As near as I can figure, the video was shot here: N 41.12235 W 104.84078, adjacent to a crossing (Southwest Drive - you can hear the bells). While the folks next to the tracks were clearly trespassing on the ROW, they crossed an open lot from a public highway to get there. The person shooting the video was probably leaning on the signal tower.
Without seeing the signals, or any bulletins that may have been posted for the crews, it's hard to say what the intermodal's crew had to work with. The track in the area leads me to believe they were about to cross over to another track, so would have been operating at a reduced speed as it was. And we don't know what the track speed there is.
There's a bit of a curve there that might have masked the gawkers from the crew.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
LNER4472 Or: Why Most Railroads Don't Want to Mess With Steam Locomotives: Witness not one, but two, "videographer" amateurs almost get struck by a freight train while watching UP Big Boy 4014 arrive in Cheyenne:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwO-IWorGv4It's not bad enough that one person has to actually be PICKED UP BODILY and dragged out of harm's way, but that he/she KEPT SHOOTING even after the train that almost hit him/her blocks the view........And people wonder why some railroads want nothing to do with the "attractive nuisance" of steam locomotives or special movements.....
Or: Why Most Railroads Don't Want to Mess With Steam Locomotives: Witness not one, but two, "videographer" amateurs almost get struck by a freight train while watching UP Big Boy 4014 arrive in Cheyenne:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwO-IWorGv4It's not bad enough that one person has to actually be PICKED UP BODILY and dragged out of harm's way, but that he/she KEPT SHOOTING even after the train that almost hit him/her blocks the view........And people wonder why some railroads want nothing to do with the "attractive nuisance" of steam locomotives or special movements.....
Thank, God, at least one person was thinking enough to realize that the individual standing in the path of the oncoming Intermodal train was so oblivious as to what was about to happen.
The adult picked up the smaller person and saved their life, regardless of the rest of the personal circumstance of the one standing inside of the rails while filming.
The video of the incident certainly gives weight to any of the mantras of OLI about expectations of trains on any tracks, at any time.
Well, that person is totally oblivious to his/her own mortality and to reality in general.
But morons are not that important. (I am glad he/she was pulled out of the way.)
The most important thing in the video is the "Tiger Cool" reefer container in the first well on the intermodal train. Tiger Cool is a well financed start up run by three very experienced former senior railroad officials. They're focused on putting long haul perishable business back on the rails. (It's now overwhelmingly truck.)
I knew TC was starting up but I did not know they were up and running. Go get 'em Tiger.
tree68As near as I can figure, the video was shot here: N 41.12235 W 104.84078
That's the spot (La Quinta Inn in the background), and there are Union Pacific PRIVATE PROPERTY NO TRESPASSING signs posted on both sides of the road.
Google Street View
greyhounds [snipped - PDN.] . . . The most important thing in the video is the "Tiger Cool" reefer container in the first well on the intermodal train. . . . I knew TC was starting up but I did not know they were up and running. Go get 'em Tiger.
- Paul North.
zugmann Firelock76 Hey UP, go ahead and squash a few next time, Yeah, I'd rather they didn't. I don't want to see anyone hurt or killed, no matter how stupid they are.
Firelock76 Hey UP, go ahead and squash a few next time,
Hey UP, go ahead and squash a few next time,
Yeah, I'd rather they didn't. I don't want to see anyone hurt or killed, no matter how stupid they are.
UP would be community service if they killed a few of those idiots. Darwinism will take it's natural course as it was intended to. The idiots and stupid will die, while the smart people will survive and thrive. It makes the population smarter. For some reason, it seems like in todays world idiots have many offspring that are stupid as well, this makes the overall population dumber. When our screwed up legal system protects the idiots, it creates more problems in the form of more idiots. When there are more problems with idiots, the RR takes steps to protect themselves from the screwed up legal system, which in the end results in the smart people suffering.
cacole If people in the upper management of UP see this video, I imagine people won't be allowed within 100 feet of the track ever again in the Cheyenne area. In many locations around here that used to be frequented by rail fans the UP has fenced off their right of way and posted it NO TRESPASSING.
If people in the upper management of UP see this video, I imagine people won't be allowed within 100 feet of the track ever again in the Cheyenne area.
In many locations around here that used to be frequented by rail fans the UP has fenced off their right of way and posted it NO TRESPASSING.
This is the result of idiots, and our screwed up legal system. If the legal system did NOT protect idiots that trespassed and stood on the tracks, then the RR wouldn't worry about getting sued. The idiots would be hit and killed which would prevent them from having stupid offspring. With not that many stupid offspring, then there are less idiots who are killed, and the idiot population goes down and almost extinct. Then we wouldn't have to worry about idiots, and the smart people would have more privileges (like getting a bit closer to the track). The entire population would get smarter.
Just let Darwinism naturally work. It is that easy to solve your problems.
Maybe.....
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Kyle:
Idiocracy was only a fictional movie, not a prophesy.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
KyleUP would be community service if they killed a few of those idiots. Darwinism will take it's natural course as it was intended to. The idiots and stupid will die, while the smart people will survive and thrive. It makes the population smarter.
If Darwinism got rid of all the idiots, we would be left with a world of really smart people who were convinced they could never make a mistake.
Euclid KyleUP would be community service if they killed a few of those idiots. Darwinism will take it's natural course as it was intended to. The idiots and stupid will die, while the smart people will survive and thrive. It makes the population smarter. If Darwinism got rid of all the idiots, we would be left with a world of really smart people who were convinced they could never make a mistake.
