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Springtime rail safety tips for farmers

The head of Missouri Operation Lifesaver says farmers need to proceed with caution around railroad tracks.

Tim Hull tells Brownfield the movement of trains can be deceiving. “No longer are those locomotives fully diesel,” he said. “They’re diesel-electric, so they’re much quieter and they run on ribbon rail, which is long sections of rail welded together. They make less noise.”

He says some farm machinery can limit a person’s ability to see and hear a train. “It does require them take a little more precaution than it does in a regular vehicle by turning that air conditioner off, turning that radio down a little bit to look and listen at the approach of those railroad crossings, because that equipment does go slower and it takes a little longer to get across the tracks.”

Hull says farmers should never try to take a shortcut and cross actual railroad tracks.