Son's Train vs. Idiot's Semi -- Almost!

I got a call from my oldest son yesterday. He asked if Hubs had called me (Hubs and both sons work for the Railroad). When I told him no, he proceeded to tell me the story himself. What story is that, you ask? Only one of the scariest things a locomotive engineer can face, that's all.

He was coming out of Denver, heading home, when he and his conductor both saw a semi-truck up ahead at a crossing with his trailer hanging over the tracks. Ryan started blowing his horn -- incessantly. The trucker didn't budge. Getting closer and closer to the truck, and not knowing if the idiot driver was going to move or not, he plugged the train (set the emergency air brakes). The trucker must have FINALLY seen the train, because he pulled forward about two feet at the last minute, leaving the train barely enough room to pass by without hitting him. Ryan said he and his conductor both were getting ready to duck under the desk and take cover. So, scared shitless and totally furious, he got the truck's license number and called it in to dispatch, who would then call the proper authorities with the information. Then of course he has all the reporting and paperwork to do because of plugging the train (they always have to tell the RR why they had to do that). His conductor told him later that what Ryan hadn't seen was the four lanes of cars stopped at the crossing, which the semi's trailer would have slammed into if they had hit him. I think that's what shook up Ryan the most.

After waiting the few minutes it took for the air to build back up in his brakes, he continued ahead. About four crossings later, a car with stupid teenagers played chicken with him. ARE THEY CRAZY??? Are they really too dumb to know how dangerous that is??? Damn! Then later, at yet another crossing, a guy on a bicycle was heading toward the tracks, so Ryan began blowing the horn yet again, but the guy didn't even look up. He had a hood over his head and Ryan assumes he was listening to music or something and that's why he didn't hear the train, but when he finally saw the train, he was about 2 feet from hitting the engines when they went by! Geesh!

It was completely understandable when he said it was his worst trip ever. All of those things are the worst nightmare of both a locomotive engineer and a conductor. He and hubby are both engineers; my other son, Dave, is a conductor. I think about that stuff all the time when they leave for trips. I guess I'm not really scared they, themselves, will get hurt, because it would take something really huge to actually hurt the engineer and conductor, but can you imagine not being able to stop and hitting someone else, possibly ending their life? I don't think my kids or my husband could take that mentally and emotionally. And believe me, it happens much more often than you might think. There are idiots out there doing stupid things on railroad tracks all the time!

The moral of this story? Be careful at railroad crossings, people!!!

Train Wrecks, Railroad Crossings, Railroad Engineers, Railroad Conductors