" Accidents at grade crossings are needless events! The fault falls completely
upon the driver of the motor vehicle. After all, The train does not get off the
track and chase the vehicle wont the street. The crossing is protected by a
round yellow advanced warning sign located 500 feet before the crossing and on
each side. The pavement is marked at the crossing......As an aside: A railroad
company has never lost a trial..."
The CN railroad operates an ex IC line from Chicago to Council bluffs through
northern Illinios not far from where I live. Several years ago during the
winter season the railroad was having problems with the wiring for the crossing
gates at the intersection of the RR and Gary ave. in the town of Carol Stream.
The railroad crosses the highway at a diagonal angle where a westbound auto
would never see a westbound train until just a few feet short of the
intersection. The snow, ice and road salt kept shorting out the crossing
lights/gates. Rather than fix the problem correctly the railroad ordered their
trains to enter the intersection at 5mph with horns blairing. Once the train
was on the crossing the gates would work. One day the dispatcher informed the
train crew that the problem was at Schmale Rd. and that the crossing at Gary
ave a mile further west had been corrected. Yep! You guessed it. The westbound
train entered the Schmale rd. crossing and the crew advised the dispatcher that
the crossing worked properly. The train accelerated down hill towards the Gary
ave intersection and entered the crossing at train speed. The gates came down
long after the locomotives had passed through but not before demolishing a SUV
and sending the critically injured occupants of the car to the hospital. The
dispatcher was fired. The railroad paid millions in damages.This past winter,
again the CN RR screwed things up again and killed a young univerity student.
The maintainance crew was working on the ex IC line from Chicago to New Orleans
in a southern suburb of Chicago. The crew forgot to check the crossing signals
after they finished their work. The young student leaving her college pulled
onto the crossing waiting for a traffic light and the City of New Orleans hit
her car at Amtrack track speed! The gates/lights never did work. The maint crew
came back later and turned them back on. This is still in litagation. Expect
millions to be paid and rightly so! In these two cases the train literally
chased the car down the road. The trainmen in both cases were absolved of any
wrong doing but that sure didn't help those folks who were injured or killed.RR
crossing accidents should never happen. I agree completely. Just wanted to
share these two stories of railroad incompetence.
Ernie Mennecke
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