Minnesota Session Laws - 1988, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1988 

                        CHAPTER 697-S.F.No. 449 
           An act relating to transportation; railroads; 
          requiring occupied caboose car on certain trains; 
          requiring caboose car to be equipped with shortwave 
          radio; imposing a penalty; amending Minnesota Statutes 
          1986, section 219.56; proposing coding for new law in 
          Minnesota Statutes, chapter 219.  
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  [219.558] [DEFINITIONS.] 
    As used in sections 2 and 3, the following terms have the 
meanings given them:  
    (a) "Caboose" means a railroad car or coach that meets the 
standards of section 219.56 and is used on a train to carry a 
train crew.  
    (b) "Terminal" means a system of tracks, whose boundaries 
are set by a railroad, used for coupling or uncoupling cars.  
    (c) "Placarded car" means a railroad car that is required 
by federal regulations to display placards because the car 
contains hazardous materials.  
    (d) "Block signals" means a series of signals that control 
the movement of trains within a section of track.  
    Sec. 2.  [219.559] [OCCUPIED CABOOSE IN REAR; EXCEPTION.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [CABOOSE REQUIRED.] Except as provided in 
subdivision 2, a railroad company may not operate a freight 
train 2,000 feet long or longer, if the train is handling 
placarded cars or is operated without block signals, unless the 
rear car is a caboose that is occupied by at least one member of 
the train crew.  
     Subd. 2.  [EXCEPTIONS.] (a) A defective freight car that 
cannot be entrained except behind the caboose may be the rear 
car from the point at which it is entrained, unless that point 
is a terminal where repairs can be made, to the first repair 
terminal.  
    (b) This section does not apply to: 
    (1) a train used in terminal service two miles or less from 
the limits of the terminal; 
    (2) a train operated on a short line railroad classified by 
the Interstate Commerce Commission as a class III line haul 
railroad; 
    (3) a railroad company that operates a railway in this 
state and in two adjoining states, if the total trackage of the 
railroad company, including trackage rights, is more than 950 
miles and less than 1,000 miles; 
    (4) a unit grain train while it is transporting only grain 
as defined in section 17.41; or 
    (5) a unit taconite train while it is transporting only 
taconite ore, tailings, or other mined mineral ore.  
     Subd. 3.  [SHORTWAVE RADIO.] No railroad company may 
operate a caboose unless it is equipped with an operable 
shortwave radio with the same frequency as the shortwave radio 
on the lead locomotive of the train.  
    Subd. 4.  [PENALTY.] A railroad company violating this 
section is subject to a civil penalty of $350 for each offense.  
The operation of a train in violation of this section 
constitutes a separate violation for each day or part of a day 
it is so operated.  The penalty must be recovered in a civil 
action by a railway employee, a railway labor organization as 
defined under the Railway Labor Act, or another interested 
person in a court having jurisdiction in a county in or through 
which the railroad line runs.  The civil penalty is payable to 
the state.  The court may issue an order requiring compliance 
with this section.  The court shall award the prevailing party 
in the civil action attorney fees and costs. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 219.56, is 
amended to read: 
    219.56 [CABOOSE CARS.] 
    It is unlawful for a person, corporation, or company 
operating a railroad in the state to require or permit the use 
of caboose cars unless the caboose cars (1) are at least 24 feet 
in length, exclusive of platforms; (2) have a door at each end; 
(3) have a dry hopper, gas or electric incinerator, or other 
suitable toilet facilities; (4) have cupolas, bay windows, 
platforms, guard rails, grab irons, and steps for the safety of 
persons getting on or off the caboose cars; and (5) are equipped 
with at least two four-wheeled trucks.  Shatterproof glass must 
be used in the doors of the caboose when the present glass is 
replaced.  Each caboose, when placed in service, must be 
provided with paper cups and at least one gallon of potable 
water supplied by a water cooler, which is kept sanitary, clean, 
and operating.  When failure of the required equipment or 
standards of maintenance occurs after a caboose has commenced to 
move in service, the railroad operating that caboose is not in 
violation of this section if the failure is corrected at the 
next initial terminal as defined in section 219.551, subdivision 
2.  Caboose cars built or purchased after January 1, 1968, must 
have underframing and superstructure constructed of steel or a 
material of equivalent strength and, after January 1, 1972, must 
also be equipped with a cushioned underframe or cushioned draft 
gears and shatterproof glass in all doors and windows.  When 
caboose cars are operated at the rear of a train, as required by 
section 2, they must be equipped with a marker or markers which 
may consist of flags, lamps, flashing lights, or reflectorized 
devices. 
    Approved April 28, 1988