Knott's train conductor snagged by train's cow catcher
Posted
A ride operator of Knott's Berry Farm's train ride was caught by the train's cow catcher and dragged 50 feet while clearing a crosswalk of guests on Saturday. His injuries are not life threatening.
Read more from The Orange County Register.
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Operator errors a lot of times cause these accidents. If the operators would just take one extra step for safety then these things won't happen. Some parks have very good operators like CP they don't have many accidents and if they do, they are usually minor and many other parks are starting to consider safety a bit more----well heck its the law in ohio I think that amusement park rides must be checked so often I'm not so sure that that is the EXACT law but I heard sumthin like that in the newspaper. I live almost in ohio I am right on the MI-OH border but I am in MI about 60 miles away from cp. So I get the Toledo Blade everyday and they have most if not ALL of the CP news in it.
The trains at Knotts are full size ex-Colorado narrow gauge. The weight of the locomotive and tender alone is slightly over 63 1/2 tons! They do not stop on a dime. The trains do have air brakes,and at the speed it was probably going at the time, stopping within fifty feet is really pretty good. Quite frankly, I think he (the person on the ground) wasn't paying attention to how close he was in relation to the train. A lapse in concentraion in railroading can be fatal,ask any old rail. Even if it is in an amusement park.
As a railroad engineer myself, the conductor dragged is very lucky that he is not missing a part of his body or dead. He may have not realized how close the train actually was or actually how close he was to the tracks themselves. He may have even saved someone's life by getting them off the right of way before being struck himself. I was not there so I do not know the circumstances that led up to the incident. So I would not blame it on him or the engine crew. In situations like this one you must count your blessings. William
*** This post was edited by lumpy72 on 1/29/2001. ***
I too worked on the railroad at SFGAm quite a few years back (1990-1992). The train at SFGAm is quite different from a noraml Steam Engine. So, stopping it in a short distance was easy to do. But, with the case of the one at Knotts, since this was a REAL Steam engine, they are hard to stop in a hurry. So, I agree with lumpy72 in the comments that he made. The only thing that probably saved the operator was the speed that the train was traveling. I'm guessing that the train at Knotts does not go much over 15 or 20 MPH?
--Brian
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Brian A. Plencner
E-Mail: saurses@home.com
--Brian
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Brian A. Plencner
E-Mail: saurses@home.com
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