It dosnt get any dumber

[edblysard]

Ok,
If you havent heard, two UP employees did the upmost in attempting to win a Darwin award.

01/23/04, at 6:51 pm, two UP track workers, in their UP HI Rail truck, pulled up to a crossing of Houston Metro's light rail line, where Metro is conducting speed test on some of the trains.
Moron number one exits the passenger side, and lifts the crossing arm up, so his buddy can drive across, right in front of one of Metro's light rail trains.
The two were getting off work, and in a hurry to get across.
Metro's trains are double ended train sets, takes about 10 seconds total to clear a crossing from circut to circut.

Of course, the idiot driving the truck pulled right in front of the train, which, from the tapes, looks like its doing about 40.
T boned the truck, put the driver in the hospital.
Now, these guys work around UPs trains and mainline all the time, so...
Just how dumb can you get?

Ed

[espeefoamer]

[:(]No one can win a Darwin Award by driving around the gates at a railroad crossing.It is much too common.[:(][xx(]

[dharmon]

Complacency Kills. Faster than a speeding train.

[kenneo]

Perhaps the UP should put up a sign on each side of the crossing like the ATSF had in Arizona some years back -- "It takes, on average, 20 seconds for a train to cross this road crossing - whether you are in front of it or not."

[UPTRAIN]

Pretty damn weird!!!!!!!! If I saw that going on...I'd put the throttle in 8!!!! *(joke)*

[adrianspeeder]

I knew it wouldn't be a good story from the title, ed.

Adrianspeeder

[Anonymous]

I once met a man that was walking in the gauge while wearing a walkman. To bad for him I met him with a D9-40C at about 40 mph. I felt bad about it but my buds told me I was strengthening the gene pool.

[Anonymous]

Bunch of idiots.

How dumb can anyone in this world get??

[JoeKoh]

Ed
of all the people they should have known better.
stay safe
Joe

[jeffhergert]

Last week we almost hit a hi-rail truck at a crossing. It was at the west end of a yard and a stopped yard engine blocked his view. We saw him moving up to the crossing (only crossbucks) while we were going about 60MPH towards him. He was moving slowly over the yard lead and stopped before getting foul of us. I don't know if he heard the horn or saw us coming but he got on the radio and said that was the closest he ever came to getting hit.
PS. When Ames,IA installed cameras at a busy crossing that took pictures of cars going around the gates, the first picture was of an Ames police car.

[Anonymous]

Do they still work for UP

[Anonymous]

Thats worse than me trying to put a coupler thru a managers car window in roseville. And I used all the bells and whistles.

[sooblue]

It just goes to prove that there are idiots in every field of work. I'll trade my idiots for yours. On second thought your idiots had to lift up the crossing arms.......NO No....your idiots and mine are equal. Mine had to lift the safety gate up on the power shears in order to get their wrists cut off.
Sooblue

[Anonymous]

A police car??? Thats ALL im going to say

[Anonymous]

Ed [8D]

I forwarded the email you sent me to several lol people on my addy list.

I believe tomorrow (today) there will be several lol more post in this thread from people viewing the pics.

This is inexcusable from railroad people.

[Anonymous]

I saw the pictures...The driver can be thankful he ended up in the hospital and not in the city morgue.

[cherokee woman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Alaskaman

I saw the pictures...The driver can be thankful he ended up in the hospital and not in the city morgue.

Maybe someone should start a new thread called: STUPID, INSANE RAILROAD
EMPLOYEES WHO LACK THE SENSE GOD GAVE A GOOSE!!!!!

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cherokee woman

QUOTE: Originally posted by Alaskaman

I saw the pictures...The driver can be thankful he ended up in the hospital and not in the city morgue.

Maybe someone should start a new thread called: STUPID, INSANE RAILROAD
EMPLOYEES WHO LACK THE SENSE GOD GAVE A GOOSE!!!!!

I think this is it.

