Foamers to the rescue

How train enthusiasts are keeping Americas railways safe

Ken Fitzgerald is pretty sure that he prevented a major train derailment in the summer of 2002. Fitzgerald was stopped at a railway crossing in Fort Worth, Texas, when he noticed a piece of rail sticking out of the track about 100 feet from where he was standing. Knowing that the next locomotive to hit this spot would almost certainly derail, Fitzgerald notified the lineâ¬"s operator, the Fort Worth & Western Railroad, which stopped the oncoming train.

Fitzgerald is what they call a â¬Sfoamerâ¬ in railway circlesâ¬a railway enthusiast who just about foams at the mouth at the sight of a train. He spends several hours per week watching and photographing trains going by. And now thanks to an innovative program launched by Fort Worthâ¬"s Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF), heâ¬"s a part of the effort to secure Americaâ¬"s railways.

BNSF has recruited more than 6,500 foamers like Fitzgerald to keep an eye on its 32,000 miles of railway track, most of it in the southwestern United States. The program, called Citizens for Rail Security, has helped tip off BNSF to theft and illegal dumping, trespassers, fires and train equipment problems.

Citizens for Rail Security is modeled on Neighborhood Watch community policing programs, and itâ¬"s reflective of a general heightened level of security awareness since September 11, 2001, said Bill Heileman, general director of police and protection solutions with BNSF.

Ironically, foamers like Fitzgerald have come under increased scrutiny since 9/11, because police are now taking a second look at anyone hanging around a railway track with a camera. But Heileman believes that Citizens for Rail Security has made BNSF safer. â¬SThe foundation for security starts with awareness,â¬ he said. â¬SNothing is better than good solid intelligence.â¬

Because most of the public discussion of transportation security since 9/11 has focused on the airways, bridges and ports, people like Heileman are facing a daunting task. Trains carry millions of people each day; they move hazardous waste, often through densely populated city centers andâ¬most problematic of allâ¬they crisscross the country on hundreds of thousands of miles of track that is impossible to completely protect.

You canâ¬"t take a bottle of water through airport security, but head out to the local railway tracks, and you can pretty much do as you please. â¬SThe way we protect the airports is quite stringent, and yet the way we deal with trespassers on railway property is really kind of lukewarm,â¬ says Richard Young, a professor with Pennsylvania State Universityâ¬"s school of business administration. â¬SWe donâ¬"t coordinate security around rail infrastructure anything like that.â¬