Tracking the Rail Dangers : Transit: Train engineers, police officers and safety experts join forces to nab errant drivers and pedestrians. Ten people have died this year along Amtrak and Metrolink routes in the county.

Metrolink rail foreman Louis Pescevic is something of a rarity. In his 18 years on the job, Pescevic has never had the misfortune of killing anyone who darted in front of his train. Most of the engineers he supervises have not been so lucky.

“I have men who have seen 30 people die,” Pescevic said Thursday. “It’s very traumatic.”

By the time train engineers spot people or automobiles on the tracks, it’s often too late to avert an accident.

“Most of the time, there is no way you can do anything,” he said. “You set the brakes and you just hope the rear end of the car clears.”

Pescevic was among engineers, police officers and safety experts aboard a chartered train Thursday that wound its way through Anaheim and Orange, looking for fence jumpers and errant drivers.

The journey was part of a nationwide program to call attention to what can happen when pedestrians or motorists try to race a train.

So far this year, 10 people have been killed along Metrolink and Amtrak rails in Orange County alone. In 1994, five people were killed along the Amtrak and none along Metrolink.

While Anaheim and Orange police officers on motorcycles hid in the bushes, the train moved past railroad crossings. As red crossing lights flashed and the train’s horn blared, other police on board kept an eye out for cars and pedestrians who dared to cross the tracks.

Within minutes, a brazen utility truck went around the lowered gate and across the tracks less than 100 yards in front of the train.

Any excitement the driver felt at beating the train was short-lived as police quickly ticketed or issued warnings to the scofflaws.

At the next intersection, a woman ran around the crossing gates as the train was backing up.

“I had an appointment to get to,” she said. “That’s the only reason I did it.”

Jay McInerney, an inspector from the California Public Utilities Commission, whose agency investigates accidents, warned her that next time she might get a $270 ticket.

“People use the train tracks for jogging, or walking their dogs or biking,” said McInerney. “They don’t realize it’s private property.”

Nor do they realize how long it takes a train to stop, one train conductor said.

“At 70 m.p.h., it takes one of these trains a quarter to a half-mile to come to a full stop,” said Bruce Selby, a conductor on Metrolink’s San Bernardino line.

“I saw one gentleman step out in front of the train,” Selby said. “He had headphones on and didn’t see us coming. There was nothing we could do.”

Although most incidents along the tracks involve adults, McInerney urges parents to warn their children about the dangers.

“Sit them down and make them promise they will stay away from the tracks,” McInerney said.

“Look, listen and live,” added Pescevic.