About the Author J. D. Santucci (a.k.a. "Tuch") began his railroading career in 1978 as a trainman on the Missouri Pacific. After a round of lay-offs in 1985, Tuch embarked on a railroad odyssey, working in many different situations for different roads. This column tries to explain some of the nuts and bolts of the job and also demonstrates what we have to deal with on a regular basis within and without the industry. Tuch currently works through freights out of Chicago for Canadian National/Illinois Central. ©1999, 2003-2007 JD Santucci. Logo ©2002 The Railroad Network. By J.D. Santucci

October 30, 2003
Before we get going with today's lesson, I must acknowledge being tardy in getting this one out. The beautiful bride and I took a three day holiday this past weekend and went to St Louis to attend the wedding of a cousin. We had a great time eating and drinking hardy in the celebration, which was held in a hall in "The Hill" section of town. This area is known for its Italian heritage and both Joe Garagiola and Yogi Berra grew up just a couple of blocks from the banquet hall. And being that I didn't have to drive after the reception, this made it better yet. I would like to take this opportunity to wish Steve and Stephanie many happy years together.

And oh yes, it was good to get away from the hectic activities of life and of course, away from the nuttiness of the wonderful world of railroading. But now we are back home and getting back on track, no pun intended.

"And now for something completely different."

While I keep saying that one of these days I will do a column discussing rule G, the rule that prohibits the use of alcohol or controlled substances, this column will not be the one. Instead, we are going to discuss yet another group of idiots; the ones that feel the need to hurl objects at or upon our trains.

Everywhere I have worked on a railroad in this great land of ours, at some point I have been blasted with some sort of projectile, called a missile by the FRA. People seem to think it is hysterical to throw rocks, bottles, bricks, old car parts, chunks of steel or what have you at a moving train. Hurling some sort of projectile at a car in the train, while foolish, is a little safer than throwing one at a locomotive or caboose; but not by much. Even if you are throwing it at a passing car, that rock may very well bounce right back off that car and whack you in the head or something. I have seen it happen. Throwing anything at any type of railroad structure be it a building or even milepost marker can also lead to an injury. Of course if you are throwing something at a train or railroad structure there is a pretty good chance you are trespassing on railroad property. And if caught, especially if caught while observed throwing a rock or something at railroad property the offense will likely get you a trip to the crowbar motel entitling you to become a guest of the Governor.

Over the years I have had countless episodes in which some idiot was tossing something at my train. More than once, I have had a window damaged as a result of such action. In one case, a rock that I never saw coming flew in the window right in front of my face making a bull's eye with one of the air gauges. The glass on that gage shattered causing it fly all over the place. Fortunately for me, none of that glass cut me or got into my eyes. Even more fortunate was the fact that this missile did not smack me in the side of the head. I guess timing is truly everything.

The glazing used on locomotives in North America is required to be "missile resistant." Simply put, this means the glass has to have the properties to allow it to resist an attack by certain types of projectiles. While the glazing will hold back many types of missiles, it won't stop them all. And while the glass may still break, it just won't shatter and wind up all over the cab and on us inside. The glazing previously used before 1980 when Part 223 of the Code of Federal Regulations took effect, would often shatter. Part 223 glazing is now required on all locomotives, cabooses and passenger cars. This stuff is expensive but in my opinion, well worth money. It has probably saved the railroads millions of dollars in injury claims. I can attest to the fact it saved my fellow crew members and I from injuries as we have witnessed first hand, the saving graces of such glazing at different times when we have been struck by missiles launched from trackside.

I have several photographs of what happens to the glazing after being struck by projectile. The windows received serious damage but held back the missiles. Had it not been for the Part 223 glazing, it is with most certainty there would have been personal injuries to crew members of the trains involved.

Now while the Part 223 glazing may not shatter, it will "spider web" or "frost" up when hit by a projectile. Once this occurs, the glass has been weakened and may very well not hold up against the next round of attacks. While the damaged glass is now a defect, if we are miles out we cannot very well stop the train and wait for the Mechanical folks to come out and replace the glazing. It will have to be replaced when the engines arrive at the next location where the glass can be replaced. If the damage is serious enough, the engine may have to be switched out at the first possible location and be made a trailing unit as it is now unsafe to be used as a lead unit.

I have worked with many railroaders over the years that have been injured by some idiot who felt the burning desire to hurl something at a passing train. One guy nearly lost an eye and missed over a year and a half of work. He endured several surgeries and quite some time in the hospital over this little prank. Now before you go thinking it probably occurred in a high crime neighborhood of the inner city, I can confirm that it did not. This life changing episode took place out in the suburbs.

