PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF IN ORAN

Following the deaths of two more people at the Shelby Street railroad crossing in Oran, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department has agreed to install warning lights and guards in an effort to stop traffic at the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks when trains are approaching.

Getting signals installed has been a long time coming, and had it not been for the family of one of the two women who died, plans to install the signals still may not be in place. But the prodding of the McGranahan family, particularly Elaine McGranahan, has paid off.

Her mother, Sylvia McGranahan, and her mother's friend, Wanda Johns, were killed last month when they attempted to drive across the tracks. They became the fifth and sixth victims of train accidents at the crossing since 1957. Just two years ago a man was killed when he too pulled into the path of a passing train.

Elaine McGranahan, like others in town, had had enough. She began contacting federal and state officials and lawmakers in a campaign to get something done.

Among the people McGranahan talked to was state Rep. Marilyn Williams of Dudley. Williams got a financial commitment from the highways department, and the warning system is expected to be in place in about a year.

Meanwhile, extra precautions are being taken to avert another tragedy at the crossing. School bus drivers have been directed to use only the crossing in Oran that has a warning system. In addition to Shelby Street, there is one other railroad crossing in town without a warning system.

Train engineers are making sure motorists know trains are coming by sounding horns louder and longer as they pass through town. The recent accident has sounded a new alarm of the dangers at the Shelby Street crossing, and townspeople are seriously heeding it.

Railroad crossing warning systems are expensive, and the highways department can't install them at every unmarked crossing. But using some of the funding available for such projects in Oran will be money well spent. Elaine McGranahan certainly thinks so, and with the number of accidents that have occurred at the crossing, her persistence undoubtedly will save many lives.