I didn't see anything, I was on the other side of the platform and heard the train braking loudly, then people yelling. I ran in their direction but stopped when I saw their faces and heard someone was (probably) killed.
I'm OK but feeling shocked and can't stop thinking about it. There was this woman who cried because she saw everything, she said the guy was obviously drunk and she could have done something. I can't imagine being her.
If someone shares an experience like this please let me know.
I've been in a train that hit someone, near full speed if i recall correctly or, well, fast anyway, presumably the train engineer tried to brake. Can't quite recall details preceding the stop afterwards. As a result the train was quite a bit late, while announcing this the train conductor noted that if people saw anything "unpleasant" (the voice made it clear that the conductor was pretty shocked, i wonder if he himself saw something), they should contact him or other staff. The compartment was pretty quiet afterwards. Can't help but thinking "fortunate we were in a car near the rear of the train".
I watched several coworkers get killed by trains over the years; I'm a railroad worker. Much worse than a random passenger, especially when you've worked with them for decades.
I watched several coworkers get killed by trains over the years; I'm a railroad worker. Much worse than a random passenger, especially when you've worked with them for decades.
I watched several coworkers get killed by trains over the years; I'm a railroad worker. Much worse than a random passenger, especially when you've worked with them for decades.
Not the same but I watched a lady get hit by a SUV at a crosswalk in a intersection and she flew and landed next to my car. She survived but that impact sound is something you dont forget.
I've been on a lot of trains where things have gone wrong, but thankfully never hitting a person.
I'll never moan about delays because of it, and absolutely hate those that do.
I have been really close to a traffic accident before though, those minutes before the emergency services arrive are eerie.
Glad you are okay, op. It's natural to feel some shock from having been on the scene of where someone has lost their life. It was relatively quick, at least. I lost a good friend who died in similar circumstances. He was the nicest guy but had a problem with alcohol. He was drunk, dangling his legs over the edge of the wrong platform while on the phone. A train breezed through the station at around 80mph and pulled him under. I don't get why but the news report said they were unable to test for alcohol. Can a person really be reduced to the point you cannot test for alcohol? It pains me to think of his last moments.
My father was a railroad engineer (freight, not metro) for 30+ years. He's hit quite a few people but the only one he ever talked about was the one that was dragged out in court for years. Two teenagers tried to beat his train through a rural crossing (no arms or lights, just the sign) and both were killed. The family raised a fuss about the crossing (seriously, it was in the middle of nowhere) and it dragged out for years, and every time there was a court date he had to re-live the moment all over again.
Which is a long way of saying it sucks for the people who died and it sucks for the loved ones, but it really sucks for the engineers and conductors who can only stand and watch in horror as these things happen. Short of throwing the train into emergency (immediately lets the air out of the entire train's brake system) there's nothing you can do and it takes a mile or more to stop a train.
Also, suicide by train is neither easy (again, the train crew can only watch it happen) or fast (without getting into details, you can get... um.... dragged...).
You never really expect someone to do the unexpected. Feel bad for her. Imagine if you saw a homeless person walking erratically extra close to the edge and ignoring calls to back off. Would you intervene?
Same thing happened to a good friend of mine. He was in the front car of a subway train that someone jumped in front of. Even worse, he saw the body (and dismembered head) as he was being evacuated from the train car. He was pretty affected for a few weeks afterward. I felt terrible for him.
I watched several coworkers get killed by trains over the years; I'm a railroad worker. Much worse than a random passenger, especially when you've worked with them for decades.
I'm very sorry you had to witness something so distressing. Everyone is different and I'm sure that you won't experience any lasting effects. That said, if you find the experience hard to shake or feel that you are repeatedly dwelling upon it please watch out for yourself and talk to someone about it. Personal experience. Take care.
You never really expect someone to do the unexpected. Feel bad for her. Imagine if you saw a homeless person walking erratically extra close to the edge and ignoring calls to back off. Would you intervene?
My father was a railroad engineer (freight, not metro) for 30+ years. He's hit quite a few people but the only one he ever talked about was the one that was dragged out in court for years. Two teenagers tried to beat his train through a rural crossing (no arms or lights, just the sign) and both were killed. The family raised a fuss about the crossing (seriously, it was in the middle of nowhere) and it dragged out for years, and every time there was a court date he had to re-live the moment all over again.
Which is a long way of saying it sucks for the people who died and it sucks for the loved ones, but it really sucks for the engineers and conductors who can only stand and watch in horror as these things happen. Short of throwing the train into emergency (immediately lets the air out of the entire train's brake system) there's nothing you can do and it takes a mile or more to stop a train.
Also, suicide by train is neither easy (again, the train crew can only watch it happen) or fast (without getting into details, you can get... um.... dragged...).
Yeah, I've read about how it was for conductors. In Paris (and other big cities too, I assume) they're being taken care of by the company - they see shrinks, stuff like that.
Something that also shocked me was how cold it felt when the station's announcer called it a "traveller incident". It's the standard expression when something like that happens and I've heard it many, many times, but it's the first time it feels so real and... I don't know, sanitized ?
