A sobering thing went down within the past couple days. I'm here in Tallahassee with my wife and another StP user (not sure if they wanna be named so I won't til further notice) doing some recon at the yard to determine the best spot to hop on & head west for an event in Vegas. We finally find a decent spot with all the essentials complete with a coin op laundry and decide to spange for some food and wash our gear while waiting for our ride to come through. Some Rainbow dude gives me a couple quarters and seems eager to help so I have him shoot me along the road in his truck right quick to see if anything is going down in the yard. Sure enough there's five Union Pacific units getting ready to pull a junk line in our direction. I have the driver flip around and drop me back at the coin op and thank him before letting the other two know the hour is nigh. Here's some irony: I'm singing Murdertrain by Dethklok in my beat Mashed Potatoes Johnson voice minutes before this fucked up incident.
DINGDINGDING
The RR Xing across from us tells us "Hey kids! Time to go!" So we gear up and run over, not giving a fuck about the ten cars on the street about to watch us hop on the fly. The units pass out of sight and here come a few rideable grainers. My wife is the greenest so with safety in mind we send her first in case of the unspeakable taking place and damn good thing...
She attempts to run along side and jump to get hold of the ladder but instead gets thrown and spins STRAIGHT DOWN to the fucking rails. Her pack gets caught on the freight and starts dragging her along (wish she remembered the quick release on her ALICE like I taught her but panic immobilizes some). My buddy and I froze for a split second as she was being dragged and I remember yelling FUCK NO!!!! Luckily reality overcame horror and he took off with me in tail, ripped her from the tracks and I dragged her back onto the street. She sat there dazed with most of her arm and leg free of any skin that was once there. I took her torn pack and threw it into some shrubs and tried to get her to stand while our friend called 911 and split after making sure she was gonna live. She couldn't stand, left leg definitely broken so I carried her off the street and into the shade when I confirmed there wasn't any back or neck damage. Cops come, blah blah. CDA contacts CSX but luckily only charge pressed was some Florida statute "attempting to ride train without pay" which was kinda funny once I wasn't so shook up. Anyway a broken tibia and fibula later she awaits surgery tomorrow and 10 weeks of recover. Clean break right below the knee and will likely have leg trouble later in life. However very lucky to be alive. I've never come as close to dying as her and most haven't; so save any cynical hate speech and you preachers make sure ya back is to the choir please. I mean she was face to face with the wheels spinnin for a minute there and carried 50ft before getting pulled out and we all know the possibilities that could've manifested into something a little TOO real. This post is meant to be a reminder to everyone about what happens out there - take it as you will.
DINGDINGDING
The RR Xing across from us tells us "Hey kids! Time to go!" So we gear up and run over, not giving a fuck about the ten cars on the street about to watch us hop on the fly. The units pass out of sight and here come a few rideable grainers. My wife is the greenest so with safety in mind we send her first in case of the unspeakable taking place and damn good thing...
She attempts to run along side and jump to get hold of the ladder but instead gets thrown and spins STRAIGHT DOWN to the fucking rails. Her pack gets caught on the freight and starts dragging her along (wish she remembered the quick release on her ALICE like I taught her but panic immobilizes some). My buddy and I froze for a split second as she was being dragged and I remember yelling FUCK NO!!!! Luckily reality overcame horror and he took off with me in tail, ripped her from the tracks and I dragged her back onto the street. She sat there dazed with most of her arm and leg free of any skin that was once there. I took her torn pack and threw it into some shrubs and tried to get her to stand while our friend called 911 and split after making sure she was gonna live. She couldn't stand, left leg definitely broken so I carried her off the street and into the shade when I confirmed there wasn't any back or neck damage. Cops come, blah blah. CDA contacts CSX but luckily only charge pressed was some Florida statute "attempting to ride train without pay" which was kinda funny once I wasn't so shook up. Anyway a broken tibia and fibula later she awaits surgery tomorrow and 10 weeks of recover. Clean break right below the knee and will likely have leg trouble later in life. However very lucky to be alive. I've never come as close to dying as her and most haven't; so save any cynical hate speech and you preachers make sure ya back is to the choir please. I mean she was face to face with the wheels spinnin for a minute there and carried 50ft before getting pulled out and we all know the possibilities that could've manifested into something a little TOO real. This post is meant to be a reminder to everyone about what happens out there - take it as you will.
