(The following story by David L. Teibel appeared on the Tucson Citizen website on June 3. Brothers G.W. Posey and Douglas L. Farler are members of BLET Division 28 in Tucson, Ariz.)
TUCSON, Ariz. — G.W. Posey eases the throttle forward on his 8,000-horsepower twin-diesel locomotive rig.
The two cars, coupled back to back, creep forward until the 31-year-old Union Pacific Railroad engineer reaches some 30 mph to cruise through downtown Tucson.
Two motorists – ignoring flashing lights, crossing arms and the locomotives’ horn and bell – try to beat the train through a crossing. Tucson police pull over both.
It’s a common scenario, local railroad engineers say.
Last week Union Pacific, Marana and Tucson police joined forces to patrol area railroad crossings and pass out tickets to motorists who stopped on the tracks or raced to beat crossing arms.
At 110 cars long and weighing 6,000 tons, the average freight train takes more than a mile to come to a halt, said Union Pacific engineer Douglas Farler, southern Arizona coordinator for Arizona Operation Life Saver.
“You think you’re going to kill him,” said Farler, who has driven trains here since 1991. “You’re just heartsick. You feel sick. You just hope they’re going to get out of the car.”
From 1994 through the end of last year, 12 train-vehicle collisions occurred in the Tucson area, and two were fatal, he said.
During that time, 31 pedestrians were hit by trains. Farler didn’t know how many of those were fatal.
“We’re in the top 15 states for pedestrian collisions,” Farler said, adding, “we’re in the bottom 35 for train-vehicle collisions.”
In 1978, when Farler was a brakeman, his train hit a pickup on the Northwest Side. The train clipped the back of the truck, knocking off its bumper, as the driver tried to beat the train through the crossing. The driver fled and, as far as Farler knows, was not hurt.
In 1992, as an engineer, Farler was at the controls of a train that hit a pickup stopped on the tracks near East 36th Street. The driver, who had been drinking, was asleep beside the road near the tracks and was not hurt.
Farler has seen many motorists illegally driving around crossing arms or ignoring flashing red warning lights and trying to cross the tracks before the arms come down, which also is illegal.
The danger of doing that, said Union Pacific Railroad police Lt. Allan Brown, is you could end up on the tracks when a train comes.
“You could be … blocked by traffic. Your car could stall. You could run into the crossing arm,” Brown said. “Every one of those are a potential accident.”
Then there are the people sleeping on the tracks, either drunk or suicidal; walkers; joggers and kids playing “chicken” – running toward the trains and jumping out of the way at the last second, Farler said.
Three or four years ago, Farler said, he hit a man who had passed out drunk on the tracks near East 22nd Street.
The man’s friend was trying to pull him off the tracks but couldn’t, and the engine hit the man’s head, Farler said.
But it was a glancing blow – the train was only traveling a few miles per hour – and the man survived.
In a busy week, Union Pacific maintenance crews may replace five to seven crossing arms damaged by motorists trying to beat trains in the Tucson area, Brown said.
Arizona Operation Lifesaver, part of Operation Lifesaver International, is a nonprofit program dedicated to preventing railroad fatalities and injuries through public education.
SNAPSHOT OF TUCSON:
A recent enforcement operation along the Union Pacific Railroad tracks through the Tucson area hints at the daily problems railroad engineers face at roadway crossings.
* In Marana, seven motorists were cited by police at the West Ina Road crossing, and two were cited at the Cortaro Road crossing, three for trying to beat the crossing arms and six for stopping on the tracks.
* In Tucson, police patrolling crossings at North Main Avenue, West Sixth Street and North Ninth Avenue near the intersection of Ninth and Sixth – where the crossings are within feet of each other – ticketed 10 motorists, all for crossing as red lights flashed and crossing arms were descending.
Source: Union Pacific Railroad Police
TRAIN SAFETY TIPS:
* Always expect a train at every rail crossing. Trains do not travel on predictable schedules.
* Never stop your vehicle on railroad tracks.
* Never drive onto a railroad crossing until you are sure you can clear the tracks on the other side without stopping.
* If the crossing arms are down, stop. Then wait until they rise and the red lights stop flashing before entering the crossing.
* After the last car of a train passes at a multiple-track crossing, before entering the crossing, look and listen carefully for another train on another track in either direction.
* If your vehicle stalls in a crossing, get everyone out of the vehicle and away from it immediately. Then call 911 to report the emergency.
* Do not race a train to a crossing.
* Do not walk, jog, sleep or lie on railroad tracks.
* Do not walk on train trestles or bridges.
Source: Operation Lifesaver