Dec 6, 1999

More trains, blocked crossings

Rail officials say greater rail traffic and crowded rail yards are key factors in an increase in blocked roads.

By JASON HAUPRICHT and CYNTHIA RAMNARACE - Evening News staff writers

More and more, motorists around Monroe County are finding themselves delayed or detoured by idle trains blocking crossings.

They're forced to either find a route around the train or simply wait, hoping the train will start moving.

As a citizen, I'm fed up with the train blockages, said Monroe County Prosecutor Edward Swinkey.

So is Frenchtown Township Supervisor James Spas.

It's like getting tied up against the wall and seeing someone beat up one of your kids. It is frustrating, but you can't do much about it, he said.

Michigan law limits a stopped train from blocking a crossing for more than five minutes, seven minutes if the train is moving. In November, a Norfolk Southern railroad train blocked eight intersections in the city and Monroe Township for more than an hour. State police troopers from the Monroe Post and city police officers issued the train eight citations. It wasn't an isolated incident:

Crossings on LaPlaisance Rd., Dunbar Rd., St. Vincent St. and Fourth through First Sts. Were blocked for 74 minutes.

Earlier this year in Frenchtown Township, one train blocked a crossing for more than 10 hours.

The crew apparently left the train unoccupied, and a sheriff's deputy issued the train multiple tickets.

And in July, a train blocked multiple intersections parallel to Kentucky Ave. in the City of Monroe. The stopped train boxed in almost the entire eastern edge of the city. Monroe Police officers issued the train eight citations, one for each blocked crossing.

Frustrating for crews, too
It may be little consolation for drivers, but the companies and crews who operate those trains say they're frustrated, too.

We don't want to block crossings. But when we do have to stop, we try to do it to have the least amount of effect on the community, said Rudy Husband, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern.

He said any of several factors might cause a blockage.

For example, the acquisition of Conrail routes in June by Norfolk Southern and CSX, combined with congestion in the Detroit and Toledo terminals, has caused backups as trains sit and wait for the rail yards to clear. The blockages also could be from mechanical failures, or crews nearing the ends of their shifts.

By federal law, train engineers can work only up to 12 hours consecutively. Once a crew reaches the maximum number of hours, it has to be replaced, even if the train must come to a complete stop to make it happen.

Mr. Husband said from 15 to 20 trains a day run between Detroit and Toledo. The company's busiest line is between Chicago and Toledo.

A train blocking a crossing can be separated to clear an opening for motorists to pass through, but it's a time-consuming process, said Mr. Husband.

So, most of the time, trains will sit on the track until space in the rail yard opens up, or a crew is replaced.

Engineers are trained to know precisely where they can stop their trains so they don't block crossings.

"If there's a choice between blocking a dirt road and a state highway, we'll choose the dirt road, ‘ he added.

Difficult to split trains
In some cases, due either to the length of the train CSX trains can stretch for two or three miles, but most average 1.5 miles long or because the crossings are close together, it's impossible for a train not to block the roadway.

There are not many places you can stop a mile-and-a-half-long train and not block a crossing, said Ken Gilsdorf, CSX public safety coordinator. I've seen five trains sitting between Albain Rd. and Toledo waiting to get into Toledo.

The only way some trains won't violate the law is by splitting itself in two. That process is complex and ultimately may worsen the problem. If an engineer does cut a crossing as such a train-split is called and he's stalled for more than two hours, he has to perform a federally mandated brake test.

This means that once the train is in two pieces, performing the checks necessary after putting it together again can take several hours, Mr. Gilsdorf said.

The conductor has to make sure that all the valves are in the correct position so they can get the air they need to operate. He also has to monitor all the gauges before they can take off. In wintertime, the cold often makes valves freeze up, which requires the conductor the manually fix what can be numerous frozen valves.

If the crossing is not cut, all we have to do is release the air and then we can go, Mr. Gilsdorf said.

