UP #844 Northbound (CFD) to Cheyenne today

Pretty nice. She didn't seem to be working ver hard, so maybe they were running on a yellow signal, or some slow order.

Frame 0:18 from this video.....

Looks & sounds great.

Gary: Rail-fan

Much is said about Union Pacific's steam program (positive and negative).  But little is ever said about Union Pacific's Heritage Fleet as a whole.  Those 21 armour yellow cars in this train are a beautiful sight.  I thank UP for saving, reacquiring, restoring, and maintaining those valuable RR cars from another era. 

Below is a link to their collection (45 cars).  Some very cool railroad cars with their history is given.

https://www.up.com/aboutup/spe..._equipment/index.htm

And most are SMOOTH sided.

Hot Water posted:

Pretty nice. She didn't seem to be working ver hard, so maybe they were running on a yellow signal, or some slow order.

The diesel is doing all the work... 

Very sad news 

Oh man...I am sorry to hear this.  ☹️

Local news video of the sad event.

Definitely an unfortunate and sad event.  I wonder if this was a rail fan who was just to close, or intentional. 

I could not help but wonder, 844 was built in 1944 according to Wikipedia, and never retired by the UP.  I would guess this is not the first incident of this type this engine has had in it 70 plus years of being on the rails.  

Ben

According to the news reports, this is the exact spot/crossing where I filmed my video earlier in the day.  124th Ave in Henderson, CO.  (You can make-out the Henderson sign on the left side at the video start and the E. 124th Ave sign on the signal control box at the very end).  As we all know, these events bring many people track-side which increases the risk of something happening.  As I was waiting to film the run-by, I noticed parents and kids, as well as adults walking on the rails, putting penny's on it, walking over the roadbed and only checking one direction etc etc.  There are also multiple tracks there (sidings etc) which might add to a novice becoming confused, especially in the evening hours. Very unfortunate for the crew and all the passengers too.

My hats are off to the UP Steam crew and all of the great people on and off the train to make this event possible. I woke up this morning hoping it was a bad dream. Here are some highlights of our trip yesterday. 

This is a video I shot as 844 is pulling up to hook on to the train. 

sheepdog posted:

According to the news reports, this is the exact spot/crossing where I filmed my video earlier in the day.  124th Ave in Henderson, CO.  (You can make-out the Henderson sign on the left side at the video start and the E. 124th Ave sign on the signal control box at the very end).  As we all know, these events bring many people track-side which increases the risk of something happening.  As I was waiting to film the run-by, I noticed parents and kids, as well as adults walking on the rails, putting penny's on it, walking over the roadbed and only checking one direction etc etc.  There are also multiple tracks there (sidings etc) which might add to a novice becoming confused, especially in the evening hours. Very unfortunate for the crew and all the passengers too.

And a bigger human magnet is coming:  UP 4014

R. Hales posted:

….  But little is ever said about Union Pacific's Heritage Fleet as a whole.  …..

https://www.up.com/aboutup/spe..._equipment/index.htm

WOW! ….. they really do have some wonderful equipment. Union Pacific does not mess around with this stuff. 

So very sad about last night's tragedy.

Credit to the original drone photographer, and the person who posted this screenshot on rypn.
If you are sensitive, do not enlarge this pic!!!

This should be the new poster for trackside safety, apparently the general public does not know any better than to stand almost in front of an oncoming train.

A poster on another channel has asked, "as railfans/buffs/enthusiasts/photographers, how do you react if you see such blatant behavior? Do you give up your shot to try to save this person from themselves? How are the people visible in this shot dealing with this? Do they feel they should done something to intervene?
Obviously law enforcement can't be everywhere on these excursions, perhaps all rail enthusiast groups that deal with excursions could certainly work towards seeing that this type of incident never happens again.

One person in that picture is living the last pico-seconds of his life. All the other persons in the picture (and for sure the ones in the cab) are moments away from their lives being changed forever.

laming posted:

One person in that picture is living the last pico-seconds of his life.

It was a "she". I happen to see the video before it was pulled. She just stood there, apparently looking through her cell phone view-finder. Maybe the view-finder makes things appear farther away than they really are.

All the other persons in the picture (and for sure the ones in the cab) are moments away from their lives being changed forever.

