NO TRESSPASSING!

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by clinchfieldfan

As a member of the law-enforcement community I understand why people do stupid things like get killed or maimed by trains. They have absolutely no COMMON SENSE. Their family trees look like telephone poles. Of course this is not exclusive to the railroading community. Just drive down the road and look how some morons drive. Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to human behavior. I hope I haven't offended anybody but after seventeen years of shoveling human remains off of railroad tracks and highways I have become a tad cynical.

I, for one, would like to hear more from your end of the world. I imagine you could contribute a lot to the forum from your observations. I know we have a sheriff out there somewhere, so would enjoy postings from both of you. Within privacy limits of course!

Jen

[Anonymous]

Well now it seems that "Jim stories" do have a small bit of redeeming grace. Probally many times more humor than grace, but certainly better reading that the obituaries

[Anonymous]

Well now it seems that "Jim stories" do have a small bit of redeeming grace. Probally many times more humor than grace, but certainly better reading that the obituaries

[edblysard]

Zardoz is right, there is a draft suction at the end of the train.
I spend a most of my time standing beside moving equipment, in flat yard switching, its impossible not to have to be near this stuff, and Zardoz told you true, lots of stuff falls off, breaks lose, or just plain trys to grab you.

Had a boxcar drop it's door behind me, never waited for the dust to settle, was running to fast to see what was else trying to fall on me.
Sounded like a car wreck combined with a thunder clap.
These door are heavy, around 500 lbs each.

Standing between two trains.
If they are moving in opposite directions, and you stare at the cars too long, you can get a really bad case of vertigo, which upsets your ability to balance yourself, and thats trouble.
It can happen if they are moving in the same direction also, but not a quickly.
It strikes without warning, and can get anybody, ask Zardoz, he sounded like he was speaking from experience!
We too, were taught in class if it started to happen to you, sit down, put your head between you knees and close your eyes till it passes.
Do not try to walk out of it, you cant.

Only had it happen to me once, on a overcast day, between two mains, my train going north, inbound headed south, I am looking down the side of my train, watching for the rear car, and giving car counts to the engineer.
One second everythings hunky dorey, next second I feel like I cant stay straight, everything is tilting left, the ground is moving, and the trains suddenly seem way too close together, almost touching each other.
Cant tell which way is up.
I did exactly what they taught me to do, sat down, put my head between my knees, and closed my eyes.
Felt a lot better, told my engineer to ease them to a stop, no big hurry.
Sat there around five minutes, felt a lot lot better, stood up, threw up, sat down.
Five more minutes, stood up, everything still had a left tilt.

Ended up having my helper put the train away, the cab had to come get me, they took me to the company doc.

Seems I had a head cold, and the vertigo had distrupted the balance mechanisim in my inner ear, which the cold then compounded.

Spent the next day in bed, lights out.
It went away that next day, but I wouldnt wi***hat on my worst enemy.
Its horrible when you feel fine, but every time you try to stand up straight, the ground seems to tilt, and you cant compensate for it.

I think the "dont stand near the train" warning is from railroaders seeing springs and brake shoes come flying out from under the cars.

Those springs are under several tons of compression, and everyone who has worked with this stuff has seen one that looked like it was slipping out of the holder.
When they do come out, they travel amazing distances.

Brake shoes, especially the old worn ones, seem to come out a knee level.
The springs end up anywhere.

Jenny and Nora, next time your near "your" yards, look around the leads, bet you will find a few springs laying around.
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[edblysard]

Zardoz is right, there is a draft suction at the end of the train.
I spend a most of my time standing beside moving equipment, in flat yard switching, its impossible not to have to be near this stuff, and Zardoz told you true, lots of stuff falls off, breaks lose, or just plain trys to grab you.

Had a boxcar drop it's door behind me, never waited for the dust to settle, was running to fast to see what was else trying to fall on me.
Sounded like a car wreck combined with a thunder clap.
These door are heavy, around 500 lbs each.

Standing between two trains.
If they are moving in opposite directions, and you stare at the cars too long, you can get a really bad case of vertigo, which upsets your ability to balance yourself, and thats trouble.
It can happen if they are moving in the same direction also, but not a quickly.
It strikes without warning, and can get anybody, ask Zardoz, he sounded like he was speaking from experience!
We too, were taught in class if it started to happen to you, sit down, put your head between you knees and close your eyes till it passes.
Do not try to walk out of it, you cant.

