Opinion ID: 1879629
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: conditions at the crossing

Text: Surrounded by industrial facilities which generate high levels of noise, Union Pacific's crossing near Darr, Nebraska, involves a two-lane gravel county road, which runs north and south over three sets of east-west tracks. The length of the crossing is approximately 45 feet. A main line track runs parallel with and on each side of a center siding track. In traversing the crossing, a northbound motorist crosses the eastbound main line, the center siding track, which usually contained empty railroad cars, and, finally, the westbound main line. The main lines are 14 feet from the center siding track. Standard crossbuck signs at the south and north edges of the railroad right-of-way inform approaching motorists that there are three sets of tracks crossing the public road. Beneath the crossbuck are alternating red lights, flashers which are supposed to automatically warn motorists about railroad traffic. The flasher-signals, however, for some time had been falsely indicating the presence of an approaching train, when actually no train was approaching. Beginning in the late 1970s, the signal's alternating lights would flash continuously for hours at a time, notwithstanding the absence of any train or railroad car on the tracks. Some of the local folks had notified Union Pacific about the malfunctioning crossing flashers, but the railroad claimed it had no knowledge of the signals' false indication and, therefore, never rectified the deceptive signals. Although employees at a nearby alfalfa mill verified that the signals were malfunctioning with false indications 2 weeks before the accident, Union Pacific steadfastly maintained that the crossing flashers were properly working 4 months before the collision. Several witnesses testified that they would ignore the flashing warning lights at the crossing, taking for granted that the warnings were false, and looked for trains no matter what the signals were indicating. On the center siding at a point 218 feet east of the crossing, Union Pacific parked a string of 17 empty hopper cars, each with an approximate length of 55 feet, for a combined distance of around 935 feet from the first hopper to the last at the east end of the string of cars. Although Union Pacific had been repeatedly requested to take away the empty cars, the railroad did not remove the hoppers before the accident. West of the crossing, Union Pacific had also placed a number of hopper cars on the center siding. Ken Zimmerman, manager of the alfalfa mill near the crossing, testified that one could not see a train on the westbound Union Pacific main line when hopper cars were on the center siding, obstructing a northbound motorist's view to the east of the crossing. According to Zimmerman, railroad traffic on the westbound main line would blend in with the stationary railroad cars on the center siding. An engine's whistle could be faintly heard while a westbound train was behind the railroad cars on the siding. As characterized by Zimmerman, on account of the obstructed view from the railroad cars standing on the siding, the only way a motorist could pass safely would require a motorist to stop on the crossing, get out of the vehicle, and go to a point where the motorist could look down the westbound main line to assure there was no approaching traffic. Union Pacific acknowledged that empty railroad cars were not supposed to be parked on a siding too close to a grade crossing.