 

Borden:

Apropos of your post above; three weeks ago I was out railfanning in central PA when I heard on my scanner a westbound NS intermodal had struck a vehicle at a crossing two miles east of the crossing where I was standing.  Shortly after, an eastbound intermodal passed over the crossing where I was at restricted speed and then came to a stop with the headend about three quarters of a mile to the east and the train over top of the crossing.

Traffic quickly backed up at the crossing and I advised several motorists what had happened and that they might be stuck for awhile.  After about 15-20 minutes, a farmer rolled up on a tractor and asked me what was going on.  After hearing about the accident, he parked the tractor in a field, walked out onto the crossing and was preparing to climb between two of the cars.  I yelled at him and told him he couldn’t do that as the eastbound train could begin moving at any minute.  He said “well how in the he** do I get to the other side?”  I pointed to the west and said “start walking.”

Whether it was my handheld scanner or the reflective railroad hat I was wearing, he apparently thought I was there in some official capacity and decided to follow my instruction.  And this turned out to be a good thing as the eastbound train did suddenly start to pull forward to clear the crossing.

To your point; if we see someone about to do something stupid around the railroad, I think it is incumbent on us as responsible people to attempt to stop it.  

Curt

 I believe hot water is correct.   The lady may have felt that the  locomotive was further away than it actually was.     May her soul rest in rest everlasting light .

Too bad such a tragedy had to take a life. Not as important, but it was also a shame that if spoiled the trip for hundreds, and no doubt unset a lot of people. Years ago when the Challenger was in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, a fellow standing too close to the tracks was struck and killed as the engine departed the Ft. Worth station. I spoke briefly to one of the crew members standing near the engine. He was just shaking his head, and said words to the effect that "These engines make all manner of noise and racket, in addition to whistles and bells. It's just difficult to imagine how someone can manage to get in front of these things without being aware of it."

I remember a volunteer with the 261 said to me ten years ago or so that a fatality during a steam excursion would be the end of all steam excursions because the insurance would jump out of sight. I wonder if that is true.I hope not but it seems very possible to me.

Dominic Mazoch posted:

The danger in telling somebody to get out of the way is that the person could go postal and crazy.  If they have a firearm.....  If you touch them then you could get artested and/or sued for assault and battery.  If the person is a child you could get in trouble for child abuse, and the parent(s) could go postal.

stupid remark!

people do not "go postal"

people loose their cool and act crazy, that is NOT postal!

Horrible that this happened. There is no way to prevent it though. Kind of like as long as there’s cars there will be fatal car crashes... I don’t think it would impact future steam excursions, it would be a shame if it did.

we all grow up hearing stories about how someone was killed walking on the tracks, just not aware a train is coming. I guess for some people the brain just fails to process the warnings around them.

sorry to the crew of the 844 and the passengers that had the experience turn tragic.

sheepdog posted:

According to the news reports, this is the exact spot/crossing where I filmed my video earlier in the day.  124th Ave in Henderson, CO.  (You can make-out the Henderson sign on the left side at the video start and the E. 124th Ave sign on the signal control box at the very end).  As we all know, these events bring many people track-side which increases the risk of something happening.  As I was waiting to film the run-by, I noticed parents and kids, as well as adults walking on the rails, putting penny's on it, walking over the roadbed and only checking one direction etc etc.  There are also multiple tracks there (sidings etc) which might add to a novice becoming confused, especially in the evening hours. Very unfortunate for the crew and all the passengers too.

I'm sure everyone has made a mistake in their lives not realizing where they actually are standing. In that still image it looks like there are at least 5 individuals where they shouldn't be. Sadly one paid with their life.

I was doing a math presentation at a grammar school many years ago and using railroad equipment as an example when one of the young girls mentioned that she placed coins on the tracks with her mother to later retrieve them flattened. I explained to her the many reasons it was very dangerous to do so, the first being distance perception of a moving train being very, very, very misleading to the brain.

May she RIP.  Horrible not only for her, but her family, all the witnesses, and of course the train crew.

Looking at the video (I don't recommend without warnings).... it appears as if she did not take into consideration the width-factor of the train, as she was struck by the "elephant ear" smoke deflector.

Another video taken farther down the track doesn't show the impact, but it does show show 844 blasting the horn approaching the crossing, and then realizing what happened, and going into emergency.

Sad all the way around. 

