Train Speed Limit Question

[ColoCherokees]

It was pretty dumb of her to be on the tracks, for sure. But I beleive I read in the paper that in court, another engineer testified that the brakes were applied way too late (implying that the engineer involved didn't want to slow down and assumed the girl would get out of the way in time). Not sure if this is true/accurate.

The other sad part of this incident is that her boyfriend in the pickup behind her tried to push/ram her across the tracks to safety, but it was determined that he actually pushed her into the train's path (she might've not been hit otherwise). What a mess.

 

[red91]

The other sad part of this incident is that her boyfriend in the pickup behind her tried to push/ram her across the tracks to safety, but it was determined that he actually pushed her into the train's path (she might've not been hit otherwise). What a mess.

This will not bode well for him in the light of CURRENT EVENTS.

 

[jdogg4]

she was just dumb. She can claim the I panicked thing but I call BS. and if her BF did push her what a dumb arse aswell. From what I saw of the location even a train doing 30 mph could take up to 8 laps around a track to come to a ffull stop. doesn't matter if the conductor waited 1 or 2 or 30 seconds to long to hit the breaks he wasn't going to be able to stop the train. They said it was a bad area for problems. IF so pay more attention to those areas. I thought at first that sucks and hope she gets better but now that she got 11mil out of the deal f her that dumb chick. If I was the RR I'd go after the BF that pushed her car into the path of the train to get some money back out of this. I've heard the hole you don't know the whole facts but from the ones that I have watched on the news and a guy down in that area I talked to she should have never been in that situation.

 

[XJ Dreamin']

What gets me, is that in Portland, the lovely city that it is, has commuter trains that run on an overhead rail. Makes a very distinct sound as it comes down the tracks.

If you know what the SOUND is...you know its coming. HOW THE HELL do you not see, or hear a NORMAL train ?

Look , Listen, Live. BINGO Rev.

In Houston, they didn't want those unsightly overheads so they put their new commuters at ground level, right next to the sidewalk. The silly things are electric, intentionally quiet, and nobody pays any damn attention to them at all. Cars and pedestrians get wacked 3 or 4 times a week. They got lights along the street that tell you not to turn when a train is approaching, and cross-gaurds where the track crosses over, but nobody figures anybody else has got any right to tell them where to drive or walk. The trains have cameras and it's funny as hell to watch all the dumb a$$es get themselve run over, but it was really dumb of the city to think that people were any smarter than they are. As it is, with the signs and the cameras and the cross gaurds, I don't think Houston has paid out to anybody. The news interviewed a cop after one train/car accident. They asked if the train situation wasn't inherently dangerous. He looked straight into the camera and said, "Hey! The signs are explicit and in plain view. Don't get in front of these trains!" End of interview :laugh3: .

Hell, they had a festival down town and so many drunks were walking around on the tracks that the cops shut the commuter lines down. Then people were bitching that they couldn't get back home! Go figure. They shoulda let the drunks get run over. Teach 'em to stay off the tracks.

As to not hearing a freight train? Like DrMoab said: Out in open country they can sneak up on you. If you depend on hearing a train while you're driving 50-60 mph on a chip-seal county road with 10' corn on either side, you will get run over some day.

There was one time, though, before they welded the rails, that a chunck of rail broke off the end of one section. Holy cripes what a noise. Our house was a quarter-mile away and that woke everybody up. KABAM, KABAM....KABAM, KABAM....on and on for a 110-car coal train and 2 80-car freight trains before they came out and fixed it the next day. Nobody slept that night!!!

 

[Sarge]

XJ Dreamin' describes the line I would take to work if I had a Hi-Rail on my Suburban, or if anyone had been smart enough to plan a passenger rail service from St Charles county to the St Louis Lambert Airport area. It basically parallels I-70 and Hwy 370 for my entire commute.

That was planned but voted down. The good folks in St Charles were afraid it would allow rif raf to ride the Metro Link across and rob them. I can see it now.."Is there enough room on the Link for this big screen I picked up?"

