Hot
Times on the High Iron
Stupid Civilian Tricks
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July 17, 2002
All too frequently people take the dangers of being around railroad
tracks and moving trains for granted. Other times they are just totally
oblivious to these very dangers. These folks must have that "nothing
bad can happen to me" attitude when around the tracks. I say this
with confidence as I have observed first hand and have been told first
hand accounts of such civilians performing incredible feats of stupidity
on railroad property.
While working at the Indiana Harbor Belt, I was driving into work late one morning. En route, I was caught by a Grand Trunk Western eastbound as it passed through Griffith, IN. I was sitting patiently waiting as he rolled through town at a reduced speed. From my position about three or four cars behind the gates I was keeping the ever watchful eye. This is a habit from work as I am looking for defects. Over the years, I have spotted problems on passing trains while waiting at crossings and contacted the railroad involved. I reported the problem to them making sure they know I am a railroader. This way they understand I'm not just some crackpot with nothing better to do with his life.
But I digress.
Anyway, as I watched this train pass, I noticed a boxcar with its doors open and observed two people inside the car. They appeared to be rather young; certainly not the run of the mill hobos. And one of them was a female. I reached for the phone and immediately called Blue Island Tower. The number was listed in the IHB timetable so I had it close by. The Operator there would be able to contact the GTW Dispatcher on the wire and report this find. The Dispatcher would then contact the train via radio and it goes from there. I told Blue Island who I was, where I was located and what I saw. In turn, the Operator reported my discovery to TD-4, the GTW Dispatcher. The train was contacted and stopped with the police summoned.
I later learned these kids were about fourteen years old and runaways. I was told they had virtually no money, no spare clothing or any supplies. Perhaps I saved their lives.
While at the Wisconsin Central I had several episodes involving cars parked too close to the tracks. The first event took place in Franklin Park, IL in 1988. We were approaching Schiller Park en route from Clearing Yard to Fond du Lac. As we approached Tower B-12 where the Soo Line and Metra crossed our line we had to pass a US Postal Service sorting center. There were always stragglers showing up at the last minute for work there. They would park their cars and make a mad dash for the facility. Oftentimes they parked on a strip of property that belonged to the railroad instead of the postal employee parking lot as the railroad property was much closer to the facility.
This particular evening had a postal employee parking on railroad property. Only in his rush to get to work on time he parked a little too close to the tracks. We came along and clipped the front of his car. When the police arrived the cop laughed and told me the guy who owned this car was really in for a treat. His car would be towed for illegal parking. He would then have to pay a fine up front to get the car along with the towing charge and a storage fee. And then when he gets the car he'll find the front end damaged. The cop also told me this was not the first time a vehicle had been struck here. Several cars and small trucks parked too close had also been hit. One would think these folks just might have learned from the first few episodes involving their fellow employees. They cannot figure out how to park and then they go and sort our mail. I guess this explains a great deal on how our mail gets lost.
The next episode occurred one Saturday afternoon a couple years later. We were going to make a run from Fond du Lac to Schiller Park, swap trains there and head back to Fond du Lac. We had just departed Shops Yard in North Fond du Lac and were proceeding through downtown Fond du Lac. As the train rounded a curve we came upon a car parked close to the tracks. I realized the car didn't clear and immediately put the train into emergency. As I closed in on it, I noticed somebody sitting in the car. We sideswiped the car as we came along side it. I contacted the Yardmaster telling him of our plight and to contact the emergency response people.
The Conductor headed back and reported no injuries to the person sitting in the car, a young boy. The kid was laughing thinking this was like a movie. The owner of the car came out from the motorcycle shop across the tracks from where the car was parked. He was also laughing as he assumed (and you all know what happens when you assume) that because we clobbered his car, the railroad would automatically buy him a new one. However, his assumptions were slightly askew of reality.
A police officer investigating the collision boarded the engine to get my statement. I asked this officer if he was issuing a ticket for illegal parking to the motorist. He questioned me as to why I thought this guy was illegally parked. I explained "I hit him didn't I?" Again he asked why I thought this guy was illegally parked and again I answered, "I hit him didn't I?" Then I invited this officer over to my side of the cab. I showed him the absence of a steering wheel or foot pedals like a Caterpillar tractor for turning. I had him look out the window at the rails in front of me and explained how I operate on a fixed guideway and cannot steer or swerve to avoid collisions. To see the look on his face as I explained this, one would think I was speaking Greek or something.
