(The following story by John Lundy appeared on the Duluth News Tribune website on June 18, 2010.)
DULUTH, Minn. — Jim Laidlaw doesn’t remember the number of car-train accidents he has been involved with as an engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad.
But there are four in his 38 years with the railroad that the Superior man can’t get out of his mind.
“The number of fatalities I’ve had over the years — you can’t not keep track of them,” Laidlaw said on Thursday. “It’s not that you have a scoreboard. It’s that the memories, the impact on your mind, is so intense that it just never goes away.”
That’s why Laidlaw, 60, volunteers for Operation Lifesaver, the railroad’s effort to cut down on the violations by motorists and trespassers that can lead to those horrible memories.
On Thursday, Laidlaw and other Union Pacific employees, along with Superior police, conducted a sting operation between the Itasca yard in the Allouez neighborhood and Tower Avenue. On board the train were Sgt. Mark McGillis, traffic sergeant for the Superior police; and Eric Schwendeman, manager of road operations for the railroad. They were in radio contact with three “chase vehicles” from Superior police and one driven by the railroad’s police officer.
They had a lot of chasing to do. In two there-and-back runs, police issued 17 citations and seven warning tickets.
A few motorists got lucky. With a photographer and reporter riding along, Schwendeman, McGillis, engineer Dan Crist and footboard yardmaster Bob Berg saw seven vehicles cross Mall Drive in front of the train after crossing lights had been activated. There weren’t enough chase cars to get to all of them.
At one crossing, two people were stopped but a third managed to sneak through, probably oblivious to the close call. “That silver one lucked out today,” Schwendeman said.
In all, the crew in the train spotted 36 violations.
It was a financially painful experience for drivers who were cited. The fine for a first crossing violation is $263, McGillis said, and it’s more than $400 for driving around a crossing gate. It doesn’t end there. Your insurance rate will go up by 10 percent, Laidlaw said, and stay up for three years.
It was even worse for a few of the drivers who had other violations. At least one was driving with a suspended license. Another was cited because driver and passenger weren’t wearing seat belts.
But the point isn’t to separate people from their money, Laidlaw said.
“I hate to see somebody get stuck with a ticket,” Laidlaw said. “But at the same time, it’s an awful lot better option than a body bag.”
Both Laidlaw and Schwendeman said operations such as Thursday’s change behavior — at least for a while.
“Immediately after we have an event like this, for a couple days or even a week people are excellent,” Laidlaw said. “After that, the memory dwindles and they go back to their same habits — except for those people who have been cited; their memories stay with them forever.”