Large Scale Central

Too Close, or Idiot on the Tracks

General Discussion
#1

I put this here because I wasn’t sure it fit anywhere else…I don’t know how many of you have seen this. This little bit of bad news was taken on the Blue Mountain and Reading here in Pa. back in '94. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aVE0RHsiYA

Yes, they say the guy lived to be stupid again another day. It’s also been said he tried to sue the RR and lost. OTOH there seem to be several rule violations here on the part of the train crew as well.

Good time to trot out this link as well http://www.oli.org/ Remember, always play/work safe, an accident can ruin more than just your day!

#2

I’m sorry if some find this offensive, but what a stupid stupid dumbass!

He’s standing almost in front of the train! OMG! Arent there telephoto lenses to avoid stupid things like this?

I guess the shot was “so good” he failed to realize he needed to move his big fat butt off the railing and got himself tagged…

In some respects this is a PERFECT example how photographers lose themselves in their camera viewfinders and become completely dislocated from the real world. I remember reading about tourists in Africa on safari, who upon seing the charging lion/rhino/hippo/elephant DIDNT run but continued to click away enraptured by the “great shots” they were getting right up to where the rhino stomped them to death.

I always keep a healthy distance from trains, its just common sense, you never know if theirs debris hanging off the side of a car for example.

Mik you should post this on the Trains.com magazine railfan forum, they’ll shit a Cadillac!

#3
Victor Smith said:
they'll shit a Cadillac!
You think we could get some shots of that?

Agreed, an ID10T for sure!

cale

#4

Mik, thanks for the OLI link. Never heard of 'em before - most impressive!

#5

Looks like another FRN when will they ever learn… Later RJD

#6

Personally, I’m willing to cut the guy a little slack. I’ve spent a great deal of my professional career looking at life through a viewfinder, and it’s amazing how easy it is to lose track of where you are in the real world. Your mind simply switches off your non-shooting eye. I’ve had my fair share of “close calls.” If you’re shooting through a wide angle lens, you think you’ve got A LOT more space between you and the object in front of you. Guys who have been shooting 30+ years fall victim to it as often as rookies. I very seriously doubt this guy realized how close he was to the approaching loco.

As I stated on the Bachmann forum (where a similar discussion about this clip is playing out), I’ve seen smarter people do dumber stuff.

Later,

K

#7

As I understand it, the idiot (oops, injured party, must be PC now) was told several times by the train crew before this clip started that he was in a bad place, but chose to stay there anyway.

OTOH, I think the operating rules at most places say that the crew SHOULD have stopped the train and (forcibly, if necessary) removed him from the RoW

The SECOND idiot in the vid…the guy “playing” trainman who walked between the couplers… should have been fired on the spot.

#8

I think that idiot was the same one standing on the platform and watched the locomotive strike the cameraman and never say a thing.

#9

I was thinking he should have been yelling at the idiot too warren, good call

#10

Wait wasn’t that railing /fence there for a reason? It certainly wasn’t to support the photographer.

#11
Mik said:
The SECOND idiot in the vid...the guy "playing" trainman who walked between the couplers.... should have been fired on the spot.
At the risk of turning this into a teaching point, I have to ask this question...

I understand that the old guy with the funny pillbox hat should not have walked between the couplers (squish, eewww!), but how else would he have efficiently accomplished his task?

I’ve worked in Safety Offices, Risk Management, and Industrial Hygiene, and what he did was obviously foolish, but if he didn’t go between the couplers, he would have had to walk around the locomotive or that car. Granted it was only one of each, but what if it was a mile long train and he was working at the mid-point?

Those with 1:1 railroad experience chime in here, and those who think I’m a dumbs**t hold your tongue. That’s you two, Warren and jb. :lol:

#12

Damn, he figured out what I thought about him…:smiley: :stuck_out_tongue:

#13

Warren, Bob said you couldn’t call me a moron anymore!

#14

Bob didn’t say anything about reading between the lines though…:smiley:

#15
Steve Featherkile said:
At the risk of turning this into a teaching point, I have to ask this question...

I understand that the old guy with the funny pillbox hat should not have walked between the couplers (squish, eewww!), but how else would he have efficiently accomplished his task?


In this case? Up the loco steps and down the other side. Mid of a mile long train? Make sure the stuff is set where you want it while the thing is about 20 FEET (not inches) apart so you have time to get clear -OR- use a stick or metal hook. (Yes they are heavy, so are you for 6 other guys)

Air hoses can wait until after the connection is made

#16

Thanks. I musta been brain dead.

#17

test3