On Saturday morning March 18, 2023 our RAT pack met at crossing 833573J .

In preparation for our RAT field exercise, RATs always set up an orange traffic warning sign to warn drivers that people are present in the area and to also educate the public. This sign is a reminder that if you ever see a vehicle stuck on the tracks, look for the blue Emergency Notification System sign at the crossing and call that phone number first, before calling 911, and tell them about the vehicle on the tracks.

Anytime we are meeting at a crossing, we do an inventory of the equipment We check the following things:

• The crossbuck assembly is in good condition and that there is one on each side of the crossing
• Two blue ENS signs - one on each side of the crossing
• The gates, lights and bells look to be functioning
• The W-10 advanced warning signs present
• The railroad crossing pavement markings are painted on the road ahead of the tracks on each side of the crossing
• Along with all the other things on the US DOT Crossing Inventory Form

Crossing 833573J and the bungalow associated with that crossing are at a very busy crossing and often drivers get impatient and go around the crossing gates when they are down. Don't ever go around gates when they are down! When you see gates in the down position, there is a train nearby.

We talked about switches and the requirement that they are to always be locked.

While checking out the crossing, we came across a pile of rails and ties - some new and some used. A fellow RAT pointed out that Timber Nail Plates are used to strengthen the ends of railroad ties, reducing their tendency to split when spikes are driven into them.

The blue derail indicators on the track warn an approaching train or railcar that if they proceed to this point, the train/railcar will be derailed. The derail device is used to protect people or trains further down the track. Derail devices are to be locked at all times.

The metal stamped sign along the tracks indicates where the railroad's responsibility for maintaining the track ends and the company that the track is going to is responsible for the maintenance on their part of the track. In this case, Union Pacific's track ended at this spur and Ameri Gas become responsible for their part of the track.

The yellow paint and orange cone indicate the point on the track that the train cannot go past, or it will trigger the lights, gates and bells at the crossing in front of it.

We learned that tank cars carrying hazardous materials have a special coupler known as a double shelf coupler. While the coupler is designed to not uncouple, the main reason for the "shelf on the top and bottom" is to keep one tank car from riding up and puncturing the end of another tank car.

Tank cars have many requirements specified by the Department of Transportation. This panel identifies the tank car as a DOT 112 car. A DOT-112 pressurized tank car has additional safety features than what is required on DOT-111 class non-pressurized tank cars. This 33,700 gallon tank car is built to meet DOT 112J340W specifications and to operate at 263,000 lbs gross rail load for the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

We love our Coffee Tracks field training and yes, we do sometimes even have coffee!

Remember . . .

If you arrived early to Coffee Tracks, you got a great view of an East bound Union Pacific manifest train! One of our early RATS even caught a man down the hill beside track 2 changing his clothes. Sorry, no picture of this trespasser! You truly never know what you will come across by the tracks.

After signing in and getting our fresh coffee, we began educating new RAT members. We also discussed the email alerting us to a local railfan that has been playing with the track switches near the dog food plant off of Waltham Road, ringing the bells of locomotives in the Sparks Yard and just general trespassing on railroad property to get a photo or video. As a reminder, if you see someone on the tracks, near the locomotives / railcars or trespassing on any other part of Union Pacific property, call RMCC (Response Management Communication Center) at 888-877-7267.

Because of upcoming community events around railroad tracks, we discussed general rail awareness for the public and the availability of several RAT members for local rail safety presentations. If you are part of a Neighborhood Watch Group, the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, a church, a School District or any other organization, no matter the size, we will be happy to do a FREE rail safety presentation for you. Please contact us at Contact | Rail Auxiliary Team (nvrailaware.org and we will set up a presentation for you.

One of the responsibilities of RAT members, is to check out rail crossings in our area. If you know that you are going to a specific crossing, it can be helpful to have the US DOT Crossing Inventory Form. If you know the DOT Crossing Number, you may download a copy of the Inventory Form at Crossing Inventory Lookup | FRA (dot.gov). If you do not know the DOT Crossing number, you may find the crossing and it's number at the FRA Crossing Viewer website: https://fragis.fra.dot.gov/

Here is a "checklist" of things to look at while observing a crossing:

