My father-in-law was driving to work as a recent graduate for U. of M. I forget where the incident happened, it was somewhere in Michigan, but one of the last working steam locomotives pulled a regular freight every morning and my father-in-law would often have to stop and watch it at the crossing on his way to work.
Being one of the last steamers in operation, and having a fairly regular schedule, railfans and the general public started bringing their cameras to take photos at the crossing. Once such individual stood too close and despite the frantic whistle blowing, got sucked into the running gear.
My father-in-law, an army veteran, was the second car in line. The engineer got the train stopped pretty quickly and Tom and one or two other men ran down to the locomotive to see if they could help. The guy was still alive but obviously not for long. Tom said it was the most gruesome thing he'd ever seen in his life, before or since and I don't doubt him.
He said it was a blessing the guy died within minutes of the train stopping. They had to cut his remains out of the running gear.
Horrible story, but a reminder that keeping back a safe distance from a passing train isn't just a good idea, it's a must.
I'm glad I was not a witness to the horrible incident.