Mr. Husband said his company has no set policy on when to cut a crossing. It generally depends on how long a train will be idle.

There may be a misconception in that people see a crossing (blocked) in the morning and in the afternoon and assume it's the same train, Mr. Husband said. If we see a train won't move for a number of hours we will cut the train.

Solutions being considered
Cutting crossings is just a way of dealing with the larger problem and not a solution. The only way to stop train and traffic tie-ups is to enlarge the Toledo yards, Mr. Gilsdorf said.

Trains enter the yards to be reclassified and sent on a new assignment. They also get a thorough inspection.

An expansion of Norfolk Southern's old airline yard on Toledo's west side is under way, said Mr. Husband.

"We're making improvements in Toledo to help relieve the congestion, " Mr. Husband said.

The extra tracks, to be installed by mid-2000, will help improve traffic flow, he added.

Volumes increase in the fall and early winter, Mr. Husband said, for several reasons. First, harvest time means there's more grain being transported around the country. Carmakers are working hard to get new models into vehicle showrooms. Utilities like Detroit Edison are stockpiling coal to prepare for increased output during the winter months.

‘We view it from a financial standpoint of having a nice problem to have ", Mr. Husband said. "In the community we run through we recognize there are times we're not being a good corporate neighbor. When we do have to stage a train outside of a yard we make every effort to put the train at a location where it will be the least intrusive. "

Mr. Gilsdorf admits that congestion in CSX's Toledo yards is a problem that will not be solved anytime soon.

Walbridge (yard) needs more room, Mr. Gilsdorf said. There's just not enough room in Toledo for all these trains.

CSX operates two yards: Stanley and Walbridge. A track is being added to the Stanley Yard, Mr. Gilsdorf said, but that won't solve the problem of the Walbridge yard.

"The CSX main office in Jacksonville decides whether to expand," Mr. Gilsdorf said. "We have room to expand. When they want to expand, we can."

Tickets keep coming
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials will continue to ticket idled trains.

This year alone, the Monroe County Sheriff's Department has issued 48 citations to trains blocking crossings. At $500 a violation, that amounts to about $24,000 in fines.

"We don't like to receive the tickets, obviously," said Mr. Husband. "We try to keep the trains moving, because a train that's not moving is not making money. "

Mr. Husband couldn't say how much money his company pays in fines each year.

"Some (tickets) we appeal and some we pay," he said. "It depends on the circumstances. You have to look at each situation, what the fine was and decide if we're going to pay it or go to court."

Mr. Spas said he thinks the blockages have become less frequent in the last few months after rail officials were sent a letter drafted by Mr. Swinkey and signed by himself, Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield and other officials.

"It has (died down) to the best of my knowledge. I haven't been aware of any complaints," said Mr. Spas. "I don't seem to have as much as I used to. The problem seems to be squashed down a little bit. But I'm sure it's going to happen again. "

Still pending, however, is a federal lawsuit by CSX against the City of Plymouth challenging the town's practice of ticketing trains from a nearby switching yard that block crossings.

CSX was ticketed 426 times last year for blockages.

The railroad wants Plymouth and other communities to follow more lenient federal laws.

Attorney General Jennifer M. Granholm is intervening on the side of Plymouth, saying it's a public safety issue.

Shermanstine Morrow finds her life is often dictated by train traffic. She lives smack between two rail lines.

By Joshua Kennedy - Evening News staff writer

Shermanstine Morrow doesn’t just live near the tracks. She lives between them.

"I don’t like trains," she said from the living room of the house she rents in the 1200 block of E. First St.

The two-story house is not only a stone’s throw from the tracks; it’s a stone’s lob from the north-south tracks that frame it. In fact, if you open the front door and look across the street it appears as if a dormant set of tracks ends at her house.

Trains rolling by don’t seem to stick to any set schedule, but she has noticed a regular 3 a.m. train, she said.

