The woman was a well known and connected professional artist and photographer, with a large and eclectic portfolio. She was also an active a high school teacher, teaching those very subjects.

News reports indicate that it is unknown if she was also a "rail fan". But most people with professional standing of any sort, would never admit that sort of thing anyhow; at least not when they could be identified.

It's really kind of sad that this happened. But when you stand on the tracks at the end of a visibility restricted curve (trees & vegetation), your odds ain't much better than in Russian roulette. Worse yet; in the world of professional photography, pictures looking down the tracks at various sharp angles are often considered very artsy-fartsy - train or no train.

But since there is plenty of room in that area to stand clear of the tracks, I can't think of any other explanation for actually standing on the tracks to take a picture, except for the desire for those odd angles to the tracks or a train.

Even so - it is hard to believe that there is a single sole out there, that would not consider it foolhardy to stand in the middle of a highway lane. So why in the hell is it OK to stand in middle of a railway "lane"! I can't even begin to count how many times over the years I have come across people doing that. I yelled at every one of them - for all the damn good that ever did - GO FIGURE!