It's a liability issue.

And as usual one slob ruins it for everyone else. If by some miracle the railroad agreed to put designated crossings in every 100 yards it wouldn't matter.

All it takes is one person to be hit by a train or breaking their ankle while walking across the tracks... That person or their family hires an ambulance chaser to sue the RR.

The RR is now out the money that paid for crossings. They are out the money to pay for lawyers and associated costs... And if the RR loses the lawsuit they are out the money in payment. Maybe it doesn't even go to court... Maybe the RR figures it's cheaper just to settle. But they're still out of a considerable sum of money.

Or even worse, some jughead decides to be cute and leave stuff on the tracks and causes a derailment... Half a dozen tank cars of anhydrous ammonia tip over and spill near the largest waterway in the U.S. So now you have the media and EPA involved... Bad PR, hefty environmental fines, destroyed railroad property, reparations for the customer's freight...

I'm sure the RR would love nothing more than for honest, responsible people to cross their tracks and carry on with their business... No accidents, no vandalism, no lawsuits/fines, no having to pay bulls to patrol RR property... But a small group of dishonest/irresponsible/greedy people have spoiled it for all the rest.

I'm not saying the RR's decision is right or fair. But there is a real dollars and cents reason for their stance.

Just a sad commentary on today's world.

Mike

WE have all voiced our opinions on this matter so I made that comment. Let It rest and see what happens.


I may be Chief Big stones but I'm Not Chief Horse Crap.

OK, lets look at it from this direction. In many of the small towns here in Wisconsin that I am familiar with a railroad crosses many streets that may or may not have sidewalks leading to the crossing. The railroad right-of-way is typically 100 feet wide with a public street on each side that the railroad bisects. A great many of these intersections do not have cross arms or bells yet little old ladies, kids, mothers with strollers and pets cross them all the time, going from one public entity to another. Why is this permitted, the only warning is a RRX sign and the engineer blowing his whistle as he comes through town. Much of the access that I have seen along the river involves parking on the side of a public highway and crossing the tracks to another public entity. I think even the most feeble outdoorsman realizes that he is going to cross the tracks as he has done many times before in his/her life without being flattened.

Zim

So how many other states have this Issue?

Why not make public some person is going to x rail road at certain spot or look for the railrd dick patroling certain area..... have a mass crossing of sportsman at one place safely of course , also invite media to film ... maybe not the answer but no progress made since the law passed and all i hear is whining..... i access across RR to fish , trap and hunt in areas not along Mississippi. Maybe someone can utilize this idea along the Mississippi R.

and offer free beer!

"Today's top story... Inebriated outdoorsmen trespass en masse on railroad property."

Mike

No different than opening day of deer season . . .

I don't understand the argument that the railroad cannot allow access because some knucklehead might place something on the tracks to cause a derailment. It is similar to many of the gun control arguments. If something is illegal (derailing trains or shooting schools) causing the knucklehead to break ONE MORE law to accomplish his unlawful act will not be much of a deterrent.

How is this one private property right different from any other private property right? As I understand it, Wisconsin sportsmen are not asking for permission to set traps on the railroard tracks. Probably tough to properly bed a 1.5 cs on an iron rail anyway. The issue is access to PUBLIC land on the other side of the tracks. That public land is PUBLIC. (As the name implies.) It has been given to ALL the people of Wisconsin. The railroad acquired it's property through eminent domain-taking from private land owners. The railroad companies did not seem to be terribly concerned with private property rights way back then. This isn't some 40 acre parcel that it is difficult to walk around. We are talking about, essentially, a many-miles-long wall keeping hundreds of sportsmen off thousands of acres of public land.

I am always shocked by accidents at railroad crossings. Trains are big. It shouldn't be difficult to see or hear them coming. Trains are limited. If you are ice fishing in the middle of Lake Winnebago and get run over by a train...fine, you have every reason to be surprised to find a train there. But railroad tracks? That is a train's natural habitat. Trains always have the right of way. If you come up to a set of tracks...
Stop.
Look both ways.
No train? Proceed sir!
Million ton locomotive barreling down the tracks? You may want to wait a bit.

This railroad track trespass law looks like a solution looking for a problem.

BUI

I believe BUI just wrote the manual for Crossing Railroad Tracks Safely for our trapper ed program. We'll be to share this with angler ed and hunter ed.