Major train wreck in L.A.

[dd74]

Evidentally, someone intentionally "parked" and left their Cherokee SUV to cause this:



The SUV owner is in custody. 9 dead so far.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/26/train.derailment/index.html

[VaSteve]

We heard that he was planning suicide and then bailed out at the last minute. The dude is going to wish he had died. If he thought his life sucked before....

[dd74]

Originally posted by VaSteve
If he thought his life sucked before....

Yes, if he thought his life sucked before, now it'll really suck since the authorities are thinking of charging this ********* with murder.

[84porsche]

Are people that distraught that they have take others with them when they commit suicide? Next time jump off a bridge but do it at midnight as not to hold up traffic. They should charge him with murder because what he did in my opinion is unexcusable. Everybody has bad days, bad weeks and bad years, it is the stronger person who learns how to deal with adversity and move forward. Suicide is a cheap and easy way out.

[RickM]

Count is up to 10....what a pathetic soul.

[legion]

I was on an Amtrak train that hit a Jeep back in '96. Someone had stolen the Jeep, took it for a joyride, and parked it on the tracks to dispose of the evidence. The train didn't derail, and I didn't even know that we hit anything until they stopped the train and explained the situation. We just sat and waited for an hour so the engineer could talk to investigators...

The Jeep was obliterated, the train was undamaged.

I could see this person thinking the same thing would happen. That doesn't excuse their actions in any way, but it might have been their thought process.

[VaSteve]

These Metrolink trains travel in "cab forward" or "push pull mode - think of a subway car. They are unprotected from stuff like this because 1/2 the time, the locomotive is in the back.


As far as 84porsche's comment:
There are some real f**kers that stand in the path of trains just for the train to cut them down. Many of those engineers have to go to counseling because they saw the guys face and can't sleep any longer.

[dd74]

Originally posted by legion
The Jeep was obliterated, the train was undamaged.

According to Sheriff Lee Baca, it was the Cherokee's engine block that derailed the train after the Cherokee itself was hit and obliterated.

[COLDBASS]

Loser. I hope that he enjoys hell...

[Hugh R]

Happened right near some of our offices. My boss usually takes that train but he drove today. He needs to buy a lottery ticket.

[vash]

holy crap!

that is hideous. i hope the injured heal fast, and the mourning is short.

suicide shouldnt involve others. ever.

[jcwade]

I was there. One of our engines was involved (UP) and
the amount of misinformation put out by the media was incredible. It seems that they just need to talk to fill the dead air.

I responded and was taking pictures of the destruction.
Luckily, none of our people or my friends was involved.

If you want to kill yourself, don't take innocent bystanders with you. I hope he gets the needle (little chance) or spends the rest of his life being "Bubba's" girlfriend!

I may post some of the pictures I took, maybe not.

john

[ZAMIRZ]

According to the local news ("eyewitness" channel 9) the guy is from Compton, he was hallucinating and on drugs.

[bluebullet]

what a loser. Well know we know that cherokee blocks are good for something, but technically they arent...

[Mule]

I blame this incident entirely on California's radical gun control laws. Had this guy been able to easily access a handgun once he decided he was ready for the big dirt-nap, he could have put the pistol in his mouth, & when he changed his mind, just put it back in the nightstand. No harm, no foul.

[Superman]

A substantial rail line went through my North Idaho home town and some of my friends' dads were railroad guys. There's new technologies now, but trains used to be all very similar. Derailments were always interesting to me, along with pretty much all mechanical carnage. I lament any and all loss of life. I only find the mechanical/physical part entertaining. As it turns out, train cars would sometimes derail, but locomotives almost never did. When a locomotive did slip off the tracks, they usually did not even tip over. They just chewed the poop out of dozens of hefty wooden ties, and twisted main line rail (weighs 110 lbs per foot) like spaghetti. Pretty cool.

Tragic, this current story. Hey, Mule, thanks for jumping on this opportunity to place blame, and particularly for selecting some concept or group of people you hate to blame it on. Because this is so helpful, I'll blame it on a society that places such pressures on people and families in the interest of achieving the white-hot economy, and provides so little resources or even time for people to socially interact that many people are losing their marbles and no knowing where to turn. Yeah. That makes it better. But I still like your idea best because it doesn't deal with the messy problem of people who WANT to kill themselves and people who WANT to kill others, but rather just deals with the tools they need for the job.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

I say kill that bastard slowly and painfully...

[nostatic]

we need suicide booths like they have in Futurama...