rightin ain't impowtant

[Paul M.]

bump

[Guilford Guy]

What I don't like is when people trespass and are hit by trains. The News story often says something similar to "A pedestrian was struck by a train around __:__yesterday." Rather than "A trespasser was struck."

[SteamGene]

May be one of the better uses of passive voice.  It's funny that it's almost never used for graduation, when that is when it should be used.
Gene

[Beatle (TrainBrain)]

What I don't like is when people trespass and are hit by trains. The News story often says something similar to "A pedestrian was struck by a train around __:__yesterday." Rather than "A trespasser was struck."

Just recently, a girl was killed on the lines of the NJ Transit. She was riding an ATV (illegally) near and ON the tracks. The ATV stalled on the rails as a train was coming. She got off (cause somehow the ATV was stuck) and ran from the rails. She ran from the train, but no toward it, the safest place. Unaware of this, she ran farther in front of the locomotive. The train hit the ATV. It flew as if it were a freak accident on the Twilight Zone, and hit her and killed her.

Crazy, uh?

Also, on Amtrak:

...on September 28, 2005 an Acela travelling from Boston to Washington, D.C. became the first Acela train involved in a collision at a grade crossing when it struck a Ford Taurus at Miner Lane in Waterford, Connecticut, one of the few remaining grade crossings on the Northeast Corridor (and one of the few on high-speed rail systems anywhere in the world). The train was approaching the crossing at approximately 70 mph (113 km/h) when the car reportedly drifted under the crossing gate arms at a low speed and was struck by the train and dragged 1,000 feet (305 meters). The driver; 62-year-old Patricia Metzermacher and her 8-year-old grandson, Zachary Metzermacher, were killed instantly. 4-year-old Courtney Metzermacher survived and was airlifted to Connecticut Children's Medical Center where she died nine days later on October 7. The incident drew much criticism from the public about the remaining eleven grade crossings along Amtrak's busy Northeast Corridor despite the fact the gates were later inspected and declared to have been functioning properly at the time of the incident.

I don't know how a car 'drifts' into a crossing.

Plus, the public shouldn't criticize Amtrak for those crossings. Sure, they may be a bit dangerous, but that doesn't mean that Amtrak should change them so you can "beat the train."

On January 14, 2007, Robert Castro, a tenth-grader from Easton, boarded the 12:55 pm MBTA from Providence, Rhode Island, to Boston South Station and got off at Mansfield at 1:20 pm. Seeing his mother on the opposite platform, he tried to cross over the two Northeast Corridor tracks and was struck by an Acela train traveling at approximately 130 mph (209 km/h). It took the Acela one mile to stop. He was pronounced dead on the evening of January 15.

...>no comment<

That doesn't even SCRATCH the surface!

I saw a video of a tractor trailer at a crossing. Traffic was bumper to bumper. The driver attempted to squeze in on the other side of the crossing (as if someone were to take it )...
Gues what?
Norfolk Southern train (3 or 4 units) comes right through and hits the back right corner of the trailer (which hung over the rails a little bit). The trailer EXPLODES and (what I'll gues is...) sawdust goes everywhere! The hit made a long rear-end line of cars, and the first in line was thrust into the middle of a busy 4-way intersection. No one was seriously hurt. The diesels...the front unit suffered but a few scratches and dings on the front ditchlights.

I think what people need to consider is the trains won't stop for them unless they're at a station. Trains don't stop in one or two seconds, emergencey barake and all. But of all these, seeing someone tring to "beat the train" annoys me the most.

Stupidity kills, not the train.

[Guilford Guy]

Now what's sad about the Mansfield incident is that there is a pedestrian underpass at the station so people don't have to cross the tracks at grade. Not to mention audio signs "Train approaching, please stand back!"
Not too long ago an ATV and its driver got stuck on the roadbed of a Guilford line up in New Hampshire. He saw the lights of the train so the driver got off. He later commented in the news that he was surprised how much damage the train did to the ATV. What, do you think its just going to give it a bump and stop?
Down in Connecticut a guy got his ATV stuck on an Amtrak bridge. He jumps off seconds before an Acela comes through at about 125 and strikes the ATV. He survived and was incarcerated for trespassing and was fined over 200,000 dollars for damage to the locomotive.
Well, if it gets rid of stupid people, then there will be less in the world and possibly less will be bread.

[Beatle (TrainBrain)]

Now what's sad about the Mansfield incident is that there is a pedestrian underpass at the station so people don't have to cross the tracks at grade. Not to mention audio signs "Train approaching, please stand back!"

Or an overpass. Either away, no way should he have attempt to cross. I'm pretty sure there were those little yellow lines that say: "Keep Off Rails" or something to that effect.

Audio signs are good, too. You can take your time trying to find out who said that while the train peacefully rolls by.

Not too long ago an ATV and its driver got stuck on the roadbed of a Guilford line up in New Hampshire. He saw the lights of the train so the driver got off. He later commented in the news that he was surprised how much damage the train did to the ATV. What, do you think its just going to give it a bump and stop?

Some how, I don't know how, but people under-estimate the power of a locomotive. Fast or slow, it'll do damage! If you think: "Well, it won't budge, so if I can't get it, it'll stop the train cause they'll stop quick when they see it." Think again, buddy! That train WON'T stop, it'll try, but it won't stop for a while! You won't get your ATV back with a new paint job courtesy of the railroad for hitting you ATV because it had a few scratches. You can even expect to see one wrapped-up with a bow with a note saying "Don't do that again, O.K.?" In fact, you may not even get one back at all!!!

Down in Connecticut a guy got his ATV stuck on an Amtrak bridge. He jumps off seconds before an Acela comes through at about 125 and strikes the ATV. He survived and was incarcerated for trespassing and was fined over 200,000 dollars for damage to the locomotive.
Well, if it gets rid of stupid people, then there will be less in the world and possibly less will be bread.

This is 100% pure proof that if you ride an ATV, let alone just you walking on those rails (which can be or is qualified as private property), you'll face the law!

Next thing you need to hear is that someone jumped over the barbed wire fence and onto the 10,000-100,000 volt High-Speedline 3rd rail in Philly/NJ.

...It almost sounds like I'm talking to someone directly, it's a little creepy over the net!

[Guilford Guy]

I was rail fanning with a friend of mine in Lawrence Mass one day and we crossed over to the other side to get some pictures of an outbound. There was this kid about a year or 2 younger than us. So we began talking about how the Christmas tree got struck and murdered and it evolved into vaporizing rocks... The kid had been listening for awhile and finally piped up "I thought that if you put a rock on the tracks the train would just fall off...
Any physics teacher who reads this might want to give their school department a call...

[Beatle (TrainBrain)]

I was rail fanning with a friend of mine in Lawrence Mass one day and we crossed over to the other side to get some pictures of an outbound. There was this kid about a year or 2 younger than us. So we began talking about how the Christmas tree got struck and murdered and it evolved into vaporizing rocks... The kid had been listening for awhile and finally piped up "I thought that if you put a rock on the tracks the train would just fall off...
Any physics teacher who reads this might want to give their school department a call...

...it'll be a sad day when Steamtown finally get their Big Boy running and it derails because of a rock.

So, this kid is older than 10 and thought a rock could derail a train like:



...>no comment<...

[Guilford Guy]

Pretty much!
If physics worked like that then if your car got stuck on the tracks the train would scrunch together like a telescope!

[Beatle (TrainBrain)]

"The following is from a driver's handbook:"



... ...

If physics worked like that then if your car got stuck on the tracks the train would scrunch together like a telescope!

So, what if it were a Hummer???...



Or worse...