Western Railroad Discussion > Really People....Really???

Okay time for a rant - To the three young girls who felt the need or desire to play "chicken" with the westbound train near Ward Avenue last night. You three must live pretty shallow lives, thinking only of the moment, oh how fun to stand in front a 18000 ton train going 30 miles an hour, not giving one thought to the ramifications of your actions. No thoughts to the EMTS and or Emergency Responders / police that have to deal with the aftermath, or the shock and horror in your parent's hearts knowing they just lost a daughter. No thought about your friends and school mates when they hear about this tragedy. They all are quick to blame the Railroad and the big bad train. But everyone seems to forget the crew, the Engineer and Conductor just doing their jobs, rolling into town at 30 mph and seeing these three people standing there in the middle of the gauge (track), the two men are powerless, they can't steer around them or slam on the brakes and stop, they are just along for the ride until the train stops. I for one can't imagine the helplessness one who would feel in this situation, maybe just close your eyes and hope you don't hear a thud or scream. These young girls were lucky, this time. there are not three funerals being planned, and memorials being given, no grief counselors set up at school, this time. The next time the odds won't be in their favor. My son was the Engineer on that little 18000 ton behemoth last night and I heard him whistle long and hard past my house. Yes, I'm mad at the girls and anyone who thinks this game of chicken is okay to do, this is one memory my son or his Conductor deserve NOT to carry with them the rest of their lives. Off my soapbox for now. Okay this happened three weeks ago, fast forward to this past Sunday. My son happened to be at the house visiting and I mentioned the H NSINTW was coming so we drove south to find it, the train was held out of town for awhile, long enough for crew to run short of their hours and a new crew was sent out to relieve them. The new engineer was a friend of Andrews and so it was asked to whistle as he passed my house. We were just finishing lunch when the train passed with a few toots, then the toots turned into a long blast and we heard the air go into emergency. My son and I headed for the train and found the locomotives a mile north with a very shaken engineer, he kept repeating "he wouldn't get off the tracks, I had to dump it!" He gave us a description of the two young boys which we found walking along the tracks north of where the train stopped. My son and I talked to these two and they readily admitted to being on the tracks, long story short, the city police responded and took my son's report on this incident and the officer told us this would be turned over the BNSF police in town. Two close calls, too close to home for comfort, IMHO Jeep should pull this ad for promoting stupidity, like it or not.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/19 05:30 by rrartist.

What happened to "Operation Lifesaver"? They need to teach that in school or something. The general public seems to not care about railroad safety. Two close calls. Wow.The third time might not work out so well. Years ago I had command of an Alco Si switcher and 7 gondola cars and had to stop because kids were on the track in Western PA. Fortunately I did not hit any of them. Even that little train did not stop on a dime. There should be some kind of Public TV Spot or something similar. These folks need educated!!!! Thank God no one got hurt etheir time.

SantaFeRuss



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/19 07:25 by SantaFeRuss.

Slightly O/T but pertinent: Some years ago, I was teaching sunday school class for high school students.  We had a series of fatal accidents in town involving teenagers drinking and trying to drive.  I asked the class what they were thinking when they were doing this.  The answer?  Eating/chewing enough breath mints so the parents would not small alcohol!  They had no concept of consequnces "because it won't happen to me"!  The class included three minister's kids (we had a pastor and an associate pastor).  I had a serious discussion with my kids when they were old enough to comprehend consequences -- especially since I had the opportunity to respond to MVAs when they were with me (30+ year volunteer firefighter/EMT and we use our own vehicles).  More than once, the people involved in the accidents were friends of my kids or at least they knew them! None of those were fatal but the experiences were eye-opening for my kids. And some of us remember the days when Driver's Ed classes in high school included slides of mangled bodies.  I suspect that in today's society that would be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

Bruce
Columbia MO

The growing "urbanization" of active rail lines has led to greater numbers of near misses and pedestrian deaths.  The new milennials living along the tracks are far worse than the traditional drunks and homeless we used to contend with.  The new milennials feel entitled to use our rail lines as jogging, biking, dog walking, hiking, and shortcut trails. They fly their drones in the gauge.  They do music videos in the gauge.  They take their explicit photos in the gauge and on our equipment.  They do it all as if its their property and their right.  They are mad and indignant when they have horns blasted at therm and have to get out of the way.  So many have those damn headsets on and couldn't hear a 5 chime Leslie point blank.  And the police never get there in time.  When you kill some it has to be investgated to see how it happened.  Really?

Slow night. The railfan police are out in force..

Posted from Android

needles_sub Wrote:
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> Slow night. The railfan police are out in force..
>
> Posted from Android

 What do you mean "The railfan police are out in force" Needles_sub? Besides it daytime..

SantaFeRuss

It's a shame that "The Long Walk Back" isn't required viewing!

Notch7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The growing "urbanization" of active rail linesmilennials
> has led to greater numbers of near misses and
> pedestrian deaths.  The new milennials living
> along the tracks are far worse than the
> traditional drunks and homeless we used to contend
> with.  The new milennials feel entitled to use
> our rail lines as jogging, biking, dog walking,
> hiking, and shortcut trails. They fly their drones
> in the gauge.  They do music videos in the
> gauge.  They take their explicit photos in the
> gauge and on our equipment.  They do it all as if
> its their property and their right.  They are mad
> and indignant when they have horns blasted at
> therm and have to get out of the way.  So many
> have those damn headsets on and couldn't hear a 5
> chime Leslie point blank.  And the police never
> get there in time.  When you kill some it has to
> be investgated to see how it happened.  Really?