Another co-worker told of having a large rock dropped onto his caboose from an overhead bridge they were passing under. This rock caught him square in the face about tearing his nose completely off . The proboscis was severely injured having been ripped to the side and he required surgery to put it all back into place.

The vandal that committed this crime was captured and tried in juvenile court. The judge felt this was little more than an innocent act of mischief and the kid received virtually no punishment for the crime committed. The Conductor's injuries and loss of time from work as a result of the injuries apparently meant nothing to the judge. I find it amazing how little many judges think of railroaders, like we are something less than human. I guess this judge subscribed to Art Linkletter's theory that "Kids will do the darndest things."

Anyway, this "mischievous" little tax deduction went out several months later and committed the very same type of crime. Only this time his horizons were broadened; he dropped a cinder block from an overhead spanning an interstate highway onto an automobile passing beneath. This cinder block smashed through the window and killed the driver of the car. This is a case where judges should beheld accountable for their actions, or inactions as the case might be. Perhaps judges that make such stupid decisions should be allowed to be sued for malpractice or perhaps dereliction of duties. If this were the case, it is not very likely such darlings of society would be set free to cause more problems.

One Engineer that I know took his own course of action one afternoon. His trio of light engines was proceeding along the pike heading back to tie up and go home after delivering their train. Being they were following another train they were "running on the red" and proceeding at restricted speed. This Engineer spotted some kids ahead loading up with rocks from the ballast along the right of way. He slowed even more as he closed in on their location. When he reached them sure enough, the kids bombarded them with rocks. Now operating very slowly, he quickly stopped his engines and bailed off after these kids. Being that he is very tall, he has nice long strides and was quickly able to catch one of the kids.

He tackled the kid to the ground and as he put it, "A struggle ensued". This kid, about fourteen or fifteen was quite overmatched and had no chance to break free. The Brakeman still on board the engines notified the Dispatcher who summoned the police. The law arrived in short order and found the Engineer holding onto the kid. Well, sitting on him was more like it. The kid was rather bloody. When the cops asked how he got so bloody, the Engineer told them of how he tackled the kid and about struggle. He said he had to "tackle" the kid to the ground several times to finally get him restrained.

This kid was crying his eyes out carrying on how the Engineer had beaten him up. Not so tough now that you are face to face huh kid? It was quite hysterical when you were trying to injure or kill this guy, but when the recipient of your actions fought back and labeled you then its no longer fair? Poor you? Tough. Too bad he didn't just beat your sorry little ass to a pulp and then just toss you aside.

I have mentioned this next item in the past in some forums but I cannot recall if I've ever mentioned it here. I worked with one guy that was fed up with the routine bombings we were getting at one location so he took matters into his own hands. He went and purchased one of those Super Soaker squirt guns. This fun and handy little item will project a stream of water up to fifty yards. He planned on blasting the bombers. Only he added a twist, it was not water he filled the gun with. Yes friends and neighbors, this guy was using urine as his ammo of choice.

Whenever we encountered some of the rock throwers he would fire right back at them dousing them with "recycled" coffee, water or whatever else he had consumed earlier that day or the evening before. It didn't take long before these annoying little tax deductions soon abandoned their post and went and picked on somebody somewhere else.

"Fight fire with fire."

There was one situation in which three youths were on a bridge spanning the railroad. They had positioned themselves right over the center of the gauge of the rail. We were only traveling at about 10 MPH through a speed restriction so I had plenty of time to observe them. As we closed in I noticed they all had their hands around their groins. Hmm, I think wait, yes they are going to pee on us. I called my Conductor's attention to this as he had his arm hanging out the window. He quickly pulled it in. I reached for the whistle handle planning on waiting until the whistle was just about right beneath them. Sure enough as the nose of the engine reached here came three streams of urine from the bridge. As soon as the whistle was up close to them I let loose with a big long blast. These kids must've jumped ten feet in the air. I'm betting they lost their concentration and wound up peeing all over themselves too. I'm also betting they don't attempt that stunt anytime soon either.

Some years ago while moving through a slow order we encountered a bunch of bombers. They all looked to be about twelve or thirteen years of age. As we reached them they began to bombard us with rocks. One of them nailed the cab of the engine right below my window. The rock bounced right back and hit the kid in the head and down he went. I reported this incident to the Dispatcher. I figured the kid might go home and say a rock flew off the train hitting him rendering an injury. Then the family would likely try to sue or something. Somehow they would protest that it was the railroad's fault that this happened, and then some screwball jury somewhere would agree and award the little villain a bunch of cash.

