Car at crossing, Amtrak in Colorado

BoxcabE50 Jun 27, 2016

  1. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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  2. BarstowRick

    BarstowRick TrainBoard Supporter

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    Sad to think of the lose to loved ones.
     
  3. Mr. SP

    Mr. SP Passed away August 5, 2016 In Memoriam

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    Might be that the driver of the van was trying to beat the train. You always lose if you tangle with a train. Sorry for the family.
     
  4. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Sad that people lost their lives. My sympathies to the train crew who have to bear that vehicle operator's mistake in mind the rest of their lives.
     
  5. wpsnts

    wpsnts TrainBoard Supporter

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    People that do this kind of thing have absolutely no regard what so ever for their family's lives, the railroad crew's
    livelihoods and wellbeing, let alone themselves. I have no sympathy for the driver.
    If the train was running at track speed it would have cleared the crossing in less than a minute.
    Every run I make will have at least two if not more vehicles attempting to beat us at a crossing. I've hit my share. At least there are a few less that can try.
    YES this stuff makes me very angry.
    And yes it is sad that this continues to happen.
     
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  6. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    It might not be the case here, but all to often it seems to be impatience on the part of that vehicle's operator. I don't understand the near frantic urgency to get somewhere these days, especially at peril of any life. Just a couple of seconds to be cautious, and maybe a couple of minutes to stay alive. If you are already late, a few more minutes just won't matter. Most of the time people could have just left a bit earlier... But we live in a me, me, me world, which incredibly includes fools who think trains can swerve or stop on a dime. :eek:
     
  7. Eagle2

    Eagle2 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    It does seem careless behavior played a role. Very sad that some of the dead and injured were very young children. Unfortunately the crossing in question only has a sign, as per this photo:

    [​IMG]
     
  8. BarstowRick

    BarstowRick TrainBoard Supporter

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    We will never know for sure why the driver of the van choose to cross the railroad tracks.

    This will affect the train crew, those passengers who saw the after math and the family of those who died.

    I hate to use Darwin Award in such cases but if this was done on purpose....gosh what were they thinking.

    A sad day indeed.
     
  9. Mr. SP

    Mr. SP Passed away August 5, 2016 In Memoriam

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    Over the years I have seen drivers go around the gates at railroad crossings. In some cases those drivers got lucky and made it. Still there is no reason to go around the gates of a crossing.
    The crossing in this case had no signals or gates. I wonder if it's a main road or just a crossing for a secondary road.
     
  10. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Many years ago, I had one rear end of a "human" actually try to push my car through a lowered gate. Thankfully I was in a very, very small car. (Likely why he thought it was funny.) So I just cranked the steering wheel hard left, and zipped away, while giving him a one finger salute... :mad:
     
  11. CarlH

    CarlH TrainBoard Member

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    Having grown up in a relatively densely populated state (NJ), I did not see many railroad crossings when I was young that had only a sign, without gates or even lights. Then I saw a lot of of these "sign only" crossings when I visited South Dakota for the first time, and I remember feeling like it did not give enough warning to drivers. I realize the onus is supposed to be on the vehicle driver, but I just feel these "sign only" crossings are too dangerous. Of course, who is going to pay for it is part of the problem. Even a standard traffic light (conventional road intersection, with no railroad or train detection equipment) is a fairly expensive piece of equipment.
     
  12. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Cost would be a huge problem in rural areas. There are simply many, many, many, well, almost countless it would seem, of these crossings. No way to justify the expense for infrequent use.
     

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