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 ....