I know how getting hit like this can hurt from first hand experience. When I was in the summer of my tenth year, a couple of my cousins and I went for a walk along the New York Central tracks that ran along side my house. There was a little interchange yard there with several switches. Recently the glass globes and kerosene lamps used to illuminate these globes had been removed from the switch stands just leaving the metal targets in place. I wanted to show everybody how well I could pitch, so I picked up a rock and hurled it at the target on the switch stand. I nailed that target dead on, but the rock flew right back at me. It struck solidly in the head cracking it open like a coconut. I can still remember how much it hurt and how the blood came shooting out. I never pulled that stunt again.

I guess this little stunt could be used to prove that I am not hard-headed.

One of the things I did not put up with from my friends was throwing rocks at the trains as they passed my house, particularly the engines or cabooses. I used to see these crews day in and day out and we all recognized each other. While I never really knew any of them they were like friends to me. Sometimes while they were working the yard here during the afternoon I would walk over and talk to them. The Engineer would always give me a shot of whistle when they were leaving town and passing my house. I certainly did not want anybody throwing rocks at these guys causing them to get hurt.

As a kid, I can recall the New York Central sending out somebody to our grade school. This guy showed a movie about the dangers of playing near the tracks. It also demonstrated why rocks should not be thrown at trains. In a dramatization, they showed an Engineer getting hit in the head with a rock. According to the movie he was seriously injured as a result of the vandal's actions.

One Engineer I know was operating his train on a hot, sunny day. He had the same habit I do, hanging his arm out the window while running. Out of nowhere came a rock. This rock, which he never saw coming smacked him solidly in the hand gashing it open. He wound up having to go to the emergency room for medical attention. It turns out he needed a couple of stitches to close the wound.

Now I'm certain there will be somebody out there that will suggest we just "close the windows" to prevent the potential of an injury from a bomber. Well in the pretend world that might work. Most of our locomotives and many from other railroads do not have air conditioning. So on those good hot days what should we do, just run around all day with the windows closed until we collapse from the heat and stroke out? Not hardly. And again, not all of the bombers are located in the high crime urban areas. I have been rocked and shot at out in the country and in the suburbs as well as the big city.

In the three instances that I know of in which I have been shot at, one of the episodes took place near a rather affluent seaside community up in Maine. The other two occurred within the City of Chicago. The bombers have cropped up everywhere from the big city out to the country, so there is no designated "bad zone;" vandals are everywhere.

And also, there are days when it is just beautiful out, the sun is shining, the temperatures are moderate; the kind of days when you want the windows open and the fresh air to come into the cab. Although be it a nice day or brutally hot day, when I observe somebody that appears to be acting suspiciously around the rail head, I will close my windows and suggest the Conductor or Brakeman do the same thing over on the Fireman's side of the Locomotive. After all, why tempt fate? However, we do not always see everything that everybody is doing. We do not posses the ability to se around trees and through the brush along the right of ways. We also cannot see through equipment parked on tracks adjacent to ours. Many of the bombers are like the Minutemen of the Revolutionary War; they tend to keep themselves hidden so as not to reveal their whereabouts before launching an attack upon us.

We will notify the Dispatcher of events where we are under fire from those testing out their pitching arms or wrist rockets. If there is a repeated problem at a certain location, railroad police will stake out the area in unmarked vehicles when a train is known to be in close proximity. Over the years many of these idiots have been captured. Sometimes they are young kids, other times they are adults. In the past, I have worked with the CN Police to point out a couple of areas where the bombings were frequent. Again, these were not high crime areas but rather, the suburbs, and suburbs where the average income is respectable.

The CN Police responded with regular patrols of the areas involved, especially when they knew trains were in the vicinity. Since then, the incidents of getting bombed have been greatly reduced. Unfortunately though, they cannot be here all the time. And when they are here, they might not be some place else where they are also needed.

I have also taken to reporting anybody on the right of way that does not look like they belong there. No that doesn't mean I'm turning in the railfans because I'm not. That is unless they are doing something they shouldn't be doing such as climbing signal masts or equipment to get some fantastic photograph they want to see published in some railfan magazine. Then they too, will get reported. In this day and age, the railroads do not tolerate such activities and will arrest you.

After getting bombed enough times, witnessing damage and hearing about friends and fellow railroaders being injured as a result of the bombers and observing the damage some trespassers have caused while on the property, I guess I've become just a little more jaded and cynical than I already was.

And here's a thought, that rock or other missile you are launching at a train could very well be aimed at somebody you know. That railroader up there could be your neighbor or perhaps the parent, brother or sister of one of your friends. It could also be one of your relatives. How would you feel if you brought injury to somebody that you knew because you were just having a little fun?

And so it goes.

Tuch