Yeah these people that commented against the engineer aren't very smart. Bent tracks? you've got to be kidding me. those flames were probably not even 300 degrees and if they were, they weren't even close to the tracks. idiots.
@88junor Actually, surprisingly low temperatures can cause kinks in the track. Look up "sun kinks" -- the steel rails expand in the heat and buckle if the pressure builds too high.
Here in New Jersey on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, when the temperature gets up to over 90 degrees, trains that normally run 135 mph have to slow down to only 80 mph, because the rails can buckle from the heat. At full speed, the trains would not be able to stop in time when the engineer spots a sun kink up ahead.
I was driving on I-5 north from California to Oregon one night and fire was on both sides of the highway. They were allowing people to drive thru it. It was like what driving thru hell would eb like. About 18 years ago. I wish I would have had a video camera then.
Wow.. the producers and the newcast are all idiots... "It was a scary ride and everyone is ok." REALLY? It looks like an acre of brush was on fire, WHO CARES. Ohh and after reading the comments, so are 1/2 of the people who commented... "bent tracks"..?? Are you serious?? LMAO!
There was a similar situation over here not too long ago. There was a grass fire right next to the union pacific mainline, and a huge intermodal when rolling right past it at like 20 mph
@Cowboy3590 Shame on them. The Fire Dept OIC shoulda made sure that the line was shut down and they should of had a flagman positioned at least a mile up both sides of the track to warn personnel to clear the tracks. Rule #1 when operating along a RR. ALWAYS ASSUME THAT IT'S AN ACTIVE LINE!
It would take a lot more than small brushfire heat to seriously mis-align the rails there. An engine and 2 passenger cars. Looked like fun, let's do it again!
April and May are the driest months in the Southwest, right before the onset of the monsoon that starts in June. So it's not too surprising to see a small fire like this.
The man in charge of the Rail Runner, Mid-Region Council of Governments executive director Lawrence Rael, said the train was a safe distance from the fire.
But Rael also said it's the responsibility of local law enforcement and fire officials to call the BNSF Railway Company about any dangers near the tracks so dispatchers can stop approaching trains.
Why not? a train going at a decent speed shouldnt be affected to much, ofcourse i was hoping it would fly off the trackz, derail and take out a daycare, but this is cool too
what a complete idiot. first action of train driver / engineer - duty of care towards passengers. He could not have possibly known the condition of the line approaching the fire - what if the rail had buckled because of the heat? He would have killed everyone on board that train.
There's just not enough evidence to go on here. From this video you do not know if there was anyone on the ground at the fire giving him the go ahead. You don't know what just passed in front of him (inspection vehicles, etc).
It's easy to second guess these things without having all the information.
However. as a railroad Supt.....I have my own doubts. With that said, given that the only facts I have are this video shot from a distance, I will with-hold second guessing at this point.
You probably don't understand the nature of the US southwest (New Mexico in this vid) - this is mostly desert, there's very little fuel - just sparse grass and a few small shrubs. They burn up rapidly and produce little heat - the idea they could cause any damage to steel rail that weighs 100+ pounds per foot is quite frankly laughable.
I dont know if your tuned in or not - but that fire doesnt not look like just sparse grass or a few small shrubs burning. The idea that any train driver - no matter how experienced - could drive thru that and risk people's lives is quite frankly disgusting. But of course your an expert on the impact of heat on rail lines?
I don`t find this cool at all. Just imagine something was on the road. He obviously couldn`t see shit. He would have killed a hundred or more passengers and himself with it. You can`t just play with other people`s lives like this. For people who do find this cool go play with your own life not with that of others.
Ehm, clearly you have no knowledge of physics. I know this story, the guy had no advance warning at all of there being a fire. By the time it was obvious that it was near the tracks, attempting to stop would have had the train stopped practically inside the blaze. The only option was to go through full speed and get as far away as possible.
Of course he can`t stop at the last moment. Even a 6 year old can figure that out. But looking at the fire and smoke he could have easily seen it from miles away (unless he was half blind). If you have ever seen a building burn down you would know this. Even if he could not judge the distance of fire and track from a few miles off, his first reaction should have been to slow the vehicle down just in case. This is standard practice for potentially dangerous situations.
fuck yeah, freakin' awesome! that's what I call TRANSPORTATION. other fucking pussy drivers would stop and wait until the fire has been put out, but this guy just put the medal to the metal and in the end, everyone got to their destination(s) on time. kudos to that guy.
