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Train mauls youth on their way to a party
- Thread starter Bitmap Frogs
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Wait what?keyboardcat said:
Since when is crossing a railway thats littered with 'do not cross' 'danger' 'take walkway over there' signs a good idea? People died because of some dumb shit - acting like they didn't all make huge mistakes just because they died because of it isn't helping anyone. What they did was incredibly stupid, sucks that the consequences were this high though.
Manmademan
Member
dabig2 said:Trains that travel here in the USA at 65 mph would decimate someone. I'd hate to see what one going 90 mph would do
Must've been a pretty fucked up scene initially. Stupid ass kids.
I work and commute near an Acela line in the US. There have been 4 or 5 fatalities over the past couple years, including one double suicide.
I stuck around for the cleanup and it's not pretty at ALL. due to the speed (about 110 or so?) body parts can be found over a very wide area. Pretty horrific.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
the poor conductor 
I don't understand how that many people could have fit on the tracks at once. Were they walking down it or something? That seems too insane to be true.
I don't understand how that many people could have fit on the tracks at once. Were they walking down it or something? That seems too insane to be true.
Escape Goat
Member
Just an awful situation for all involved
Manmademan
Member
CrankyJay said:
nah, just the local EMT's and a hazmat team to hose the tracks down.
That's f'ed up. So many people getting hit? Crazy. Someone should have said "hey maybe this isn't a good idea?".
Also, when stuff like this happens I always feel bad for the train driver. What a shitty thing to go through, he probably feels responsible in some way despite the fact that he had no chance to stop it.
There's actually a guy in my class that was hit by a train once.. don't know how he survived but I'm guessing that train was moving slower than this one.
Also, when stuff like this happens I always feel bad for the train driver. What a shitty thing to go through, he probably feels responsible in some way despite the fact that he had no chance to stop it.
There's actually a guy in my class that was hit by a train once.. don't know how he survived but I'm guessing that train was moving slower than this one.
Son of a railroad engineer with ~40 years of service here. In case it isn't obvious, you can't exactly swerve to avoid stuff with a train. Most heavy freight trains take miles to come to a complete stop after being thrown into Emergency, and I'm fairly certain passenger trains take a pretty good distance to come down from 90 MPH too.
TL;DR: Real stories of train accidents and tidbits of wisdom on choo-choos.
1. Definitely feel bad for the driver. My father hit two kids trying to beat the train at a rural crossing, both were killed instantly. Not only does he have the vivid memory of taking two young lives, but in cases like this the family often tries to sue the railroad. In my father's case, the family was upset that there weren't gates and lights at the crossing, even though it was a dinky road in the middle of nowhere. They ended up suing the railroad, which meant a long string of inquiries, depositions, etc. that just dragged out the whole affair.
I can definitely see something like this happening in this accident; the case will be made that there should have been fences or something around the tracks, especially if it was in an urban area with heavy foot traffic.
To this day, my father refuses to take any shift that would have him on that stretch of track. I highly suspect it's why we moved when I was younger, so he'd have a different central terminal to work out of.
2. It was over fast, Trust me. The worst case scenario for being hit by a train is being thin enough to get pulled under the cowcatcher and dragged, but I've only heard of that happening once and it was a moron kid lying down in the tracks on a dare. Even the heavy locomotives that just haul freight do some pretty rough damage at 35, 40 MPH.
I've probably heard dozens of stories growing up of animals, people, cars, and junk (great entertainment for rednecks) getting hit, and it never ends well for anybody. The two specific stories that best describe this are as follows;
A man went to commit suicide-by-train and stood in the middle of the track, hunched down into a linebacker's stance. The force of the train against his aligned head and spine drove both completely free of his body, and landed about 50 yards away.
For whatever reason (size, behavior, etc) a deer on the tracks more or less explodes from the force of the train against it's body. No mangling, no severing, no dragging. Trains catch deer in just the right way that basically all of the force just blows the deer apart in all directions at once.
3. People are stupid when it comes to trains.
- Because of the way train tracks run to the horizon and the way trains coast over the landscape makes it very difficult to judge speed and distance at a crossing, and impossible in areas where trees grow along the tracks. Trying to beat a train at a crossing is probably the dumbest thing you can do in a car since trains eat cars for breakfast.
- Trains run in both directions all the time, and not always on specified tracks. I know a lot of people think specific tracks are for specific directions, but railroads switch em up all the time.
- Trains stop just before crossings all the time, to keep them clear for traffic. Of course, this means there's a big ass train blocking your view of other trains coming (which is what happened in Spain, of course).
