LORDSTOWN CSX to discuss citations with cops

The hearings for two train operators were rescheduled for Sept. 9.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NEWTON FALLS -- Apparently two citations were enough for CSX officials.
After Lordstown police officers charged state Sen. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-33rd, and Ron D. Catale of Struthers with blocking traffic late last month with a train, railroad officials asked to meet with the police chief to try to resolve the problem.
"They will be here to meet with us July 23," said Police Chief Brent Milhoan. "They want to try and figure out a solution."
Last week, Hagan -- a part-time train engineer -- was hand-delivered a summons to appear Thursday morning in Newton Falls Municipal Court on the charge. Catale, the train's conductor, was on vacation and did not receive his summons until later, Milhoan said.
The men's hearings, however, were reset for Sept. 9 before Judge Thomas Old. The misdemeanor charge is punishable by a fine up to $1,000.
Hagan and Catale are accused of blocking crossings after they picked up a shipment of 41 vehicles from the GM complex on June 27, and were waiting for clearance from a dispatcher to switch rails.
The move was stalled because of nearby train traffic. The senator has admitted his train was stopped for more than five minutes, the most state law allows at a rail crossing.
Milhoan said his department has received several complaints in recent months about trains blocking traffic, and he warned CSX officials that, if it continued, train operators would be cited. When the train Hagan and Catale were manning was timed blocking a crossing for more than eight minutes, Lordstown police contacted CSX for the names of the engineer and conductor.
Milhoan said CSX informed his department when Hagan and Catale were expected back in Lordstown, and officers were ready with the summonses July 2.
Milhoan said it's not the first time train operators have been cited by village police. After the Lordstown Police Department was first organized in the 1970s, officers routinely cited operators for stopped trains, he said.
Milhoan said he understood the problems with citations led to railroad officials' helping plan and construct a bypass over state Route 45.
"I guess they figured that was easier and cheaper than paying all those $1,000 fines," he said.
slshaulis@vindy.com