Western Railroad Discussion > Funds for Families of Panhandle Incident

Do any of you know of funds setup in Amarillo for the families of the Panhandle incident. If so would you let us know so we could donate

Praying for all involved

Dale Smith

Posted from iPhone

A T-shirt campaign is the only fundraising activity I am aware of.

https://teespring.com/railroad-strong#pid=369&cid=6513&sid=back

A Go Fund Me account would be appropriate. Perhaps a close friend or Union Steward etc..someone trusted to get the money actually to the families.
RB

from a BNSF memo posted below ...

i post the names because it helps me to remind myself of the human element and not just something i read ...

Mr Smith Jr at 59 years of age with 39 years service ...  if he was like everyone else his age no doubtedly already had plans on what to do after he retired ...

Mr Owens at 52 of age with 22 years ... wasn't far behind him ...
 
Ms Taylor at 45 of age wih 12 years ...was a seasoned employee ...

the 4th unamed employee lone survivor in the hospital was an engineer on one of the trains 
 
no mention of which train each was on ...

when i first got hired on the railroad ... there were accident ins guys in the sign up rooms on my first day who were cherry picking the new hires to sign up for accidental injury and death insurance ...do they still do that ??? ... 

Thanks for passing along the names of the individuals who perished in this tragedy.  Just to add the survivors who we need to keep in thoughts and prayers:

Mr. Smith was survived by his wife Donna and a son and a daughter.  The son works for BNSF in the Network Operations Center in Fort Worth.

Mr. Owens is survived by his wife Cynthia, two sons and a daughter.

Ms. Taylor was survived by her son.

That is eight people in their immediate families directly impacted by this.

Thanks hopefully a gofundme site will be put together, if so let me know I would like to donate.  Thanks for the information.  Sad events happen everyday in this world, my thoughts and prayers goes to all those involved and affected.  At the same time my thouights an prayer go out to those in this business who are out there everyday working on the railroad.  As a railfan and modeler I enjoy watching, learning and understanding what they do to make a transportation system work.  Thanks again.    

Out_Of_Service Wrote:

>
> when i first got hired on the railroad ... there
> were accident ins guys in the sign up rooms on my
> first day who were cherry picking the new hires to
> sign up for accidental injury and death insurance
> ...do they still do that ??? ... 

Yes, they do, among other salespeople offering different types of programs or services, seemed like every week or so someone was setup in the lunch room during lunch hour offering something.

Posted from Android

Not to sound callous, but why the 'need' for donations?  I guess if you are local, or knew the folks, I understand the desire to offer help, both financial and otherwise, however, at their life stage and in their chosen profession, I would expect that all of them would have taken steps to protect their families in a number of ways - not to mention those things that are 'automatic' benefits from their employer or those things which are 'normal'.    I understand that on the railroad, things are different than in the rest of the world in terms of Worker's Compensation and such, but there are other mechanisms to provide financial compensation for incidents where you may be killed or injured on the job. 
​Also, an insurance policy to cover funeral expenses would be extremely affordable. 

​If I were killed at my job, I wouldn't expect a 'gofundme' account to be set up and expect strangers to donate money to my family. 

​Before some of you folks jump all over me and attack my supposed 'insesitivity', please reconsider.  I am not saying this is a dumb idea, I am just trying to understand the thought process behind it.   

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not to sound callous, but why the 'need' for
> donations? 

No one said  it is a "NEED". This is out of someone's heart to help.

> I understand the desire to offer help, both
> financial and otherwise, however, at their life
> stage and in their chosen profession, I would
> expect that all of them would have taken steps to
> protect their families in a number of ways

Your expectation is a pretty big assumption. And you do know the word ASSUME means to "Make an ASS out of U and ME.

Just because some one is a railroader does not mean they are financially set. You have no idea of what their family life is or what they may be going through. What if a member of the family had chronic health problems. That could easily cost 100,000 per year. Sure, they may have insurance but if a family member has a chronic health problem you are going to feel it financially no matter what.>

> - not
> to mention those things that are 'automatic'
> benefits from their employer or those things which
> are 'normal'.   

