European Railroad Discussion > UK railfan leans out train window, loses head to passing train

Rail enthusiast decapitated leaning out of train window
Simon Brown, 24, from Sussex, was struck by oncoming train on Sunday
Witnesses claim he was 'decapitated' after leaning out of the window
Shocked eyewitness described the moment the man's head 'flew off'

He was described by his family as being a 'railway fanatic' who had
recently landed his dream job as a train engineer (technician) with
Hitachi

MailOnLine
by Thomas Burrows
9 August 2016

> A 24-year-old killed when he leaned out of train window on the
> Gatwick Express has been described as a 'railway fanatic' who had
> just landed his dream job as a train engineer.
>
> Simon Brown, 24, from East Grinstead, in Sussex, suffered fatal
> injuries when he was struck in the head by a speeding train on
> Sunday afternoon.
>
> Chillingly, it emerged today that Mr Brown had been tagged in a
> Facebook picture five years ago showing a man hanging out of a
> moving train.
>
> Mr Brown was tagged in an image showing a man with his head and arms
> stretched out of the window of a 37255 locomotive on the Great
> Central Railway.
>
> It was accompanied by the caption: 'Toby and Simon behind 37255',
> although it is not confirmed that it was him who was pictured.
>
> His family today paid tribute to the railway obsessive who had
> recently been hired as an engineering technician with Hitachi
> overseeing the introduction of new electric trains on the Great
> Western mainline...


Full story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3731132/Pictured-Rail-passenger-24-decapitated-leaned-train-window-Gatwick-Express.html

Usual rubbish reporting from the Daily Mail, he wasn't decapitated and it's unclear whether he was struck by another train or not. He was leaning out of one of the two doors with droplights in the Motor Brake Standard car of the GatEx unit (class 442). The doors are generally kept locked, out of public use, but the droplight can be opened.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/16 00:30 by 86235.

Something doesn't read right. My only experience with trains in Great Britian was riding The Jacobite, which runs on a single track line but I would think the second train would not be that close. He would really have to have a large portion of his body sticking out of the train.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/16 06:59 by Grande473.

Grande473 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Something doesn't read right.

Of course it doesn't! This is the press, remember. Only infants woud believe a verbatim news report. We all need to grow up.

Again, UK clearances are a bit tight, and it is not unheard of for serious injury or worse to have occurred through excessive leaning out of opening windows. However, these days it is extraordinarily uncommon, and I would hope that the thousands of hours of video shot each year from open windows on steam specials show that it does not have to be dangerous.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fatal-accident-balham

The accident involved a signal gantry NOT another train and the victim was NOT decapitated.

Interesting that the report shows the distance between the signal gantry and the side of the train to be only 10.25 inches or 260mm. That amounts to very close clearance.

The general rule still applies, don't stick your head out the side of a UK train. The guy who got his head bashed was a Southern TOC employee so he should have known better.