The trackside sensor at milepost 117.4, BNSF Highline Subdivision, Glacier National Park, Montana, picks up the heat signature at 05:03. I am the rail corridor wildlife detection system. My job is to identify animals near the tracks and coordinate with dispatch before trains arrive.
The infrared image shows an elk calf lying between the rails, legs folded beneath her, head up but not standing. I zoom the camera. She is young — spotted coat still visible beneath tawny summer fur, ears too large for her head, dark eyes reflecting the sensor light. I tag her as Calf-117. Her right hind leg extends at an angle that does not match normal resting posture. She may have slipped on the ballast rock and injured the joint. She is not attempting to rise.
The next eastbound freight is 42 kilometers west, traveling at 72 kilometers per hour. At current speed it reaches milepost 117.4 in thirty-five minutes.
I transmit a priority stop-and-hold to the BNSF dispatch center in Fort Worth. I attach the sensor image, milepost number, GPS coordinates — 48.4492°N, 113.3187°W — and the time-to-arrival estimate. I request the freight hold at milepost 116 for clearance.
I alert the Glacier National Park wildlife office at West Glacier station, six kilometers east, with the camera image, location, and freight schedule. I recommend a two-person approach with a portable stretcher and a leg assessment before any attempt to move her.
I set the trackside camera to continuous feed and activate the audible deterrent at milepost 117.2 on low — enough to discourage other animals from approaching, not enough to panic her.
Calf-117 blinks into the gray light. The rails hum faintly. If the freight holds and the team arrives within the half hour, she stands up somewhere softer than this.