Girls maimed by freight train

[PlaceofDis]

link

Two Girls Struck By Train In Lebanon

LEBANON (NEWS CENTER) -- Authorities say two teenage girls were struck and seriously injured by a freight train in the town of Lebanon, on the New Hampshire border.

Police believe 13-year-old Destiny Phaneuf and 14-year-old Rachael Brown were sunbathing on the railroad tracks near the water.

They say the train conductor tried to stop but couldn't because he was pulling 30 freight cars.

"I saw the conductor come out," said Christy West who lives near the tracks. "Then he was talking to Police. He was very shaken up and said he saw them at the last minute but it appeared they were sleeping on the tracks."

Phaneuf lost her leg from the knee down. Brown lost one of her feet.

The accident happened late in the morning on Wednesday. The girls were airlifted to the Maine Medical Trauma Center in Portland.

Investigators spent hours looking over the train and in the water for clues as to why the girls were on the tracks in the first place.

People who live near the accident scene say the stretch of railroad along the water is a popular spot for people to lay in the sun and go fishing. They hope this accident serves as a warning about the dangers of being on the tracks.

i just want to know what they were thinking/doing. i mean wtf is up with people lacking common sense?

 

[bartelby]

Maybe they were trying for the Darwin awards...

 

[brn2ski00]

Yeah, so that on my local news... didn't happen far from me.

Anyway, I bet you we will hear that they wanted to get struck by the train. I can't think of any reason why they didn't move.

 

[PlaceofDis]

Yeah, so that on my local news... didn't happen far from me.

Anyway, I bet you we will hear that they wanted to get struck by the train. I can't think of any reason why they didn't move.

they were apparently asleep? but i mean you'd have to be a heavy sleeper to not hear/feel a train.

and trying to get hit? only their legs seemed to take injury.

 

[brn2ski00]

they were apparently asleep? but i mean you'd have to be a heavy sleeper to not hear/feel a train.

and trying to get hit? only their legs seemed to take injury.

Yeah, supposedly they were sunbathing (but with no headphones on).

Somethings up... just not sure what it is yet. I will hear about it on the local news again tonight.

 

[Sun Baked]

Sort of cannot feel too sorry for them ...

Failed suicides.

 

[runplaysleeprun]

Sort of cannot feel too sorry for them ...

Failed suicides.

I do. They were kids who fell asleep sun tanning. If they were trying to kill themselves, why cut off your foot? Obviously not a pleasant experience, but not necessarily life-threatening.

 

[nizz]

I do. They were kids who fell asleep sun tanning. If they were trying to kill themselves, why cut off your foot? Obviously not a pleasant experience, but not necessarily life-threatening.

i can be trippin on acid and still have the sense to not sun-tan on train tracks :/

 

[aristobrat]

I do. They were kids who fell asleep sun tanning. If they were trying to kill themselves, why cut off your foot? Obviously not a pleasant experience, but not necessarily life-threatening.

runplaysleep(ontraintracks)run(nomore) = sage advice

 

[Peace]

i can be trippin on acid and still have the sense to not sun-tan on train tracks :/

Wish I was a headlight,
On a northbound train.


--- I know You Rider--Grateful Dead version.


Dumb girls. Never lie on a railroad track.

 

[iknowyourider]

^^^cool^^^

You might think the train will wake you but unless the whistle is blowing, the rattle and roll of the train will lull you to a deeper sleep.

 

[chilipie]

Maybe they were trying for the Darwin awards...

That is exactly what I thought upon reading the story

I do feel sorry for them, but they did kinda bring it upon themselves...

 

[iJohnHenry]

Maybe they were trying for the Darwin awards...

Doubt it.

If so, they would have been using the track for a pillow.

 

[Abstract]

I do feel sorry for them, but they did kinda bring it upon themselves...

But that's why I don't feel sorry for them. I'm sorry, but even at the "young" age of 13 and 14, you'd know better than to sleep on railroad tracks.

And even if I was sleeping, I'm very certain I'd be able to feel the vibrations on the ground as the train was coming, and I'm a heavy sleeper.

 

[Sun Baked]

I'm sort of wondering if they were drunk when they decided it was OK to tan on the tracks.

If that is the case, that is about as smart as a redneck beer and guns moment.

 

[cycocelica]

Where have the parents been?

I hate blaming others, but these girls are 14 years old. Have their parents taught them nothing?

 

[David G.]

Where have the parents been?

I hate blaming others, but these girls are 14 years old. Have their parents taught them nothing?

Apparently not. And to think I want to become an Elementary School teacher.

 

[madoka]

Where have the parents been?

I'm guessing they are talking to lawyers about how much they are going to sue the railroad for.

Yeah, it's crappy, but that's the way it is in the U.S. now. In torts class we learned about a guy who cut off most of his fingers by picking up a running lawnmover and successfully sued for hundreds of thousands.

 

[Scubajay]

they were apparently asleep? but i mean you'd have to be a heavy sleeper to not hear/feel a train.

and trying to get hit? only their legs seemed to take injury.

In my job I attend many many railway related incidents such as this and I can say from personal experience that a moving train arrives a lot quicker than you think. If the girls were asleep then by the time they had woken and heard the noise it would have been too late. In the last 8 years I have attended over 30 rail suicides and accidents and of all them precisely 1 survived, and only that one because of police intervention.

 

[iJohnHenry]

Where have the parents been?

I hate blaming others, but these girls are 14 years old. Have their parents taught them nothing?

Not allowed anymore. Society forbids the fear of pain approach now, so kids just do whatever they wish.

 

[alFR]

Not allowed anymore. Society forbids the fear of pain approach now, so kids just do whatever they wish.

Er, what exactly does the "fear of pain approach" (whatever that is) have to do with saying "Don't play on the train tracks, you'll get hit by the train and it'll really hurt you or kill you"? You're not exactly beating them to within an inch of their lives ("DON'T.... (thwack) PLAY.... (thwack) ON.... (thwack) THE.... (thwack) TRACKS"), are you?

 

[iJohnHenry]

Saying??

Is that working now??

For some kids, I guess it does. But for others a hand on the backside would be a nice option.

Now the kids just laugh at you, and call the police.

 

[LouisBlack]

But for others a hand on the backside would be a nice option.

Hehe.

Anyway... I think they got away lightly. As was mentioned earlier, it's not often you get hit by a train and live.

Why would you sun bathe on train tracks!? Its not like it would be comfortable. The wood would give you splinters, the tracks would be really hot and you could get hit by a train.

 

[brn2ski00]

Update

Here is the update from my local news:

http://www.wgme.com/News/story_detail/story_detail_10.shtml?readmore

 

[notjustjay]

Why would you sun bathe on train tracks!? Its not like it would be comfortable. The wood would give you splinters, the tracks would be really hot and you could get hit by a train.

I was just trying to figure that out. Take away, for a moment, the risk of being hit by a train, and imagine yourself sunbathing on a train track. How on earth do you get comfortable? Not only are the ties lumpy, but the whole railbed is coarse gravel. Probably they were laying down lengthwise, between the rails. When they heard the train come, they would have scrambled to get out of there but didn't make it in time, thereby losing legs and feet in the process as they were trying to jump clear.