BUNKIE — A Union Pacific locomotive spent Thursday afternoon in this Avoyelles Parish town, rumbling back and forth between Bordelon and Johnson roads.

"There goes one!" said conductor Scott Goleman as a driver sped past red flashing lights.

And that was just the first pass through town. By the end of the afternoon, five motorists had been ticketed for ignoring railroad warnings.

It was part of the railroad's Crossing Accident Reduction Education and Safety (U.P. CARES). Union Pacific Special Agent Joshua Guillory said the intent is to share the word about rail crossing safety.

In 2017, Louisiana ranked seventh in the nation for railroad crossing collisions, based on preliminary figures from the Federal Railroad Administration. There were 87 collisions with six deaths and 31 injuries.

The six deaths placed the state at 12th in the nation.

One of those deaths happened in Bunkie. In February 2017, 28-year-old Curtis Ford Jr. rode a bicycle around barricades and was hit by a Union Pacific spike driver. He died later at Bunkie General Hospital.

UP special agents periodically conduct the enforcement events throughout the state, said Guillory. And it's not just motorists they keep an eye on, he said.

Railroad tracks, trestles, yards and other equipment are private property, so just walking on tracks is trespassing. Two pedestrians were warned about trespassing during the Thursday event.

"It's actually against the law to walk on the tracks or anywhere other than a crossing," said Guillory. "It's considered criminal trespassing."

He said most people he's talked to about walking on tracks say they'd hear a train coming, but that might not be the case.

"The fact is, if a train is moving at 50 miles per hour, you have to deal with the Doppler effect so you may not hear the train coming unless they're approaching a crossing and they're sounding their horn," he said.

Guillory said the same holds true for photographers. Railroad tracks have been a popular setting for years — just Google "railroad photoshoot" — but he said there's a hazard if you're posing for photos on active rails.

He used an example of wedding photos being shot on a track. If a dress gets caught on something, he asked, would there be enough time to get untangled before the train gets there? 

Trains can't stop quickly to avoid hitting vehicles, people or anything else that might be on a track. A train traveling at 55 mph takes more than a mile to stop, and Guillory said engineers can suffer long-lasting emotional trauma when people are hit.

There is a way for people to help if motorists get stuck on a track, or notice other safety issues. Look for blue signs posted on the signal masts at crossings, said Guillory.

The signs have a crossing number and an emergency contact number that will let officials know exactly where the problem is located, he said.

People also can call 911, and motorists should abandon their vehicles if they get stuck on a track.

Guillory said people always should assume trains could be coming from either direction, and that there could be more than one train if there's more than one track at a crossing. People should limit distractions inside their vehicles so they can hear train horns, and don't rely solely on the safety equipment at crossings.

"You should stop and look both ways in any case."

Louisiana statutes for railroad crossings:

Criminal trespass

Obstructing highway of commerce

Simple obstruction of a highway of commerce

Obedience to signal indicating approach to train; reporting violations;  penalties

All vehicles must stop at certain railroad grade crossings

Railroad grade crossings; stopping required

Vehicles must yield at railroad grade crossings; exceptions; penalties for violating

Obstruction of railroad grade crossings


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