Once again I asked about the ticket and he asked me if I was telling him how to do his job. I responded "Yeah, I guess I am 'cuz you don't seem to be doing it too well." I'm sure I made lots of point with that remark. When all was said and done, not only did the guy not a get a new car out of the deal, the railroad sent a bill to his insurance company for the damages to the engine.
Construction people can also be out to lunch when it comes to common sense around railroad right of ways. On more than one occasion there have been mishaps involving construction crews and trains. While at the MoPac I heard an episode reported on the radio. A northbound came around the curve in Crete, IL and encountered a backhoe working near the tracks. Apparently it was a little too near as the engine hit the machine knocking it to the side. The operator saw the train at the last moment and jumped. I heard later the contractor only planned on being near the right of way for a short period and figured he could get by without a flagman from the railroad and its cost. He was wrong.
In 1999 the CNIC had a tie gang replacing ties on the Chicago Sub. A private contractor was hired to remove the old ties. This contractor was working just north of North Rantoul gathering up, sorting and banding the discarded ties. They were using a machine called a Bobcat to assist them. A Bobcat is a small, rubber tired front end loader that can easily and quickly be converted to a forklift or dozer. The machine operator was not paying close attention to what he was doing and backed into the path of the rapidly approaching Amtrak train 58, the City of New Orleans. The train struck the Bobcat flipping it over and causing some damage to the locomotive. The train had to be backed up to Rantoul and into the siding there and receive some repairs before the train could proceed. Fortunately for the operator, he only received minor injuries.
In 2000 I had an episode with a paving contractor. We were approaching Dralle Road which is the next road crossing south of Steunkel Road on the Chicago Sub. As we were closing in I noticed an asphalt paving machine with a semi-dump truck adjoining it. They were laying asphalt and rolled right onto the crossing I was approaching. I put the train into emergency and stopped less than a quarter mile from the crossing. While I never want to collide with anything, I really don't want to collide with a dump truck loaded with hot asphalt. They didn't seem the least bit phased by what could have just happened and kept on paving. The Chicago South Dispatcher was contacted and we told her of the situation. She told of having no information or authority allowing for this contractor to be there. As soon as this equipment was clear of the crossing, I began to move north again. There was a laborer at the crossing waving a flag at me indicating he wanted me to stop. Fat chance buddy boy, you are on my turf.
They waited as we crossed and the operator of the paver waved at me as we passed. I gave him the single finger salute in return. His expression changed and he began to scream at me but needless to say, I could not hear him. Nor did I really care what he had to say. The CN police were dispatched to the scene. Word was this was not the first time this contractor had encroached upon this crossing while performing their work without a railroad flagman to protect them. Good way to get your people or railroad employees hurt or killed.
Contractors are not the only professionals that fail to use good judgment. Public servants can also fall into this category. Back in 1980 I was dating a girl whose brother was a Fireman for what was then Park Forest South. Today this town is known as University Park. Anyway, this guy asks me about who would be responsible if a train ran over their hoses. I explained to him it depended upon the situation. If the fire department notified the railroad of needing to block the tracks with their hoses and requesting they stop train traffic, it could be the railroad's responsibility. If they neglected to contact the railroad, the fire department would then be responsible for their own hoses.
I questioned him as to what this was all about. He went on to tell me of a large brush fire near the Illinois Central Gulf tracks in Park Forest South. The PFS Fire Department responded. They had to stretch their hoses across the tracks in order to reach the fire as the trucks could not get close to the location of the fire from the road. Nobody from his fire department contacted the railroad of the situation as somebody suggested the trains would "just stop" when they saw the fire trucks and flashing lights. Once again, it was a serious error in judgment. Soon after the hoses went across the tracks a train came along running them all over. Like so many other objects, the hoses were no match and wound up getting destroyed by the train. D'oh!
