Auburndale train citations dismissed

WISCONSIN RAPIDS — A Wood County judge ruled Wednesday that the county is powerless to regulate railroads or sanction trains that block road crossings for extended periods of time.

Circuit Judge Todd Wolf dismissed 32 citations written by Wood County deputies accusing Canadian National Railroad of blocking access to Highway P for residents and businesses on three village of Auburndale roads.

In order to uphold the citations, the court would have had to find that a train blocking the roads created a truly unique type of hazard, Wolf said. He ruled that Wood County's situation does not meet the standard and dismissed the citations.

Railroad attorneys said in court documents that the Federal Railroad Safety Act and Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act prevent local governments from taking actions that interfere with interstate railroad movement. Federal secretaries of transportation and homeland security oversee train movements, the company argued, and local governments have no say in how they operate.

The Federal Railroad Safety Act gives a specific exception to the federal laws cited by railroad attorneys, a Wood County prosecutor said. The county ordinance that prohibits halted trains from blocking any road for more than 10 minutes does not put an unreasonable burden on the railroad, he said.

Prosecutors had argued that Wood County was unique because of the Wisconsin River, wetlands and other topography that made it more difficult to reach houses and businesses that are cut off when a train blocks the highway.

Railroad attorney Michael Barron Jr. argued that the same situations exist all across the state.

Wood County Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Grode, who recently took over prosecution of the case, said after Wednesday's hearing he didn't know how the county will proceed. He planned to review the documents in the cases to determine if any citations will remain and how best to proceed with the case.

The decision by the judge is a disappointing one for at least one Auburndale resident whose late husband took the lead on trying to stop the trains from cutting off access.

Linda Weinfurter lives on Schultz Avenue, which is one of the three roads frequently cut off by trains in Auburndale. Before he died in December, Linda's husband, Bob, was one of the people fighting for a solution to the train problem, Linda said.

The couple worried that something would happen to Bob Weinfurter and an ambulance wouldn't be able to get to him because of the trains, Linda Weinfurter said. He called the Wood County Sheriff's Department, the state and even Canadian National officials to try and solve the situation.

The couple lived at their home on Schultz Avenue for more than 40 years, Linda Weinfurter said. The trains had always been an issue, but got worse during the past two years when Canadian National took over, she said.

Previous train owners would divide the train in two to allow residents a way in and out when railroad employees knew they would be stopped for an extended time, Weinfurter said. Canadian National officials said they couldn't do that for safety reasons.

Company officials said fire hoses were long enough to reach the three homes on Shultz Avenue from the other side of the train, if there was a fire, Weinfurter said. They told residents that paramedics could climb over the trains in a medical emergency.

Weinfurter said the citations may not have kept the trains from blocking the roads, but they did give residents the satisfaction that the train company had to pay for inconveniencing or endangering them.

Wood County Sheriff Thomas Reichert said he also was disappointed by Wolf's decision.

"As a law enforcement agency, our primary objective is to help people and to protect them," Reichert said. "When we receive a call from citizens that are literally cut off from public services for periods of time up to 12 hours, we feel that we needed to make a response."

The Sheriff's Department responded in the only way available to it and that was to write citations, Reichert said.

Reichert was unsure whether the department would be issuing more citations. Administration will meet with Wood County District Attorney Craig Lambert as soon as possible to discuss the options moving forward, Reichert said.

You can contact reporter Karen Madden at 715-423-7200, ext. 6729, karen.madden@cwnews.net or follow her on Twitter @KMadden715