Train hits teen posing on tracks

Real life is not like "Stand By Me." This shouldn't be a hard concept, even for a teenager.

 
Last edited:
One frisky angle... facepalm

using tapatalk.
 
We have train tracks near our house and I have to walk beside it to get into my favourite shooting locations. I just wonder how these people manage to die?? I can hear the train coming well before it really passes, even if I am listening to music at the same time...
 
We have train tracks near our house and I have to walk beside it to get into my favourite shooting locations. I just wonder how these people manage to die?? I can hear the train coming well before it really passes, even if I am listening to music at the same time...

It was nice knowing you.

Look up the Doppler effect. That is why people get hit.
 


Could be something like that - one train providing a distraction from another - or simply getting too close.

I've seen the same thing in training; you get students on something like a tractor and at first they are ALL a good distance away from the tractor and the one student in the seat controlling it. Then as they all get more and more confident they get closer and closer. Soon students who wouldn't stand near a tractor are right up next to the wheels - often just trying to help - and well into the region where they could come to harm.

Trains are the same, we get used to them and thus we get closer and take risks. IT all goes well till something out of the ordinary happens (person trips whilst walking next to the speeding train etc...).


Another aspect is these high-speed trains which really do move so fast we are unprepared for how quickly they close what appears to be a long distance away from us.



Each time it happens its a terrible situation. Stopping people is one move; were I in the train companies position the other angle I'd take is to accept that people want and will keep doing this and aim to try and provide safe ways for it to be done without risk. A simple "app" that shows the position of trains and bleeper warns as one is supposed to approach or which outlines unused tracks might be an easy way to save lives.
 
I hate seeing things like this. Just sad when someones life is ended because of a stupid mistake.


And... if anybody wants to do a photoshoot near traintracks without risking your life, this website aughta help. Abandoned Rails: Home

A list of abandoned rails by state. I have used it once or twice when I needed A track in the shot.(although make sure you aren't breaking any laws by crossing other peoples land, or the rails arenn't on someones land)
 
How in the hell does this keep happening? Trains are loud and I'm not talking train horns either and they shake the ground at least 1/4 mile away at crawling speeds. I was downtown Dallas a couple weeks near the tracks taking Cityscape photos and you didn't need a train horn to let you know a train was coming. The tracks would resonate metal on metal noise before you could even see the trains. The metal on metal noise would get louder around 1/4 mile and the ground would start vibrating like crazy. FYI: I was shooting from a designated walking path. Anyhow, it doesn't take much to avoid trains...besides the obvious stay clear of them. Keep you eyes open and unplug the ear phones.
 
Tail have a look at hte video I posted - a guy on the platform nearly hit by a train and he wasn't doing anything hugely stupid beyond not being "behind the yellow line". People don't realise how fast they are - look at how quick that train goes from something in the background to right up going past you in a few seconds - couple that to lingering too close to the track and its easy to see how an accident could happen.
 
Tail have a look at hte video I posted - a guy on the platform nearly hit by a train and he wasn't doing anything hugely stupid beyond not being "behind the yellow line". People don't realise how fast they are - look at how quick that train goes from something in the background to right up going past you in a few seconds - couple that to lingering too close to the track and its easy to see how an accident could happen.

That train is quicker than most of the trains I'm used to but I wouldn't be that close to the tracks anyways. If I can reach out and invisibly touch the train, I'm too close. The faster the train, the more distance I put between me and the train. I also avoid train crossing...too many idiots get hit trying to beat the train and I don't want to get hit by flying debris.
 
If someone really feels the need to take a photo on the tracks then they need to find tracks that they are 100% sure are abandoned and be sure to find out who owns them andget the proper permission.

I had a friend who's son was killed in some local tracks. He was messing around with some friends (and I do believe they had been drinking as well) and put a penny on the rail to see what would happen then backed onto the other track, problem was he was wrong about which track the train was approaching on. Another friend once tried to kill himself on the tracks and changed his mind at the last minute, he said he didn't realize how much the trains "hung over" the sides (aka how wide they were compared to the width of the tracks). He lucked out but did have the train go over him while he layed in the ditch (he then spent a few days in the psych ward and stopped talking to me for 2 years since I sent the police to get him off the tracks). People don't alwayz realize how large trains really are or how fast they are going.

Sent from my SM-N915T using Tapatalk
 
Amtrak trains are fast, topping 100mph in spots. When a train is going that fast the Doppler effect comes into play making it much harder to hear until they are damn near on top of you. These aren't steam trains of old, they are electric and fast.
 
Nevermore that's a good point on the width of a train! I can bet a lot do just stand back enough from the tracks; but don't indeed realise how wide the train is and that its going to overlap both sides of the track by a good margin.

There's also bits that stick out; most trains are pretty sleek, but you get bits like footsteps which can stick out (heck on old steam trains they'd stick out a lot!) and thus also catch you when you think you've got enough distance, since the speed will make fine details like that harder to see until they hit.
 
I often take the train here, taking the Marc trains which slow to stop on their way south to DC.
When the Metroliner goes through at 100+ (150 fps) the overpass to the North and the trees shield the sound and it seems like 2 seconds before you see and hear the train approaching and it goes through.
A big train at 100+ mph is very impressive.

upload_2015-9-20_18-32-3.png
 
It is always sad when something like this happen.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top