Gates got stuck and car got struck...

[cascaderailroad]

I DO say, sir. Loudly, and proudly.

What does any railfan/trainzer have to be proud, and loud, about RR's ?

It's not like you actually work for the RR ... Being just a teeny tiny part of the shouting peanut gallery, a run of the mill railfan/trainzer, standing up on a soapbox, raving about idiot drivers ... Honestly, railfans stand/stick by the RR, defending like it is your own family, or twin brother ... When in fact railfans/trainzers have no real connection to any real RR ... Being totally infatuated, and obsessed with their beloved choo choo trains.

There are no alternatives other than crossing gates ... rising piston bollards, rising ramps, and rising steel anti-terrorist plates, coming up out of the ground, would outright kill thousands of drivers per year.

Imagine the tractor trailer driver Manuel, that speaks and reads no English language, as he speeds down the highway trying to beat the train, and suddenly bollards come out of the ground in the highway, catapulting the tractor trailer into the air, careening and crashing it into a line of automobiles, and your family is in one of those cars ... You would no longer be hugging the RR anymore !

Hug a RR ... The RR will hug you back !

https://www.google.com/search?q=dan...500_NM:;HtZfQqGb7tEP3M:&imgrc=Jr6Fenq-500_NM:

https://www.google.com/search?q=dan...kDHRdz1_1X_1&q=danger death railroad crossing

 

[maruffijd]

What does any railfan/trainzer have to be proud, and loud, about RR's ?

It's not like you actually work for the RR ... Being just a teeny tiny part of the shouting peanut gallery, a run of the mill railfan/trainzer, standing up on a soapbox, raving about idiot drivers ... Honestly, railfans stand/stick by the RR, defending like it is your own family, or twin brother ... When in fact railfans/trainzers have no real connection to any real RR ... Being totally infatuated, and obsessed with their beloved choo choo trains.

There are no alternatives other than crossing gates ... rising piston bollards, rising ramps, and rising steel anti-terrorist plates, coming up out of the ground, would outright kill thousands of drivers per year.

Imagine the tractor trailer driver Manuel, that speaks and reads no English language, as he speeds down the highway trying to beat the train, and suddenly bollards come out of the ground in the highway, catapulting the tractor trailer into the air, careening and crashing it into a line of automobiles, and your family is in one of those cars ... You would no longer be hugging the RR anymore !

Hug a RR ... The RR will hug you back !

1. I am not shouting anything except that I stand by my opinion that gate runners do indeed need to be checked.
2. I enjoy being a railfan. If it's not your cup of tea, that's fine. If it is, that's fine as well.
3. If there are "thousands killed" then my point still works. Either the makers failed to make a better mousetrap, or there are that many dummys trying to run a crossing. I stand by my opinion here.
4. Flashing lights and bells mean the same thing in any language. Doesn't matter if "Manuel" does not know English/German/French/Arabic/Klingon... And if it's my time to go, It's my time to go.
5. I play nice once, Now I am directly stating it. Lay off the insults. It only makes me wonder if you are fishing for a conflict (I will not play along) or someone who is deliberately being boorish (I am calling this one a maybe). I have NEVER come at you, nor will I ever do so. I usually like your snarkiness and have a good laugh, but this is crossing a line good sir. (I am done with this one)

Back to the thread, again

6. I actually have this unique asset installed. To bad they didn't do more with it.

 

[Mick_Berg]

I once ran round the front of an approaching train because I didn't want to miss it. If I had tripped I would be dead. What made me do it I don't know. I made a point of apologizing to the driver at the end of the journey, and she said "don't worry, we're used to it." But I still feel stupid every time I think of it. So I'm afraid there is at least one moronic Trainz user.
Mick

 

[d0g]

I once ran round the front of an approaching train because I didn't want to miss it.

Everybody does at least one thing in their lifetime that they later regret. It's how we learn not to do certain things again. After that experience, I bet you'll never be the victim of a car/person vs. train accident because you have that memory.

 

[JCitron]

What does any railfan/trainzer have to be proud, and loud, about RR's ?

It's not like you actually work for the RR ... Being just a teeny tiny part of the shouting peanut gallery, a run of the mill railfan/trainzer, standing up on a soapbox, raving about idiot drivers ... Honestly, railfans stand/stick by the RR, defending like it is your own family, or twin brother ... When in fact railfans/trainzers have no real connection to any real RR ... Being totally infatuated, and obsessed with their beloved choo choo trains.

