# Train hits teen posing on tracks



## The_Traveler (Sep 19, 2015)

~20 miles west of me.

An adventurous life cut short on the railroad tracks


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## astroNikon (Sep 19, 2015)

sad


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## jcdeboever (Sep 19, 2015)

I have been on this earth for 51 years and I am still confused when I read that someone is hit by a train. How many times have we heard, don't play on train tracks? Sad for sure but stupid as well. 

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## jaomul (Sep 19, 2015)

Very sad. Think it's a bit heartless to say it's stupid when someone has paid the ultimate price


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## tirediron (Sep 19, 2015)

jaomul said:


> Very sad. Think it's a bit heartless to say it's stupid when someone has paid the ultimate price


If you want to pass out some sympathy, save it for the engineer and train crew.  I'm willing to bet that being Amtrak RoW, it was VERY well posted (and even if it wasn't, it's still private property, and as my mother said, "You may not know whose it is, but you know whose it ISN'T!"), and they were fully aware that they were breaking the law.


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## jsecordphoto (Sep 19, 2015)

How many times are people going to get killed when taking (tacky) photos on train tracks? I swear I've read like 10 articles this year about this same type of situation.


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## jaomul (Sep 19, 2015)

I have sympathy for everyone involved. We all do silly things, especially when young. This boy paid the ultimate price.I think calling it stupid is an obvious statement that maybe isn't necessary, as being there was a photo project in place, it's possible some friends etc read the forum here.


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## BananaRepublic (Sep 19, 2015)

jsecordphoto said:


> How many times are people going to get killed when taking (tacky) photos on train tracks? I swear I've read like 10 articles this year about this same type of situation.



I have read ten articles this year about Americans who gun down groups of random strangers.


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## vintagesnaps (Sep 19, 2015)

What a shame. A teenager shouldn't lose his life for making an unsafe decision and it's sad when it happens.

I hope some good comes out of it in more awareness of not doing photo shoots out on railroad tracks.


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## jsecordphoto (Sep 19, 2015)

BananaRepublic said:


> I have read ten articles this year about Americans who gun down groups of random strangers.



Hah, trying to make some sort of statement? (Swing and a miss)

One is people that likely have some serious mental issues, and another is dumb people taking tacky photos in unsafe environments and get killed


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## BananaRepublic (Sep 19, 2015)

Your point was a sort of "will people never learn" one and my point was taking your point and bringing it to a different scenario but I was also saying "will people ever learn". I wasn't trying to crowbar in the America and Guns issue.

The reason for going onto the tracks was stupid and the outcome is no less then a real waste.


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## terri (Sep 19, 2015)

Let's keep comments strictly on topic, please.


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## jcdeboever (Sep 19, 2015)

jaomul said:


> Very sad. Think it's a bit heartless to say it's stupid when someone has paid the ultimate price


I said it was sad as well. Stupid, is that everyone knows you don't play on railroad tracks but people continue to do so and expect different results. It would be heartless if I said he deserved it, which I didn't say. 


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## DanOstergren (Sep 19, 2015)

jaomul said:


> I have sympathy for everyone involved. We all do silly things, especially when young. This boy paid the ultimate price.I think calling it stupid is an obvious statement that maybe isn't necessary, as being there was a photo project in place, it's possible some friends etc read the forum here.


It is stupid. Just because someone paid the ultimate price as a result of these actions doesn't make it any less of a stupid thing to do. Amtrack has been campaigning against photographers using railroad tracks for quite some time now, and every other week I read articles about YET ANOTHER IDIOT being killed by a train because they were doing a photo or video shoot on railroad tracks, and every week I see more idiots posting photos from their shoots on railroad tracks. It will always be stupid, yet people keep doing it, and they keep posting their photos of models on railroad tracks on the internet, making other photographers think it's a good idea to do as well. It's very sad when someone dies because of it, but it's also stupid, and anyone who does this is an idiot in my book whether they die or not because of it. I also believe we should blatantly do everything we can to let people know that it is a stupid and idiotic thing to do, especially when someone dies because of it.


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## snerd (Sep 19, 2015)

That was a very nice write-up, especially for someone who was not a "celebrity".


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## rexbobcat (Sep 19, 2015)

Real life is not like "Stand By Me." This shouldn't be a hard concept, even for a teenager.


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## Braineack (Sep 20, 2015)

One frisky angle...  facepalm

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## Tuonenlapsi (Sep 20, 2015)

We have train tracks near our house and I have to walk beside it to get into my favourite shooting locations. I just wonder how these people manage to die?? I can hear the train coming well before it really passes, even if I am listening to music at the same time...


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## runnah (Sep 20, 2015)

Tuonenlapsi said:


> We have train tracks near our house and I have to walk beside it to get into my favourite shooting locations. I just wonder how these people manage to die?? I can hear the train coming well before it really passes, even if I am listening to music at the same time...



It was nice knowing you.

Look up the Doppler effect. That is why people get hit.


