Please excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor. Not so much for the fact that the person didn't hear the train behind them, but mostly because after being physically moved, they continue to look through what appear to be binoculars never seeing the train they were almost hit by completely unphased as to what almost happened.

While we're on the subject, I'm rather fond of this little gem that surfaced a couple of weeks ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp1YCSvt_g0

I personally like this one better:

http://gawker.com/watch-a-train-conduct ... socialflow

Stop it at 0:01 to see what hit him.

This is why the railroads don't like trespassing foamers... (or trespassers in general)

"This is why we can't have nice things."
-Anonymous

Annnnnnnnnnnnd at Harper's Ferry...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd6maEpbzDg

1:10...

You need to see the entire clip; this is, as far as I have been able to research, the original, unedited clip posted by the original shooter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwO-IWorGv4

It doesn't really make it any more inexplicable, but in context at least offers an "excuse"--the "cacophony" of whistles present.

Oh, man, this is only the tip of the iceberg of what's available on YouTube, including incidents where the people were not so lucky. Among them, a grade crossing collision that killed five instantly, the infamous crossing incident near Chicago where a woman walks ahead of a standing train and into the path of another coming at considerable speed, another woman in the Chicago area who, with her kids in her van, tries to outrun a train at a crossing and gets hit by it and another coming in the opposite direction on another track, and the fellow in India who was on top of a train in electrified territory--well, I'll only say of the last one is that it was an interesting observation of how the path of least resistance for electricity is not always the shortest one. . .

There is (or was) a clip of a narrow gauge train on the D&RGW making hamburger out of a bull or steer. Not as graphic as I've made it sound, but still something to see that large animal just disappear under the snowplow on the pilot.

Railroads are statistically quite safe, far better than the road system, but they can be VERY unforgiving of error.

I remember that one well. To make matters worse, it was a professional railroad video offered for sale (and you can probably still purchase it). I can understand not turning the camera off because there is always the hope that it will be a close call, but to intentionally put that shot in a video. By a wide margin, it was the single most tasteless editing decision I have ever seen....
Kevin

Exactly. It only takes one video of one IDIOT to ruin it for all. Exhibit A: Closed dutch door policy a certain prominent mainline excursion operation.

I'm also reminded that idiot proofing is only effective until they come out with a new and improved idiot.

ETA

The worrying thing is that most of these clowns are young enough to contribute to the gene pool!

Were these people simply trespassing, or did the U.P. allow them to be on the property?

And the idiot never even put down their camera.

Correct me if you have heard differently, but my understanding is that it wasn't any specific incident that caused the dutch doors to be closed, but more a fear of potential lawsuits from someone who got a cinder in their eye.

Net result is the same however...
Kevin

There has not been, as far as I know, a fatal incident involving an open Dutch door or other vestibule opening in North American preservation, but there most decidedly was one in the UK approximately 1989-1990, where an enthusiast was fatally injured when his head struck a tunnel wall during a trip on one of the GWR or North Wales main lines. The aftermath included handrail-like bars installed over the outside of vestibule windows of carriages owned by, or assigned to, mainline operators such as the Steam Locomotive Operators Association or Flying Scotsman Enterprises. (I found that a younger person could still get a head and camera out, but little else....)

Whether UK and North American insurance and liability authorities converse on such matters is unknown to me....