Only had it happen to me once, on a overcast day, between two mains, my train going north, inbound headed south, I am looking down the side of my train, watching for the rear car, and giving car counts to the engineer.
One second everythings hunky dorey, next second I feel like I cant stay straight, everything is tilting left, the ground is moving, and the trains suddenly seem way too close together, almost touching each other.
Cant tell which way is up.
I did exactly what they taught me to do, sat down, put my head between my knees, and closed my eyes.
Felt a lot better, told my engineer to ease them to a stop, no big hurry.
Sat there around five minutes, felt a lot lot better, stood up, threw up, sat down.
Five more minutes, stood up, everything still had a left tilt.

Ended up having my helper put the train away, the cab had to come get me, they took me to the company doc.

Seems I had a head cold, and the vertigo had distrupted the balance mechanisim in my inner ear, which the cold then compounded.

Spent the next day in bed, lights out.
It went away that next day, but I wouldnt wi***hat on my worst enemy.
Its horrible when you feel fine, but every time you try to stand up straight, the ground seems to tilt, and you cant compensate for it.

I think the "dont stand near the train" warning is from railroaders seeing springs and brake shoes come flying out from under the cars.

Those springs are under several tons of compression, and everyone who has worked with this stuff has seen one that looked like it was slipping out of the holder.
When they do come out, they travel amazing distances.

Brake shoes, especially the old worn ones, seem to come out a knee level.
The springs end up anywhere.

Jenny and Nora, next time your near "your" yards, look around the leads, bet you will find a few springs laying around.
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[Nora]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

As a kid, Dad would take me to the depot for whatever he did at the depot. We would stand on the platform and he always told me not to stand very close to the incoming train - you could be pulled under the wheels - so must be something to that. Dads are, of course, always right!

My mom told me "you'll get sucked under the train" too when I was five or six and I liked to see how close I could get to the moving trains down our street. It cured me of that habit. When I told her a few years ago that I remembered her saying this to me, she denied it & said I was crazy. [:)]

But I do remember a few times, waiting at a station in England, that a train would pass through the station (not stopping) going close to 100 mph. The wind from that would push/pull you pretty good if you were at all close to the edge, and I'd imagine it could knock a little kid down.

--Nora

[Nora]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

As a kid, Dad would take me to the depot for whatever he did at the depot. We would stand on the platform and he always told me not to stand very close to the incoming train - you could be pulled under the wheels - so must be something to that. Dads are, of course, always right!

My mom told me "you'll get sucked under the train" too when I was five or six and I liked to see how close I could get to the moving trains down our street. It cured me of that habit. When I told her a few years ago that I remembered her saying this to me, she denied it & said I was crazy. [:)]

But I do remember a few times, waiting at a station in England, that a train would pass through the station (not stopping) going close to 100 mph. The wind from that would push/pull you pretty good if you were at all close to the edge, and I'd imagine it could knock a little kid down.

--Nora

[zardoz]

You will not get pulled under the train, but the wash of air could be enough to cause a loss of stability.. However, there is a slight suction BEHIND the train (as there is in you car or truck), but again I do not believe it is sufficient to pull you in.

The disorientation of being between two trains is very real. You lose your visual reference points of stability, and with the ground vibrating as the trains pass, loss of balance become a dangerous possibility.

When i hired as a brakeman, one point the instructors pressed home was the possibility of this happening in the yard, where it is dark (at night, and even in the day to some extent), and the tracks are only a few feet apart. The instructors said that if you get caught between two moving trains, the best thing to do was to lay down on the ground between the trains.

And believe me, it is a very upsetting experience to have happen. Very scarry!

[zardoz]

You will not get pulled under the train, but the wash of air could be enough to cause a loss of stability.. However, there is a slight suction BEHIND the train (as there is in you car or truck), but again I do not believe it is sufficient to pull you in.

The disorientation of being between two trains is very real. You lose your visual reference points of stability, and with the ground vibrating as the trains pass, loss of balance become a dangerous possibility.

When i hired as a brakeman, one point the instructors pressed home was the possibility of this happening in the yard, where it is dark (at night, and even in the day to some extent), and the tracks are only a few feet apart. The instructors said that if you get caught between two moving trains, the best thing to do was to lay down on the ground between the trains.

