A perfect example of a bad example

[coalminer3]

Mookie - I bet you made sure there were consequences ( consistently enforced). I do the same thing with my "tribe." I'll also bet you took time to listen (i Mean REALLY listen and respond to questions). I'll also bet some days (we'll keep it on topic) you felt you'd been in a train wreck. I know I do.

BTW, people come up and say to me, "I wish my kids would behave..." what can you say to a remark like that?

work safe

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by coalminer3

Mookie - I bet you made sure there were consequences ( consistently enforced). I do the same thing with my "tribe." I'll also bet you took time to listen (i Mean REALLY listen and respond to questions). I'll also bet some days (we'll keep it on topic) you felt you'd been in a train wreck. I know I do.

BTW, people come up and say to me, "I wish my kids would behave..." what can you say to a remark like that?

work safe

You should say thank you and pat yourself and your wife on the back for raising good kids! We who work our tails off to raise our kids the right way - deserve a little credit, so be like the Mookie and take it! I am going to post something under my weekend musings, so be sure to read about a young person I know!

Moo

[dharmon]

I'm glad I missed out of the M&M twins. I was a lurker back then and pretty much decided not to join the forums becasue of it. Then I came back, and I'm glad I did.

I am sorry that folks continue to die in train-auto accidents, but unfortunately, unless the train is running without lights at night, and intentionally not sounding the horn, I find it hard to believe that anyone can be hit by a train. It's called lack of situational awareness, stupidity, carelessness whatever, but it is preventable and the driver is the only one who can prevent it. Okay..so my car stalled on the tracks....my fault...Yes. Because if I stalled on the tracks trying to beat a train...it's my fault. If I was injured or killed becasue I was sitting in my stalled car instead of bailing out of it....my fault...I can buy a new freakin car. Crossing a non gated crossing without caution....my fault. You don't go into a intersection without looking both ways..same deal here. I'm real sorry folks continue to die but they are doing so becasue of their own action and lack or loss of SA. I know that common sense is not a common virtue, but as is become more common in today's society...it is just one more case a of general lack of responsibility and accountability for the consequences of one's own actions. Funny how we want no train horns sounded but want to hold crew responsible for folks blatantly running around the arms.......sight lines...give me a break....that's just a item to latch on.....how bout growing up, getting off the damn cell phone and lokking around when you drive....We need cameras in the cab of locos, similiar to the Houston Metro cameras to document this stuff. So the lawyer can show the jury...and here is where Mrs. John Q Soccermom, while talking on the cell phone, looked straight at the train and then drove her minivan around the crossing arms just moments before the impact.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

QUOTE: Originally posted by Doggy

As I've said ALL crossing don't care if they have one train a day THEY ALL NEED GATES WITH LIGHTS so beancounter excutives SPEND YOUR LOOT

I disagree - a little more responsibility on the part of the drivers is needed. You can put up anything you want - it won't stop a good share of them. They have to be taught from infancy to be more responsible. We have gates and lights here and they go around them as if they are a nuisence and non-existant! So don't put the blame on the railroads - put it right where it belongs - right square on the nut behind the wheel!

Mookie, you are EXACTLY RIGHT!!!! The responsibility at ANY RR Xing lies in the hands of the motorist, NOT the RR!!!! Let's change that last line to "right sqare on the LOOSE NUT behind the wheel"!!! What was that famous quote from "Forrest Gump"?....................is as ............ does!!!

[Anonymous]

Do I really need to go over the "SOO Line 4-6-2 hauling the North Dakota local" bit again? I really don't think so--you've all heard it a half million times anyway. But I disagree with Ms. Moore: I believe crossing accidents have gone up. And as many others have said, the railroad usually was the one granitng the rights to build a crossing anyway.

And just out of curiosity, what exactly is a "good" crossing? Let me go on a little brain storming session here:

1.) Flashing red searchlights, warning drivers up to three miles away.
2.) Crossings activated by trains within thirteen miles.
3.) Three foot thick cinder-block gates which swing shut, providing no means of going around the crossing.
4.) The destruction of all vegitation within a two mile radius of a crossing.
5.) The abolition of railways.

