Passenger Trains > Another SPLAT on the NEC

Person struck, killed by Amtrak train in Delaware County
Philadelphia Inquirer
December 3, 2016 — 11:54 AM EST

> A person died after being struck by an Amtrak train in Norwood,
> Delaware County, on Saturday morning, an Amtrak spokesman said.
>
> At about 10:30 a.m., Amtrak Train 2250 - the Acela Express operating
> from Washington to Boston - struck a trespasser on the tracks near
> the Norwood station on Welcome Avenue, spokesman Craig Schulz said by
> email.
>
> Schulz did not have any information about the person and did not know
> why that person was on the tracks.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20161204_Person_hit_by_Amtrak_train_in_Delaware_County.html

It was an Acela in Edison last weekend too. Seems to be the train of choice.

I heard a conductor and platform worker discussing the "hit" today at Philadelphia's 30th street station as the Pennsylvania train 43 was awaiting it's engine change!

 

SPLAT? You are a Class Act Sir...

The sound I recall while riding the cushions on the NEC is a bumpety-bumpety-bump.

As someone who has seen up close what this can look like, your comments are in abominable taste. What if this was a relative or friend?

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Thank God I have not had anyone personally involved in these incidents (train crews or victims). But I have been involved in the delays and the announcement from the conductor "we have been asked by the dispatcher to move forward from our current location. We ask all passenger to please look to your right as we move the train forward and not to look back left till told so." It's a very surreal and eerie feeling that one hopes you never have to endure again. However, as someone mentioned, this is the season - between Thankgiving and end of January. The Acela is typically a target for reasons known best.   

If someone is dumb enough to be on the tracks (which by the way is illegal), then splat is a more than appropriate word to describe what happened. Unless for some reason they were authorized to be there and stuck, they deserved what they got. The real victims are the train crew who witnessed it and passengers who were delayed.

Gene ---
Please rewrite your thread title ASAP if the
software here will let you.  You know the reasons.

(I feel compelled to ask you: Have you ever had to
deal in person with the results of one of these fatalities?
If so, that might explain why you chose those words.
"Black humor" is understandable, but only among
other people whose jobs require them to deal with
the results of this type of incident.  It is a way to handle
the stress and emotions from dealing with a fatality such
as this one.  It is not appropriate here.)

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It was an Acela in Edison last weekend too. Seems
> to be the train of choice.

The late San Francisco newspaper columnist, Art Hoppe, wrote one of his pieces about suicides -- and what seem to be the soon-to-be-deceaseds' preferences.
He specifically addressed  the number of suicides by jumping from  the major bridges that span San Francisco Bay.  

The runaway first choice was the Golden Gate Bridge. Aesthetically, it's a breathtakingly beautiful sight, even if you aren't considering suicide.
The rest of the Bay's bridges -- cumulatively -- just didn't make the cut.

The much busier and more important in terms of traffic was/is the San Francisco-Oakland-Bay Bridge.
From a would-be suicider's point of view, it fit Gertrude Stein's commentary on Oakland to a tee: "There's no there, there."

Anyhow, looking at why the Acela's the NEC's train of choice, it's simply got the aesthetic appeal that none of the others come close to having.

Acela's sleek, easy on the eye, and fast ....

Q.E.D.

Fritz In HSV, AL 

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If someone is dumb enough to be on the tracks
> (which by the way is illegal), then splat is a
> more than appropriate word to describe what
> happened. Unless for some reason they were
> authorized to be there and stuck, they deserved
> what they got. The real victims are the train crew
> who witnessed it and passengers who were delayed.

Gee, are you and Gene having a contest?

Suspicious Person, Likely A Trespasser

Seems probably accurate to me.

Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gene ---
> Please rewrite your thread title ASAP if the
> software here will let you.  You know the
> reasons.
>
> (I feel compelled to ask you: Have you ever had
> to
> deal in person with the results of one of these
> fatalities?
> If so, that might explain why you chose those
> words.
> "Black humor" is understandable, but only among
> other people whose jobs require them to deal with
> the results of this type of incident.  It is a
> way to handle
> the stress and emotions from dealing with a
> fatality such
> as this one.  It is not appropriate here.)


Why yes, I have.  The only saving grace was that it was before I was promoted to Conductor, so I did not have to deal with the paperwork involved, other than a brief statement, when one of our retired colleagues decided to do himself in.  

The other time, a near-miss, was in the yard.  That time it was inattention that was the cause.  A new guy was in the gauge, not understanding how quiet a rolling freight car can be.  His face was disfigured but he survived because he fell in the gauge right where he stood, and under the car.  The wheels missed him.   He never did come back to work, though.

  Several years ago, just after dark, my Engineer and I were headed west with about fifty empty hopper cars. Although track speed in this area is 40 mph, we were slowing down as we had some switching to do at the small community about a mile ahead, so we were probably weren't going more than 25 mph. As we rounded a curve, we noticed a figure standing on the track several hundred feet ahead, facing us. As the Engineer dumped the air, the man on the track took off his ball cap, tossed it to the side and dropped to his knees. Luckily we were able to get stopped about a car length short of hitting the man, who just looked at the ground and shook his head. If we had had loads in our train or been going any faster, the outcome would have been much different.
  We called the dispatcher who then contacted the local police. I walked back to the road crossing that we had blocked to meet the police and the Engineer got off of the engine to talk to the man. By the time I got back to the head end with the police, the man was sitting on the ballast beside the engine. The officers asked the man, who was in his seventies I think, what he was doing and he told them that "he was tired of living".
  I'm retired now, but to this day I thank God that we were able to get stopped and I hope that man was able to get the help he needed. In my forty years working for the railroad, I was involved in about a dozen grade crossing accidents, no fatalities thank goodness. But I still get half sick to my stomach just thinking about that night and I feel awful for the crews and the emergency response folks that have been through this sort of thing. 

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If someone is dumb enough to be on the tracks
> (which by the way is illegal), then splat is a
> more than appropriate word to describe what
> happened. Unless for some reason they were
> authorized to be there and stuck, they deserved
> what they got. The real victims are the train crew
> who witnessed it and passengers who were delayed.

You do realize that most of the people who are hit, are suicides ... people not in the right frame of mind who aren't thinking rationally ... right?

Would you say that a veteran who suffers from PTSD, and commits suicide, "deserved what they got?"

It's unfortunate that people suffering serious mental issues don't get the care they need.

And inflict pain on so many others with their actions.

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