- Trains can run almost 2 miles long and often carry dangerous chemicals (and rarely, radioactive waste). Somebody trying to beat a train or fuck around with the tracks can cause a derailment that can kill hundreds of people; derailing a tank car full of liquid ammonia or chlorine, for example, spills out into the air and kills anyone living nearby.
- Oh yeah, and because they're trying to eliminate jobs, I'll share this little railroad factoid; most of the major railroads are already testing remote controlled locomotives in their yard crews. So there won't even be a guy on the train, just a kid in an office with a remote control and a computer screen running things. And it won't be long before some smart ass kid hacks himself a train and takes a joyride soon.
TL;DR: Real stories of train accidents and tidbits of wisdom on choo-choos.
1. Definitely feel bad for the driver. My father hit two kids trying to beat the train at a rural crossing, both were killed instantly. Not only does he have the vivid memory of taking two young lives, but in cases like this the family often tries to sue the railroad. In my father's case, the family was upset that there weren't gates and lights at the crossing, even though it was a dinky road in the middle of nowhere. They ended up suing the railroad, which meant a long string of inquiries, depositions, etc. that just dragged out the whole affair.
I can definitely see something like this happening in this accident; the case will be made that there should have been fences or something around the tracks, especially if it was in an urban area with heavy foot traffic.
To this day, my father refuses to take any shift that would have him on that stretch of track. I highly suspect it's why we moved when I was younger, so he'd have a different central terminal to work out of.
2. It was over fast, Trust me. The worst case scenario for being hit by a train is being thin enough to get pulled under the cowcatcher and dragged, but I've only heard of that happening once and it was a moron kid lying down in the tracks on a dare. Even the heavy locomotives that just haul freight do some pretty rough damage at 35, 40 MPH.
I've probably heard dozens of stories growing up of animals, people, cars, and junk (great entertainment for rednecks) getting hit, and it never ends well for anybody. The two specific stories that best describe this are as follows;
A man went to commit suicide-by-train and stood in the middle of the track, hunched down into a linebacker's stance. The force of the train against his aligned head and spine drove both completely free of his body, and landed about 50 yards away.
For whatever reason (size, behavior, etc) a deer on the tracks more or less explodes from the force of the train against it's body. No mangling, no severing, no dragging. Trains catch deer in just the right way that basically all of the force just blows the deer apart in all directions at once.
3. People are stupid when it comes to trains.
- Because of the way train tracks run to the horizon and the way trains coast over the landscape makes it very difficult to judge speed and distance at a crossing, and impossible in areas where trees grow along the tracks. Trying to beat a train at a crossing is probably the dumbest thing you can do in a car since trains eat cars for breakfast.
- Trains run in both directions all the time, and not always on specified tracks. I know a lot of people think specific tracks are for specific directions, but railroads switch em up all the time.
- Trains stop just before crossings all the time, to keep them clear for traffic. Of course, this means there's a big ass train blocking your view of other trains coming (which is what happened in Spain, of course).
- Trains can run almost 2 miles long and often carry dangerous chemicals (and rarely, radioactive waste). Somebody trying to beat a train or fuck around with the tracks can cause a derailment that can kill hundreds of people; derailing a tank car full of liquid ammonia or chlorine, for example, spills out into the air and kills anyone living nearby.
- Oh yeah, and because they're trying to eliminate jobs, I'll share this little railroad factoid; most of the major railroads are already testing remote controlled locomotives in their yard crews. So there won't even be a guy on the train, just a kid in an office with a remote control and a computer screen running things. And it won't be long before some smart ass kid hacks himself a train and takes a joyride soon.
Textured Monk
Member
Retro said:
Great post. There's not really much I can add to that, but as the son of a driver myself (Australia, though) I just want to throw my own support/experience confirming that. I can't speak so much on the fine technical details in the third part, but have definitely seen the effect something like this has on drivers. My condolences for your father, Retro. In a rural area we've gotten a lot of incidents exactly like that.
Of course it's a tragic loss of life for the people killed in this incident as well, but there's more to the situation than just the obvious.
YMatticus said:
Thanks. People are really quick to say "Oh, those poor people" and ignore the engineer who's basically scared for life. This guy in Spain has 13 lives on his hands, some of them kids; accident or not, that's not something you can get over. I know it was really rough for my dad for a long time, even as a little kid I could tell that. And now, years later, it's still something he won't talk about.
The sympathy for rail victims almost always overlooks the fact that the people involved were doing something they shouldn't have. I dunno about the rest of the world, but in the US it's illegal to go around the gates or through a flashing signal. The people in this thread were impatient and didn't use a designated footpath. Yeah, it's terrible people died, but train tracks are dangerous and they ignored that danger to try and save time.
