Railroaders' Nostalgia > one of my favorite days in the cab....short version

Watching a guy run around lowered crossing gates in front of me and immediately be pulled over by a highway patrolman.

Happened to me once too. Made my day.

Heh heh hehehehehe. Never saw it happen in person, but did hear a tale or 2 over the years...

;^)

Leaving Bakersfield going eastbound, the California Hwy Patrol use to pace us along Edison Hwy. They would stay back about the last unit. People would cut the gates stop on Edison Hwy and there was a cop.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/20 06:17 by HardYellow.

I had a variation of this when I was a young passenger fireman.  Me and my engineer "Dynamite" were heading south into Columbia SC on the "Silver Star" - 3 E's and about 18 cars.  We had a lot of little streets crossing the track on the way to uptown.  It was late on a Friday night and a young guy in his hopped up 55 Chevy was repeadedly playing chicken was us, probably trying to impress the young girl hugged up with him.  It was so close that "Dynamite" was shooting it and reseting in motion.  Finally on the last crossing the young guy did it again, barely making it and having to stand on it faster.  The road curved sharply to right on the other side of the crossing.  He did not, plowing the Chevy, himself, and his date into a tall thick hedgerow.  I looked back quickly,  and all I could see was the tail lights and some of the rear fins of the 55 Chevy hanging out of that hedgerow.  We proceeded into the station smiling.

what a shame that a cool classic car was owned by an idiot.

HardYellow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Leaving Bakersfield going eastbound, the
> California Hwy Patrol use to pace us along Edison
> Hwy. They would stay back about the last unit.
> People would cut the gates stop on Edison Hwy and
> there was a cop.

outstanding strategy...........

66

I had a very funny one once,I was going north on the Columbia sub and had just gotten out of Savannah. A Ford Mavrick,with 2 men inside, ran around the gates at Dean Forest Rd.(its between Savannah and I-95). They almost cleared the train when their car choked down. I guess the driver needed to press the clutch. He was frantically trying to restart the car when his passenger bailed.  He finally couldn't stand it any longer and bailed himself, apparently leaving the key in the "on" position and in gear. If he had gone 6 inches further he would have been clear of the train, we hit the car, and pushed it off. The car started to run unattended down the road, they jumped back in and left quickly. I would hahve loved to have heard them tell that story down the road at the bar.

Sam

On a spur off the mainline had a geep and 2 cars and as gates went down a car went around the gates at probably 35 to 40 mph.  For his impatience the tip of the gate hit his windshield and smashed it.  He continued on.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/20 17:56 by Beowawe.

No 3 (ZCHCSSE-9 Red Hot Smokin' Awesome Z Train) hit a van (Dodge? Don't remember sure) at Edwall (WA). They were going 60 and the van was racing them to the crossing at very high speed. They hit the van, it did a 360 degree turn at the same speed, and kept going in its original direction at the same very high speed. I called the county sheriff and reported the collision, telling the dispatcher that they should look for a (whatever era and make it was) dark green van with substantial right rear damage and a big brown stain on the driver's seat. The sheriff dispatcher called back and told me that they caught the guy, and the car was exactly as I described.

TAW

One of my Rock Island trips out of South Chicago Yard I was head brakeman with Sammy Germano, engineer, on a train of coiled steel westbound after 10pm.
We dropped down off the elevation headed for Gresham and the mailline when as we headed thru Oakdale after crossing the C&EI we had a car run the gates and stall in front of us right on the tracks. Sammy put the train in emergency but the weight propelled us forward and we hit the car.
There were three occupants and they all tried to bail out of the driver's door and two made it but the third got run over by the car as we pushed it.
Then it was the three hour wait with the Chicago police. Even our own Rock Island Special Agents got nervous and left.
This was not a very safe area, especially at night. Lo and behold the neighborhood came out to see what was going on.
Later in court the car opperators momadmitted he was having trouble with the engine in his car.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

I was westbound on a train of over 100 emptys one afternoon. As we approached Peck Road in El Monte, California on
SP's Sunset route, I began my whistling and could see the gates were down and autos were stopped on both sides
of the crossing. 

Suddenly, from the right I saw a garbage truck, the driver of which wasn't paying close attention to his driving, rear-end
a compact sedan that had been waiting for our train. The sedan hit the downed gate arm causing it to raise high above
the now, turned-around sedan. Thankfully the driver and his passenger bailed out through the opened windows and ran
to safety as I destroyed their ride. The whole scene seemed to play out in front of me just like those classic scenes
from the television series "Victory at Sea" where the submarine chasers launch their depth charges and the 'ash-cans'
rise high above before falling into into the water; so the driver and his passenger 'launched' themselves clear of danger.

The responding officer took our statements and when asked about the condition of the occupants replied that both were unhurt.
The driver didn't know where they lived, didn't know where they worked and didn't know where they were going.
One thing they did know is that they were now without a car. At least they were alive. So too was the garbage truck driver; upright citizen
that he was, who made a U-turn and departed the scene.

Charlie

. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/20 06:14 by cewherry.

I had something like that happen, I was pulling up to a crossing to pick up my conductor, the gates started going down and a car went around them only to be immediately pulled over by a police officer followed by the gates going right back up.
I couldn’t stop laughing for a few minutes after that.

Posted from iPhone

I run around slow drivers to be first in line at the gates.