Ryan, I take it the UP train was not on the move, as the head light is on dim and the ditch lights are not on. But that's no excuse to go around the gates.
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I can see why he did it, that is a really long train! I bet he had no idea that there were two people taking pictures of him!
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well three photographers if you count invited railfan Richard Silagi onboard, FOUR cameras if you count the built in camera a lot of the new UP locos have as well a some retrofitted older locos. I'm not sure if the older UP 3908 has gotten the cab camera retrofit...
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As much as that guy is an idiot you can't help but laugh at the irony! Great picture!
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| Posted by Bob on March 2, 2007 | |
Was the train moving or not?
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train was not moving but had stopped briefly so the crew and PO's could switch ends and run back south through
Jack London Square. IIRC, all of these guys caught were also ticketed for driving against traffic on the wrong side of the road since dirving around the gates entails crossing the double line!!!
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| Posted by matt b. on March 2, 2007 | |
As a conductor you love to see this kind of affirmitive action being taken...i can speak for all railroaders out there when i say impatient driver's are the one thing that really causes frustraion and stress.
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Thats a pretty slick catch.
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Nicely timed on your part, Ryan, as the truck is not blocking the engine.
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Lucky the train wasn't moving. Great shot Ryan.
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| Posted by UPRRDrew on March 2, 2007 | |
I second the comment by Matt B. about impatient drivers. I had a situation when I was working on a local job where we were approaching a crossing that was protected with lights only. As we got closer, I saw a vehicle come up to the crossing and roll through. As I'm watching, I see brake lights come on at a business near the crossing. It's then that I realized that two cops sitting there just witnessed the same thing I did. One of the two squads went across (before we got to the crossing) and had the vehicle stopped by the time we got across. Nothing like a little redemption!!
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He's not even following the truck route! Nice catch, Ryan. I've only seen a cop catch one "gate runner" and it was one of the greatest things I've ever seen.
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| Posted by Richard Silagi on March 3, 2007 | |
Hey Ryan, I was more than just a railfan invited along for the ride. I am a full fledged member of Operation Lifesaver :-)
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I appears the 3908 does have an onboard camera.
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Wow, that deserves a Darwin Award Honorary Mention. As for you, you were in the right place at the right time. Priceless shot!
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| Posted by Alen on March 3, 2007 | |
This train was stopped.
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Love to see those knuckleheads ticketed for stupidiy. LOL!!! He deserves every penny of that fine!!!
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Good to see you can take some time out of ur busy schedule to get some foaming in...
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While the delivery driver should not have driven around the gates, it also shows poor judgment by the crew to stop so close to a crossing that the gates stayed down. They certainly wouldn’t have stopped so close to a switch that they fouled the main. While us rail fans would have gladly waited and watched with interest, the general public would have pulled up, waited for a few minutes, saw a train going nowhere with no lights on, crew walking around on an apparent smoke break, and drove around. What they have really shown several drivers is that the gates can be down, but a train may not be approaching. The whole reason for the gates to activate less than 30 seconds before a train hits the crossing is because people only have so much patients. My $0.02.
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| Posted by Pete Harter on March 7, 2007 | |
ditto on Ross's comments above. If the general public is to honor Xing gates in all instances, they have to see that the RR is not abusing their right-of-way, which they seem to have done in this instance. Albeit, the truck driver is taking his chance that there's not another train on the second track!
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let's see, train stopped for a few minutes to get the crew turned around and there is no other room here at CP King Street to "tuck" this train in betwene crossings. As you cn see, the experienced engineer has pulled as far to the West as possible at the signals approaching CP Magnolia in the background. Most "smart" drivers who were impatient turned around and got across the tracks in less than 30 seconds via the Jack London side. Yup, there are only 8 or so grade crossings to chosoe from every short block or so starting just a 1/8 of a mile to the south (at my back). This guy was just the last of perhaps 8 or 10 vehicles that went across the tracks in the couple minutes before the crew and Amtrak PO showed up on this end of the train. We only all nabbed him on digi-film because he at first hesitated and then went for it!
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How did he get through the double-gates at the other side of the crossing?
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