Now let's use a litle common sense here. The only one of those sarcastic comments which could be used was increasing the area of the crossing signal activator, providing more warning time. I would support this, but on the other hand it would provide more incentive for some drivers to run crossings.

See you around the forums,
Daniel

[wabash1]

Out of the 100+ crossings i must blow for each trip the crossings i have the most trouble with are

1) crossing that are in dropped speed zones usually 30 mph or less. they cant wait the train is going slow i can beat it. or it might stop lets hurry and get by it. in one area they dont even slow down they keep on going. ive watch these people slide to a stop when i enter the crossing.

2) the other big problem is in the country where for years it was cross bucks only. then recently they up graded the crossing to have lights and gates on a gravel road. Now the drivers opinion is we have a warning device that tells us a train is comming for decades they would pull up and stop not knowing if a train is comming. now with lights they can race the train. and at 60mph there is not much of you left to bury.

at night i cant see the driver ( usually) but during daylight i can and it is amazing how many of these idiots look at you try and judge your speed and then go. at night time you can tell if they are racing you watch the brake lights. the truth is if these people dont care if they live or die why should we. are we not taking the side of angles on tracks and wanting safer crossings or let these people go. by saying more needs to be done is saying the railroad is at fault. and that these bad choices of these bad drivers somehow the railroad needs to stop people from doing this to themselves. Now before everyone starts flaming me and calling me a murder think open minded. I dont like hitting these people at crossings and killing them. and it does make for a lousy day all the paper work and questions. and more questions then when you think it is over here comes the claims agent wanting a taped statment on what happened. then more paper work. they got hit and i got punished.

[Mookie]

ah - a fleeting thrill at someone else's expense! That has to be why they do it - something in the human psyche that needs to tempt fate and something much, much larger than they are w/o consideration for anyone else.

Moo Freud!

[Anonymous]

I think you have something there, Madame La Mookie. My father used to tell tales about his exploits with the Lackawanna. His advice- "Don't try to jump a train doing more than five miles an hour." He was raised in the 1920's and gleefully told me tales about stealing rides on the backs of trolley cars in Brooklyn- and having classmates killed doing the same thing.
Most people (present august company excepted) don't equate trains with people. They can't see the engineer on board anymore, and after an accident they have no idea of what the engineer (or conductor) carries around in their head. People are used to the idea that all trains are Thomas the Tank Engine. They aren't aware that a train is a big animal that will get them- and that the engineer and conductor can moderate, but not stop, the behavior of that animal.

Erik

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wabash1

Now before everyone starts flaming me and calling me a murder think open minded. I dont like hitting these people at crossings and killing them.

It won't be me. I'm on your side

[Mookie]

I think it is, or was, mostly a male thing. The west was settled by men heading out there and the wives went along - because that is what you did!

Mountain climbing, surfing, jumping out of airplanes that aren't on fire, crossing wires strung between buildings, bungee jumping - and the latest - living in a cage with seriously poisonous snakes. Most of these are men things.

So why wouldn't you challenge yourself to get across those tracks before the train gets you - you were the winner and the train was the loser - at least that is what should happen. For women - it is inattention and in a hurry. Too many distractions and too much going on!

And neither is a good excuse.

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

I think it is, or was, mostly a male thing. The west was settled by men heading out there and the wives went along - because that is what you did!

Mountain climbing, surfing, jumping out of airplanes that aren't on fire, crossing wires strung between buildings, bungee jumping - and the latest - living in a cage with seriously poisonous snakes. Most of these are men things.

So why wouldn't you challenge yourself to get across those tracks before the train gets you - you were the winner and the train was the loser - at least that is what should happen. For women - it is inattention and in a hurry. Too many distractions and too much going on!

And neither is a good excuse.

In nature, both inattention and contests to establish alpha male-dom are both effective means of culling the herd. I would compare the lady on the cell phone driving her minivan/SUV to the antelope or zebra at the watering hole......a moments inattention means the cheetahs are feasting on fresh meat tonite. As for the other.......Darwin's rules apply......

