(The following story by Vickie Welborn appeared on the Shreveport Times website on June 29, 2010.)
MANSFIELD, La. — Mansfield police today issued a ticket to Kansas City Southern for blocking the city’s main railroad crossing for an extended period.
The KCS train stopped at the Polk Street crossing, blocking several other railroad crossings and stalling traffic all over the city. Traffic in Mansfield is already a headache for motorists because of the thousands of 18-wheelers and heavy machinery trucks that travel through each day because of some sort of connection to the oil and gas business.
“This is becoming all too common of an occurrence in Mansfield,” McCoy said. “Each time the train blocks the tracks for an extended amount of time, a citation will be issued.”
Capt. Joe Pratt cited the train conductor on a charge of train blocking crossing.
McCoy assures “all tickets must be paid or they will appear in the Mayor’s Court.”