Odds aren't good for car vs. train

Sooner or later, motorists realize that Gilberts is a train town.

The tracks that run across Route 72, Mill Street, Freeman and Big Timber roads weren't abandoned and forgotten by a railroad years ago. They are used daily by four or five freight trains that carry cars and trucks to and from a Belvidere auto assembly plant.

Some people know this after being stopped at the crossing when one of the trains passes in front of them. A few impatient motorists learn this while they are in a hurry and try to beat the train before it crosses in front of their cars.

"Thank God, we haven't had any fatalities," said Gilberts Police Chief Mike Joswick. "But we've had our share of people who haven't stopped."

Last summer, an employee for a landscape company learned the lesson the hard way when a train struck the truck he was driving as its front was hanging over the tracks. He wasn't hurt, but his truck was destroyed and some of the train cars were damaged.

Then, there was a time a couple of weeks ago, a driver of an empty school bus rolled over the tracks when a train was rolling to the crossing. A Gilberts police officer saw her and gave her a ticket.

There have been other incidents, Joswick said. Kids have been playing near the tracks and drunken drivers have become lost and driven on them.

"The crossings at Freeman Road, Route 72 and Mill Street don't have gates. So, every once and awhile someone goes through the crossing, hoping to beat the train," the police chief said.

Their roadside lights flash and bells ring when trains approach the crossings. Fortunately, it doesn't happen every day. But there have been enough impatient motorists driving in Gilberts to prompt police to have Robert Meyer, an employee with the Federal Railroad Administration, speak at Wednesday's Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting.

When residents gather at 7 p.m. at the Rutland Dundee fire station, along Route 72, a block from the tracks, he'll explain that vehicles can stop quicker than trains.

"People don't realize that the steel wheels of a train rests on the tracks the width of a dime," Joswick said. "That doesn't give them a lot of time to stop. Most of the trains going through town are going at 45 mph."

And if they are lucky enough to beat the train, they could be ticketed for disobeying the bells and flashing lights at the crossings. The fine after being convicted of the first offense is $250. It doubles after a conviction for a second offense.

"Motorists also could have their licenses suspended for six months after a second conviction," he said. "We may be preaching to the choir at the meeting, but at least we'll bring more awareness the public that trains are nothing to fool around with.

"Even though there are no gates at some crossings, people should still pay attention to them. Some of these people were on cell phones more involved with their conversations."