Now that the season is winding down for many, I have (with hurricane Katrina) been thinking about emergency response as it might relate to those of us that are "operating organizations".Prior to the 2002 Winter Games here in Utah, Heber Valley Railroad took a group of local firemen, sheriff's deputies, and others--then over a couple of evenings put them through a number of classroom scenarios where they may have an emergency call to the train anywhere along the line--what they should expect, steps they may need to take, etc.Have any of you done likewise with your local agencies. If so, how often, what did you cover, was it appreciated by the agency, and what are your thoughts?sc 'doc' lewis

For those attending the TRAIN convention this year, one of the seminars will be about accidents, disasters and emergency preparedness plans. The seminar title is "Disasters, Natural or Otherwise". Part of the seminar will include a presentation from a representative of the Chattanooga Fire Department and a presentation from the B&O Railroad Museum on how to respond to a disaster in the first 48 hours.

Good idea. Some years ago, after the National Captial Trolley Museum head-on incident, the FRA issued recommendations to both ARM and TRAIN to pass onto their members. One of these was to arrange for your local responders (police, fire, ETM, etc.) to visit the museum/tourist railway ahead of need to familarize themselves with the site, access and other considerations.

We did set up a system with the local EMS. All of our crossings, both public and private, are numbered. EMS has a map which tells them how to get to those crossings. I don't know if this system will actually work if it's ever needed (it hasn't been to date) -- we should probably run a practice drill with EMS, I suppose.