Found on YouTube today. Not my video, just sharing.
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I noticed lots of people and cars crossing the tracks - and stopping - right in front of the train when I was there on Saturday. I did not notice any flagman, although I may have missed it. Looked like a bad spot. Cars are focused on either the parking attendants pulling into the lot or traffic passing on the street. Pedestrians also didn't seem to be any better. No gates, lights, or bells at the crossing.
Quite frankly - the entire crossing looks like an accident waiting to happen.
Hope all are OK, looks like a relatively minor accident.
Another chapter of Real trains: "calamities and controversies".
Farmer's Insurance Co. should make a commercial out of this mishap. 
Wow. Just wow. If any of those power lines had been shaken loose, the results could have been catastrophic.
Hard to imagine he didn't hear the whistle! I heard it all the way down here. 
For sure. I guess it serves as a reminder how powerful any distraction can be.
I'll bet they're a bit more careful around RR tracks from this point forward! 
Idiot.
Probably texting someone to tell them they were leaving the parking lot. 
As heard on the recording of the conversation in the SUV just before impact. "OMG! Hey Girlfriend did you see this post on Facebook. What???!! ".
Funny how everyone jumps on the "must be texting bandwagon" whenever something like this happens. Didn't some elderly person drive into the side of a tourist train in broad daylight a few years back? For all we know if could have been an older person who shouldn't be on the road in the first place.
It'll be interesting to see which one it is (or perhaps it's in a third category).
Hate to say it but probably more like " Honey me and the kids are leaving the train show now."
How in God's name could you NOT notice the train moving around the curve and coming towards the crossing? The driver couldn't possibly been paying any kind of attention to what they were doing.
cta4391 posted:Funny how everyone jumps on the "must be texting bandwagon" whenever something like this happens.
I drive a lot of miles each year in our diesel motor home. Unlike most people who own a motor home, we use it a LOT. It's got 94,000 miles on it now. I sit up high and have a very good view down into the vehicles that pass me on the left. I make it a point to look over as I take my informal, unofficial tally of drivers. About HALF of them are looking at a phone working their thumb on the screen while passing me!
A couple of years ago I watched a young girl crash right into the big flashing yellow arrow at a single lane merge point. There had been signs warning of the single lane merge for TWO MILES ahead of the merge! When she passed me in the left lane about 100 yards from the sign she was...you guessed it...texting.
So yes, I will indeed jump on the "must be texting" bandwagon because I see it with my own eyes, every time I drive the motor home.
Bah hahaha ha ha, idiots. I love the announcer repeatedly saying stay out of the way for safety as the idiot parks in front on the train
Well at least the train seems like it was going a good speed... unlike the Bel Del mishap several years ago where the train was only doing 15mph!
Very interesting,I am going to assume it was distracted driving.The person that drove me to the Hesston Steam Museum from Chicago on Sunday had to play with his phone the whole trip.Finding music,chatting with friends,typing in addresses of places to eat and rerouting the GPS while cruising at 70 mph was much more important than paying attention to conditions on the road.I will never ride with this person again.Sadly though,screwing with the phone is the top priority with more and more drivers with safe driving coming in a distant second.
I have to agree with Rich. I also look into adjacent drivers and at least a third of them are looking at their phones. Even worse are contractors using a laptop perched on the center console while driving!
fortunately, maybe the only injury there was some whiplash. could have much worse.
I also agree with Rich, driving a very high 4x4 Pickup commuting on I81 in PA and I to take informal polls/observations and other than texting I have seen folks with laptops open watching videos while driving I have also seen folks with books and newspapers on the wheel and reading them while driving and most of the time those people are speeding.
Rich,
If something like this happened to 765 on Norfolk Southern or on another big Class I railroad, wouldn't the incident ruin the FWRHS' reputation?
when approaching a railroad grade crossing that has crossbucks only the rule is "STOP, LOOK and LISTEN. this driver did not even stop.
Railfan Brody posted:Rich,
If something like this happened to 765 on Norfolk Southern or on another big Class I railroad, wouldn't the incident ruin the FWRHS' reputation?
How would FWRHS's reputation be ruined when it would be the drivers fault?
Rusty
Rusty Traque posted:Railfan Brody posted:Rich,
If something like this happened to 765 on Norfolk Southern or on another big Class I railroad, wouldn't the incident ruin the FWRHS' reputation?
How would FWRHS's reputation be ruined when it would be the drivers fault?
Rusty
I guess your right, it wouldn't ruin their reputation. It might be different if for instance a passenger was injured during a runby. But you've got me there.
I guess the SUV driver is a good nominee for the Darwin Award this year. Unfortunately he probably survived and will continue to add his stupid genes to the gene pool.
Link to news article. Driver facing charges.
DaveSlie posted:Link to news article. Driver facing charges.
Wonder what the idiot's excuse was for NOT seeing the 425, nor hearing the whistle? Windows rolled up tight, music blasting, and using the "smart" phone, all at the same time?