Seriously, if there's one thing to take away from this thread, it's don't fuck around near train tracks, folks. Trains don't stop and don't swerve, and the fast ones don't make much sound until they're right on top of you. Don't go around the gates, ignore the signals, cross them on foot without being really damn careful, etc.
lunarworks
Member
My brother works in a rail yard, and I take a commuter train every day. He's frequently seen the aftermath, and I have at least two trains a month canceled due to "incidents".
Don't fuck with trains. In the game of "Train vs Human", the train wins EVERY TIME.
Don't fuck with trains. In the game of "Train vs Human", the train wins EVERY TIME.
Spirit of Jazz
Banned
Feel terrible for the driver, hopefully he can understand there was nothing he could do to prevent it from happening and the people fucking around on the tracks don't ruin his life.
Several years ago, woman commited suicide on rails. Well, i was on that early morning passenger train with my classmates on our way to high school. We heard several horn signals, rapid braking and then we stopped after several hundred meters. My pal opens the window and right below us, parts of her upper body - head with left arm and shoulder. Other stuff is too gruesome for describe. This image still haunts me.
That part of the track is right blind corner after long straight and there are atleast 2 or 3 suicides per year.
That part of the track is right blind corner after long straight and there are atleast 2 or 3 suicides per year.
dark_chris
Member
Natural selection but man, I feel very horrible for the driver. =(
Why should the train's conductor/driver/engineer feel that bad? He's not responsible in any way. It sounds like this sort of thing happens pretty often; if it is going to take years of therapy for you to get over an accident that is completely not your fault, then why would you even get into the profession?
Jamesearlcash
Member
Just don't fuck with trains, full stop. ever.
edgefusion
Member
border said:
Because it's actually a great job for blue collar workers. Insanely good pay, tons of overtime, great health coverage, a very strong union and lobby that keeps most railroad workers safe from the companies that want to treat them poorly...
And to be honest, hitting people with a train doesn't happen that often, some guys go their entire career without hitting anyone (animals getting hit are kind of a given though). It's just like pilots; it's an amazing job with great benefits, but there's always that chance that something is going to go wrong and people are going to die.
Just because there's nothing you can do to stop the accident doesn't mean you can't feel personally responsible.
border said:
Imagine being in the front and control of a train, with a panorama view, and plowing through a group of people who stand absolutely no chance what-so-ever. They violently explode due to the sheer kinetic energy and you are up close, very up close with body parts flying at you only to be deflected by the windshield.
Yes the engineer is absolutely not at fault, the idiots who got killed are 100% at fault, but just by witnessing that.
border said:
Really? I find it difficult to believe that most people can simply take a life, on purpose or by accident, nevertheless thirteen, and not feel any emotional and mental repercussion. I feel awful for the engineer and the people who witnessed that. It's going to take a lot to get over. And despite most of gaf I also feel sorry for the families and kids. It's just a shitty situation all around.
sixteen-bit
Member
that's awfulI can imagine if you are a bit drunk and never been to the station you just follow your friends or the people in front of you. This, especially if your drunk and not familiar to the station or how people normally do in Spain. What if you were there on holiday and you went with your local friends to the beach. Would you really stop and say "Hey, this is dangerous" when you are drunk, there are tons of people on the station at-least 24+ persons are crossing the station. You would probably think there is no chance in hell you will get killed and 80% of the people probably did not even reflect over the danger. They just went with the first individuals, they were probably chatting and whatever.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
DrM said:
Alucrid said:
EMTs, firemen, doctors, etc see people die all the time, and on occasion those people do die as a result of their own poor decisions or negligence. I'm not saying that an engineer should feel nothing whatsoever, but being haunted for life and needing all kinds of therapy seems like a bit much.....especially considering they aren't at fault and the victim was a stranger.
Dreams-Visions
Member
it is obvious to most people.Nickiepoo said:
but you get some people that temporarially put down their god-given super ego for laziness or group-think or for being overzealous.
and otherwise smart people wind up doing really, really dumb shit. people do it daily. how many will send text messages from the highway or try to make several phone calls without pulling over today?
sometimes doing dumb shit in the course of a day doesn't cost lives. sometimes...this.
Tornado Condor
Member
Holy shit. That's really sad.
The train driver must be really fucked up.
The train driver must be really fucked up.
Gallbaro said:
Retro said trains can take miles to stop on emergency. Calling that control doesn't seem appropriate in this context.
Alucrid said:
But is it the Engineer who took the life? Why not the railroad owners? Why not the subsidizers? Why not the passengers?
Not that I think it's weird that an Engineer would feel guilty... I very well might feel guilt if I was in that situation. But it doesn't seem to be rational.
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