How does one become an advocate for railroad grade

[Anonymous]

How does one become an advocate for railroad grade crossing safety? The first way is you have a child, spending all the wonderful years together. The holidays, birthdays, holding hands, going for walks, the hugs and kisses. Teaching them right from wrong, watching them grow up to become bright young adults. Finally on towards graduation, as you reflect on all those years together, knowing what a tremendous future they have ahead of them. GONE! In a split second one day because they went across a grade crossing. They wasn’t aware that the sight distance at this crossing gave them mere seconds to respond to a train approaching. They also wasn’t aware that the flashing light alignment is critical to give the driver advance warning of a train. They didn’t know that modern automobiles, due to the sound proofing, can make a train horn ineffective in giving advance warning of an approaching train. They knew nothing of the complexities of a crossing that can lead to driver confusion and distraction. The railroad and government has had this knowledge for over 25 years.
The other way is to support the families that have had to suffer this unimaginable tragedy , by looking at the facts and history of the crossings while removing the bias that seems to prevail; “They were trying to beat the train”, “They were trying to kill themselves”. Would you say the same of your child if you didn’t know the facts and circumstances surrounding the accident? Does a crossing that has had 2 fatalities warrant some extra scrutiny and attention? Why does a crossing that has had 2 fatalities remain ungated with the flashing light and sight distance problems remaining? Who is going to take responsibililty for the ongoing deaths that keep occurring as result of these issues? Support the families by becoming informed and proactive in pursuing the answers to these questions. Contact your local, state and federal representatives and be sure to contact Terry Cantrell @ TDOT (1.615.741-1341 [e-mail] ) who is working for us in assuring that these crossings meet the minimum federal requirements for safety. Ask why these problems remain. Ask them why the list of dangerous crossings in TN is not public information, do we not have the right to be aware of known dangerous crossings? Ask how and where the 5 million used for crossing improvements was used. Do not accept the typical answer that there is only so much money available to be used, a certain railroad company made a NET profit of over 400 million last year and will spend 43 million this year in TN for infrastructure improvements. The sole benefit of these infrastructure improvements is to maximize profit potential, not to improve the safety of there grade crossings. The “profit over life” mentality needs to be changed to a “the protection of life and giving the driver every available opportunity to cross safely at any cost” attitude.

[Anonymous]

Don't give me this bull...

I cna hear a train horn from my house, and it wakes me up in the morning.

i'm 3 miles away from a crossing.. and 2 miles away from Dead-mans-curve which is where they honk.

it pentetrates the walls of my house and wakes me up at 6:57AM. Expalin that.. sound proof cars.. no no.. see when your that clsoe to a crossing.. you hear a train horn.. unless your deaf.

you still don't get it do you. what does Stop look lsiten and live mean? now you said it was a new "sound proof" car. New cars have fast aceleration in case they get caught on the tracks.

i'd sure love to know where you get your facts from.. this story is so bonkers, i'm gonna call that number and i'm gonna get somne food lion market stroe or somehting like that.

your propganda, like we said isn't welcome here.

also, if you honestly expect me to read all that which you posted above.. your wrong. i'm hardly in the mood to read that your a stark raving mad lunatic. maybe in the year 5634, i might read over what you wrote until then the four magic words

STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, and LIVE
got that wise guy?
no, lol, most likely you'll post another forum about this and the answer will be the same

Have a good day mike, and oh yeah where are those pictures at with the "bad crossing?"

Cheers,
kev.

[Anonymous]

I would love to show you these crossings, maybe you would see then. Tell me you e address, I will send you the pics
Mike

[Anonymous]

I've sent an email to: [e-mail]
and suggested adding a new section in the photo area; Dangerous crossings. I sent him a couple of photos to help it get started. Please send him some photos of crossing that need attention or that have had fatalities in the past.

[Anonymous]

mike you cna try to email me, note i hope it works..

try this: and if it fails... i'll give you another one

try: [e-mail]

kev.

[wabash1]

Mike

Let me see if i can disect this down for you. You had a child who wasnt paying attention. ( his fault not us on the forum) who for what ever reason ( probley listening to this rap crap music) and approached a crossing, probley one that as a child growing up, went over several time ( at least 1000) and didnt pay attention to the crossing lights falshing didnt turn the radio down and didnt roll the window down. See the red flashing lights can be seen for several hundread feet. even with the sun light on them they are visible. so you have a child decided to beat a train something they must have seen you do and didnt make it. ( kids will only do what they seen there parents do.) and this bright outstanding child with a big future was killed and you want to blame everyone but yourselves. see the democratic people will always blame others for the things they do. and they made 400mil in profits and instead of upgrading roadcrossing they upgraded infastructure. for more profit. this is a wrong statement. if the railroad wouldnt up grade infastructure then a derailment and loss of life will occur. you dont see the big picture. why does a crossing with 2 fatalities remain ungated couse there was only 2 idiots who try to beat a train. out of the hundreads who use this crossing. so comming here and saying these things are getting you know where. I dont see anyone rushing to help you complain. and i dont care about this crossing. or this accidents. if this seems cold yes it is and it is the way it is. grow up get help and go on with life. quit blaming others for your mistake. There are several thousand crossings in america that have just crossbucks and never have any problem with hitting anyone. its the lighted crossing people see the lights come on and think they have time to beat the train and they misjudge and are wrong and lose their life. if you need answers why your child did this go on tv to that guy who does those readings from beyond, and while you are rolling along in self pitty think of the crew who live this nightmare everyday also they put it behind them and moved on. maybe you should to.

