Students learn about train safety

Local law enforcement has teamed up with some local elementary students to remind people of the dangers of crossing railroad tracks illegally.
Fort Frances OPP Cst. Caroline Spencer and CN Rail Cst. Pete LeDrew took Grade 2 and 3 students from Huffman School for a short field trip earlier this month to explain to them why it’s important to obey posted signs at railroad tracks.
Since then, the Rainy River Valley Safety Coalition has been awarded a $4,375 grant from the CN Safe Community Fund to be used on programs to increase rail safety awareness in the community.
As well, the Grade 3 students at Huffman are preparing letters to town council to ask it to build a fence along the railroad through town to prevent accidents caused by illegal crossings.
“Basically, we need fencing from Crowe [Avenue] to the depot,” Cst. Spencer said, adding the fence only would need to be constructed along one side to deter pedestrian traffic.
On the field trip, Csts. Spencer and LeDrew brought the children to see several “danger zones” up close and explain why it is dangerous to cross the tracks where there are no safety features.
“We showed the kids where people have been crossing illegally,” Cst. Spencer said, adding their stops included where the tracks cross Armit Avenue and Victoria Avenue.
“We stopped to show them we’re talking about your neighbourhood,” said Grade 3 teacher Mary Lynne Bondett. Because Huffman is located so close to the tracks, “it was very appropriate for this neighbourhood,” she added.
“It’s going to become more and more important because of the new school boundaries,” noted Grade 2 teacher Laurie Holliday. With the closure of Sixth Street School this year, many students in the north end of town will be attending schools south of the tracks.
Cst. Spencer noted the crossing at Victoria Avenue is used perhaps most often—despite the “No trespassing” signs posted.
“We have had injuries [on the tracks] over the years,” she said.
There have been no deaths in recent years—and CN and the OPP would like to keep it that way, she added.
The danger largely comes from trains that appear to be stationary. In reality, they could move at any time.
“They never turn those engines off,” she noted.
The children got to witness this firsthand on their field trip. “Just as we said that, the train shunted forward five or 10 feet,” Cst. Spencer said, adding the children were surprised at how fast the movement occurred.
Students watched a video on train safety at the Volunteer Bureau (located in the old CN station) and also were given a tour inside an engine by engineer Marc Beaudry.
“They loved it,” Cst. Spencer noted. “They were shocked by the size of the engine.”
Cst. LeDrew told the children that it takes a very long time for a train to come to a stop—even if the engineer sees trouble on the tracks far ahead.
“A lot of it depends on how long the train is and whether it’s loaded or not,” Cst. Spencer explained. “But it’s a long way.”
Cst. LeDrew, who organized the trip to the train yard, was called to Winnipeg recently because of the strike involving nearly one-third of CN employees.
Meanwhile, the teachers for the two classes are turning the experience into in-class projects. Holliday’s Grade 2 class is recounting their adventures in writing.
“They were pretending they were newspaper reporters and wrote a story about it,” Holliday noted.
Bondett said her class is writing a persuasive letter to the mayor and council to ask for fencing to be put up along one side of the tracks. “They’re trying to back their opinions up with reasons and facts,” she explained.
The trip and ensuing project was made possibly by a $600 grant from the SchoolNet GrassRoots program. GrassRoots is an Industry Canada program that promotes the use of information and communication technologies in the classroom.
Teachers submit a proposal for a project, GrassRoots provides funding, and the end result is posted on the internet. The students at Huffman have named their project “Choo-choo choose to be safe.”
Part of the project includes learning how to use a scanner, to scan photos that were taken on the field trip, and then learning how to insert those photos into a written document.
The children also are learning to use word-processing programs on the computer.
Bondett said the class still is working on their letters, but they hope to send them off in the next couple of weeks.
(Fort Frances Times)