A. What do you do if a train is across the crossing but isn’t moving? And what if the crossing arm is down but there is no train? Q. Living in Newton, it’s easy to have constant “train on the brain.” So I posed these questions to Darlene Osterhaus, who is the executive director of Kansas Operation Lifesaver, a division of the national Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit, continuing public education program established in 1972 that deals with train safety (www.ksoli.org). As for a stalled train across the crossing, Osterhaus said railroad companies are “prohibited from allowing its trains, engines or railroad cars to stand upon any public road within one half mile of any incorporated or unincorporated city or town, station or flag station, or up on any crossing or street, to exceed 10 minutes at any one time without leaving an opening in the traveled portion of the public road, street or crossing of at least 30 feet in width.”
Translation, if they don’t move for 10 minutes, in Kansas, the train is breaking the law, and Osterhaus said “call your local law enforcement, because the railroad has failed and can be fined.” However, the fines do not apply in some extenuating circumstances, such as breakages or weather. In those cases, you’re simply out of luck.Now, if the crossing arm is down but there is no train, the first rule is, do not go around a gate. Yes, it’s tempting, but it’s also illegal.If you have to get by, you’ll need to find a non-blocked crossing or some secret shortcut. Osterhaus recommended calling local law enforcement, 911 or the railroad emergency notification number (which should be posted along with the DOT number at each crossing). In the box to the right, we’ve also included some numbers for Kansas railroad companies that can be used to report signal malfunctions or a vehicle stalled on the tracks. Grab a pair of scissors, cut it out and stick it in your glove box. Think of it as the Go-To Gal gift that keeps on giving.Q. When we moved to Newton, we were warned about the excessive train noise.I just wondered why the train engineers feel it necessary to lay on the horn when crossing the roads at an excessive time mode, as if flashing lights and lowered arms aren't enough.I feel sorry for the people who live by the tracks. Isn’t there a way to get the engineers to reduce the toot-toot-toot-toot-toot to just a toot-toot?A. Unfortunately, those delightful too-toot-toot-toot-toots aren’t just a matter of engineer preference. Those obnoxious noises are governed quite closely by federal regulations as administered by the Federal Railroad Administration.However, the same rule which went in effect in 2005 and requires locomotive horns be sounded as a warning to highway users at public highway-rail crossings also provided an opportunity, for the first time, for “quiet zones.” Newtonian Jim Unruh is one who has been pushing for Newton to become a quiet zone. He mentioned there is a lot of information available on the Internet if you want to learn more. It would require more safety measures to be put into place, but there may be some hope for more restful nights. He urges anyone who would like to see this happen to talk to city commissioners or the city manager, and maybe the toot-toot-toot-toot-tooting will be a thing of the past.On that happy note, later gators. See you next weekNEWTON —
