Ofttimes diesel or electric trains are really sneaky, as they radiate a lot of sound to their sides, but not so much to the front or rear. Usually, any sound heard to the front is merely an echo, that is very hard to tell where it comes from, or how far away it is.

Sometimes (and I mean only sometimes), a singing sound can be heard in the rails, especially electric third rails; that gives you a few (3-5) seconds unmistakeable warning. But other than that, there is no real audible warning; besides, 3-5 seconds is rarely enough time. The only reliable warning if you must stand on the tracks, is visual; but only if you can see 700+ feet in either direction - and look both ways continuously. Generally if you can see anything at all - get off the track immediately.

Or better yet - just stay off the tracks entirely if your job doesn't actually require you to be there - and if it does, get clock time or a clearance first. And even then still look out as if your life depended upon it - because it does!

Too bad most people don't seem to get, that the risks are quite calculable and absolutely unyielding (nature couldn't care less who gets killed) - nor do they think things through long enough to see that they are playing "Russian Roulette" with life itself!

But then again, Russian Roulette is probably what poople are after when they deliberately do stupid dangerous stuff. ---- So does anyone have any ideas as to why the Homosapien is the only creature on earth that will deliberately scare itself so much, that it will not instinctively run like hell from danger when so doing? Y'ould've thought that natural selection would have weeded that out by now!