(The following story by Nash Armstrong appeared on the Knoxville News Sentinel website on July 22, 2010. B.L. Inman is a member of BLET Division 239 in Knoxville, Tenn.)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After 31 years as a Norfolk Southern Corp. train engineer, B.L. Inman has seen too many train accidents.
When he hits the emergency brakes of a train engine car in hopes of avoiding a pedestrian or automobile at a railroad crossing, he says he has done all he can.
“After I hit the emergency brake, it’s all in God’s hands,” he said.
State sponsored Operation Lifesaver teamed with Norfolk Southern to help educate area officials about railway safety early Wednesday morning.
Operation Lifesaver, which is sponsored by 22 states nationwide, is an “international, nonprofit organization education and awareness program dedicated to ending tragic collisions, fatalities and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on railroad rights of way.”
Skip Stigall, superintendent for Norfolk Southern’s Knoxville terminal, said the program helps to educate the public about the dangers of breaking the law.
“We’re trying to give people an idea of what train crews go through every day,” he said. “These are dangerous situations the public puts us in when they violate the laws.”
Local law enforcement and railway officials had the opportunity to ride a three-car train consisting of two passenger cars and an exhibit car to learn what engineers like Inman encounter on a daily basis.
Before riding, passengers had the opportunity to tour the exhibit car, which was an interactive learning station on train tracks. Passengers could test their engineering skills on a Norfolk Southern engine car simulator, which guided them through real world examples of what train engineers face daily, see what the hub of a railway terminal looks like, and read about the history of Norfolk Southern.
During a nearly five-hour ride, passengers also had the opportunity to see what engineers see through a camera mounted on the train’s engine car. Stigall said while they traveled, passengers would witness citizens breaking the law, and local law enforcement were waiting to issue violators citations.
Inman said informing the public of his job and daily duties helps avoid what could be a fatal collision.
“Taking this engine versus a soda can would be the same as this engine and your car,” he said. “We can’t stop on a dime. We’re not like an automobile.”
According to 2009 Federal Railroad Administration statistics, Tennessee ranked 10th nationwide in highway-rail grade crossing collisions with 55.
Inman attributes the statistic to people not knowing how long it takes a fully loaded train, which travels about 50 mph and weighs around 16,000 tons, to come to a complete stop.
“When I throw on the brake, it takes a minimum of a mile for this train to stop,” he said.