STEELE CITY, Neb. — Until Monday’s car-train crash that killed four women, the Steele City Village Board had only talked about the safety of the town’s two railroad crossings, the Lincoln Journal Star reports.
Now it plans to take action.
“Something is going to be done, one way or another,” Bill Scheele, the board’s chairman and Steele City’s postmaster, said Wednesday.
After the board’s meeting ended Monday, Scheele was waiting at the Main Street crossing when a Union Pacific train hit Lorene Ruhnke’s car at the Curtis Street crossing a block north.
Killed in the crash were Ruhnke, 80; Pauline Blacksher, 84; Marie Wehling, 95; and Sara Henkel, 88; all of Fairbury. The four were headed home after a church supper in Steele City.
Scheele never saw Ruhnke’s car, he said. And he couldn’t explain why she drove into the train’s path. But he said the crash should prompt a close look at the safety of the crossings.
“I think it will get something done,” Scheele said. “I hope it doesn’t close (the Curtis Street) crossing.”
Scheele, also a member of the Steele City Volunteer Fire Department, said the town needs two rail crossings to ensure access to the fire hall on the west side of the tracks.
Access to the west side is crucial because that side of town is sandwiched between the tracks and the Little Blue River. If both rail crossings are blocked –as they were Monday night –firefighters must drive as far as Endicott, five miles away via county roads, to cross the river and get back to the other side of Steele City.
Of the approximately 85 people who live in the Jefferson County town, about 20 or so live on the west side, Scheele said.
When it meets again in May, the board will likely discuss whether the Curtis Street crossing needs to be changed to give drivers a clearer view of oncoming trains, he said.
As it stands, eastbound drivers at the Curtis Street crossing must climb a small hill, make a partial right turn and stop before they can see both ways on the track. The stop sign is several feet below the level of the tracks. Westbound drivers have a clear view of both tracks.
The Main Street crossing is protected by a crossing arm; the Curtis Street crossing isn’t.
Tuesday and Wednesday, residents stopped at Scheele’s post office to ask what could be done. Some suggested talking to state officials.
Dan Rosenthal, a Nebraska Department of Roads engineer, said such inquiries are common after car-train crashes.
“Anytime something like that happens, people are asking these types of questions,” Rosenthal said. “I welcome the call from the village.”
The state gets involved with signs or warning devices because they are intended to control traffic. The state and railroads may try to provide incentives for changes at some crossings, but local entities have to make the final decision, Rosenthal said.
Village Board Member Sue Erickson said many drivers prefer crossing at Curtis Street because it is smoother than Main Street, which has an elevation difference of more than a foot between the two railroad tracks.
“I believe there is a lot more traffic using (the Curtis Street) crossing than people believe,” she said.
Cars must cross slowly on Main Street, Scheele said, and trailers pulled by semi-tractor trailers drag on the crossing. Erickson and Scheele both suggested bells and lights might be helpful at Curtis Street, but Rosenthal said warning devices aren’t a cure-all.
“Gates don’t prevent anything,” Rosenthal said, adding that statistics show that about half of vehicle-train crashes nationwide occur at crossings with warning devices.
“There’s a discussion. Why spend $200,000 to do anything, install gates and lights, when statistics show people don’t adhere to anything?”
Scheele’s experience Monday night illustrated Rosenthal’s point.
As he waited at the Main Street crossing, Scheele watched a car with Jefferson County plates dodge the gates — and the train that soon struck Ruhnke’s car.
“I thought ‘Whoa, you’re pushing it a little too far.'”