof of the car, ran to the dispather's shack, unnoccupied, the acting dispatcher was the operator of the other car in service, as a one-man car operation. I punched the emergency power off button and ran down after the car whose operation bothered me out the main line. The rule book both then and now says that when power is cut off, one does not try to coast as far as possible but rather use the air brakes to come to quick, smooth, and safe stop. I found the two man car, explained what I had done and why, listend to the motorman and conductor about the verbal orders they received, and determined that had, indeed, minsunderstood the orders, and a possible tragedy had been avoided. I also determined that the straightaway in front of the stopped car was sufficient so that the car operated by t he acting dispatcher would have ample time on the inbound run to stop safely if it approached while the crew changed ends (lowering one pole and raising the other, and moving controler and air-brake handled and reverse key from one end to the other). I then ran back to the dispatch shack, restored power, and resumed working on the car roof.
I am not perfect, and I admit that once around the same time, I was running the same two-man car, expected to back into the siding, did not check my position when the conductor at the rear gave me three bells to back, and as a second after I had thrown the reverse key into reverse, and applied one point of power, the wood-framed car gave a shudder and a thump was heard. Of coruse I immediately brough the car to a stop, and we had not moved more than two feet. What both the conductor and I had not noticed was that the rear axle had not cleared the switch points . Rerailing was done quckly and my penalty was just being out of service, along with the conductor, for the rest of the day, spelling someone with a more mundane job who now became a motorman for the day.
The rule book now specifically bans back-up moves on double-end cars except in very special situations. One is always supposed to change ends. And the main line is signal protected.
Posibly when the MIlwaukee incident occured, I would been one of the sheep. Now definitely not.
So the next time I climb into a taxi, and the driver starts using his cellphone while driving, I will say: "Do you know what you will get if the police see you doing what you are doing?" Hopefully that will be all that will be required. I once did this on a bus and it worked.
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