…since the poster on the other site stated that El Stupido Grande not only survived, but tried to sue the RR, unsuccessfully.
This is a perfect example of how photographers can become so wrapped up in their subject that they forget about the hazards of the real world. Its like photographers on safari, when the lion charges, they stand their clicking away,“Oh what a great shot, Oh what a great shot! Oh Wha…AAAK!”
Always keep a safe distance, you never know if there is debris hanging off a car or brush snagged on the undercarrrage. You get too close or dont pay attention to your surroundings and this could be you.
I once saw a tourist driving up Lake Shore Drive in Chicago (45 mph) toward the Loop with his eye glued to the viewfinder as he frantically tried to take shots of the skyline through the windshield, one hand holding the camera to his face and the other on the steering wheel. He slowly drifted from the right lane to the left until the left side of his car rubbed against concrete lane dividers. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
I actually place the blame 50-50 on the photographer and the train crew. No less than two crew members saw him standing there, they should never have let him get that close to moving equipment.
Yeah the OP also pointed that out, I know from experience that if I’m at a station and get too close to the track, the employees are not shy about shooing me well back away from the tracks.
What got me was the guy just wedges his butt into the fence post so he can prop himself like a big tripod to take his pics, never even looks up to make sure he’s in a safe spot and is going to clear the train.
I wondered why the crew didn’t stop the unit or something as well. At least he didn’t die or get maimed. A painful lesson, but hopefully one he learned from.
I feel a little sorry for the railfan on this one, as well as the BM&R for having to deal with the problem…
He was standing there trying to get a good angle of the train, which is no problem. I’m sure he might have told one of the conductors that he wanted to stand there, and they probably said “just don’t get too close”.
The train did not HIT him, rather, a metal object hanging off the train had seamed to have caught a camera bag on his sholder, and dragged him in.
The video does not let me see if he gets run over, but he probably pulled himself out in time.
Yeah, that happened to me once. But, I am dyslexic and I thought I was looking through my scope and pulling my trigger rather than looking through my lens and clicking the shutter. Good thing I taste bad . . .
Well for one, the engineer was probably on the other side. And two, that “conductor” if thats what you can call him probably didn’t know any better because he obviously appears to have no idea what he’s doing at the end of the video. You never go in between like that clown did when the drawheads are that close together. Then he acts like a complete newb like he’s trying to see that the drawheads are lined up. They were only like 15 feet apart, if he couldn’t tell that the were gonna line up from standing in the clear, then he has no business working out there. Any class one would have fired his ass on the spot for that. As for the railfan, he had no business out there either. Those are the people responsible for getting most of you other railfans booted off company property. I see alot of railfans show up when I’m at work hanging around in the parking lot taking pictures and waving. That stuff is fine, but at no point should anybody trespass and fowl a track to take a picture or any other reason. Just pull up, stay in or at least with your vehicle and you’ll usually be fine in most places. Start walking out towards the tracks or equipment and somebody’s gonna ride up to you and kick you off the property.
I think if you look carefully you’ll see his camare bag hanging from his shoulder that gets caught by a handrailing post, and like you say thats what snags him and as he struggles and drags he gets flipped, coulda just put the stupid bag down on the ground.
As for me, I always leave the camera bag in the car.
And if he would step off to the side, he would be standing on a track. Definatly not the best spot to be taking video…
Anyone else notice that the loco might be moving a bit too fast, considering they are about to go next to a cut of cars, they are next to a station, and the fact that there is a man standing right next to the tracks? Just a thought…
One born every minute… Well, let’s hope he learned his lesson.
Reminded me of a guy I saw last summer in Whitefish. He was dancing around all over the main trying to shoot a yard crew working the yard. When a WB came up on his behind, he almost threw the camera into the station building when the crew hit the horn. He then even managed to give them a look as if he was outraged they dared to run trains on the main while he was shooting some very important yard work.
I watched the video, and I agree it was the railfan’s fault for being tagged by the train. He was where he should not have been. He was stupid, he didn’t even take notice of the engine blowing for grade crossing. But, the railroad has to share some of the blame. A train crew man was near the railfan, and he should have told him to get away from the tracks.
We can’t be sure no one warned him. Either way, if he is a railfan (which is pretty obvious) then I’m sure he has possession of the basic knowledge that trains run on tracks, one was approaching, and he was standing within inches of those rails.
If he did sue, this video is pretty damning evidence against any claim. The locomotive stopped short of the crossing (video shows gates lowered and bell ringing). He blew the whistle properly for the crossing and proceeded with the loco’s bell ringing.
Either way, I watched that video three times, totally amazed ANYONE could be that stupid.[:O]