Railroad Tracks

In the wake of two injuries along Harford railroad tracks in the past two days, the county Sheriff's Office will review its policy on calls for service along county tracks and then meet with railroad officials to see how safety might be improved.Sheriff's deputies routinely respond to calls about people trespassing on railroad property, but more often find that trespassers are long gone by the time they arrive, Sgt. Edward Hopkins, a sheriff's spokesman, said yesterday."If deputies do find anyone on the tracks, the suspects are held and turned over to railroad police for prosecution," he said.

FIRE* Taneytown: Taneytown firefighters were dispatched to investigate a report of smoke coming from a building on East Baltimore Street at the railroad tracks at 11:54 a.m. yesterday. They were out five minutes.

A family of six was depending on the Red Cross to find a place for them to sleep last night after a three-alarm fire late Sunday night extensively damaged their Keymar home."

The death of a 39-year-old woman who was struck by a train at a Laurel commuter rail station Tuesday has raised concerns over the safety of pedestrian walkways across railroad tracks in Maryland and elsewhere around the country.Workers posted signs at the Laurel Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) station Thursday afternoon urging pedestrians to be cautious. The signs, identical to ones used at light rail stations, read: "Look Both Ways Before Crossing," and "Danger! Cross Tracks Only at Crosswalks."

CHICAGO -- "Good night."The cold hard steel of the gun's barrel pressed against Stephanie's head. She already had been shot once through her right shoulder, and blood trickled down her arm onto the smooth leather car seats, soaking her fur coat.The air was cold, the winter night still, except for a dog barking in the distance. The white $26,000 Infiniti, Stephanie's most prized possession among a collection that included diamond rings, bracelets and gold necklaces, now sat idling near the railroad tracks on the Far South Side.

Forget the red glare of those rock ets. Ditto the bombs bursting in air, or the twilight's last gleaming.The real hardship in getting to Fort McHenry is driving Key Highway.Francis Scott Key is probably doing 60 rpm in his grave. Let the British try to assail the fort by land this time -- the first wagon would throw an axle before it reached the Rusty Scupper.With its dips and convolutions, potholes, exposed cobblestones and abandoned railroad tracks, Key Highway has become the most jarring way in and out of Baltimore.

Perhaps you've taken a wrong turn off York Road just south of Cockeysville.Perhaps you were forced into the left-turn-only lane, or maybe you were just lost in the maze of Dunkin' Donuts and Taco Bells that pack this piece of roadway.In any case, you have ended up in Texas.Now marked by no more than a dozen houses, Texas is as unlikely as its name.Guarding the gates of the Genstar Stone Products limestone quarry, and just blocks from the commercial sprawl that has become the trademark of suburbia, Texas' small cluster of stone and wood-frame houses stands along Church Lane.

The pieces of lumber that test a car's shock absorbers as it crosses the railroad tracks at Main Street and Railroad Avenue in Westminster may be replaced by rubber mats that promise a smoother crossing.The City Council's Finance Committee is mulling budget options to replace the lumber with rubber matting for 170 feet, from the Liberty Street side of the Main Street intersection to the edge of Winters Alley.A final decision rests with the full council, which may get thecommittee's recommendation in January.

Things were going well for 16-year-old Chaquista Spriggs.She was a blossoming young woman who thrived at Edmondson/Westside Senior High School, loved music and was looking forward to serving in the Air Force and having a family.Today, she's homicide victim No. 320 in a very bloody year in Baltimore, her boyfriend is critically wounded and her family is trying to make sense of a death that came much too soon.Her mother, Linda Walker, was almost in shock last night at the family's apartment in the 2400 block of Reisterstown Road as she discussed her daughter and the murder, clutching her most recent report card and a song she wrote for Homecoming.

The 50-foot-high trestle crossing the Patapsco River off the 200 block of River Road near Oella is a popular spot for teens looking to show their courage as they scamper along the railroad tracks. For others, it's a shortcut to swimming and fishing.But railroad officials warn of the danger of walking along the tracks.The warnings apparently go unheeded.William David "Billy" Griffith, 11, fell to his death from the trestle Sunday afternoon while returning from a swimming excursion.Yesterday, children still played along the steel beams that border the railroad tracks.