Man posing for photo struck, killed by train near Kalama, WA

[SarahZ]

The rest of us are in no way obligated to ignore the carelessness of their dearly departed.

Still, a little humanity might be nice.

The train was not the victim here because it got a little blood on it. The passengers were not the victims because they were slightly inconvenienced.

Let's have a little perspective.

I wouldn't call it a "slight" inconvenience if that delay meant missing a connection or some other important thing.

 

[Chey]

I was on that train (22) that hit the pedestrian walking the tracks in Arlington last month. The retrieval of the body and the investigation took something like 2 hours. Although nothing could really be seen from my side of the sleeper car other than cops and ambulances, people on the other side saw them recover the body and they were traumatized. The crew was traumatized and the engineer had to be replaced. A conductor told me that some of them never get over it. I don't think anyone was 'slightly inconvenienced'.

 

[Saber Mom]

I never thought of the trauma that engineers face when this type of incident happens until I came upon this board. I can't imagine seeing something like that. I'm sure it haunts the people involved forever.

 

[FriskyFL]

"Victim"? Seriously? Perhaps the train should have swerved to avoid the "victim" (I.e. Trespasser)? My sympathy is with the first responders and crew that had to clean up the mess, not with the "victim".

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The rest of us are in no way obligated to ignore the carelessness of their dearly departed.

Still, a little humanity might be nice. The train was not the victim here because it got a little blood on it. The passengers were not the victims because they were slightly inconvenienced. Let's have a little perspective.

I have plenty of compassion for people who are harmed or killed by the actions and inaction of others. I even have some level of sympathy for those who take their own lives intentionally. That being said I have little if any compassion for people who bring about their own demise through their own carelessness. Every time someone is unintentionally harmed or killed on the tracks it makes it that much harder for me to enjoy and defend my lifelong hobby of trainspotting. Next time a police officer sees me near the tracks they're going to remember some stupid incident like this one and run me off because they assume I'm just another clueless idiot about to get himself killed.

I think we can all agree that the very first human life possessed a potentially enormous intrinsic value. However since that development we've perpetually diluted the value of an individual human being billions of times. Today each human life is worth roughly one eighth of a billionth of the very first human. Even if the very first human was worth an enormous amount the fact remains that humans today have less intrinsic value than at any other time in the history of the human race.

Back when there were just a few dozen or even a few hundred humans the loss of any single human could have risked the future health of the entire race. Today even the loss of a billion humans is unlikely to doom the race as a whole. Whether we we believe it or not and whether we like it or not we now live in an era of where the vast majority of humans possess an infinitesimally small and perpetually shrinking relevance to the rest of the race. That's just the cold hard truth of living with eight billion contemporaries.

 

[BCL]

I was at a station this morning trying to get away from the relative cold. It may not be cold outside to some people, but I liked being indoors.

I noticed an Amtrak pamphlet that was entitled "Railfans" and was about safety in and around the tracks. In particular it stressed that the platforms are only for ticketed passengers and Amtrak employees, and that quite a bit of what railfans do is trespassing, illegal, and potentially dangerous.

 

[Ryan]

The vast majority of platforms aren't owned by Amtrak.

The vast majority of activity undertaken by rail fans is safe and legal. Too bad a few people screw it up for the rest of us.

 

[BCL]

The vast majority of platforms aren't owned by Amtrak.

The vast majority of activity undertaken by rail fans is safe and legal. Too bad a few people screw it up for the rest of us.

Sure. However, Amtrak often gets to set the rules because they run the majority of staffed stations. For instance, no smoking is a general rule for most Amtrak platforms unless it's a designated smoke break station. Even at stations that are jointly run, the rules are typically that the platforms are only for passengers.

Granted, I don't really imagine there's much enforcement when my family shows up to pick me up or drop me off on the platform. That's kind of low on the scale of enforcement efforts. However, they're also not typically doing anything that could result in being hit by a train.

However, it should be pretty obvious that one should have an abundance of caution while taking photos near active tracks. It's no different than the person who falls off the edge of the Grand Canyon while trying to get that "perfect shot". Then you get the really stupid stuff like those who wanted to take a photo on rocks right in front of a major waterfall. That happened and three died. The two trying to get to those rocks fell down, and one person went in trying to rescue those two.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Much of the trainspotting I see on youtube is probably illegal in the strictest sense. Sometimes the railroad owns little more than the land under the ballast but in nearly every case unless you're on a designated platform or sidewalk you're probably filming on someone's private land. In a practical sense it may not even matter if it's technically legal or not. When it comes to personal photography your continued presence is at the pleasure of those who own the land and those who enforce their wishes. Which is why it's important to avoid creating too much of a problem.

