I’m wondering on what happened to operation lifesaver. It looks like it’s still around, but I haven’t seen any campaigning lately. These past few weeks, there have been numerous threads on grade-crossing crashes and a rise of them in both the US and Canada. Isn’t it time for another Operation Lifesaver campaign?
Suggestion;
OLI has a presence in Canada (offices show Ottawa).
Their website is : http://www.operationlifesaver.ca/
If you are interested, I’d suggest that from your location in Ontario, that there would be a pool of OLI Presenters in either Windsor, or Toronto. Check with their HQ to see if there is going to be a training session for presenters in your area. You can volunteer and possibly do some good. It is a real educational experience.
[ In 2000 I was involved with putting together the largest class of OLI Presenters Trained by CSX in Nashville, and facilitated by OLI of Tennessee, and Georgia. We trained 25 Drivers and Driver Trainers to be OLI Presenters from the Tennessee Trucking Association, and Georgia Motor Trucking Assoc.]
]
I only know about Operation Lifesaver because of forums like this one and a few U.P. engines that have the words painted on the sides.
I only know of the “OLI website” because of web forums like this one.
I have only seen the Operation Livesaver videos by being refered to them (somewhere on the web) by people that have found them and publicize them on forums like this one. I have never seen one on TV.
Several years ago, while stopped at a grade crossing I overheard a conversation in the car next to me wherein the passenger asked the driver why “Operation Lifesaver” was printed on the side of a locomotive and the driver’s reply had to do with a supposed advertisement for the multi-flavoured hard candy rings.
From my viewing of Public Service Announcments on TV, I’d venture that the budgets for the anti-smoking, anti-obesity, anti-disctracted driving, anti-shingles, only-you-can-prevent-forest-fires, pro-veteran, pro-donate blood/bonemarrow, Parkinson support groups, and be-sure-your-kids-wear-helmets-when-bicycling coalitions are larger than that any amount of money put into OLI by all the RR’s combined. i.e.: I don’t believe the RR’s really care about it.
The public service announcements you mention, Semper Vapro, are given free time by the stations and often produced by advertising agencies as a service to a paying client’s favorite cause or from government agencies. Operation Life Saver was a cause produced by the railroads, long percieved as private enterprise and not chairitable and non profit. Media did not give it the time and attention either because they expect private enterprise to pay or because it just isn’t as sexy and glamorous as more common topics; often they just don’t understand the problem and pass it off as nothing. Get the kid of a celebrety or politician or the celebrety or politician himself on a grade crossing in front of a train and maybe they will pay attention and run the promos. Otherwise the railroads will have to buy the time and it might be cheaper to do so one body at a time. Gruesome, I know. But I also know media.
OLI did a presentation for local firefighters a few years back. The presenters were knowledgable, but dated (they didn’t know LaGrange was closed…).
Every now and then I’ve heard radio spots for Operation Lifesaver. Not very often though.
Jeff
NORFOLK SOUTHERN has some of it’s diesel locomotives painted in OPERATION LIFESAVER schemes including the former “SOUTHERN” GP-59 4610.
It’s still around, some of our engineers and conductors are part of it and visit local schools to spread the word. I dont remember the last time I saw one of their commercials on tv, but I do catch their radio spots from time to time.
Operation Lifesaver makes itself publicly visible in areas where there has been a uptick in the number of incidents of trains striking cars and/or trespassers. This is normally accomplished with ‘Officer on the Train’ runs that are well publicized and still manage to catch a high number of violators, which get further publicized with TV clips on the local evening newscasts. Outside of these high visibility events, the normal OLS event is OLS presenters attending community schools and in some cases civic organizations and giving a presentation.
One of the big problems is not OLI, but the process of doing presentations. OLI doe not show up uninvited and there lies the rub. (Had some issues with schools and civic gropups dropping the ball here)
These folks are always invited to tag along where I teach to make a pitch for doing future presentations. Maryland, South Dakota and New Jersey did so this year so far.
The NC Piedmont had a car that was marked Operation Lifesaver until it was hit by a track hoe that was spinning off the lowboy trailer that had been stuck on the crossing.
How about AMTRAK California’s ‘Yellow Banana’ #2007 ?
AAR newsletter has report on UP’s Opertion Life Saver program.
The Operation Livesaver message will have to be skillfully worked into Televison series and music videos where people drive over grade crossings in autos and large Highway Tractors pulling trailers. OLS will also need to have music video responses to music videos where there are people walking on the railroad tracks.
