Dick Seelye Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...
>
> Mr. Robl has published comprehensive directories
> and guidelines.
>
> I doubt that emergency service (police, etc) would
> be welcome on dispatcher lines.
>
> Comments and foam welcome.


Okay, as my name has already been thrown into this discussion:

There are a number of issues that can cause problems in communications between local law enforcement and railroads. One of these is that local law enforcement is used to working with street and road names and numbers; railroads work on mileposts.

There are ways of bridging this gap -- if there is adequate interest on both the railroad and the emergency responders (including fire and rescue units). Sometimes this happens through Operation Lifesaver where both railroads and emergency responders participate.

I'm aware of situations where local emergency responders hi-railed a line in their territory with railroad officials, recording GPS locations for mileposts and then transferring these mileposts to their emergency response maps. It also helps if police, et al, record all the data from the grade crossing plates ahead of time. That way, if a motorist calls in saying a car is stalled at the Jones street crossing, the police dispatcher can call the railraod with all the data, including the milepost number.

Operation Lifesaver does hold workshops for law enforcement officers on investigation of grade crossing collisions. These workshops go beyond just the investigation, also trying to make the local officers aware of other railroad operational issues.

Another non-profit organization, TRANSCAER, holds workshops around the country each year on response to hazardous materials incidents and related issues.

When Operation Lifesaver runs special safety trains, getting law enforcement officers to ride is usually a high priority as this gives these officers insight into railroad operations. The trips that I've been on have usually been eye-openers for law enforcement -- including one, where a truck actually drove into the path of our train and hit by it.

Of course, much depends on the local emergency responders being willing to participate in such activities -- and the supervisors and managers supporting such participation.


Now, for those of you not already familiar with it, one of the chapters of my book, The Basic Railfan Book, deals with safety. And, a major part of that chapter provides some guidelines on reporting problems to railroads.

This entire chapter is available for free online at my site as sample text from the book. And, as indicated in the text, I am willing to give permission for reuse of that text, under certain conditions, as specified there. Or, you can simply send people to my site.

The location is http://www.robl.w1.com/brfb/brfb-14.htm.

The guidelines in this text were developed with lots of input from both emergency responders and railroad employees.


And, no, I don't think it would be particularly useful for local police to have access to railroad channels. Railroad police (special agents) do have access to the police mutual aid channels and can communicate with local police that way.


I hope that's useful.

-- Ernest