A short stretch of railroad track along the Skamania County/Klickitat County border, at the point where the White Salmon River enters the Columbia, is gaining increasing notoriety in a tragic manner. Some are calling the spot the "Bermuda Triangle," a zone where pedestrians have been making misjudgments that cost them their lives.
The latest tragedy came last week, when a man from Chula Vista, Calif., was struck and killed by an eastbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) freight train. The man had been videotaping the Columbia River, and, although he apparently saw the train coming, he made a fatal error.
"In this last case, the engineer said he had eye contact with the man, and he still tried to cross in front of the train," said Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown.
In short, he somehow forgot about the dangers of trespassing on a highly active railroad mainline -- and that's a message railroad and law enforcement officials are hoping to keep driving home.
"We've had quite a number there over the years, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down," explained Sheriff Brown. "I can't for the life of me figure out how you can't hear these trains. They claim that if you're standing on the tracks, the train is pushing the sound out to the side. That's a factor I'm not going to test."
"They get up there and just don't hear it coming," added Klickitat County Sheriff Chris Mace. "Having worked down there along the river, I know it is hard to hear them coming. But then you think, well, why are you on the tracks?"
Gus Melonas, BNSF's director of communications in Seattle, said people could not rely on their ears to keep them safe.
"We run 50 trains a day through the Gorge, and with the ribbon rail, trains are extremely quiet, especially with the windy conditions," Melonas explained. "People get distracted, and people lose sight of where they are. We will continue to identify ways to educate the public through Operation Lifesaver, which we're taking to local schools. We've talked to windsurfer groups to spread the word, and may be talking with tourist groups as well."
Train-pedestrian fatalities on BNSF tracks in the White Salmon River vicinity over the last several years include:
Aug. 21, 2005: Steven Haworth, 55, of Chula Vista, Calif., struck by an eastbound freight while videotaping the river near the mouth of the White Salmon River;
Nov. 29, 2004: Richard Walls, 65, of The Dalles, Ore., struck by a westbound freight while walking on the tracks near Drano Lake with a camera and tripod;
Oct. 10, 2003: Robert Mickschultz, 36, of Trenton, N.J., struck by a westbound freight while photographing Mount Hood near the mouth of the White Salmon River;
Sept. 3, 1997: Linda Hayes, 43, and her grandson, Michael Williams, 4, both of Butte, Mont., struck by a westbound freight near the mouth of the White Salmon River.
Sept. 14, 1988: Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Officer Rod Henry, 30, of The Dalles, Ore., struck by a westbound freight while investigating fisheries violations near the mouth of the White Salmon River.
Melonas pointed out that when employees hire on with BNSF, safety is what they hear about first.
"The first rule we teach is to expect the movement of a train on any track, any time, in any direction," Melonas said. "Tracks are extremely dangerous. The bottom line, it's up to the public to realize that all railroad property is a no trespassing area."
Sheriff Brown agreed.
"It is a violation of the law to be on the tracks; it's a trespassing charge," Brown said. "We actually did cite a couple people for trespassing on the tracks in Stevenson last week."
Brown said the fine for criminal trespass is $250.
Mace said people may be lulled into a false security while along the tracks because the area seems quiet at first.
"They don't see anything, and get up there and start taking photos and don't realize a train moving 60 miles an hour can cover a lot of ground fast," Mace commented. "How do you teach people to just stay away from the tracks?"
With the ongoing commemoration of the Lewis and Clark expedition bringing additional tourists to the Columbia River Gorge region, railroad and law enforcement officials are worried about the possibility of even more train-pedestrian incidents in the future.
"There is a law enforcement planning meeting coming up soon to talk about Lewis and Clark excursion and all the related activity on the river. The railroad is concerned about increased pedestrian traffic on the rails, and what we can do to limit that," Brown said. "But as much as it's posted, people still want to trespass for photos or videotaping the windsurfers."
Mace noted that there is heavy foot traffic along the tracks in the summer.
"There are a lot of fishermen along the tracks at this time of year, but they're usually not the ones causing problems," Mace said. "It's people taking photos and sightseeing."
Brown pledged that the Skamania County Sheriff's Office would do whatever it could to raise awareness of the dangers of trespassing on railroad tracks.
"We have the responsibility to educate through our programs in schools with kids, but as far as total safety, I think the greater burden rests with the railroad," Brown said.
Brown said the recently installed fence on both sides of the railroad bridge over the White Salmon River may need to be enhanced, and perhaps larger, more eye-catching signs need to be added.
"We have to look at that fence and ask if it's making a difference at this point, and should it be extended at least past the parking areas west of the fence," Brown said.
Melonas, however, questioned whether a fence will make much of a difference.
"Fencing doesn't necessarily work," Melonas said. "People go under, through, or around it, and we can't fence every inch of a 32,000-mile system."
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