And believe me, it is a very upsetting experience to have happen. Very scarry!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

QUOTE:
I have heard stories about people being sucked under by a train, don't know if that is true or not. But it would be possible for a dizzy or disoriented person to fall or walk into a train. Just something else to consider.

As a kid, Dad would take me to the depot for whatever he did at the depot. We would stand on the platform and he always told me not to stand very close to the incoming train - you could be pulled under the wheels - so must be something to that. Dads are, of course, always right!

Mookster

I've heard something like that. If you stand in between two fast-moving trains you'll get sucked under one by the air currents the train makes[:0]. But i seriosly doubt its true.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

QUOTE:
I have heard stories about people being sucked under by a train, don't know if that is true or not. But it would be possible for a dizzy or disoriented person to fall or walk into a train. Just something else to consider.

As a kid, Dad would take me to the depot for whatever he did at the depot. We would stand on the platform and he always told me not to stand very close to the incoming train - you could be pulled under the wheels - so must be something to that. Dads are, of course, always right!

Mookster

I've heard something like that. If you stand in between two fast-moving trains you'll get sucked under one by the air currents the train makes[:0]. But i seriosly doubt its true.

[clinchfieldfan]

As a member of the law-enforcement community I understand why people do stupid things like get killed or maimed by trains. They have absolutely no COMMON SENSE. Their family trees look like telephone poles. Of course this is not exclusive to the railroading community. Just drive down the road and look how some morons drive. Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to human behavior. I hope I haven't offended anybody but after seventeen years of shoveling human remains off of railroad tracks and highways I have become a tad cynical.

[clinchfieldfan]

As a member of the law-enforcement community I understand why people do stupid things like get killed or maimed by trains. They have absolutely no COMMON SENSE. Their family trees look like telephone poles. Of course this is not exclusive to the railroading community. Just drive down the road and look how some morons drive. Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to human behavior. I hope I haven't offended anybody but after seventeen years of shoveling human remains off of railroad tracks and highways I have become a tad cynical.

[Mookie]

QUOTE:
I have heard stories about people being sucked under by a train, don't know if that is true or not. But it would be possible for a dizzy or disoriented person to fall or walk into a train. Just something else to consider.

As a kid, Dad would take me to the depot for whatever he did at the depot. We would stand on the platform and he always told me not to stand very close to the incoming train - you could be pulled under the wheels - so must be something to that. Dads are, of course, always right!

Mookster

[Mookie]

QUOTE:
I have heard stories about people being sucked under by a train, don't know if that is true or not. But it would be possible for a dizzy or disoriented person to fall or walk into a train. Just something else to consider.

As a kid, Dad would take me to the depot for whatever he did at the depot. We would stand on the platform and he always told me not to stand very close to the incoming train - you could be pulled under the wheels - so must be something to that. Dads are, of course, always right!

Mookster

[Anonymous]

Something else to consider along with the previous post is this. (Yep, here comes another Jim story)

Many years ago we had a work train with sleeping/eating/tool cars stopped in our siding. I would visit with the workers and they showed me the inside of the cars. One day while on the train another train came by at track speed. Me and one of the workers were standing on the steps in the vestibule and he told me to hang on and if I got dizzy to not move but sit down. As the train passed I did get dizzy being so close and all. So I did sit down. Taught me a real good lesson.

I have heard stories about people being sucked under by a train, don't know if that is true or not. But it would be possible for a dizzy or disoriented person to fall or walk into a train. Just something else to consider.

[Anonymous]

Something else to consider along with the previous post is this. (Yep, here comes another Jim story)

Many years ago we had a work train with sleeping/eating/tool cars stopped in our siding. I would visit with the workers and they showed me the inside of the cars. One day while on the train another train came by at track speed. Me and one of the workers were standing on the steps in the vestibule and he told me to hang on and if I got dizzy to not move but sit down. As the train passed I did get dizzy being so close and all. So I did sit down. Taught me a real good lesson.

I have heard stories about people being sucked under by a train, don't know if that is true or not. But it would be possible for a dizzy or disoriented person to fall or walk into a train. Just something else to consider.

[mudchicken]

AMEN! and well spoken Zardoz!

[mudchicken]

AMEN! and well spoken Zardoz!

