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spacer.gifNS train used for Operation Lifesaver training involved in fatal accident

(The following story appeared at WDBJ7.com on July 16. Danny Buck is a member of BLET Division 301 in Roanoke, Va.)

ROANOKE, Va. A Norfolk Southern train struck and killed a man Tuesday night in Roanoke. Ironically, the train is the same one Norfolk Southern uses to promote rail safety.

The man was hit by the Operation Lifesaver train as it pulled into Roanoke for an educational trip to Lynchburg. The death is exactly what Norfolk Southern is trying to prevent.

Train operating crews have a front row seat to things most of us never see. It's a privileged view, but one that sometimes gives them a lot of nightmares.

Nicky Strock is a Norfolk Southern conductor. In his 34 years on the rails, he's seen some deadly collisions.

"I was involved in a fatality in 1996," says Strock. "We hit a gentleman in his pickup truck. Knocked him and his pickup truck 175 feet before it actually touched the ground."

That experience led him to join Operation Lifesaver, a group dedicated to train safety.

Wednesday they shuttled everyone from teachers to lawmakers from Roanoke to Lynchburg in order to show them the risks people take along the rails.

A special feature of the trip was a camera, mounted on the front of the engine. It gives everyone in the passenger car a view of what the conductor sees.

"It allows them to see, from the engineers perspective, the message of safety that we attempt to convey," says Melvin Jones with Operation Lifesaver

Riders witnessed dangers like cars who try to beat the train.

"People play chicken with you," explains Norfolk Southern engineer Danny Buck. "[They] pull out in front of you, stand by the right-of-way, stand by the track."

Armed with first-hand knowledge, Norfolk Southern is hoping passengers will spread the message that railroads are no playground.

Five people were killed along Virginia tracks last year. Operation Lifesavers says railroad deaths have dropped dramatically since the program started in 1972.

Thursday, July 17, 2008



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