[Anonymous]

Wabash, railroad lawyer or whatever your sick function is here.The crossing remains ungated because the railroads executives are murderers. Plain and simple.

[cabforward]

when is a door not a door?

when it's ajar!!

[csxns]

PAPULA EAT SCHITT.

[Anonymous]

Papula has some weird brain infesting bug that slowoly eats away at his brain causing him to make crass statements and use the cut-and-paste method when talking on our forum. therfore proving the statement that he REALLY doesn't know what on God's green eath he is talking about..

i bet you dimes to dollars mike can't even tell the difference between the bell and lights on the crossings.. as mean as it sounds.. and whoever analyzed mikes story did a good job... it's not our fault your kid died.. i'm sorry it happened.. but maybe you should try therapy or move on.. calling us all murderers usually doesn't solve the main peoblem it only tends to get everyone else excited.

Now whomever placed this chip in your head to keep a vendeta against all railroads, be it missouri or whatever.. hes the wrong kind of guy to be influanced by.. I chose my gang wisely at high school. I stayed far away from the Pot smokers and drug attics etc.. And judging by your mass stupidity, i see you joined that crowd and took an overwhelming part on what was going on in that group.

So i'm telling you, lay off whatever is making you stupid.. whatever it is be it..

your childs death and as hard as it is for me to say this, if someone you know died on the railraod, its imapcted you and made you stupid.

let me explain my analogy. There is theis nice lady who writes on this forum by the name of Mel. you see.. someone she was close too was killed. Now she didn't come on this site like you, raving we were all a bunch of son-of-sams did she? absolutely not. she came on here VERY mature, and realized that neither side was to blame, once again i state, for the record, very mature. You on the other hand OBVIOUSLY lost someone by the tracks or whatever (don't try and say no) and the way your dealing with it is stupid, lame, dumb and every other word that describes increddible amount of stupididty/. so therfore back to my original statement, whoever was close to you and died, has made you an idiot.

those are incredibly hard words for me to say..

BUT i am not.. going to take a back seat when you.. Call us all murderers. thats out of line by far. i won't sit down while you call Ken, ED, ME, Cabforward, CSXengineer, And anyone else on this site who takes part on trains, rides them on a regular basis, all other conductors.. i won't take a seat and shut up when you call us murderers. your out of line..

Maybe you should get soem counciling, they may help you in teaching you real ways to get over your problems, because calling us murderes IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO DEAL WITH YOUR TROUBLES.

Sincerely,
Detour Kev.

[louisnash]

Looks like Richard Cranium the 2nd is back!!!
If you want to become an advocate for railroad crossings then get off this website and actually tell someone other than us.
We know not to mess around railroad crossings. We don't need the education.
By the way, I watched a tree removal service truck almost try to go through the crossing today. Can you believe that the crossing lights were on and the engineer was blowing his horn. I know that it's hard for you to believe, but they did. If he had not backed up when he did he would've been hit(clipped). AnotherIDIOT thinking maybe I can make it.
Brian (KY)

[JoeKoh]

well he's back too.Dude you really need some serious help.like brian said if you keep stewing here it won't help.get out and tell your represenitives etc.it won't take away your loss but it will help.
look listen live
stay safe
joe

[Anonymous]

Did you notice the NO yellow light on the crossing.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov//////tfhrc/safety/pubs/90003/90003.pdf How about were the cantilevers missing? Had the brush been removed on the approach? Maybe the tree trimming truck needed hired by the railroad. Whoa that would cost a $.

