https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/29 ... stle-stop/



More at the link. The mentioned video was removed after this was posted.

Hi
1st it took me a half hour just to LOG IN,, you might be better off sending a reply via the Post Office,, or using two pieces a string and two paper cups.... WHY is this happeining.... please Moderators take Notice...
Also I was getting Host error....

If you want to see on the would be rider,, go to you tube,, and put in title,, as per this post... Pat.

[Ditto on Pat's comments, took me forever to log in and was getting a host error as well.]

I saw the video of what happened. I'm not sure the circumstances of how the person got into the positon they were in but they were stationary on the side ladder for at least 7 seconds before trying to adjust their grip on the ladder grab when they slipped and fell.

This begs the question whether they were really "gassed" to get to the top of the ladder, was the gangway so crowded with people they were trying to be polite and wait for room before stepping up. If they were really struggling, why didn't they ask for help from someone already in the cab? There are too many unknowns to come to some definitive conclusions on the circumstances that lead to what happened.

That being said, I would hazard a guess that many railroads may be adjusting their cab ride/visitation policy as a result. One needs to be able to haul themselves up an 8-10 foot ladder using their own strength, closed-toe, steel toe, non-slip soled boots, not sneakers. The person says a liability form was signed but still, i'm sure that legal and insurance will be throroughly reviewing any wording thats there.

While its "instinct" to want to help a person up from the ground following a fall, if they had received a concussion or had seriously broken something it would have been smarter to let them lie on the ground and have a neck brace attached before helping them up.

The railroad industry has always been reactionary with regards to safety. Whether this guy likes it or not, the video will keep being replayed for years to come as people examine how to prevent this from happening again and whether its worth it to have any in-cab experiences at all.

Agreed, let the EMS or first responders move the victim. You could do much more damage by moving the patient yourself.

I don't disagree with your bullet points, from a liability standpoint, but would any of these line items have prevented this accident? Seems like it would be prudent to have spotters at the top and bottom to help folks up, as well as maybe some sort of safety harness. Though, who knows how cumbersome or effective a harness could even be. A wheel-able ergonomic ladder like you'd see in a shop or warehouse is probably the safest idea, but the logistics of setting this up and having a flat plane to set it upon in the field are not realistic. At the end of the day, as much as I hate to say it, accidents happen and I don't know how one dummy proof everything if a person makes a wrong move, gets dizzy or looses their balance/grip in these situaitons.

Every man must know his limitations. Watching the video brought this to mind

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

I kinda agree with this but.... You don't know what you don't know.

Climbing up on a steam engine, or diesel, is NOT like clambering up a regular household ladder or, a better example, a ships ladder with handrails. You have to have some semblance of upper body strength and a bit of coordination. Grippy gloves may help. Locomotive grab irons are usually in line with or at times behind your shoulders until you can reach the next one. Unless you do it often enough to be used to it, it's an awkward climb. You're using muscles in combinations not normal to everyday occurrences. No thoughts given to ergonomics in the design of these steps or ladders.

If you have non-railroaders going up those ladders or steps, you gotta have spotters right there ready to catch any missteps, not standing back and watching. Or have a portable ships ladder, maybe with self-leveling treads, that you can strap down out of the way if you're doing cab tours or ride-alongs.

We occasionally give cab tours on our GP7u diesel. Two spotters on the ground and one on the front porch. You're very likely to have a hand on your back as you go up. And this isn't as high off the ground.

My 0.4 of a nickel.

Quote from Dirty Harry:

Has saved my life several times in the last 50 years while I watched fools rush in.....

A Man's Got to Know His Limitations LINK

Not to add to the already generous amount of verbal abuse and mockery this poor gentleman has already suffered on the internet, but 1) You're not going to pay me enough to be a spotter underneath that gentleman; and 2) the harnesses I've seen and used in such applications decidedly have weight limitations......... never mind figuring out what you're hooking them to.