Again, another assumption. But in reality, maybe for some reason or another those "automatic" benefits are not there or are otherwise used up.

> I understand that on the
> railroad, things are different than in the rest of
> the world in terms of Worker's Compensation and
> such, but there are other mechanisms to provide
> financial compensation for incidents where you may
> be killed or injured on the job.

There MAYBE. The key is MAYBE.
 
> ​Also, an insurance policy to cover funeral
> expenses would be extremely affordable. 

Really? I mean really? How many people would actually think of that ahead of time? Besides, not to sound callous or anything, but why would anyone spend thousands on a funeral. The money spent on a funeral service is for the benefit of the survivors only.

> ​If I were killed at my job, I wouldn't expect a
> 'gofundme' account to be set up and expect
> strangers to donate money to my family. 

Who said anything about an expectation?

> ​Before some of you folks jump all over me and
> attack my supposed 'insesitivity', please
> reconsider.  I am not saying this is a dumb
> idea, I am just trying to understand the thought
> process behind it.   

Please understand, I am not jumping over you, just trying to show other thoughts.

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not to sound callous, but why the 'need' for
> donations?  I guess if you are local, or knew the
> folks, I understand the desire to offer help, both
> financial and otherwise, however, at their life
> stage and in their chosen profession, I would
> expect that all of them would have taken steps to
> protect their families in a number of ways - not
> to mention those things that are 'automatic'
> benefits from their employer or those things which
> are 'normal'.    I understand that on the
> railroad, things are different than in the rest of
> the world in terms of Worker's Compensation and
> such, but there are other mechanisms to provide
> financial compensation for incidents where you may
> be killed or injured on the job. 
> ​Also, an insurance policy to cover funeral
> expenses would be extremely affordable. 
>
> ​If I were killed at my job, I wouldn't expect a
> 'gofundme' account to be set up and expect
> strangers to donate money to my family. 
>
> ​Before some of you folks jump all over me and
> attack my supposed 'insesitivity', please
> reconsider.  I am not saying this is a dumb
> idea, I am just trying to understand the thought
> process behind it.   

just because you preface your statement "NOT TO SOUND CALLOUS"  doesn't mean your statement isn't callous ...IT IS  !!! ...if ya disagree then just leave it alone ... no need to go dark ... JUST LEAVE IT ALONE if you disagree ... later on after the wounds heal if you wannna get into it go ahead but RIGHT NOW IS POOR TIMING DISREPECTFUL AND CALLOUS !!!!!!!!!!

I, as well as many railroaders here, feel a comraderie that many other professions do not have.  Police officers also have it - we stick together.  Our jobs are not just jobs, they are lifestyles.  As someone said, it may not be a necessity for any of the parties involved, but it makes me, and many others, feel like we can do something positive for the grieving families - it shows them PEOPLE care, not some big insurance company that writes out a check and moves on to the next case.  It could have been a lot of us in a similar situation. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/16 12:39 by Rathole.

Out_Of_Service Wrote: > ...  just because you preface your statement "NOT TO SOUND CALLOUS"  doesn't mean your statement isn't callous ...IT IS...
AMEN to that, brother! And "rathole" is equally correct with his assertion of deep camaraderie in the RR workplace. It's crying shame you've never experienced something like this in your life. If you had you NEVER would have posted your callous words...

Lance Garrels
Manhattan, KS

The photo with notation was taken by a BNSF engineer who works out of Kansas City.  He was a friend of the female conductor, Lara Taylor, who lost her life on the westbound train.   

---

---

Rathole Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I, as well as many railroaders here, feel a
> comraderie that many other professions do not
> have.  Police officers also have it - we stick
> together.  Our jobs are not just jobs, they are
> lifestyles.  As someone said, it may not be a
> necessity for any of the parties involved, but it
> makes me, and many others, feel like we can do
> something positive for the grieving families - it
> shows them PEOPLE care, not some big insurance
> company that writes out a check and moves on to
> the next case.  It could have been a lot of us in
> a similar situation. 

Rathole,  Thank you for this.  This is a great response to my post. 