Something that also shocked me was how cold it felt when the station's announcer called it a "traveller incident". It's the standard expression when something like that happens and I've heard it many, many times, but it's the first time it feels so real and... I don't know, sanitized ?
Also, suicide by train is neither easy (again, the train crew can only watch it happen) or fast (without getting into details, you can get... um.... dragged...).
Used to work on wards in hospitals, saw plenty of deceased being bagged up and taken away by porters, saw somebody dead in a side ward once (after seeing him earlier in the day talking to family) and had to report it. Also been to coroners office and seen dead bodies lined up in there. Also seen kids try to kill themselves at mental health hospitals and taken away by paramedics in emergencies. Also worked at Neonatal (Baby) Units and seen some very sick babies there. Also seen a guy that was crushed underneath a car that plowed into the side of the road (could only see his legs dangling out from underneath, this was late at night) on the Motorway/Highway, blood was all over the road...also worked at the Police where I've seen some stuff there I don't even want to talk about, not just for confidentiality reasons due to the job but because it's so sick and disturbing, nobody should see it. Nobody. I've seen some shit.
I've witnessed this awhile back on the subway platform... Just talk to someone about it OP. Eventually the emotions behind it will fade... OP my situation I witnessed was eerily similar to exactly what you described...
I watched several coworkers get killed by trains over the years; I'm a railroad worker. Much worse than a random passenger, especially when you've worked with them for decades.
Sucks, man. Every year or two there's an incident on our railroad, typically a more junior guy getting hit by his own movement after, say lining a switch on top of himself and going for the derail while the train is backing up towards him.
Worst one I've heard of was a fella getting in between the knuckles and the train making a joint through him. They had to bring a phone to him to talk to his family before the shock killed him but no getting out of that =(
Then there's the odd one with the company telling a crew to go light engine down heavy grade without Dynamic brakes, getting brake fade and running away until they hit a corner too fast and go over the bank. Or not maintaining their fucking bridges and having a unit go down a few hundred feet.
But yeah those are the 'rare' occurrences. Hitting a pedestrian/car in one's career is much more likely. I haven't been in super long but have already almost hit two people. One trying to commit suicide by just walking out and sitting on the tracks, luckily we were slow enough that emergency stopped barely in time. Second time was an old guy in the middle of nowhere at nighttime, luckily for us/him he chickened out last minute and jumped off.
Not to derail (hur hur), sorry to OP. It's a pretty fucked up situation even if you don't see it happen directly.
I've been in a train that hit someone, near full speed if i recall correctly or, well, fast anyway, presumably the train engineer tried to brake. Can't quite recall details preceding the stop afterwards. As a result the train was quite a bit late, while announcing this the train conductor noted that if people saw anything "unpleasant" (the voice made it clear that the conductor was pretty shocked, i wonder if he himself saw something), they should contact him or other staff. The compartment was pretty quiet afterwards. Can't help but thinking "fortunate we were in a car near the rear of the train".
What they teach engineers in Ireland is to let go of the dead mans break and duck behind the train console, so you don't see the death, I assume it's the same everywhere else.
Gross stuff in spoiler tags. Just to clarify, my dad worked with heavy freight trains, nothing with passengers. Freight trains obviously run slower (I'd have to ask but I don't think my dad ever went over 45 MPH, and usually much slower than that), but there's still a ton of power behind it. I dunno that he ever mentioned anyone 'exploding' from the impact, but I imagine it's possible. All the stories he told me were mostly cars (usually leaving nothing but shreds of twisted metal) and animals (deer, mostly), and I don't recall him using the word "explode". Keep in mind though that he's on the train and they can't exactly climb out of the cab to watch this stuff happen up close. If they hit something, they're a mile away by the time they come to a stop.
One of the stories my dad told me (this didn't happen to him) was about a guy who'd tried to commit suicide-by-train by standing in the tracks; the initial blow wasn't enough to kill him on impact, and he got pushed under and dragged for a mile and a half. He was still alive when they found him, but just barely, meaning he had experienced his limbs being crushed and pulled off, etc.
Another one was a guy who got down into a linebacker stance (knees bent, shoulders square, head forward) and let the train hit him head on. The impact was enough that his head and spine were driven from his body and landed 50 yards away in someone's backyard.
To be clear, I was an adult when he told me these, so it wasn't a "scare the kids with horror stories", this was an actual conversation about all the things he'd seen and had to deal with (relevant to the story above). That particular accident shocked him so much he refused to work that particular route because he'd be going over the same crossing.
Seeing people killed or the aftermath is always difficult, no matter how many times you experience it. The last one I experienced was a few months ago. An inmate just got off the phone with his GF, apparently she told him she was pregnant. He went back to his cell and told his cellie he needed some alone time for a bit, so the cellie didn't think anything of it and left. He put a towel over the window so you couldn't see in. He then sat on the toilet. He took the blade out of one of those orange disposable razors and slit his throat. It wasn't just a simple slice. He went deep, really deep. From ear to ear. Like I don't even know how someone could have the willpower to do that. He bled out in seconds. The cell looked like something from a movie just blood everywhere.
