On Monday, I finally caught a B&P train coming through Indiana, PA. Naturally, I didn't bring my digital camera, because I doubted I'd see a train that day since I never can catch them. I did still have a couple one-time-use cameras with me. So, of course, a train comes at night, on the only day I didn't bring my digital camera, and where the one-time-use cameras can't see anything at night. I decided to follow the train, anyhow, since I wanted to gain some more information to help prevent future problems I had in the past regarding timing, so I followed them up to the plant.
About an hour later, they finished switching and started heading back light, which I wasn't prepared for and didn't realize, until they started blowing for the first crossing ahead of them (they usually grab an empty train waiting and come back with that). So, I hit the road and finally catch up to them after missing a couple crossings. I had planned on catching them in town on the way back and stopping at that. Too bad the area I was going to park at was blocked by a tractor-trailer. So, I had to keep going down the long detour I was on until I could get turned around enough to get back on the main road. They got ahead of me once again, as I expected with all that time wasted, and I decided to catch them on the crossing outside of town and mark the time there when they arrived.
After regaining the distance between us and getting ahead a bit on a back winding road, some guy who came out of nowhere is immediately behind me, tailgating. I'm even doing up to 5 MPH over the speed limit. Now, I don't like going any faster, especially on winding roads, but this guy is still all over me, around every sharp turn, still doing these speeds. I also realize that thanks to this jerk, it'd be too unsafe to try to stop and park at the area I was planning on, since I needed to find the spot at night, and that means I'd have to slow down a good bit, which would almost certainly leave this guy rear-ending me.
So, I decide to head up to the next stopping point a ways off, though I couldn't remember exactly where that was, so I'd need to slow down and search for it once again. I finally found enough of a siding on the road to pull over and get the idiot behind me to pass. Although I'd have loved to just park at that spot since the tracks were nearby, I was barely off the road and knew it wasn't safe there, so I decided to continue to the next stopping area I was planning on.
Well, right after I started on the road again, I noticed another pair of headlights a ways behind me. As I said, I was doing the speed limit most of the way, and continued doing that, even going a bit over just to make sure the next guy didn't catch up too fast, so I'd be able to slow down and find the parking spot I wanted. Naturally, this next guy behind me easily closes the distance and comes flying up behind me, and he resorts to riding my *** just like the previous guy. So, for safety reasons, I considered it too dangerous to attempt to find my desired parking spot and continued a ways down further to the next crossing, where there was a rough pull-off area. I made it there, and was nearly rear-ended while making the turnoff (I had my turn signal on a good bit before, but the idiot insisted on tailgating me the whole way). I clocked when the locos finally caught up to me at the crossing, and I headed back to town.
I was still amazed that even going 5 MPH over the speed limit, on a winding road, at night, that I'd still have 2 guys quickly catch up to me (they each had to be going at least 10 MPH faster than I was, given how fast they closed in), and have them tailgating me the whole way, right on me at every curve. How these guys haven't wrecked, I can't imagine, because even at the speed limit, you can feel the forces in every twist on the road, so how these guys did at least 15 MPH extra is beyond me. But, I was also amazed that I had to change my plans on stopping earlier on that road, simply because the guys behind me made it way too dangerous to attempt to turn off any earlier. They clearly seemed to know the road, and any turn before that I would have made would have been unexpected to them, and they'd have certainly hit me in the process.
Now, I know a number of you have observed railfans driving too fast to attempt to catch the trains, but has anyone else had any cases like this, with either railfans or nonrailfans behind you, doing stuff like this? I'm curious if this is just a bad ending to the night, or if this kind of things happens more often.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
Yes, it happens to us all the time. I’ve even saw cars that are doing I’d guess pretty close to 90mph fly through a crossing mere seconds before 2 big GE’s screaming at 55mph blasted by the crossing.
What morons. Rail fanning is cool, but not worth getting hurt/killed over.
Also what makes me mad is later you catch up with them and they are just puttering along.
The road to to success is always under construction. _____________________________________________________________________________ When the going gets tough, the tough use duct tape.
Well, it happens to me, too, and when I'm driving for purposes other than railfanning - scouting/ recon for survey jobs, looking for places to put-in my canoe, out with the wife who wants to stop at that roadside stand, etc. But you are in the other end of ''Pennsyl-tucky'' from me, so that probably explains why we're both experiencing that kind of behavior. What's up with that ? - when we're afraid to slow down and make a legal turn in the proper manner, not even the infamous Pennsylvania geezer 'stop-in the-travel-lane-and-only-then-turn-real-slowly' move ? Too bad it was so dark you couldn't see or describe the vehicles better . . . even money they were jacked-up 4WD pick-ups with the rollbars and light bars, giant tires, etc., etc.
