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Some are accidents, many are suicides. Sad. But the rest are stupidity. Living in southern California, I have seen a lot of it!!!! And even if it is 10:20 PM, here I go: For many years in the 20th century, many people had a great respect for trains, and many of them enjoyed stopping to see a SOO line local pass with a 4-6-2. But today, all too many people view anything keeping them from where they want to be as an unacceptable imposition, ignoring the fact that the cell phone in their right hand and the coffee in their left both probably traveled by the thing they are trying to race to the crossing. Being a railfan, I don't have to worry about resisting urges to beat a train to a crossing: I don't get them--I like to slow down and watch, even if it's just a light rail car. And I don't go again until the arms are fully up and the lights have stopped flashing--mostly because I hope another train is just around the corner. But aside from other railfans, most people just rip through the crossing, regarding the bumps from the tracks as an annoyance to their lifes. They drive around in their automobiles which are gigantic in the realm of cars--thinking that the DASH-9 around the corner has the same braking capability as they do, and that it will yield to them, and that if it hits them it will be a small dent which the railroad will pay for; all three of which are incredibly false! I see people race trains through crossings on foot. THESE PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS. I'd like to turn them into one thirteenth of a hamburger pickle! And this gives rise to my ultimate solution to keep people from racing trains to crossings: Make everyone a railfan. They will be reluctant to start moving again after the train goes by! But short of that, it really amazes me what stupid things people can do. And then there are the drivers stupid enough to stop on a crossing when they come to a red light. These people are increscently amazing. If only we could have a few doubleheading Big Boys here in southern California to shake the ground as they pass, and teach people a little respect for railways. Of course the root of all this is that railways are deamed perpetually "uncool" in today's society, where what is "in" becomes "out" fifteen seconds before it was "in" in the first place! All that most of the stupid people hit by trains care about is what is "cool," and unfortunately obeying crossing arms and staying alive is not, much less enjoying the spectacle which is the American railroad. Case in point: we had to put crossing arms on the wrong side of the street because people were driving around the existing ones!!!! I hope you enjoyed my ramblings, Daniel
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