Stop, look and listen?

Those three words were once etched into the brains of motorists across America in a nation criss-crossed by thousands of miles of railroad tracks.

For a variety of reasons 21st century railroads are dwindling from the public consciousness, party due to the abandonment of trackage in the past 50 years, but also due to the railroads' own strategy of staying out of the limelight to avoid a world increasingly filled with lawyers and NIMBYs.

Ironically train traffic has actually increased on trunk lines that remain, thanks in part to trade with the far east and coal. Railroads are still more fuel-efficient than trucks.

But their image is horrible. Today's lines go by boring alphabetic designations such as CSX and BNSF, a far cry from names like "Santa Fe" or "Seaboard Coast Line" that evoke memories of America's past.

These faceless entities might soon get more attention than they desire. The nominee for Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, will begin her Senate confirmation hearings this week. World Net Daily is pushing a story that might get some MSM attention, especially since a railroad whistleblower named Dave Nelson calls Peters just "another Bush cover-up artist".

Caveats up front. WND has a somewhat dubious reputation, and Nelson is a former CSX employee who might be a tad disgruntled. The animosity between union-management in the rail biz is legend. But that doesn't mean Nelson's contention has no merit.

Specifically, he alleges that former Treasury Sec John Snow, the ex-CEO of CSX railroad and Peters, former head of the Federal Highway Administration, were in cahoots to bury an investigation into allegations that CSX was skimming federal funds allotted to fix highway warning devices. You might remember John Snow from the Dubai Ports deal.

The 'problem' is hardly new, making it a challenge to blame entirely on Bush or Peters. Besides, the impression being left by Nelson is that crossing accidents are mainly caused by inept railroads, which does not comport with reality. Talk to any train crew and they'll likely tell you stories about cars or trucks driving around lowered gates seconds in front of their horn-blasting locomotive, some that'll curl your hair.

But signals sometimes malfunction, which in a world full of cell-phone talking drivers can be quite dangerous. Young people are not taught to look and listen anymore, it's much cooler to "beat the train".

Accusations are a dime a dozen. It's imperative to separate those who might be trying to exploit accidents for personal gain or for political reprisal with those who are trying to expose the truth. If indeed the railroads are stuffing federal money intended to fix signals into their pockets that's certainly indefensible and worth a bit of sunshine. But accusing someone of a conspiracy requires something more than a hunch.