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There are lots of ways to get killed on a railroad, but when you compare all of them, there is nothing that comes close to the danger of a trestle with no escape from trains.  With this particular hazard, the danger depends on how high and long the trestle is, how much train clearance there is, how fast the trains run, and the probable amount of audible warning of trains. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> It is true that trestle walkways add cost, but equipping trestles with them is hardly a new proposal.  Many railroads have used them just for the safety and convenience of their own employees, if not for the protection of trespassers.  A friend of mine traveling out west met and had extensive conversation with a U.P. conductor who was on a personal crusade (in conjunction with the union) to force the U.P. to add railings to their trestles just to eliminate the fall hazard.  If you go to the trouble and expense of adding a railing, you might as well add a couple feet of walkway for train clearance.   I don’t have first hand knowledge, but I once heard of an incident on the Milwaukee short line trestle over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.  In the fog one night, a trainman stepped off of the caboose of a stopped train.  He did not realize that the caboose was standing on the trestle where it crosses over East River Road.  So he stepped off the caboose and landed 50 feet below on the pavement of the road.
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