Teach your kids train safety

[SteelMonsters]

If a train is moving at 60 MPH and your on the rails, chances are you won't hear the train in time to be able to react and jump to safety in time. It will take you several seconds to realize the train is coming and to jump. It seems like you would have plenty of time to move out of the way, but the train is moving at 88 feet per second. If you don't instantly realize how fast the train is coming, you will be run over.

Another one is the optical illustion of trains coming to a crossing. Because of the angle, the train looks like it's going about half the speed that it really is. Also, the angle makes it appear that the train is about twice as far than it really is. So overall the train will take a quarter of the time to get to the crossing than it appears. I've actually worked out the calculus involved. That really makes it convincing to me. It would suck being an engineer of the train because you know your about to hit someone and they will probably die but theres nothing they can do to stop it from happening.

[Jetrock]

Peanut sittin' on the railroad track
His heart was all a-flutter
Along came No. 209
TOOT! TOO! Peanut butter!

This little bit of doggerel from a Boy Scout campfire song came to mind as a result of this discussion. The idea that railroad lines are a Bad Place To Hang Out is something that used to be pretty common knowledge.

There are tons and tons of cats in downtown Sacramento. I generally don't see dead cats by the train tracks, although they get hit all the time by cars on city streets. Generally cats know to get out of the way of trains--their approaching vibrations are more detectable by cats than people, whereas cars don't shake the ground as much.

[mustanggt]

I love trains, but I'm scared s**tless by them. Every time I ride the MBTA into boston I cling to the map sign well the train is coming. My dad used to to live near an abandoned B&M branch in malden, Mass and he once said "if the trains were still running, Pepper (his cat) would be dead".[:(]

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rambo1

Before teaching children about trains and tracks you have too teach the adults first. rambo1....

You can't teach a Heinz pickle nutt'n

[Anonymous]

i remeber the fisrt and only time a seen an Amtrak train. I was in my scout group, in BC, we were bike riding in a park wich had a bog(big puddle of blck stuff, this one had a bulldozer sinking in it) in it, going throw the park is a BNSF mainline that is really busy. we came to the tracks nd one of the leaders put his ear to teh tracks to see if a train was coming, then he told us to wait. A few minetes later an Amtrack train came down the track probaley going over 100kph (60 mph). and here is the scary part: you couldn't hear it until it was about 10 feet away.

[rambo1]

Before teaching children about trains and tracks you have too teach the adults first. rambo1....

[Fergmiester]

This is something I teach to "My" cubs yearly. Though we only have a single line that goes through Dartmouth it is a potential hazard. As a teenager I almost got shmucked once and to this day I still shudder at the thought. Double track, one goes by, you walk across and...... Oh MY God where did that come from!!!??

Railroads and Gov't organizations put out some good information and handouts on safety. Personally I believe education is the best method of keeping people safe. Better yet statistics backed up with pictures is even better. This is not something that should be candy coated.

[Anonymous]

Stay away from the tracks. After having one embarrassingly dangerous incident myself, I respect the tracks like you would not believe.

It doesn't matter how smart you think you are, how many college degrees you have, how much calculus you can do, how much money you make. Nothing matters when a zillion pounds of steel are about to smash you like a pancake. The only thing that matters is not being on the tracks in the first place.

Don't think you'll "hear the train coming", because you probably won't.

I respect the rails like I'd respect a guy pointing a machine gun at my chest. Seriously. It cannot be stressed enough.

[Anonymous]

I'm in a philanthropic mood today, and so I'll spare you the part about people loosing respect for the railroad, and that SOO Line 4-6-2 bit.

Part of the problem is that people just don't really know how big trains really are. I volunteer at a railway museum, and when I take people on tours and tell them that the small trolley they see before them weighs 30,000 lbs, a look overcomes many of their faces which is a unique mixture of amazement and incredulity. Oh how I would love to tell them that a Big Boy weighs 1.2 million pounds [:)].

Part of the problem is that people just don't have positive experiences with trains, like riding one from coast to coast and such, or having your such-and-such relative who worked for such-and-such railroad take you to such-and-such abandonned yard. The only experiences they have are negative ones, like being late for work because they were stopped by an abnormally long freight. Because parents don't have experiences with railroads, they aren't as apt to talk to young children about railway safety as other dangers, nor are they as inclined to practice reasonable safety themselves.

