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Many residents and motorists have been frustrated recently by long waits at railroad crossings - the north-south track in Warsaw in particular.
Police say it has long been rumored that the Norfolk Southern Railroad crews "park" the train on the north-south tracks in Warsaw while they walk to one of the fast food restaurants along Detroit Street (also known as Ind. 15).
Opinions vary on the reason for the noontime stops, but the engineer is supposed to stop the train before the signals are activated at the Center, Market, Fort Wayne and Main street crossings.
The Arthur and Lyon street crossings remain blocked during these daily five- to 10-minute lunch runs, but Sgt. Kip Shuter of the Warsaw Police Department said these intersections are considered secondary crossings, not main arteries like the other four crossings.
While there is a city ordinance prohibiting the train crew from blocking the crossings without an emergency situation, there was a bit of a traffic snafu last week when the train wasn't stopped before those main-artery crossing signals were activated. The train didn't actually block the crossings, but the gates were down at Center Street and the lights were flashing at the Market, Fort Wayne and Main street crossings that don't have gates.
An officer apparently witnessed the incident last week when the crew exited the train and went to one of the restaurants to purchase their lunches. The crew was verbally reprimanded for the situation, but no citations were issued. WPD Capt. Paul Schmitt said the crew is subject to citation if the crossing is blocked for anything other than a legitimate emergency.
Such an emergency did exist about two weeks ago when an air hose on one of the train's brake lines broke. Until the break could be located and repaired, the train could not move. This particular incident tied up the crossings for about one hour and 40 minutes.
While the problem caused difficulties for many people trying to get from the east side of town to the west side, and vice versa, it was something that could not be avoided.
The problem could be more significant for emergency medical service personnel than the Warsaw Fire Department, which has a station on each end of town on opposite sides of the tracks. Schmitt said WPD officers are to keep at least one duty car on the west side of the tracks during every shift to avoid the inability to get around a blocked crossing - although, if necessary, the vehicles can get around by detouring over U.S. 30 at Ind. 15.
Overall, the delay caused by blocked crossings in town is considered "slight," according to police.
Tony Doyle, operations manager at Multi-Township Emergency Medical Service, said he was aware of the situation on the day the tracks were blocked for an extended period.
Doyle said if the ambulance service is notified of these problems, a crew and ambulance can be temporarily placed at the fire station on the west side of the tracks to save time when medical emergencies arise. This also is done to combat traffic during concerts in the park and other large gatherings in town, Doyle said.
Repeated calls to the Norfolk Southern offices in Fort Wayne and in Dearborn, Mich., were either unanswered or not returned.
