Western Railroad Discussion > Cows on the rails

I just saw a report from the CHP that there are a couple of dozen cows roaming around the main line at Bray on the I-5 corridor in the pre-dawn light. One cow is already headed for McDonald heaven. Bray is located in the middle of nowhere along the north side of Mt Shasta. The California Highway Patrol says they do not have the jurisdiction to remove the dead cow. Oh the horror of it all.

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

Probably under the jurisdiction of CalCow.
Phil

Freelance meat scavengers with chain saws are probably on the scene already.

A few years ago, I lived in a rural town where car versus deer collisions were common. There were a few guys who waited by their police scanners with chain saws at the ready. Fill your freezer with a few minutes work. Easier, and faster than waiting in a cold deer blind at dawn...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/20 10:40 by Lackawanna484.

I drove the "old state highway" back around Bray one time............interesting areas, some quite beautiful.............I never knew the road thru Bray was once THE highway before they built a new one over the mountain.

I think Bray is also were the old logging line from Tennant came into the SP.

Maybe Chick-fil-A cows got lost? JG



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/20 07:59 by jgilmore.

Buzzards will get the job done, a little slow but, done.

philhoov Wrote:
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> Probably under the jurisdiction of CalCow.
> Phil

Please don't give Sacramento ideas for new bureaucracies.

Desmond Praetzel, "4451 Puff"

A notorious example of "beef vs. train" was during WW II on the Santa Fe Middle Division 3rd district.  The daily Chicagoan, approaching Winfield, Kansas at the normal 80 mph, encountered a large bull standing between the rails.  The red nose of the E unit and the bright headlight seemed to enrage the bull, who promptly put his head down and charged the oncoming train.  Needless to say, it was no contest.  When the train arrived at the Winfield depot, the E unit could easily have been mistaken for an SP "bloody nose."  I don't think a chain saw would have been needed for anyone interested in salvage.

Just checked the CHP page for an update and it seems another cow has been sent to McDonald heaven by another train causing the cow to hit a bridge and knock off the hand railing. And they say nothing ever happens in Bray..

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

Years ago we encountered a bunch of cattle on the right-of-way. My Conductor wondered out loud how the cows got onto the right-of-way. I told him that after the aliens had examined the four legged critters that they just drop them out of the mother ship and fly away. Unfortunately they dump them on the railway right-of -way. My Conductor kept a wary eye on me for the rest of the trip.
Doug

Run on hamburger and steaks this weekend

There are companies that specialize in removing dead large animals. Used to work with a who did this as a side job.
The dairies out by Chino, CA kept him busy.

Many years ago I was riding the EMU train from Santiago to Rancagua (in Chile)  to railfan down there.  At speed there was a big jolt and we went into emergency.  I thought we'd derailed but we backed up to see a cow we'd hit.  It was dead but propped up against a concrete telegraph pole.  The conductor passed through the three cars saying "Uno menos vaquito"  (one less cow).  About three hours later returning to Santiago we passed the spot and two guys with a pick-up truck had the departed 75% reduced to cuts of beef by then.  I'd guess the conductor or someone on the train called some locals they knew,

Rancher now gets to find out how hard it is to get UP to pay for dead cows, if they don’t already know.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Posted from iPhone

   Years ago, I was the head brakeman on an SP eastbound train near Cabazon, on California's Beaumont Hill.  A cow didn't have sense enough to get off the tracks, and we hit it at about 40 mph!  Their was a track crew working just a few yards away, and that cow barely hit the ground before those guys were headed toward it with big skinning knives!
   I don't think it was tied to the track, if you know what I mean!

Brian Black
Castle Rock, CO

Was a Big MAC the lead unit?
 

JDLX Wrote:
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> Rancher now gets to find out how hard it is to get
> UP to pay for dead cows, if they don’t already
> know.
>
> Jeff Moore
> Elko, NV
>
> Posted from iPhone

Especially if the cows were on the ROW because the rancher's fences failed.
Now if it was the railroad's fence that failed because of something like rotted fence post then it could get interesting in the claim/legal office.

In most to many places it’s the railroad’s responsibility to fence their tracks. I’m most familiar with Nevada where UP has decided it cheaper to pay for animals than fence maintenance, largely because they have a very unfriendly claim process that makes it difficult for livestock owners to file claims.

Where things can get really interesting is on highways. In Nevada, if a motorist hits a cow within a fenced right-ow-way then the livestock owner is responsible to the vehicle owner, if the collision occurs in open range the vehicle driver is liable for the collision costs.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Posted from iPhone

MILWRF Wrote:
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> Was a Big MAC the lead unit?
>  

LOL, With Mayor McCheese at the throttle..

Top Cat

Many years ago when I worked on a locomotive service track we had an engine that was due traction motor gearcase and suspension bearing lube. When I went down into the pit under the locomotive I discovered it had hit a cow. It was a bull.