Andrew
Two problems I have found with the Operation Lifesaver program are: one, it relies heavily on volunteers who are very dedicated to the cause, are entusiastic, and love railroading but also lacking in understanding public relations and promotional savvy. The second it is often administered or supervised by professional railroaders who are also lacking the savvy of PR and promotion often because of having the corporate mind set of not being open with media and public on a formal level. It is strange because I have found that one on one railroaders…old timers at that…are often open, friendly, and willing to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for their work and their employer. But once put in a formal situation, like Operation Lifesaver, they all seemed to be shackled by the so called Brass Collar. The concept of Operation Lifesaver is a good one; it was probably concieved and layed out by public relations professionals working with professional railroaders. But when handed off to the individual railroads and then handed off to railroad personnel to administer, it has fallen flat in many cases.
With all due respect, henry6, Please allow me to add some comments and possibly provide some information:
To point#1) Absolutely correct in part. Enthusiasm for the individual presenters involvement. You do not get into OLI Presentation unless you are enthusiastic and concerned for railroad safety. My experience with the OLI presenters was exactly that. The Certified Presenters were qualified by their levels of training (ie numbers and sizes of their presentations and training sessions attended). Generally the more heavily qualified were railroad employees ( from all facets of the industry
Sam, my comments come from the point of being in the media having worked both in news gathering as well as promoting, etc. It takes a certain person of knowledge and talent in these jobs to make a promotion work. I am not taking anything away from a volunteer, Certified or otherwise, nor from any railroader involved in the operation. Put me in the engineer’s perch on any train or locomotive, and if we get out of the yard, we will be derailed or otherwise delayed in no time at all. But give me the job of what I do, what I am trained and experienced at, it will produce the desired results. So, what I am saying is that the railroads in general need more people who know promotion and public relations involved than just people who know railroading. OLS, and railroading in general, is not a field of dreams, at least not anymore. Rock and Roll glamour, internet stardom, and still even space, will get attention easier and faster than what for many is nothing more than a dull train. I don’t know how it works, and it probably is different on each railroad anyway, but rather than charge a division super or trainmaster with the job of seeing that OSL is “taken care of”, perhaps a promotion specialist be assigned to the project and take it to the super or trainmaster and work with them in presenting it. Even railroad police and security are often given this job but are not well suited or rebuffed because they are police and not railroaders. Yes, the can tell stories, but still, they must sell the message and not just tell the message.
Sam, my comments come from the point of being in the media having worked both in news gathering as well as promoting, etc. It takes a certain person of knowledge and talent in these jobs to make a promotion work. I am not taking anything away from a volunteer, Certified or otherwise, nor from any railroader involved in the operation. Put me in the engineer’s perch on any train or locomotive, and if we get out of the yard, we will be derailed or otherwise delayed in no time at all. But give me the job of what I do, what I am trained and experienced at, it will produce the desired results. So, what I am saying is that the railroads in general need more people who know promotion and public relations involved than just people who know railroading. OLS, and railroading in general, is not a field of dreams, at least not anymore. Rock and Roll glamour, internet stardom, and still even space, will get attention easier and faster than what for many is nothing more than a dull train. I don’t know how it works, and it probably is different on each railroad anyway, but rather than charge a division super or trainmaster with the job of seeing that OSL is “taken care of”, perhaps a promotion specialist be assigned to the project and take it to the super or trainmaster and work with them in presenting it. Even railroad police and security are often given this job but are not well suited or rebuffed because they are police and not railroaders. Yes, they can tell stories, but still, they must sell the message and not just tell the message.
henry6 wrote the following post on Friday, June 15, 2012 [inPart]:
“…Sam, my comments come from the point of being in the media having worked both in news gathering as well as promoting, etc. It takes a certain person of knowledge and talent in these jobs to make a promotion work. I am not taking anything away from a volunteer, Certified or otherwise, nor from any railroader involved in the operation…”
Henry:
When explained in that light, I have no argument, and am in agreement with what you said. You are correct an individual specialized in a field like Press and Media relations would certainly have the advantage and ability to deliver and stay ‘on message’. My inference was that OLI was an organization, in the field, working with the tools at hand, individuals who were convinced of ‘the message’, and certainly willing to expend time and effort to deliver that message, to the best of their individual ability. Recognizing that their are variances in those abilities. My guess is that their very best talents with the training to deliver the OLI message are housed within their Alexandria HQ. Quite possibly they might be able to use your talents in the New York area, if you could be available to them as someone who’s expertise could be utilized to help the volunteers sharpen and make more effective their volunteers presentations(?)[2c]
In Chicago area METRA has at least one Operation Lifesaver unit (an F40) and perhaps more than one in regular commuter service.