Western Railroad Discussion > Youths killed by train near Glamis...

Just got a call from a friend of mine in LA to let me know that one of his good friend's daughters was killed in Glamis Ca this past weekend when she tried to go around the crossing gates for route 78. She was on some sort of ATV.

Since he knows I'm into trains and close to Glamis he wanted to see if I had heard anything. I looked around and found the story on the web...

So sad...

http://www.yumasun.com/news/train_37911___article_news.html/release_struck.html

Tony

My heart goes out to them.

Same here, but that's a perfect example of "Assuming" when you should play it safe!

Classic situation in which to err . . most lay people would take for granted there's
just that one train . . but that's why that gate's there. 'Dogh

Impatience is often rewarded.


TCS - flying guiterez brothers

Very sad. My heart goes out to the victims family. Also my heart goes out to the crew on the train.

SantaFeRuss

This is indeed tragic and I feel for all the family involved.

But a 15-year old - obviously an unlicensed driver - riding an off-road ONLY vehicle on a state highway! Am I missing something here? Where were her parents? I would never let my daughter drive an off-road vehicle unsupervised and NEVER on an off-road vehicle on a public right-of-way no mater what (geeze, even I wouldn't break that law).

um quads are legal for on road use here in az.you dont need a drivers license either.old people in thier golf carts made this ok.all 4 of m y quads are street legal.

TopcoatSmith Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Impatience is often rewarded.
>
>
> TCS - flying guiterez brothers

What the hell does that mean??? My heart goes out to the families involved, not to mention the crew.

Kent in Carmel Valley

Arkeytek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is indeed tragic and I feel for all the
> family involved.
>
> But a 15-year old - obviously an unlicensed driver
> - riding an off-road ONLY vehicle on a state
> highway! Am I missing something here? Where were
> her parents? I would never let my daughter drive
> an off-road vehicle unsupervised and NEVER on an
> off-road vehicle on a public right-of-way no mater
> what (geeze, even I wouldn't break that law).

I couldn't agree with you more. It sounds as if the 9 year old was riding with her. The post below mentions that they're legal in AZ, but this is not Arizona and are illegal. The parents should be held responsible even though punishment in cases such as this cannot help the situation. They will have to live the rest of their lives knowing that they could have prevented this tragedy.
As mentioned above the train crew involved will have to live with this also. When I first heard of this accident, I didn't think it would have been at the road crossing, but along the ROW where there is no fencing. There have been several incidents involving ATVs and off road trucks over the years but most of these on the tracks with vehicles getting high centered or stuck in the ballast.-BMT

Just spoke to my friend again. He mentioned that the vehicle was a Yamaha Rhino that the girl was driving. After a quick Google search it looks like a golf-cart type ATV vehicle...

Tony

Convey my condolences to the next of kin and if posible encourage them to just let it end and not sue the railroad or the train crew and keeping the memory of this tragic event going on and on and on

UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Arkeytek Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This is indeed tragic and I feel for all the
> > family involved.
> >
> > But a 15-year old - obviously an unlicensed
> driver
> > - riding an off-road ONLY vehicle on a state
> > highway! Am I missing something here? Where
> were
> > her parents? I would never let my daughter
> drive
> > an off-road vehicle unsupervised and NEVER on
> an
> > off-road vehicle on a public right-of-way no
> mater
> > what (geeze, even I wouldn't break that law).
>
> I couldn't agree with you more. It sounds as if
> the 9 year old was riding with her. The post below
> mentions that they're legal in AZ, but this is not
> Arizona and are illegal. The parents should be
> held responsible even though punishment in cases
> such as this cannot help the situation. They will
> have to live the rest of their lives knowing that
> they could have prevented this tragedy.
> As mentioned above the train crew involved will
> have to live with this also. When I first heard of
> this accident, I didn't think it would have been
> at the road crossing, but along the ROW where
> there is no fencing. There have been several
> incidents involving ATVs and off road trucks over
> the years but most of these on the tracks with
> vehicles getting high centered or stuck in the
> ballast.-BMT


This is tragic indeed. However, They were probably enroute from the Imperial Sand Dunes to the ATV / Dune Buggy Capitol of the World. You would only have to go on Hwy 78 to cross the tracks & then you can ride next to the road. This is Desert. So it's not like they were riding an off-road vehicle in Downtown LA.

