Texas Eagle (2/9/21) stopped due to trespasser incident

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iliketrains

Lead Service Attendant
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Aug 19, 2018
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252
I just read this on Tweeter:

Texas Eagle Train 21/421 that departed Chicago (CHI) on 2/9 is currently stopped south of ST. Louis (STL) due to a trespasser incident. I wonder specifically happened. Is this Amtrak's nice way of saying someone on the train does not have a ticket and is being kicked off?
 
Last edited:
I just read this on Tweeter:

Texas Eagle Train 21/421 that departed Chicago (CHI) on 2/9 is currently stopped south of ST. Louis (STL) due to a trespasser incident. I wonder specifically happened. Is this Amtrak's nice way of saying someone on the train does not have a ticket and is being kicked off?
It generally means that someone was either crossing or walking on the tracks and was hit.
 
I'd honestly prefer to see a tweet about stowaways. It feels weird to call dead and injured people trespassers. Sure it's technically correct but also kinda petty. I wonder if Americans realize "pedestrians" are just called "people" elsewhere.
 
I'd honestly prefer to see a tweet about stowaways. It feels weird to call dead and injured people trespassers. Sure it's technically correct but also kinda petty. I wonder if Americans realize "pedestrians" are just called "people" elsewhere.

Such a pedestrian comment. ;)
 
I'd honestly prefer to see a tweet about stowaways. It feels weird to call dead and injured people trespassers. Sure it's technically correct but also kinda petty. I wonder if Americans realize "pedestrians" are just called "people" elsewhere.
I think they call them trespassers, to make it clear that it wasn't the railroads fault the person got hit.
 
I'd honestly prefer to see a tweet about stowaways. It feels weird to call dead and injured people trespassers. Sure it's technically correct but also kinda petty. I wonder if Americans realize "pedestrians" are just called "people" elsewhere.

Train stopped due to a people incident.
 
I think they call them trespassers, to make it clear that it wasn't the railroads fault the person got hit.
Yes, unlike a road, pedestrians on tracks never have the right of way. Vehicles are not allowed to cross without yielding to train either. Simply, in almost all cases, the train cannot stop fast enough is someone is struck. In any case, they are,in fact, almost always, criminally trespassing on railroad property except at crossings.

On roads, pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks and, even if technically "jaywalking" (especially where there are no crosswalks) are often accorded priority and the vehicle driver is blamed if they saw or should have seen them and failed to stop or slow down.

There is a huge difference in responsibility if one is a "pedestrian" on a track vs a pedestrian on the road.
 
I just read this on Tweeter:

Texas Eagle Train 21/421 that departed Chicago (CHI) on 2/9 is currently stopped south of ST. Louis (STL) due to a trespasser incident. I wonder specifically happened. Is this Amtrak's nice way of saying someone on the train does not have a ticket and is being kicked off?
It means a pedestrian was struck. I'm pretty sure they would say something like due to "police activity on board" if there is a a passenger being kicked off. And it should never take two hours for that.
 
I'd really like to know what they were doing before they got hit... Were they suicidal? Like, unless the crossing has absolutely no lights, and you have some good headphones on, it wouldn't be that hard to realize a train was coming, right?
 
I think they call them trespassers, to make it clear that it wasn't the railroads fault the person got hit.
You're probably right considering that even basic Newtonian physics remains a lost art for many.

Train stopped due to a people incident.
I presume this was a dig but it still made me laugh. 👍

I'd really like to know what they were doing before they got hit... Were they suicidal? Like, unless the crossing has absolutely no lights, and you have some good headphones on, it wouldn't be that hard to realize a train was coming, right?
When I last researched this there was very little information on American deaths. In countries that monitored and recorded such events it mainly seemed to be a mix of suicides, intoxicated behavior, and general carelessness.
 
Every few weeks railcams bear witness to close calls. Not including vehicles bypassing signals and lowered gates, pedestrians and cyclists frequently try to "beat" the train. The worst I've seen are those who pass between cars of a stopped freight train. When you see people do this with a fair amount of confidence you realize it isn't their first time.:( I shudder to think when footage has to be acquired to investigate an unsuccessful attempt.
 