I can only think of two issues. The first would be whether the fire had caused damage to the tracks. Apparently it hadn't. The other would be whether firefighting equipment or firefighters themselves might have been on the track itself. Apparently they weren't.
its the best thing if you ask me, try to stop and you will either stop rally close to the fire or to drive through it slow and take the risk to begin to burn..
that wasnt the most inteligent move but the conductor was right if he knew because if you pass by fire very quickly you wouldnt get burnt and plus the wind that the train wouldve created must have pushed the fire a little away from the train causing little or no damage whatsover
what's the big deal? no part of the train was in the fire for even a full second. it looks crazy, but it's the same as jumping over a campfire, you just aren't in the heat long enough to get burned.
AWESOME!!!!
1234canadianguy 2 weeks ago
GET ON THE COAL TRAIN BABY!
crunchmunchhunch 2 months ago
I'M A TRAIN!
CHOO CHOO
MOTHER FUCKER!
StalkingRainbow 2 months ago 3
Yeah these people that commented against the engineer aren't very smart. Bent tracks? you've got to be kidding me. those flames were probably not even 300 degrees and if they were, they weren't even close to the tracks. idiots.
88junor 3 months ago
@88junor Actually, surprisingly low temperatures can cause kinks in the track. Look up "sun kinks" -- the steel rails expand in the heat and buckle if the pressure builds too high.
Here in New Jersey on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, when the temperature gets up to over 90 degrees, trains that normally run 135 mph have to slow down to only 80 mph, because the rails can buckle from the heat. At full speed, the trains would not be able to stop in time when the engineer spots a sun kink up ahead.
jerseyemt 3 months ago
I was driving on I-5 north from California to Oregon one night and fire was on both sides of the highway. They were allowing people to drive thru it. It was like what driving thru hell would eb like. About 18 years ago. I wish I would have had a video camera then.
3Mudbone1 3 months ago
he had to make a delivery to Los Pollos Hermanos
NewMargaritaville 3 months ago
good ol new mexicans!!! 505!
dpress95 3 months ago
looks like there was one gutsy engineer running the train that day! did he get yelled at by his bossor something?
SuperSelly93 4 months ago
That was just Chuck Norris on his morning commute to kick some ass!
kleetus92 5 months ago
Wow.. the producers and the newcast are all idiots... "It was a scary ride and everyone is ok." REALLY? It looks like an acre of brush was on fire, WHO CARES. Ohh and after reading the comments, so are 1/2 of the people who commented... "bent tracks"..?? Are you serious?? LMAO!
ayoungblood84 5 months ago
Comment removed
ayoungblood84 5 months ago
All alboard the Chuck Norris express!!
BTCRAIL101FILMS 5 months ago
There was a similar situation over here not too long ago. There was a grass fire right next to the union pacific mainline, and a huge intermodal when rolling right past it at like 20 mph
ChristopherTheWolf 5 months ago
Maybe the driver didn't notice the 2nd locomotive being on fire, if it was on fire then I assume he had pulled the emergency brake immediately.
OVinDelft 5 months ago
I'd love to be on that train.
1madaboutguitar 5 months ago
Poor Vehicle was probably frightened... i don't know about those passengers...
TheDylanJoyce 6 months ago
he should have played Hells Bells when going through the fire
MrZkr123 7 months ago 2
you know all the passengers probably bitched and got there tickets refunded.
SeizureBassist 7 months ago
Idiot can't drive. What if the fire had a toxin? What then?
Anthonysancho 7 months ago
@Anthonysancho
It woulnt be a bush fire then
DUH
moicced 7 months ago
Idiot. How did he know the rails were not bent due to extreme heat? Put his life and the lives of others onboard in danger. Hope he was fired.
2ftrmike 7 months ago
Did the conductor take over for the engineer? She said the conductor drove through the fire.
msnow22000 9 months ago
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He did what's best.. If he'd wait he might get in the flames, I don't think the flames'll come on the other side of the river any time soon.
DarkSickie 9 months ago
He did what's best.. If he'd wait he might get in the flames, I don't think the flames'll come on the other side of the river any soon.
DarkSickie 9 months ago
I wonder if Highway To Hell was playing while they went through.
CyanoticFuture 10 months ago 3
All aboard the Chuck Norris Express!!!!
BTCRAIL101FILMS 11 months ago
now tell me this. what if you had a Firefighter crew battling the blaze on the otherside of the smoke and flames??
Cowboy3590 1 year ago
@Cowboy3590 Shame on them. The Fire Dept OIC shoulda made sure that the line was shut down and they should of had a flagman positioned at least a mile up both sides of the track to warn personnel to clear the tracks. Rule #1 when operating along a RR. ALWAYS ASSUME THAT IT'S AN ACTIVE LINE!