"They come through and wake my 3-year-old son (Malik) up," Ms. Morrow said.

The house shakes and stirs and "you have to turn the TV all the way up just to hear it over the trains," Ms. Morrow said.

Malik wakes up and goes into his mom’s bedroom where he tries to get back to sleep while the house groans and creaks as the trains roll by.

Ms. Morrow is getting used to the noise.

"But Malik won’t ever get used to that noise."

Sometimes Ms. Morrow is blocked in by trains running on both tracks. Whenever that happens she simply turns around and goes back into, her house to wait. That can take 10 or 15 minutes at times, she said.

‘And then they’ll stop and start to roll backwards."

Her life is dictated by the rhythm of the trains.

"They go much faster at night," Ms. Morrow said. ‘And there are more than a couple trains a day, but the east track is worse."

The trains have taken away some of her livelihood too.

"I used to baby-sit, but the kids kept telling their moms that they didn’t like the trains," Ms. Morrow said. "I don’t baby sit anymore."

Then there’s the malfunctioning crossing alarms too.

"Some days those lights are blinking and the bells are ringing all day long"she said.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Clanging bells at the crossings are meant to warn motorists of oncoming trains.

Yet Ms. Morrow says that at least once a month the bells sound warnings about nothing in particular.

"But what really scares me is the safety of the children," she said. "Malik walked across the tracks over to the (Arthur Lesow) Community Center one day".

And yet, despite all the hazards and annoyances, Ms. Morrow said she’s still happier here than in an apartment.

Because equipment for responding to a major chemical spill is so costly, Monroe County would have to rely on larger neighboring communities to help with a tanker-car derailment.

By, JASON HAUPRICHT - Evening News staff writer

They rumble through Monroe County daily bearing cryptic symbols, numbers and odd-sounding names.

Some clearly are marked hazardous or flammable. Others merely have inventory numbers.

They are usually tanker cars, carrying hazardous chemicals via rail.

Because chemical and auto companies use them in their processes, potentially dangerous chemicals such as acetone, ammonia and sulfuric acid commonly are carried by rail.

What happens if a train hauling such chemicals derails?

If it happens in Monroe County a local emergency response plan would be activated and personnel from other communities might have to be called upon to help contain the problem, according to one fire official.

That’s because it’s too expensive for departments to maintain the equipment necessary to cleanup toxic spills, said Frenchtown Fire Chief Ron Whipple.

"I hate to harp on cost, but it’s a fact of life," he said.

Each suit used during a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) cleanup costs several thousand dollars just to purchase. The suits also have a shelf life of just two years, which isn’t cost effective, according to Chief Whipple.

"You have to get rid of them alter that, whether you use them or not," he said.

There are four levels of HAZMAT training: first responder awareness, operations, technician and specialist.

Almost every fire department in the county has firefighters trained for the first response level. Several departments also have firefighters trained in the operations and technician levels.

For serious toxic spills, emergency workers from the Toledo or Downriver area would be contacted to help.

If there is a serious incident, Chief Whipple said firefighters first would try to determine what type of hazardous material has to be contained.

Then they’ll check the wind direction and determine if it’s near a creek or waterway. After that they’ll isolate the area, and then possibly evacuate, depending on the severity of the spill.

"We’d have people stay in their houses," he said. "But if it was a longer period of time and a greater dose, we would have to get them out of there.

"If it gets in the water, it’s a real major concern," he added.

Mitch Yudasz, director of the county’s Emergency Management Division, agrees. He said every situation is going to be different.

"It might be more dangerous to go out the door than stay inside. It’s based on the situation," said Mr. Yudasz. "Each scene is different. It depends on what they need."

Chief Whipple said although a major toxic leak could be a potential catastrophe,

it likely won’t happen.

He said he’s never seen a major toxic leak in his 12 years as Frenchtown’s chief, and before that a considerable amount of time as a volunteer for Bedford Township Fire Department.