Western Railroad Discussion > This teenager death by train has an odd twist

On ex MKT trackage just south of Fort Worth, TX

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/tarrant/Teen-killed-in-rail-accident-has-ties-to-Union-Pacific-195115781.html

Another one of those sad cases where a split second decision causes the loss of many years of life and much grief for the survivors.

Prayers go out to both the family and crew.

Jay

It's a shame that this happened, but it wasn't right at Sycamore School Road. The turnout to the siding is about 100 feet from the crossing, and the holding signal is another couple hundred feet beyond that. If they were climbing through a train that was stopped there to meet another train, that had to be another couple hundred feet behind the signal. The kids must have come from a housing tract adjacent to the tracks and rather than walking along the tracks down to the road to cross, they tried to take a shortcut.

I'm surprised they didn't hear the second train whistling. I've been across that crossing and don't remember that it's a quiet zone, although with the houses near it, it might be.

The odd twist is that he had a UP engineer for a stepfather, and if the stepson was even remotely interested in railroading, he should've been aware of the dangers from hearing his stepfather's stories. I know that I talked about rail safety with my son at an early age... always expect a train, on any track, in any direction.

Sadly, when you run trains for a living, it seems like almost every trip has one of these meets where the other train clears, and then people immediately cross the tracks without ever looking in the opposite direction for a train on the other track. I know that on my usual run that I can expect this to happen at least once per trip and it really is anxiety producing for sure.

Thoughts and prayers to the crew and the boy's family and friends.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/13 20:05 by IC_2024.

Railfool03 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's a shame that this happened, but it wasn't
> right at Sycamore School Road. The turnout to the
> siding is about 100 feet from the crossing, and
> the holding signal is another couple hundred feet
> beyond that. If they were climbing through a
> train that was stopped there to meet another
> train, that had to be another couple hundred feet
> behind the signal. The kids must have come from a
> housing tract adjacent to the tracks and rather
> than walking along the tracks down to the road to
> cross, they tried to take a shortcut.
>
> I'm surprised they didn't hear the second train
> whistling. I've been across that crossing and
> don't remember that it's a quiet zone, although
> with the houses near it, it might be.

It’s been a quiet zone since the erection of those plastic pipes that divide Sycamore School road for about 100 feet before each side of the crossing. I came out of Hemphill and wondered why the train was stopped and police cars blocked the approach right by the Dollar General store. Terrible tragedy.

When do the "Darwin" posts appear? Or does this get a pass because his stepfather is a rail?

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

Yeah John 1082, nice to sit up high on your lonely self-righteous chair and pronounce about how stupid teenagers are and how this one deserved to die for his "Darwin" youthful mistake. You will probably like this video as well:

http://www.theonion.com/video/autistic-reporter-train-thankfully-unharmed-in-cra,20098/

D. Gamble

Totally missed the point of his post... Read it again and you might realize your both on the same side.

dshgamble Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah John 1082, nice to sit up high on your lonely
> self-righteous chair and pronounce about how
> stupid teenagers are and how this one deserved to
> die for his "Darwin" youthful mistake. You will
> probably like this video as well:
>
> http://www.theonion.com/video/autistic-reporter-tr
> ain-thankfully-unharmed-in-cra,20098/
>
> D. Gamble

john1082 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When do the "Darwin" posts appear? Or does this
> get a pass because his stepfather is a rail?

I perceived this comment NOT against the victim but rather targeted at the numerous railfans who know so much about railroads and as a result comdemn people who don't! Yes, you know the ones-----they ridicule non-railfans for trespassing, climbing on/under railroad equipment, etc. yet they do it themselves so they can get photos, souvenirs, or whatever......

I guess I misinterpreted your comment. I apologize for that and the tone of my message. I think I reacted so strongly because I get so sick of those who do smugly dismiss victims of rail related accidents as deserving of 'Darwin Awards.' I see you actually were making the same point, sorry again that I misread your post.

David

dshgamble Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I guess I misinterpreted your comment. I apologize
> for that and the tone of my message. I think I
> reacted so strongly because I get so sick of those
> who do smugly dismiss victims of rail related
> accidents as deserving of 'Darwin Awards.' I see
> you actually were making the same point, sorry
> again that I misread your post.
>
> David

Thank You, as someone who lost a friend many many years ago to train, I always remember going to his house and visiting with his Mom, great sadness and not something to be dismissed with flippant comments.

Bob Jordan

I wonder why schools and parents of children that are close to tracks can't go over these things with younger children. This is only a guess, but i think more young teens and younger are taught
about weather emergencies at school and home,why not railroad tracks.Any one hit by a train is one to many, the parents have to deal with the loss and the crews on board also have to.I love railroading and hate to think of them seeing this and the families loss. Hope this does not upset any one its just my feelings.Steve(up6553)

Sad events like this one make a good case against "quiet zones."

D F W