Operation Lifesaver chapters in Ohio and Indiana will share in the awarding of $214,075 in rail safety awareness grants.
The grant money includes $200,000 provided by the Federal Highway Administration.
Grants are to be used for public education campaigns focused on the need for safety around grade crossings. The campaigns will run during Rail Safety Week, Sept. 18-24.
Operation Lifesaver chapters in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania will receive a share of $230,925 in grants being issued to chapters in 12 states.
The grants are a partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration and the Pittsburgh-based Posner Foundation.
The grants will fund crossing safety and trespass prevention public education programs, which will be conducted in connection with the nonprofit safety group’s observance of Rail Safety Week Sept. 18-24.
The awards were made through a competitive process that evaluated the defined safety need; number of highway-rail collisions and trespass incidents in the state; and how the proposal leverages federal funds with private partnerships.
In Ohio the grant will be used to pay for a public service announcement that will air during radio broadcasts of Cincinnati Reds baseball games.
In Indiana, the grant will be used for safety campaign related to the South Shore Line commuter rail service.
In Pennsylvania the grant will pay for a public service announcement campaign on digital social media and connected devices targeted to 14 counties with high rates of rail trespassing.
Operation Lifesaver this week said its rail safety messages “reached millions” during Rail Safety Week in September through a combination of events and publicity campaigns in various forms of mass media and social media.
Rail Safety Week was adopted in 2017 in North America and includes rail safety groups in Canada and Mexico.
During the 2022 Rail Safety Week in the United States 302 law enforcement, first responder agencies, and individuals in 36 states participating in Operation Clear Track on Sept. 19.
A news release issued by OLI noted that this year’s campaign urged the public to make safe choices when near railroad tracks whether in a motor vehicle or on foot.
CSX has released a video showing its latest tribute locomotive, which pays homage rail safety group Operation Lifesaver.
OLI is participating in Rail Safety Week, which will be held Sept. 19-25.
The video can be viewed on the CSX page of the website LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6975590414485495809/
CSX has a new tribute unit on the rails. It repainted SD70MAC No. 4568 into a special paint scheme to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Operation Lifesaver.
The livery is alternating white and dark blue. The unit received the livery at the shops in Huntington, West Virginia.
Trains magazine reported on its website that the Operation Lifesaver tribute unit helped pull train M303 to Cincinnati on Tuesday morning.
Photographs of the OLI unit can be viewed at https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/news-photos-csx-unit-marks-50th-anniversary-of-operation-lifesaver/
Operation Lifesaver is accepting applications for its 2022 Rail Transit Safety Education Grants.
The railroad safety group plans to award $200,000 to transit agencies and governments that provide transit service to conduct transit-rail safety education and public awareness initiatives.
In a news release OLI officials said no recipient may receive more than $20,000. The grants will require non-federal match funding of at least 25 percent.
Grants will be awarded for projects that focus on safety education or public awareness initiatives in communities with operating or planned commuter-rail, light-rail, subway and streetcar systems.
Applications are due Oct. 17 and awards will be announced on Dec. 1.
Public transit agencies will receive rail safety education materials from Operation Lifesaver.
OLS is distributing the materials in a partnership with the Federal Transit Administration.
The materials include 30- and 15-second video and audio public service announcements in English and Spanish; a transit safety brochure; social media graphics; and a six-minute transit safety video.
The materials can be viewed on the Operation Lifesaver website at https://oli.org/safety-near-trains/passenger-and-transit-rail-safety
Operation Lifesaver chapters in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania, will receive a share of $200,000 in grant funding to be awarded by the national Operation Lifesaver organization in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration.
In a news release, OLI said the funding will be used for public education projects to be conducted during Rail Safety Week Sept. 19-25.
The programs will involve public awareness campaigns and community events.
Grants were awarded through a competitive process based on such criteria as the defined safety need, the number of crossing collisions in the state and how the proposal uses the funding sought.
Other grant recipients include OLI organizations in California, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
The Pittsburgh-based Posner Foundation has renewed its annual grant funding commitment to Operation Lifesaver.
OLI said in a news release that the grant is used for various projects, including a competitive grant program for public education activities with OLI state programs.
The news release did not specify the amount of the grant. Previous Posner Foundation grants have been used for rail-crossing and pedestrian safety programs; state OLI programs; expanded national rail safety volunteer efforts; and expanding the rollout of OLI’s Railroad Investigation and Safety Course.
Rivers are not static. They shift course and their levels rise and fall. These developments can damage bridge abutments as happened in spring 1985 when NS had to reroute some trains and issue slow orders for others until the Painesville trestle over the Grand River could be repaired (top photo).
Over time, some bridge abutments have been replaced, the results of which can be seen in the images of the Triple Crown RoadRailer trains crossing the trestle in April 1989.
The former Nickel Plate Road route between Cleveland and Buffalo never had the high level of traffic as the parallel CSX and former New York Central route, but it had its share of out-of-the ordinary sightings.
On Oct. 27, 2004, Norfolk Southern sent an Operation Lifesaver train from Rockport Yard in Cleveland to Ashtabula and back.
The encroaching vegetation is evident on the east end of the bridge as compared to what it was in the views recorded 15 years earlier.
Another unique movements that crossed the trestle was the eastbound Lake Shore Limited using the NS route due to a CSX derailment in Painesville. Amtrak Train 48 was photographed on Oct. 13, 2007.
On July 23, 2015, a large crowd of railfan photographs turned out to photograph Nickel Plate Road 2-8-2 no. 765 cross another NKP institution on a ferry move from Cleveland (Rockport Yard) to Ashtabula to be in position to pull public excursions between Ashtabula and Youngstown.
Finally, on Aug. 3, 2016, the NS business train led by F units passed through Painesville.
Photographs by Edward Ribinskas
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