I should have done this last year

"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
04/03/2018 at 18:00 • Filed to: pranks, remi gaillard, youtube

Well, a version of this anyway.

Last year, there was construction over a railroad crossing in my area. Many drivers felt the inexplicable need to stay in the left of two available forward lanes, right up to the point where that left lane ended.

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But apparently that wasn’t stupid enough. As traffic backed up, many drivers felt the need to stop on the tracks while waiting for traffic to start flowing again.

This gave me an idea, but I’m afraid I squandered my opportunity. The construction is done and over with (for now), and all lanes of traffic are flowing again. I’m sure that some people are still stopping on the tracks during the busiest times of the day, but since all lanes are open now, they are certainly less desperate about it. Last year, you could pretty much count on somebody blocking the tracks during every cycle of the nearby traffic signal.

The idea was to park in the nearby carpool lot with some friends. One would have a train horn kit and a power source, another would have a little train costume made of cardboard or something, with a soft foam “bumper” on the front, and one or two more would film the whole thing, preferably from multiple angles.

These things are pretty expensive, which is part of why I never got around to doing this.

As soon as somebody stopped on the tracks, the horn would sound and the person wearing the train engine costume would run up and gently *boop* that car. (Preferably, I’d rather avoid contact, and see the driver freak out after hearing the horn and have left themselves enough room to pull away from the tracks. But if a soft *boop* is what it takes to get the message across, then hey boop away, just don’t damage anything.)

So if you have a steady stream of local Darwin Award contestants who like to block RR tracks, feel free to steal this idea and share the footage. Maybe you’ll go viral and make a little YouTube cash.

DISCUSSION (11)

WilliamsSW > Urambo Tauro
04/03/2018 at 18:11

Years ago, I worked in the railroad industry. Most of the people that I knew who worked for the railroads wouldn’t come to a stop within 50 feet of a crossing, let alone on it.

A lot of those people had seen the aftermath of train / car collisions. The physics involved is pretty hard to comprehend until you see it. It’s not pretty.

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW
04/03/2018 at 23:32

A friend of mine is really into trains, and showed me pictures of the aftermath ... I stay a LOT farther back now!

shop-teacher > Urambo Tauro
04/03/2018 at 23:33

That would have been great!

WilliamsSW > shop-teacher
04/04/2018 at 12:00

And right on cue from the FP this morning - note how the train just keeps going:

https://jalopnik.com/watch-a-train-obliterate-a-semi-stuck-stuck-on-the-trac-1824310810

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW
04/04/2018 at 13:07

I should make a post about the time I briefly considered driving around a train crossing gate. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t thought better of it first.

WilliamsSW > shop-teacher
04/04/2018 at 13:16

That would be good - - and I’m glad you decided against that move!

I’ve been on a Metra train that hit a car, and honestly didn’t even *feel* it. Was wondering why we stopped so long, until the conductor told us what happened.

Also, I was once riding in a locomotive at 79 mph outside Omaha, and a pickup truck crossed an unmarked grade crossing *right* in front of us. That’s scary as hell - and there’s nothing you can do about it, either.

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW
04/04/2018 at 14:24

I wrote it up, but I can’t post pics at school. I’ll post it tonight.

My brother-in-law works for Metra, and drove trains for several years. Yeah, there is absolutely nothing they can do. He never hit a car, but he did hit a guy once. Dude jumped out from behind the bushes, looked my brother-in-law in the eyes ... and then tried to jump out of the way at the last second. Of course the dude sued.

WilliamsSW > shop-teacher
04/04/2018 at 14:30

Yeesh - that sounds like a suicide attempt where the guy changed his mind at the last second. It’s a common way for people to attempt that, sadly - there was a rash of them up in Lake Forest a year or two ago.

Railroads defend themselves pretty vigorously against suits like that - starting with the fact that the pedestrian is guilty of trespassing on private property.

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW
04/04/2018 at 14:44

That’s exactly what it was. They did defend it vigorously, as they should.

WilliamsSW > shop-teacher
04/04/2018 at 14:47

If anything, I would support your BIL suing the trespasser. I’ve talked to a few engineers who had that happen, but with more permanent consequences. Invariably they make eye contact with the person, and that’s pretty damn scarring. I’m sure your BIL had more than a few sleepless nights after that.

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW
04/04/2018 at 15:19

Yeah, he definitely made some trips to the counselor on that one. As to suing the jumper, there’s no money to be gotten from an empty bag.