I was at a workshop last weekend with an automotive engineer and 'hyper-miler' type, and he said the best thing we could do for fuel economy and energy conservation was to get the cops after the tail-gaters
As to your continuing difficulties in catching and seeing those trains - which is now starting to read like a 'soap opera' script: Man, you're just gonna havta go work for either NS or the power plant, that's all there is to it, I'm afraid.
- Paul North.
They're not tailgating - they're drafting....
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
There was one time I was heading home from work and was just south of Hilliard on the west side of Columbus. I was heading north on Dublin Road and had just turned left onto Scioto-Darby when the flashers (no gates at that time) came on at the CSX crossing. I was slowing down to stop, and three cars coming from the other direction came flying over the crossing. Just as the engineer started to blow the horn, I noticed that a pickup was going to try to beat the train as well. I stopped back farther than I normally do since the train was approaching from the south (my left), and if the truck got hit, it could get spun into me. The guy in the pickup then locked up the brakes, smoking his tires and coming to a stop at the line at the crossing signal. So, three, and almost a fourth, drivers tempted fate for just one train at a single crossing. When the train passed, it made their stupidity even more incredible.
The train was an SD40-2 running light.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
Great story, Kevin - well-written and organized, with that 'punch' line. Thanks for sharing.
Simple solution - while continuing to maintain your normal speed, slightly press on your brake pedal so it illuminates your tail lights. Do NOT brake check the person, but merely signal that you are going to slow down.
Turn your blinker on, and pull over to let them pass.
It's really not a "huge" issue.
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Granite, that's pretty much what I do anytime I go to make a turn or pull over. It still doesn't change that the idiot behind me still nearly hit me in the process, even though he had plenty of warning I was turning into an open spot. People like that have to try to be that dangerous, heh. I just realized it's a lot like how my teenage neighbor drives. And I know he wrecked at least once driving like that.
Had a guy get right on my bumper a few years ago. Couldn't see his headlights. Sped up to 70. Right on my tail. Slowed down to 45. Wouldn't pass. Stepped on the brake pedal to light up the brake lights. No effect.
I finally tagged the brakes just hard enough to slow down rather quickly. Chancy, but it got his attention - he locked up his brakes and got sideways in the road.
He passed me after that and wanted me to stop. I ignored him and kept on going.
Used to happen all the time around Washington, DC, where you drive 80 on the Beltway or get run over. Stole someone else's idea to hold down the windshield-washer button until they backed off. It usually worked; if it didn't I'd just gradually slow down until they got REALLY hacked and jumped around me.
There you go - get into one of the after-market car supply catalogs and pick up a windshield washer and tank. Mount it in your vehicle in such a way that the source of the spray isn't readily visible. Spray away.
That would work for those vehicles where the washer is part of the wiper arm...
tree68get into one of the after-market car supply catalogs and pick up a windshield washer and tank. Mount it in your vehicle in such a way that the source of the spray isn't readily visible. Spray away
My old '88 Jeep Cheroke had the spray for the rear window mounted such that when the small connector hose that led from the sheet metal mount to the nozzle dried up and cracked, the spray went directly behind the vehicle. Of course me being the smartass that I am, I got rid of the rear washer fluid, and substituted something a bit more 'noticable', such as water with yellow food coloring, or perhaps a much more readily-available yellow-tinted fluid--nasty but effective.
My Dad died in 1980, and I was given his 1963 model International pickup truck. The gearshift lever originally was on the steering column, but sometime before he died the transmission went bad, and he had it replaced with the transmission from a larger International, which had a floor shift. However, the backup lights wouldn't work because the switch that controls 'em was part of the steering column shift. He therefore had the backup lights controlled by a new switch mounted on the dashboard. After I acquired the truck, I soon realized that when I'm driving down I-65 at 75 m.p.h. and the following vehicle gets too close, switching on the backup lights in his/her face does cause some consternation and they would usually let up or pass at the first opportunity.
Concentrate on your own driving....it is the only vehicle you have direct control over. If you get hit from the rear....it is his fault, not yours. Brake checking and other ideas that have been presented are an incitement to road rage....don't go there. Drive your car in the manner you are comfortable with and you will be passed as soon as the following car perceives that it is safe for it to do so.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Balt - you're right, which why I noted that my move was chancy. And yes, the other driver was peeved. Almost as much as I was as the result of his tailgating me.
On the other hand, he'd already proved that he wasn't going to pass me. I suspect that he drives like that all the time - right on the bumper of the car ahead, regardless of speed.
I encountered a young lady on the Interstate once. Her gimmick was apparently pacing herself on another vehicle - unconscious cruise control. When I came up behind her she happened to be doing so just off the left rear quarter panel of a vehicle in the driving lane. She was in the passing lane.