LarrydaLimey 1 year ago
Hell yeah! Stop me if you can.
galluer 1 year ago
metro-north R.R here in NY woulda done the sam e probally
TEMPLE7D 1 year ago
Ooooh! That's the railrunner!
steven92336 2 years ago
guess he was running late lol!!!
Carlos7Matute 2 years ago
he's going through come hell or high water, 5/5
ualien42 2 years ago
Not like the guy could have stopped once he was right on it anyways. Wonder if this inspired a theme park ride?
DrPepperandOreos 2 years ago 3
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3 bogies and 3 ppl in it. they call that a train.FUCKER AMERICANS
addi138 2 years ago
Good Decision!
It would take a lot more than small brushfire heat to seriously mis-align the rails there. An engine and 2 passenger cars. Looked like fun, let's do it again!
Hiei2k7 2 years ago 4
April and May are the driest months in the Southwest, right before the onset of the monsoon that starts in June. So it's not too surprising to see a small fire like this.
gystracing 2 years ago
woudl suck if the ties were burnt and the track was not aligned... tragic
sidewalkpilot 2 years ago
omongis mah mah black ltim
Buddyb309 2 years ago
5 Stars on this one!
I agree with the actions of the Train Operator: Full Throttle through the fire.
Stopping the train would/could have been tragic.
Modeltrainguy 2 years ago 4
It's one of those yellow-light situations. Either go through with full power, or stop with all of your might.
Coastergeekperson04 2 years ago 5
Agreed 110%!
Modeltrainguy 2 years ago
The man in charge of the Rail Runner, Mid-Region Council of Governments executive director Lawrence Rael, said the train was a safe distance from the fire.
But Rael also said it's the responsibility of local law enforcement and fire officials to call the BNSF Railway Company about any dangers near the tracks so dispatchers can stop approaching trains.
Rael says that didn't happen.
btho5531 2 years ago 5
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through the fire and flames lol
pavelkolp 2 years ago
I cant you said that. Are you joking? Why would anyone with half a brain go thru the fire in the first place?
btho5531 2 years ago
Why not? a train going at a decent speed shouldnt be affected to much, ofcourse i was hoping it would fly off the trackz, derail and take out a daycare, but this is cool too
sickwititty 2 years ago
well to tell you the truth the driver of the train must of missed the fire
or the train was going to fast and couldn't stop ontime
jaws12413 2 years ago
That wasnt nearly as cool as I though it would be
TheDrunkenCelt 2 years ago
I agree. not as cool as I thought it'd be.
thad73va 2 years ago
me too
CST1992 2 years ago
lol
Mekill60 2 years ago
what a complete idiot. first action of train driver / engineer - duty of care towards passengers. He could not have possibly known the condition of the line approaching the fire - what if the rail had buckled because of the heat? He would have killed everyone on board that train.
How could his actions possibly be justified.
btho5531 2 years ago 3
There's just not enough evidence to go on here. From this video you do not know if there was anyone on the ground at the fire giving him the go ahead. You don't know what just passed in front of him (inspection vehicles, etc).
It's easy to second guess these things without having all the information.
However. as a railroad Supt.....I have my own doubts. With that said, given that the only facts I have are this video shot from a distance, I will with-hold second guessing at this point.
Boss302fan 2 years ago 2
I can understand if the driver was not aware of the fire and had no choice but to go thru it. No problem there.
But it would be very hard to justify someone giving authority for that driver to proceed knowing full well there was a fire.
btho5531 2 years ago
And what if he stops, and all the passengers burn to death?
kapufa 2 years ago
Boss302fan has a good point, and plus, if he tried to stop he might have stopped in the fire, then what would happen to everyone on board?
gunshotkid 2 years ago 4
You probably don't understand the nature of the US southwest (New Mexico in this vid) - this is mostly desert, there's very little fuel - just sparse grass and a few small shrubs. They burn up rapidly and produce little heat - the idea they could cause any damage to steel rail that weighs 100+ pounds per foot is quite frankly laughable.
blaarp 2 years ago
I dont know if your tuned in or not - but that fire doesnt not look like just sparse grass or a few small shrubs burning. The idea that any train driver - no matter how experienced - could drive thru that and risk people's lives is quite frankly disgusting. But of course your an expert on the impact of heat on rail lines?
btho5531 2 years ago
That's exactly what a small brushfire looks like. I apologize if you're housebound and have never seen one in real life.
Also, since you ask; I do know quite a bit about the effect of heat on steel.
blaarp 2 years ago
Bah,
Seeing as how:
-The FRA found no fault in his actions
-The local news media found no fault in his actions
-Most of the commenters here found no fault in his actions
I'm pretty much dismissing your opinion with no counter argument :). Court of popular opinion has adjourned.
