MRL brings message, gifts to local kids

by Miriah Kardelis

and Ed Moreth

Last week, Montana Rail Link (MRL) visited Plains and Thompson Falls schools to teach railroad safety to students and present them with a special gift.

The company, based out of Missoula, followed the safety presentations by presenting each student, teacher and staff member at the schools with a new hooded sweatshirt in their respective school colors. The presentation was part of the MRL and Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation's "Project Sweatshirt" program. MRL representatives brought in big red Santa bags and called out each student by name in presenting them with their sweatshirts.

"The holidays are here, and we want to make sure every child gets something with the sweatshirt," said Ross Lane, MRL's chief communications officer. Students screamed with excitement when presented with the sweatshirts featuring their school logos.

"I think it's cool that every kid gets something that represents their school," said Plains High School principal Kevin Meredith. A total of 1,200 sweatshirts were distributed to students and staff at Sanders County schools.

"The purpose of this event was to pass on safety tips to the students, especially those who drive," said Lane. "This is all about safety. One injury is too many."

Chris Cline with MRL said that this was the first presentation in the Thompson Falls area. "We usually pick three or four different rural schools along our rail lines every year," she said. "This is the sixth year of the program, and over the last six years MRL has handed out 14,000 sweatshirts."

During last week's event, MRL, which has 900 miles of tracks between Laurel, Montana, and Sandpoint, Idaho, also visited schools in Arlee and Clark Fork and Hope, Idaho, to present safety information and sweatshirts to students in those areas.

MRL employee Tony Vacino began the assembly in Thompson Falls with some statistics. "Every railroad car that passes through this area can carry up to 15,000 tons. It can take up to a whole mile for a train to stop when it's going 50 miles per hour," Vacino stated. He wanted to stress the sheer size of these cars. "It's so big, the closer you get to it, the harder it is to judge how fast it's going."

The safety demonstration for all schools included a slideshow presentation showing students various pictures of dangerous examples MRL sees people doing every day. Taking pictures on the train tracks was one example they stressed not to do. Vacino talked about the blue address sign that is posted at every railroad crossing. That is the address that needs to be reported if an accident occurs. He then brought up a volunteer student for a pop can experiment. The idea behind this was to show how easy it was for the students to crush a pop can with their foot. Vacino compared this action to what happens when a train hits a car.

Next in the assemblies was a friendly competition between the students and the teachers. Different activities were presented for different age groups. In the junior high and high schools, one student and one staff member knocked down eight full water bottles using nylons stuffed with tennis balls in the legs. The catch was that the nylons were on the competitors' heads. When the person hit all eight, five staff members and five students then had to pass a hula hoop from one person to the next and back while holding hands and not break the handhold.