BLET engineer Dave Lahner cleans up Iowas railroad tracks
(The following story by Jennifer Meyer appeared on the Ames Tribune website on April 2, 2010.)
AMES, Iowa David Lahner enjoys the beauty of Iowas changing seasons and river wildlife from the cabs of the Union Pacific trains he engineers.
What he saw traveling the railroad tracks through Ames, however, was not beautiful.
I see old booze bottles, and lots of fast food papers, tree limbs and logs, railroad ties, and disgusting muck, said Lahner, 56, of Boone. Its pretty bad some places.
Over the past two weeks, Lahner spent the time between his work travels picking up litter along the tracks downtown and on Ontario Street in northwest Ames.
Lahner has been a UP employee for 37 years. He said he took initiative because he feels better working 12-hour shifts in a clean environment, he said, and he volunteered his time because anyone who is not a railroad employee does not have permission to be on the tracks.
His efforts last week also included cleaning up the area between the railroad and a black iron fence where the city cut down a line of trees after a series of accidents more than five years ago involving motorists and pedestrians who were struck by trains.
We couldnt see pedestrians, and they couldnt see us, Lahner said. Ames changed it for the better.
The city of Ames maintains the north side of the fence, located just north of the tracks and south of Main Street, but does not cross onto railroad property.
We can keep our side clean, but we cant get on the back side of the fence to clean that up, Building and Grounds Supervisor Matt Pepper said.
Since they put up the fence, theres nobody that can go between the fence and the tracks, Lahner said. Anybody who goes between the fence and the tracks, theyre trespassing, so it takes employees to go in and do this. Since Im familiar with the way trains operate, Im a good candidate to go in and clean the area up.
Peppers department assisted by donating trash bags and disposal of the approximately 20 bags Lahner filled from about four miles of track.
You can definitely see the difference, even though (trash) continues to collect, Pepper said.
Lahner said, Its pretty amazing the difference.
His ambition is spreading to his co-workers in Boone. Adam Miller, of Ames, manager of yard operations, helped Lahner with cleanup in Ames. Engineers Mark Sims, of Ogden, and Rod Kline, of Boone, picked up trash along tracks west of Boone.
Lahner said a group of railroad workers in Des Moines will also clean up a section of tracks.
Youve heard of Adopt-A-Highway, Lahner said. Well, Im trying to get this called Adopt-A-Track, and its just for the employees to adopt a piece of track and keep it clean.
He pitched the idea to his superiors in Council Bluffs and Minneapolis, who are reviewing the proposal.
Im trying to get the whole railroad cleaned up, Lahner said.
Lahner said he takes pride in the company that saw him through bouts with prostate cancer two years ago and kidney cancer last year.
The Union Pacific is the finest transportation company in the world, and Ames is one of the most beautiful cities in Iowa, Lahner said. And they both deserve respect.
