Trains Without Cabooses

Your article (Oct. 4), “3 Marines Suspected in String of Train Robberies,” has brought into public view a problem that has become an increasing threat to the well-being of many Californians. Allowing railroads to run trains without cabooses has definitely made a major cut in safety margins in this area of California’s transportation industry.

Your article stated that the suspects in the Aug. 23 incident near Palm Springs are believed to have chosen trains without cabooses because of their vulnerability to attack. The result was $3.5 million damage and one death.

The news story indicates that this gang almost certainly would not have attacked the train if it had had a caboose, and even if they had been that foolish, none of this damage and death would have occurred because the crew members in the rear would have quickly become aware of the danger and would have brought that loose portion of the train to a safe halt.

The electronic equipment that is now being used in place of cabooses does not provide the protection that the public needs. This applies in cases that are due to criminal intent and also to those of an accidental or mechanical nature.

As a conductor and also safety chairman of my union, I personally know of numerous cases that happily illustrate the value of a caboose and also those sad incidents that happened because a caboose wasn’t present.

This tragic incident and those in the future of potentially catastrophic dimensions are the result of Gov. George Deukmejian’s veto in 1985 of SB 719. This legislation, which would have required the continued use of cabooses for safety reasons, had been overwhelmingly approved by both houses. It also had heavy support from police, fire, and safety agencies throughout the state because these agencies are well aware of the dangers posed by caboose-less trains.

It’s almost like allowing gasoline tankers on freeways without rear-view mirrors so that oil companies can save a few dollars in equipment costs.

Let’s hope that wider public exposure will correct this problem so that we can all enjoy safer railroading in California.

LARRY A. FREDEEN

Tujunga

Fredeen is a legislative representative and Safety Committee chairman of Local 240 of the United Transportation Union.