I'm not sure how old this was. I think it first came out in the 1980s or early 1990s, but I think Operation Lifesaver and Morton Suggestions still offer it, along with similar "Sly Fox and Birdie" activity books. This is a 1997-1998 printing; also note the MBTA logos and the commuter train illustration on the bottom left (the MBTA F40PHs no longer look like that!)
Note how it says "cause a wreck" as one of the answer options. Maybe they thought "derail" or "crash" would be too extreme.
I apologize for that magenta blot; my younger brother used this to try and answer the questions and grade himself on it (there were a few mistakes, for "NIGHT" and "MONDAY THRU SAT." he checked "FALSE," now he obviously knows better now that he drives.)
"Only in the daytime?!" Obviously the answer is always false. The "Sly Fox and Birdie" version did not have a connect-the-dots thing for their similar bridge page, but they had a connect-the-dots thing for a railroad crossing signal.
I forgot to scan it, but there was a page about what to do if you stall on a railroad crossing. The answer options were:
"WAIT FOR HELP" - FALSE; "LISTEN TO THE RADIO" - FALSE; "RELAX AND HAVE A SNACK" - FALSE; "GET OUT FAST AND RUN AWAY FROM THE TRACKS" - TRUE
It showed a father, his son and dog abandoning their car as the engineer's train was coming towards it (a crossing signal with flashers is in the background.)
This forgot to mention throwing things at a train can hurt YOU too; it can bounce off a freight car and hit you. And it does mention train crew, but what about the people on passenger trains?
OK, I actually colored the flashing lights in when I was younger. Running across the tracks is dumb obviously, but doing nothing could keep you safe (you'd just stand there until the train passes.) As for "Stop, look and listen", the last two may not help, you should only STOP and do not try to cross until the signals deactivate. Those flashers look unusually small; you'd think they would have drawn them bigger-looking.
This one pretty much sums up the whole "don't play around freight cars" message. I like how the kids manage to successfully jump in an out of a moving boxcar, which is pretty unrealistic!
LOL at the options "SATURDAY NIGHTS ONLY," "DURING THE DAY" and "WHILE IT'S RAINING." My brother answered the second AND "NEVER" as "True." There's another (later?) version of this where there's another boy with the rider, riding the handlebars of the bike.
The railroad safety crossword. The Sly Fox and Birdie version had an identical crossword as well, with almost the same answers.
Man, those kids in this book sure are dumb!
Any comments?