[zardoz]

Other reasons to stay well-clear of the right-of-way:

1. If a train hits debris on the tracks, that debris could become airborn in any direction. (trouble-makers like to put spikes on the rails--imagine what that would do to you when moving at 60mph after being shot out from under a train wheel)

2. Parts can and do fall off of the equipment (truck springs, banding, chains, brakeshoes, boxcar doors, scrap steel from gondolas, ore and coal from hoppers, lumber [loads and/or securing boards], etc)

3. Near crossings stay on the train-ward side of the road; a struck auto (or pedestrian) could also become a launched death-inducing object.

4. If you 'spook' (surprise) a train crew by your presence, objects might get "dropped" out of the cab window as they go by (like water bottles, trash bags, etc).

When two trains pass on adjacent tracks, every crew person I knew would always get out of their seat and go to the other side of the cab as the trains passed, specifically to get as much out of the way as possible in case of overhanging equipment or lumber. If they are concerned while sitting in a locomotive, should not you be concerned also?

I've seen track-side objects get ripped right out of the ground by a dragging chain!

I know most of you regular forumites (is that a word?) know all this well enough; this is for those new to the hobby (and for those that might have fogotten what can happen).

[zardoz]

Other reasons to stay well-clear of the right-of-way:

1. If a train hits debris on the tracks, that debris could become airborn in any direction. (trouble-makers like to put spikes on the rails--imagine what that would do to you when moving at 60mph after being shot out from under a train wheel)

2. Parts can and do fall off of the equipment (truck springs, banding, chains, brakeshoes, boxcar doors, scrap steel from gondolas, ore and coal from hoppers, lumber [loads and/or securing boards], etc)

3. Near crossings stay on the train-ward side of the road; a struck auto (or pedestrian) could also become a launched death-inducing object.

4. If you 'spook' (surprise) a train crew by your presence, objects might get "dropped" out of the cab window as they go by (like water bottles, trash bags, etc).

When two trains pass on adjacent tracks, every crew person I knew would always get out of their seat and go to the other side of the cab as the trains passed, specifically to get as much out of the way as possible in case of overhanging equipment or lumber. If they are concerned while sitting in a locomotive, should not you be concerned also?

I've seen track-side objects get ripped right out of the ground by a dragging chain!

I know most of you regular forumites (is that a word?) know all this well enough; this is for those new to the hobby (and for those that might have fogotten what can happen).

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Grinandbearit

Instead of the Darwin Award, up here in Canada,we say it's just weeding out the gene pool when some fool gets hit on the tracks .

Unfortunately there are so many of them and so few of us!

Mookie

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Grinandbearit

Instead of the Darwin Award, up here in Canada,we say it's just weeding out the gene pool when some fool gets hit on the tracks .

Unfortunately there are so many of them and so few of us!

Mookie

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jean Ouimet

all of you have seen loads of lumber on flatcars those bundles use steel strapping to hold them together then are strapped to the car every so often the strapping breaks and then you have a razor blade flapping in the wind ready to slice anything it comes in contact with.
STAND BACK STAY SAFE AND IN ONE PIECE!

That's really scary[:0] I agree with the man- stay back!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jean Ouimet

all of you have seen loads of lumber on flatcars those bundles use steel strapping to hold them together then are strapped to the car every so often the strapping breaks and then you have a razor blade flapping in the wind ready to slice anything it comes in contact with.
STAND BACK STAY SAFE AND IN ONE PIECE!

That's really scary[:0] I agree with the man- stay back!

[Grinandbearit]

Instead of the Darwin Award, up here in Canada,we say it's just weeding out the gene pool when some fool gets hit on the tracks .

[Grinandbearit]

Instead of the Darwin Award, up here in Canada,we say it's just weeding out the gene pool when some fool gets hit on the tracks .

[Anonymous]

all of you have seen loads of lumber on flatcars those bundles use steel strapping to hold them together then are strapped to the car every so often the strapping breaks and then you have a razor blade flapping in the wind ready to slice anything it comes in contact with.
STAND BACK STAY SAFE AND IN ONE PIECE!

[Anonymous]

all of you have seen loads of lumber on flatcars those bundles use steel strapping to hold them together then are strapped to the car every so often the strapping breaks and then you have a razor blade flapping in the wind ready to slice anything it comes in contact with.
STAND BACK STAY SAFE AND IN ONE PIECE!

[yellowducky]

I once heard that the best way to get a point across, is to get them laughing, and then to hit 'em with the punch line.[:)]
Anyway, thanks for the laugh everybody!