Course Title: Energy, Power, and Transportation Systems
Lesson Title: Highway - Rail Crossings
TEKS Addressed in Lesson: 130.393 (c) 02B
Lesson Objectives. The student will be able to:
1 cross railroad tracks safely,
2 identify actions to take if vehicle stalls on railroad tracks, and
3 access emergency phone numbers.
Tools and Equipment
Computer/internet access for videos
Key Terms / Vocabulary
Glossary of Terms
Flat car: A railroad freight car without sides or a roof.
Low-bottom flat car: A railroad freight car that is depressed in the center to permit overhead clearance for bridges and tunnels.
Trailer: A large transport vehicle designed to be hauled by a truck or tractor.
Piggy-back: method of transportation in which truck trailers are carried on train cars specially designed for truck trailers or containers.
Double-stacked: Two containers (often truck trailers) loaded one on top of the other for transport on low bottom railroad flatcars. This system may also be referred to as multi-deck operations for transporting containers of various types.
Inter-modal: A transport system that enables the direct transfers of containers between different transportation types. Freight is usually contained in a box designed to be carried by different modes of transport that permits same box or container to be transferred between road, rail, sea, inland waterways, and air transport without transferring the contents to another container.
Tank car: A railcar consisting of a container capable of transporting liquids or compressed gas.
Van: A railroad car used for carrying baggage or freight
Whistle Sign: Sign on tracks indicating start of train signal prior to crossing.
Interest Approach/Anticipatory Set
· You stand virtually zero chance of surviving if you are struck by a train. Move as quickly as possible. In a collision with a train, you are 40 times more likely to be killed than if you were in a collision with another car.
· A train hits someone in America every 115 minutes.
· Nearly 2,000 Americans are killed and injured at railway crossings each year.
· The average train weights 12 million pounds, outweighing a car about 4,000 to 1, the equivalent to a car and a soda can.
· A train traveling at 50 mph, pulling 100 cars, takes one mile to stop.
· Get as far away from the site as possible. The train may derail or shrapnel may be flung into the air. Do not linger and especially do not attempt to re-enter the car.
· If you are at fault for the collision, you are about to face some serious problems in the future.
Teaching Plan and Strategy / Presentation of New Material
1 Highway - Rail Grade Crossings: 7 steps for Safety
Approach with care
Prepare to Stop (Stop at least 15 feet from the nearest rail)
Look and listen both ways, carefully.
If it won't fit, don't commit
Look again
Cross tracks with care
Keep going once you start, even if lights start to flash or gates come down
2 What to do if your vehicle stalls or hangs up on the tracks.
Get out immediately
Move away - (Walk toward the oncoming train and away from the tracks at a 45% angle)
Locate the emergency phone number.
Call for help
3 How to escape if your car is stalled on the tracks:
http://www.wikihow.com/Escape-if-Your-Car-Is-Stalled-on-the-Tracks-of-an-Approaching-Train
Get out of the car immediately
Do not take anything with you
Get off the tracks
Run towards the direction the train is coming
Activity/Application/ Student Engagement /Laboratory
How to avoid being hit by a train:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNdREouyBK8
Railroad Safety Fact Sheet
http://www.tdi.texas.gov/pubs/videoresource/fsrailroadcross.pdf
BSNF Train Horn Safety Information
http://www.bnsf.com/communities/safety-and-security/train-horn/
Teen distracted by cell phone hit by cell phone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuKLg0KFEX8
Texas Municipal Courts - Driving on the right side of the road, Railroad Safety
http://tmcec.com/public/files/File/MTSI/DRSR/Railroad%20Crossings.pdf
Evaluation / Summary
Use the internet to find a story of a person that was injured or killed by a train. Write a brief summary and be prepared to discuss it with the class. Answer the following questions in the summary. What safety precautions was the person not following? How could the accident be avoided? Whose lives were affected by the accident (think deeper than just the person and family)?
Discuss results with class and try to identify as many possible safe solutions to each scenario. Every person should use a different story
References/Additional Materials / Extended Learning Opportunities/ Enrichment
BNSF Grade Crossing Safety brochure:
http://www.bnsf.com/communities/pdf/GradeCrossingSafety.pdf
BNSF train car identification
http://www.bnsf.com/tour/
College & Career Readiness Standard
English II, A, 1, e
Science VIII, A, 3, b
CDS I, A, 2, a
©Texas Education Agency, 2015