QUOTE: Originally posted by techguy57 Thanks for the laugh, Dan[:D] I knew that the tale had some actual truth to it but I didn't know about the low-speed collisions. Maybe its the romantic in me, (at which point my girlfriend would probably say what romantic), but I always thought he did it to be like a captain going down with his ship. That way he faced the fate of his decisions head on. Maybe he thought he'd be a hero. I guess you could argue that fame is part of infamy. Really who knows, right? On second thought, Mark is probably right. No more investigations Mike
QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl Labor day 1950 saw a head on collision between two trains on the Milwaukee Rapid Transit , First one out the door was the motorman/ RR president. The motorman on the other train (LeRoy Equitz) stayed in his cab and held the sanders on to try slowing the thing down. LeRoy lost his left leg. I think it just looks bad when an engineer on a passenger train beats the paying passengers out the door. Randy
QUOTE: Originally posted by Clevelandrocks Okay..How do you jump from a moving train and keep most of you limbs?
QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl First one out the door was the motorman/ RR president.
QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon QUOTE: Originally posted by Clevelandrocks Okay..How do you jump from a moving train and keep most of you limbs? <cough> <cough> ....of all folks, I wouldn't have expected you to ask that question...
QUOTE: Originally posted by mloik QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl First one out the door was the motorman/ RR president. Wait a minute...the motorman was also the RR president? Looks doubly bad for him to be the first out the door.
QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe QUOTE: Originally posted by techguy57 Thanks for the laugh, Dan[:D] I knew that the tale had some actual truth to it but I didn't know about the low-speed collisions. Maybe its the romantic in me, (at which point my girlfriend would probably say what romantic), but I always thought he did it to be like a captain going down with his ship. That way he faced the fate of his decisions head on. Maybe he thought he'd be a hero. I guess you could argue that fame is part of infamy. Really who knows, right? On second thought, Mark is probably right. No more investigations Mike I just no that if I ever get over my disdain of politics, join a political party, and run for office, I want to reincarnate the Illinois Central employee who released that story to the press and make him my spin doctor. Gabe
Have fun with your trains
QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith QUOTE: Originally posted by mloik QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl First one out the door was the motorman/ RR president. Wait a minute...the motorman was also the RR president? Looks doubly bad for him to be the first out the door. A Fine and Outstanding tradition of the Bigwigs bailing first when it hits the fan dating back to J. Bruce Ismay, President of the White Star Line, which operated a couple of boats in that big pond between America and England. When one of his biggest rowboats struck an Iceburg, he gallantly and bravely slipped quietly into a lifeboat and let 1500 passengers die on a ship with insufficient lifeboats. A condition that HE helped pu***hru when others asked to provide enough boats for everyone, he argued that A: the ship was unsinkable, and B: it would clutter up the deck reserved for the millionaire first class passengers and he wouldnt stand for that!!!! Ahh, the Executive Decision!
QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith QUOTE: Originally posted by mloik QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl First one out the door was the motorman/ RR president. Wait a minute...the motorman was also the RR president? Looks doubly bad for him to be the first out the door. A Fine and Outstanding tradition of the Bigwigs bailing first when it hits the fan dating back to J. Bruce Ismay, President of the White Star Line, which operated a couple of boats in that big pond between America and England. When one of his biggest rowboats struck an Iceburg, he gallantly and bravely slipped quietly into a lifeboat and let 1500 passengers die on a ship with insufficient lifeboats. A condition that HE helped pu***hru when others asked to provide enough boats for everyone, he argued that A: the ship was unsinkable, and B: it would clutter up the deck reserved for the millionaire first class passengers and he wouldnt stand for that!!!! Ahh, the Executive Decision! I don't know why the heck I feel the need to stick up for poor, downtrodden, helpless executives and what not--maybe it goes back to Mark's recent reference to irrationality on the forum and this is my version of not jumping to avoid a collision--but: Don't get me wrong, the above behavior of the executives it is not good. But, I think the only difference between a lug like myself and an executive is the executive has the ability to “sneak on the lifeboat while the ship is sinking.” Really, how many of us wouldn't do the same thing given the opportunity? Some extraordinary people sacrifice themselves (like the designer of the Titanic) for the good of others; however the vast majority do not. Statistically, the amount of people on this forum who wouldn't make the same decision as the execs could fit in a large telephone booth. I am not saying that makes it right, and I certainly agree with Randy's conclusion that it looks bad. But, I have to admit, there would be a voice in the back of my mind saying I would rather look bad and alive than good and dead. I hope I would do the right thing, but: "I wouldn't be my life on it" ; -) Perhaps I should have jumped off the train and not made that argument. Gabe
QUOTE: Originally posted by erikthered Gabe, I think it goes back to simple human psychology. If you are a passenger on a plane or a train (or a ship, for that matter) you place a huge amount of trust in the people who are actually running the conveyance. I'd like to think (innocent that I am) that the people in charge will do everything they can a) to avoid the accident and b) make the consequences of the accident a lot less devastating. We will never know what Casey Jones was thinking or doing at the end of his career. I'd like to think that he was wondering what was left undone that he could still do. The same hope applies to Captain Smith of RMS Titanic; I'd like to think he went down with the ship, preferably sipping the last cup of hot tea his steward could bring him, trying to figure out how best to refloat the ship. My observation is that people in that kind of work- be it train engineer, pilot, or ship's master- fall back on their training and reflexes to fix the problem. I think they are probably too busy in those situations to give much thought to whether it's best to jump or stay. I would like to think- perhaps wrongly- that they place their trust in their machinery to get them through sticky situations. By the time they realize that the machinery won't save them, the situation has progressed to the point where they can't save themselves. Erik
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