(The Clinton Herald published the following story by Scott T. Holland on its website on September 30.)
CLINTON, Iowa — Two months after the Clinton City Council adopted a safety resolution regarding remote control locomotives, railroad union members have asked the Clinton County Board of Supervisors to do the same.
But in contrast to other Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers members who had asked the city to ban use of the technology, railroad union member Bill McClimon asked the Clinton County Board of Supervisors on Monday to adopt a resolution calling on the Federal Railroad Administration to develop comprehensive rules for the use of remote control locomotives.
Union Pacific wants to use the technology in Clinton by January. The FRA has issued a notice of safety advisory on remote control locomotives; however, BLE members stress the safety advisory contains only guidelines and does not represent hard and fast rules that railroads must abide by.
McClimon said the engineer’s union is not anti-technology and dispelled the notion that BLE opposition to remote control technology is really about an arbitrator’s decision to let United Transportation Union members operate the technology.
“Our interest is only in the public safety,” said McClimon, a 30-year veteran of railroad work. “This is the only operation on the railroad that does not have comprehensive rules and regulations.”
Art Wilkins, with 27 years of rail experience, detailed the various hazardous materials that come through Clinton County each day on various rail lines. He and McClimon stressed the lack of training given to employees using the technology, about a two-week course, compared to 24 weeks for traditional methods.
Supervisor Grant Wilke agreed with the engineers that a lengthy training program was important in the interest of safety. McClimon noted that almost all of the accidents related to the technology are attributed to human error and may have been prevented with more adequate training.
“Your qualifications to be an operator of this remote control should have some real criteria that says that you are qualified to do that,” Wilke said. “I don’t understand a two-week class. Even refresher courses are sometimes longer than two weeks.”
The FRA takes note when communities pass resolutions regarding rail lines by using those resolutions to gauge concern about public safety and the importance of the technology.
The Clinton City Council adopted a similar safety resolution July 22. Supervisors Chairman Lewis Todtz said he would notify BLE members if and when the county was prepared to act on the request.