Rail Safety

Rail Safety is something that anyone that has an interest in Model or Real Railroading has to be mindful of. One would ask why in Model Railroading? Well, we don't want to depict something in our little world that encourages unsafe behaviors or actions in the real world. While in Model Railroading, if we have a collision of sorts - another train, tools, various scenic elements - we can simply rerail the affected equipment and easily correct the issue, in the real world it is not that simple. When a real world derailment, accident or collision occurs, the results can be catastrophic. Property and equipment damage are almost certain, with injuries to the crews of the public are very likely.

Railroads regularly transport hazardous materials, such as chemicals, buildings materials, vehicles and vehicle parts and many other commodities. Many of these items are either flammable or in some other way harmful to the environment if not properly handled. In early 2023, several high profile derailments occurred causing injury and damages costing into the millions of dollars.

One of the easiest ways to help prevent one of the major causes of railroad accidents is Rail Safety Education. There are several Rail Safety programs, but the best known is Operation Lifesaver(OLI). According to OLI, South Carolina ranked 15th in the United States with 48 Rail Collisions during 2022. Out of the 48 collisions, 19 resulted in injuries and 11 resulted in deaths.

The mission of OLI and other Rail Safety groups is to educate and inform the public about how to interact with Railroads and their property in a safe manner to save lives.

The CRM is proud to help support the mission of OLI by education and example. We have several members of the CRM that are Volunteers with OLI. These Volunteers conduct free programs on rail safety education for audiences in large and small communities across the United States. If you are interested in hosting a program for your organization or group, you can contact us via e-mail to railsafety@crmha.org .