In actuality, since I was an Engineer for BNSF, knowingly running over a person would cause me to stop the train. But, there have been instances wherein a "blanket" was continuously run over by many trains until a curious crew stopped their train and discovered a body.
It could have been that Finn was mistaken for a bundle of clothing left on the track, and I've seen a lot of bundles, junk, boxes, and other stuff on the track. The train crews are always observant and I certainly would have seen the guy's face as he watched the train approach. A train, that may be in the neighborhood of some eighteen thousand tons, won't be stopping on a dime, but perhaps a mile later after brake application.
As far as his survival, people have successfully laid flat on the ties between the rails and survived. Those that did survive were really thin people, not at all obese, and really lucky. Those locomotives are in the 480,000lb range and the 5,000gal fuel tanks are only above the rail a scant three or four inches. The worst parts are the brake pipes between the cars that sometimes are below the rail especially on autocarriers and some box cars, since they have such long and extended drawbars. With the train slack run in those brake pipes tend to hang down fairly low. Those really long hanging brake pipes have been known to drag a bit on the ties. Many trains have gone into emergency because the brake pipe glad-hand fittings hit the pavement or concrete at highway crossings and separated. Brake pipes are a heavy rubber tubing with heavy brass glad-hand fittings.
Plus, the "plow" on the engine, a heavy steel blade on the front of every engine, designed to knock things off the track that clear the rail by only a couple of inches. I've seen some plows that were just barely above the rail and regularly hit asphalt and other things especially at crossings with a really loud bang.
Then there are those fittings on tank cars, hoppers, and grain cars that may be hanging down below the rail. Many are very heavy steel or brass fittings connected by chain that may have vibrated loose or never fastened on their respective car outlet.
A fellow engineer described his nighttime horror of a woman, rejected from a homeless shelter, who committed suicide by train. She jumped in front of his train at a busy crossing and actually appeared to lean into the train as if to attempt to stop it or brace for impact. Of course, him and his conductor heard the bang when she impacted the plow. They stopped the train, ran back and found the woman with a leg separated at the hip, knocked off the rail and lying a few feet alongside the right-of-way. Of course, she never survived.
Bottom line, never allow yourself to be run "over" by a train with you between the rails...
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MoviemanCin
8 years ago
I was not considering it.
Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, and / or doesn't.
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