1. Control Point Bungalow (If there is one. Only at crossings that have lights/crossing gates.)
   • Are the doors to the bungalow locked? Doors not locked or open - this is reportable to RMCC.
   • Is the strobe light steady on? Sometimes it is hard to see due to the direction of the sun. If it is off or blinking - this is reportable to RMCC.
2. Crossing Mast
   • Is the Blue ENS sign present, visible and legible? If not - this is reportable as a non-emergency to RMCC.
   • Does the DOT Crossing Number on the Control Point Bungalow (if present) match the Crossing Number on the ENS sign? If not, this is reportable on the Union Pacific website UP: Response Management Communication Center (RMCC). Choose the category ROUGH CROSSINGS and fill out the form.
   • Do the crossing gates and lights appear to be functional? No obvious defects or problems? If there appears to be a problem - this is reportable to RMCC.
3. Advanced Warning Signs (AWS)
   • Are the signs present on each side of the crossing? These signs are approximately 200 yards from the crossing. If they are not present, report this on our site using Contact | Rail Auxiliary Team (nvrailaware.org. We will then contact the appropriate road maintenance department. FYI - Railroads are responsible for the  actual crossing and the devices at the crossing, while the local road departments are responsible for AWS signs and the like.

As always, use caution around crossings and railroad tracks - never trespassing onto rail company property. Thanks to those that joined us in person and online this morning for our monthly Coffee Tracks.

Remember ....

Little did we know of the excitement that would occur during our Coffee Tracks time at the Union Pacific Sparks Yard! As the "pack" of RATS began to gather, the scanner alerted us to an event taking place in the yard by one of the tracks. A  railroad worker discovered a residential propane tank with, "Do No Touch" written on it, sitting next to one of the tracks. In the RAT (Rail Auxiliary Team) world, this is a big red flag for potential problems. We listened to the scanner as a group, hoping to hear what had happened. Read to the end to find out the result 😀.

Our first visual observation was a white male wearing a red jacket and carrying some sort of bag walking east along main track one. We discussed our decision to report or not report to RMCC  (Remote Management Communications Center) and decided not to report, as there were rail employees around the yard that would see him and he was not directly on the tracks, just on railroad property. Once again, read to the end to find out what happened 😀.

Tank Cars

There were several tank cars sitting on the tracks at our meeting spot, so our discussion/educational time turned to tank cars.

We started at the bottom of the railcar and worked our way to the top, learning about each of the tank car specific characteristics: bottom outlet valves, tank jackets, head shields, reflective stripes, crash box, protective hatch cover over the valves, the pressure relief valve along with how to identify the owner of the car and the type of hazardous material if necessary.

The video does a great job of explaining what we learned, plus more: Railroad Tank Cars: Capacity, Dimensions, History (american-rails.com)

Another excellent video stressing the safety of tank cars can be found at this link: Rail Tank Car 101 - YouTube.

Meeting the Supervisor

When you get a "pack"of RATS in orange vests hanging around the tracks, they get noticed! As we were discussing how a yard functions and all of the tracks available for switching, a truck approaches and out get two Union Pacific employees. After stating, "When you see a large group of people in orange vests hanging out in the yard, we figured we needed to find out what was going on.", they kindly asked what we were doing. Our faithful leader Rich Gent gave them a brief synopsis of the purpose of the Rail Auxiliary Team. It was nice to actually meet the Supervisor of the Sparks Yard. Interesting discussions about several topics took place and then one brave RAT asked the Supervisor what the outcome was of the residential propane tank with, "Do No Touch" written on it, sitting next to one of the tracks. He shared with us that he approached the tank, and since he had previous Army experience, he looked for wires attached to the tank, saw none, so proceeded to pick up the tank and put it in the bed of his truck. RAT members, or anyone for that matter, if you come across something like this - DO NOT TOUCH, back away and call 911 immediately. 

The Trespasser

As we were ending our meeting, another alert came over the scanner. A railroad worker put out the call that there was a man with a machete by main tracks one and two. We didn't see anyone from our vantage point. A few moments later, a Sparks PD vehicle pulls up next to us and the officer exits his vehicle. The conversation turns to the trespasser with a machete. Someone asked for the description and sure enough it was the trespasser we had seen at the beginning of our meeting. One of our RATs had taken a zoomed in photo of the trespasser and was able to share that with the officer. Was the trespasser caught? No idea.

What one person thought would be a boring meeting turned out to be an exciting learning time. Make sure to join us for our next RAT Coffee Tracks time on May 18th at a to be determined location. You don't want to miss the excitement!