# Has anyone ever really been tied to the railroad tracks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448 "2023-11-20T23:28:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/1 "2023-11-20T23:28:24Z")
It’s been seen in old movies, but did it ever really happen? ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/2 "2023-11-20T23:42:16Z")
Yes. There was a Dope article on it in 2007, which surprised me: > **[Did anyone really ever get tied to railroad tracks?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343402/did-anyone-really-ever-get-tied-to-railroad-tracks)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/3 "2023-11-21T00:05:05Z")
A wonderful fictional account here, The Swan, by Roald Dahl. [https://www.angelfire.com/md/Topperites/swan.html](https://www.angelfire.com/md/Topperites/swan.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/4 "2023-11-21T00:48:42Z")
In the original melodramas, _why_ did the villain decide to use tying someone to the railroad tracks as a method of murder? It’s hardly likely to be ruled an accident. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/5 "2023-11-21T00:52:49Z")
So they could have plausible deniability and keep their hands clean? Probably because it was dramatic and had a built in time clock for audiences. Tension, and all. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/6 "2023-11-21T00:58:54Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > _why_ did the villain decide to use tying someone to the railroad tracks as a method of murder? Because someone put a padlock on the old saw mill? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/7 "2023-11-21T01:10:49Z")
So Lassie could get a chance to play the hero again, that egocentric pooch. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/8 "2023-11-21T17:21:10Z")
Reminds me of: **Dr. Evil:** Scott, I want you to meet daddy’s nemesis, Austin Powers. **Scott:** What, are you feedin’ him? Why don’t you just kill him? **Dr. Evil:** No, Scott, I have a better idea. I’m going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death. **Scott:** Why don’t you shoot him now? I mean, come on, I’ll go get a gun. We’ll shoot 'im together. It’ll be fun. BANG! Dead. Done. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/9 "2023-11-21T17:44:12Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > So Lassie could get a chance to play the hero again, that egocentric pooch. Fat lotta good that did; all the rescuers were at the well looking for Timmy ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/10 "2023-11-21T17:45:03Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > In the original melodramas, _why_ did the villain decide to use tying someone to the railroad tracks as a method of murder? I think it was a method of intimidation, to extract property or information, rather than murder. [According to a documentary I saw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxPwzHKPhFg). _Salty Sam was tryin’ to stuff Sweet Sue in a burlap sack_ _He said, "If you don’t give me the deed to your ranch_ _I’m gonna throw you on the railroad tracks!"_ ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/11 "2023-11-21T19:24:16Z")
It’s not surprising that this trope emerged on the heels of Poe’s _The Pit and the Pendulum_ and the genesis of “Suspense” as a genre. Writers were learning that drawing out the peril was more exciting than depicting the actual demise. It’s Screenwriting 101, now, but in the mid-1800s it was still quite novel. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/12 "2023-11-21T19:32:44Z")
Now showing on Netflix as a Wes Anderson short movie! Together with [three other Dahl](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/wes-anderson-netflix-short-films) stories adapted by Wes Anderson, I enjoyed them all: Poison, The Rat Catcher and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/13 "2023-11-21T20:42:08Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > In the original melodramas, _why_ did the villain decide to use tying someone to the railroad tracks as a method of murder? It’s hardly likely to be ruled an accident. My guess is that it allowed the movie to include dramatic shots of the train coming toward the camera (and therefore the viewer). Plus trains were the fastest things around at the time. And with anything else, like a motorcar or a horse-drawn carriage, you’d expect the driver to see the tied-up victim and divert or stop in time. The train, of course, can’t really be diverted. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/14 "2023-11-22T17:19:13Z")
I don’t have personal experience, but I am going to guess that ID’ing a body that has been run over by a train using 19th century tech would leave a wide range of doubt if that were a goal. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/15 "2023-11-22T17:32:11Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > I don’t have personal experience, but I am going to guess that ID’ing a body that has been run over by a train using 19th century tech would leave a wide range of doubt if that were a goal But they always show someone tied across the tracks so that their head and legs wouldn’t get run over. The head would be the most easily identifiable feature. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/16 "2023-11-22T17:46:39Z")
Do they? I’ve always seen it set up so that the feet and legs are sticking out. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-really-been-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks/993448/17 "2023-11-23T14:14:04Z")
Truly tasteless joke… > **Summary** > > **Dave:** “I was walking down along the tracks and I found this girl tied to the track just like in the old movies… I untied her, one thing led to another and we spent a weekend of mad passion together.” > > **Bob:** “Was she a good kisser?” > > **Dave:** “I don’t know - I couldn’t find her head…”