Nature abhors a vacuum - eliminate the idiots and nature will create even bigger idiots!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Kyle- Wouldn't your system make life a little quiet on computer forums don't you think.( sorry man- the made me do it )
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
BaltACD Euclid KyleUP would be community service if they killed a few of those idiots. Darwinism will take it's natural course as it was intended to. The idiots and stupid will die, while the smart people will survive and thrive. It makes the population smarter. If Darwinism got rid of all the idiots, we would be left with a world of really smart people who were convinced they could never make a mistake. Nature abhors a vacuum - eliminate the idiots and nature will create even bigger idiots!
I never thought of that. It would be kind of like pruning a tree to make it bigger and stronger.
CP GREENbefore criticizing the kid one must consider that he may be deaf or mentally challenged,
Modeling a railroad hypothetically set in time.
Drew4950CP GREENbefore criticizing the kid one must consider that he may be deaf or mentally challenged, I am glad somebody said that.
On the other hand, you can clearly see the 'dad' say something short and sharp to him (or her). I don't think there's much "excuse" other than red mist...
edblysard Maybe.....
I completely agree!!! Nature will correct itself. That is exactly how species evolved. It is Darwinism.
Darwinism
Overmod Drew4950CP GREENbefore criticizing the kid one must consider that he may be deaf or mentally challenged, I am glad somebody said that. On the other hand, you can clearly see the 'dad' say something short and sharp to him (or her). I don't think there's much "excuse" other than red mist...
If he or she is deaf, but is smart and has common sense than don't you think that he/she would have stopped filming, instead of just standing there and continuing to film. However the person continued to film, and didn't seem to notice being picked up and moved. The person was clearly stupid, idiotic, or had a death wish. That is when Darwinism should come in, but the guy who saved the person interrupted Darwinism, and the problem literally lives on.
One little thing bothers me about your application of Darwinism: as you keep knocking off those at the bottom of the ladder, I will eventually find myself on the bottom rung.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Euclid BaltACD Euclid KyleUP would be community service if they killed a few of those idiots. Darwinism will take it's natural course as it was intended to. The idiots and stupid will die, while the smart people will survive and thrive. It makes the population smarter. If Darwinism got rid of all the idiots, we would be left with a world of really smart people who were convinced they could never make a mistake. Nature abhors a vacuum - eliminate the idiots and nature will create even bigger idiots! I never thought of that. It would be kind of like pruning a tree to make it bigger and stronger.
Except for, we are not eliminating the idiots, nature will eliminate the idiots through natural selection, also known as Darwinism. Nature does the same thing with the weak, the weak die and the strong survive, have children, and the entire population gets smarter. Notice how animals adapt over time to become stronger. When humans enter the mix and try to change nature, we screw it up, and make the population stupider an weaker.
Paul of Covington One little thing bothers me about your application of Darwinism: as you keep knocking off those at the bottom of the ladder, I will eventually find myself on the bottom rung.
You will probably not find yourself on the bottom rung. If you have common sense (don't stand on active tracks, look both ways before crossing the road, don't stand on the edge of a cliff) you will be perfectly fine. Nature will stop knocking off the bottom rungs when it finds people with common sense.
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You folk do realize that HALF of the population is BELOW average!
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Before this gets too far into the inane...
I have to believe that UPRR expected the crowds of "lookie-loos," and let's face it, most of us would have liked to have been there, too.
Obviously they didn't foresee what happened, or there might have been some form of barrier (even if it was just vinyl tape).
That still doesn't mean the folks involved were without blame - they clearly were trespassing and even more clearly were oblivious to the cardinal rule - "expect a train on any track."
That said - methinks that we all (all of us railfans) have a certain duty to educate people and perhaps help keep them safe. I'd opine that if someone had organized a "photo line" wherein everyone was at a safe distance and could still get their "shot," that none of the folks present would have complained.
Semper Vaporo You folk do realize that HALF of the population is BELOW average!
Yes, but being below average doesn't mean that they have absolutely no common sense. It is only the really stupid people who have no common sense and act like immortal gods. Those are the only people who will die. However, if we protect the idiots, eventually we will get to the point where people above average will have no common sense. Idiots just seem to multiply. If some get killed there will probably be at least one left.
The answer, to the problem of idiots, is Darwinism, the law of natural selection.
henry6If one gets killed, so does the whole UP steam program, so does railfanning the UP and virtually and all other railroads. One idiot killed will kill it for the rest of us.
That why the legal system needs to be changed so the families of the idiots can't sue the RR. The RR is using there property. The idiot trespassed, damaged some property, and interfered with operations. The idiot's family should pay the bill to clean up the mess the body left. Then UP probably wouldn't care if an idiot gets hit. It could help them spread the message to be safe and stay a safe distance away from the rails so you don't end up like that idiot.
The legal system should NOT hinder Darwinism.
Per Kyle's comment:
Several years back here in Virginia some dopes were four-wheeling on the CSX tracks in the Richmond area, and you guessed it, here came the train and one was killed, one was injured.
The family sued CSX and guess what happened? The judge threw the case out, with the admonishment that the "victims" were trespassing, were old enough to know better, and the survivor was lucky not to be facing jail time from a CSX complaint against him.
So, there's at least one place where common sense prevails.
What about the responsibilty of the Union Pacific Railroad?
While this individual was clearly not responsible for their own actions, the UP should also be held accountable in a situation like this. The UP has a verly long and proud tradition of running classic steam engines that draw large crowds. From what we see in this video they look like amatuers in crowd control. Based on their experience of dealing with large crowds related to their steam engines they, the railroad in general, should be embarassed by what we see in this video. The individual who almost got struck by the approaching freight train should never have been in that position to begn with.
This is a video that the UP can use to train its' employees about the dangerous situations that persons not working for the railroad will place themselves in when on railroad property either legally or trespassing. The UP should also take into consideration that better planning and communication is needed whenever and wherever one of their steam engines travels to ensure the safety of the general public. In other words... don't let 'em be stupid even if they want to!
CC
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