Passenger dies after exiting train en route

[amtkstn]

The only part of the SWC route that is single track is from Kansas City to La Junta CO.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

i have seen videos of superliner trains going down the track and one of the side doors open.

 

[TVRM610]

It's one thing to discuss something. It's another to beat a dead horse.
Oh, and I know why I kept reading this thread...strictly to see if anyone else were going to comment on my pictures!

Or are we beating a dead IRON horse? hahahahahahaha oh ok... not funny.

Your pictures are amazing and beautiful but they don't make sense, so they were never taken.

 

[George Harris]

For the head out the window discussion: There are quite a few places in the Northeast Corridor where features are very close to the side of the train. For most of the rest of the railroad system in the US, location of any fixed item close enough to the track to take of the head of somebody just sticking his head out is extremely rare. A normal passenger car is 10'-0" wide, that is 5'-0" from track center to side of car. Even most older through truss bridges will have the closest steel at least 6'-0" or more from the track and any built since the mid 1920's will probably have the closest steel at least 8'-0" off the track center. (The current standard is no less than 9'-0".)

Having your head taken off by some fixed object is not the major issue with sticking your head out. It is flying dust, dirt, bugs, birds, other small objects hitting you in the face or worse your eyes. In general, the Alaska Railroad speeds are not high, probably no more than 50 mph, and in the crooked portions much less. Even in Kansas where this accident occurred, the Southwest Chief spends a lot of its time running at or near 79 mph. West of Albuquerque, make that 90 mph.

Yes, I used to be guilty of quite a bit of head out the door train riding, but that was generally 40 to 45 years ago when I was young and crazier, and on Southern Railway in East Tennessee where speeds were seldom as fast as 60 mph, and usually a lot less for the parts where I stuck my head out.

I am not going to speculate how the man fell out. You can bet there are ongoing investigations working on that issue.

 

[DowneasterPassenger]

When I rode the Trans-Siberian in the far east of Russia in 1995, the coaches were set up "European-style" with the corridor down one side. All the windows opened. The passengers passed the time standing there, their heads stuck out the windows, some smoking.

 

[PetalumaLoco]

When I rode the Trans-Siberian in the far east of Russia in 1995, the coaches were set up "European-style" with the corridor down one side. All the windows opened. The passengers passed the time standing there, their heads stuck out the windows, some smoking.

I did that on a Paris-Munich train the same year. No big deal at the time.

 

[Rob_C]

I dunno... retired railroad employee has freak accident the defies a lot of safety protocol and logic. Sometimes the only reasonable answer left has to be the truth. The guy was murdered by someone on the train, maybe even an employee on the train that had a grudge against him. Sure it's speculation, but are any of the other theories any more likely? It would be pretty amazing if his medical conditioned allowed him to do all the things necessary to exit the train on his own power. *shrug*

Rob

 

[amtrakwolverine]

maybe he thought that he still worked for the RR and was opening the door thinking the train was stopped to let pax out and stepped out of the moving train.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

maybe he thought that he still worked for the RR and was opening the door thinking the train was stopped to let pax out and stepped out of the moving train.

Uhh... Perhaps he was just generally "confused".

 

[jackal]

For the head out the window discussion: There are quite a few places in the Northeast Corridor where features are very close to the side of the train. For most of the rest of the railroad system in the US, location of any fixed item close enough to the track to take of the head of somebody just sticking his head out is extremely rare. A normal passenger car is 10'-0" wide, that is 5'-0" from track center to side of car. Even most older through truss bridges will have the closest steel at least 6'-0" or more from the track and any built since the mid 1920's will probably have the closest steel at least 8'-0" off the track center. (The current standard is no less than 9'-0".)
Having your head taken off by some fixed object is not the major issue with sticking your head out. It is flying dust, dirt, bugs, birds, other small objects hitting you in the face or worse your eyes. In general, the Alaska Railroad speeds are not high, probably no more than 50 mph, and in the crooked portions much less. Even in Kansas where this accident occurred, the Southwest Chief spends a lot of its time running at or near 79 mph. West of Albuquerque, make that 90 mph.