No amount of "hinting" got her to move over.
I was finally able to sneak around her and past the person she was pacing when, in an apparent lapse of her unconcious, she left enough space between them for me to sneak through.
Apparently that bothered the other driver, since he then sped up and passed me again. Last I saw of either of them, she was on his tail again, speeding off ahead of me.
A couple weeks ago I attended a 'round-table' presentation by some 'hyper-milers' - mainly Prius drivers who think much under 70 MPG is wasteful - many of whom drive from 50,000 to 100,000 miles per year, all across the country. [Where do you get a job like that ? ] Somewhat surprisingly, they don't 'draft'.
Instead, one - by name of 'Hobbit' - said that in his opinion, the most important thing that could be done to improve fuel economy and safety is for the police to enforce the anti-tailgating laws, because that would eliminate the repetitive brake-and-accelerate actions of those drivers and the ones following them - he usually stays 10 car-lengths in back of the vehicle ahead, so as to provide plenty of time for braking and maneuvering. He also recommended anticipating red traffic lights and just coasting up to them - no sense powering up to one and then having to brake hard to a stop, and so on. Really, that is just 'conserving momentum', which is common with train handling, too - so I wonder what kind of gas mileage the good locomotive engineers get with their personal vehicles ? Anyway, he also recommended practicing all of the usual defensive driving advice - 'situational awareness', anticipating when people coming down a ramp will want to merge on and either moving over or slowing down to let them in, noticing which drivers are tailgating and driving aggressively and looking out for them, etc.
Sure enough, last night a obvious tailgater coming off the Airport Rd. ramp to EB 22 swung into the right travel lane and then kept on traversing left into the passing lane, where I was. Had I not seen him starting that move and anticipated it by starting on the brake and then braking hard , he would have come into my right front. What I don't know and can't figure out is whether he never looked, looked but didn't see me because of the angles, or knew I was there but did the move anyway, figuring that I would slow down to avoid the collision and let him through. Of course I mashed the horn - oh, to have had a full-powered diesel air horn right then ! - but he just raced ahead at over 70 MPH - 55 speed limit there.
I don't think my pulse even speeds up anymore when these things happen . . .
Paul_D_North_JrInstead, one - by name of 'Hobbit' - said that in his opinion, the most important thing that could be done to improve fuel economy and safety is for the police to enforce the anti-tailgating laws, because that would eliminate the repetitive brake-and-accelerate actions of those drivers and the ones following them - he usually stays 10 car-lengths in back of the vehicle ahead, so as to provide plenty of time for braking and maneuvering. He also recommended anticipating red traffic lights and just coasting up to them - no sense powering up to one and then having to brake hard to a stop, and so on. Really, that is just 'conserving momentum', which is common with train handling, too - so I wonder what kind of gas mileage the good locomotive engineers get with their personal vehicles ? Anyway, he also recommended practicing all of the usual defensive driving advice - 'situational awareness', anticipating when people coming down a ramp will want to merge on and either moving over or slowing down to let them in, noticing which drivers are tailgating and driving aggressively and looking out for them, etc
Paul, this is the kind of thing that is taught in defensive driving classes. My wife and I have taken several them--to get a lower premium on our insurance; seldom have there been other drivers present for the same reason; most of the participants are there to reduce the penalty points assessed against their records, and one can wonder how many take to heart what they are told. As to following distance, we are told not to attempt to calculate carlengths (one per every 10 mph of speed), but to count seconds--at least two, if not three between the vehicle ahead's passing a certain point and your passing the same point. This time must be increased if the road is not dry, if you are behind a large truck, etc. I shudder when I see how close people will follow other vehicles, especially on high speed highways.
Do not worry if someone pulls into the safety gap ahead of you; just drop back to put a safe gap ahead of your vehicle again.
Also, leave a good gap between your vehicle and the one ahead when you are stopped (can you see where its rear tires meet the pavement?). I don't think that I will ever forget a sight I saw about three years ago, in Salt Lake City: I passed five cars in a row that were stopped at an intersection. The first one had its rear end bashed in, the next three had both front and rear ends bashed in, and the last one had its front end bashed in. Apparently, they had all started at the same time--and the first car had to be stopped suddenly.
Long before we began taking these classes, I learned that a driver must look ahead and anticipate any possible problem. Also, the matter of easing up to a known stop saves not only on gasoline, but on brake linings also.
Johnny
A simple definition of defensive driving is to be paranoid. Every time you see a situation that could develope into something, you think to yourself, "That idiot is going to do it". So you come up with a mental escape plan.
About every 100th time, the idiot actually DOES do it, but you have already anticipated the move and have time to react.
Reality TV is to reality, what Professional Wrestling is to Professional Brain Surgery.
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