For those of you who haven't been in high-rise warehouses of late, here's an example of what's being discussed here:

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H- ... 4-Top-Step

As it turns out, one railroad with which I am acquainted has taken exactly this approach, offering cab visits during its layover with its recycled-veggie-oil steamer for Earth Day: The Grand Canyon Railway. I'm not sure whether they truck that stepladder up to the South Rim from Williams, or whether it lives somewhere up there (at El Tovar or whatever). And to be honest, even that thing is a bit unnerving (and maybe a bad idea still) to some people. I certainly feel better watching "civilians" climb up that thing one at a time than seeing them risk the cab ladder, but my personal instinct still prefers a much more solid (if completely vertical) cab ladder.

I have already been told by two operations/crews over time that, whether or not they'd like to offer me a cab visit/ride, the problem becomes that as soon as I, the guy who is dressed exactly like a crew member with work boots, work uniform, gloves, etc. but with a camera, crawl up and down that ladder, everyone else who isn't similarly attired and fit will want THEIR turn at it....... and it just isn't fair.

Can you just imagine how bad the problem is with a Big Boy visit to a big city with a full display? The queue of everyone from real media representatives to podcasters to terminally ill children with a dying wish to politicians to railfans who think they're "best buddies with Ed Dickens" (because he once answered a social media post or whatever), all wanting a cab visit, would be over a mile long every time!

A final(?) note on "moving the victim" when he was down on the ground after falling:
As someone who has NOT actually seen the alleged video of the fall and response, i have to withhold judgement on what actually transpired and why. But approaching such an incident from both an emergency-responder perspective and a railroader perspective...... I have two reflexes at war with one another: "Don't move him; he might have some serious injury" versus "Get him off the active railroad track!" Now, admittedly, Amtrak's California Zephyr, or just about any train at all, is not going to be roaring through a Big Boy service stop absent a serious miscommunication AND a zonked-out engineer. But I HAVE seen Amtrak's Sunset Limited have to tiptoe its way to a routine station stop in Benson, Arizona amidst crowds of people awaiting 4014........ and I think all of us remember the video of the kid being LITERALLY picked up out of the way of a UP freight, which passed him by a mere foot or two because he was engrossed in videoing a dead-in-tow 4014 arriving in Cheyenne!

I am mostly addressing the bold text. You are correct, there are no magic bullets, even apart from a railfan naturally excited (distracted) by a unique opportunity entering a largely closed enclave and maybe lacking the physical strength and agility to to ascend to the cab and unfamiliar with the normal cautions that professionals or well trained volunteers exercise reflexively and almost subconsciously before taking any action in any safety sensitive situation/environment-there are two other things one must consider:

The Peltzman Effect, which dates from seminal paper in 1973 by economist Sam Peltzman regarding the then somewhat novel seatbelt which showed that the anticipated safety results were not improved as expected.

From Econlib.org

Here’s a good definition of the “Peltzman effect:”

According to the Peltzman Effect, when safety measures are implemented, people’s perception of risk decreases, and so people may feel that they can now afford to make riskier decisions. As a result, the phenomenon predicts that mandatory safety measures actually experience a lower benefit than we would expect, because the safety benefits brought about by these measures are offset to some extent by increases in risky behavior.

Once you've been in safety sensitive environments, you realize, often through fortuitous near misses that there are no procedural or equipment substitutes for personal vigilance and situational awareness and you should never think they assure your protection.

I routinely climbed into locomotive cabs and passenger coaches for 20 plus years, but haven't done it in almost eight. Although I remain an active gym rat, I know that I've aged and am out of practice. If I were ever to do it again (highly unlikely), I'd take a deep breath and think-because I had the good fortune of being trained in the late Mark Brennan's safety obsessed (that's praise, not a slight) culture. Nobody learns it automatically. I still have a scar on my shin from a slip in June 1999 off a coach step.

Any time you put the public in contact with locomotives and rolling stock,there's risk and uncertainty. They do things impulsively and with thoughtlessness that ranges from mild distraction to outright reckless. I still remember the guy that jumped from the deck of the 26 to the cement in the core complex after completing a cab tour. He was pretty shocked to find out his knees could reach his ears. He had no idea his son of about four or five would have followed his lead if I hadn't been alert to it-because I saw kids follow the folks before.

We really should cut this guy a break. The fact that he remains in good cheer after having his big opportunity dashed and suffering an injury serious enough to require medical attention is good enough.

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