Avoiding train-tractor collisions

Railroads are urging the nation’s farmers during harvest time to use caution when crossing tracks.    Railroads are urging the nation’s farmers during harvest time to use caution when crossing tracks.
   Many fields are adjacent to tracks, and producers often use private railroad crossings to travel from field to field.
   According to the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, 250 people died and 943 were injured in 2013 as a result of grade-crossing incidents throughout the country.
   “As agriculture producers harvest their crops this year, we want to remind them to approach railroad crossings with caution and take the extra time to be sure a train is not near because you never know when a train will come along,” said Robert Morrison, Union Pacific Railroad’s police chief, in a statement.
   To raise awareness of railroad safety during harvest, UP safety employees have provided elevator operators in Nebraska with grade-crossing safety information in the form of a visor card that is attached to a weigh scale ticket holder. Drivers are given the safety information when they receive their weigh ticket, the railroad said.
   “It can take a mile or more to stop a train, and by the time a locomotive engineer sees you on the track, it would be too late,” warned Lawrence Wenko, UP’s director of public safety.