Western Railroad Discussion > Suicide by train

From NTV News, at 0100 Friday a man stepped in front of a east bound UP in Grand Island. The family reported depression problems.

I feel for the crew and hope they realize there was nothing they could do.

I also had a friend who was the engineer on a train that killed a suicidal person in Tacoma a couple days ago. These acts really can take a toll on a crew that is helpless to avoid the situation.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

When the LA Metro Blue line started up back in 1990--the old PE Long Beach line--it was a favorite means of suicide along it ROW. The line was routed through many "marginal" neighborhoods on it way to LA. I guess many of the folks had given up trying to improve their situation and chose the Blue Line trains as a quick solution to end their grief. One poor motorman killed two people within days of each other and was so distraught that he transferred back into bus service. Two weeks after his transfer he T-boned a minivan which had run a red light in front of him. Three people in the minivan were killed instantly. The bus driver had to be hospitalized with a complete breakdown! Yes, the people who operate any form of public transit are deeply affected by hitting someone!

Yet there are those such as BOB2 who firmly believe that the crew should not have any feelings and just keep on working.

So sad.

My heart goes out to all involved.

I faintly recall the death of an AT&SF MOW employee near Kiowa, KS I think back in the late 1960's that was a similar suicidal incident. As I recall, this depressed Hispanic man with a lowered head met the coupler of a train's lead locomotive head-on. So sad for these persons, their family members and the train crew members that suffer the most from such incidents.

There is an award winning documentary that deals with the toll
this takes on train crews, "The Long Walk Back". It can be
found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt3xBK_cnTo