Can a train be derailed if it hits a person standing on the tracks?

Question

Can a train be derailed if it hits a person standing on the tracks?

Answer 1

No, the person would be sent very quickly into the hereafter, while the train would remain intact - apart from a few gobbets of blood and mangled flesh here and there.

Answer 2

No, unless it was Superman.

Answer 3

No, not a chance.

A person is squishy and a train is not. Even at relatively modest speeds a person will effectively disintegrate on impact, exploding like a bomb. A couple years back, I ran someone over at 40mph and there was barely a bump. When the Police got to the scene they asked me lots of questions, including whether it was a man or a woman because they couldn't tell from what was left.

Answer 4

nope

I've hit cattle, horses and moose, all these weigh over a thousand pounds and didnt even make a noticable thump.

They were all killed though, as will be the person getting hit.

Answer 5

Here's an experiment you can try in the safety of your own kitchen:

1.  Pick up a grape between your thumb and index finger.

2.  Squeeze really hard.

3.  This is what happens to a body when struck by a train moving at speed.

Answer 6

very unlikely, a human weighs on average 170 lbs, a train, on lowside average is more than 50 tons per loaded car

Answer 7

Well, considering I was just watching one of those "true stories" shows on TV ("Ripley's Believe It or Not"), and they showed a kid who got his legs severed by a train...no.

Also considering I've seen a video of a train hitting a tractor-trailer that stalled on the tracks, and just pushing the truck along for 100 feet...definitely not.

Human is to train as bug is to windshield.

Answer 8

Probably not.

Answer 9

uh NO

havnt you ever seen fried green tomatos?? jeez

it will take your leg with it but it keep on going.

Answer 10

Unlikely.  The weight of one person is not nearly enough to lift the train off the track.

Answer 11

It would be just like a moth hitting your car windshield at high speed.We wouldn't even feel it.

Answer 12

Imagine a riot. Imagine the riot heading towards you. Imagine them running you over. Do they magically fly away as if they hit some imaginary force field?

Now imagine these rioters enclosed in a moving metal shell. Imagine it hitting you. Now imagine it was a train.

Short answer - no. A person's weight would not make a train derail because of the amount of mass and speed associated with the train hitting a soft, bouncy object like your body. And no, it doesn't matter if you are obese.