Just like anyone interested in any kind of industry or hobby. There are bus enthusiasts (note that word it's root comes out of enthusiastic). There are those obsessed with trucks, guns, computers, and so on.

There are no alternatives other than crossing gates ... rising piston bollards, rising ramps, and rising steel anti-terrorist plates, coming up out of the ground, would outright kill thousands of drivers per year.

These things are used already in some places like Russia and in some industrial locations.

Imagine the tractor trailer driver Manuel, that speaks and reads no English language, as he speeds down the highway trying to beat the train, and suddenly bollards come out of the ground in the highway, catapulting the tractor trailer into the air, careening and crashing it into a line of automobiles, and your family is in one of those cars ... You would no longer be hugging the RR anymore !

Hug a RR ... The RR will hug you back !

Not true unless the crossing is unmarked. Every country in the world has crossing gates, or cross bucks to indicate a crossing of some kind. You go to Australia and they are very much the same as we have here in the US. Go to Canada, they are very much the same, though now they are eliminating the words and using the international cross bucks on their gates and crossings.

Head to South America somewhere, China, Russia, and elsewhere. The symbol is the same.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/railway_crossings/pool/page1

How many more examples...

John

 

[JCitron]

I would like to add more to this as well...

It's not so much stupidity, it's more ignorance of the safety due to lack of education, and pure selfishness on the part of the car drivers and the public in general. The majority of people out there do not realize the dangers of stopping on tracks or darting in front of a moving train, truck, bus, or other large-sized vehicles. As drivers they are the same ones that cut off the big semi-hauler while leaving only 50-feet between them on the freeway while moving at 70 mph. They are the same ones that will stop dead in front of a fast-moving large vehicle and expect the larger vehicle to stop as quickly as their tiny Smart Car. I've experienced this many times during my commute when some dweeb in a Honda cut me off with less than a car length of space on a very busy highway. Their car is much lighter and can stop a lot faster than my Jeep, which is a very heavy vehicle and takes a lot more time and distance to stop than the lighter vehicles do.

With trains and other rail-running vehicles, there's the other aspect of reduced drag of the steel wheels balanced on the steel rails. This makes stopping quickly impossible for the train driver and makes the chances of an impact more apt to happen. It's all about physics, which many people must've flunked or ignore, or have made up their own laws for.

John

 

[cascaderailroad]

1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqoGf0J0N4U
2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_UXbW044l4
3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWPCgQnUIEY
4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PcscQTlbFI
5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeTmM98ZEzE
6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMzwr2rMXbk
7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4rPgWmVLdk
8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAxCKCz-bDA
9) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW5yWUKDMpg

 

[Mick_Berg]

Everybody does at least one thing in their lifetime that they later regret. It's how we learn not to do certain things again. After that experience, I bet you'll never be the victim of a car/person vs. train accident because you have that memory.

Only just noticed this post. Thanks for the positive spin. Yes, I am super-careful these days.
Cheers,
Mick

 

[clam1952]

People can be stupid, I just had an elderly couple walk straight out of a shop and across the road in front of me when I went up to the village earlier, never looked in any direction, OK it's a quiet country village with a road barely wide enough to fit two cars abreast, however we do use cars! If I had been driving at over 5mph they would probably be in the local hospital! Even worse they then got into a car, heaven help anyone who gets in their way!

 

[MeowRailroad]

I had no idea the death railroad crossing sign was real. I saw it on the DLS once and thought it was pretty funny, so that was an interesting thing I learned today.

Imagine how startling that must have been in real life.

 

[bnsfc]

I remember watching a show about the danger's of railways and it talked about a case that happened near my grandparent's house on the BN outside of Chicago. A kid ran around the gates on his bike after the commuter train stopped at the nearby station and was smacked by an express going the other way down the middle track. we wasn't killed but stuffer permanent brain damage and is almost a vegetable. his parent then started campaigning for quad gates at every crossing because "there is too much temptation to race the train". I remember thinking why not campaign to educate the ignorant about the consequence's. If you stick you hand in the fire after your told you will burn yourself isn't not the fires fault your hand now looks like a sausage.

 

[santafe8643]

I agree with all that has been said...


Maybe we need something like this.

Well said J. Well said.