Not paying attention while railfanning, even at “Photo Ops” can lead to pontentially disasterous consequences!
Here is an interesting video that shows a man NOT paying attention as a train carrying Union Pacific’s No. 4014 BIG BOY 4-8-8-4 goes by and a second train nearly wipes him off the tracks.
Bravo for the man who saved him![tup]
[:-^]
I saw that. Talk about being engrossed in what you are doing.
Wonder if he came out of it enough to thank the fellow that pulled him off the tracks. Hardly looked like he noticed.
Have fun, (but be careful)
Richard
I doubt it. He didn’t even stop filming.
Steve S
I’m pretty sure that’s a woman, but it was amazingly stupid nonetheless. Stay off the tracks, even if they are attractive and the reason you’re there in the first place. No need to compete for a Darwin Award.
Man, woman, boy, girl.
It doesn’t matter. Death is a Great Equalizer.
Didn’t know Diesels “chugged”[(-D]
Diesels go WOO! WOO! Chug! Chug! according to the news media.[(-D]
People like that is the reason railroads frown on railfans…
The person was lucky someone snatch him/her away from death’s door.
Friends,Let’s all becareful when we are railfaning.
The stupidity this person displayed gives us railfans a bad reputation with railroad folks. That deserves
[tdn][tdn][tdn] - period!
Speaking of Darwin award, my ex was riding an Amtak train from Indianapolis to Chicago back in the early 90’s and suddendly there was a bump, and the train came to a stop. The were stopped there out in the farmlands for about 2 hours because the F40PH hit a car at a rural road crossing and all the authorities has to sort it out. It was found out later it was a car with 4 teenagers who were apparently playing chicken with the train and lost. All four were reportedly killed - no surrpise with an F40PH at high speed.
There are plenty competing for the Darwin award near where my wife and I live walking dangerously close to cars, crossing where there are no cross walks, darting out in front of cars. Many of the local residents were born south of the border. It frustrates my wife to no end, who is a relatively new driver. She suspects its because most of them are from other countries where they apparently aren’t raised with such concepts as cross walks, traffic signs/lights etc! It is not uncommon to hear of a pedestrian struck in the DC metro area.
So where were all the RR cops? This place was crawling with them when the X4014 came through. We weren’t allowed on the other side of the fence at the station and they kept people back on the other side also. These people should have never even been on railroad property.
well, there are those who “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”.
They are so oblivious to trains…whether walking, driving, or even for those who SHOULD know better-some railfanners who “risk it all to get THE shot”.
Only once did I set foot into the tracks to take a pic of Steamtown’s # 3254 Mike, BUT: it was stopped at the Mosco, PA station and was being serviced by the team who had their own hands in the gear, lubing, cleaning, adjusting, etc. I, and about 6 others apparently, felt fairly safe in doing so for the seconds it took to take the pic! BUT I took my front-end daylight shot and got off the tracks immediately! I didn’t dilly-dally!
""where are the RR cops?" P&Slocal asks? probably on the OTHER side of those tracks watching those people! They are never around when you need them, but are “free” to hassle well-meaning “good” railfanners who KNOW to stay clear!
[8-|]
it’s frustrating for engineers as well
Let’s see what is wrong with this picture.
the idot was so focus on one thing instead of his surroundings while he I standing on an active railroad right-of-way.
He is standing within 6 inches at most from the rail of a very active train. It is very obvious that there are trains use that track.
The RR should have some of their officers watching a large crowd like this. The special moves bring out all types of stupid people.
If that idot got hit, oh well. It is Darwinism at work, making the population smarter and stronger. Unfortunately, our screwed up legal system hinders Darwinism, and almost rewards stupidity. The result, a stupider weaker populations. It seems the stupid people have the most offspring, and their offspring are usually stupid as well.
Oh, how the world is screwed up.
If that idiot had gotten hit, his family would have sued the railroad! Imagine the effrontery of actually using your rails! We have lost all sense of personal responsibility in America today.
