I posted this on modelrailroader forums and was wondering if you guys knew any more about this.
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/1/876408/ShowPost.aspx#876408
dekruif
Just heard on the news that some teenagers threw some bricks at the train while it was moving. The engineer lost a couple teeth.
That’s worse that graffiti.
What is this world coming to?
[:(!]dekruif
Well that’s just great![censored] Now I will be looked at even more suspiciously than I was already. I hope the crew was OK. As for the teenage punks…[censored][censored][censored][censored][censored][censored][censored][censored][censored][censored]!!!
Nothing new, happens all the time. That’s why the cab glass has to offer a certain level of protection.
ok these are the people i would love to strangle. the ones who pull this crap and make railfanning for us sane and intelligent folks more difficult. i hope they spend the rest of their lives in jail
As much as that pisses my off… That “life in jail” thing was kind of over the edge. Sure, you NEVER throw stuff at trains, but to kids that dont know about trains, its “fun”. I know a couple kids like that, and its just like throwing a snow ball at a car. When your a kid you make mistakes. But that does upset me, as the crews already have to deal with a bunch of other BS everyday… I do hope they get/got caught. Alec
Don’t worry, the people who do that don’t usually look like railfans. I’ve seen it done (and reported it), and have also been inside a coach when the window across from me was cracked by a rock thrown from near the right-of-way.
These people think it’s great sport to rock, or even shoot trains (and their crews) for target practice. If you see it, call the railroad police (most railroads have a hotline number for such things). I’ve found local police to be somewhat apathetic.
Fortunately American delinquents haven’t developed their tactics to British standards yet. A common tactic over in the UK is to hang a concrete block with a rope off of an overpass at windshield height. Normally this is lowered once the train is too close to stop. Needless to say that some railway personel and passengers have been killed or seriously injured by this tactic. Especially dangerous as most of their trains move faster than ours so the Engineer has less time to hit the floor.
It’s not unheard of here either. This hasn’t happened to me, but I know several people that it was happened to. Someonce pushed a refrigerator off an overpass onto an engine operated by one of my trainmasters, when he was an engineer.
I’ve been rocked. It’s scary to see the supposedly shatterproof glass infront of you shatter. Someone dropped a toilet on my engine once. I’ve also had people put stuff on the rail to stop the train so they could break into it.
Nick
You can easily put the thumb from whats happening with their homelife. If kid or adult was brought up under unacceptable conditions— expect these results. Its big shame that these problems exsist but no way to avoid it. Doesnt surprise me one bit. Often wonder how trainmen dealt with these problems.
hanker
I have seen kids drag a old wooden tie up on the tracks to try derail the train and also place large rocks on the track too… this was on a 2 train a day branchline but still dangerous and stupid.
Perhaps if the youngsters were met with bricks in return they may re-think their idea of a good time. Or maybe some bullets.
Back in the “good old days” we used to carry slingshots with us. We got our ammo from the tons of taconite pellets that used to be all over the place from when we ran the ore trains. Nowadays we don’t dare use one for fear of legal retalliation should we actually hit one of the little vermin infested maggots.
and according to my scanner, our police department is kept quite busy taking young people to a youth facility because their parents can’t control them ( or don’t want to take the time/energy) And a lot of these are below the age of 10.
[sigh]
I agree. I think the parent(s) are the ones who should get the jail time.
Absolutely Chad!!!
hank
Or a double load of dimes. (US Mint Legal tender Dimes)
Bridges are another problem on the interstate. Some areas will throw objects off bridges.
Problem’s worse in some areas than others. If you look at locomotives used on most east coast lines, you’ll notice that many of them have steel grilles over the windshields. Wonder why…
That’s sad. My parents are both teachers and they have noted that parents increasingly are reluctant to take an active part in their kids lives. They like the IDEA of having kids, but are more interested in being their kids’ friends instead of being their kids parents. Maybe that has something to do with all of this?
I often work the CSX Indianapolis terminal desk and on an almost daily basis I get calls about kids throwing rocks, drunks on the tracks, etc. In an urban setting I just expect those kinds of things to happen. There are some areas that are more trouble prone than others usually due to easy access from a closeby neighborhood.
When I worked as a conductor I remember that having to pick up cars at Transfer yard was always an adventure. Even just stopping to line a switch I’d often be heckled by motorists to move that piece of @$#@$ off the crossing, etc. As tempting as it is to walk up to motorist and give them a piece of my mind I knew that would lead to more trouble. I usually just laughed to myself with how frustrated people got over having to wait a few minutes.
The worst incident I had was with a bicyclist. I had to make a cut on the main line and bring in about 70 cars and leave the remainder of the train on the main. As I gave the engineer a highball to take off for the yard I noticed up at the crossing that a guy was sliding his bike and himself underneath a box car on the crossing. As I yelled over the radio DUMP IT !!! The train had already gone into emergency by itself. That guy was very lucky and to this day I believe his guardian angel saved his life because he would have been cut in half.
I know more and more parent’s just can’t believe that they’re “little angel” is capable of doing anything wrong; so if the teacher reprimands the student in class and the student is mad, the teacher will get a complaint call from the parent (thankfully some teachers don’t care about what crap they’ll get from the parents). Due to the parents yelling at the teachers instead of their kids when the kid is failing, my school district now has a program where you get about 6 chances to do your homework before you get a zero in the gradebook (however with each chance you get some punishment [detention or ISS] comes with it).
There’s also the thing I hate when people say the teacher “gave them a 4” or “gave me a 5.” Teachers don’t “give” grades, you earn them.