What happened on the Gladstone Line?

[ericware]

Does anyone know what is going on, on the Gladstone Line. Just wondering.

[arrow]

A man drove in front of a train right before Millington station at around 10:15 this morning. See http://wcbs880.com/njnews/NJ--TrainFata ... _news_html.

I was on the train and saw the car pull in front of the train. Definintely not the engineer's fault. He had only a few seconds to stop the train, which everyone knows is impossible. I feel bad for everyone involved, esepcially the engineer.

[nick11a]

Arrow, you were on the train? Geez. I heard some MU horns a few hours after the incident but they were running late. Seems like for a few hours, they terminated the other trains at Stirling. I was wondering why they were late. Having the MUs late on the Gladstone is a very rare thing. This explains it.

[arrow]

Yes, I was on the train unfortunately. I'll tell you all about it on Friday I guess. It happened on the crossing that has no gates in Millington. The bells and the lights were working though.

The car was stopped before it pulled out. The engineer immediately applied the emergency brakes and sounded the horn but it was too late already. The train pushed the car 3/4 of the way through the station before stopping. Glass and car parts were everywhere. The man died instantly from what I hear.

[Jtgshu]

My thoughts are with you arrow, the crew, the passengers on that train and the family of the gentleman who was in the accident.

Its a shame, and the feeling of helplessness is overwhelming. Any time you hear the train dump or go into emergency, it always takes a year and a half to stop, and you never want to hear anything when it dumps. Thats always good...but when you start to hear things, like glass breaking, metal crunching, screams, thumps, scrapes, etc - that is when your heart sinks to your feet - and think - oh crap....(unless you're in the cab with the engineer, and saw it)

There is a less glamorous side to railroading, and someone here has been exposed to it (other than the railroaders on this board). Being in a close call or accident can be a tramatizing experience, and the emotions and feelings are hard to explain to those who haven't experienced it. That is why we as railroaders try to tell people to stay far away from the tracks when railfanning and use your brains. The railroad can be a very, very dangerous and deadly place, and sometimes, that fact gets forgotten.

Complacency and unattentiveness kills, pedestrians, drivers, passengers and employees all the same.

[nick11a]

Geez, that sounds terrible. My heart would have been pounding beyond belief in a situation like that and my nerves would have been shot for the rest of the day and perhaps beyond. I've seen a few close calls in my time. No fatalities yet though thank God. Once saw a very close call with a Amtrak regional train and a person crossing on the low level platform area at Rahway. The engineer sounded his horn sharply (and those AEM7s are loud!) and the guy moved out of the way barely in time (within two seconds) before the thing ripped through at 100 mph. That did a number on me. I had this overwhelming feeling of trauma I just couldn't shake. And I remember that crossing at Millington. I remeber being surprised that the little crossing didn't have gates. It wasn't a major crossing though but still. The further out you get towards Gladstone, the more crossings you have that are unprotected. This is also true for other lines like the RVL line (such as Anandale.)

My thoughts and prayers for the person hit, the crew, their families and the passengers like yourself. I imagine this probably left you "shellshocked" for lack of a better word.

I'll probably be on the 5:02 this Friday. Not sure yet though. Let you know later. You take it easy now.

[james1787]

Wow, what a horrible thing! My thoughts are also with the crew, the family of the victim and the passengers on the train. I've unfortunately been on a train that struck a person at the Mountain Ave station several years back. Your heart just sinks when you know what happened. Something I really prefer not to repeat.

[railtrailbiker]

Here's a link to the Morristown Daily Record's article; complete with photo:

http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/article ... nfatal.htm

[nick11a]

210 feet. Damn! Dragging that car along must have seemed like an eternity for the engineer and those watching.

[mcmannors]

The article said that the driver of the automobile was 94 years old. Enough said.