Let's pay railroads full respect

Note to team photographers: While it's great to be creative, don't get the railroad involved.

The Union Pacific, which sends 50 trains a day across tracks near North Bend, halted them Thursday after railroad workers found the North Bend Central volleyball team was using the tracks as a prop for team photos.

U.P. spokesman Mark Davis said it was just an illustration of how seriously the railroad takes safety issues.

The 50 trains are on no set schedule, "so it's extremely dangerous to be in and around the tracks, because you just never know when a train's going to come."

School superintendent Dan Endorf said no teachers or administrators were part of the photo shoot, and none of the volleyball players were punished.

We're thankful we can report the incident as just an odd news story, rather than a tragedy.

It's also a good reminder of just how seriously railroad traffic should be taken.

McCook residents are spoiled, so to speak, by not having to deal with open crossings, or trains running full-speed through town. Freight and passenger trains stop here, and if we do have to get from one side of town to another, we can use the U.S. 83 viaduct overpass or the Federal Avenue underpass.

That's not true for readers outside McCook, where vehicles have to stop for flashing lights or control arms to avoid being involved in a deadly collision.

We can only imagine the frustration and dread locomotive engineers feel when confronted with a vehicle or person on the tracks in the path of their train.

They can sound the warning horn and apply the emergency brakes, but the average freight train has 100 cars and weighs anywhere from 12 million to 20 million pounds, and takes over a mile to stop with emergency braking.

The majority of motor vehicle train collisions occur at crossings equipped with automatic signals, but some drivers mistakenly choose to drive around gates or ignore flashing lights.

Or, they think they can beat an approaching train. Wrong. Locomotives are 17 feet high and 10 feet wide, and appear to be traveling much slower than they really are when viewed from the slight angle at the crossing, thanks in part to the optical illusion created by rails converging toward the horizon.

Some drivers, traveling in bad weather, "overdrive their headlights," failing to see trains already passing the crossing, and crashing into the side of a train.

Don't pass vehicles when approaching a highway-rail crossing; they may be stopped or slowed because of an approaching train.

If in a line of cars, don't stop on the tracks where your car may be trapped by traffic. Make sure you can completely cross the tracks before starting across them.

Don't shift a manual transmission while crossing tracks, you may kill the engine. If you do have to flee a car on the tracks, run away from the tracks at an angle in the direction of the approaching train.

If crossing multiple tracks, don't cross immediately after a train clears the crossing. Another train may be approaching from the opposite direction.

If stopped at a crossing, leave room between your vehicle and the tracks in case a vehicle behind you does not stop quickly enough.

Remember, railroad tracks, railroad services roads and rights-of-way are private property and should not be used by joggers, hikers, people walking their pets or for ATVs or motorcycles.

The latter can drown out the sound of approaching trains, as can headphones worn by joggers.

Railroads have been part of Nebraska since the earliest days, and it's easy to take them for granted. Let's pay them the respect they are due.