My Travis.
Karumpf
The day is still a normal day.
I was walking towards the train tracks. A large maintenance truck was attaching itself to the rails. No big deal. I saw this sort of thing happen all the time. The trucks are outfitted with small train wheels so they can zip up and down the tracks and do necessary repairs. As I get closer to the truck the train gates start to come down to stop traffic. A train is approaching. Hmmm, that’s odd, but still no big deal…there are three sets of rails. The train is off in the distance, but you can see it is on the center track and the truck is on one of the outer pairs. So, everything is good. The two guys in the truck step out and prepare to connect the truck to the rail.
The day is still a normal day.
I am standing immediately next to them. They seem like nice guys and we politely say hello. I decide to stay put and let the train pass, plus it gives me the opportunity to watch them connect the truck to the rails. I am not in a hurry and I find that sort of thing interesting.
The day is still a normal day.
Suddenly, I hear the following words, “Damn, that train’s switching tracks”.
The day has just become amazing.
Sure enough, 200 feet away from us a massive four-engine freight train is switching over to the very same track that the truck is parked directly on top of. The truck is facing the train head on. The three of us are standing directly next to the truck. We are somewhat frozen for a moment as our brains try to digest the situation.
Train.
Truck.
Train.
Truck.
The average freight train weighs 5000 tons.
I notice my heart thumping.
5000 tons.
I can feel each beat as I stand totally still.
Fight or flight?
You cannot fight a train, but I am standing still next to the truck.
One of the guys starts running and waving to cars to back up. He’s screaming, “Back! Get back!” His partner climbs back into the truck to move it, but his buddy starts yelling, “Hell no, get out of there, it’s too late, get out!” I am standing still. I am just five feet from the track that has the train and the truck attached to it. I am looking at the train and I am thinking, “no way this is about to happen right here, right now”. The guy jumps out of the truck and starts running. I am standing still.
It’s just me.
Cars are backing up.
I am standing still.
People are running away.
I am standing still.
My brain is not accepting this as reality.
I am standing still.
Suddenly I am running…my brain has accepted the weight of the situation. Until this moment, I had never run to save my own life. I imagine it is the fastest I have ever run. The brain directly employs the legs…I am not involved…this is instinctual running. The safest spot is 25 feet away and my brain has taken charge to get me there. I make it just in time to stick my head back out around the corner and watch as the truck disappears. It completely vanishes. In it’s place a roaring and squealing train does its best to hold onto the rails as it attempts to stop amongst dust and sparks.
Chaos is at full.
The sound of a freight train hitting a truck is like nothing you have ever heard before. Amazing screams of steal giving way, everything breaking all at the same time and then breaking again.
Compression and explosion and grinding and ripping.
It is horrific and beautiful.
My brain is slowly descrambling the events that have just passed. I am unharmed. My heart is still up in my head, firmly lodged between my ears thumping and thumping. The truck is gone, the train is stopping, there is a smell of destruction in the air…steel, gasoline, gravel, tar, and dust.
People start coming out from everywhere.
“What happened?”
The two rail workers are again standing next to me…this time looking down at their work order. They don’t have a truck any more. I listen as they ask each other to double-check and triple-check the work order.
“We were supposed to be clear, right?”
“This is the right place, right?”
“Damn Charlie, what the Hell?”
The primary north/south line on the east coast is shut down. I am asked to stay until the inspector arrives. He will want my side of the story. Charlie and the other guy are loaded into a car and taken somewhere to be debriefed. I am told the train engineer is not hurt.
I am sitting staring at the crippled train when the inspector arrives. Some railroad guys greet him and lead him over to me. He comes over and shakes my hand. I have already prepared myself for a long series of questions. I have considered distances and chronological order of events. I expect to get in his car and go somewhere where I will likely see Charlie and the other guy again, but the inspector only has one question for me and then the entire experience is over.
“Was the sound incredible?”
He has seen the aftermath so many times, but he has never seen the event…never heard the sound.
Coffee.
check.
BFF
Felice.
rainy, with a chance of tornadoes.
Big Fire in the Mountains.