I think there is some merit/truth to the statements that people today don't want to be told what to do or what not to do.  You will either be met with a "thanks", be ignored/dismissed or a "F U".  A personal example:  Many years ago I was trackside waiting for UP 3985 to run by and my small kids wanted to put coins on the track.  A fellow observer overhead my kids and made this comment: "Due to the taper of the wheels, it's possible for the coin to be squeezed and shot out sideways and hit someone standing in the trajectory line."  My initial inner thought was "yeah right" but then I thought it could be possible depending on where the coin was placed on the railhead, even if it's a very very remote possibility. There are always teaching moments depending on the situation, but it's a tough call if you say something to a stranger or not...If I was onsite when this incident occurred, I know I'd be looking at the engine/train rather than someone down the track....

I just watched the video - what a tragic loss of awareness to your surroundings.  My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and those of the crew.

-Greg

And another valid reason CSX doesn't allow steam on its property!

Kent Loudon posted:

And another valid reason CSX doesn't allow steam on its property! 

 

This could have easily been a diesel.  The fact that it was a steam engine is irrelevant except for it garnered more interest.

Steam or diesel you can't fix stupid. That being said if the UP can maintain such a great steam program owning and operating the steam locomotives why can't NS just let other locomotive operate on their trackage and the NS even sold their heritage fleet of rolling stock I understand.

RJT posted:

Steam or diesel you can't fix stupid. That being said if the UP can maintain such a great steam program owning and operating the steam locomotives why can't NS just let other locomotive operate on their trackage and the NS even sold their heritage fleet of rolling stock I understand.

Because it's NS's railroad and they can do what they want.

Rusty

BobbyD posted:

I was doing a math presentation at a grammar school many years ago and using railroad equipment as an example when one of the young girls mentioned that she placed coins on the tracks with her mother to later retrieve them flattened. I explained to her the many reasons it was very dangerous to do so, the first being distance perception of a moving train being very, very, very misleading to the brain.

Reminds me of the time my brothers and I found that out many years ago when we were young, putting coins on the track in front of what we found to be the Burlington Zephyr streamliner, running up next to the Mississippi in central Wisconsin, going from Chicago to St. Paul. It was rounding a bend, and it looked a long way away. The next thing we knew it was almost on top of us and we scrambled out of the way. It was probably doing at least 80-90. Unless you look for more than briefly at an oncoming object, you can't judge distance.

I've seen the Amtrak Southwest Chief at speed go by right next to me at an signs-only rural crossing before,  too, coming around a corner. It was unbelievable how that that thing came past us. Very startling. Takes your breath away when you're not expecting it to be that close.

Kent Loudon posted:

And another valid reason CSX doesn't allow steam on its property!

 

 

 

What an absolutely absurd statement.  Ridiculous at its core.  An argument could be made that a steam train attracts more viewers and increases the risk but the truth is that there are many people of compromised intelligence attracted to trains and not just steam.  These accidents are going to continue to happen no matter the power source.

Byrdie posted:

Kent Loudon posted:

And another valid reason CSX doesn't allow steam on its property!

 

 

 

What an absolutely absurd statement.  Ridiculous at its core.  An argument could be made that a steam train attracts more viewers and increases the risk but the truth is that there are many people of compromised intelligence attracted to trains and not just steam.  These accidents are going to continue to happen no matter the power source.

Well sorry but, I totally disagree with your post. You may not be in the real railroad business to actually witness the thousands and thousand of average people that come out to watch and photograph ANY main line steam operation. Conversely, the vast majority of the public wouldn't walk across the street to watch an average freight train pass.

To be blunt, the subject woman would not have even been there standing on the ties, if it were not for UP 844 pulling that fancy CFD passenger train.

Some Good News from Cheyenne, Wyoming / July 23, 2018

A "little over 6'000" people were served at Monday's Cheyenne Frontier Days Pancake Breakfast, according to CFD Indians Committee Chair Bob Mathews.

Mathews says somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 breakfasts are typically served on Monday of CFD week. Wednesday, which is Cheyenne day at Frontier Days, a day many local residents often have off from work, is usually the busiest day of the week for the breakfasts.

Cool weather and the threat of rain on Monday may have dampened attendance.

Source: AP & KGAB Radio - 650 AM, Cheyenne

Gary: Rail-fan

Another danger is a person is about to get hit by a train is if somebody graps the one about to get hit, and the timing is wrong BOTH will get hit and possibly KILLED.