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Minnesota safety group honors alert railfan
Bravo! Well done! And a lesson to all that railfans are not a security threat but an asset to safety.
All of us should keep ourselves informed on the basics i.e. what phone numbers to call if we see a problem etc. Maybe we could keep this information on our vehicles that we railfan out of.
Kudos to Mr. Vandenberg, and to BNSF for its recognition of him. I second Mr. Benson’s comment. I’ve called NS police to report objects strewn on the track. They appreciated the call.
Some people are just passive about what’s around them. I’ve called the UP for one car with a broken flange and crossing arms stuck in the down position. You can hear a broken flange when it’s coming, CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK! It’s loud.
I second Mr. Benson’s comment. Find out the emergency numbers for your local railroads and program them into your cell phone.
I called UP once about a gate stuck down. They could not have been more friendly and responsive. They had a maintainer on the site in less than 30 min.
When still in Iowa, I came up on a u.p. Grade crossing that had a big dip in it, a car had passed over and bottomed out, taking off the bumper. I called the 800# and they sent a crew out in less than a half hour. They also had called the the train crews on the line. I have a scanner in my car. Very happy with me calling and reporting this problem.