Railroad Crossing: FREE PARKING!

I knew you were joking about notching it out, and I had a good laugh over it. That's why I put the wink face after that sentence. Kind of like the scenario where someone suddenly decides to walk out in the street in front of you (not in the crosswalk), while you're driving along in a 1972 Mustang Mach 1, and you look at your friend and say jokingly.... "10 Points"......

And, I agree with both you and Brian S. that it is NOT the engineer's fault if someone is stupid enough to take the risk for trespassing/parking on the tracks/whatever. I wouldn't have much sympathy, if at all, for anyone taking such a stupid risk, either.

I think my basic point boils down to this: if a POTENTIAL accident is preventable, and one is in a position to do something about it, do it. Save everyone the aggravation.

Let it be known that my sympathies lie more with the train crew - - sometimes (not always) there is a lot of mental anguish that can result, not to mention the delays, the paperwork, investigation and all the rest of the B.S. that you folks have to go through just because someone decided to be stupid.

Now, in the case of a small child, or person with Alzheimer's, or anyone on the off-chance wandering unknowningly into harm's way - - well-- that IS unfortunate.

I think there's been enough said on this topic.

Reminds me of a story back in the late 1990's when we were running Wine tasting trains to Torrington on the Naugatuck RR. Since Noel is already qualified on the territory he will know exactly where this is.
The usual move was to come north out of Thomaston to the station site at East Litchfield and discharge the passengers into waiting buses for the trip to the local winery. The crew would then deadhead the train to Torrington where they would runaround the train at the passing track north of Pearl St. for the southbound move. Following the runaround the train would tie up at the former New Haven passenger station. The passengers would ride the buses to Torrington and pick up the train there for their return trip. The crew would have about a two hour layover and would usually have dinner while waiting. Just to the south of the depot was the large Water St. crossing which was one of Torrington's busiest streets. The crossing had to be flagged as by this time it had no form of crossing protection. Right next to the tracks was a deli which at the time had a section with a pizza oven and a couple of tables outside on the sidewalk. This was where the crews usally went to beans. The locomotive was usally parked about 50 feet north of the Water St. crossing.
One night while we were having dinner a couple of teenage girls cruised by in a red convertible and while passing spotted a friend of their's sitting at one of the outdoor tables. Doing a U turn right in the middle of Water St. they pulled up to a stop with half their car sitting on the tracks, hopped out of the car, and started chatting with their friend. Now mind you standing less than 50 feet away is a B&M painted GP-9 with its headlights burning. Seeing this the engineer got up from the table walked over to the 1732 and got in the cab. Now the coming south out of the Torrington Station the grade on the mainline is close to 2% downgrade. The engineer released the brakes on the train, carefully released the independent brake on the engine, and began to creep the train towards the red convertible. When he got to about 20 feet from the car he laid on the five chime. The girls freaked out and bolted for the car. Their feet were moving so fast they were a blur as they tried to move the car. The rest of the crew was laughing so hard I'm sure some of them probably soiled themselves.

Zog

I just don't see why we are being badmouthed for not calling the hard-to-find-police in a no-cellphone-signal area. I really don't appreciate that.

NellsChoo wrote:I just don't see why we are being badmouthed for not calling the hard-to-find-police in a no-cellphone-signal area. I really don't appreciate that.

Nell, don't sweat it. Lots of people on these forums are full of their own good ideas, and feel compelled to share them, in real life too - every time I go to east deerfield I get accosted by at least one person who thinks they know all the answers..... You are not the police, and apparently your phone didn't work there anyway.

SLR is right, no big deal. If you can do something about it next time, you might want to consider it. But, if your cell phone doesn't work, that's another thing......

My run is from Anywhere between White River and Brattoboro down to palmer and then back to Bratt 4x a week. At least 5 times a night, somebody always runs the warning lights at a crossing. Its after they stop and look and see us. Im sorry. You look and see the train coming, see it and then go. well. I just shake my head

Brian

Brian, you don't happen to be in the Army Reserve, do you?

Jonelle-

Don't take Noel's statement to heart.

He posts on other forums and is just his personality. Others have had the same reaction. Basically, he is a good guy but comes on a little "strong" at times. He worked for the New Haven, Penn Central, Conrail and, I think, Metro North Railroads and has seen a lot in his career as an engineer.

Paul