Dude, You have been watching to much TV or something. No train car collision is going to result in the car being lifted over the locomotives. That would have to defy physics.
Sorry to burst your bubble chad but it happened and since I have no proof you can go on and say what you want. But the only proof I need is the exspression my father gave us that night. Have you heard that a CN train collided into a truck and destroyed the second unit because the truck split destroyiung everything behind it. It was carring logs and the train hit it at such a force that the truck itself and a couple logs landed on the second unit. That happened two years ago. on the CN. The second locomotive was sitting in pokagama yard for the longest time waiting to get repaired.
James
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz
I did not realized I had “flamed” anyone; it was not my intention. However, I think that for the record, I’ll just tell a brief story. At the time the following incident happened, my son was 12 years old.
My suburban train left Chicago that day at around 5pm. As I approached Rosehill cemetary on the CNW North line, I observed two children adjacent to the tracks, but in the clear. No big deal I thought, kids hang around the tracks all the time. And I could see that they were aware of my train.
As I got closer (maybe 100 yards away) the kids began playing “chicken” running across the tracks in front of my train, giving me the finger, dancing, those sort of antics. This is a popular game, and the one that goes last wins. No point setting the brakes, for I had not hit anything yet. The kids continued back and forth in front of me, crossing the tracks perhaps 3 or 4 times each.
With his friend standing next to the tracks watching, this boy began his final trip in front of my train (and I was now less than 50 yards away, going 70mph). As he proceeded to cross the rails, I noticed that he looked so much like my son that for a brief moment I wondered if he somehow had come to Chicago to see a friend.
As he crossed the outside rail, his foot caught the edge of the rail and he tripped and fell in between the rails. His friend made a motion to go towards him, but my whistle caused him to back off. A second later he disappeared under the nose of the unit, and a second after that was a little “thump”. I knew I had hit him. At 70mph. With his friend standing right next to the train. This boy that looked so much like my son I knew was dead.
When the police arrived, the now deceased boy’s friend was still standing there in shock, covered in his friends
For me it may not have been with a train but I also have had an accident that the other party died in. In 1996 I had a parking brake line fail and ended up killing a guy going the other way. So zardoz I know what it feels like and it hurts.
I drive a desk for a living, but my spare time includes being an EMT and a firefighter. I have had to face the deaths of others many times, ranging from accidents to shootings to fires to natural causes. In a small town, you tend to know people, which doesn’t make it any easier.
As the RR employees have related many times, I remember them all. I also remember the families, especially when someone has died of unexpected natural causes at home and I’ve responded to their call.
I’ve learned to cope, and to rationalize, but I’m still waiting for that one call that really hits home. It’s coming, I just don’t know when. It can happen to anyone. I’m not going to fault the Aussie driver for his reaction. I know firefighters and EMTs who have never come back after that “one” call.
I’ve often thought the railroads should somehow warn prospective employees of what they may have to face some day. Perhaps include an incident in the simulator training. This unfortunate driver could have been spared the trauma if had realized early on how he might react in such a situation. However, I do not believe there is any way to judge how an individual will react to the horror of a real incident.
Nevertheless, incidents like what tree68 indicated in my quote applies to first responders that have had their emotions scrambled by a real incident. This driver lost it over a fake. I still maintain he was in the wrong job; and if he had never considered the possibility of such an occurrence happening, he was either extremely naive or not very bright.