(The following story by Bill Shea appeared on The Messenger website on August 17, 2010.)
FORT DODGE, Iowa — A pair of short blasts from an air horn Monday evening announced that a special train was starting its journey through Fort Dodge.
One of its locomotives wore the green and yellow paint scheme of the old Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, which was acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad more than a decade ago.
Its vintage passenger cars were filled with about 150 people who oohed and aahed at the view when the train stopped on the High Bridge above the Des Moines River.
But this train wasn’t about history or scenery.
It was set up by the Union Pacific Railroad to provide a dramatic format for teaching some potentially lifesaving lessons on how to act around railroad tracks.
”Trains are big and heavy and unforgiving,” said Pete Wentzlaff, a Union Pacific employee who made an Operation Lifesaver presentation during the trip.
Because of their size, trains can’t stop quickly, according to Wentzlaff. He said a freight train traveling 55 mph needs a distance equal to 18 football fields in order to stop.
And if the train hits something or someone, the results are catastrophic. Wentzlaff asked his listeners to think about the results of a car running over a pop can. What happens to the can is what happens to a car that gets hit by a train, he said.
He and the other Operation Lifesaver presenters aboard the train offered a few simple rules for preventing tragedy near the tracks.
For drivers, they had these words: ”Look, listen and live.”
They asked drivers approaching railroad crossing to look for the train, flashing red lights or the cross arm blocking the tracks.
Drivers were also urged to listen for the train’s horn, and the clanging of bells at the crossing.
Pedestrians and bicyclists face deadly risks around the tracks. The railroad employees had a simple message for them as well: ”Stay off, stay away, stay alive.”
”We want you to share the message with whoever you talk to,” said Bob Resch, another railroad worker who helped with the Operation Lifesaver presentations.
Karrigan Mentzer, 11, of Lehigh, said she thinks the safety lesson she heard aboard the train provides good information for people her age. She rode an Operation Lifesaver train about two years ago, and said she remembered most of the rules she learned on that trip.
Her grandmother, Rosalie Wolf, of Gowrie, said being aboard the train really drives home ”how serious it is.”
”It was very informative,” Wolf said. ”It was very interesting.”