(I tried searching to see if this has already been posted with no luck. I apologize if the topic has already been covered.)
So, this video has been going around, and I have been trying to figure out where it happened. No American passenger service that I know of has windows in the passenger compartments of the trainset that can be opened by passengers, excepting emergency exits. The passing locomotive also looked to be of foreign origin.
Happened on the subway not too long ago. The conductor had her head out of the window the required three car lengths to assure that no one is being dragged by the train. She must have been looking at something and was struck by a wayside obstruction that killed her instantly. The accident was not discovered until the train stopped at the next station and the doors did not open. One of the passengers discovered blood coming from under the conductor’s compartment door, and bulled the cord. The Train Operator came back to investigate and by this time passengers had broken in to the compartment to help the conductor.
They know where she hit the wayside. Her head was still there.
The obstruction that she struck has been removed, new instructions require only 60’ of inspection before closing the window, and yes the barn door was closed.
We have a baggage car that’s used as an “open air” car, in addition to several coaches with opening windows. Fortunately, we’re single track, so folks who ignore our admonitions to keep you “hands, feet, heads, and everything else inside the cars” aren’t generally in danger in that respect.
We do have a couple of narrow rock cuts, though, and even folks who are safely inside the cars are usually taken aback as we pass through them.
A similar thing happened on a charter bus in the north east a couple months ago. One of the students on the charter bus opened the emergency exit in the roof and popped his head out. Along comes an overpass with minimal clearance. You know the rest of the story. It killed the stupid student.
A followup on operatable windows on trains. In England the old style of coaches had individual doors for each compartment. As a safety feature the doors could only opened from the outside. The window had to be opended to reach the handle. There was no interlock when the train was in motion to prevent inadvertant opening of the door. This type of coach permitted quick loading and unloading of passengers but they had an inherant safety hazard. All of these vintage coaches have been removed from service. I have ridden on this type of coach and miss this piece of true English nostalgia. It went the way of the Routemaster bus that had the open rear entrance. Also gone are the classical red phone booths. A few of the routemaster buses and red phone booths remain in service in high tourist areas though.