Posted by Keith in Washington [108.162.245.151] on Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 22:27:08 :
In Reply to: Re: Big Boy posted by Gary in CO [173.245.50.201] on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 15:56:19 :
When we lived in New Orleans we went out for a drive to see some plantations. We came to a RR crossing as the gate was coming down. We were the 2nd car in line. The train started to pass and we noticed 1 rail car was bouncing along and realized that it was off the track. The people in the car ahead of us ran for it. The car tipped over when it hit the crossing took several other rail cars with it. The car in front of us was buried in corn. We ran for it also. However, my wife slammed her door shut trapping her sister in the rear seat. We ended up with a little corn under the nose of our car. We were actually able to back up and get into the other lane and make it across the crossing as the train split and left a gap to get through. The guy in the car in front of us worked for the RR and was really pissed that his girlfriend had pulled up so close to the track which he knew better not to do. They were still 30 feet from the track. Watching the rail cars derail and go in all directions left a real impression on me. Apparently the engineer knew the car had derailed and was stopping the train. It was doing about 30mph when things went to heck.
You will never see me stop close to any tracks.