I just saw the news and saw a picture of the UP SD70M #4017 that hit a white suv. That Suc was tore up. It killed three people. I never realized how often people get killed by these types of accidents until I started doing model railroading. They said it happened at a crossing. I wonder if they hadf a light and gate too.
Interesting how the news portrays the event. More likely the SUV motored into the path of the oncoming train. Regardless, three people are dead and it is likely at least 2 of them because they were in a vehicle driven by a foolish person.
We had two cars get smashed in the Boston area just last week. One person got lost and turned onto the commuter train tracks and git the frontend taken off…no one killed. The 2nd was a case of trying to beat the train and he lost his rear end…
It is truly amasing to me …just how many stupid, careless, people we have in this country when it comes to train crossings… STOP…LOOK…LISTEN !!! Hello? Anyone home between the ears ???
It really just blows me away that people don’t see these things, or just try to beat them!
Think about it:
-Most crossings have flashing lights, bells, and gates.
-The locomotive has it’s headlights on (and some with blinking ditch lights or strobes), it’s horn blaring and bell ringing.
-Plus, the ground trembles when a 5,000,000 pound train going 60mph approaches!
You’d think all these warnings would pretty tell motorists to back off. Of course, there’ll always be some kind of idiot who thinks he can beat a train.
there have been a few crossing incidents here in NY too… there was alot of finger pointing by both sides… I know that CSX got fined alot…
a few weeks ago a car lost its breaks and was hit by one of the housatonic trains… didn’t get the whole story… but the guy was lucky!!!
We had a really daft one here a few weeks back. At the crossing here, trains stop and a crew member jumps down to lower the barriers using a control box next to the track. They’ve had to deal with more than a few panicy idiots who managed to get stuck on the crossing when the barriers came down - there would be space there to get your car out of the way (used to be twin track, now reduced to one), but people who drive onto crossings without ensuring that their exit route is clear seldom think that clearly! Quite how they’d react when faced with a crossing with automated barriers and non-stop trains (as in many parts of the country) is anyone’s guess, though I suspect the result would involve a derailment and multiple casualties.
Really amazes me how they do it over there - the warning system on ours involves flashing lights and sirens, followed by the barriers coming down, and people manage to get hit by trains (though usually it’s as a result of a breakdown where there wasn’t enough time to phone control and stop the train). Yours has the lights, bells, and also loco horns and bells, along with loco headlights, etc as mentioned by 4884bigboy - yet people still manage to get hit! I’m wondering if they see rail lines as being like side roads - do they maybe think they have priority over the train as it’s crossing the main road? Evidently they never studied basic physics - nothing has priority over several hundred tons of moving steel that takes about a half-mile to stop!
Frankly i never trust the gates. If they are down I obey them. If they are up i look for myself. The lines here get maybe four trains a week and the speed limit is 35 mph but I’m not going to tempt fate. I follow the bus rules. Stop, look, listen, live afterall sometimes things don’t work. I still can’t believe how news reports almost always make it seem like the train was at fault. They must think a train can swerve to avoid a collision. Just my thoughts.
Jesse
go thu the gates here, they have cameras and you get a ticket in the mail
People are just in too much of a hurry to go nowheres fast!! You see it all the time, people riding your bumper and then zooming past you at the first chance and then turning into their driveway a 1/4 mile later.
Now when I come to a crossing ( double track mainline between Syracuse and Buffalo ) and I see headlights a couple miles away, I just pull over and put it in park. The window rolls down ( only about an inch during the winter ) and I just sit and watch it go by and listen to the beautiful sound of the wheels going clickity clack over the rail joints.
I have even been known to go to the local pizza shop, head over to the tracks, turn on the scanner and listen to the track detector say " average speed , 65 miles per hour- no defects.
Can life get any better?
And… How many people died in auto accidents with trucks today? How many people died today in cars that ran red lights? How many people died today because people were talking on cell phones and driving cars? How many people died today because someone got into a car and drove after having too much to drink? Trains are the safest way to move both people and freight. It is rare that people die because a train crew screwed up (It happens as we know, but it is not that common). It is just a lot more spectacular and sells more ads for papers and the Idiot box, so its whats on the news. Too bad because many people won’t keep it all in perspective and trains become the bad guys. Just my [2c]
I doubt people blame the trains as the bad guys but I see what your saying. I think the problem with accidents is because of poor training. People think driving a vehicle is a right, not a priviledge. I see so many idiot drivers in a week going back and forth to work that I would vote for some sort of national test that must be taken each year to prove your a compatent driver.
want to know what i think If you get caught trying to beat the train Ithink you should lose your liscense for 1 year and pay a thousand dollar fine for being STUPID. maybe that would get the point across people seem to pay attention more when they get hit in the wallet. As far as people on cell phones while driving I can’t see why you would wanna be on the phone while driving I think the same fine should apply to people caught on the phone while driving
Dark
Hell I nearly saw that, drove through that crossing a few minutes before it happened. Heard about it on the news when i got home. The crossing had gates and all, the guy slalomed in and out. Well, not out i guess…
Operation Lifesaver!