I agree with you Notch7. My husband and I are millennials (near the beginning of the generation unfortunately), however, we know the boundaries and stay safe. (As you can see from our posts). However you would not believe how many times we call the RR Police cause we see the younger millennials right up on the ROW. We will yell at them as we know when the trains are approaching by watching ATCS, however if they don’t listen until the police get there.

Posted from iPhone

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/19 08:54 by RailFanAZ.

I too have seen lots of stupidity from the backyard and have had to yell at kids and grown-ups on the tracks with a train on approach. So far one fatality at Jefferson St crossing involving Amtrak. A big downer for everyone involved.

Larry
 

"You can't stop stupidity. You can't legislate against it, but you can hold people accountable for it," Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.

It surprises me that the Railroads and Unions have not placed forward facing cameras in the cabs of locomotives. Many Law Enforcement Officers wear cameras. People have started placing cameras in cars, why not trains? It will pretty much put an end to lawsuits brought by the families... 

No, it will not ease the emotions of the train crews. 

 

Life is cheap.

People weave in and out of traffic at 100 mph. Drive by shootings at funerals, beat the crap out of a clerk because the French fries aren't hot. Climb over a road closed barrier to get hit by a train.

If folks valued their own lives, they wouldn't do some of these things.

Posted from Android

easyed4449 Wrote:
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> It surprises me that the Railroads and Unions have
> not placed forward facing cameras in the cabs of
> locomotives. 

They have had forward facing cameras in locomotive cabs for years.

Thanks for the post Jim. My life-long lesson happened in high school. A car load of classmates decided they could beat a Santa Fe passenger train east of Topeka. My brother and I were waiting for the train to appear at the Santa Fe depot. It was posted on time.but the train never showed up. The word spread that the train had been involved in a collision just east of town. 

We were standing at the south (railroad west) end of the platform when the train finally arrived. There were several railroad personnel standing by including some suits. There was damage to pilot. I’ll always remember the look of the engineer as he climbed down from the cab. He wouldn’t go any further this night-perhaps never again.

The next morning’s newspaper headline: Five teens die in car/train crash.

BB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/19 09:56 by bmarti7.

Playing "Chicken" with a train must give children and young people an adrenal rush when the train narrowly passes by. Perhaps it gives them a bragging story to tell. But my experience is limited to the losers in these games. Usually the funeral must have a closed casket as the body is far worse than "mangled". I have met with angry family members but usually just shocked and numb parents after fatal encounters with trains. The common thread among them is that immediate family members never had serious safety discussions with the deceased. I suspect these are some of the same parents who jokingly told their kids to "Go play in the street". Safety training must begin at home but too often does not..

Operation Life Saver is a great program, but it is not sufficiently graphic. Today's young people view horrific movies and videos and accept them as exciting entertainment. The horror of death by train and the tears that follow need to be included.  

  

In fact the NSINTW had a forward facing camera so when we confronted these two the first thing out their mouths was to deny being on the track, when told they were indeed on camera and the BNSF police would download and view their actions, they started to sing a different tune.

Posted from iPhone

rrartist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In fact the NSINTW had a forward facing camera so
> when we confronted these two the first thing out
> their mouths was to deny being on the track, when
> told they were indeed on camera and the BNSF
> police would download and view their actions, they
> started to sing a different tune.
>
> Posted from iPhone

I really hope they get charged with trespassing, and must have their parents show up in court. Their sentence should include viewing the graphic "real results".

Hazards of the profession! These acts have been going on decades--generation after generation--and after the current one, a new generation will screw around near the tracks too. Stupidity and Selfishness are never in short supply.

easyed4449 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It surprises me that the Railroads and Unions have
> not placed forward facing cameras in the cabs of
> locomotives. Many Law Enforcement Officers wear
> cameras.   

Our outward facing cameras come on when I blow the horn.  Often I blow the horn to capture what's going on in front of me, as in the case of trespassers.  They film for two minutes after the last horn blast.

Notch7 Wrote:
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> Our outward facing cameras come on when I blow the
> horn.  Often I blow the horn to capture what's
> going on in front of me, as in the case of
> trespassers.  They film for two minutes after the
> last horn blast.

Really? So they don't record over quiet-zones? Or are there none where you work? Ours are always on, recording in a loop, whether moving or stopped, leading or trailing. 

Saw a commercial with some good looking guy taking a relaxing walk with his backpack, within th gauge of RR tracks.  I sent off a letter to UP and Amtk, suggesting they get in touch with the advertiser, and have the ads pulled.   Get a thank you form letter from the UP.  Nothing from Amtk.  I continued to see the ad on TV for another 2 weeks. 

I work in the TV industry, and believe me, many of the people I work with no nothing outside of the TV industry.  Would not ever occur to them that ppl getting hit by trains is a real problem, let along thinking about the person running the train when it happens.