Maximum speed on the ARR is 65mph. That's about 13 miles of track just north of Anchorage. After Wasilla (home of you-know-who, who told me her childhood home's driveway (or access road, something like that) crossed the tracks and she used to listen to the train whistles when growing up), the CTC ends, and the fastest speed is 59mph. But you're right: a lot of the time, the train is going 40, 30, or even 15 mph.

Some of the older through truss bridges on the RR look narrow but easily clear even a fully-outstretched hand (they're probably at least 8-9' from track center, although it's possible that these bridges were rebuilt after the original 1903-1909 construction).

Even if we're just talking about lopping off heads, I find it somewhat hard to believe that a head sticking out 8" would be in danger, since that would also knock off the locomotives' mirrors (which extend out at least 4-5" from the train). Outstretched hands, maybe, but not a head just barely protruding from the window to look up and down the train.

 

[Chris J.]

Having your head taken off by some fixed object is not the major issue with sticking your head out. It is flying dust, dirt, bugs, birds, other small objects hitting you in the face or worse your eyes.

On trains that don't use retention tanks, you need to think what that fine mist in the air is as you hang your head out of the window...

 

[Long Train Runnin']

maybe he thought that he still worked for the RR and was opening the door thinking the train was stopped to let pax out and stepped out of the moving train.

Working for the railroad does not mean you worked on the train as a conductor or attendant. Class I railroads fill entire office buildings of "railroad workers" and in Amtrak's case some of the agents on the phone working in call centers could be considered "railroaders"

 

[amtrakwolverine]

maybe he thought that he still worked for the RR and was opening the door thinking the train was stopped to let pax out and stepped out of the moving train.

Working for the railroad does not mean you worked on the train as a conductor or attendant. Class I railroads fill entire office buildings of "railroad workers" and in Amtrak's case some of the agents on the phone working in call centers could be considered "railroaders"

my point is it said he suffers from epilepsy and gets confused so he might have had one got confused and thought he was a conductor or something and opened the door and stepped out of the train thinking it was stopped at a platform but it was not.

 

[Long Train Runnin']

maybe he thought that he still worked for the RR and was opening the door thinking the train was stopped to let pax out and stepped out of the moving train.

Working for the railroad does not mean you worked on the train as a conductor or attendant. Class I railroads fill entire office buildings of "railroad workers" and in Amtrak's case some of the agents on the phone working in call centers could be considered "railroaders"

my point is it said he suffers from epilepsy and gets confused so he might have had one got confused and thought he was a conductor or something and opened the door and stepped out of the train thinking it was stopped at a platform but it was not.

Sure.. after all anything is possible.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

maybe he thought that he still worked for the RR and was opening the door thinking the train was stopped to let pax out and stepped out of the moving train.

Working for the railroad does not mean you worked on the train as a conductor or attendant. Class I railroads fill entire office buildings of "railroad workers" and in Amtrak's case some of the agents on the phone working in call centers could be considered "railroaders"

my point is it said he suffers from epilepsy and gets confused so he might have had one got confused and thought he was a conductor or something and opened the door and stepped out of the train thinking it was stopped at a platform but it was not.

Sure.. after all anything is possible.

He could have though he was Neil Armstrong on board the Eagle and he needed to take his first steps on the Moon. But you don't suggest a man is senile because he has epilepsy! Confusion and demensia are two different things!

 

[GG-1]

Maybe it is time to wait and see what comes from official Sources, Some of the speculation is getting way to far from logic.

Please lets share the Aloha

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Maybe it is time to wait and see what comes from official Sources, Some of the speculation is getting way to far from logic.
Please lets share the Aloha

I concur either way its terrible thing to have happen. I just hope they don't find the crew at fault.

 

[DET63]

Regarding Dan (commonly though erroneously referred to as "D.B.") Cooper: I believe he did leave the plane though a tail exit after ordering it descend to 12,000 feet (more or less). One of the great mysteries is whether he survived the escape. Since he has not been found (either dead or alive), we'll never know.

Regarding the possibility of the victim opening a side door unnoticed, I think it's a distinct possibility. I remember reading about a woman suffering from Alzheimer's who wanted to step out onto her patio. The problem was, the "house" (an Amtrak train) was moving along at 79 mph; the patio wasn't. I don't know if the story's true, but it seems at least remotely plausible.

