A somewhat depressing story

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Veggita2099
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A somewhat depressing story

Post by Veggita2099 »

Some might know, some might not but I work for the railroad, CSX to be exact. CSX is one of the few railroads on the east coast. Chances are if you live between New York and Florida you have seen a CSX train. At the moment I am a yard foreman, sometimes a yard switchman depending on what job I stand for (Switchman and Yard Foreman is basically a Conductor). Most of the time I am the Foreman on a job. As a Foreman on a job I am pretty much responsible for my switchman, my engineer, and in many cases a conductor trainee. For those who don't know yard jobs take trains that come in and we separate them into more trains so that they can be delivered to other terminals etc. The Yard Foreman runs the job, and the switchman is basically another foreman except they just do whatever the Yard Foreman tells them. The Engineer runs the Locomotive. Its just about a everyday thing that in the yard we have trainees.

As a trainee for the railroad you spend 4 weeks in classrooms, 2 weeks under direct supervisor training, and generally around 5 weeks with Yard Foreman's.

It was about 3 weeks ago now we had a guy who got himself killed in the yard. While working in the yard he lined a switch wrong and ran into some cars on another track. The man laid there for about 6 minutes with his entire body crushed before he died. The engineer on that job is a mess right now, although it was not his fault. My family has asked me how much I knew this person and I have told them I didn't know him that well.

The thing is I knew this guy quite well. I should know him quite well because he spent a good chuck of his time training with me. Its got me a little bit upset to be honest. I know that I taught him the proper way to do things, heck if anything I taught him to screw the company and to keep his safety above anything else. He was actually one of the better trainees I ever had. I would ask him if he wanted to try and run the job (which is what we are supposed to teach). Most trainies are scared to death and just want to stand there and do nothing, but this guy was excited and happy to do it. He did a great job to top it off.

I know its hard for me to explain because nobody knows what we do, but I can say he was good about double checking things and being safe. Of all the trainees I have had I would have figured he would have been the last person to have gotten hurt, let alone get killed. There hasn't been a person killed since the 70's.

He had only been out of training and on his own for about a week when this happened. They had him on a job by himself.
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Re: A somewhat depressing story

Post by mankrip »

Sorry for hearing that. Life isn't fair, but we must keep going.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh mankrip Hell's end wgah'nagl fhtagn.
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Re: A somewhat depressing story

Post by Code-Red »

My uncle had the same occupation at one point, until he couldn't take it anymore. Apparently he'd find suicide victims (if thats an appropriate term) almost twice a week. One of his co-workers has a picture of himself holding the decapitated head of a guy who committed suicide. Why? I don't know...
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Re: A somewhat depressing story

Post by Strapping Scherzo »

So people off themselves by lying their neck on the track? Man.

Sorry about your trainee, V.
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Re: A somewhat depressing story

Post by mariobro »

I've been in risky lines of work before. (construction, aluminum manufacturing) One day, a worker fell from the top of a cement silo, and was impaled by the steel rebar laid out on the floor. I also saw a childhood friend get run over by a car. She died later. I was 10 at the time.

I think the big shock comes from realizing your own mortality, and the weird feeling you get when you realize that person will not be around anymore. You start remembering small things, seeing him/her everyday, and the accident just plays over and over, like an instant replay, in slow motion. It's pretty unsettling. I guess I kind of know how you feel.

I think one way to cope is to talk about it, to get it out of your system. In the end, we can't just say it's somebody's fault. It's a tragic accident, and even if there were a million ways to prevent it, the truth of the matter is that it did happen, and we can't turn back time. I hope things get better as time goes by.
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Re: A somewhat depressing story

Post by MKE »

And to think, he just got his life on track.
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I'm sorry to hear that, tbh i never realized it was that hazardous of a job. Luckily i've never had to go through that, i can't imagine having something like that happen under my supervision.
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Re: A somewhat depressing story

Post by that_guy »

MKE wrote:And to think, he just got his life on track.
Weak dude.........so weak.
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Re: A somewhat depressing story

Post by Calavera »

that_guy wrote:
MKE wrote:And to think, he just got his life on track.
Weak dude.........so weak.
Seriously, over the line. :nono:
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Re: A somewhat depressing story

Post by MKE »

sorry, i knew it probably would be, but thats how i deal with stuff, is i make it funny. Yes, might not be the smartest way to deal with things, but it's always worked for me.
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