Superintendent Joe Whalen has recently authorized monthly train rides for area police officers to revive our heretofore dormant Trooper-on-a-Train program.
Our first trooper under the new program, was Officer Jorjana Wonzor. On May 15, she came to ride our Mesquite to Houston Intermodal Train, the IMQHO-15, as far as Fort Worth's Tower 55.
She was greeted by Yardmaster Stan Potter. He told her the approximate time
of departure time and its arrival time in Fort Worth. He then introduced her to
the the IMQHO crew, Engineer Doug Mabry and Conductor J.R. Coffman.
The train had already been built and the locomotive consist attached.
After an Initial Terminal Air Test, they departed Mesquite at 1001 a.m. They
arrived in Fort Worth at 1237 p.m. A ride was provided for her from Tower 55 back
to her car.
Officer David Briggs of the South Sector in Fort Worth is helping schedule the Fort Worth Officers.
The Trooper-on-a-Train Program is regarded by many of us to be one of the most effective parts of Operation Lifesaver, in that it educates the officer to the close calls that train crews experience daily.
In the past, when we were giving train rides to officers from Grand Prairie, they began to go to Jefferson Street, when they heard the trains whistle. Jefferson Street parallels our track, and they would follow the train with their squad cars and ticket drivers who ran around the crossing gates.
We want to thank the crews involved with Trooper-on-a-Train and Superintendent Joe Whalen for making this program a success.
Dennis is a Fort Worth based Locomotive Engineer. 5/97