I don't know how easy it would be for a person to get out through a rear door, assuming that it had been left unlocked. I also don't know how easy it would be for train crewmen to leave the door unlocked without one of them noticing it. I would think that the door has some indicator obvious to crew members indicating that it was locked, but I could be wrong.

 

[JAChooChoo]

.......I don't know how easy it would be for a person to get out through a rear door, assuming that it had been left unlocked. I also don't know how easy it would be for train crewmen to leave the door unlocked without one of them noticing it. I would think that the door has some indicator obvious to crew members indicating that it was locked, but I could be wrong.

Remember that there is no special "rear" door, it is simply one of the two end doors on every Superliner. We need to find someone who actually knows the required procedures for securing the rear of the train,

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

.......I don't know how easy it would be for a person to get out through a rear door, assuming that it had been left unlocked. I also don't know how easy it would be for train crewmen to leave the door unlocked without one of them noticing it. I would think that the door has some indicator obvious to crew members indicating that it was locked, but I could be wrong.

Remember that there is no special "rear" door, it is simply one of the two end doors on every Superliner. We need to find someone who actually knows the required procedures for securing the rear of the train,

Incorrect.

The final door of a consist is locked so that a pax cannot simply hit the switch to open it, it would require either a key or emergency operation. In addition, as was previously stated, and debated, there are two steel bars that are put there by the operating crew and secured. It is not "simply" anything, if secured properly (which is hard to image it was not) it should be only possible to open during emergency operation.

 

[Guest]

What if he was abducted by aliens, but when they went to return him they couldn't find the train so they just left him where they found him...

 

[PetalumaLoco]

What if he was abducted by aliens, but when they went to return him they couldn't find the train so they just left him where they found him...

That's got to be it! Good job, I like this one best of all!

 

[PetalumaLoco]

At least this proves you can sleepwalk your way off of a moving train.

NYT PDF file.

If you do a google of

man falls from train

you get lots of hits in India. Here's why. Don't worry, it's not graphic.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

.......I don't know how easy it would be for a person to get out through a rear door, assuming that it had been left unlocked. I also don't know how easy it would be for train crewmen to leave the door unlocked without one of them noticing it. I would think that the door has some indicator obvious to crew members indicating that it was locked, but I could be wrong.

Remember that there is no special "rear" door, it is simply one of the two end doors on every Superliner. We need to find someone who actually knows the required procedures for securing the rear of the train,

Incorrect.

The final door of a consist is locked so that a pax cannot simply hit the switch to open it, it would require either a key or emergency operation. In addition, as was previously stated, and debated, there are two steel bars that are put there by the operating crew and secured. It is not "simply" anything, if secured properly (which is hard to image it was not) it should be only possible to open during emergency operation.

Those bars are just held into place by gravity, basically. Its not a complicated procedure to remove them.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

.......I don't know how easy it would be for a person to get out through a rear door, assuming that it had been left unlocked. I also don't know how easy it would be for train crewmen to leave the door unlocked without one of them noticing it. I would think that the door has some indicator obvious to crew members indicating that it was locked, but I could be wrong.

Remember that there is no special "rear" door, it is simply one of the two end doors on every Superliner. We need to find someone who actually knows the required procedures for securing the rear of the train,

Incorrect.

The final door of a consist is locked so that a pax cannot simply hit the switch to open it, it would require either a key or emergency operation. In addition, as was previously stated, and debated, there are two steel bars that are put there by the operating crew and secured. It is not "simply" anything, if secured properly (which is hard to image it was not) it should be only possible to open during emergency operation.

Those bars are just held into place by gravity, basically. Its not a complicated procedure to remove them.

Of course not-- if they were overly-complicated then in an emergency they'd be a bad thing.

Your intrusion is unwarranted anyway. The poster I was responded to suggested that the rear door was just like a regular door in all respects, which it is not. The man did not fall out of the rear door. Your constant insistence that he has is, in my belief, only because you just don't want to be wrong and thus have overlooked the more logical and more reasonable accidents that could have happened.