Over the years I have witnessed numerous pedestrians who fail to realize the magnitude of their actions could likely get them killed or maimed for life. One Sunday afternoon I was heading south on a loaded grain train. As we rolled through Kankakee, some moron decides to play chicken with me at a crossing. Only he doesn't just stand there like most idiots, he breaks into jumping jacks. So there he is performing some calisthenics on the crossing as I approached him with my 13,000-plus ton train. I just lay on the horn as he attempted to whip himself into good physical shape. Now with just one slip he will become the healthiest dead guy around.
I continued to sound the horn as we rapidly closed in on him. Even though we were only going 30 MPH, that distance still closes up rather quickly. I was in full dynamic braking to hold my train speed at 30 (the speed limit for freight trains through this area) as we rolled down the hill and into downtown Kankakee. In the manner in which I was using it, the dynamic was keeping us at a steady speed but not slowing us down. At the very last moment this yahoo jumped aside. The Conductor stuck his head out the window and shouted at him making references to his mother.
Numerous times I have observed a mother or father out walking with their children and approaching a crossing as we are. Instead of teaching their children well, these folks whom their children look up to and depend upon make the mad dash to get across the tracks before we get there. I have witnessed mothers literally pick up a child by one arm and sort of flip them across as they follow. In one situation, a young mother was pushing a stroller and dragging along a toddler. In this case the stroller hung up on the rail and flipped over with the little one inside falling out but landing clear of the tracks and crossing. In the meantime, she yanked the other one by his arm and pulled him across and then pulled the stroller clear. As we passed she simply put the little one back in the stroller and proceeded as if nothing happened.
I'm sure this really made a long lasting wrong impression on the toddler. The little one in the stroller very likely had no idea as to what had just happened. People like this should be prohibited from procreating. The offspring they have created should be forcibly removed from these people's care immediately. The genes of these so-called parents and adults need to be removed from the pool.
Probably one of the strangest episodes occurred while I worked at the MoPac. A Trainmaster riding with us one evening in 1982 told us the following story. A few weeks prior to this night, a northbound Louisville & Nashville coal train was operating on the Chicago & Western Indiana tracks and passing through Roseland, a community in Chicago. For those of you not familiar with the C&WI, it was a jointly owned operation with MoPac and L&N as two of the five owners. The train struck a woman who ran up to the tracks and lay down on the rails in front of them. The Engineer put the train into emergency and notified all the necessary people. This event was being investigated by the police and this very Trainmaster from Yard Center who had been summoned to the scene.
In the meantime a couple of guys in another part of Roseland decided they needed some cash rather quickly. They determined the best way to reap a financial reward in the quickest manner possible with the least amount of effort put forth was to knock over a liquor store. So they initiated their plan. Unfortunately for them, they didn't plan on the Chicago Police being right there. Ill-gotten gain in hand, these two characters took off in their car. The cops gave chase with it quickly becoming one of those high speed affairs like in the movies and on TV. These two cats had no intention of getting caught.
In their efforts to avoid capture and its potential of making them guests of the Governor, these characters drove like maniacs. Unfortunately these two were unaware of the suicide situation in their community. And likewise, the fact this stopped coal train had many of the crossings blocked including any intended getaway route they might consider using. Their continuing efforts to flee the cops had them taking a turn down a road which was blocked by the stopped coal train. In their haste to evade law enforcement, this pair apparently failed to make note of the flashing red lights and the reflection of the Scotchlite striping on the gate lowered across the road in front of them. And it is pretty certain they did not observe the stopped train stretched out on the crossing in front of them.
"A stopped train is a safe train." This is a tongue and cheek phrase commonly heard on the railroad. However, like everything else in life there are exceptions to prove every rule.
The police told the MoPac Trainmaster the car was traveling in excess of 100 MPH when it crashed through the lowered gate and plowed into the side of the stopped coal train. I would guess these two perpetrators quickly learned the following lesson; a two-thousand pound automobile is absolutely no match for a 130 ton load of coal. Unfortunately for them though, it was a lesson learned far too late. Their new found knowledge was also lost to short attention span syndrome as both of them were decapitated in the collision with the railcar. Can you say, "Justice was served?" Or should it just be considered "poetic justice?" In any event, their final act of defiance saved the system money and time and also reduced the overload in the criminal court system.
And so it goes.
Tuch