Track Safety

This morning at work, my department had it's annual Track Safety Training. Here at Kawasaki Rail Car (KRC) we have a 1/4 mile test track where we test run the cars to check various systems prior to delivery to the Customer (NYCT, & PATH). Emphasis was placed on the 600 volts supplied to the cars through either the catenary wires overhead or the shoes on the car. Working around the cars it's easy to become complacent and brush up against the current collectors or the bugs, I've never come close myself, but there have been some dangerous instances at KRC in the past. The training is interesting though, not as fun as walking through subway tunnels like I did when I was trained by NYCT in Brooklyn. There are a lot of dangers involved with walking through rail yards. Switches can be thrown, power supplied, cars are moving and you have to pay attention to your surroundings. I just wish we could have had our training on a warmer day; it was 22 degrees F and snowing while we walked around the test track.