UPRR InsideTrack, 3/6/24
Near Miss Illustrates Need for Constant Safety Vigilance
By Terry Hanken, senior manager-Train Operations
Railroaders can’t become complacent or lose respect for the heavy equipment they work around every day. A close call early in my career brought that message home for me and underscored why safety must always be top of mind.
The incident happened in 2000, two years after I began working as a conductor in Herington, Kansas, a small town about two hours west of Kansas City. I was riding on a locomotive while building a train in a rail yard. I stepped off the engine, never looking back, and proceeded to stand on the crossties of the track beside the engine. My engineer quickly cautioned me that a railcar was rolling down the track beside me – a railcar I had released earlier and had forgotten about. I glanced over my shoulder and stepped aside as the car quietly rolled by.
I never heard it, didn’t remember it, had become complacent. After the car passed, I sat down on the ballast next to the engine for about 10 minutes, in shock. I was angry at myself for forgetting the simplest rule – never foul the rail and always keep your head on a swivel.
