Welcome to the fire newguy. I would definatly add a small NOAA hazards alert radio with S.A.M.E. technology. This will alert you if something does occur. Walmart has pocket-sized ones for about $40.

How far away are you from secondary sanctuaraies such as your parent's, relatives, friends, or friend's homes? Do you have good maps of the areas and directions to reach these places?

As for identifying what hazardous materials the trains are carrying, go here. You can order an emergency response book which lists the chemical every hazmat placard ID number refers to as well as software for your pc or pda which gives you the same information. I keep a copy of this book in my glove compartment.

-Blast

You might also think about a decent little FAK in your backpack. Mostly OTC meds like Ibuprofren or some such, but maybe also a good compress type bandage or so, for when you take those really nasty spills on the bike.

I attended LIU Southampton College....we had a R x R track on the North side of the campus...ours was commuter. I don't remember ever seeing cargo or tankers.

Check with the local EMS/FD.... I had joined the local volunteer ambulance company and I learned a lot. A good company should have 'pre-plans' for just such a contigency.....You should be able to find out something......but don't be surprised to find that they are a little leary of 'people' who come in asking questions specific to what is carried on the rails or of the emergency procedures if TSHTF.....the info can be used by bad guys too, so they will probably be a little skittish.

Maybe you could start a 'pre-plan' with them and the college?!? It would allow you to help the school and get 'with the in crowd' and show them you are not 'just curious'.....good luck.

Being a college student you probably have a very real investment in your school work. If you're going to evac on a bike it might be a bit hard to carry a desktop computer or even a lap top. You might want to make a back-up of any important data to a flash drive or even a USB HDD if the amount warrants it.
Even non-school related documents should be backed up (if you were at home it would be good idea to make a scan of things like birth certificate, etc). A flash drive you could even EDC and wouldn't have to make it back to your dorm in an emergency.

In addition to what has been said above, I would suggest carrying a small amount of cash, maybe $20 or $30 or so that you never use, unless it's an emergency. While things can always get REALLY bad, I would imagine that in most situations like those you mentioned, you might be kept from your dorm for a day or so, and there would be a lot of other students in the same boat. I think it would be nice to grab a bite at a fast food joint, or knock a beer back with a few friends. I know a lot of students who have almost all their food money on a school account so they can buy meals at the school's cafeterias, but if something happens, those might not be availible. Just my $0.02.

I would also second Nishnabotna's comment about backing up school work and such on a flash drive. Could really save your bacon.

there are two problems with trying to have a location for supplies on both sides of campus, I can afford it.
Also the nearest store is 4 miles away and that is only a small gas station.
The college doesnt have a plan for such an event and that is why i have come here to seek advice.
The FAK is a great idea, will add a small one to my bike.
My wallet has credit cards from my parents for use in emergencies and at least $50 cash (folded up behind my drivers license so that i forget about it)
All my important documents are all at home in a fire-resistant document safe, i have a portable hard drive that i back up all photos, music, and school work weekly. The issue is that it's a little too large to carry everyday so i've started moving most of it to the colleges' off-site servers.
I live 300 miles from school and none of my friends live within 50 miles of campus so my best bet would be to get on the bike and head south towards bristol, that being the closest city of decent size, even if it would be a 20mile ride.

I too am a college student. The school also has a TT running on the north and southern ends of the campus. The city surrounding the school is a small white town full of elderly. The school's population (25,000) practically makes half of the small town's population!

I also have a mountain bike...well, had. I kinda roughed it up too far and now the main bearings are broken...work on that later. But, due to my bike I was able to travel all over the city. Knowing where certain sections of the city with less attention centered, will help you find peace in times of chaos.

There is a great mountain pass just south of campus that hikers/bikers usually frequent, a bike park under an underpass to the southeast corner on the river, a boat ramp on the northeast, the nearest city is about 10 miles away - only means of travel are crowded highways, large cities half an hour from north/southern directions.

Think of all these options before-hand, have a list made to position locations (NEARBY) and conceal them to your most closest friends/family member.

If something real dangerous were to happen. I would gather up a bunch of friends and go to the beach! But seriously, if something were to go down. I'm heading towards the river, then upstream for some good o' trout fly fishing carrying my phone + charger, of course.

-Fishmode

I think you'll find that most of the people posting here all walk around with certain items, all the time as a matter of habit. Most will also have one or more kits prepared and ready to go, at home, in the car, etc. Most kits are probably tailored to what they expect that they might encounter, often in a worse case scenario, to the resources they will expect to be able to draw on, and to what they can carry. Look at some of the commercial kits or kits that others have posted about, and read what people say about them.

I like to back things up on DVDs and store the information elsewhere. For example, make a DVD and send it home from school.

My most basic first aid items are rolls of athletic tape, gauze and something that is a topical antibiotic.

Fishmode, that bike should be fairly easy to fix. Bikes are simple machines, except for maybe the modern shifters. You refer to the main bearings, not sure what that means. Is it the bottom bracket through which the spindle for the pedals turn or the ball bearings inside the hubs of a wheel?

Interesting point about what goes through "regularly" on the train. You might also what to keep an eye out for what goes through irregularly. As an example I used to live in a University town in the middle of the UK that had a main major road run between our dorms and the main campus. Usually nothing very interesting on the road, then ever once in a while a ordinary looking box truck would go past, the giveaway it was worthy of closer inspection were the three police vehicle escort it always had.

One day I was waiting to cross the road when it went past and I noticed the discrete radioactive signs on the side and back. As far as I could ascertain from talking to a few people who should know, it was carrying "medium level" waste on its way to a facility around 200ml to the North East. Apparently it broke its journey at the regional police headquarters, which was only 0.5ml up the road from our dorms!

Trains can be a little tricky when it comes to identifying the contents of the various cars. They don't have placards like trucks on the highways to, you have to contact the engineer or conductor to get the consist (what the RR guys call the paperwork for the entire train) to learn if they have any metholethalbadstuff on board...