Now that we're giving advice on how to survive on a bridge walkway when caught by a train, do what we were taught at the CTA... lay down. All the Chicago elevateds have rather tight track centers, we typically had a 30" walkway, but the curved shape of the car sides overhung the edge of the walk. SOP, per the rules, was to never put yourself in a position to be on the walk between trains; you stopped one train and stood on the track in front of it while the other passed. Of course, there was always the possibility (remote, but it was there) that neither train would stop, and trying to stand between two moving trains is a recipe for disaster... it's disorienting, and once you brush one train you'll bounce back and forth until you go down. The solution is to go down on your own terms, and lay on the deck. All things considered, there is more room down there by the trucks, although locomotive pilot plows are most definitely a problem to be aware of.

OMG, P51....Well, I guess I should have said "not many people" would have jumped....lol.
I would have, over the water....but, to me, that silted area looked like a good area to get, at least, a broken leg...if not a broken neck.
I'm not trying to give advice...... That was just what I did, once, in a bad situation...Looking back now, I was over a big, deep river and I was probably more fearful of going home wet, or perhaps, drowning...
I like the idea of laying down on the walkway....I wish I had thought of that back then.

It's incredible to me that there were ample walkways on that bridge, and all the crew would have had to do was lay down flat and let the train go by. No safety meeting beforehand? Criminal.

One of the linked articles at The Hollywood Reporter quotes a girl who got a broken arm while standing on the walkway next to a girder, instead of next to the wire "fence" between the girders.
As for the drawbridge over the muddy channel with the 7 day notice requirement, did anyone check to find if the United States Army's Corps of Engineers had given notice 6 days and 23 hours earlier for their dredge?

Yeah, me too. I probably could have laid down on the edge and been fine, but it didn't occur to me either at the time.
The bridge we were on was a concrete structure, not very wide with no walkways. No gaps between the ties, so running would have been an option if the train coming was going slow enough. But that wasn't the case. It helped to know I was aware how deep the river was and that i was a strong simmer at the time. Oh, and that was a new teenager, and didn't have any doubts I'd be fine (you know, the normal idiotic mindset all kids have at that age) just as long as I didn't tangle with the Seaboard System GPs barreling down on us...

Having worked for TVRM, if this was the case, they would have had a railroad escort if they had permission. I have worked with movie scouts and crews and we never, ever permitted anyone who was not a railroad employee on the right of way without an escort. The escort was always equipped with a radio and responsible for coordinating any activity with the train crews. Quite frankly, this whole thing stinks. Of course, all of the producers and managers for the film house are now in CYA mode as they all know that someone is going to take the fall for this and that this isn't going to go away quietly as they had hoped.

A rather basic but important thought came to me, perhaps taking so long because we would take it for granted. . .

One would not film or stage something on a ROAD without some form of flagging or protection, without going through permits and the like, partially because someone would be guaranteed to come through at the wrong time--and that could be dangerous, even on a city street.

Why would this not also be expected on a Rail ROAD?

A variation, if I may say so, of how not only us, but railroads in general, "don't get no respect"--and in this case, with fatal consequences.

A very good point. If a production company is filming and needs to use a public roadway, they have to jump through all the hoops to get the permits, hire police to flag or shut down the road, etc. That's also why major cities that deal with requests from the movie houses have bureaus that act as central contacts and handle all of the details with the movie houses.

Regardless of how it happened, this incident is like a railway-related version of the death of Vic Morrow: unsafe practices on a film set leading to a tragedy.

In my opinion this seems like an instance of "guerrilla filmmaking" (i.e. filming without permission) going bad real fast.

BTW: "The Hollywood Reporter" article is interesting, but it contains an apparent editing goof: it says the train was "Two stories high." They must have meant the bridge, since even a Big Boy is not that tall.

Update: I discussed the "Midnight Rider" incident in this recent blog post of mine:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/2542122-railway-lines-are-no-places-to-play

Double stacked containers require a 20' 2" clearance above the rail, so the Hollywood Reporter's "two stories high" description is apt.

I suspect that saying "two stories high" was used to give a comparison, rather than be strictly accurate. Saying "two stories high" is more effective at conveying the size of the train than saying some measurement. Plus, it is easier; after all, who, other than a rabid foamer, would actually go out and measure the height of a train for a news article?

News updated include NTSB and negligent homicide.

WSAV update reporting that the NTSB is investigating the incident.
http://www.wsav.com/story/24909137/upda ... t-by-train

Wayne County Sheriff John Carter tells…
a CSX employee had told officials that the film crew had been denied a permit to be on the tracks…
Carter also tells us that in addition to an OSHA investigation, that the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) has also launched a probe. Those federal agencies will likely take months to complete their probes. Carter says he hopes their investigation can be completed as soon as possible. He says once it is complete, that results will be turned over to the district attorney's office. He also says in addition to film confiscated from the crew on scene that they have video tape from a camera that was operating on the train.

http://savannahnow.com/share/blog-post/ ... xs1tN5IDAY

"Georgia law enforcement authorities are treating the investigation into Jones' death as a negligent homicide,

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/midni ... 201122646/

…experts contacted by Variety say it is inconceivable that a railroad would allow shooting on an active rail line without having one of its own officials on site to ensure safety.
Asked whether there was a railroad official on site for the shoot, …“Union reps say it wasn’t a scheduled shooting day and no set medic or railroad safety officer was on set.”

Would not surprise me if at least part of that cab video ends up on U-Tube someday.

I would be very surprised if the cab video shows up online anywhere. Even if- make that WHEN- CSX is shown to not be at fault here, that video would be a sensitive item that the attorneys would not want to be made public.

Article says 4 people were injured by "flying prop debris", not sure that even the walkway would have been safe in that case.

I understand that 24 to 30 trains a day cross that bridge, including 6 Amtrac trains, sounds like a very busy place to be trying to set up props.

Anyone who has worked on the tracks would know (or should know) that if the train is going to hit something, you need to run back toward the train so you are "up stream" from the collision, since stuff is going to fly all over the place. The fact that these people were never told that just reinforces the fact that they had no business being out there.

In one articles someone made the statement that the cameragal was initially worried about the camera; it hadn't sunk in yet that she needed to be more concerned about saving her own skin. It brought back memories of yelling "F*ck the chainsaw, f*ck the chainsaw" at a new guy who looked like he was about to jump right in front of a train to rescue a chainsaw he'd forgotten to carry off when we'd cleared the track. It takes a while to internalize the proper order of concerns.