Randy’s bubble theory:
As long as the average person has their awful job, beer, satellite TV and cell phone, they will live their daily existence inside their own little bubble of reality. They will pay no attention to anything outside that bubble–not to neighbors, politics, passing fire trucks, homeless people, or the world in general. And that includes railroad crossings.
howmus, as you mentioned rail is the safest…unless you are in CN territory then it’s a dice roll i’m surprised that a train hasn’t derailed in front of me yet. as for accidents people are as stupid as moose I saw two teenagers almost get hit by the train simply because they were running down the tracks instead of running off the tracks
Without trying to defend idiots who run crossings regardless of warning devices, the idea that most crossing in the US have any mechanical protection is wrong. According to the FRA, only about 30% of public crossings have any mechanical protection and, of that 30%, less than half have a gate plus lights and a sound warning device. There’s no national standard on what type of crossing must have what type of protection. It’s up to each state to make the laws and then to bear part of the cost. From my experience, the actual useage of grade crossing protection varies widely by state. In California, almost every public crossing has warning lights, bells, and gates. Here in Alabama, the installation of crossing gates is ruled to a great extent by how many people are killed or injured at a crossing. We have one crossing in town on a road that leads to the high school. It has warning lights and a gate because there was a fatal accident at that crossing. There is another crossing of the same line not more than 300 feet away that has nothing but crossbucks and a stop sign. The issue, of course, is money, and who’s going to pay for crossing protection.
While things like Operation Lifesaver are laudable, railroads in Alabama fight almost every attempt to pass laws to upgrade crossing protection. Railroads are the only form of ground transportation that can cross public highways without stopping and without regard to oncoming traffic except for the requirement that they sound their horn while approaching the crossing. There are many crossings in rural Alabama where the sight line is less than 100 feet and it’s very easy for a train to be on top of you before you know it. I’m a railfan and almost got slammed by a NS train at one of these crossings. I always look for trains but the sight line was less than 100 feet and then on a curve with dense undergrowth. I stopped and almost started across when I thought I caught just the hint of a ditch light. Sure enough, I heard the first sound of the horn a
Jim , I offer these points to consider… Most people are of the impression that the roads/highways have allowed the train tracks to cross them. But the Railroads were there first, just look back at history. The first to try to “beat the train” were on horseback. Back when railroads started letting cars cross at grade, most everyone had rode on and respected trains for their speed and size. The majority of drivers today have never been on or near trains to develop a respect for their size and weight, nor their inability to stop. Also back in the early days autos had no air conditioners or radios to destract the drivers. We now have cars that are almost totally quiet to outside noise with Bose sound systems inside. If everyone approaching a crossing had their windows down like back in the day, you wouldn’t hear the complaint " I didn’t hear the train".
I know in my state that no NEW crossings at grade are allowed anymore. (not even shortlines)
The only answer to the problem is eliminate crossings at grade; over or under.
Maybe it’s just me, but the posts here every time someone gets hit because they don’t watch for the train are really not much related to model railroading. I will be making a point of not reading these threads in the future. We all know what happens in these tragedies. The train “wins” and those in the car definitely lose. No real news there and nothing much useful in modeling anything.
[2c]
Specifically for you, Mike, why not try to model a typical grade crossing accident. Build a (fill in road vehicle of choice) out of tinfoil and cracker crumbs, then figure out how to animate it to get it in the way of an approaching train, preferably in the way frequently described in these posts. Activate it when there are a bunch of mundanes viewing, especially if one makes some comment about “playing with trains.”
Bet it will give them something to think about!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
And sometimes it’s a cultural thing. Here in the Central Valley of California we had a case where a car with a Hmong family stalled on the tracks. The Male went to get help, leaving the family at the car. A train was approaching and another motorist (male) went up to tell the family to get out of the car. They locked themselves in and wouldn’t or couldn’t understand the situation. Yes the train hit them. Not much else to say.