Even though I've become more desensitized to it, seeing things like this still bothers me. Don't be afraid to seek out help or someone to talk to op.
Same happened to a friend probably. She was talking on the phone and watched an old lady being hit. It took her a moment to realize what happened, it was so unexpected.
My cousin saw a kid get hit while walking down the track with his headphones on. He really didn't make it. She ended up having to see a therapist for a while, which helped. Look into if you're having trouble.
edit: it's weird how common this is. My friend's sister-in-law saw someone get hit just a few days ago.
Gross stuff in spoiler tags. Just to clarify, my dad worked with heavy freight trains, nothing with passengers. Freight trains obviously run slower (I'd have to ask but I don't think my dad ever went over 45 MPH, and usually much slower than that), but there's still a ton of power behind it. I dunno that he ever mentioned anyone 'exploding' from the impact, but I imagine it's possible. All the stories he told me were mostly cars (usually leaving nothing but shreds of twisted metal) and animals (deer, mostly), and I don't recall him using the word "explode". Keep in mind though that he's on the train and they can't exactly climb out of the cab to watch this stuff happen up close.
One of the stories my dad told me (this didn't happen to him) was about a guy who'd tried to commit suicide-by-train by standing in the tracks; the initial blow wasn't enough to kill him on impact, and he got pushed under and dragged for a mile and a half. He was still alive when they found him, but just barely, meaning he had experienced his limbs being crushed and pulled off, etc.
Another one was a guy who got down into a linebacker stance (knees bent, shoulders square, head forward) and let the train hit him head on. The impact was enough that his head and spine were driven from his body and landed 50 yards away in someone's backyard.
To be clear, I was an adult when he told me these, so it wasn't a "scare the kids with horror stories", this was an actual conversation about all the things he'd seen and had to deal with (relevant to the story above). That particular accident shocked him so much he refused to work that particular route because he'd be going over the same crossing.
The worst one so far was probably when my train back in Tokyo got held up for hours in the middle of nowhere for some reason. Then later on we found out someone committed suicide somewhere down the track we're about to go through.
To be clear, the spoiler-tagged stuff didn't happen to him. Apart from the story above, most of what he hit were lot of animals or idiots putting shit on the tracks.
Railroad engineers and conductors spend 8-10 hours confined to an engine cab about the size of a bathroom (except when conductors are walking the train, of course), and sometimes due to traffic / delays / whatever spend that time sitting in the middle of no where with nothing to do, and they're legally not allowed to have cell phones or any kind of devices that might distract them (like, people were written up for having little pocket poker games). They're also constantly meeting other guys from other areas at away terminals.
As a result, railroad employees have a natural inclination towards swapping gossip and dirty jokes. Lots of news and stories get passed around.
My dad and I once saw a dog get hit by a train. We were commuting from work, waiting in front of a railroad crossing. The train came into view. On the other side of the track, a dog appeared and briefly ran alongside the train before running in front of it in an apparent attempt at crossing. It fell short.
The wheels cut through the animal in an instant. I don't know how else to describe it, but the dog exploded in blood and gore. It was so surreal to see in person-- like some exaggerated special effect. The two halves of the dog landed to the left and right of the road and that was that. The train passed and we drove on in silence for a long time.
Haven't seen anyone hit by a train, I have however been on a train when it hit someone.
I was on the front carriage were the driver was so could hear the collision full force, as well as feel the bump as whoever it was pulled under the train. We were going pretty fast so I don't expect there was much of an intact body left.
Being kept in the train when it finally stopped and seeing forensics going around outside examining is an image I don't think i'll forget in a while.
Today I heard about how someone in Chicago got hit by a train. 28-year-old man jumped from the platform onto the track tracks when the train approached.
When I was 15 years old, I've witnessed a person commit suicide by a subway train right in front of me. I really mean in front of me, as for years I questioned why didn't he decide to take me with him. (Not that I wanted him to, but since he was going out, why not right?)
It fucked me up for years after. It was weird. I put blame entirely on myself, in the form that I wasn't supposed to be there at that time. Since I was on my way home from a botched doctor's appointment, I figured that experience was entirely optional/avoidable. So from that point, I pledged to never take the train unless I absolutely needed to, (school, doctor appointment) and to always search out for the next potential victim. It eventually led to me being anti-social and non-adventurous.
My advice to you is to talk about it as much as you can. Let it out. See a therapist if you need to. Best of luck.
Nah, he mentioned hearing people scream and running in their direction (on the same platform).
In this story, the man committed suicide on Smith/9th St, which has two separate platforms disconnected from one another. It also happened at 2:30 am, which, in an industrial area like Greenwood, it is really dead.
Railroad workers, flaggers, construction crews...working on the tracks is scary shit. Even worse when you work on electrical track. That third rail is the worst.
That's fucking horrible, OP. That poor woman. I always keep in mind the bystander effect when I see people in obvious distress and help them. It's probably what happened with this poor fella.
I was also on an inter-city train when a person apparently committed suicide. We stopped for some odd reason and word got out that someone ran into the tracks. We were stopped for a good two hours while they were investigating it.It was kinda freaky.
