RAILROAD CROSSING SAFTEY: You vs. train: Youlose every time Visser, Steve . The Atlanta Journal – Constitution ; Atlanta, Ga. [Atlanta, Ga]. 28 Sep 2006: XJ.1.
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ABSTRACT (ABSTRACT)
CAPTION: NICK ARROYO / Staff Duluth police Sgt. C. Wilson mans his post at the Main and Brock streets railroad
crossing in support of the Operation Lifesaver train from Duluth to Toccoa. Officers were posted at each crossing
on the train's route because it was decided that hitting a vehicle during the trek would raise the wrong kind of
awareness
CAPTION: NICK ARROYO / Staff Law enforcement officers, Norfolk Southern Railway folks, Southeastern Railway
Museum representatives, politicians, and federal dignitaries board the Operation Lifesaver train for a trip from
Duluth to Toccoa to raise public awareness about the danger of trying to beat trains at crossings.
CAPTION: NICK ARROYO / Staff Mayors Shirley Lasseter of Duluth and Lillian Webb of Norcross engage in a heavy
discussion on the trip on the special Operation Lifesaver train from Duluth to Toccoa.
FULL TEXT
Railroad engineer Steve Lurie knows the look of a driver who sees a train coming and realizes he is about to die.
"When you look in somebody's eyes and they know they're fixing to get hit, it really hurts," he said. "It is a real
creepy feeling."
Lurlie has driven trains for 36 years. His trains have collided with vehicles that tried to cross the tracks as his train
was coming. Nobody died in those collisons, but he once ran over and killed a drunken man sleeping on the track.
"I've been lucky," he said. "In all these years, I've only killed one person. Some engineers have killed several."
On Wednesday, his Norfolk Southern engine was pulling two passenger cars from Duluth to Toccoa that carried
public safety, railroad and city officials on a trip sponsored by Operation Lifesaver-Georgia, a nonprofit group that
educates drivers on the importance of stopping at rail crossings.
"Today, fortunately, we didn't have a crash," said Jennie Glasgow, state coordinator for the group. "Last year in
North Carolina, this same train hit a tractor-trailer."
Law officers in Duluth, Flowery Branch and Oakwood took extra steps Wednesday to avoid a similar collision. They
placed patrol cars at each rail crossing to ensure Operation Lifesaver's train passed safely.
"Nobody wants to be the town where they hit a Lifesaver train," said Andrew Durden, a volunteer at the
Southeastern Railroad Museum in Duluth, who made the trip.
But each year, trains collide with thousands of automobiles nationwide. In Georgia, Fulton, Chatham, Ware, Cobb,
Gwinnett and DeKalb counties lead the state in such crashes, according to Federal Railroad Administration figures.
Gwinnett recorded 24 collisons between vehicles and trains from 2000-2005. Two people died and five were
injured, according to Operation Lifesaver.
Fulton recorded the highest numbers, with 91 collisions, four deaths and 12 injuries. DeKalb had 24 collisions, one
death and seven injuries. Cobb had 26 collisions and two injuries.
During that same period, six pedestrians were killed by trains in Gwinnett, according to Operation Lifesaver.
Trains overhang the track by three feet, which means they can clip a pedestrian who thinks he is safe, Glasgow
said. And trains can't stop for a pedestrian or a car on the tracks. A 100-car train can weigh 6,000 tons and take
more than a mile to stop when traveling 55 mph, according to Glasgow's figures.
"We go maximum speed over all these grade crossings — it is up to the public to stop," said Rick Collins, a foreman
for Norfolk Southern. "We can't stop a train."
Those trains could be hauling anything from coal and automobiles to hydrogen chloride, which is more dangerous
than chlorine, Collins said. Chlorine is what the Norfolk Southern train was carrying on Jan. 6, 2005, when it
crashed into another train in Graniteville S.C. The released gas killed nine people, sent 550 to hospitals and forced
the evacuation of 5,400 people.
That accident was blamed on a misaligned switch for the track. But in car-train accidents, the train always has the
right of way and the majority of accidents occur at crossing with gates and lights, Collins said.
Drivers either aren't paying attention or believe the train is traveling slowly when it actually is coming fast, Lurie
said.
Years ago, Lurie saw one of those situations almost lead to calamity in downtown Buford. He was steering a
passenger train when he saw a gasoline truck start creeping across the tracks ahead.
He started blowing the horn. The truck didn't speed up.
The train barely missed it.
"I thought I was dead," he said. "I only hoped that I could get through the crash before the truck exploded."
CAPTION: NICK ARROYO / Staff Engineer Steve Lurie of Norfolk Southern Railway sits at the controls to
communicate with the rest of the staff on the special Operation Lifesaver train designed to raise public awareness.
CAPTION: NICK ARROYO / Staff Duluth police Sgt. C. Wilson mans his post at the Main and Brock streets railroad
crossing in support of the Operation Lifesaver train from Duluth to Toccoa. Officers were posted at each crossing
on the train's route because it was decided that hitting a vehicle during the trek would raise the wrong kind of
awareness
CAPTION: NICK ARROYO / Staff Thom Logan of the Southeastern Railway Museum came prepared to take pictures
on the special Operation Lifesaver train from Duluth to Toccoa.
CAPTION: NICK ARROYO / Staff Law enforcement officers, Norfolk Southern Railway folks, Southeastern Railway
Museum representatives, politicians, and federal dignitaries board the Operation Lifesaver train for a trip from
Duluth to Toccoa to raise public awareness about the danger of trying to beat trains at crossings.
CAPTION: NICK ARROYO / Staff Mayors Shirley Lasseter (left) of Duluth and Lillian Webb of Norcross engage in a
heavy discussion on the trip on the special Operation Lifesaver train from Duluth to Toccoa.
Credit: STAFF
DETAILS
Subject: Railroad accidents &safety
Location: Gwinnett County Georgia
Company / organization: Name: Operation Lifesaver Inc; NAICS: 813319
Publication title: The Atlanta Journal – Constitution; Atlanta, Ga.
Pages: XJ.1
Number of pages: 0
Publication year: 2006
Publication date: Sep 28, 2006
Section: Gwinnett News
Publisher: CMG Corporate Services, Inc. on behalf of itself and the Newspapers
Place of publication: Atlanta, Ga.
Country of publication: United States, Atlanta, Ga.
Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals–United States
ISSN: 15397459
Source type: Newspaper
Language of publication: English
Document type: News
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Copyright: (Copyright, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution – 2006)
Last updated: 2017-11-07
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- RAILROAD CROSSING SAFTEY: You vs. train: You lose every time