(The following story by Robert Deane appeared on the Hermiston Herald website on April 28, 2010.)
HERMISTON, Ore. — A romanticized view of railroad tracks might look like a scene of children walking and playing along the rails, or fishing off trestles.
It is a view that is dangerous, however, and in a heart beat it can turn to tragedy, something Jammie Cooke wants to turn kids away from. Cooke is a Union Pacific Railroad machinist and a presenter for Operation Lifesaver: Rail Safety Education.
Cooke himself knows the tragedy that can come from the rails, having lost his sister several years ago.
Cooke, an Arkansas native, starts off his presentations, like the one last Friday at Highland Hills Elementary School, with his story, saying all he heard was a loud explosion.
“I called my boss and told him I’d be late because my sister was stuck by a train that had stopped while I was watching her kid,” he said.
To this day, Cooke said his family doesn’t know what happened, whether his sister crossed in front of the train thinking she could get across before it arrived or some other reason.
All he knows is that it changed everything.
“It devastated all of us, my family, the community and her son’s school,” he told students Friday. “I teach kids railroad safety because of that, and because I have two girls who I want to be safe around trains and because I want you – the students – to be safe.”
Cooke showed students a video on Operation Lifesaver that discussed railroad safety for students from not playing on tracks, walking in tunnels, walking under or between box cars, to the sign language for the program’s motto, “Look, Listen, Live.”
“I’ve been doing this for six months and have a goal of reaching 100,000 kids. It’s my passion. We have lots of rail here and a lot of near misses,” Cooke said.
But the education he provides isn’t cheap, as Cooke also brings with him coloring books and other items promoting railroad safety.
“It would be great to have some added support for this,” Cooke said.
Cooke has already talked to students in Echo and is planning on visits to the other elementary schools in the Hermiston School District. In May, he will talk to students at McNary Heights Elementary School and Stanfield Elementary School.
To donate to or learn other ways to help promote railroad safety, call Cooke at (541) 289-0041 or e-mail him at 4cookies@eotnet.net.