Steam & Excursion > UP 844,

Hearing reports that the UP 844 hit a person north of Denver this afternoon. 
Sad news, thoughts for the families and the crews. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/18 19:17 by Grande-Fan.

UP 844 struck a pedestrian at 124th Avenue on the Greeley Sub this evening just before 8pm. Believed to be a middle aged lady, it is unclear why she was on the tracks. Police are on scene and it’s likely the train will sit for several hours for the investigation.

Prayers to the family of the victim as well as the entire steam crew.

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com

I’m on the train and it is stopped at this time

Posted from iPhone

Very sad to hear. This is the last thing UP steam needed, the lawyers will swoop in and end it now. At least I hope not.

-RN

This is indeed sad news. My heart goes out to the the pedestrian and family but especially to the UP Steam crew. It always is tough on the train crew as there will be constant questions as to what they could have done to avoid this type of incident. Unfortunately there actually is little else that could be done but the thoughts will weigh on their minds for a long time.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Channel 31 had it on 9:00 News. Buses to take passengers, pedestrian declared dead at hospital. Awful shame that this happened. Thoughts go out to all concerned.

SuperChiefDon

Oh, how terrible!  My heart goes out to that poor woman's family and friends and very much to everyone in the Steam Crew, and to the first responders.  No one should ever have to deal wth anything like that, but, very, very sad to say these things happen.  What a horrible end to what was otherwise a really great day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/18 20:41 by Margaret_SP_fan.

I just returned from the scene.  Incredibly sad situation and prayers go out to all involved.  Buses are there to take people off.  My nephew has video of 844 going into I guess you'd call it emergency with smoke pouring out.  For what its worth there is drone video of the accident.

Jim Barton

My sympathy to the family but also to the fantastic crew that was operating our train today.

Posted from iPhone

Jbarton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just returned from the scene.  Incredibly sad
> situation and prayers go out to all involved. 
> Buses are there to take people off.  My nephew
> has video of 844 going into I guess you'd call it
> emergency with smoke pouring out.  For what its
> worth there is drone video of the accident.
>
> Jim Barton

I hope the drone owner will give a copy of the video to the police.  It may shed light on exactly what happened.

Bob3985 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is indeed sad news. My heart goes out to the
> the pedestrian and family but especially to the UP
> Steam crew. It always is tough on the train crew
> as there will be constant questions as to what
> they could have done to avoid this type of
> incident. Unfortunately there actually is little
> else that could be done but the thoughts will
> weigh on their minds for a long time.

Bob in a situation like this what is UP’s protocol on providing relief for a crew involved in a critical incident?


Spartacus

Posted from iPhone

Prayers and sympathy goes out to all involved in this incedent.
Especially to the victim and family.
And to the 844 crew.
Does anyone know if it happened at, or near a grade xing?

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/18 23:30 by RailRat.

ColoradoRailfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> UP 844 struck a pedestrian at 124th Avenue on the
> Greeley Sub this evening just before 8pm. Believed
> to be a middle aged lady, it is unclear why she
> was on the tracks. Police are on scene and it’s
> likely the train will sit for several hours for
> the investigation.
>
> Prayers to the family of the victim as well as the
> entire steam crew.

Prayers to the family of the victim and the steam crew, I really hope any of them don't become guilt ridden because this (though it's only natural).

However I have a few questions about the investigation, what exactly will happen? And what needs to be done so UP 844 can move? How long will this take? Thanks in advance.

May the victim Rest In Peace.

Per scanner traffic, 844 is back underway as I'm writing this. They had to receive permission from the Adams County Sherriff's Department before moving the train, which took place about 11:45 PM. They did pull a new pilot crew off a northbound freight at Hazeltine. They were prepared to take the power off that northbound and have it pull 844 & the rest of the train back to Denver, but decided against it, so 844 is still leading. Sounds like they are running to 36th St. Yard and will then make a reverse movement over the Belt Line to Utah Jct. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/18 23:01 by CPB284.

dal3294 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very sad to hear. This is the last thing UP steam
> needed, the lawyers will swoop in and end it now.
> At least I hope not.
>
> -RN
So it's because it is a steam train that the lawyers will swoop in?  Come on, it could as well just have been another regular diesel pulled freight train that hit this women.  There are so many people these days who are not paying attention as to where they are, whether they are walking or driving, their minds are a thousand miles away.  Yes this is truly sad and I too feel for the train crew and the woman's relatives.  But the fact that it just happened to be a steam pulled train makes no difference.  People will continue to walk on the train tracks or go around crossing gates, etc.  I wish that I knew the answer to keep this from happening.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Well said John. The type of train is totally irrelevant. In fact, the steam train probably makes way more noise than a diesel. What people think the tracks are for other than trains is beyond me unless it's intentional in which case they need to find a way to off themselves that doesn't affect the lives of others.

dal3294 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very sad to hear. This is the last thing UP steam
> needed, the lawyers will swoop in and end it now.
> At least I hope not.
>
> -RN

Why do people write this sort of gibberish?  If it had of been a regular diesel hauled train are you suggesting that the entire UPRR will be shut down?  Sheesh.

  Let's keep all involved in our thoughts and prayers especially Ed Dickens and his team on the 844 crew.

   Thanks, Ross Rowland

I feel bad for Ed, one of my close friends was involved in a fatal accident a number of years ago when he was engineering a U. P. train and struck a vehicle. He hasn't been the same since.
This is the last thing the steam crew needs to deal with now. I feel bad for the family and person who got hit as well. It makes no difference in the big picture of things but I do wonder if it was a railfaning accident or a suicide.

Posted from Android

Yes, the woman could have been struck and killed by an ordinary freight or Amtrak train.  The difference is that this was a train which draws people to the tracks.  The lawyers will always find a way to find the railroad at fault--they didn't blow the whistle enough---the bell wasn't ringing at that moment--they knew people would be there so why weren't RR police sent to each and every location people might gather, and on and on.  So the fear is that the company lawyers will urge them to reconsider whether they want to continue to attract people trackside.  Hopefully cooler heads will just take this as a cost and risk of being involved in excursions and be thankful it doesn't happen more often.  If there is in fact a clear drone video of the incident hopefully it will make it clear that this woman's death was entirely of her own doing.  That won't stop the lawyers however.