Between the police and the news media, it is a wonder the railroad can do their job any more. Talk about paranoia. http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/4699968/detail.html [ July 09, 2005, 11:22 PM: Message edited by: r_i_straw ]
They do that here on the CXS all the time. All though to be honest I’m surprised the Dunkirk police have not polled a Bonner like that. I think that town with railroads should have class with local police and fire officials so they can learn something about the railroad. It is surprising how little they really know. Here is a Good one. In Ripley NY. A small dot of a town not far from Dunkirk NY. When a train would go into emergency. If the train was blocking any crossings. The local County sheriffs would board the train and issue a ticket to the train crew for blocking a railroad crossing. Then they would demand the crew to move the train. Not knowing that the train had gone into emergency and could not be moved.
Gee, keeping up with Norfolk Southern's "abandoned" trains will really drain police agencies on the east coast! Harold
Why wouldn't the crew have notified the dispatcher...and why didn't the "authorities" call the dispatcher emergency hot line? Reason I ask....my next door neighbor is the Fire Chief. Our Fire Dept. has a policy where any incident within city limits that involves a train, the shift duty officer immediately calls the appropriate dispatch emergency hotline (CSX/KCS), describes the incident and asks them for their knowledge. In rare cases over the past few years, the FD's call was the first that the dispatcher had heard of the incident, but they immediately grabbed the ball and got back to the FD within a few minutes. BTW, in our city, the FD Chief has overall responsibility for all emergency first response. The FD even controls the PD until it is declared a crime scene. This policy has worked very well.
I am sure the crew notified the dispatcher when they went "dead on the law" and it was probably a railroad contracted van that picked them up and not a "Taxi" as reported. This is an every day occurrence on most railroads. A crew does not just walk away leaving a train on the mainline without first calling the dispatcher.
I agree with Russell. Dunno how it might have showed on the dispatchers console. But a somebody had to know where to dog catch that train. Otherwise, they'd be lost when sending out a re-crew. Boxcab E50
I also agree with Russell. My point is why the local emergency response team(s) do not have a policy in place where they do NOT overreact to a non-lethal parked freight train. San Diego is hardly populated with unintelligent people, and it is not a small "hick" town. Whereas Gulfport, MS, population <80,000, and usually portrayed as being populated with straw sucking rubes, has had a rational and responsible policy in place for many years....something is definitely backwards here.
Hank- Yes. I understand. One of those San Diegans is my wife's older brother. Who holds a Masters degree from Stanford.... Boxcab E50
I can just see that dog-catch crew when they boarded the train... "Hey! who the &^#@ are you? Get the &*%$ offa here NOW! We had an incident happen several years ago when the BNSF had donated a couple of "executive train" diesel cab units to the IRM. The YM told one of the yard crews to go get those units and move them to the interchange track with the E.J. & E. The hogger was a buddy of mine and when he climbed into the cab, some guy in a sleeping bag said to him "Who the &^#$@ are you?" to which my friend the engineer said "I am the engineer who is supposed to move these engines, now just who the *&#$ are you?" Turns out that one of the wonks from the museum had taken the responsibility on himself to trespass on railroad property and " guard" the locomotives overnight. Well, he got into some deep do-do for that stunt! CT
OK, I guess I wasn't reading carefully. San Diego does not have the corner on knuckle heads. Here in Houston, before 9-11 there was an incident where some new pup TV reporter found an "abandoned" train idling on a siding along a highway and decided to do an exposé. He and his camera man boarded the lead engine and were poking around in the cab. They zoomed in on the dynamic brake control that was clearly in the OFF position. Oh the horror, the crew left without setting the brake and the train could roll off.
Russell- This is sure proof that college doesn't equate to intelligence.... Too bad the RR police didn't happen along right then. And arrest the media doofii. We know there is an absolute formula regarding population size. The greater the total numbers of people, the higher the probability of finding a human dud to create this exact situation. Boxcab E50
There is now a 1998 Chevrolet extended cab pickup truck with hi-rail equipment that has been stolen from CSX. It was last seen in the area of Millville, WV. (between Harpers Ferry and Charles Town) It has a Virginia license plate number of TT58346. Anyone with information on the vehicle may call the sheriff's department at (304) 728-3205
I like the tie in to the terrorist attacks... that makes it more "newsworthy". The truth is that this vehicle is probably no more of a "threat" than the idiot who drove onto the train tracks in California a while back and stopped on the crossing in front of a moving passenger train. Harold
something else to when i worked the ns we always locked the locos up when we went dead or put the train away in the siding, not sure if bnsf does this but i would ASSUME they do, if so and it was locked up, wouldn't this be considered breaking and entering?
You can always count on the media to present the facts in the worst possible light. You would think with the Opperation Lifesaver program police officers are getting some education about railroads, obviously it's not very in depth.
Also,The police have no reason to be on the engine at all.They were trespassing when they entered the engine.They could have called the BNSF and figured everything out without looking like a bunch of idiots.I really think the media is the biggest panic button in the world.They are so unknowledgable people about so much stuff but still yet they know it all.Does anyone remember the runaway CSX engine a few years ago?I still remember the media lady reporting asking questions like dou you really leave the keys in the locomotive? Between the media blowing things out of proportion and the police officers doing the same many people were probably scared out of their mind for no reason at all.And I think the BNSF engines lock from the inside door of the widebodies.Unlike the NS ones that have a switch lock on the outside of them.
