Dumb luck – Train strikes rig and driver walks away like nothing happened

Just a "train", no crew in that cab to worry about. Just like when "a truck" hits something on the news. No driver in there, just another naughty Swift truck going rogue.

When I worked at an intermodal yard, drivers knocked crossing arms down frequently because they would stay down as long as the "island" (area which senses train presence) was occupied and they would get frustrated.

What some didn't think about was that trains go both ways on those tracks, there are sometimes multiple tracks and a hidden train is approaching, that sometimes railroaders kick cars into tracks and they roll freely (not supposed to do that over crossings, but sometimes they get loose or roll off because some kid released the hand brake or the chain failed) and that an empty freight car is 25 tons, loaded 100 plus.

 

My personal favor was on our dual tracked main. Usually east side going north and opposite track south.

One day both were executing a slow pass going north. A DD40x was overtaking a 4 unit coal train, DD40x was touchingcope rain in my lifetime to be running as a muesum engine in actual revenue service at 90+ mph and hauling the foods and company executive rain to do it. The Coal train next to it was 5 mph slower running 4 Klingon engines up front (SD80MAC's) both crews were blowing, the ground was rocking. The old depot bounced. Bricks, roof and everything bounced.

Here comes Mr Darwin. Rocking loud rap thump thump thump thump thump onto the first track.

The Lawman ran up on his caprice'd jacked up ### and bellowed on the PA "Get that the eff off my track NOW." punctuated by the train horns Gave caprice a ticket. Two tickets, Three. Count em with me sesame crew, fowr.. etc.

 

That truck is obliterated. Nothing to save there. Ok the cab. Yet that wont buff out. Tho I would have broken the railroad arm if I was stuck there. Far cheaper to pay for the arm than the truck.

 

I’ve seen more train/truck wrecks than I can remember but this is the first one where someone actually walks out with a scratch on them with train speeds that high!!!
Good grief where’s the rest of the truck?? Lol

 

Boom!

Load delivered.

 

Same thing happened to a guy I know 20 yrs ago or so in Alabama.
Left a service facility and had to make a right across some tracks (2 sets) to get back to the main highway.
There was a bunch of rail cars dropped immediately on each side of the crossing ìn a residential area with no drop arms or signals.

He pulls across and gets cut in half mid way in the trailer by a train running 40mph because it was also in a NO TRAIN HORN area.

Didn't put a scratch on him.

No lights
No arms
No visibility whatsoever
No horn.

Railroad still can't be blamed.
UNTOUCHABLE

 

If I were the investigating officer and I saw this video... I'd be of the "willful negligence" opinion. That driver's more than likely getting the book launched at him out of a cannon

 

I worked around railroads for several years, and never knew there was a no horn area, even residential gets horns. lol

 

I’ve seen a couple of communities around Illinois and Massachusetts where they have no train horn ordinances.

 

Yea, you learn something every day, I always thought it was the law, they had to honk.
iI tell you what most engineers do that I don't like, is not dim their lights when the track is on the side of the road where they are blinding you. I didn't even know they could for a long time, but they can if they will.