(The following article was published in the Kingston Daily Freeman.)
HUDSON, N.Y. — Remote, rural property surrounding railroad tracks is tempting for all kinds of outdoor recreation, from snowmobiling to cross-country skiing to a simple walk in the woods.
In a moment’s notice, however, those pristine playgrounds can become death traps when trains traveling sometimes as fast as 110 mph bear down on unsuspecting people.
A group called Operation Lifesaver is going through the state on a county-by-county basis in an effort to promote safety.
“For some reason, people think railroads are public domain,” spokesman Charles G. Alonge Jr. said. “They’re not.”
At one time, highway railroad crossings were the scene of most railroad fatalities, but not any more. Statewide last year, there were eight train deaths and almost all resulted from trespassing, according to officials.
“There’s more and more people, and there’s easy access to the railroad, because not everything can be fenced,” Amtrak police officer Steve Ulrich said.
Last July 4, two Hudson teens were killed while walking along railroad tracks to get a better view of a fireworks display across the river in Athens.
A train’s horn is the only way engineers can warn people. Quite often it comes too late, especially with today’s high-speed travel.
“It takes over a mile to stop these trains, and that’s in good weather,” Alonge said. “The average locomotive engineer who’s been working 15 or 20 years has been involved in a fatal, none of which he could have prevented.”
At one time, pedestrians walking along railroad tracks could hear trains coming miles away. But the old-time clickety-clack is long gone, replaced by welded rails that allow trains to travel almost silently.
“The normal trespasser is somebody taking a shortcut,” Alonge said. “Trespass is a real problem, not just in New York, but across the country.”
He and other Operation Lifesaver officials are making a concerted effort to visit every school in the region, telling youngsters that railroads aren’t parks or playgrounds. They are also giving educational seminars to state, county and local police officers, many of whom have never been on a train and aren’t familiar with them. Police can help by doing their part to keep trespassers away from tracks in their respective areas.
Alonge’s program includes a film called “Off Limits,” in which train engineers describe accidents they’ve experienced personally. Some resulted from teenage drinking parties. Others involved hunters caught on a trestle.
“You never forget it,” one engineer said. “You try to put it in the back of your mind, but you never forget it. It’s not only bad on victims and their families, it’s bad on us, too.”
Engineer Richard Nunziato makes weekly trips from Rensselaer to New York and back, passing through Columbia and Dutchess counties. It’s not uncommon for him to see wreaths placed by well-meaning people in memory of friends or relatives struck and killed by a train.
“What about the poor engineer who’s got to go by there every day and see it?” he said. Railroad employees live with a constant threat of fatalities.
“I don’t know anybody who’s been on the road 20 years it hasn’t happened to at least once,” conductor Lou Iannone said. “The chances are in your favor you’re going to kill somebody.”
Operation Lifesaver is also helping create local safety committees in counties that have a high incidence of train accidents. Panels consist of police, fire and emergency responders as well as school officials.
Although trespassers are the most common problem, Alonge said highway railroad crossings still pose a threat. He described trains hitting an automobile as comparable to cars running over an aluminum soda can.
“It’s no match,” he said. “When these crashes happen, they’re big. Too many people have made that mistake and thought they could beat it.”
Alonge, a former police officer, said he knows of a state trooper who tried stopping a train by putting his parked car on the track with its lights flashing. Needless to say, he didn’t drive that car home.
“How do you explain that one to the sergeant?” he said.