Western Railroad Discussion > "Train Them Early - Gates Are For Chickens"

Tonight after turkey, I was looking through the hilarious results of a black-humor Photoshop contest (theme: PSAs that encourage bad behavior) and found this apropos cartoon. The train photo appears to be several years old, as it has a "raw catfish" in the consist of the NS train. I think that this is actually a promising idea: jokey PSAs that appear to be condoning bad behavior (although, obviously, with clear identification that they are a joke, because there are numerous examples on the internet of how no satire is too silly for nobody to believe it), becuase the true way to get the attention of young whippersnappers is to create funny memes. I think that teenagers would actually think about and follow the underlying message of these announcements if they became viral, and I think I would know better than any of you old geezers, because I am a young whippersnapper myself.

The train photo in this picture appears to be several years old, because it has an unpainted NS "raw catfish" engine in the consist.

Be thankful you aren't these people, and be thankful that someone out there thought crossing "gate-crashing" was enough of a significant problem to make an anti-PSA about it. Also, be thankful for turkey. Not the light meat, but the dark meat. And mashed potatoes. And pumpkin pie. And cranberry sauce.

---

This one wasn't intended as a joke.  Two other cars did the same thing and last, a motorcycle went through just seconds before the train.
NS crossing at 15th Str, Louisville, Ky.

John
 

---

The gate arm in photo 1 sure looks like a rather poor photoshop attempt.

One can't tell from a picture how fast a train is moving although those signals don't look like they have lit up yet implying that the train is "moving"..  I do have in one of my videos a bicyclist who ran the gates exactly four seconds before the train arrived. 
Dick Eisfeller

Well the fact the gate is on the wrong side of the road and not lit, a piss poor attempt with photoshp. Whoever made this pic should stay with his day job, as clown car driver.


Dick Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One can't tell from a picture how fast a train is
> moving although those signals don't look like they
> have lit up yet implying that the train is
> "moving"..  I do have in one of my videos a
> bicyclist who ran the gates exactly four seconds
> before the train arrived. 
> Dick Eisfeller

We need four gates at crossings.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

SP4360 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well the fact the gate is on the wrong side of the
> road and not lit, a piss poor attempt with
> photoshp. Whoever made this pic should stay with
> his day job, as clown car driver.
>
>
> Dick Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > One can't tell from a picture how fast a train
> is
> > moving although those signals don't look like
> they
> > have lit up yet implying that the train is
> > "moving"..  I do have in one of my videos a
> > bicyclist who ran the gates exactly four
> seconds
> > before the train arrived. 
> > Dick Eisfeller

And I thought the photo was taken in England.

Last Monday morning, we had a "Gates Are For Chickens" driver make an illegal left turn in front of an LA Metro Blue Line (Downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach) train just north of Compton.  The car was totaled, the driver injured, and the train derailed (probably by automobile parts wedged under the lead truck of the first LRV).  Damage to track and overhead structures required that the line be closed for repairs at this location.  Metro had to set up a "bus bridge" which remained in effect for over 24 hours.  This one fool managed to disrupt the lives of thousands of rail passengers and cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to the system.  Considering the typical economic status of the residents of this area, Metro will be lucky to recover pocket change to cover the repair costs.