Sad subject. Cut off at the knees happened with us a couple years ago. A drunk decided to hop the train. He fell and went under and it was just about at the knees that he was lopped off. When the EMT's arrived, he was alive as the wounds had been sealed off by the pressure of the wheels. The cars weigh about 90 tons each. But when they moved him, the wounds opened up and he bled out almost instantly and died. If you get directly in front and we're up to speed, you're going to actually fly apart from the impact. The locomotive, alone, weighs 120 to 150 tons and at 60 or 80 mph, the impact from that on a human body is incredible. Witnesses often talk about how the body flies apart.
Inside a car, you fare little better, especially if the impact is against the side of the car you're sitting next to. Joe had one like that. He told me the coupler went right through and killed the passenger. As conductor, he had to go and see if she was dead -- she was. He said that her lower part was mangled by the coupler, but that the top half of the body was unharmed except a tiny trickle of blood from a nostril.
We don't like to be your executioners. We'd rather just have a good day on the rails.
Thanks for sharing this.
