So, a recent news article that's been going around has been about this video.... The recorder of the video, was a 17 y/o "railroad enthusiast" who allergically misaligned the switch to cause the derailment, in order to record the footage of the derailment. He was arrested Wednesday for the incident. I don't even know how you would even describe how dumb this was, not to mention the potential outcome of how disastrous it could of been. (BNSF estimates the actual derailment was about 350k) And people wonder why DTG can't get access to North American Class 1 equipment, when you have people doing this to mainline freight.
Maybe some of those very vocal DTG are so lazy or just after cash grab dlc residents of these virtual halls might actually see and accept, that if they are actually willing to look outside of their selfish narrow viewpoint, they will 99% find a valid reason why freight from the states has gone a bit a.w.o.l........
So the operator of the railway switch will also be responsible for this accident. Leaving a railroad switch unlocked is a major safety violation.
'Oh my God! Oh my God!' That video was the most aggravating thing I've heard in a while. I will never understand what compels people to do this...
And a lack of empathy. The train has at least an operator, maybe more than one crew, who could have been seriously injured. And for clicks? I hope the kid gets a firm reality check.
Oh I'm pretty sure the kid is going to be the receiver in the game of botty sausage many many times.......
from the comments, it isnt 100% clear he really did that... some say that he knew that sth was wrong and instead decided to record... not all is clear in this case... tho if he really undid the lock and tampered with the switch, he deserves whats coming
If this goes to court, it's the kids word against the railroad companies. There is no real evidence one way or the other. Worst case scenario is that the lad gets a $1000 fine and a slap on the wrist, and he probably already made over $1000 on YouTube ad revenue, so he won't care either way.
If someone deliberately engineered a derailment for YouTube views they're no more a rail enthusiast than the crusaders were christians.
Some people will do anything to get SocialMedia fame. Disgusting. Luckily, no one was hurt here. Setting up the tripod there is a 100% giveaway, but sadly no proof.
The same can be said of the DLC Long Island Railroad Commuter where the MTA imposed restrictions on security system switches due to the robbery of a NYC Subway train by two (inconsequential) teenagers
I heard that the switch lock wasn't there even though it should have been so, it depends. If the lock wasn't there, the switch operator might not be responsible as he couldn't be aware of that and the dispatcher might have just sent the train while expecting that the switches are in their default (locked) position. If the lock was there, the switch operator probably wasn't guarding an unlocked switch during a train pass as he was supposed to. Not paying attention to a point of missing this dude setting up a tripod, etc. I don't know US railway rules but this is just my general take on this. I'm also really curious about the aftermath as the security of US railways does feel like a bad joke. Just like with that 12 year old kid that was making Instagram videos messing with BNSF infrastructure.
There were reports that there is security footage of potentially him around one of the switches then leaving, before coming back to record.