I was lucky--my great-grand father and great-great grandfather worked for the AT&SF (boy does my family have stories!) My grandfather worked for the AT&SF for one year, but never hesitated to talk about trains to an extreme matched only by obsesessed railfans, even though most of his facts were wrong. As such, I grew up in a pro-railroad environment. If you have read my postings in the past, then you know what else I would say here.

However, most people sadly did not grow up in a manner emphasizing railroad safety. They grew up all too often in the "if it's in my way, it's completely horrible" era. You notice that there aren't many people getting run over by trains who were alive during the time of the J3a and Big Boy, now are there?

Finally, I blame part of the increase in deaths on the absence of horns. For decades, the railroads and the public had an un-official system which worked pretty well: the public would be relatively vigilant, and the railroad would provide some warning at places like grade crossings. You notice that this arrangement worked long before flashing crossing arms were anywhere to be found. But now, community "activists" (yeah--right) have got this idea that horns are bad, and so want to get rid of them. This leads to decreased safety at crossings, which I doubt these people want. In my mind, there are few things like a loud bell and louder horn to provide warning. Bells and crossing arms are good too, but not when the people get rid of the ringing...it partially negates the purpose of having them.

See you around the forums,
Daniel

[cacole]

The problem here in Arizona are illegal border crossers who are told to sleep between the rails because that will keep them from getting bit by a rattlesnake. In the old days of steam engines that may have been the safe thing to do, but a diesel engine's traction motors almost touch the crossties and squa***hese idiots like bugs.

[Jetrock]

Considering the number of times I stop at grade crossings, I am impressed by the fact that I pretty much never see vehicles try to "run" the grade crossing here in Sacramento. I also spend a lot of time near the tracks and don't generally see anyone on them--I make sure I have a wide margin of safety when railfanning.

Part of the appeal of railroads for me is the emphasis on safety in their operation--especially since I have become more involved in the railroad-museum community, and learned how much emphasis on safety there is, I appreciate the fact that railroading is an inherently dangerous activity and it is a testament to the people who work on them, and yes, the people whose communities are affected by them, that there are as few railroad accidents as there are! But the general public are still part of the equation, in the form of not doing dumb things.

It was the hip thing, about eight or nine years ago, for kids in the punk rock community to train-hop as a means of easy transportation. It dropped out of fashion after people started getting hurt, either through accident (a girl I knew lost both feet when trying to board a moving freight) or the territorial behavior of rather dangerous groups of rail hoboes. Even the folks I knew who did it successfully told me their rule one was RESPECT THE GREAT METAL BEAST!!! Don't try to board a moving train...

[tree68]

And then there are the intelligentsia who ride their ATV's and snowmobiles on the tracks. There's more than a few snowmobile remains along snow country ROWs.

[Anonymous]

walking on the tracks is stuipid. but whats more stuipid is having you earphones on full blast[D)] the train comes and you can't hear it and the vibrations sound like the bass. Maybe railroads should strt puting cow catchers back on the trains and call them dumbass catchers.[:p]

What really annoys me are people who rrace the train, sure the frieght trins will make you 5 minetes late, but is that worth losing your car and posibley dieing?!! here in calgary we have a LRT (light rail transit) line that runs all over the city. they are only 4 cars long and can go up to 80 kph, takes about 30 secounds tops to cross a road, but people race them![V]

[Anonymous]

Look, I think thats somehting I can't stess Enough, Teach your Kids about G^& Damn Railroad safety, and how dangerous they are, my parents did, and i have a lot of respect ofr trains.

Think of this- it would be a lot safer to not look both ways and cross the road, then it would be to not look both ways an cross the tracks

If you get hit by a car, you;'ll have a good chance of surviving.

[Anonymous]

Before we "teach our kids" we should teach ourselves. It's against the law to walk on railroad tracks in Massachusetts and my police arrest far more adults then children for tresspassing. My railroad strikes and kills over six people a year, on average They were "just taking a short cut", but they never got there! Last year all were over the age of 18. That's a lot of people over a railroad career of 37 years. Zero tolerance for tresspassing will save lives, not fences.

[Eriediamond]

This being a train oriented forum, I believe most of us know the dangers of being around trains railroad tracks and are teaching our young ones about safety. I grew up on a dairy farm and was taught the dangers of machinery right from the start as we lived in a danger filled environment every day. I understand not everyone has had that type of upbringing and consider myself lucky, grateful for my parents and upbring they gave me. They always knew were I was and most of what I was doing. It gripes me to no end that some parents want to "protect" their children, not by teaching kids right from wrong, but buy sueing and trying to ban anything that might harm them. I'm appalled at the laws and restrictions placed on us all because of it. I grew up in a world where you were resposible for your actions, not someone else, and no laws to enforce common sense. I better stop here, getting too wound up over it. In closing, yes please, teach your young ones safety in all things, for their sake. Kids aren't something you can replace if they get broken and remember they are part of you.