Rusty Traque posted:Railfan Brody posted:Rich,
If something like this happened to 765 on Norfolk Southern or on another big Class I railroad, wouldn't the incident ruin the FWRHS' reputation?
How would FWRHS's reputation be ruined when it would be the drivers fault?
Rusty
While "ruined" may be a bit strong, I think Brody does have a point. Just look at the headline in the article DAVESLIE mentioned - Train hits car in Jim Thorpe. While technically accurate, it implies some fault by the train crew.
Serves him right! Wrecked his brand new car too. Fortunately his wife was not directly in the path of the train.
Still don't understand why the RR didn't have flaggers ahead of the train.
Apples55 posted:Rusty Traque posted:Railfan Brody posted:Rich,
If something like this happened to 765 on Norfolk Southern or on another big Class I railroad, wouldn't the incident ruin the FWRHS' reputation?
How would FWRHS's reputation be ruined when it would be the drivers fault?
Rusty
While "ruined" may be a bit strong, I think Brody does have a point. Just look at the headline in the article DAVESLIE mentioned - Train hits car in Jim Thorpe. While technically accurate, it implies some fault by the train crew.
Exactly! Think about the headlines if there was an accident with 765 or any other excursion locomotive.
"1 Dead & 2 Injured After Being Struck By Historic Steam Locomotive"
A good lawyer could make a case against the RR, I think. The engine was running in reverse, no one up front and no one protecting the crossing. Negligence.
I mean do they not notice the train coming towards them with the whistle blowing? ugh crazy.
The driver is 76, and his wife is 77.
Any lawyer that would make a case against the RR is NOT "good", by definition!
jim pastorius posted:A good lawyer could make a case against the RR, I think. The engine was running in reverse, no one up front and no one protecting the crossing. Negligence.
Just because a Lawyer will take the case, that doesn't mean the case has any warrant.
some Attorneys will take an unjustified case, in the Hope that the RR will settle to avoid the court costs, it is often cheaper to settle, even if not justified, than to fight it.
If the crossing has crossbucks, it would be the DRIVER that was negligent, not the RR. That doesn't mean there won't be an attorney who will be willing to take a gamble on a payout.
Doug
EscapeRocks posted:The driver is 76, and his wife is 77.
So what? Does their age mean that they can no longer see nor hear?
Railroads have been blamed for these situations before. An entire town and Fox News turned on Union Pacific for an incident that was the motorist's fault. This video's comment section is pretty wild.
Hot Water posted:EscapeRocks posted:The driver is 76, and his wife is 77.
So what? Does their age mean that they can no longer see nor hear?
I was not making any judgment call. Just pointing out something.
Stop = Look = Listen = Listen = Look = Stop. My parents always told me that at a gated and non gated crossing. As a driver, past of the deal is be responsible for the vehicle and your actions. Not placing blame either but IMHO, all gates regardless of location should be gated. I know it is expensive but could be phased in over 10 years.
Safety First - Operation Life Saver - Funding should come from a variety of sources including the RR, State Department of Transportations and grants.
Railfan Brody posted:If something like this happened to 765 on Norfolk Southern or on another big Class I railroad, wouldn't the incident ruin the FWRHS' reputation?
No, not at all. It has already happened - twice.
The 765 has already had two grade crossing accidents in her excursion career. One was on Norfolk Southern on what is now the Wheeling & Lake Erie and the other occurred on the Southern Railway in 1982 when they leased the 765 for 26 trips. It did not hurt the FWRHS reputation at all because neither one was their fault.
Whenever this happens, it is ALWAYS the drivers fault. I don't care if there are flashers and gates at the crossing or not, the railroad ALWAYS has the right-of-way. That's why engineers have to sound the whistle for 20 seconds before occupying the crossing. As long as the engineer is complying with the rules by running at the appropriate speed, sounding the whistle properly, ringing the bell and using the flashing ditch lights (if equipped) there is no fault on the engine/steam crew if something like this happens.
PSU1980 posted:Stop = Look = Listen = Listen = Look = Stop. My parents always told me that at a gated and non gated crossing. As a driver, past of the deal is be responsible for the vehicle and your actions. Not placing blame either but IMHO, all gates regardless of location should be gated. I know it is expensive but could be phased in over 10 years.
Safety First - Operation Life Saver - Funding should come from a variety of sources including the RR, State Department of Transportations and grants.
I must disagree. The expense is absolutely prohibitive. Gates are not needed at all crossings.
It is like saying that all stop signs should be replaced with traffic lights. Cost prohibitive and not needed.
What is needed is for drivers to understand what a cross buck sign means and to STOP, Look, Listen before going across the tracks. These same people would not run a stop sign - why are rail crossings that hard to understand?
Paul
In my town, there is a couple of railroad crossing that only has yield signs, on a two side roads, parallel to each other. I don't think just because there is a railroad crossing it has to have gates and lights. Whenever I cross that track I always slow down and look before and while I am crossing. I have never seen a engine on it, doesn't means there won't ever be one. I just know you never now if a engine will go on that track. In my mind it is just common sense to look when it comes to railroad crossings.
