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Man struck by a train

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Man struck by a train
Posted by rstaller on Thursday, October 8, 2009 5:08 PM

Police in Painesville Oh. reported a body was found by the CSX tracks at about 9 am Thursday morning. Police speculate the man was struck sometime during the night.  No identity yet. R. Staller

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Posted by tomikawaTT on Thursday, October 8, 2009 5:34 PM

rstaller

Police in Painesville Oh. reported a body was found by the CSX tracks at about 9 am Thursday morning. Police speculate the man was struck sometime during the night.  No identity yet. R. Staller

Struck by what?  Just because a body is found adjacent to a railroad track doesn't mean that he was hit by a train.  He could have been hit by a baseball bat or a 2 x 4, then dumped next to the track.  If the police start and end their investigation with, "He was hit by a train," they may be blowing in, big time.

Who was he, what was he known for, had he accumulated enemies on the wrong side of the law?

For that matter, if a train hits a pedestrian, can the crew be totally unaware that it happened?

Chuck

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Posted by rstaller on Thursday, October 8, 2009 5:52 PM

Well of course the train was supposed to move over. R. Staller

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Posted by wabash1 on Thursday, October 8, 2009 10:22 PM

tomikawaTT

rstaller

Police in Painesville Oh. reported a body was found by the CSX tracks at about 9 am Thursday morning. Police speculate the man was struck sometime during the night.  No identity yet. R. Staller

Struck by what?  Just because a body is found adjacent to a railroad track doesn't mean that he was hit by a train.  He could have been hit by a baseball bat or a 2 x 4, then dumped next to the track.  If the police start and end their investigation with, "He was hit by a train," they may be blowing in, big time.

Who was he, what was he known for, had he accumulated enemies on the wrong side of the law?

For that matter, if a train hits a pedestrian, can the crew be totally unaware that it happened?

Chuck

as a matter of fact yes the crew can hit a person and not know it. and the body will lay there til someone finds it.

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Posted by challenger3980 on Thursday, October 8, 2009 10:41 PM

tomikawaTT

rstaller

Police in Painesville Oh. reported a body was found by the CSX tracks at about 9 am Thursday morning. Police speculate the man was struck sometime during the night.  No identity yet. R. Staller

Struck by what?  Just because a body is found adjacent to a railroad track doesn't mean that he was hit by a train.  He could have been hit by a baseball bat or a 2 x 4, then dumped next to the track.  If the police start and end their investigation with, "He was hit by a train," they may be blowing in, big time.

Who was he, what was he known for, had he accumulated enemies on the wrong side of the law?

For that matter, if a train hits a pedestrian, can the crew be totally unaware that it happened?

Chuck

Chuck,

  I would imagine that it would be very possible for a train to strike a pedestrian, and the crew not be aware that it happened. As a truck driver, I can tell you that it is surprising what a bit of weight and momentum can make un-noticeable, if it is not something you are anticipating. On the other hand, when it is something that you are expecting, it is surprising what you can detect. The man struck by the train may have been drunk, distracted or committing "Suicide by Train" and may have been struck by a car rather than the locomotive, and the crew totally unaware that anything had happened.

Doug

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Posted by CG-Rider on Friday, October 9, 2009 12:37 AM

Good evening,

A human body struck by a moving train will sustain damages and suffer traumas  vastly different than those caused by an assault ( baseball bat,  2X4, whatever ) followed by being dragged near railways right of ways.

Even the greenest of police force rookies would spot the difference.

If human body hit by a train while standing up ( walking or simply facing the train), engine crew would see and react appropriately; if body is a track level ( drunk, unconscious, whatever ) , engine crews easily would miss the '' impact'' but the discovered body would display shredded or missing limbs, one would think.

 

All of this to say: ''yes, the local police force referred to in the OP's post appears to have reached an expedited conclusion....""

 

Cheers

C

 

 

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Posted by chatanuga on Friday, October 9, 2009 11:28 AM

challenger3980

Chuck,

  I would imagine that it would be very possible for a train to strike a pedestrian, and the crew not be aware that it happened. As a truck driver, I can tell you that it is surprising what a bit of weight and momentum can make un-noticeable, if it is not something you are anticipating. On the other hand, when it is something that you are expecting, it is surprising what you can detect. The man struck by the train may have been drunk, distracted or committing "Suicide by Train" and may have been struck by a car rather than the locomotive, and the crew totally unaware that anything had happened.

Doug

Actually, it is possible for a vehicle to collide with a train, and the crew wouldn't know it.  Back in the 1980s, I remember an Operation Lifesaver video where a train crew said that they didn't know a car had hit them until they got to their next stop and were told.  Apparently, it had hit about six cars back from the locomotives.

A few years ago on Norfolk Southern north of Chatfield, Ohio, a northbound coal train was on the left-hand track crossing State Route 103, preparing for a meet.  Back then, the crossing only had crossbucks and flashers.  A westbound car with four people in it went into the crossing and the side of the train.  The crew, unaware of what happened, continued on, stopping at the next signal.  The car, stuck in the side of the train, was drug along and hung out into the other track when the train stopped.  A southbound train then came through on the other track and struck the car, which was the first that anybody had been aware that an accident had even taken place.  Needless to say, it was a bad scene.  It was never determined who had been sitting where in the car since it was so badly mangled, and all four people had been ejected from it.  Alcohol was ruled to be the cause of the crash.