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## Overread (Sep 20, 2015)

Could be something like that - one train providing a distraction from another - or simply getting too close.

I've seen the same thing in training; you get students on something like a tractor and at first they are ALL a good distance away from the tractor and the one student in the seat controlling it. Then as they all get more and more confident they get closer and closer. Soon students who wouldn't stand near a tractor are right up next to the wheels - often just trying to help - and well into the region where they could come to harm. 

Trains are the same, we get used to them and thus we get closer and take risks. IT all goes well till something out of the ordinary happens (person trips whilst walking next to the speeding train etc...). 


Another aspect is these high-speed trains which really do move so fast we are unprepared for how quickly they close what appears to be a long distance away from us. 



Each time it happens its a terrible situation. Stopping people is one move; were I in the train companies position the other angle I'd take is to accept that people want and will keep doing this and aim to try and provide safe ways for it to be done without risk. A simple "app" that shows the position of trains and bleeper warns as one is supposed to approach or which outlines unused tracks might be an easy way to save lives.


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## bighatphotography (Sep 20, 2015)

I hate seeing things like this. Just sad when someones life is ended because of a stupid mistake.


And... if anybody wants to do a photoshoot near traintracks without risking your life, this website aughta help. Abandoned Rails: Home

A list of abandoned rails by state. I have used it once or twice when I needed A track in the shot.(although make sure you aren't breaking any laws by crossing other peoples land, or the rails arenn't on someones land)


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## Tailgunner (Sep 20, 2015)

How in the hell does this keep happening? Trains are loud and I'm not talking train horns either and they shake the ground at least 1/4 mile away at crawling speeds. I was downtown Dallas a couple weeks near the tracks taking Cityscape photos and you didn't need a train horn to let you know a train was coming. The tracks would resonate metal on metal noise before you could even see the trains. The metal on metal noise would get louder around 1/4 mile and the ground would start vibrating like crazy. FYI: I was shooting from a designated walking path. Anyhow, it doesn't take much to avoid trains...besides the obvious stay clear of them. Keep you eyes open and unplug the ear phones.


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## Overread (Sep 20, 2015)

Tail have a look at hte video I posted - a guy on the platform nearly hit by a train and he wasn't doing anything hugely stupid beyond not being "behind the yellow line". People don't realise how fast they are - look at how quick that train goes from something in the background to right up going past you in a few seconds - couple that to lingering too close to the track and its easy to see how an accident could happen.


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## Tailgunner (Sep 20, 2015)

Overread said:


> Tail have a look at hte video I posted - a guy on the platform nearly hit by a train and he wasn't doing anything hugely stupid beyond not being "behind the yellow line". People don't realise how fast they are - look at how quick that train goes from something in the background to right up going past you in a few seconds - couple that to lingering too close to the track and its easy to see how an accident could happen.



That train is quicker than most of the trains I'm used to but I wouldn't be that close to the tracks anyways. If I can reach out and invisibly touch the train, I'm too close. The faster the train, the more distance I put between me and the train. I also avoid train crossing...too many idiots get hit trying to beat the train and I don't want to get hit by flying debris.


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## Nevermore1 (Sep 20, 2015)

If someone really feels the need to take a photo on the tracks then they need to find tracks that they are 100% sure are abandoned and be sure to find out who owns them andget the proper permission.

I had a friend who's son was killed in some local tracks.  He was messing around with some friends  (and I do believe they had been drinking as well) and put a penny on the rail to see what would happen then backed onto the other track, problem was he was wrong about which track the train was approaching on.  Another friend once tried to kill himself on the tracks and changed his mind at the last minute, he said he didn't realize how much the trains "hung over" the sides (aka how wide they were compared to the width of the tracks).  He lucked out but did have the train go over him while he layed in the ditch (he then spent a few days in the psych ward and stopped talking to me for 2 years since I sent the police to get him off the tracks).   People don't alwayz realize how large trains really are or how fast they are going.

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## runnah (Sep 20, 2015)

Amtrak trains are fast, topping 100mph in spots. When a train is going that fast the Doppler effect comes into play making it much harder to hear until they are damn near on top of you. These aren't steam trains of old, they are electric and fast.


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## Overread (Sep 20, 2015)

Nevermore that's a good point on the width of a train! I can bet a lot do just stand back enough from the tracks; but don't indeed realise how wide the train is and that its going to overlap both sides of the track by a good margin.

There's also bits that stick out; most trains are pretty sleek, but you get bits like footsteps which can stick out (heck on old steam trains they'd stick out a lot!) and thus also catch you when you think you've got enough distance, since the speed will make fine details like that harder to see until they hit.


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## The_Traveler (Sep 20, 2015)

I often take the train here, taking the Marc trains which slow to stop on their way south to DC.
When the Metroliner goes through at 100+  (150 fps) the overpass to the North and the trees shield the sound and it seems like 2 seconds before you see and hear the train approaching and it goes through.
A big train at 100+ mph is very impressive.


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## Empiric (Sep 21, 2015)

It is always sad when something like this happen.


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