While watching people - especially men - wait for several coal trains, I see them usually get out of their cars/trucks and rearrange the load in the trailer they are pulling, clean out their trunks and backseats and wa***he windows.
Sometimes they stand and visit with the car behind them.
What interesting things have you seen while train watching or even from the cab of a locomotive?
Mook
A MAN and a WOMAN feeding the kids out of the trunk of their car, they almost made it before FRED came.
First of all Mook, you are hardly a “dummy”. I have a lot of respect for your ability to learn & comprehend.
From the cab:
Couples having sex (both in a vehicle or along the right-of-way).
Individuals having sex (both in a vehicle or along the right-of-way).
People with less than the required items of clothing on (both in a vehicle or along the right-of-way).
People sleeping alongside the right-of-way.
Foamers grabbing quick photos then blasting away from the location in order to race my train to the next ‘photo op’.
Cars filled with so much garbage its a wonder the driver can get in.
Drivers getting out of the vehicle to look down the tracks–then go around the gates.
Drivers attempting to turn around rather than wait 30 seconds for the train to pass.
Drivers stopping on tracks–then backing up throught the gates to avoid being hit by train.
Thanx Zardoz - I wasn’t fishing for a compliment, but will always take one. I was basing this on the Dummy books on every subject. Seems like what has been seen would make an even more interesting book!
The car with so much garbage happens to be a “foamer” at our watch site. It is gross!
Mook
My brother sleeping because he didn’t see the point of getting up at 5 in the morning to go watch trains.(He woke up quick when the engineer blew the horn as the train went through the crossing though!)
I really get a kick out of the “I’m in a hurry to go East, so I’ll turn around, drive a mile or so West, then a mile or so North or South then two miles East, then a mile or so South or North to get to my destination” rather than wait 25 seconds for this transfer run of 2 UP yard engines and 6 (SIX) hopper cars…[:I][:I][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)]
I see this happen about every third time I’m stopped by a train in Dundee Road in Northbrook, IL.
a couple kissing while driving…and mind you, they were lip-locked, how he managed to keep that car going straight, i’ll never know…
Say::::::just how long do you have to wait for these coal trains and how long are they? 40 miles long? what’s the hold-up???
This seems to be the most prevalent thing people do. The end is just around the curve and they can’t wait.
Better yet–gates go down for a westbound scoot at Elizabeth Street in Lombard. Car backs away from gates, takes the three-block detour to the underpass. Sure, the train had stopped. But about five seconds later, as usual, the gates go up until the train starts moving again.
P.S. I was on my bike when I observed this–caught up to the car at the first of three additional red lights they’d encounter on the detour route!
I’m usually on the receiving end of some friendly needling from my wife, especially if we’re the first through third car at the crossing. If I’m out railfanning, the detours to attempt to save time amuse me to no end, especially if I’m in Berwyn along the BNSF.
Mook - always remember that the only dumb questions are the ones that you don’t ask.
Well, hang on then! I got some more!
I don’t drive trains, but the weirdest coal train I ever saw was a coal train lead by SD40-2’s in West Chicago Illinois, sometime in April.
Another weird thing I saw was a CSX GP38-2 leading a loaded coal train through Naperville Illinois on the BNSF Fast Track.
We are seeing more SD40’s on coal all the time. Just saw a couple on the head end last weekend. The GP 38’s are still on freight, but guess you use what you have available.
The one and only time I’ve been in a cab engaged in revenue service cab was on the prairies of Saskatchwan almost 25 years ago on VIA Rail’s eastbound “Canadian”.
You think prairies are dull, dry and lifeless? When I was allowed to blow the horn, you should have SEEN the prairie dogs scatter for cover. It was as though the sound from the horn acted like the prow of the ship, pushing them away from the track. But since this “pushing” was strictly metaphoric, the prairie dogs didn’t seem to get hurt.
Unlike the practice in some parts of Colorado to use what is, in effect, a giant vacuum cleaner to suck the poor devils out of their holes! I’m not much of a bleeding-heart about wildlife, but REALLY…
[:(]
Mookie:
You are on the beam! My crossing is exactly that, on a curve such that you can’t see more than a few yards in either direction.
What still stumps me is that this crossing is situated such that you must drive at least 3 miles out of your way to take an alternate route.
At an average speed of 30mph, a 3 mile detour is about 6 minutes.
A 100 car coal train, with 50 foot hoppers, is 5,000 feet long.
At 30mph (44ft. per sec.), it will take 114 seconds, or 1.9 minutes, to clear the crossing. Go figure!
While workin’ as the head “brakie” on the Coalmont Local many years ago, our train was a little ways west of Fox Park, Wyo. when we pretty darn near had a collision with a log truck. Here’s the story…
The crew and I were on a daylight run from Laramie to Walden, Colo. About midway along the route the train made its way out of a heavily forrested area. We approached a road crossing equipped with flashers, but no gates, at a leisurely 25-mph or so. The weather was clear and sunny, the headlight was burning brightly, and the engineer was laying on the horn like he always did at that crossing.
As the head end of the train approached the crossbucks some “asphalt cowboy,” who was barreling northwards towards the train, suddenly realized that he wasn’t going to beat us to the crossing. Apparently he came to his senses and realized that a six unit set of GP30s (A-B-B-B-B-A) and the 35-car freight train behind it was bigger than he was, and so he panicked! That goofy s.o.b. slammed on his brakes, swerved, jack-knifed, and subsequently spilled his load of logs all over the highway. Fortunately his tractor didn’t turn over, we didn’t hit him, and nothing of his hit us. Upon passing the scene a few moments later, the caboose crew radioed ahead and reported that this near disaster was some sight to behold!
I seem to recall that we called the train dispatcher to report the incident, and presumably he called the Wyoming Highway Patrol to handle the matter. By the next day when we came back with our fully loaded train, the mess was cleaned up entirely!
We have a name on the railroad for dummies like you, 'ook. You’re, “dumb like a fox.”
As for the other thing, I often carried a camera with me back in my road days. Sometimes, if I saw them soon enough, I’d grab my camera out of the grip and “photograph” some of the lineside photographers. Hah! Boy, did I get some odd looks! It probably wouldn’t be very funny in this post 9-11 age.
How about talking on the cell phone!
Allan.
I think this is hysterical! We have some real zoomers where I watch and to have a crew member “photograph” them would be great!
[}:)]