Think You Can Beat The Locomotive? You'll Lose!

C&NW Men Featured In Racine Safety Interview.

RACINE, Wisc. Journal-Times (06/15/05) -- Driving 40 mph in your Honda is nothing compared to driving that fast in a train, according to the Journal-Times. From the inside of a locomotive, intersections seem to come faster, while cars appear to inch across them. And there's no stopping a train on a dime if a car or a person cuts you off.

"You know what your car can do to a pop can if you run it over? That's what a train will do to your car," said Michael Meyer, a police officer with Union Pacific Railroad, before beginning a ride-along Tuesday (June 14) with Racine Police Department officers.

Locomotive engineer Richard Neither, 58, has been working on the railroad for 35 years. In his time running an engine, he's hit and killed 18 people who were trying to beat him through the intersection, or somehow fell onto the tracks. "You have this adrenaline surge," he said of the fatal collisions, "and you never forget any of them."

Railroad officials are concerned too many people are darting through train track gates in front of speeding trains or walking too close to the tracks. Earlier this year, the officials say, a train in Racine nearly hit a woman who walked around gates with a stroller, and they want city police to monitor some of these intersections more. On Tuesday, June 14, Racine Police Department Patrolman Mike Mahnke rode the train along five miles of track between De Koven Avenue and 3-Mile Road, looking for those who would walk or drive across the tracks when the gates were down. If he spotted one, he’d call other officers on the ground who would chase the offenders. During the hour-long event, officers contacted three people who either rode their bikes or walked when they weren't supposed to. None were cited.

Trouble on the tracks. Usually ignoring the gates and lights is a bigger problem than it was Tuesday, with dozens of people a day cutting off trains here, said Neither. Neither and his conductor, 32-year railroad veteran Dennis Pilz, 53, run their freight trains about 40 mph along this stretch of track, slowing for some intersections and blowing a loud, long horn at each crossing.

They say the stretch between Kenosha and Milwaukee, especially in Racine, has a higher number of impatient and dangerous drivers who test beating the trains. They don't know why that is. After Tuesday's operation here, a spokesman said the Police Department is going to spend the next few months paying more attention to drivers and walkers when the trains come through.

"What we have arranged is the conductor is going to call our officers when they are coming through, and we are going to pay more attention to those intersections," said Racine Police Sgt. Todd Schulz. "We would rather take the enforcement action now than deal with a tragedy down the road."

Posted: 06/16/05