This might be the wrong place to put this and if it is I apologize.
Video of what happens when you race a train to the crossing
http://stupidvideos.com/video/Dont_Race_Trains/?m=new&tf=all
From Bergie's forum policy post:
"- No inappropriate images or videos. If you choose to post photos or links to videos, please keep them railroad-related and use your best judgment. Someone getting hit by a train or using poor judgment around a train (e.g. playing "chicken" with a train) isn't welcome."
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
Dave,That video has been posted before..I still like the way the person in the SUV moves out of the way as the TRAILER is being hit...
Not a bad video and its railroad crossing safety related.Something I suppose some modelers could use.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
We discuss train related accidents on this forum all the time, I don't see why this video should be excluded.
Is there any info about this accident? It almost looks staged for Hollywood.
I hope it was, the truck driver got away, but what about the crew in that engine.
bill
I'm not so sure the trucker got away, that trailer he was pulling should have had a license plate, and the cops would have used it to find out who he was driving for and/or who he was. Besides, his supervisor would notice that kind of trailer damage. I expect he was simply pulling to a safe (safer) place to stop.
BTW, he will probably lose his license for a few months, as he should (and I say this as a fellow trucker). I have absolutely NO sympathy for crossing violators! In some states, he would be guilty of a felony (endangering the lives of a RR crew, attempted vehicle manslaughter, etc). If it were a passenger train, and it resulted in a fatality (crew or passenger), the driver could, technically and legally, actually face the death penalty in some states! (the likelihood of that, however, is questionable).
Brad
EMD - Every Model Different
ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil
CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts
I may be wrong (don't look so shocked, its happened before) but I think this might have been staged.
First, the camera remains centered on the crossing and is rock solid steady - so it wasn't handheld by someone who just "happened" to be there. (Yes, of course it could be a web cam)
Second, as mentioned, the driver of the minivan/suv moves out of the way - even though the truck stays in his own lane.
Third, it may be just the poor quality of the video, but it appears as if the truck slows down a little as he gets to the crossing - almost as if he is gauging where the train will hit his trailer.
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
-George close quote
To take your points in order:
First, I have seen this video before. I believe that the camera was a fixed security camera.
Second, note that the SUV pilot was at an angle where he could see the oncoming train through the passenger side of his windshield. He had, quite reasonably, stopped. Then, as he recognized that the semi wasn't stopping and would probably not make it, he had one of those, "Oh S**T!" moments and tried to back out of the probable disaster area.
Third, almost everybody slows as they cross the tracks at a grade crossing - even grade crossings maintained at a better level than those usually found in commercial and industrial districts. There is a grade crossing on a major thoroughfare about four miles from my home. Most drivers treat it like a speed bump, even though it's as smooth as a baby's bottom.
If this had been staged, I think they would have used an empty box, or a box full of empty boxes. That splash looks like corn, not plastic peanuts.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - without semi's)
Won't be the first time someone left something on the track for insurance purposes. This may have been taking that scheme to a new level...
But stupidity probably explains a lot about this "accident".
warhammerdriver,
No video but this excerpt from "Trains and Travel", June '52 illustrates that no matter what the RR's do to protect grade crossings someone will trump their efforts.
"....on a foggy night last fall a Tidewater Southern" freight crossed over US99 at Turner, CA, at a spot where the railroad has protected itself by state highway advance warning signs, an "RRX" painted pavement warning, a standard crossing sign and two automatic wig wag lights; in addition, the train crew had placed a lighted fusee on either side of the tracks as extra warning. But nevertheless, a 72,000 pound truck-trailer combine loaded with citrus fruit hit the TS train amidships, killing the driver and injuring his helper, doing $4,500 damage to railroad refrigerator cars, and causing $100 of track damage."
Re your video link/grade crossing incident: What did Yogi Berra say? "It's deja vu all over again."
Almost the railroad equivalent of the "Field of Dreams" concept, "build it and they will come."
Jon
P.S. In the years of Conrail a local road switcher was completeing it's chore of picking up/dropping off cars to local industry and was three grade crossings short of its home yard when the engineer had to call his dispatcher to report a grade crossing accident. The dispatcher asked, "What did you hit and are there any injuries?" The engineer replied, "I didn't hit anything." The dispatcher asked, "How can you report a grade crossing accident if you didn't hit anything?" The engineer replied,"The car hit me, two cars back." This crossing was protected by painted road markings and automatic flashing lights. Not enough protection. For some out there there will never be enough.
Just think, you and I share the roads with these people. The incidents cited above were before cell phones, text messageing and GPS as driver distractions.