[Jackflash]

Mike, you've been told many times here that the
railroads are not the ones you need to talk to
about improving crossing signals, they are traffic
signals not railroad signals, I doubt the railroads could put up a crossing signal by them-
selves without it being approved by 21 committies
and the state DOT, another way to put this...
would you call a trucking company about a traffic
signal at the intersection of two roads ?
speaking of roads, would you look both ways upon
approaching the intersection of two highways, before proceeding across ? I bet you do. why then
do you think you dont have to look when approching
a rail/highway crossing.
the key here is LOOK, LISTEN, before you cross.
jackflash

[foamer4000]

Mike,
I am sorry for this loss of human life. But their was several thing that were overlooked in this childs education. Personal accountabilaty of that childs actions. This child had not learned how dangerous driving a car is. Some mistakes are overlooked and some errors in judgement cary heavy consequences. Mike their is not enough money in the world to make it safe for stupid or irresponsible people. If this child is yours you share a lot of the blame.
David

[Anonymous]

What part of THE LIGHTS WERE NOT WORKING AND THE CROSSING WAS COVERED WITH BRUSH DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? What part of COLD, CALCULATED, PRE-MEDITATED, LAYING IN WAIT do you not understand?

What's your parents excuse?

[foamer4000]

My parents do not need an excuse *** hole. They raised a child that knew you had to pay attention when you crossed the tracks. They tought me about the dangers of driving. My parrents kept me alive! You are the parrent looking for excuses. Your child made the mistake. Some mistakes have serious consequences. That is life. I am sorry for your loss, but it is not the crossing fault, or the train crew. Do you blame the highway department when the roads are slick? (you probably do, becouse you are that out of touch!) Did your child look as he approached the crossing? Was his radio too loud? Was he prepared to yeild in the event of an on coming train? Did he look down the tracks and not see the lights of the locomotive. Stop looking for simpathy here, you are not going to get any. Grow some dingle berries and sign your post.
David

[Anonymous]

Evwn if his child did see that, he would never admit to that.

he would neevr tell us that yes his child was behaving like a jerk, yes he was doing soemthing stupid, yes he wss playing the musci SO frekin loud he couldn't hear a train, he also wouldn't tell us that his child acted negligently in the face of on oncomming train.

once again, all of the above most likely happened, but we'll never hear the real story

all we'll get is that bull crap version
The corssing this... too many leaves... rectangle or triangle or trapaziod of vision blah blah blah..
power outage, an asteroid hit his child's car... a heard of elephants was behind him, someone cast a voodoo speel on his car, his grandmother was in the back seat...
well only hear about WHO he WANTS to blame

not WHO he SHOULD be blamming

because that who he should be blamming (IE himself) is a lot harder to admit too.

detour kev.

[louisnash]

At this particular crossing the railroad right-of-way is clear. The county right-of-way is cleaned twice a year. Once in the spring(late May)and once in the fall(late Oct).There are trees that are beside the property lines, but they do not hinder obstruction from seeing the oncoming trains. There are no gates at this crossing, but that still does not permit anyone to just say, "Hey maybe we can beat this one." There is a person from the railroad that comes 1 to 2 times a week to check the lights and to clean them. It's IDIOTS that have no sense whatsoever when it comes to going across railroad tracks. This crossing is clearly marked both sides. I know how people feel that all crossings should have gates. I, however, do not believe this. All that does is make people get around them slower when they decide they have to save 2 minutes to get to soccer practice, etc. I honestly believe like I told Mike P. that you are wasting your cause on this website over crossing safety. You need to get out and spread the message to teens that are getting ready to drive. Everyone on this forum whether they work for the railroad or just have a love for trains knows the consequences. All that is happening is hatred between us all, and really it ain't worth it. We all know how your feelings are towards crossing safety, but I don't believe the solution is here. There have been so many people on these forums that have explained who the proper authorities are that can help. I do wi***hat people knew what the consequences of running a crossing are, that people was more educated on crossing safety, but there will always be someone think that they can beat that train. And when they lose it IS NOT the railroads fault. In Kentucky it tells us in are drivers manuals about crossings, and I think the state requires so much classroom training before you get your operators license now. So I can't see how anyone can explain how they didn't know. But the main argument I have seen from you is obstructed views from trees and the such. If you can't see the yellow sign, or the 2 big red lights flashing (gates down if equipped), or the bell ringing, or the whistle blowing, then you are blind and shouldn't be driving. If your radio is on turn it down,& roll down the window. The big yellow sign just give you plenty of warning that the tracks are ahead. My main argument is though, you are wasting your time on this forum, no one is listening to you. Spread your cause about crossing safety in schools, churches,Etc. It is a shame that people don't value their lives around crossings, but you can't always lay the blame on the railroads, the state, or law enforcement.Some people don't like to take blame for their own actions but blame someone else. Every railroad that I have ever crossed has some type of warning on it before you approach it.

Brian (KY)

[Anonymous]

Who said anything about a child? It was 42 year old that had NEVER had a traffic ticket that got blindsided.