The moment you disobey an order or "suggestion" to leave from someone in charge you're already risking detainment or arrest. All the legal backing in the world isn't going to pay for a qualified lawyer or keep you from losing your job while you attempt to fight for your rights. As much as I enjoy trainspotting I'm not willing to risk a stay in jail over it. After nine eleven planespotting became such an unbelievable pain that I simply gave up on trying to exercise my supposedly legal right to engage in it. Here's hoping that level of persistent interference isn't coming to trainspotting as well.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Here in Austin UP owns the station and platform that Amtrak uses ( ex MoPac) and the tracks as well as the ROW through Austin!

UP continuously repairs/replaces the chain link fences that are built on both sides of the ROW to prevent trespassing by joggers, bikers, homeless and the hi rise condo shoppers @ Whole Foods that use the tracks as a short cut!( Wholepaycheck is across the tracks from the Station)

This is because holes are cut in the fences and locks are cut off the gates constantly by these trespassers!

There is also a single track 1881 Railroad Trestle across Lady Bird Lake (around the curve heading South from the station) that the City of Austin wants UP to replace so that it can be used by pedestrians! ( of course they don't want to pay for it, they expect Amtrak and UP to pony up the money/it would only cost about $15 million they say!!) Trespassers have to jump off this trestle regularly to avoid being hit by trains! There have been several deaths here in the past few years!)

 

[guest]

"Victim"? Seriously? Perhaps the train should have swerved to avoid the "victim" (I.e. Trespasser)? My sympathy is with the first responders and crew that had to clean up the mess, not with the "victim".

It's what they signed up for. Just like an ER Technician. They know what they might be in for. Sad for sure, but comes with the territory.

 

[FormerOBS]

The engineer signed up to run trains. He/she did not sign up to run through a shower of blood.

The first responders signed up to serve the public. That means dealing with unsavory situations.

The fact that they chose to do this does NOT justify actions that are so careless as to invite tragedy,

making their jobs even more unpleasant than necessary

Tom

 

[andersone]

Ancient Chinese Secret: Train wins everytime

 

[Devil's Advocate]

There is a single track 1881 Railroad Trestle across Lady Bird Lake (around the curve heading South from the station) that the City of Austin wants UP to replace so that it can be used by pedestrians!

Would it be possible to accomplish this goal simply by giving the current bridge a platform between the track and the outer wall? Based on my memory there is a large gap in the bridge that seems designed to prevent (or simply penalize) pedestrian use. It's been a while since I looked closely but I remember thinking that if I were on the thing and a train came I'd just have to make it to the outer wall and I'd be fine. On the other hand if you slipped or missed that would be one heck of a fall.

 

[CHamilton]

There is also a single track 1881 Railroad Trestle across Lady Bird Lake (around the curve heading South from the station)

OT, but I'm curious. According to Wikipedia, Lady Bird Lake wasn't created until 1960. What did the trestle span before that?

 

[guest]

The engineer signed up to run trains. He/she did not sign up to run through a shower of blood.

The first responders signed up to serve the public. That means dealing with unsavory situations.

The fact that they chose to do this does NOT justify actions that are so careless as to invite tragedy,

making their jobs even more unpleasant than necessary

Tom

Like I said, it's sad. But they knew there could possibly be a 'show of blood' as you put. If fact I suspect there may have even been training on how things like that need to be handled. And I agree, all jobs everywhere should not me made even more unpleasant than necessary.

 

[Bob Dylan]

It was called Town Lake Charlie! Its the last of the Highland Lakes ( Dam is named the Longhorn Dam) that were created in the 30s to stop flooding on the Colorado River which is what the Lakes are! As was said, the trestle has been in use since 1881!!

 

[neutralist]

How does that little ditty go?

Tracks shiny, move your hiney.

Tracks not bright, traffic is light.

Exactly, the track colors shows the usage, makes the following stunt possible:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7buTCULLeY

Waiting for someone to do this on the NEC.

 

[Big Iron]

How does that little ditty go?

Tracks shiny, move your hiney.

Tracks not bright, traffic is light.

Exactly, the track colors shows the usage, makes the following stunt possible:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7buTCULLeY

Waiting for someone to do this on the NEC.

I'd get a NASCAR race car and bump draft the Acela.

I witnessed something similar in Ladd, IL on the Illinois Railnet tracks where there was a meet of antique rail MOW scooters. Completely sanctioned by the railroad, an organized event. Looked like a ton of fun.