cool, love train stories

Drunks on my rail........on foot.

I can still see em looking at me right before the cow catcher got em.

About as creepy as it gets for me.

One of the guys that drives the lignite train at my plant has some crazy stories! He was telling me that the worst run was through either Dallas or Fort Worth, can't remeber which he said. There was a long stretch through the ghetto where kids liked to pile shit on the tracks to derail the train and somebody shot his windshield one night

The guy that taught my Conductor, and later, Engineer class, had 31 years on the Union Pacific as a trainman and manager....he had some crazy stories.



When he hired out as a switchman in a large yard in Texas, things were much different in the early 1970's than they are today.  He told us the first time he saw a railroad related incident, the yard foreman was helping kick cars (the engineer pushes on the train, building slack in the couplers, the switchman pulls the pin, the engineer abruptly stops, while the car rolls free into the many tracks the other switchman are turning as fast as they can to build trains).  Supposedly this guy was not one for safety, and it really showed that day, while kicking cars, so he was sent down the rail to couple cars that did not couple correctly while being kicked.  He had the hoghead pull two cars apart to lift the pin, and stick it up so they could be coupled.  The engineer either got the wrong signal, or some form of miscommunication happened, the the guy got coupled between to cars.  They called the paramedics, and his wife down o the yard.  The guy was still coherent, but they all knew from hearsay, that as soon as the cars were uncoupled, he was going to expire.  The Superintendent told his wife that she had better go say goodbye to him, which she did for several minutes, then they ushered her away.  Jerry, my friend that taught my two classes, had to pull the pin on the car to get his friend out of the couplers.  He said that he didn't make it but a few minutes while the paramedics tended to him.

That one has to be about the oldest legend/ wive's tale on the railroad. I swear that story has been claimed to have happened in every terminal I have ever worked at. Makes for a decent enough story, at least the first time or two you hear it, but I'd be surprised if it ever actually happened anywhere.

Rail yard in Idaho Falls Idaho. About 20-30 years ago, a close family friend got coupled between cars. I heard the rumor about being alive long enough for his wife to see him, but don't know how true that part was. I went to church with him and his family.

PM me for the name if you don't believe it.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

My dad's got some pretty good pictures from his time with the railroad police. Sometimes it's hard to determine if the lump of meat you're looking at is human or animal in those pics.

While somebody may have been fataly injured (probably not by being coupled up, though), the story has likely been considerably embellished over time. Some first hand testimony or media reports might lend a little authenticity to the story. Otherwise, as I said, it's pretty amazing how many times and in how many different locations this exact same event has supposedly occurred.

My Dad was a brakeman for Southern for a few years in the early 70's.......... he tells the SAME EXACT STORY .  Says they gave him a cigarette, he took a few puffs and said "Ok, let's get on with it".

Must be one of those stories your boss tells you to scare you into being safe.  Kinda like the fake VD .mil stories. LOL
Mike

HAHAHAHAH!!!!  Probably was, but it was a good one, so I included it here.












 

+1

Boomer is right about that, it's "happened" everywhere that I know of here on CSX

ETA: Disregard.

Another bump!

Bump, how is rr engineer for a job? What are the quals etc? Good or bad family job? Anyone here ever deal with hobos on their train?

I'm not an engineer but, I do work for a railroad and from the guys I know the money is good and it is hard on family life.
We don't get many traditional"hobos" anymore,mostly border jumpers looking for a new packing plant to "work"

bumpa

tag for later