> But it really irks me when some get on their high horse and claim that anything
> inside of a 100' is too close to the track. Ya know, I don't see signals or
> crossing gates being ripped out on a regular basis, and those items populate the
> ROW a lot closer than most of us would stand to passing train. And what about
> switchstands?

No high horse here, but having been an up-close eye witness to a sudden derailment, I surely did wish I wasn't so damn close - Maybe if I had been on that high-horse at the time, I could have gotten away a little easier. Certainly the horse would have scampered away, leaving me standing there to take the hit. But then again, maybe the damn horse would have had more sense than to be that close in the first place!

As to not very often seeing lineside appliances mowed down: Just how many times would you like that to happen! -- with you standing there!

Actually, in my case it wasn't the flying train cars so much, it was the nearby extra tall steel light pole crashing down; that nearly nailed me. And they were on the other side of the track too. Up the track a bit, power lines were knocked down and arcing and sparking. let one of those drop on your head and see what happens!

As it was, the cars came to a rest with many of them perpendicular on both sides of the track. Anything or anyone remaining within a full car-length from the track, would have been a certain gonner; even another half car length still would have been iffy. So how fast can you do a fifty yard dash - in the dirt and ballast? At 62, I certainly ain't fast enough!

Truth is, all derailments happen SUDDENLY!

And they happen all the time, especially around diamonds, switches, and highway crossings; and a host of other places you would have thought not.

Odds are, that by the time we became aware and realized what was happening, and got in motion to get away; it would be too late. And the absolute truth is that the closer you are to the tracks, the less time you will have to save yourself - let alone a wife or child (or even just a friend) you might be sharing your hobby with.

So ever since, I have tried to keep at least a car length and a half away - or more. I find the view is better anyway. The only hard thing about it is that finding parking locations with good sight lines from that distance is somewhat harder. But harder is better than deader!

Its only a hobby afterall - it's not like you're risking your life for some sort of grand cause or something.