---

SPSF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Arkeytek Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > This is indeed tragic and I feel for all the
> > > family involved.
> > >
> > > But a 15-year old - obviously an unlicensed
> > driver
> > > - riding an off-road ONLY vehicle on a state
> > > highway! Am I missing something here? Where
> > were
> > > her parents? I would never let my daughter
> > drive
> > > an off-road vehicle unsupervised and NEVER on
> > an
> > > off-road vehicle on a public right-of-way no
> > mater
> > > what (geeze, even I wouldn't break that law).
> >
> > I couldn't agree with you more. It sounds as if
> > the 9 year old was riding with her. The post
> below
> > mentions that they're legal in AZ, but this is
> not
> > Arizona and are illegal. The parents should be
> > held responsible even though punishment in
> cases
> > such as this cannot help the situation. They
> will
> > have to live the rest of their lives knowing
> that
> > they could have prevented this tragedy.
> > As mentioned above the train crew involved will
> > have to live with this also. When I first heard
> of
> > this accident, I didn't think it would have
> been
> > at the road crossing, but along the ROW where
> > there is no fencing. There have been several
> > incidents involving ATVs and off road trucks
> over
> > the years but most of these on the tracks with
> > vehicles getting high centered or stuck in the
> > ballast.-BMT
>
>
> This is tragic indeed. However, They were
> probably enroute from the Imperial Sand Dunes to
> the ATV / Dune Buggy Capitol of the World. You
> would only have to go on Hwy 78 to cross the
> tracks & then you can ride next to the road. This
> is Desert. So it's not like they were riding an
> off-road vehicle in Downtown LA.

The Hwy 78 crossing is not the only way to cross the tracks. There are several underpasses, just for the off roaders, east of Hwy 78 where they have their own ROW with no contact with the railroad or public highways. I run through there on the way to Yuma and back and always keep an extra eye out for off roaders being as they have the tendency to get pretty crazy and often there's alcohol (or more) involved, although there's not much you can do at 70 MPH if they're on the ROW.-BMT

Simply, riding an off-road vehicle on a public right-of-way is illegal (in California), just as it is to go 1-mile an hour over the speed limit. Yes, there's the unofficial "grace allowance," but it's illegal nonetheless.

As for off-roading in Downtown LA - I think that was a reference to my profile: I may work in downtown and live on the westside, but I am very proud of the sage-brush strokes on the side of my Durango, which has been highly modified for on- and off-road use (the Durango has traveled most of the Bodie and Benson RR right-of-way northeast of Mono Lake). Since I have been able to drive, I have owned 4x4s, I am familiar (abet not an expert) of the laws regarding off-road use in many of the western states (I worked for a while in Arizona and am aware that many ATVs are street-legal in that fair state).

Nevertheless, even with discussions regarding the law and what's right and what's wrong, it is extremely sad to loose a family member, especially ones so young. I am truly sorry this even happened and currently a discussion on Trainorders - it should have never happened.

TopcoatSmith Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Impatience is often rewarded.
>
>
> TCS - flying guiterez brothers


Huh?

This reminds me of the time I was at the curve at the East end of West Palm Springs, when it was still SP. I was waiting for a westbound and there were two little kids, maybe 3 to 5 years old, playing on the tracks. Lo and behold, before long a westbound showed up. I shouted at the older kid to tell his brother to get off the tracks because a train was coming. He did, and at least the younger kid paid attention because he moved, and the train went safely by.
After the train passed, I looked around and their parents were still nowhere in sight. You would think that the perents would have been concerned enough to search for their kids after a freight train passed at full speed, but no. This just proves my theory that half of America is retarded. At least I ddn't have to be a hero. I probably wouldn't have been thanked, anyway.
Parents really need to keep an eye on their kids, regardless of age, when they're around a railroad. When you're young, you do dumb things, and parents' job, whether or not they wanted it, is to show their kids the right direction. This obviously didn't happen in Glamis.
SP had lots of trouble over the years in Glamis, and I guess things haven't changed with UP.

MojaveSub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TopcoatSmith Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Impatience is often rewarded.
> >
> >
> > TCS - flying guiterez brothers
>
>
> Huh?


What he means is.... If you decide to go around the crossing gate, and heed no warning signs that a train is coming.... You will get killed, That is your reward for being an idiot.

Dont worry TCS, I understood what you meant.

Thanks CR, I'm not a cold-hearted bastard, it is tragic that the young ones lost their lives.
As Mac said this evening, the train always wins.


TCS - .

I just received an email in regards to this. All three of the kids hit are children of Los Angeles County firefighters. Obviously this is hitting both families very hard. My condolences.

Dave Toussaint
Riverside, CA
SoCalRailFan.com