[Willy2]

This seems to be becoming a very interesting topic! We've had talk about missouri, about bad crossings, about good crossings, and about wreckless drivers.

I won't even go to CSXsucks.com because to me it is just an insult to myself and to railfans to even go there. Still, it would be interesting in a vile sort of way to see what is in that crazy website. I am glad that Mike and Missouri are gone, that's all I can say!

Willy

[edblysard]

Not trying to promote another web site here...
But, CSX sucks is a web site created by the employees of CSX, has quite a few photos, and lots of comment threads, from time claims to fatigue problems.
Kinda a peek into the minds and feelings of a Class one railroads employees personal journal.

Its crude, full of some harsh language, and has a lot of interesting photos of what can go wrong.

If you can put up with the language, read the threads, if not, just look at the photos, some funny, some scary.

Ed

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

Not trying to promote another web site here...
But, CSX sucks is a web site created by the employees of CSX, has quite a few photos, and lots of comment threads, from time claims to fatigue problems.
Kinda a peek into the minds and feelings of a Class one railroads employees personal journal.

Its crude, full of some harsh language, and has a lot of interesting photos of what can go wrong.

If you can put up with the language, read the threads, if not, just look at the photos, some funny, some scary.

Ed

Gee Ed I was all ready for some harsh language and a good crude website tour but the site looks like it's offline til May, so I had to go visit Martha Stewarts home page and read her coments about the court ruling. Man that girl can cuss!!!!

Jeff

[Willy2]

Ed: I surely know that you are not trying to promote another website. I just think that a website with such a name must be quite a strange website and it sounds like it is a little bit cruel to the railroads. Still if CSX crew members post in it, it must not be as bad as I thought it may have been.

I kind of think that Marth Stewart is a little bit too haughty for her own good, but I don't think that she should go to jail. Still she always annoys me and my grandma is constantly going on about the things she learns from Martha. She also says that the reason Martha got convicted is because all of the guys in the world are jealous that they can't do what Martha does. Kind of a whacky opinion isn't it? [xx(][%-)][B)]

Now we are also talking about Martha Stewart in this topic!

Willy

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Willy2

Ed: I surely know that you are not trying to promote another website. I just think that a website with such a name must be quite a strange website and it sounds like it is a little bit cruel to the railroads. Still if CSX crew members post in it, it must not be as bad as I thought it may have been.

I kind of think that Marth Stewart is a little bit too haughty for her own good, but I don't think that she should go to jail. Still she always annoys me and my grandma is constantly going on about the things she learns from Martha. She also says that the reason Martha got convicted is because all of the guys in the world are jealous that they can't do what Martha does. Kind of a whacky opinion isn't it? [xx(][%-)][B)]

Now we are also talking about Martha Stewart in this topic!

Willy

Willy - Grandmas are very wise people! I have stated on this forum before - she had a lot of good tips and unlike 99.9% of all the other cooking/home type shows, she didn't fling her hands or make a lot of noise or BAM! - she was very relaxing to watch - sometimes too much so......zzzzzz

But in the world of big business, others got a hand slap or stood in the corner for a few minutes - Martha was grounded. (I have heard before that off-camera she wasn't the nicest person in the world. But she didn't attend any of the cocktail parties I don't go to anyway with me!) So I am with your Grandma. I liked her too!

Mookie

[Anonymous]

Here's some more fuel to the fire from the Brotherhood of Locomotive engineers web site:

QUOTE:
MODESTO, Calif. -- A woman was killed early Tuesday trying to beat an Amtrak train through an intersection, the fire department said.
The woman, who was alone in her vehicle, passed around crossing arms that were already down, spokesman Hugo Patino said. The train hit the car, shearing off its front end and causing it to erupt in flames.
The force of the collision sent the car spinning, and it hit a second vehicle that also caught fire.
Patino said a passerby pulled three passengers out of the second burning vehicle. At least two people were hospitalized.
The names of the victims had not been released late Tuesday.
None of the 102 passengers on the train was injured, but an Amtrak spokesman said passenger and freight trains would be delayed throughout the day.

Who was saying that every crossing needs gates?
Looks like they didn't do much good here.