LOL 100 % fake too funny. Just what I want to hit is a truck load of corn lets see hitting a truck that weighs roughly 80,000 lbs filled with a commodity that I know I wouldnt want to waste if I owned it and blasting a relatively new trailer ( a custom job really as grain bottoms are not mass produced like vans are)Then using a crappy security camera? WOW when OLS does a staged wreck thay have profesional crews tape it from many angles.
So is the one with the NS locomotive crushing the semi at the grade crossing knocking down a flasher and a signal staged? I think not. Or my favorite one of the CRST getting hit by the IC train? Nope again. If they asked me to crew a train going to do a staged mock up I would I think it would be a great time. However when they tell me its LOADED I would say let the TM do it.
Also if it were all staged the trucks wouldnt have loads nor would they be owned by a private company ( like CRST said sure take anew tractor and trailer and just destroy them in a busy intersection grade crossing accident) sheesh.
Yes we are on time but this is yesterdays train
That is the reason Southern liked to run their locomotives long hood forward. I would feel a lot safer if there was a huge engine between me and a trailer instead of some sheet metal.
"I'm not so sure the trucker got away, that trailer he was pulling should have had a license plate, and the cops would have used it to find out who he was driving for and/or who he was. Besides, his supervisor would notice that kind of trailer damage. I expect he was simply pulling to a safe (safer) place to stop.
Brad"
Sorry about the confusion I did'nt mean that the truck driver got away without getting caught, I mean't that he got away with his life!
P.S. I am also a trucker.
8500HPGASTURBINE wrote: route_rock wrote: So is the one with the NS locomotive crushing the semi at the grade crossing knocking down a flasher and a signal staged? I think not. Or my favorite one of the CRST getting hit by the IC train? Nope again. If they asked me to crew a train going to do a staged mock up I would I think it would be a great time. However when they tell me its LOADED I would say let the TM do it. I am not able for some reason to see the video. In fact the video you are probably seeing isn't the one I am talking about. In fact it's the one stated above were the NS loco hits a semi and is crushed at the crossing and tears down the flashers.Route_Rock, That video is fake. It was staged by NS to show people what can happen at crossings. The semi, and trailer were paid for by NS and it was ran several times without the train and the train without the semi to get the timing right. COMMON, you can't tell it's fake.
route_rock wrote: So is the one with the NS locomotive crushing the semi at the grade crossing knocking down a flasher and a signal staged? I think not. Or my favorite one of the CRST getting hit by the IC train? Nope again. If they asked me to crew a train going to do a staged mock up I would I think it would be a great time. However when they tell me its LOADED I would say let the TM do it.
I am not able for some reason to see the video. In fact the video you are probably seeing isn't the one I am talking about. In fact it's the one stated above were the NS loco hits a semi and is crushed at the crossing and tears down the flashers.
Route_Rock,
That video is fake. It was staged by NS to show people what can happen at crossings. The semi, and trailer were paid for by NS and it was ran several times without the train and the train without the semi to get the timing right. COMMON, you can't tell it's fake.
I assume you're talking about this video: Train Hits Tractor Trailer, which has been posted here before.
I suppose NS paid for the chain-reaction collision that resulted, and all of the innocent bystanders and commuters were actors and stuntmen? There are videos of staged wrecks done for crash analysis, and they are done in the middle of nowhere with monitoring equipment all over the locomotive and high speed cameras filming them from every conceivable angle. There were some posted to YouTube that I think were done by BNSF. I've even seen an Operation Lifesaver film with a GP38 hitting an empty pickup parked on the crossing, but it was made quite clear that it was a safety video. I remember that one of the pickups wheels was worn down to half its diameter from being shoved along the ballast.
About 10 years ago I made friends with a Conrail crew that ran a local freight past my old place. I used to ride with them some nights round trip while they made a pick-up one town over. The engineer said the only accident he'd ever had was when he hit a young guy in a Camaro who was trying to beat him to the crossing, but fortunately he just clipped him and spun him around. He said it was pretty amusing when the cop writing the police report had to enter the following:
Second Vehicle
Year: 1972
Make: GM
Model: GP38-2
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
That one was obviously fake. There was one story about a small town cop was trying to get in front of the train to lead a funeral procession or something and stopped in the middle of the crossing. He flipped the blue lights and got out of his car and stood in the middle of the crossing with his hand held out trying to stop the train.You can imagine what happened. A mile down the tracks where the train finally stopped, here comes the officer with a ticket for 'Failing to Yeild Right of Way to Emergency Vehicle'. The next day, his boss gave HIM the ticket. Oops!