Imho trespassing is pretty clear. The individual is trespassing if they are the tracks or railroad in an area between grade crossings. Or if they are on the tracks when the gate is down.

If the gates and other warning equipment malfunctions and the person is on the tracks that is a gray area. Even if the crossing equipment is malfunctioning the engineer is most likely blowing the whistle. This would give people who are paying attention enough notice to get out of the way.
 
When quiet electric cars have to "make noise" because pedestrians don't know there are cars on the road - you expect them to see/hear a train?

Too many pedestrians are more concerned with texting or other activities on their devices to "look before they cross" to be aware of anything that may be coming. Instead, want to blame the car/truck/train/bus for hitting them when they carelessly walk right in front of it.

What ever happened to "Stop - Look - Listen" and looking both ways before crossing?
 
A few years ago a teenager was walking down the middle of the track looking at his iPhone and with headphones on playing music. He was killed by an Amtrak train coming up behind him in a St. Louis suburb and the parents and some others vehemtly blamed the railroad. They hired attorneys to launch a lawsuit. Those drag on for months and often years so I don't know how things turned out.
 
I'd really like to know what they were doing before they got hit... Were they suicidal? Like, unless the crossing has absolutely no lights, and you have some good headphones on, it wouldn't be that hard to realize a train was coming, right?
A LSL train that I took was 5 hours late starting out of Boston because coming in to Boston somewhere in MA a pedestrian was struck and killed. He was indeed walking down the tracks wearing headphones, according to the Amtrak SCA I talked to inquiring why the train was so late. The Amtrak people onboard were very shaken up, as one would expect. I later read news articles about the incident, but I had to search for them.
 
Lots of sad stories out there regarding people hit by trains, and often enough even the investigators never reach a final conclusion about why the person was there, why they didn't avoid being hit, etc. Sad, too, for the train crew in these cases, who are often traumatized by what happened.

I watched a family with two little kids cross tracks right in front of a slowly moving Sounder commuter train once; I was leaving Safeco Field after a baseball game, and based on the attire of the adults crossing the tracks, they had been to the game, too. I couldn't believe that anyone would be so crazy as to assume that they could safely make it across--especially with two little kids in tow, and if I hadn't been driving, I would have closed my eyes so as not to see the tragedy about to unfold. Well, they made it across okay, but I have to wonder if they had any idea how reckless what they were doing was.

Off topic slightly--those multiple grade-level tracks just south of the stadiums are a tragedy waiting to happen, when tens of thousands of fans--some of whom likely enjoyed adult beverages--pour out of the stadiums post-game. Seems to me that a pedestrian flyover there is needed badly. But then again, I've also seen that cars leaving the area stuck in post-game traffic blithely stop across the tracks as they wait for the traffic to clear. *shakes head sadly*
 
Off topic slightly--those multiple grade-level tracks just south of the stadiums are a tragedy waiting to happen, when tens of thousands of fans--some of whom likely enjoyed adult beverages--pour out of the stadiums post-game. Seems to me that a pedestrian flyover there is needed badly. But then again, I've also seen that cars leaving the area stuck in post-game traffic blithely stop across the tracks as they wait for the traffic to clear. *shakes head sadly*
That's not a bad idea.

And I don't know if I am being insecure, but I wouldn't mind a train to clip one of these folks, just enough to spook them and for them to not cross like that anymore.
 
A few years ago a teenager was walking down the middle of the track looking at his iPhone and with headphones on playing music. He was killed by an Amtrak train coming up behind him in a St. Louis suburb and the parents and some others vehemtly blamed the railroad. They hired attorneys to launch a lawsuit. Those drag on for months and often years so I don't know how things turned out.

These cases rarely, if ever, end up in favor of the plaintiffs.
 
Here is a link to the Washington State crash statistics for 2012-2021 that are kept by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

WA State Crash Statistics

I am unaware if/how other states keep records of such.

I like this one:
0/4/2020, AUBURN, King County - A vehicle driver collided with the side of a Union Pacific Railroad freight train at the W Main Street crossing, USDOT 396591A.

I can imagine what the driver said:
"I was crossing at the gate when the stupid engineer cut me off. "
or
"I was driving along and I never saw a train in front of me"
 
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