So a regular railfan posted a video where he almost gets clipped by a tourist train. Of course he blames the train/railroad. Thing is; I found the spot where it happens and I see markings and even a sign . I grew up around plenty of passive crossings, so I'm used to dealing with surprises like this.
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1: Why would the engineer blow a grade-crossing sequence if his train was going to go straight at the switch?
2: You can see the engineer motion to him to hold back as he passes the locomotive. Maybe he thought he was waving "hello" at him?
3: And of course, comments are disabled. Being the video was posted seven days ago at this point, I'm guessing he didn't get much support for his accusation 
---PCJ
The guy who made this video has the common sense of a moth.
What's with the Pullman cars???
I guess I dont get what the issue is, if that knuckle head was obeying the law and staying off his effing phone while driving he would have noticed the grade crossing signs
Exactly! I'm not conversant with traffic laws in Florida but, I'd be willing to bet you aren't to be shooting video with your phone while driving.
Had the train actually struck his vehicle; I'd surmise the responding officer would have issued two tickets; one for failure to stop at the grade crossing and the second for using the phone like this while operating a vehicle. In fact, if the officer could dream up a third simply because the guy was stupid, he probably would.
Curt
It appears that the driver was running the camera. enough said.
I see the guy taking the video has lots of railroad videos on Youtube and a subscriber base of almost 150k . I have a pretty good hunch he was familiar with this line/operations and just wanted to video the encounter for the drama of it all. It wasn't even as close as he made it out to be but he got what he wanted out of it which is Youtube clicks.
The category is listed as "Entertainment." Speaks volumes.
Yep driver is on the careless side. the crossing cross bucks can be seen in the pic. How about a driver coming from the opposite direction especially if the opposing traffic may have been a large truck blocking the view.
Not the best situation...IMHO
Oooops!!! one way street.
I could see his excuse if he got hit:
"I didn't see the train because I was too busy videoing it..." 
Rusty
OOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPSSS OOPS
RailRide posted:3: And of course, comments are disabled. Being the video was posted seven days ago at this point, I'm guessing he didn't get much support for his accusation
---PCJ
Actually he had quite a few comments of support until a couple days ago.
I commented regarding his careless use of the camera while driving and couldn't believe that no one else noticed.
He sent me a reply which I didn't bother reading and disabled the comments section.
At least we didn't have to see the coupler of that locomotive crush his kid sitting in the back seat.
Welcome to 2017. Everyone is a "victim".
Ricko, I am offended by your victim comment 
If you have seen any of the other videos this guy has posted you would see that he's a few fries short of a happy meal!
I'll almost bet there is a reason the train didn't flag the crossing, which isn't on the video.
He not only put himself at risk, but even more so what appears to be his son in the back seat. What an Idiot.
I don't see any signs.
I suppose that I am in the minority but I think it would have been prudent for the train crew to flag the crossing. I don't think that the average driver would think that the train was going to take the diverging route at this crossing. I am not sure that I would have thought that the train was diverging if I was driving on this street. I most likely would have thought that the train was blowing its horn for a crossing on the straight section or at a person, animal, or vehicle on the tracks. Most diverging crossings in the SF Bay Area are protected by flashing lights and / or gates.
The train may have the right-of-way, the signs, and done everything correctly. If someone was killed or injured, however, it is still a tragedy even when the car driver is completely wrong. The train crew will most likely suffer an emotional consequence even if there are no legal consequences.
NH Joe
gunrunnerjohn posted:I don't see any signs.
The idiot's video camera didn't include these red arrows. <sarcasm intended>
New Haven Joe posted:I suppose that I am in the minority but I think it would have been prudent for the train crew to flag the crossing. I don't think that the average driver would think that the train was going to take the diverging route at this crossing. I am not sure that I would have thought that the train was diverging if I was driving on this street. I most likely would have thought that the train was blowing its horn for a crossing on the straight section or at a person, animal, or vehicle on the tracks. Most diverging crossings in the SF Bay Area are protected by flashing lights and / or gates.
The train may have the right-of-way, the signs, and done everything correctly. If someone was killed or injured, however, it is still a tragedy even when the car driver is completely wrong. The train crew will most likely suffer an emotional consequence even if there are no legal consequences.
NH Joe
Joe,
I somewhat agree with you. That crossing is an accident waiting to happen because it is confusing. However, if there is a train next to you with those posted warnings, I think I would err on the side of caution rather than leaving it up to a judge or jury to decide who was responsible for the deaths in that car.
Rocko and MarkLX touched on what I was thinking. As far as I'm concerned, someone should send this video to local law enforcement and this guy should be charged with child endangerment. Not only did he disregard the warning signs, the guy is busy operating a recording device while driving. I'm assuming the guy was the parent. If it wasn't the parent, then someone should send it to the father of the kid(s) and he should beat the crap out of this idiot.
Another fine film by the same director
Farmer_Bill posted:Another fine film by the same director
I'm having an urge to recreate the last interaction that Fortunato and Montresor had, using the this "fan" and the tunnel.
Interesting. You'd think that a railfan would defend the railroad by taking the blame instead of blaming the railroad.
Farmer_Bill posted:Another fine film by the same director
Proof positive that a video camera and YouTube account does not a George Lucas or Steven Spielberg make...
...or Ed Wood for that matter...
Rusty
New Haven Joe posted:I suppose that I am in the minority but I think it would have been prudent for the train crew to flag the crossing. I don't think that the average driver would think that the train was going to take the diverging route at this crossing. I am not sure that I would have thought that the train was diverging if I was driving on this street. I most likely would have thought that the train was blowing its horn for a crossing on the straight section or at a person, animal, or vehicle on the tracks. Most diverging crossings in the SF Bay Area are protected by flashing lights and / or gates.
The train may have the right-of-way, the signs, and done everything correctly. If someone was killed or injured, however, it is still a tragedy even when the car driver is completely wrong. The train crew will most likely suffer an emotional consequence even if there are no legal consequences.
NH Joe
As a former engineer, I am 100% with you Joe. In this case, I would have slowed down to at least walking speed, prepared to stop, being sure that traffic had stopped or cleared before entering the crossing. Since the track appears to go straight, I don't think that most motorists would expect the train to take the diverging route across the road.
That is not to say that the driver of the car is blameless. Driving distracted can get you killed!
It may be time for the return of the long-gone smashboard signal.......but on the road......at about forehead height.......with "STOP" printed on it in wet red paint.....activating a steam whistle and maybe a navy siren or two......BUT... I get the impression that this idiot actually rehearsed the move somewhat.
I won't watch this guy any more. He is irritating, and irresponsible.
I've seen him before, he does Angry Orange spoofs right?. Not exactly a safe minded individual, he takes some risks and disables comment's if called out on the stupidity. This was really stupid though. I have to wonder if it is staged and even the engineer is in on it? Otherwise he needs a Hover-round electric scooter, not a drivers license.
The crossing looks like trouble to me. I dont know if gates or flashers are needed?; But a stop sign there wouldn't hurt, neither would a sign on the left. I could see a "normal" driver watching the loco & the left vs the road and the right side so I think signs on the left by the tracks would do the trick. Better yet; stop AND yield signs stacked 
Who ever told us street paint can replace road signs forgot about inclimate weather. It helps at times, but other times it is useless; signs are normally better imo.
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