Fourth of July Hijinks

Maybe an hour ago, I was sitting here on the computer listening to my scanner, tuned onto the freqeuncies for CN's ex-GTW Elsdon Sub through Evergreen Park, IL. This line runs a few doors away from my house, and I had the scanner on for the specific purpose of hearing anything out of the ordinary happening due to people shooting off fireworks (and this is July 3rd). The railroad tracks seem to be considered "no man's land" around here, and often see fireworks lit on them. Soon after turning my scanner on, I heard a train slowly creep by, and then stop altogether. Sure enough, the engineer called the dispatcher and said that there was a small fire on the tracks which some guy had set (with a whole crowd of people around), and he was coming out to put it out but they didn't know how long it would be sitting there.

The train started moving again after ten minutes or so, but I began to ponder a deeper question for all of the railroad employees who read this forum. What is the dumbest thing you've seen people do on the 4th of July on or near the tracks? Knowing how people consume alcohol and then set them off, I'd almost be afraid to pilot a train through a heavily populated residential area.

Sounds like you never heard of some people celebrating the Fourth with a Fifth. (Fifth of Booze)

They planned ahead and got their fifth for the fourth on the third!

But seriously, a fire ON the track?! Good thing the train was a slow train and able to stop in time. Do you know if this was an accidental fire caused by fireworks gone astray, or if the guy actually set up an intentional small bonfire on the tracks? That'd be hard to top!

He obviously also drank half of that fifth on the third because the ties on those tracks were concrete. A really small bonfire. He probably spent a long time picking up pieces of twigs etc. to be able to even start a fire. Do you think he used the remaining booze to help start the fire ?

westr wrote:They planned ahead and got their fifth for the fourth on the third!

But seriously, a fire ON the track?! Good thing the train was a slow train and able to stop in time. Do you know if this was an accidental fire caused by fireworks gone astray, or if the guy actually set up an intentional small bonfire on the tracks? That'd be hard to top!

I'm guessing he set it himself. Or at least, it was set by someone. To quote the engineer, "there's a small fire right on the rail." If some projectile had gone astray and landed on the R-O-W, there's a very small chance it would have physically landed on top of the rail instead of the ties or ballast, so it had to have been someone who set it.

My thought for an accidental fire would've been a stray firework igniting some trash or other debris on the right of way. But an intensional fire is more likely, especially given the engineer's quote. Sounds like they built a fire over a rail, since they had to wait for the guy to come back to put it out, as if he had to go get a fire extiguisher or bucket of water or something. A fire contined entirely to the top of the rail wouldn't have taken much effort to put out. I doubt they had to put much effort into starting the fire; the packaging from the fireworks (and possibly the remains of some of the used fireworks themselves) was probably plenty of fuel to get it started.