![[truck image]](DeadTruck.jpg)
I'm posting this info on my web site to help with getting the word out
about the train safety problem at the Black Rock Desert.
Apparently people may not realize that trains go real fast (i.e. 70 mph)
through those long desert stretches, just like all the drivers in cars do
on the desert roads.
It means drivers have to be vigilant with looking for trains before crossing
railroad tracks in the area.
In a collision, the train always wins.
The Union Pacific train tracks go northeast from Gerlach along the eastern side of the Black Rock playa.
I'm sharing this info at the request of Mike Bilbo from the Winemucca office of the Bureau of Land Management. A recent accident totaled a truck but, thankfully, left the occupants OK. From the look of the photo, any further on that track and the story would have been tragic. (Select the small image to see a larger one.)
I'll send info to the Black Rock users whom I know at AeroPAC, JP Aerospace, Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society (ERPS) and BayNAR (Bay Area Unit of the National Association of Rocketry).
All readers are requested to spread the word to other Black Rock users. However, do that by giving them the URL to this web site or ones like it. Don't ask anyone to forward e-mails to their friends, because that could become a chain letter. But get the word out by having them see the web page.
From: Mike_Bilbo@nv.blm.gov
To: [distribution list deleted]
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 22:46:30 -0700
Subject: Dead Truck - Live People
For those persons receiving this that don't know the story, this past
Sunday, 6/6/99, Barbara Bilbo and another BLM volunteer, Frederick
Osterhagen, were riding in his truck and were clipped by a 70 mph train at
the Trego Hot Spring RR crossing on the southeast edge of the Black Rock
Desert. Barbara saw the train at the last second out the corner of her
eye, yelled "TRAIN" and Freddie threw it into reverse for 6 inches before
the hit. When you look at the photo, think of that difference - 6 inches!
This photo was taken by Freddie shortly after the hit. Part of the
crossing is in the lower left corner. The loose gravel and slope of the
elevated crossing also probably aided survival by allowing the truck to be
bumped away rather than back in to the train. Pictured is Barbara Bilbo.
THIS IS AN EXTREMELY SERIOUS PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE AND YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO
GET THE WORD OUT
For those of you receiving this that use the Black Rock Desert, we are
getting around 120,000 visitors annually. PLEASE - get the word out to all
others you know or your clients that 20 trains are on that Union Pacific
track daily, all traveling at least 70 mph and some in clusters of 2 to 5
trains. Just because one just went by doesn't mean that's it. Approach
all the crossings from Gerlach to Jungo with extreme caution and absolutely
STOP before crossing. Ask all in your vehicle: "Does anyone see a train?"
Continue to watch as you cross. If you see a train light coming, you
better wait. If the wind is blowing you may not hear the horn, which they
begin sounding 1/4-mile out.
BLM is teaming up with Union Pacific to take a hard look at the safety of
all those crossings.
Remember - Look, Listen, Live. Look at this website:
www.oli.org/oli/index.html
-------- Forwarded by Mike Bilbo/WFO/NV/BLM/DOI on 06/08/99 10:11 PM -----
"Frederick J. Osterhagen" [address deleted] on 06/06/99 10:46:33 PM
To: Mike Bilbo/WFO/NV/BLM/DOI
Subject: Dead Truck - Live People
Mike -
Boy, I sure made a mess. See attached.
I'm sorry about any trauma that I may have caused Barbara.
Remember here a few weeks ago I asked you, what at the time was a
rhetorical question, about whether or not BLM would cover my truck if I
drove it off the side of a mountain?
Frederick