GLENDALE : 500 Students Get Lesson in Railway Safety

Just three weeks after Glendale and Burbank police officers boarded Metrolink trains and cited seven adult drivers and pedestrians as a public warning to heed railroad crossings, transit officials brought the same message to a younger crowd Thursday.

About 500 students at Incarnation School in Glendale spent an hour watching cartoons or films--depending on their age group--showing the dangers of walking on railroad tracks or playing near them. They also got an earful from Ray Jackson, a safety engineer with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who spelled out the risks in terms that kids understand.

“Trains can come from any direction, at any time,” Jackson told a group of third-, fifth- and sixth-graders. “After the train crosses, you may think it’s safe to run across the tracks, but another train could come out of nowhere, from another direction, and hit you.”

As a volunteer with Operation Lifesaver, a nationwide safety campaign that started more than two years ago, Jackson said he lectures on railroad safety not only to youngsters, but also to business and civic groups. He teaches everything from the basics of knowing what railroad signs mean to how to safely evacuate a car or bus that is stuck on the tracks.

Incarnation Principal Mary Krazkowski said the school requested the presentation after an Aug. 15 accident in which a young girl, her mother and grandfather were killed while taking an illegal shortcut across the tracks near Western Avenue in Glendale, just a few miles from the school.

Students in kindergarten through eighth grade attended Jackson’s program, and despite a few laughs provided by the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, they seemed to get the message.

“I took it very seriously,” said sixth-grade student Janette Wilke. “You could really get hurt if you’re not safe.”

Jackson said he has been giving talks about railroad safety for two years, and some parents have told him they now get lectures from their children when they drive near railroad crossings.

“The kids are telling mom and dad to obey the signals,” he said. “They’re educating their parents for us.”