Kevin

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Friday, October 9, 2009 2:59 PM

How about Man strikes train? Could have run into the middle of the train between cars?.

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Posted by grampaw pettibone on Friday, October 9, 2009 6:08 PM

A few years ago, the Amtrak hit someone just outside of town and didn't know it. He walked across the track and the engine passed him on his right. The next train along found him on the tracks. The Amtrak crew was advised that they had hit him. He is still unidentified

Tom

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Posted by bubbajustin on Friday, October 9, 2009 7:04 PM

Also if the crew had been on-call for 10 hours, and it was the middle of the night…. That just makes it even harder to notice.

Justin

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Posted by wabash1 on Sunday, October 11, 2009 9:44 AM

CG-Rider

Good evening,

A human body struck by a moving train will sustain damages and suffer traumas  vastly different than those caused by an assault ( baseball bat,  2X4, whatever ) followed by being dragged near railways right of ways.

Even the greenest of police force rookies would spot the difference.

If human body hit by a train while standing up ( walking or simply facing the train), engine crew would see and react appropriately; if body is a track level ( drunk, unconscious, whatever ) , engine crews easily would miss the '' impact'' but the discovered body would display shredded or missing limbs, one would think.

 

All of this to say: ''yes, the local police force referred to in the OP's post appears to have reached an expedited conclusion....""

 

Cheers

C

 

 

If I am reading this right your saying that a man standing on the railroad tracks and gets hit by the train they will get pulled under that train and possibley be dismembered? and like wise with the body laying down? your saying it would be easier to miss the body laying down than standing up?

why would the crew miss the person standing there or laying there. and are you saying miss like didnt see them til to late or totally never see them and was told about it.

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 11, 2009 10:36 AM

One highly probable explanation for the crew not seeing the man would be that he was riding on the train, fell off, and got run over. 

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, October 11, 2009 10:39 AM

wabash1

If I am reading this right your saying that a man standing on the railroad tracks and gets hit by the train they will get pulled under that train and possibley be dismembered? and like wise with the body laying down? your saying it would be easier to miss the body laying down than standing up?

why would the crew miss the person standing there or laying there. and are you saying miss like didnt see them til to late or totally never see them and was told about it.

With the Crew's location being approximately 12 feet above the top of rail, with the nose and walkway's extending outward from the crew's vantage point there is created quite a blind spot, which without doing the math would extend outward approximately 50/60 feet, especially to the side of the engine that the engineer doesn't occupy.  Amtrak, in most instances, operates with only an Engineer in the locomotive.  While freight's have both an engineer and conductor on board, the conductors attention can be legitimately diverted to other duties.  It is very easy for something to occur within the blind spot and no one on the locomotive know anything about it.

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Posted by joesap1 on Sunday, October 11, 2009 4:45 PM

 

If a man is stuck by a train, there usually isn't much left of him to call it a "body."
Joe Sapwater
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Posted by wabash1 on Monday, October 12, 2009 10:48 PM

joesap1

 

If a man is stuck by a train, there usually isn't much left of him to call it a "body."

I take it you know this to be true.?

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Posted by aut1rml on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 3:48 AM

Remember the end of the movie with Peter Fonda ?  Dirty Marry,crazy Larry?

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Posted by wabash1 on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 5:57 AM

aut1rml

Remember the end of the movie with Peter Fonda ?  Dirty Marry,crazy Larry?

yes i do just what does that haft to do with this.

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Posted by Victrola1 on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 8:07 AM
http://gazetteonline.com/breaking-news/2009/10/13/college-student-hit-killed-by-train-near-mount-pleasant

BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg says the crew on the 135-car train reported the woman was sitting on the tracks and she didn’t try to get out of the way.

This incident leads one to suspect suicide. 

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Posted by wabash1 on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:03 PM

I held off posting anything on this thread trying to let the hollywood saga subside. I can say with authority that In most cases when you hit a person standing or sitting on the rail you throw them out in front or off to the side of your train. You dont mangle them up they are busted up but all parts are still there. attached now if they land in front of your train you will run back over them and then mangel the heck out of them also if they are riding on the cars and fall down between the cars they will probley get mangeled. ive hit people at 15 mph and at 50 mph and all the parts was there. in tact. There is one thing that is fact in all accidents like this no matter what road they work how many years of service the engineer or conductor has, this type of accident will  ruin your day weather it was a good day or not it just got worse fast.

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Posted by Goober on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:41 PM

Just a few years back, a person was struck by a CN train in Appleton, the individual was intoxicated and was reported "sitting on the track", not sure if they (train crew) meant rail or in between.  This happened between Outagamie St. and the Mason Street rail bridge.  The crew as I remember called in and reported that they thought they struck someone on the track.  According to the reports from Police to the newspaper said the "accident scene" was 75 yards in length, and again I am recalling this from memory, the news account seemed to indicate multiple body parts.

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