We had a "Suicide by train" here about a month ago that was really sad.The engineer was all torn up about it,and kept repeating "She just sat there and looked at me" I felt bad for him,but hope he got some comfort in knowing that she had pulled her vehicle around the gates and sat there and waited for the train.

As for the truck in the video,I would need more info before I could call the driver a moron.It looks like there might have been an accident at the intersection he was trying to get through,so He might have been caught in a sticky situation.

 

I have a relative that drove the (really) big rigs for years. She had a suicide...gal just stood on the tracks and faced it down.

She says you just put the train in emergency and take cover or sit down when you see it coming, as there is no point in watching or catching debris if it comes through the windows.

We had 4 or 5 kids cut school just before Christmas about 12 or better years ago out in San Fernando valley. They went around a line of cars waiting for a passenger train, as well as the arms. Well, there was 4 or 5 open desks waiting for new students after Christmas break.

Unstoppable force is not to be fooled with.

 

That is one aspect most people can not fathom. After you dump it (big hole, shoot it, clean the gauges, whatever) you are merely a passenger.

Whatever happens after that is completely out of your hands.

A guy was in a convenience store buying two packs of cigarettes. When he heard me blow for the crossing adjacent to the store, he told the clerk "I've got a train to catch." He marched out of the store and right in front of me never breaking stride or looking up. June 16, 2003. I'll never forget that day as long as I live.

One of the few times in my life I heeded my father's advice (42 years service). When I first got stepped up to the engine he said "Don't ever walk back to look, you can't do anything to help." The conductor called 911 and the cops were at the crossing before he could get back there.

I was messed up for a year or more afterwards. Probably still am to be honest about it. And I'm one of the lucky ones believe it or not.

Dan

 

Heck of a crash. The driver was lucky that the tractor didnt end up getting pulled into the train. As a paramedic I have got to clean up after several bad accidents. Its never fun. Some times it is amazing the ways people find to hurt or kill themselves or worse other people

 

I know what you are saying. We had a suicide about a year ago and both the engineer and the conductor had to quit. They couldn't deal with it, they both kept having nightmares and just kept seeing it happen.

I haven't hit anyone yet but have had a few close calls at crossings when some idiot in a car thinks they don't have to stop for the gates.

 

There are dozens of crossings just like that on that particular stretch of track. I've actually run trains through there many times, and it gets pretty scary, especially during rush hour. Those big rigs will stop for a red light with their trailers hangin' over the tracks, and I just keep thinking "Please God, let that light turn green."

 

This is truly a conspiracy, the rail companies are losing their butt finically, if they wipe out as many vehicles as they can …ultimately we will all be forced to use the rail system for travel…it is only time before this happens. A few cars here and few trucks there.....we all are walking or riding.

 

 

Where as I don't in any way agree with your conspiracy theory, the outcome you alluded to would not at all be a bad thing.

Unfortunately, this country and most of the cities in it are just not set up for mass transit to be a viable option.

Yet.

 

You do know why that is, don't you?

Because the idiots who built the crossing didn't bother with detector loops on the backside of the tracks. After sitting and watching the light system complete 2-4 complete cycles, without ever getting the green to be able to cross the tracks and get on with life, the driver HAS to sit on the tracks just to tag the detector. And don't think the driver is unaware of the situation.

I've been in that situation many times -- the last one was Thursday.

When I was a bus driver at Texas A&M, we had 1 crossing in particular where that was an occurrence every 15 minutes or so. It took browbeating both Union Pacific AND the city of College Station for years (I was there for 4) to get a detector loop put in behind the tracks so the busses could safely trigger the light. They finally did it the year that I left.

Sometimes the traffic lights and the train crossing signals are integrated, sometimes they are not. If they are, the traffic lights will usually be able to clear the crossing... If they're not, carnage usually ensues....

What's really pathetic is that it usually requires someone dying in a train crash to get the crossing upgraded to the safer signal system....

-blaine

 

The railroad companies are making more money now than they ever have and most make record profits every year.

 

I remember watching that on the news...

 

My Dad installed and maintained highway crossing signals before he passed away (due to a heart attack not a train collision). I know of several times that there would be a fatal accident a a crossing that he maintained and he would go through weeks and sometimes months of investigations to make sure everything was in proper working order and not an equipment malfunction or failure. He took a lot of pride in his job and being a railroader. I am also proud to say I grew up a railroaders kid.