Sarge

 

[XJEEPER]

I'm sure that TRNDRVR is out doing just that, or he'd already have chimed in on this. I worked around trains for a few years when I was right out of HS, for a company that bought condemed cars and old rail, which are cut up and recycled for rebar production. We also contracted with UPRR and SPRR to clean up train derailments. Having worked several DR's.......one really gains a respect for the potential destructive force of a freight train that leaves the rail or impacts an object on the rail.

It's mighty sad when folks get hit by trains.
The ownership is on those of us that are not driving the train to give right-of-way, because 99.999% of the time, the train will not be able to stop in time regardless of speed and it sure can't swerve around you. There are too many variables to accurately calculate the stopping distance of a train from a specific speed (weight, grade, number of cars/engines, rail condition, temp., moisture on the rail, etc.) so open your eyes, obey crossing signals and stay out of their way.

 

[ChiXJeff]

Anybody else remember the hullaballoo about the idiot sub school bus driver up in Fox River, IL 10 years ago?

She generally didn't drive a long bus, and came to a stop over a crossing, with the rear wheels just past the tracks, and the bus completely overhanging the crossing. Signals lit, the crossing guard CAME DOWN ON TOP OF THE BUS. Kids screaming "MOVE THE BUS, THERE'S A TRAIN COMING!" She didn't push the car in front of her out of the way. Multiple fatalities.

IMHO, she was without a doubt 100% completely at fault. She should have been tried for vehicular manslaughter in each and every case. As far as I know, she wasn't even charged. Fingers were pointed in just about every direction but hers. Nothing the engineer or the train company should have done different, but (indirectly) they paid the price.

<rant off>

 

[Lawn Cher']

That was planned but voted down. The good folks in St Charles were afraid it would allow rif raf to ride the Metro Link across and rob them. I can see it now.."Is there enough room on the Link for this big screen I picked up?"

Sarge

Knowing how my redneck neighbors think, it doesn't surprise me one bit.

 

[Bent]

My Lionel locos top out ~10mph, so it's not to much of an issue. Besides that, Smurfs can't afford an attorney anyway. The blue is a b!7ch to get out of the carpet though.

TIM

 

[Lawn Cher']

My Lionel locos top out ~10mph, so it's not to much of an issue. Besides that, Smurfs can't afford an attorney anyway. The blue is a b!7ch to get out of the carpet though.

TIM

I was really into HO scale trains when I was a kid. On a trip to France I bought a locomotive and a couple of cars, and that thing was fast as merde! GI Joe never stood a chance with Napoleon at the controls.

My father in law bought me a Lionel set a couple of years ago for XMas... I was like a kid again since my other trains have been boxed up for 10 years or so.

 

[Rev Den]

IMHO, she was without a doubt 100% completely at fault. She should have been tried for vehicular manslaughter in each and every case. As far as I know, she wasn't even charged. Fingers were pointed in just about every direction but hers. Nothing the engineer or the train company should have done different, but (indirectly) they paid the price.

<rant off>

X2

It is always the trains fault

Rev

 

[bjoehandley]

From what Dad has said, a crossbuck sign that signifies a railroad crossing is considered a stop sign by federal law, you have to stop and look both ways before crossing just like an intersected road. Now My sister and I were never taught that in drivers ed, let alone seeing it in the Illinois Rules of the Road book, I don't know abouot any of you other guys either here in Illinois or other states or the Republic of California.

A couple of Christmas' age CLTV (a local news station) had a segment about a Metra conductor who has written a few books about his job. The reporter also interviewed a few of his regular passengers, one of which mention a woman a few years ago who claimed the train swerved and hit her at a crossing.

I don't live too far off (about 12 blocks) of a set of UP (former C&NW) tracks and you can hear the trains at night as well as IL Route 59 2 blocks east of the house, so I've never figured it out totally either.

Dad's had a few where people will run right into the side of a train, usually theres been a few drinks involved before that happens though.