[Anonymous]

Well said all. We have problems with this over here as well, even with the greater use of fencing required by law for British railways - kids playing on rail lines cause chaos as well as putting themselves in danger, as all trains using the line have to either slow right down or stop completely. The result? A trainload of people who've been made late for work by a couple of kids fooling around in a stupid place.

Even worse are those idiotic individuals who throw objects at moving trains - there have been a few cases of traincrew being injured in this way over here. Sadly, transport police have very little chance of catching the criminals reponsible for these acts as there have too much ground to cover and not enough personnel - though CCTV is helping here and with the fight against grafitti.

[Anonymous]

About 18 yrs ago my brother inlaw use to hop freights here in Columbus Ohio

they would walk down the line to a yard, jump on and ride it back to their house and jump off. The train wasn't moving at full speed yet. One night his buddy hasd on a trench coat with those long belts, it was dangling and I guess got wrap up on a wheel the kid was pulled under. He Lived, but his legs didn't.
My brother inlaw to this day is creaped out by moving trains and is a good preacher about them.

Remember the movie Joe Dirt- The old man was drunk and hunting on the tracks and the turnout caught his foot and lost his leg.

Unfortunately Kids and some adults have the not me atitude about dangerous
behavior.

[Anonymous]

I never go onto railroad property! 99% of the reason railroads don't like railfans is because somebody will do something stupid and sue the railroad.

Conrail used to let you go on they're property as long as you stayed of the tracks but now Nazi Southern came in and wrecked it thanks to bozos who sue.

[Anonymous]

I always tell my parents when the lights are flashing on the crossing to stop (partly because I want to see the train [;)], and partly because i don't want to get hit!). Me and my friend do "walk" on the tracks, but only on the local line. There's only 1 train a day and if one comes around the bend we get off (but sadly never have a camera, DARN!). I also never mess with switches either, but u really can't 'cuz they have locks on them.

[Jetrock]

Barriers around every railroad would prove pretty darn costly as well as difficult to implement in city settings--can you imagine what Chicago would look like with walls around every railroad line? Like a fortress!! The old WP mainline goes straight through downtown Sacramento, through about six or seven miles of residential neighborhood--in downtown alone there are nearly 25 grade crossings. What's the point of walls that are pierced every 400 feet for a grade crossing?

Crossing tracks safely isn't particularly difficult if children are taught to be AWARE OF THE DANGER. Some disasters will always happen regardless of whether there are walls or not--but educating kids (and adults) DOES make a difference.

And for folks like that Darwin Award winner who got hit by a freight while standing on the railroad tracks with his cell phone on one ear and his finger in the other, trying to block out the sound of the diesel's horn trying to shoo him off the track, heck, the world's better off with them out of the gene pool.

Railroads and people have coexisted in this country for more than a century and a half. Certainly, accidents happen--but the idea that it is the railroads' responsibility to see that people don't walk across tracks is kind of ludicrous.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE THE ENTIRE WORLD CHILD-SAFE. It is, however, to teach your child not to be stupid. If you DO teach your child to be stupid, since you think it is the world's responsibility to avoid harming your child and not the other way around, you only have yourself to blame if the child gets hurt doing something stupid...

[Anonymous]

The northfolk and southern run through my town probably 8 times a day. Kids use to cut across to get to the High school and a park on the other side. They finally put up a fence!
Now the kids just go over tracks and around the fence.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree. I live 50 ft from the UP main line and I have three kids. They know (trust me they know) the worst thing they can do is screw around near the tracks. Sometimes it is a good thing to be hard on our children, especially when it comes to things that thousands of tons moving very fast.

Jeremy

[Anonymous]

I've got an idea how about those BEAN COUNTER excutives put barriers on all tracks don't care if it has 1 train a day or 34 trains a day they all need walls or gates

DOGGY

[pbjwilson]

In the last month there has been 3 train related deaths in the Chicago area. All of them were kids crossing the tracks unaware of a passing train. Please teach your kids to stop, look, and listen befor crossing the tracks. And to only cross at a designated crossing.