Western Railroad Discussion > Teen Hit, Killed, Troutdale, OR

Not sure of all the details, but a 17 year old student having senior photos taken, was hit and killed by a Union Pacific train today.  Troutdale is at the west end of the Columbia River Gorge, and the east end of the Portland, OR, metro area.  UP press release reminding folks to stay off tracks and property.

Rob

The story (such as it is) from Oregonlive: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/11/teen-struck-killed-by-train-in-troutdale.html
 

What a tragedy.  Hopefully the train crew will be able to recover.  They have to pass through there everyday.  Operation Lifesaver pounds out the message about not taking photos on the tracks.  Hopefully something will happen to the photographer.  Also I feel terrible for the family of the teen killed.  Never should have happened.  

Keith 

Keith Schmidt
Milwaukee, WI

Was it a photographer, parent or friend?

I once convinced a father and son to get off the tracks account it was dangerous and there was a train coming. I told them to stand in front of the track using the bridge opening as a framing element with a 1/15 second shutter speed to blur the train moving behind the sun. The father got several exposures and some were very nice.

That would have been right at sunset in Portland, which makes it even weirder.

ORNHOO Wrote:
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> The story (such as it is) from Oregonlive:
> https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/11/teen-struc
> k-killed-by-train-in-troutdale.html
>  

Thanks for the link.  I wasn't awake enuf last nite to do operational thinking.

Several weeks ago I saw a family starting to take photos on the switch at Palme Lake, CO.  I warned them a train was coming up the hill, the nodded acceptance, then they all got on the tracks and took more photos!  It's like the danger is drawing the moth to the flame!

Rob

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OregonOldGuy Wrote:
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>  I warned
> them a train was coming up the hill,

How about standing on a movable frog?

TAW

Maybe two or three years ago I noticed an ad by a wedding photographer that showed a couple standing on the tracks at the west end of the Troutdale bridge.  I sent the photographer an e-mail with a little information, including a link to the Operation Lifesaver page on photography.  She wrote back that this was entirely news to her, that she took it seriously, and that she would stop using railroad tracks for photography.  I'd suggest that everyone do this kind of thing (be polite--the photographers aren't bad, just ignorant) when the occasion arises.  As to individuals acting on their own--not professionals--as described in a previous post, all you can really do is warn, and I've had a couple of nasty responses when I've done so.  Still, I think as railfans we should do what we can so these things don't happen.

Palmer Lake the speeds are low, not to hard to vacate, reminds me of the tripple wammy in Utah a few years ago, last selfie these gals took.

UP tries to get the message out.

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TAW Wrote:
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> OregonOldGuy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >  I warned
> > them a train was coming up the hill,
>
> How about standing on a movable frog?
>
> TAW

Losing your toes, a foot or worse, your life is a powerful lesson to people who won't listen to others who tell them to get off the track. And when the train comes, will the air dump before or after? 

I missed a group taking photos on the rail once only because I was diverging off "their" track. Nobody battled an eyelash when I yelled at them. 

Reminds me of a comedian whose name I can't remember saying during a routine something to the effect that there were too many ?&%$#@'s and it was time to thin the herd.  Or as Forrest Gump would say " Stupid is as stupid does".

Tim
mp35mountain
 

"The train crew was not hurt, according to Union Pacific."

....maybe not physically, but it sure does weigh on the mind.  It would be nice if the railroads in their press comments would state that the mental anguish that the crews experiance upon the death of tresspasser is one of the greatest hardships of working for a railroad.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

funnelfan Wrote:
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> "The train crew was not hurt, according to Union Pacific."
>
> ....maybe not physically, but it sure does weigh on the mind.  It would be nice if the railroads
> in their press comments would state that the mental anguish that the crews experience upon the
> death of trespasser is one of the greatest hardships of working for a railroad.

Really??? I guess I was just a really cold SOB as I never let any accident like this ruin my day, or even bother me. I wasn't about to allow some stupid person who can't figure out how to stay off the tracks ruin an otherwise good day. It's a very simple concept - my train is (was) about 10-feet wide, stay out of that 10-foot wide path and you have nothing to fear. I got a lot more upset hitting an animal that doesn't have the reasoning to understand this concept.

Now I realize everybody is different. Some people take this stuff seriously and personally, in which case it'll eat you up. Others, like myself, disassociate myself from any responsibility of the accident as I am simply a spectator. In fact the last person I hit the Eugene Fire Department Battalion Chief asked me how I was doing. I honestly answered it didn't bother me a bit as I'm simply cleaning up the gene pool of the stupid people. He got a big smile and told me that is exactly the attitude to have - don't take it personally.

What bothers me more is how every time there is an accident everybody goes on and on about the crew as if they are so terribly fragile and will fall apart. Yes, some people will have issues after an accident and generally speaking there is help for these people; others will simply brush it off as part of the job. 

OK I'll stop now. I know I've given you all plenty of ammunition to flame away at me but I don't care, I'm just stating my opinion. 

 

What if we put rail fans out there in orange vests doing interpretive work on the differences between the various locomotive models......five minutes of that outta chase any trespasser off for life.   

More on this: https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/teen-hit-killed-by-train-during-senior-photo-shoot-in-troutdale/

Too bad UP doesn’t support Operation Lifesaver anymore.

Posted from iPhone

Years ago, I knew a Special Agent who arrested a teenager that was continually trespassing on the railroad tracks (the location being a 60 mph speed limit main line).  He related how the teenager's mother came to his office and went on 30 minute tirade about how the Special Agent had "traumatized" her and her son by arresting him.  The Special Agent, a decent and soft-spoken guy, told me what he said to the mother.  I still remember it, just about word-for-word, "You don't know what 'traumatized' really is.  'Traumatized' is when your son gets hit by a train, and what is left of him amounts to some bloody rags, with his guts scattered a quarter of a mile along the track, and there aren't any pieces left of him big enough to bury--THAT'S 'traumatized'."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/19 21:27 by WW.

GOOD ONE .....
 There is nothing worst them trying to tidy up loco front end after such a mess.
there should be more TRUE to live photos off this .
Maybe some one will take notice then...

Drknow Wrote:
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> Too bad UP doesn’t support Operation Lifesaver
> anymore.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Does little or no good for the most part as those who choose to do it wont listen. I caught hell for posting about a news media doing a a piece while they were standing on the tracks at a crossing. Told the idiot who flamed me TS doesnt matter where its at same result so see cant even make some person on here see the problem.

WW Wrote:
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> Years ago, I knew a Special Agent who arrested a
> teenager that was continually trespassing on the
> railroad tracks (the location being a 60 mph speed
> limit main line).  He related how the teenager's
> mother came to his office and went on 30 minute
> tirade about how the Special Agent had
> "traumatized" her and her son by arresting him. 
> The Special Agent, a decent and soft-spoken guy,
> told me what he said to the mother.  I still
> remember it, just about word-for-word, "You don't
> know what 'traumatized' really is.  'Traumatized'
> is when your son gets hit by a train, and what is
> left of him amounts to some bloody rags, with his
> guts scattered a quarter of a mile along the
> track, and there aren't any pieces left of him big
> enough to bury--THAT'S 'traumatized'."

And she probably lodged a complaint against the Special Agent for traumatizing her with that "explanation".
Face it, you just can't get through to some people and their kids.