Can I Legally Walk Along Train Track

I am pretty sure the Bernoulli principal, as it applies to trains sucking people into them, was debunked on Mythbusters a few years ago. They noted turbulence but not enough to suck a person into a train.

The vortex from a passing train can suck a person onto the tracks.

busted

Although small scale testing with model trains in a wind tunnel showed a vortex, the more dominant force when running the full size train was the air turbulence running alongside and away from the train. The force caused Ted, a dummy made of ballistics gel, to simply fall down where he stood rather than be drawn into the train's wake, and also violently pushed around an empty stroller tethered onto the platform alongside. Despite the lack of suction, the MythBusters agreed that the turbulence was powerful enough in its own right to make standing that close to the train as it passes very dangerous.

Although they pretend to be fully scientific, the Mythbuster team tends to focus on one tactic and ignore others. I ended up only believing them partially. For one thing they didn't take a person's reaction into account at all. Also, they did the test at much below Acela speeds--I can believe that there is enough force to affect a person when a train is going 100+ mph, but I am not so sure about 50 mph.

I found one study that actually shows the pressures at various points when at train passes, but I don't know enough about air pressures to know if the measurements would matter to a person standing trackside. One thing that I can tell from the graphs in the report is that there is an initial POSITIVE pressure followed by a NEGATIVE pressure. In theory this would affect a person standing trackside by first pushing them AWAY from the train, then pulling them BACK to approximately the same spot they started from. This happens in 0.2 seconds, and is followed by a lighter negative pressure that, if it is strong enough (I don't know what the forces in the graphs translate to in terms of "person pulling power") could have some affect.

It seems odd to me that the detective didn't react when he heard the train's horn and I can't think of any reason for his lack of reaction other than him being deaf (and that seems unlikely). The train was traveling at 75 fps according to the railroad spokesman, which gave the detective 20 seconds to react after the train crew saw him at 1/4 mile and, I would hope, immediately blew a warning. Even after they started braking (at 1/6 mile) he would have had over 13 seconds remaining to get off the tracks. Maybe it was vertigo, the same thing that threatens to pull you off a cliff when you stand near it. Being close to a large moving object can do the same thing (although I tend to doubt that it would happen as quickly as it did--he hit the locomotive after all).

If you do go on the tracks, be very aware. No matter what you may believe to be the traffic level, always treat this particular set of tracks as if a train is due at any time, and assume it will be coming quietly and at high speed. A set of shiny tracks usually means frequent traffic. Tracks with a light coat of rust tell you there hasn't been a train in hours (typically the dew will put a light spotty coat of rust on tracks that sat unused overnight)--this means that the tracks ARE used and you can expect a train any minute. Old rusty tracks with pitted heads mean nothing has been by in months. If you know the tracks are abandoned, proceed without caution. If not, you should still assume a train could be along. It will most likely be going very slow and making a lot of noise though. (I have learned that I can sit trackside as a railfan waiting for hours to see just one train, but if I head up the tracks to find a benchmark I will almost guarantee one coming along within 15 minutes)!

Don't count on sound to warn you. As others said, trains can be very quiet, especially if they are heading downhill, or if the wind is in the opposite direction. Don't walk on the tracks if you can avoid it. Don't walk between the tracks EVER. If two trains pass where you are you will have no escape route. There are places where there is not enough room between two trains for you to fit.

In double track locations don't assume that the trains run one direction on one track and the other direction on the other. In the old days (up until the '80s on many lines) that was true, but modern signal systems allow trains to easily switch tracks to overtake a slower train or avoid track maintenance. It happens so often that you cannot even consider one track to have a normal direction.

Keep an escape route in mind at all times. If there is no clearance on one side of the tracks, walk on the other side to keep your options open. If there is no clearance on either side, find another way past the problem area!

If a train comes, get as far away from the tracks as you can. I try to get out of sight because, as someone else said here, if you are spotted, you are reported. This can mean as little as nothing if the train crew doesn't think you are a problem and if they are in a good mood, or if there are no railroad police nearby, up to a fine or arrest if there is someone close enough to get to you quickly. If you can't get out of sight, look innocent (you ARE innocent aren't you?) and wave pleasantly. Then hope.

I have hunted along miles of railroad tracks. In only two situations did I feel unsafe, mostly because I couldn't follow my own guidelines. In one I was beneath a small bridge looking for a chiseled shelf, and by "looking" I mean hammering grout off the rocks to confirm what I thought was the mark. There was zero clearance where I was standing, little visibility to the north, and a drainage ditch across the tracks. I had nowhere to stand if a train came by so my plan was to A) run to a steep hillside beside the bridge and lay down on it, or jump in the drainage ditch. I had good visibility to the south and there was a grade crossing there so I knew I would hear a train from the south long before I saw it (small consolation). It was the north that concerned me. I managed to find the mark but was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs the entire time, looking up and down the tracks every 10 seconds or so and perking up like a meerkat at every sound--it was a nice day and lots of people seemed to be out on their Harleys, making suspiciously train-like sounds. I had no sooner found the mark and walked back up the tracks (along 100 feet of unscalable stone wall) when a train came from the north at about 40 mph, much faster than I had anticipated. I was off the tracks less than 30 seconds when this happened! Had I been under the bridge I would have had to use one of my escape routes.

The second time was when I walked a half mile along Amtrak tracks east of Lancaster. This is the home of Amtrak's Keystone trains and they hit about 100 mph along this stretch. In addition, they are electric, and never make any appreciable noise. I figured the most warning I would get would be about 10 seconds, most likely less, so I kept a good eye out in both directions. To add to the stress I HAD to walk on the tracks. The roadbed sloped of steeply and at the bottom of the ballast was a steep hillside covered in 3 foot high weeds. Again, my plan was to dive into the weeds if necessary and deal with the consequences later. Luckily no trains came along during my time on the tracks so I didn't have to use my well formed (but poorly considered, I would say) plan. The bench mark itself was well off the tracks on a bridge abutment, so there was no danger when I had to dig it out.

Because I was being vigilant both times I was never in any real danger, but I could have ended up looking pretty stupid, lying in a foot of stagnant water or a patch of weeds.

I would have to say that if you have ANY doubts about walking along the tracks and the possible consequences, stay off them. If you feel confident enough to venture onto such territory, make sure you keep safe.

Edited because I spent all afternoon writing it while doing other things and lost track of some of what I was saying!

Edited June 1, 2010 by mloser

Can I Legally Walk Along Train Track

Source: https://forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/topic/249672-walking-near-railroad-tracks/

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