[Jackflash]

Brian I agree 100%, the truth is I'll bet the
person that was killed knew the crossing was
there, probably crossed it twice a day, so no
signs were needed as advance notice, just a matter
of driver inattention. jackflash

[edblysard]

Brian, before you let him get you all wrapped up in this, you should know in his first posting several months ago, mike p stated his involvment was due to having sat on a jury that deliberated a crossing accident. He was obviously swayed by the plaintiff's personal injury lawyer, and stated, in his first post, that this qualified him to discuss this aspect of railroad safety. It was apparent from the rest of his first post that the other 11 jurist felt different than he, and he condemmend them for being bought, along with the judge and the plaintiff's attorney. It would appear they didnt offer him enought money.
Quit wasting you time with him and help us with something much more important, finding enough chocolate cupcakes to keep matt, kev and jenny from having a coniption fit, and knawing each others fingers off.
Thanks
Stay Frosty,
The Unihead Ed

[Anonymous]

Still no yellow caution light dip. Once a week my aching . A driver is 10 feet away and all of a sudden they have a red light in their face. Where are they going to end up---Well on the track.

[Anonymous]

To the Editor,
Please find where I called anyone a murderer. If I did I apologize. However could you please enforce the language and abuse on this thread
Thanks,
Mike

[Anonymous]

I don't condemn anybody, even you guys. However a railroad who nets 400 million a year needs to live up there obsession with safety and start giving the drivers every opp. to cross safely.
Mike

[Anonymous]

I may be off base here but here it goes; I believe the railroad can at any time take a pro-active approach to grade crossing safety and spend a whooping .04% (150000/400000000)of net profit to put a set of gates and lights in. How about this one clearing some vegetation so the driver can see the train in time to respond because of course the light alignment is useless as an advance warning device; .0001%. Or even better pay the union rate to have a signalman ALIGN the lights so we can see them from the CORRECT distance;.00003%. That is so unreasonable isn't it.

[Anonymous]

BLINDSIDED

thats when you don't see somehting comming

i'm gathering the train may have been.. hmm.. slightly bigger then his/her car

or was it the same size?

Regardless... Stop, look, listen, and live would have kept that person alive..

if he woulda stoped and looked... he may have seen the train (if it were any bigger then his car) and he would still bve alive today

ah yes 'tis ashame, when ol' STOP LOOK LISTEN AND LIVE isn't emplyed, when you dopn't use it.. it costs lives

e.g your case

termination of boradcast

Detour kev.

[Anonymous]

You know Kev. BNSF paid out like $375,000 plus, lawyers, court costs, etc...just the second go around---not counting the 1st and 3rd and STILL no stop signs.

You know what a stop sign is? Well it isn't a yield sign!! You sound like the idiot railroad safety people we have here. They don't understand the question either "IF A STOP IS NEEDED WHERE IS THE STOP SIGN?"

[Anonymous]

What part of COLD, CALCULATED, PRE-MEDITATED, LAYING IN WAIT do you not understand?
(missouri or mike, most likely missouri (richard Cranium #1)

I would like to address this staement

A train isn't cold, it doesn't CALCULATE it's next move, it's not PRE-Meditated and lying in wait like you said... be it mike or most liekly missouri who said this...

don't confuse a train with your birth..

A train doesn't lie waiting at a crossing waiting for your idiotic friend to not stop look and listen. it Doesn't jsut go from 0-60 mph in 3.6 secondes.. don't confuse a GE AC6000 CW and a Chevrolet Impala.

you make it seem the locomotrive was lying in wait for this bozo to cross.. and as soon as he was on the tracks the engine REVED and hit 75 mph in less then 2 secondes, therfore blindsiding this person.

Do uo need a stop sign to stop? so if your about to rear-end someone you jsut keep going right? because they didn't shoew you a stop sign?

for me.. i don't need a stop sign to stop (Isn't a stop sign, octigonal shaped Displaying the following sequence of letters to form the following word: STOP or ARRET if your in Quebec.)

i can stop at a crossing, look both ways, and then proceed.. without the need of a stop sign

gald you ABSOLUTELY need a stop sign, well your a ditz.. i suppose you go right throguh them if they aren't lit up or soemthing.

becasreful corssing the next crossing, little buddy, or at least you'll be small comapred to me.. i'll have my GE AC4400 pared on the side waiting for you to cross... and as soon as you do.. my train will magically rev up to 80 MPH to crush your car!

be afraid... be verrrrryy afraid..

Detour kev

[foamer4000]

You implied it moron. In your bleading heart story. At 42 he should have known better and their is no excuses. It was his fault this accident happened. Come to grips with this, pray to god, and then realise that this 42 year old driver had his first traffic accident, and tradicaly his last. Then find it in your heart to do something posative with this energy. Crying your heart out on this forum and blameing the railroad are fruitless endevors. No one will benefit from this course of action. DO SOMETHING POSATIVE WITH YOUR LIFE! Buy atrain set for your children, or grandchildren. Tell everyone you know to stop, look, listen, and live, becouse their is no winners when a driver has an accident, only the family left behind.
GOD BE WITH YOU!
David