I-TEAM: ‘We got some results;’ Stopped trains no longer trapping Clark Co. community

People living in one Clark County community say parked trains are no longer trapping them in their neighborhood for hours at a time.

This was happening along Wynn Road in Mad River Township. People living in the neighborhood reached out to share their concerns with the News Center 7 I-Team.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: I-TEAM: Blocked rail crossing traps members of local community in neighborhood several times a month

As reported on News Center 7 at 5:30, people reached out to the I-Team’s lead investigative reporter, John Bedell, for help because they worried those delays could be putting lives at risk. Since the I-Team started asking questions, they say they’re no longer dealing with that problem.

Debbie Reynolds and her neighbors contacted the I-Team in January saying parked trains on a Norfolk Southern railroad that runs next to their homes were blocking the crossing that’s the only way in or out of their neighborhood.

Reynolds shared photos on January 8 of a parked train she says blocked the crossing for four hours that afternoon.

“We’ve lived here for 50 years,” Reynolds’ neighbor Don Hamblin said. “It’s always been a problem. On a monthly basis. Two or three times a month maybe.”

People the I-Team spoke to say they’ve missed work, school, and doctor appointments because of this. And they’re worried about being cut off in an emergency.

>> RELATED: I-TEAM: Longer train lengths causing issues for emergency response in local communities

“If someone has a heart attack or if there’s a pregnancy down here, there’s no medical access,” Ron Frazier said. “We can’t even get to a hospital and nobody can get to us to help us out.”

The I-Team started asking Norfolk Southern questions on January 10 for our initial investigation that aired the following day. Since then, neighbors say any stopped trains now park short of the crossing to keep it open.

“We hope to continue that way,” Frazier said. “Hopefully your story got the attention the railroad needed to stay focused on this.”

Hamblin added, “Ever since you guys came out and reported on it, it hasn’t been blocked since then. So that’s been a good thing.”

The I-Team’s John Bedell checked Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) data that shows over the last four years – since the start of 2020 – someone has reported the crossing along Wynn Road being blocked three times. Someone reported a blocked crossing there in April 2021, another report was made in June 2021, and the most recent reported blocked crossing in Mad River Township was in September 2023.

However, the people the I-Team talked to in the neighborhood said they did not know they could report a blocked crossing through the FRA until we told them that was an option.

“You call the train company and you get no results,” Reynolds said. “So I thought I would turn to Channel 7 and see if, you know, you could help us out. And you did. We got some results. There’s not been a train that’s blocked us in since.”

After Reynolds and her neighbors told the I-Team they’ve noticed a stark difference since we first reached out to Norfolk Southern on January 10, The I-Team reached out to Norfolk Southern again Thursday.

We asked if Norfolk Southern train crews have now been instructed to stop shy of the crossing in Mad River Township in order to keep the crossing open if a train has to park there for a while. So far, the company has not answered that question.

However, an NS spokesperson did send the I-Team a statement identical to the one it sent when we reached out January 10. The I-Team included that statement in our original investigation last month:

“Norfolk Southern makes every effort to avoid inconveniencing a community with a stopped train. Though there are a number of reasons a train may have to stop, our goal is to keep our trains moving safely. Teams within our Network Operations Center make every effort to minimize these instances. We also partner with communities to identify short-term and permanent solutions such as overpasses and closing crossings, where it makes sense. That includes contributing funds directly to communities and helping them to apply for infrastructure grants.”

News Center 7 will continue updating this story.