[JoeKoh]

Ed
Got the pics.Did they forget about the operation lifesaver literature in their truck or the bumper sticker on the dash.I know alot of CSX trucks and crews have both.
stay safe
Joe

[rrnut282]

My friend writes for a newspaper and was invited one year to ride an Operation Lifesaver run in the cab with the state troopers. Would you believe they nailed a RR employee and a city cop on that trip?[D)]

[brilondon]

Hey Ed, they should win the Darwin award for the decade considering they were railroad employees. This story actually has a sad ending in that they will probably end up doing the same thing in the future as they most likly have done it in the past.

[eolafan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jeffhergert

Last week we almost hit a hi-rail truck at a crossing. It was at the west end of a yard and a stopped yard engine blocked his view. We saw him moving up to the crossing (only crossbucks) while we were going about 60MPH towards him. He was moving slowly over the yard lead and stopped before getting foul of us. I don't know if he heard the horn or saw us coming but he got on the radio and said that was the closest he ever came to getting hit.
PS. When Ames,IA installed cameras at a busy crossing that took pictures of cars going around the gates, the first picture was of an Ames police car.

[:(!]Now that (police going around lowered gates to get a doughnut) is REALLY STUPID!

[Mikeygaw]

just more proof of the fact that people are getting dumber over time instead of smarter

[mudchicken]

Got the photos....Thanx ED! - Our e-mail server getting shut down again to fight a virus with a .zip file so that it can be exterminated by the datageeks.....

muddy

[edblysard]

Many thanks to David Henker, who sent the photos to me, which I in turn forwarded to you guys.
If you want to see the view from the train, e-mail me and I will send them to you...
Everyone gets in a hurry once i a while, but trained professonial railroaders trying to beat a two car train set?
Duh...
Thanks David,,
Ed

[Anonymous]

Darwin does have an honorable mention category.Surely these fellows have earned at least that!!

[Anonymous]

Ed [8D]

Thanks for the pics. They were interesting to say the least.

If the video footage is ever released please let us know. I think we would all pay to see it. byw, I like lotta butter on my popcorn, with a large Diet Coke of course. [;)]

[daveklepper]

It has to do with (1) a generally permissive anything goes society, and (2) the car culture in general, where cars are made more important than human lives. Every religion has its idiots that spend time critisizing other religions and arguing fine points of theology and ritual and neglect completely human conduct of "love thy neighbor." When I see a kid with his feet on a seat on a bus (or streetcar or train) I ALWAYS:

1. If he is a religious kid I point out he is committing a sin according to his religion.

2. If he is a secular kid I ask him if that is what his parents teach him to do and is that what he does at home. If I get backtalk I do point out that the bus does belong to the bus company and he is guest, a paying guest yes, but still a guest.

Begin with the small things and the bigger things will start improving. "Politics of the small."

I also regularly turn down rides because I support public transportation and use it. (Financially I have a monthly pass, so a stranger offering a lift doesn't save me money.)

Do you all do that? Can you? Dave

[rrnut282]

Does hitchhiking count as public transportation? If not I'll stay in my car and share a ride whenever it is convenient.

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by daveklepper

It has to do with (1) a generally permissive anything goes society, and (2) the car culture in general, where cars are made more important than human lives. Every religion has its idiots that spend time critisizing other religions and arguing fine points of theology and ritual and neglect completely human conduct of "love thy neighbor." When I see a kid with his feet on a seat on a bus (or streetcar or train) I ALWAYS:

1. If he is a religious kid I point out he is committing a sin according to his religion.

2. If he is a secular kid I ask him if that is what his parents teach him to do and is that what he does at home. If I get backtalk I do point out that the bus does belong to the bus company and he is guest, a paying guest yes, but still a guest.

Begin with the small things and the bigger things will start improving. "Politics of the small."

I also regularly turn down rides because I support public transportation and use it. (Financially I have a monthly pass, so a stranger offering a lift doesn't save me money.)

Do you all do that? Can you? Dave

I was a big supporter of public transporation - 2 x's a day, 5 days a week. And I got it free thru the school I work for. But....I never got to work on time, the connections were never on time, I stood in snow up to my ears waiting for a bus that never arrived, stood in a lightning storm with a metal umbrella - waiting for a late bus. I now carpool with my husband. So not all public transportation is that great - and I live in a town of about 230,000 people! No, I can't do it anymore - laying on an icy sidewalk 6 blocks from my destination in the dark isn't for me!

Mookie