Article worth reading and sharing

This article is worth reading and sharing with others, especially people you know who aren't railfans:

"Trainmen are victims, too, when rail fatalities occur": http://tinyurl.com/q9dee

These types of posts are getting a bit old ya think?

We all know, well most of us on here know how dangerous trains can be, it sucks when people died.

A contract switcher died last week at FMC, the old plant i us to work at. I ran into the mans soon to be wife crying at the store as she was telling her side of what happened to him. I didnt know the guy, im sure i saw his face a time or two while setting out and picking up there, from what i heard second hand he never should have been out there doing that type of work, thats just me. He got chopped up to bits pretty good. Thats part of doing railroad work!

I must say it's good to see the press actually print the crews concerns. You always read about the victims family and friends but never of the crew who also suffered emotional trama. All in all it's never good to hear about another tragic avoidable death(s).

roadster wrote:You always read about the victims family and friends but never of the crew who also suffered emotional trama.

Which is exactly why I posted the link. I didn't think it was something that was "getting old."

We had a good talk on here a while back about all the emotions a crew has during a crossing accident and near misses and whwn someone gets hurt at work. Alot of the non-railroading people on here got fired up, and the ones who do RR, backed me up. Nevermind reading an article, guys on here can tell you first hand what it's like.

UPRR engineer wrote:We had a good talk on here a while back about all the emotions a crew has during a crossing accident and near misses and whwn someone gets hurt at work. Alot of the non-railroading people on here got fired up, and the ones who do RR, backed me up. Nevermind reading an article, guys on here can tell you first hand what it's like.

I have friends who are railroaders, and I've talked with them about what it's like when they have a fatality on their watch. But that's not why I posted that link. I posted it because I thought it was refreshing to see the mainstream media (e.g. not the railfan media) shining some light on what it's like for railroad personnel, rather than focusing solely on the non-railroad-personnel victims.

A discussion on a railfan web site doesn't get the message out to the general public. A newspaper article does. I bet a lot of the non-railfans and non-railroaders who read the article were surprised to learn that a train can't stop on a dime and that railroaders suffer from PTSD, etc. As a railroader, wouldn't you want people to know those things, especially if it prevents them from villifying you?

FRONT PAGE NEWS.......THE TRAINCREW ACCTUALLY FELT BAD AFTER KILLING A MAN.

Boy i wouldn't have know that if hadn't been in the paper. The Honda robots ain't running trains yet, and the UP hasn't gotten a monkey to talk yet so...LOL

Im not trying to upset you, but news like that is getting old.

I have a hard time believing you are a UP Engineer. From the people I work with on a daily basis, they are a little more compassionate about fellow railroad workers being killed at work.

"He got chopped up to bits pretty good. Thats part of doing railroad work!"

That is a statement I'd like to hear you to say to the wife of that deceased railroad employee. You are a piece of work.

Its dangerous, However, someone's gotta do it.

Cant rely on RC all the time.

He wasnt a fellow UP railroad employee who got killed. He was a Canac employee who switches cars. I never said i wasnt upset about his death there RMCC. I guess after running into the guys girlfriend crying at the store, and then seeing that someone once again felt like posting death and sorrow was getting under my skin.

If you guys are into this kinda thing ill be more than happy to tell the whole graphic story of what happened to him, me saying he got chopped up good was putting it lightly. And what i meant by its part of the job, its impossible to get away from working in the railroad industry, without having employees and the general public getting hurt. Thanks for jumping in there RMCC.

Hi All,

A neighbor of mine is a UP insurance adjuster and has told me stories that would make your hair turn grey overnight. The ones that are interesting are the ones where the employee survives, but with injuries and it is his job to settle the claim with some sort of compensation. Then came the strike, some time ago, and lo and behold, he was on a switcher with cars that had to be picked up and set out where they needed to be. Yes, very dangerous. I had a chat with him before he took it on, and he got a good lecture on safety. He had a few close calls, but came out okay.

As an aside, another acquaintence is a Metrolink bull. He has related to me stories of "suicide by train" and just plain accidents due to stupidity, or worse, getting too "comfortable" with the very dangerous job. His line was, "they don't feel a thing, there is no suffering, they are killed instantly." His least favorite job; picking up the "pieces" and placing them in a canvas bag.

We all handle involvement in these issues differently. Can suggest that if discussions on the matter are troubling to any individual, then do not get involved with the discussion. Some poeple need the release and discussing one feelings are very helpful. FYI, I am an engineer for CSX. Recently, a CSX train crewed by 2 of my friends were involved in a ped. fatality in my home town and I also knew the victim.