And that is exactly why I firmly believe the legal system is screwed up. If it is obviously the idots’s fault, and the family has the audacity to sue the RR, them the RR should send the family a bill for having to clean up the body, and any damages to the locomotive. Sueing has gotten so outrageous. It was a good idea because if the person/company is really responsible for a bad accident (ex: train derailing and going through your house) than you should have them attempt to repay you. But nowadays, it is thestupidity of the one sueing, and the one being sued is the victim.
Another screwed up thing is that you have to worry about what’s on your property in case someone trespass and then gets injure, and decides to sue you since they were trespassing. Honestly, if they get hurt on my property, I think it should be legal to then charge them with trespassing, and sue them if they get their blood on my property so I have to clean it up.
Back to the point, if anyone should sue in a case where an idiot gets by a train, it should be the crew since they have to live with the fact they killed someone. When the family sues, it only makes the crew experience even more emotional distress.
The location was not on railroad property, it was private property on the west end of Cheyenne, not any of the “official” observation areas.
I can’t help but notice the irony that in threads where people are confronted by RR employees for filming, they are upset they were confronted, but if somebody gets too close people wonder why the railroad didn’t confront them.
Come on folks, as Railfans we have an obligation, a duty, a responsibility to act appropriatly when excercising our hobby. We all know that railroad property is legally a “NO tresspass” zone. Railroads really do cut us some slack when allowing us so close to their operations. I think it is not only called for, but demanded that we return the favor by SAFELY conducting our actions around the tracks.
If the railroads themselves can tout the ‘Safety First’ rule as their highest operating motto, then so should we. And ever be vigilant in that respect. Up to and beyond promoting even their causes in the same arena as safety.
Obviously this boy was oblivious to the dangers. Either through naivitee, lack of knowledge, bad parenting, or even just shear stupidity. Acts like this get noticed by railroads. Thusly, why there is still a dividing line between them and us - their biggest fans.
UP is offering the olive branch to us. And on their day of returning 4014 to her rightful home, this exhuberance could have been shattered by one young mans blatent stupidity, and disregard for safety. To the point, the dam picture isnt worth your life, the life of the railcrew, or any other repurcussions from the act of photography.
Any engineer will tell you slamming a train into emergency because some baffoon cant hear a horn loud enough to pop your eardrums can quite possibly put his train on the ground. Do we really need another town dessimated by an oil fire? Just because one idiot couldnt follow simple safety rules?
The general public. Well known as just pretty much a bacteria on this planet, have aboslutely no clue of the dangers of railroading. As railfans, it is not only for us to take pictures/film or otherwise document railroadianna, but to educate our friends and familys alike to these dangers. Thats OUR responsibility! Dont take it lightly!!!
This video link is physical proof were dropping the ball. Like I said, railroads take notice. To protect
Idiots screw everything up, especially since the legal system protects them. If the laws are changed so the RR would not be sued if a idiot like this one got hit, then the RR wouldn’t really care how close people get and the problem will sort itself out.
“Do we really need another town dessimated by an oil fire? Just because one idiot couldnt follow simple safety rules?”. Personally I believe UP should perform a community service and eliminate the problem. Let Darwinism take its natural course, so the population will have more common sense, and eventually we will have very few of these problems. When idiots survive, they seem to multiply, and make more problems. Natural selection is how we evolved to today, the strongest and smartest survive, making the population better. Now it is getting stupider. Let Darwinisn fix our problem.
dehusman:
The area adjacent to the track may have been public (i.e., not UP) property, but it looked like that photographer was ON the UP’s right of way, and that means he was a trespasser, no matter that he used public property to access it.
I can’t be quite harsh enough to wish any harm to this individual, but I do wish that he get educated about the harsh realities of physical human frailty in the face of cold, unyielding steel.
Check this guy out, at about 1:09. Be aware when choo choos are present.
I bet he needed to clean his drawers after this.