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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by ironken Still havn't responded to my question Missouri. You know, its the one about the woman who hit the side of a train. Are ya scared? Ken [/quote] February 16, 1999 FRARWS Docket Clerk DOT Central Docket Management System U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Room PL 40 1 400 Seventh Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20590-000 1 Re: Rail Car Conspicuity: Docket No. FRA - 1999-66894 8 Dear Sir or Madam: Backeround- On March 14, 1998 at 11:25 PM a westbound BNSF Railroad f-i-eight train was parked in the siding at Wheelock, ND, while an eastbound freight train passed on the main line. County road crossing #5 is approximately 300 to 400 feet west of the switch and the west end of the lead locomotive parked on the siding at Wheelock. The condition were as follows, night, fresh snow had fallen earlier that day, and a light wind was blowing. The crew members of the westbound freight had climbed down from the engine to inspect the eastbound train as it passed by on the adjacent main line track at an approximate speed of 35 mph. The crossing was protected with newly install cross bucks only, no electrical lighting was provided. The cross bucks were the new style, reflectorized on both sides, as to reflect whether coming from the front or rear of the crossing. Advance railroad signs were also in place. No. FRA - 1999-6689 -2- February 16,200O A vehicle, carrying five young adults was traveling south at a go-degree angle to the main track. The eastbound freight train traveling at approximately 35 mph had crossed the road crossing prior to the arrival of the vehicle, so part of the 30 empty flat cars were spaced on each side of the crossing and moving slowly in an easterly direction. Enough of the train had passed the crossing to see the locomotive from the road crossing. The wind was blowing and snow was being moved around by the wind along with the movement of the train. As the vehicle approached the crossing, it was viewed by the crew members of the train parked on the siding. A statement was given by one of the crew members, saying “if they don’t hit the brakes pretty soon, they are going to hit the train”. My daughter, died the next day. Three others perished at the scene, and by the grace of God, one of the young adults has recovered. I have been a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE), a railroad labor union, for almost 22 years and have operated on track equipment for almost 20 years. The night of the accident, when my wife and I got to the hospital, we were met by the Sheriffs’ department employees. When I had time to speak with them, I asked what happened. He said. They hit a train at the Wheelock crossing. It had about 30 empty flat cars in the middle of the train. My immediate response was quote: Thev didn’t see the train! If you are familiar with a freight train, imagine a pair of reflectorized cross bucks, one on the approaching side of the railroad tracks to the right of the road, and another on the opposite side of the railroad tracks, as viewed by a car approaching from the opposite direction, yet both sides are illuminated by the headlights as you approach the railroad tracks from either direction. Now imagine 30 empty railroad flat cars about four feet of the ground going by with snow blowing around them. Did you get the picture? You see two sets of cross bucks, yet nothing on No. FRA - 1999-6689 -3- February 16,200O the moving train is breaking the view, because the empty flat cars are too low to the ground to break the illumination. If you look to the left you would have more than likely see a headlight of a parked train, and being familiar with the road, think he is sitting there waiting for a train. They didn’t see the train! Now picture that same train going by, only many times on the side of the empty flat cars, are reflectorized stickers of some type. Guess what, my daughter would more than likely be alive today, if those cars were reflectorized. When the rescue people were working at the scene, some had left to transport victims to the hospital, and when one of the units returned to the scene, one of the fireman said to the other person in the vehicle, “well I see they got that train moved out of here finally”! The other one responded, “no they didn’t it is still right there”! The people who had been to the scene of the accident, left, and then returned and still had a hard time seeing the train. Reflectorized rail cars would have probably saved four young adults lives that night. But even more importantly, every time a reflectorized rail car passes over any crossing, whether the crossing is a highly traveled route or only a barely traveled road, it would enhance the visibility of the train and help prevent accidents. Since the date of this accident, I run that night’s scenario through my mind as I travel down the road. I think about what could have been different that night, and as I travel along routes where railroad tracks parallel a major highway, it is very simple to envision the difference reflectorized railcars could have made, versus non-reflectorized railcars. Even the slightest light against the reflectorization shines so brightly. That slight flickering of the reflectorized material No. FRA - 1999-6689 -4- February 16,200O would have saved four lives on the night of March 14, 1998, and if it could have saved four lives that night, how many thousand other lives could it save. Human life seems to be of little value to corporate America when it is put up against increased profits, stock holders share prices or whatever seems to be more important that day. Our government has an obligation to protect its people. There are thousands of unprotected crossings across America, and I understand that it is difficult to provide positive protection for each one. Believe me, I was at a meeting in 1994 with the Railroads, Public Service Commission, school officials, county and state officials. At that meeting we addressed the seriousness of the Wheelock crossing and the road being a bus route for the rural school children. I stood up a the end of that meeting and asked the group to closely evaluate the need for cross arm and lighted protection at that crossing. I made a statement at that time that I have to look back at once in a while and wonder. I said, “ I’m sure someone does not have to get killed before someone does something.” Each piece of equipment and rolling stock should be reflectorized to assure that, at each road crossing that it crosses, the best available option is there to increase rail trtic visibility and grade crossing safety for the public of this country, no matter where it might be. Who could question the value of reflectorizing? Surely not the Corporations who would like to cut down on crossing accidents, surely not individuals who travel the unprotected routes each day, or the school bus drivers, or the police, or rural mail carriers, or the emergency personnel that need to respond to the fatalities that occur at the crossings, and surely not the Mom and Dad who’s daughter’s life was given. No. FRA - 1999-6689 -5- February 16,200O For all the citizen’s of this great country, Mandate the reflectoriziw of all on-track eauinment and rolling stock!
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