Following article appeared in the Courier Times on Sunday 8-3-08. Take this as a warning: both local and railroad police are watching for people who trespass on railroad property.
Deaths prompt focus on rail safety
Officials to launch education program
By PAMELA SROKA-HOLZMANN
STAFF WRITER
Borough police are working to keep trespassers off the railroad tracks following recent fatalities on the Norfolk-Southern and CSX rail lines.
National statistics show this borough is one of the leading municipalities in the nation in per-capita deaths on rail lines. In the borough's 80-year history as a town crossed by two busy freight railroad lines, police have estimated that about 20 people have died in train accidents or near the tracks.
On May 8, Manville High School senior Kevin Seit, 19, was struck by a train while walking along the Conrail tracks near Huff Avenue. In March, a man's body was found along the south bank of the river, east of the CSX railroad bridge and near Huff Avenue. The body was wedged between a fallen tree and some brush along the bank.
More recently, in Hillsborough, 18-year-old Hillsborough High School student Jason Walton was fatally struck by a freight train on the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks near Beekman Lane on July 22.
Now, borough officials, educators, borough police and police from the Norfolk-Southern and CSX railroad lines are determined to change the statistics while heightening the public's awareness of the dangers of walking on railroad tracks.
"We want the public to stay off the railroad tracks, not only is it dangerous, it's private property," said Manville Police Chief Mark A. Peltack.
Promoting safety
Last week, railroad police spent two days canvassing the borough in an effort to raise awareness about railroad safety, said Lew Kellison, a manager of facility security for Norfolk Southern's corporate office.
Kellison was among a team of 10 police agents with the Norfolk-Southern and CSX lines working in Manville on Tuesday, July 22, and Wednesday, July 23.
Kellison said the mission was first to spend that Tuesday talking to business owners, school-board members and local officials about railroad safety. Residents living near the tracks, as well as some found crossing the tracks, were given pamphlets by police highlighting the dangers of trespassing on railroad property.
Next, the team, which also included K-9 dogs, spent hours during the day Wednesday, July 23, enforcing the rules.
The result was the following:
* One adult was arrested for criminal trespassing.
* Three juveniles were arrested for criminal trespassing.
* Two all-terrain vehicles being driven on the tracks were impounded.
* About 43 people received a warning to stay off the tracks.
Kellison said trespassers found on Tuesday, July 22, received warnings, but the police recorded their names and addresses and if they are found on the tracks again, they will be charged with trespassing. The majority of residents were found crossing the tracks to cut through to businesses, such as Wal-Mart on North Main Street or to their homes. Some had crossed 13th Avenue to a swimming hole near the Adesa Auto Auctions lot, he said.
“That whole area right through Manville was pretty busy,'' Kellison said. “People take short cuts and say no one told them it's illegal.''
Kellison said he personally witnessed a group of teenagers walk up the roadway to wait for a friend who was crossing the tracks. When he asked one young man why he stepped on the railroad tracks, the youth replied he was taking a “short cut,'' Kellison said.
“Unfortunately, when folks get hurt it's normally when they are taking short cuts,'' Kellison said. “And danger is the last thing on their minds.''
Kellison also noted some teenagers have been found walking on the tracks while listening to iPods or using other electrical equipment. He said, “They are just oblivious to the world around them. A train is extremely dangerous and it's just not worth the risk.''
From 2007 to 2008, Kellison noted there were 70 people warned and told to get off the tracks in the borough by rail police. In addition, Peltack said last week, two juveniles were found jumping on and off the side of a train while it was moving.
“You wouldn't cross an interstate highway, so why would you cross a railroad track?'' Kellison said. “You just don't know when a train will plow through. Anytime is train time.''
Making changes
The Borough Council plans to launch an education program in September to raise awareness about railroad safety.
Councilman Ken Otrimski, a retired Franklin Township (Somerset) police officer, said he has researched Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit organization sponsored by federal, state and local government agencies to educate students about railroad safety. He plans to initiate seminars for students to learn about the dangers and have parents continue the education at home, he said.
CSX Spokesman Robert Sullivan said during an Operation Lifesaver presentation in May before the Borough Council, CSX guest speakers plan to address the students in a schoolwide assembly, discussing ways to avoid collisions, deaths and injuries where roadways cross train tracks. He said “appropriate age'' visual aids such as videotapes also will be featured.
Otrimski, whose home is near the CSX railroad tracks, also said he has seen school-age children walking across the tracks because it's the quickest way to get from 8th Avenue to 13th Avenue.
“We definitely want to get the word out to both students and adults (about the dangers of trespassing),'' he said.
In addition, Kellison said rail police are on watch 24/7 for trespassers on both the Norfolk-Southern and CSX rail lines. They also plan to return to the borough to distribute information and perhaps, to Hillsborough, if there is a need.
“The past numbers (of fatalities) show us we have to go back there (to Manville),'' he said.