The 79-year-old says he's pretty accepting of whatever happens to him at this point, so the railroad tracks which sit fewer than 50 feet away from his house don't cause him concern.

"In fact, I don't even notice the noise," Parker added.

Across the street, however, Katie Opp, a widow and 19-year resident of property running parallel to the path for roaring trains, says living so close to the tracks sometimes makes her nervous, especially when hearing about incidents such as the recent Interstate 57 derailment.

"You never know what goes down these tracks," Opp said. "If it's hazardous materials and something happens we're not prepared, I don't think."

Opp said she's never been told where to go in the event of a derailment similar to the I-57 incident or the derailment last year in Tamaroa, which effectively emptied the town for a week.

She realizes she'd be one of the first affected if a similar incident occurred in Du Quoin, and she said there seems to be plenty of opportunity for an accident to occur. More than eight freight trains roll up and down the tracks each day.

"They come at all hours," Opp said. "If you're sitting outside sometimes you watch them go by and wonder what's in those tank cars."

Opp said train derailments are the biggest concern in her life, but worrying about what might happen in an accident won't cause her to move.

"I'm not going to move; this is home," she said.

For the most part, train derailments involving hazardous materials are the exception, not the norm when it comes to the railroad industry. According to a report on railroad safety performed by the Illinois Commerce Commission, four derailments in which hazardous chemicals were released, occurred in 2003.

The report shows the largest release of chemicals came from the Tamaroa incident in February 2003. More than 95,000 gallons of hazardous materials were released in the derailment, according to the report. Several dozen other incidents were reported to the commission in 2003.

Derek Misener, coordinator for the Jackson County Emergency Management Agency, said when it comes to train derailments the situation could split in one of two directions.

"A train derailment might be a mass casualty incident, or if its a freight train it could be a HAZMAT situation," Misener said.

He said various law enforcement and rescue agencies have the training necessary, but when it comes to communities susceptible to train derailments Misener said Carbondale represents one of the worse-case scenarios.

"If we look at a hazardous materials incident right in downtown Carbondale that would be catastrophic," he said.

Misener said his agency, however, knows the lay of the downtown area and would be able to formulate a plan for evacuation and eventually cleanup.

The difficult part would be getting everyone notified and out of harm's way in such an incident, he said.

Misener said the best thing for people to do in such an incident is to keep themselves informed. "If they suspect an event has occurred, they need to be watching TV and listening to the radio," he said.

He also said in the case of a train releasing hazardous materials into the air, residents living near tracks should close all doors and turn off all heating and cooling ventilation systems, so as not to allow chemicals into their living space.

Canadian National spokeswoman Karen Phillips said the company doesn't skimp when it comes to maintaining railroad tracks and ensuring they are safe.

"There are a number of tests we perform on a regular basis," she said.

As Dan McClanahan, another Du Quoin native, sat outside his mother's house, he looked across the way at several train cars resting on tracks. Beside them maintenance crews surveyed the tracks.

McClanahan said trains pass along the track on a "pretty regular" basis, but crews are also always keeping watch on the conditions at the crossings.

"Actually, they do a pretty good job of maintenance," he said. "I've seen more equipment out here than ever before."