To the other posters that chose to get all high and mighty and perhaps a bit childish in thier replies, thank you for that as well.   Oftentimes on a public forum, you can learn valuable and worthwhile insight, but sometimes you get useless self-righteous replies as well. 

My condolences to those personally affected by this horrific crash - and that includes the brotherhood of railway workers who take this much more personally than anyone else.  It would be correct to say that something like this could happen to anyone in train service. 

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rathole Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I, as well as many railroaders here, feel a
> > comraderie that many other professions do not
> > have.  Police officers also have it - we
> stick
> > together.  Our jobs are not just jobs, they
> are
> > lifestyles.  As someone said, it may not be a
> > necessity for any of the parties involved, but
> it
> > makes me, and many others, feel like we can do
> > something positive for the grieving families -
> it
> > shows them PEOPLE care, not some big insurance
> > company that writes out a check and moves on to
> > the next case.  It could have been a lot of us
> in
> > a similar situation. 
>
> Rathole,  Thank you for this.  This is a great
> response to my post. 
>
> To the other posters that chose to get all high
> and mighty and perhaps a bit childish in thier
> replies, thank you for that as well.  
> Oftentimes on a public forum, you can learn
> valuable and worthwhile insight, but sometimes you
> get useless self-righteous replies as well. 
>
> My condolences to those personally affected by
> this horrific crash - and that includes the
> brotherhood of railway workers who take this much
> more personally than anyone else.  It would be
> correct to say that something like this could
> happen to anyone in train service. 

death happens all around us all the time ... it's a fact of life ... it's the always untimely and shocking reality to accept that when it happens in your profession, YOU KNOW at anytime you yourself could be involved in one without warning in a matter of seconds ... BUT ask any railroader ... IT'S A STRESSER THAT NO RAILROADER TALKS ABOUT BUT IT'S AWLAYS IN THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD ...  i guess that common denominator is what brings the railroad community together in sorrow when other railroaders perish in accidents ...  i can't speak for anybody else but i get a sickening feeling in my stomach EVERYTIME (AND THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY) fatal tragic incidents occur ... these guys and gals just want to do their jobs diligently and professionally collect a paycheck and go home to enjoy their families and life ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/16 15:30 by Out_Of_Service.

I drive a tractor trailer, delivering chlorine gas, sulfur dioxide gas, and a wide variety of dangerous chemicals. I deliver to oil refineries where hydrogen sulfide gas may be present. I carry a escape respirator, that hopefully, will get me to safety in the advent of a gas escape. My hours are long, at times fourteen hours a day, driving on highways and street with others that have questionable driving skills.
I have purchased a burial plot, a funeral, and a casket, as well as making my last wishes known,  basically a grave side service and then internment.
Anyone that works in a dangerous job, hazardous enviorment, that may end your life,  should have all their final arrangements in place, if nothing else, for the sake of their relatives. They have enough on their minds because of your death.
With low payment plans, it's affordable. I'm sixty years old this year, and with three quarters of my life behind me, I get a lot of comfort knowing I'm good to go, and won't be a burden to my family.

Out_Of_Service Wrote: > ... A STRESSER THAT NO RAILROADER TALKS ABOUT, BUT IT'S AWLAYS IN THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD ...
By using the term 'stress' here you have perfectly spoken words here that ring true with every single railroader I ever worked with, spoke with, befriended or just plain knew!
"Always in the back of your head"  [always... always... always...]         it NEVER goes away...

A gofundme site has been setup by Branton Deavers - I assume a BNSF employee, I am not a BNSF employee or railroader.  Below is the site:

https://www.gofundme.com/bnsf2016

If there is anyway someone can check the validity that Branton is with BNSF and that it will go to the familes that would be great I will email him directly myself before donating. 

Notch8 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A gofundme site has been setup by Branton Deavers
> - I assume a BNSF employee, I am not a BNSF
> employee or railroader.  Below is the site:
>
> https://www.gofundme.com/bnsf2016
>
> If there is anyway someone can check the validity
> that Branton is with BNSF and that it will go to
> the familes that would be great I will email him
> directly myself before donating. 

Yes, he is a legit employee in Amarillo and it will indeed go to the families.