Is it possible to not hear a train coming and get hit by it?

Question

When we were younger, we had a friend who went away to out of town for vacation and never came back. His parent s thought he ran away, then they claimed they found his body and that he had been walking on the train tracks with his headphones on when a silent train came and killed him. Then they told us that his body was too badly decomposed to have an open casket funeral as he had been missing for several weeks. This story never sat well with me or my friends, we just think something else happened to him and his parents didn't want to tell us the truth. I mean come on, a "silent" train? Sounds like an oxymoron to me. And besides that, if a train had hit him, it seems ti me the conductor would have known and police would have been notified. Ergo he wouldnt have been missing for so long. Why would they make up such an outrageous lie?

Answer 1

The above answer already spells it out better than anything I can post but I would just support what he said.

Sad to say, there are hundreds, perhpas thousands of graves with people that didnt hear an approaching "silent" train. They are deceptively quiet at times.  

I can cite numerous examples I have personally witnessed of people that didn't hear trains, and not just from the insulated air conditioned comfort of their vehicles but on foot.

As for your doubting the story of your friend being hit, there may be details that sound odd, and you are always right to question anything that doesn't sound plausible but I can promise you that people are hit every day that did not hear a train.

There may be other details that don't make sense . . . . . . . . . and families sometimes hide things that they don'tt want public.

I am sorry that you have lost a freind, death never makes sense. If there is no other good that comes from this, at least you and your friends should remember always be careful around tracks.

Answer 2

Yes, freight trains are freakishly quiet.  Think about it. Why do you think trains are loud?  

Because you only hear them when they're blowing their horn.  And you only see them at crossings, when they are blowing their horn AND the crossing bells are going "ding ding ding ding".  

Other than that, wheels on rails don't make much noise, and if you're dead square ahead of them, the crew cab blocks the engine noise.  You'd probably hear it if you were actively listening, but if you weren't paying attention... slam!  Happens all the time.

Don't believe me, get a tape recorder and see for yourself, find some place far from crossings... but stay off the track duh :)

Maybe you're right and he wasn't killed by a train... but he easily could have been. Be safe.  

Answer 3

Turn up you stereo loud with that boosted bass an yeah, no hear the whistle. Space out some, totaly miss the flashing lights.

Or like the other dudes who answerd this question so well mentioned, you got them cars being pushed not pulled, some of em at a shipping yard may be near a crossing and just roll through.

Answer 4

Unfortunately for awhile, I was employed as an EMT. There is a high school whose property is adjacent to a set of very busy railway tracks,(mainline),this was a short cut for the students to the malls and downtown. The city had passed a law banning the numerous trains from sounding their horns as it was disturbing the tax payers.As at this particular point in time, walkmans were becoming very popular. There were some students hit by trains, some lived, but severely injured, a couple were killed. A person that has been hit and killed by a train is not something that anybody would want to see.Trains have traveled miles before being ordered to stop, not knowing they have hit something,even vehicles, especially at night.You are right trains are not silent but it is amazing playing a walkman, todays equivalent to an Ipod, at a high level will block the sound.I am sorry you lost your friend also, but try not to judge the parents to harshly, it does happen.

Answer 5

ABSOLUTELY!

This is something most people don't realize.  In switching operations, whether in a "yard" or out on the main line, freight cars are often left to roll on their own and they move in near silence.  One can easily sneak up on you.

Consider this:  locomotives don't always pull cars around.  They shove them around as well.  The engine may be a mile or more away and you'll not hear it, with the same result.

In snow storms locomotive whistles often become clogged with snow rendering them inoperable --- you aren't going to hear much.  For the same reason, with a lot of snow on the ground it sucks up sound like a sponge, so the noise is greatly reduced.  If the locomotive(s) happen to be operating in "dynamic brake," the prime mover (the diesel engine in the locomotive) is often running at "idle."  Same result.  You'll likely not hear it.  This is especially true where trains are run by electricity supplied from either overhead catenary or on the ground third rail.  No prime mover = very little noise.

In addition there are areas designated as a "quiet zone," where the engineers are not allowed to blow the whistle.  This is why you should Look as well.  Not a quick glance, but a real look.  A glance can get you killed.

As far as wearing headphones while walking along the tracks, many people have been struck and killed while doing so.  I know of one case where an engineer killed a girl just after the Sony "Walkman" cassette player first came out in the 70's.  It was his own daughter.  He wound up committing suicide a few months later after his marriage broke apart.

As far as any grade crossing protection goes, NEVER trust it to be operating.  They are NOT fail-safe, though many believe they are.  And if stopped by one for a train to pass, stay back as far as practical.  Stuff falls off of trains and you can wind up with something moving at higher speed and weighing many tons in your lap.

These are all reasons why "Listen" is part of Stop, Look and Listen when around or crossing ANY railroad tracks, whenther it has gates, lights and bells or not.  If walking, don't wear ANYTHING that can restrict your hearing and, if in a car, turn off the music and roll down the window to listen.  It may save your life.

And having asked this question may itself save a life.  Most of us think most folks with a little common sense would know these things but, the truth is, in general the public at large is unaware of these things, so please spread the word.  This too may save a life.  Thanks for asking and here's a star for a great safety question.

Answer 6

Albert gave a great answer. To add a couple of things...As technology has progressed, locomotives have also gotten much quieter. Also, in "quiet zones", an engineer can blow the horn if he deems it necessary. As far as not finding the kid for weeks.. Train crews cannot see whats directly in front of the locomotive. There is generally about a 15-20 ft. blind spot in front of the engine. The kid could have very well been to the side of the tracks, and then walked onto the tracks right in front of the train, and the train crew never would have seen him do it. Very easy to not see/hear a train if you are walking with your back to it, with earphones on.

Answer 7

I think there is a law that says that the engineer needs to sound at every crossing that cars can go through.

Answer 8

On CSX a track inspector stopped a jogger 3 time and warn him not to jog down the tracks. Train in the area ran up to 50 mph and there are sharp curves. The jogger was hit and killed by a train 2 months later the last warning. His wife tried to sue CSX, but could not because he was trespassing and was warned.

Answer 9

Yes it is possible to not hear the train:

http://www.google.com/search?q=hit+by+tr...

But you brought up a good point about the conductor. Maybe it was at night or the conductor didn't pay attention for enough time that it could have happened.