AUSTIN, Texas — The tragic loss of two local teenagers last weekend must serve as a grim reminder that a railroad track, however still and peaceful it may look much of the time, is an exceedingly dangerous thing to be around, according to an editorial in the Austin American-Statesman.
Morgan Benton and Sarah Brady died while apparently trying to outrun a Union Pacific freight train on a bridge just east of Round Rock.
The only safe way to be around a railroad right of way is to constantly assume that a train may approach on it at any time and that it will not be able to avoid a human being in its path.
Trains can come along frequently — an average of more than one every hour on the UP’s main line through Austin — and at the 60 mph posted speed where Sunday’s incident occurred, a loaded freight train needs a mile and a half to come to a stop. Approaching locomotives are surprisingly quiet, as well, especially if they are drifting downgrade.
Experienced railroad workers have an inbred respect for these facts. They won’t walk between the rails on a track, won’t step on the rail (to avoid slipping) and instinctively look both ways before crossing any track. And track workers are not even allowed to be on a railroad bridge unless they have authority from a dispatcher to be there. The traditional “Rule K” in railroad rule books cautions employees to “expect the movement of cars, trains or engines on any track, at any time, in either direction.”
The general public, while heeding those rules, should also remember that a railroad track — and especially a railroad bridge — is not a thoroughfare, shortcut or walking path. It is a hazardous industrial environment where caution and common sense can prevent another tragedy.