PrimaryConsult 3 years ago 2
I don`t find this cool at all. Just imagine something was on the road. He obviously couldn`t see shit. He would have killed a hundred or more passengers and himself with it. You can`t just play with other people`s lives like this. For people who do find this cool go play with your own life not with that of others.
Dutchdrummer99 3 years ago
Ehm, clearly you have no knowledge of physics. I know this story, the guy had no advance warning at all of there being a fire. By the time it was obvious that it was near the tracks, attempting to stop would have had the train stopped practically inside the blaze. The only option was to go through full speed and get as far away as possible.
PrimaryConsult 3 years ago 3
Of course he can`t stop at the last moment. Even a 6 year old can figure that out. But looking at the fire and smoke he could have easily seen it from miles away (unless he was half blind). If you have ever seen a building burn down you would know this. Even if he could not judge the distance of fire and track from a few miles off, his first reaction should have been to slow the vehicle down just in case. This is standard practice for potentially dangerous situations.
Dutchdrummer99 3 years ago
grass fires are very differant to building fires.
alphamone 3 years ago 3
WHOA!
Looks like nothing can stop trains!
sammydenyc 3 years ago
hell ray ray from hell
patriotsrulenygsuck 3 years ago
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abcdefghijklnmopqrstuvwxyz
patriotsrulenygsuck 3 years ago
COOL! holy shit that's great.
Yugobanian 3 years ago
fuck yeah, freakin' awesome! that's what I call TRANSPORTATION. other fucking pussy drivers would stop and wait until the fire has been put out, but this guy just put the medal to the metal and in the end, everyone got to their destination(s) on time. kudos to that guy.
PanekPL 3 years ago 59
I wouldn't be surprised if he got fired though :(
takeyb0y2 3 years ago 5
i know, because of some stupid regulations...
PanekPL 3 years ago 3
pedal*
sorry, typo
PanekPL 3 years ago
He did probably the safest thing too. If he had tried to stop, he might have come to rest dangerously close to, or even in the middle of, the fire.
tuttt99 3 years ago 3
thats fucking badass
lambchops10 3 years ago 5
YOU CAN NEVER BE TO FAR AWAY FROM TRAINS
april582 3 years ago 3
that would look crazy from inside the train
isokessu 3 years ago 14
wicked awsome!!!
metta34 3 years ago
I can only think of two issues. The first would be whether the fire had caused damage to the tracks. Apparently it hadn't. The other would be whether firefighting equipment or firefighters themselves might have been on the track itself. Apparently they weren't.
decline2state 3 years ago 4
oh my god
Kshawna 3 years ago
right through it hah. dramatising crap the train went past it, to the side people to the side!
JedNZ 3 years ago
its the best thing if you ask me, try to stop and you will either stop rally close to the fire or to drive through it slow and take the risk to begin to burn..
HinFoo 4 years ago 2
Thats just the hourly shuttle to hell. Not really news. but its just rarely caught on tape. =p
Dillon1108 4 years ago 32
LOL like that sense of humor
DominicMetal1979 4 years ago
The Devil has the best public transport!
mazeteam 4 years ago 4
yea but the worst prices your breaking our balls devil :p
l2rlover 3 years ago
CNN makes "news" out of nothing.. and Fixed news sure aint no damn better!
hummtide 4 years ago
obviously, the dispatcher did not say look out, there is a fire in where ever so slow down and stop for a moment, of course not in the fire.
cooldit1 4 years ago
it would be safe because the train outer material is made of steel.
toooot911 4 years ago
that wasnt the most inteligent move but the conductor was right if he knew because if you pass by fire very quickly you wouldnt get burnt and plus the wind that the train wouldve created must have pushed the fire a little away from the train causing little or no damage whatsover
lilazntown 4 years ago
Would have stunk if he tried to stop... it would probably stop at the fire.
AlmightySR 4 years ago 3
ahw shit thta was the railrunner that train kills ppl all the tyme
kwiterseven 4 years ago
what's the big deal? no part of the train was in the fire for even a full second. it looks crazy, but it's the same as jumping over a campfire, you just aren't in the heat long enough to get burned.
JohnUnit 4 years ago
they should replace those blind train drivers once and for all...
markiex 4 years ago
that's not a high speed train. that's the albequerque, NM railrunner commuter service.
JSimp140 4 years ago
that was a stupid move what if the rails were compromised by the heat?
WAKEUPshift111 4 years ago 2
what if nobody knew about it? o_O
thescarybox 4 years ago
Holy snap
DarkShard 4 years ago
I hope that somebody on board took a video of the experience and posts it on youtube!
ScarletKnights 4 years ago