Western Railroad Discussion > Have you ever seen anything so stupid?!

This is a followup to the "Have you ever done anything so stupid" thread.

My "Darwin Award" winner was viewed from a Union Pacific recognition train from Enid to Wichita in 2007. UP invited WeatherData's meteorologists to ride. We were stopped on the main in Caldwell, KS when I saw in the mirror attached to the theatre car (at the end of the train where we riding) that another train was approaching on the siding.

1. I took the first photo in the mirror as the freight drew closer.
2. This gentleman ran out in front of the approaching train to place a coin on the track.
3. After the freight stopped in the siding the the man and his friend crawled under the train (which could have started moving at any time, they didn't have a scanner or any way to know) to find the coin. I was scared to death they would get sawed in two by the train's wheels.

Fortunately, they found their coin before the freight began moving.

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This is the result of Foamer inbreeding...

How about that haircut? Comb-over perhaps?

"Harry, have you seen my head?"

"It's around here somewheres"

An illustration of "dumb and dumber"

Bob

Bob Miller
Kansas City, KS

they were trying to derail the train

That is a good definition of dumbsh#$...

***GASP****
They DIDN'T have a SCANNER??? What were they thinking!?!?!?



kansas1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is a followup to the "Have you ever done
> anything so stupid" thread.
>
> My "Darwin Award" winner was viewed from a Union
> Pacific recognition train from Enid to Wichita in
> 2007. UP invited WeatherData's meteorologists to
> ride. We were stopped on the main in Caldwell, KS
> when I saw in the mirror attached to the theatre
> car (at the end of the train where we riding) that
> another train was approaching on the siding.
>
> 1. I took the first photo in the mirror as the
> freight drew closer.
> 2. This gentleman ran out in front of the
> approaching train to place a coin on the track.
> 3. After the freight stopped in the siding the the
> man and his friend crawled under the train (which
> could have started moving at any time, they didn't
> have a scanner or any way to know) to find the
> coin. I was scared to death they would get sawed
> in two by the train's wheels.
>
> Fortunately, they found their coin before the
> freight began moving.

I'm sure they'd hear the air releasing in the brakes. Do trains ever just start and creep off without any warning, if they're stopped wouldn't the engineer have to release the brakes to start again and then you could hear that even if you were at the end of a long freight???Also don't all class 1's blow the horn when starting to move again?

train could start anytime, the engineer could have allready tooted and released for all we know.

special agent is probably lecturing a railfan up front.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/10 09:19 by dan.

In some cases the hogger won't even have the train brakes set while stopped. And no you don't always hear the air release (if it's even set) before the train begins moving.

I don't know how many times the phrase has to be defined, but no Darwin Award Winners here!

lowwater

If he paid for a better haircut, he might not have the dime to put on the tracks.

A lot of engineers will release the automatic brakes right after stopping, and just use the independent brakes to hold the train while waiting - depending on grade, ect.

Phanzlik Wrote:
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> I'm sure they'd hear the air releasing in the
> brakes. Do trains ever just start and creep off
> without any warning, if they're stopped wouldn't
> the engineer have to release the brakes to start
> again and then you could hear that even if you
> were at the end of a long freight???Also don't all
> class 1's blow the horn when starting to move
> again?

Just down from the hills . . hadn't seen a train in 50 years . . zzzzzz

Definitely calls for a Big D award.

Who knows if these dummies even know what the air release means.

Jack

eje673 Wrote:
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> A lot of engineers will release the automatic brakes right after stopping, and just use the
> independent brakes to hold the train while waiting - depending on grade, etc.

X2, a majority of trains in flat territory on class 1's will start moving without ANY warning because of this. Most of the time the slack is still stretched, making starting movement that much quieter.

Next time you see a train pull into a flat siding, right after the train stops, listen for the air on the cars to release again even if it's gonna be a while 'til it departs.