I was at a Grade Crossing watching Westbound UP Trains today and over a sudden it came to mind. How far away should one be for the Track to be safe for Railfanning? Thanks.
Well, you should not be directly in the middle.
Funny Glen[;)].
I’m sure the pros will weigh in, but here’s what I’ve picked up over time -
At a CSX presented HazMat class, I learned that an arms length from the rail is the kill zone. Definitely don’t want to be there.
Stuff can (and does) stick out from the sides of the cars. Probably the most menacing thingI’ve heard of is banding, which could probably stick out a fair distance and would do some pretty vicious damage to your hide. If it’s dark, you’d never see it coming…
Next time you see pictures of a derailment, look at how far the cars got off the track. The faster the train is going, the sooner they’ll get that way, and your first reaction will probably be to stand there, staring in disbelief.
Unless you’re into the rush of being very close to very big things moving very fast, my experience is that some distance is a good thing, since if you’re too close, you can’t really see much. Especially if the train is moving at any speed at all.
I remember standing on the platform of the Rantoul, IL station watching the power on a northbound ICG freight rocking back and forth so far that I started wondering which way to go if it kept coming over.
The speed of the train is a factor, too. You’d catch me willing to stand a lot closer to a slow moving train (especially one just starting - feel that horsepower!) than an Amtrak at 79…
Of course, you must take into account the usual trespassing caveats, but we’ll assume there are no issues where you are doing your 'fanning.
Youthful bravado notwithstanding, if you think you’re too close, you probably are. Back up, then add another few feet…
I think its like 40 feet or something…
From what I’ve heard the standard distance for rolling stock overhang over the rail is an arms length. According to CSX one arms length or less from the trains is the death zone. Personally I would get no closer than 3 arms lengths or about 9 feet from the edge of the train.[2c]
I’d say 15ft from the edge of the BALLAST - MINIMUM…
Which would more or less be equal to the back of a passenger platform way behind the yellow line.
The FARTHER the BETTER. As someone pointed out, the faster the train is going, stay further away…
Interesting. I just remembered one cop told me it was somewheres in the range of 50FT from the egde of the Road Crossing. 50FT.
Normaly if i’m at a station im either right behind yellow but ive gotten a little used to back up about 2 feet from the line but if im not on a station at all maybe just 5 feet
but i still like getting the rush of air from the highballers in burlingame or menlo park
Personally I tend to park my car about 50 to 75 feet away from the track, minimum. There have been times that I have thought about a train on the BNSF main where I railfan going about 50 per derailing right in front of me…at that point 75 feet would not be close to enough for me not to worry!
50 feet minimum…which is the average length of a standard four bay covered hopper.
Think of it this way, if one of those gets sideways in a derailment, and you are within 50 feet of the rail, you become part of the debris.
Ed
Makes sense to me but then why do the traffic laws allow cars to stop so close to the tracks. The law in New York states cars must stop at least 15 feet from the railroad even though I am sure the average railcar is almost 15’ tall.
For real, I would be on the sidewalk, or just off the road.
I believe you there. I did some Railfanning today. A cop did pull up and asked me a few questions and had no problems what so ever. Even got to see the UP (WP) 1983. A very good day in Railfanning. Sure,right after all the B*TCHING that I have been doing lately.
Because most civil engineers who plan and design streets and at grade crossings never studied railroad engineering or train dynamics, and often make their decisions based only on one criteria, what the city planners or subdivision developer wants, as opposed to what really needs to be designed and built.
Face it, if they were really serious about public safety, they would design over passes or under passes from the get go, with a bare minimum of at grade crossings.
I doubt your city, or most cities for that matter, even know people like mudchicken exist, much less what they, or he, can do for them.
Ed
For me it is a min. of 60 feet away if possible. I have seen a derailment at speed one time and saw cars going over 50 ft away from the tracks.