Re: NNG: Midland Texas crash

Those are photos of the only thing that is scarier to see on a crossing ahead of you than a tank truck.

The problem with these accidents are not the ones who die, although that's tragic enough. The bigger problems confront the ones who live. The children who are maimed and survive with the reminders of one person's stupidity every day.

The other tragedy is the men in the locomotive cab, who throw the train into emergency, knowing full well that there's no way that they can stop short, wondering if there are any kids that they know on that bus, or anybody that they know on a float as in the Texas accident.

People wonder why railroaders have a reputation for drinking and swearing and living on the edge. Well, here you have it folks. No number of laws passed by regulatory agencies, or investigations into causes or explanations by those at fault will ever erase those damnable images of the seconds right before the fatal event that keep rolling over and over in your mind. More than one man has ended his own life to erase them.

There are tens of thousands of crossings at grade in this country. Close calls and fatalities are an every day occurance.

If you read the posts here, you are aware that a train can be expected on any track, in any direction, at any time.

DON'T BECOME A STATISTIC or a nightmare that haunts a Good Railroader (man or woman) for the rest of their lives.

Rick