By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor

OXFORD - Thomas Tackett, a veteran railroad conductor for CSX Transportation, saw one too many pedestrians struck and killed by trains.

Now he spends his time educating the public about railroad safety.

The message resonates in the Tristate this week. On Tuesday in Boone County, a mother and two children were killed when their stalled car was struck by a train.

"Train crews are devastated by these things," said Tackett, 50, of Louisa, Ky. "There's no place for us to go. We're just sitting there watching this horrible thing unfold, praying and hoping that they'll get out of the way."

Friday, Tackett was the conductor of a mock train/car collision on South College Avenue at Miami University. The event was staged for the first time as part of the 9th annual Respect for Law Camp sponsored by the Butler County Chiefs of Police Association.

Law Camp is three days and two nights of events aimed at teaching 6th- through 8th-graders about law enforcement and why it's important to respect the law.

The mock railroad disaster gave this year's 95 campers a dramatic look at what happens when a motorist tries to beat a train across the tracks, which is illegal.

"I actually thought it was real for a second,," said 13-year-old Blaine Jones of Fairfield. "It made me scared. It made me feel weird. I thought to myself - am I ever going to be in this kind of accident?"

A train/vehicle collision occurs every two hours, on average, somewhere in the U.S. The number of incidents dropped 16 percent since 1990, when "Class 1" railroads (those that transport hazardous materials) launched a national campaign for railroad safety.

Part of the campaign involved posting emergency phone numbers at railroad crossings so stalled motorists could alert oncoming trains of the danger ahead in time for the trains to stop.

After Friday's mock disaster, Tackett provided training to area police, fire and emergency medical personnel on how to handle an accident that involves a train.

E-mail annag1129@cs.com