(The following story by Paul M. Malchow appeared on the St. Peter Herald website on July 10.)
KASOTA, Minn. — Under normal circumstances, millions of pounds of moving steel would be hard to ignore. But put this hulking mass on a railroad track and people don’t give it a second thought.
That’s the concern of Union Pacific Railroad and the reason behind Operation Livesaver. Throughout the year the railroad raise public consciousness of safety around the track area. “You think people would be more aware,” said Union Pacific Manager of Operating Practices Mike Hatfield, “but they become more complacent because they see it every day.”
In fact, at least two and as many as seven trains will go through Le Sueur every day. Le Sueur Police Chief Bruce Kelly said while a train-truck collision which occurred in August of 2006 draws a lot of attention, the department is concerned with people trespassing on the tracks.
Kelly said a train is surprisingly quiet if it is behind you and walking on the tracks is very dangerous. Just as deadly are objects trespassers will lay on the rails to be purposely run over. The enormous weight of the train turns these objects into missiles traveling at high rates of speed.
As far as train-related accidents go, Kelly said its a matter of when and not if. “It’s part of the railroad experience,” he said. “It’s going to happen as long as people won’t stay away from the tracks.”
Kelly was on board a UP locomotive on June 26 with Hatfield, Engineer Bob Marquardt and his assistant Jerad Zwart. They traveled up and down the tracks between Le Sueur and Kasota on the lookout for vehicles violating the crossing law. UP’s Pete Wentzlaff, Sergeant Dave Struckman of the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Chief Deputy Tom Doherty were in vehicles. If a violation was spotted, Kelly and Hatfield would contact Struckman and Doherty who would initiate a traffic stop.
Most of the crossings in that stretch of track are outfitted with crossing gates. It takes a bit of delicate maneuvering for a vehicle to wind through the gates and Engineer Marquardt said he has seen it done. No one was quite so brazen on the day of the check, but a few motorists did dart across while the crossing lights were flashing and the gate had yet to come down. One truck was stopped at the tracks and as the crossing lights turned on, decided to cross. The falling gate nearly struck the truck.
“It takes maybe five minutes for a train to come through,” Zwart said shaking his head. “Who’s in that big of a hurry that they’d risk their life?”
Zwart said by far the most dangerous crossing is on Blue Earth County Road 5 near the stone quarries outside of Mankato. “You just hold your breath when you go through there,” he said.
While train speed varies on certain sections of track, Marquardt said trains are going close to 50 miles per hour when passing through Le Sueur. Just one locomotive weighs over 200 tons and Marquardt said it takes between a mile and a mile-and-a-half to come to a stop. “The newer locomotives are able to stop in shorter distances,” he said, “but just think how long it takes to stop a car going 50. We’re carrying a lot more weight.”
A total of nine stops were made in less than three hours, but not everyone was cited. “”We’re not trying to trap people or write a bunch of tickets. It’s all about awareness,” Hatfield said. “That’s why we park the car at the mall. If we can get people to think safety at a crossing, maybe save a life … that’s what it’s all about.”