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From: "Tom Beckett" tabeckett AT stny DOT rr DOT com
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 22:22:15 -0800
Subject: Pressconnects.com 10-29-01 TopStories
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Pressconnects.com | 10/29/01 TopStories
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Monday, October 29, 2001 =20
Train track trespassers flirt with danger -- and death
Fatal accidents fail to deter some pedestrians
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Henry Salisbury of Endicott walks to work at IBM on =
the railroad tracks near North Street in Endicott. Salisbury said he =
does not worry about the trains because it is easy to see and hear them. =
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KATHRYN DEUEL / Press & Sun-Bulletin

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DRIVER SAFETY
* Never drive around lowered gates.=20
* Never race a train to the crossing. Even if you tie, =
you lose.=20

* If your vehicle stalls on a crossing, get everyone =
away from the tracks. Move away in the direction in which the train is =
approaching.=20

CROSSING SAFELY=20

* Cross tracks only at designated pedestrian =
crossings.=20

* Tracks, trestles, yards and equipment are private =
property. Trespassers can be arrested and fined.=20

* Do not ride bicycles or all-terrain vehicles on =
tracks.=20

* Do not hunt, fish or bungee jump from railroad =
trestles.=20

* Do not try to board moving trains.=20

* Always expect a train. Freight trains do not follow =
set times.=20
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BY CONNIE NOGAS
Press & Sun-Bulletin


ENDICOTT -- Every weekday, Henry Salisbury walks down =
railroad tracks past a makeshift memorial that stands where a village =
man was killed by a train.=20
Two pedestrians have been killed by trains in the area since =
1993, and trains killed three other pedestrians in Broome County between =
1997 and 2000. Yet despite that knowledge, Salisbury and others continue =
to flirt with danger by using area railways as foot paths and shortcuts. =


"If you're going to die, you're going to die," he said.=20

In one half-hour period last week, seven people crossed or =
walked on tracks that run parallel to Endicott's North Street. Railway =
experts say that section of tracks is one of the busiest railroad =
shortcuts in the Southern Tier. No one appears to think twice about =
crossing the tracks, even though trespassing is illegal and dangerous.=20

A Binghamton man learned that lesson the hard way last =
month. He lost part of a leg and mangled a foot when he was struck by a =
train in a Binghamton freight yard.=20

New York ranks in the top five U.S. states in cases where =
people are struck and killed while trespassing on tracks, said Seth =
Corwin, state coordinator for Operation Lifesaver, a train safety =
education program. Eleven counties had more accidents than Broome in =
1999, though most involved workers injured on the job. New York County, =
which includes Manhattan, led the state with 291 accidents.=20

One Endicott victim was village resident Charles "Chuck" =
Pellett, 34, who walked everywhere he went. Today, a large white cross =
with two artificial white roses marks the spot where he died en route to =
a party Aug. 28, 1993.=20

His mother, Marion Pellett, often stops her car and warns =
people not to cross the tracks.=20

"They can't understand or realize what it is to lose your =
child or anyone dear to you," she said. "People have to use their heads =
and realize that that is a big danger."=20

Still, some don't see the danger.=20

Those crossing the tracks last week included two high school =
students with back packs, and 12-year-old Jesse Turner. He crosses at =
least twice a day on his way to and from nearby Jennie F. Snapp Middle =
School.=20

"I'm not going to get hit by a train," said Turner, who =
walked his silver scooter across the tracks last week. "I can hear it. =
It's not like you're not going to know when a train's coming."=20

Not so, said Corwin.=20

"The difficulty is so often people see the tracks empty," he =
said. "They think, well, I will always see and hear the train coming =
because it's big and noisy. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that =
way."=20

Even if an engineer spots a pedestrian on the track and =
activates the emergency brakes, it can take a mile -- the length of =
almost 18 football fields -- for a 55-mph freight train to stop, =
Operation Lifesaver statistics show.=20

Still, some people would rather take the risk. Kenneth Camp =
often follows the tracks to West Corners, where he rented a video last =
week.=20

"It's a quick way to get over to West Corners," he said. "I =
check and make sure there's no train coming before I cross the track. =
I'm not afraid."=20

From across North Street where he's fixing a house he owns, =
Daniel Kohut sees people crossing the tracks all day long. One man =
doesn't own a car and walks to his job at the Giant Market in West =
Corners.=20

"I don't blame him for taking any shortcut he could. That's =
a long way to walk to work," Kohut said. "I did that when I was a kid. =
The only people that get hit by trains are drunk or high on something."=20

The only way to warn people is through education, Corwin =
said. His organization recently trained new safety instructors in =
Binghamton. They'll take their message to classrooms.=20

But it's an uphill battle, he said.=20

"People aren't too aware of trains," he said. "Everybody's =
in a hurry today. It makes it difficult."=20

In the meantime, Marion Pellett will continue warning people =
to stop taking shortcuts on the tracks.=20

"I wish people would stay off those tracks," she said. "They =
don't know the pain. It's been eight years, and we are still not over =
it. We never will be."=20


^^ Back to top=20



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