The Old Depot Museum was an exciting place Tuesday with a balloon artist and other fun for kids, but there was a serious message about rail safety too.

Operation Lifesaver, along with the Alabama Department of Transportation, Norfolk Southern Safety Committee, Geneseee & Wyoming Railroad, Inc., and Meridian & Bigbee Railroad LLC, sponsored a Rail Safety Day event, which promoted safety on and around tracks.

“You have lots of rail traffic here,” said executive director of Alabama Operation Lifesaver Nancy Hudson. “There are incidents, and we want to try to reach the community to remind them to be careful.”

Schools, churches, and business are some of the usual spots the organization drops by to spring up awareness about train safety, and this time the group happened to stop by the Old Depot where children played on bouncy houses, trains and much more.

However, the purpose of the event wasn’t just to entertain and inform children.

“It’s really for both children and adults,” Hudson said. “We do like to have activities to make it fun for them, but we’re going to give safety talks for drivers, as well as younger kids.”

To provide a more personal approach to safety, locomotive engineer at Norfolk Southern Kerry Bender offered advice to attendees about his knowledge on railroad safety.

“Last year in Alabama, the state was ranked 4th in the country as far as traffic fatalities,” he said. “The state had 15 in the year of 2014. It’s still a big problem in Alabama.”

Bender believes drivers and pedestrian should take heed to the seriousness of rail safety.

To top off the day, Mayor George Evans proclaimed June 23 as Rail Safety Day in the city of Selma.

Hudson wants drivers to keep the possibility of a train being at every track they approach in the back of their minds.

“When you see tracks, think train,” she said. “Always expect a train at every crossing. Every time you approach a track, expect to see a train.”