The below photo was actually ran in a Kankakee, IL newspaper. What a thing for kids to see! Look out IRM, for those visiting kids from Kankakee, they'll have their heads to the rails listening for the next train.
Why don't newspaper editors think before they print things like this?

Boyd


bowens@rypn.org

If there ever was a case to talk to the parents about child endangering, this is it!. And in a newspaper yet!


lamontdc@adelphia.net

> I remember see a few others just as ill-conceived. A few years ago some sports figure in SI standing smack-dab in the guage, apparently unaware trains come in either direction. So much for role models..

P.S.maybe a letter to the editor is in line.

superheater@rrmail.com

Hello All.

It is frightening how safety and common sense gives way to the "gimick advertising". A few years ago the "Mall at Steamtown" produced a railroad-themed advertising flyer with toddlers in pinstripe overalls playing all over tracks and railroad equipment. Mall management was shocked when we at Steamtown NHS wouldn't give them out to anyone.

Dave Crosby

bing@epix.net

I used to do it all of the time. With trains much quieter now then they were 25 years ago, it is probably not a good idea to tell kids to do this.

Actually, it never seemed to work for me anyway, so I learned early on that it wasn't worth getting my ear dirty for.

That's not unusual at all. The types of folks that we're discussing here are the types that don't understand the concept of standing well back behind the yellow line on the platform, even when the agent has announced over the station PA that a train is approaching and those outside the building need to stand back from the tracks and the yellow line.

If you're looking for brazen disregard for a child's safety, I'm certain that we all have stories to tell about parents just standing by, watching their kid climb up on equipment that they should have stayed off of. We see this all the time in our display and storage yard with kids and sometimes entire families climbing on top of equipment.

I've seen worse though. One of my passengers came within a second of getting his hand crushed when he reached UNDER the rear wheel of the trailing truck on 4501's tender to remove a penny that he had placed on the rail. Fortunately I was just a few paces behind the man and yelled at him to move his hand just before the engineer moved the locomotive to the turntable. Needless to say, I had a strong, one-sided discussion with him and his wife had that "wait til I get you in the car" expression on her face. He got the message, if not immediately than later on. Needless to say, neither I nor my fellow conductors condone that type of activity for just that reason. If someone asks me if they can put a coin on the track, my answer is no. Then there are the morons that want that perfect shot and are willing to risk personal harm to get it. We've had more than one amature photographer who has come close to being hit by the train or done something else equally dangerous, stupid or both.

As for the effectiveness of the practice in question, I think that the shift towards welded rail has as much to do with it, if not moreso than ambient noise produced by a train. After all, the idea is to detect vibration, not noise.

awalker2002@comcast.net

> Why don't newspaper editors think before
> they print things like this?

Boyd,
They may have thought it was a cute photo of a child doing something (most of us have done) harmless and fun. Most reporters and editors have not ridden in, let alone driven a vehicle that stops a mile after you step on the brakes.

I suggest you write or call the executive editor or managing editor and ask why they ran the photo. Explain why it bothers us. Also, write a letter to the editorial page editor and state your views and rationale to be printed. Reporters and editors generally welcome the opportunity to become better informed about the areas and subjects they cover. Your approach may lead to a round of questioning next time a photo of children placing themselves
at risk is offered for the news pages.

Offer to help Operation Lifesaver get the word out and help make sure all news media are invited to their presentations.

If you do follow up with that paper, please post their reply.

jwc

that other Chattanooga website
mail@steamvalley.com

One of the rights we posess as Americans is the right to be an idiot. If someone does an idiotic thing, they should be warned that it is idiotic. If they persist, then they are beyond help.
The truly disturbing part of this photo is the implied cause and effect, i.e., that it was the listening that made the train show up. I always advise the anxious riders to let the train come to them, not the other way around. Leaning on the edge of a platform doesn't make the train arrive any sooner than it would without our "help".

http://www.nps.gov/stea/

> One of the rights we posess as Americans is
> the right to be an idiot. If someone does an
> idiotic thing, they should be warned that it
> is idiotic. If they persist, then they are
> beyond help.

And the worst part of this is that I have to PAY good money for the results of this idiotic behavior!

lamontdc@adelphia.net

> One of the rights we posess as Americans is
> the right to be an idiot. If someone does an
> idiotic thing, they should be warned that it
> is idiotic. If they persist, then they are
> beyond help.

Tell that to the average liberal judge! The reality is that if someone does something idiotic and you don't stop them, you're usually liable for their resulting injuries. That sucks, and should be changed, but such is life.

The South Carolina Railroad Museum
mconrad@compuzone.net

Alan and all, here's another very good reason to not allow folks to put coins on the track. They have a tendancy to pop out from under the wheel due to the taper on the tread, and at a high enough speed to do some serious damage to bystanders. Nickels seem to be the worst.

> I've seen worse though. One of my passengers
> came within a second of getting his hand
> crushed when he reached UNDER the rear wheel
> of the trailing truck on 4501's tender to
> remove a penny that he had placed on the
> rail.> If someone asks me if they can put a coin on
> the track, my answer is no.

rudd@nospamcogdellmendrala.com

That is indeed one of the other reasons that I discourage the crushing of coins on the rails. I haven't seen that happen myself, but I'm certain that some of the others I work with have.

awalker2002@comcast.net

> That is indeed one of the other reasons that
> I discourage the crushing of coins on the
> rails. I haven't seen that happen myself,
> but I'm certain that some of the others I
> work with have.

Indeed ...I saw a lad hit on the forehead by a flying penny, fortunately it landed flat and missed his eyes, left a nice bruise.


lamontdc@adelphia.net