(The following story by Keila Szpaller appeared on the Missoulian website on October 23.)
MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana Rail Link representatives came before a City Council committee Wednesday and touted a 40 percent drop in accidents at its Missoula railyard. But people who live near the tracks said the company still could be a better neighbor.
“I see the impacts of the railroad every day that I’m alive,” said Mark Kersting, whose home and business are across the street from the tracks.
At a meeting of the Missoula City Council Public Safety and Health Committee, Kersting said he fears a major derailment in the Missoula yard. An April derailment of five empty boxcars prompted the Wednesday report.
MRL officials spent most of the time highlighting stringent training and inspection standards and noting improvements. The training to be an engineer is extensive and lasts nine months, for example. Before the presentation, however, spokeswoman Lynda Frost announced that 19 grain cars had derailed early Wednesday morning just west of Plains.
MRL operates 35 miles of rail in its Missoula yard. That’s one mile west of the Broadway overpass to the East Missoula interchange.
To reduce accidents, MRL engineers operate trains by remote control in the yard where they can see, instead of from inside the locomotive, officials said. Also, MRL performs visual inspections more often than regulations require.
The company also ultrasonically tests the rail five times a year, officials said. That level of inspection is not required at all in the yard because train speeds there are less than 25 mph.
MRL spends $450,000 annually testing for internal rail defects from Billings to Sandpoint, Idaho, officials said. It has three different kinds of safety devices installed periodically along its tracks as well. They detect overheated bearings, wide loads and dragging. After the meeting, Jim Johnson, MRL training rules and safety representative, said that with those devices, trains that enter the yard already have run through multiple safety checks.
MRL representatives also said the number of railyard accidents had dropped 40 percent after it implemented new remote control systems. After the meeting, Frost said up-to-date numbers were not immediately available and neither were figures specific to the Missoula yard.
The figure accounts for accidents in the Missoula and Laurel yards combined. Frost said the drop compares a period from 1996 through 2000, before remote control, with a period from 2001 through 2005, after remote control. Over the first time period, 48 accidents were reported, she said. Over the second time period, 27 accidents were reported, for a 43 percent drop, she said. Data from 2006 and beyond were not available, but Frost said the improvement still was notable.
“That certainly is a good indication of the impact the remote control has had for us,” Frost said.
At the meeting, Ward 3 Councilman Bob Jaffe said he wanted to hear how the derailments continue to occur despite all the protocols in place. Chief engineer Rich Keller said some are caused by people and others by things like car defects and equipment imperfections.
The one in April happened because of the way the engineer applied the brakes, said an MRL official. One set of brakes applied to the whole train hadn’t kicked in before the engineer used another brake, which affects just the locomotive. The locomotive stopped but the slack in the line bumped a car off the rail. The engineer pulled up the train and other cars followed.
People who live near the tracks thanked MRL for the work it has done in the neighborhood and also asked for more improvements.
Neighbor Kate Jerrim said her grandfather was a switchman and she isn’t bothered by the noise of the trains. However, she said she was concerned about diesel fumes, especially when trains idle under the Scott Street Bridge. Also, she said she doesn’t want creosote-soaked logs to stay long in the yard. She also wants MRL to post signs when it has sprayed weeds.
Dru Carr, a member of the neighborhood leadership team, said he, too, was concerned about emissions, especially because the wind tends to blow pollution into the neighborhood. He would like to know the effects of emissions.
Committee chairman Dave Strohmaier said council members have many questions and he would like MRL representatives to return to answer more of them. Ward 1’s Strohmaier had earlier thanked MRL for the work it did on the Madison Street crossing, and Keller on Wednesday also noted the brand-new, smooth pathway.
“It was a cooperative effort between the city and MRL, so it turned out well,” Keller said.
MRL contributed $20,000 to the project, Frost said. According to the city, the Montana Department of Transportation paid for the work, MRL did the work and city departments did the engineering and paving, and plan to do the striping as well. The city also purchased roughly $2,000 of traffic control devices.
“I drive across it multiple times per day, and it’s fantastic,” wrote city communications director Ginny Merriam in an e-mail. “Haven’t done it on a bike yet, but I’m guessing it’s wondrous.”