# Lying in the middle of train tracks! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204 "2004-03-03T01:06:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/21 "2012-12-04T17:48:43Z")
> [@Stalagmite](#): > > [Terrifying moment teenager lay under a railway line as train sped by - just inches from his head | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-473463/Terrifying-moment-teenager-lay-railway-line-train-sped--just-inches-head.html) OH, LONG JOHNSON! OH, LONG JOHNSON! x ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/22 "2012-12-04T17:57:33Z")
> [@Stalagmite](#): > > [Terrifying moment teenager lay under a railway line as train sped by - just inches from his head | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-473463/Terrifying-moment-teenager-lay-railway-line-train-sped--just-inches-head.html) In that link, they dug a hole _under_ the train ties, they didn’t lie on top of them. So, not what the OP had in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/23 "2012-12-04T18:00:48Z")
> [@trabi](#): > > You do know what happens when someone flushes the toilet on a moving train, don’t you? I wouldn’t want to be underneath when that happens :eek: I seriously doubt the train toilets vent straight to the tracks nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/24 "2012-12-04T18:03:40Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > In that link, they dug a hole _under_ the train ties, they didn’t lie on top of them. So, not what the OP had in mind. And in many youtube clips they are, so it is quite feasible. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/25 "2012-12-04T20:02:28Z")
> [@rik\_q](#): > > I’ve always wondered if you would survive if you lied in the middle of train tracks when a train passes? Would there be enough clearance between your body and the bottom of a train and does it depend on the type of train? Much the same as if you told the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/26 "2012-12-04T20:33:00Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I seriously doubt the train toilets vent straight to the tracks nowadays. They certainly do, at least on older rolling stock which is still widely in use. You can see the evidence on the tracks in stations (which is why they have signs in the toilet prohibiting use while in the station). I think the newer trains here in the UK have tanks, but in mainland Europe (Hungary to Croatia, I think) only a couple of years ago I was on a train where the toilet literally just had a flap that opened so you could see the sleepers rushing past below… ---
**Author:** ![Hrishi87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Hrishi87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrishi87)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/27 "2012-12-04T21:56:21Z")
In response to the OP, it is completely doable although much depends on the type of train/locomotive. There was a video sometime back of a teen attempting to do this and coming out unscathed; I’ll try to find if its still there! Hrishi. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/28 "2012-12-04T22:03:35Z")
[Man Faints Onto NYC Subway Tracks, Somehow Not Struck By Train](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/03/man-faints-onto-nyc-subway-tracks-times-square_n_1851792.html) > [@](#): > > NEW YORK (AP) – New York City authorities say a man fainted and tumbled onto the tracks at the Times Square subway station, yet somehow avoided being struck by an oncoming train. > > MTA officials tell the Daily News of New York the victim suffers from high blood pressure and fell at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. A train came into the station and rolled over the man, but he avoided contact with it and an electrified rail that can be deadly. > > Emergency crews took him to a local hospital. His condition was unknown. > > Subway service returned to normal shortly after the incident. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/29 "2012-12-04T22:15:31Z")
[Wesley Autrey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Autrey) > [@](#): > > Wesley Autrey (born February 6, 1956) (dubbed by the media as the “Subway Samaritan”, “Subway Superman”, “The Hero of Harlem” and as the “Subway Hero”) is a New York construction worker and Navy veteran who in 2007 achieved international recognition after he saved Cameron Hollopeter, a 20-year-old film student who had suffered a seizure and fallen onto the tracks, from being struck by a New York City subway train. > > […] > > On January 2, 2007, Autrey was waiting for a train at the 137th Street – City College subway station in Manhattan with his two young daughters. At around 12:45 p.m., he and two women noticed a young man, Cameron Hollopeter, having a seizure. Autrey borrowed a pen and used it to keep Hollopeter’s jaw open. Following the seizure, Hollopeter stumbled from the platform, falling onto the tracks. > As Hollopeter lay on the tracks, Autrey saw the lights of an oncoming train. As one of the women held Autrey’s daughters back away from the edge of the platform, Autrey dove onto the tracks. He thought he would be able to take Hollopeter off the tracks, but he realized there was not enough time to drag Hollopeter away. Instead, he protected Hollopeter by throwing himself over Hollopeter’s body in a drainage trench between the tracks, where he held him down. Though the operator of the train applied the brakes, all but two cars still passed over them, close enough to leave grease on his cap. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/30 "2012-12-04T22:18:49Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > . . . I am also aware of people who have been caught in the turbulence of a passing train and converted into bloody pulp. . . . ??? Doesn’t seem to me that there would be that much shear force from large-body turbulence. I’ve stood on the side of the freeway (well, knelt, changing a tire) and had enormous semi-rig trailers zoom by at 70 mph, and, while I can definitely feel the air-pressure wave, it isn’t enough to pull my shirt off my back, let alone my flesh off my bones. More information, please; this is fascinating! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/31 "2012-12-04T22:49:39Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > ??? Doesn’t seem to me that there would be that much shear force from large-body turbulence. I’ve stood on the side of the freeway (well, knelt, changing a tire) and had enormous semi-rig trailers zoom by at 70 mph, and, while I can definitely feel the air-pressure wave, it isn’t enough to pull my shirt off my back, let alone my flesh off my bones. More information, please; this is fascinating! The turbulence doesn’t have to pull the flesh off your bones, or even your shirt off your back. It just needs to pull your shirt up to where the train hooks it, and pulls you up. The train can then pull the flesh off your bones at its leisure. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/32 "2012-12-04T23:06:45Z")
> [@Stalagmite](#): > > [Terrifying moment teenager lay under a railway line as train sped by - just inches from his head | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-473463/Terrifying-moment-teenager-lay-railway-line-train-sped--just-inches-head.html) As mentioned, they dug a hole under the railroad ties. While not smart and not safe, it is certainly a lot safer than lying on top of the railroad ties. Way back when I think in driver’s ed, this was discussed. The description was that conventional trains do have room between the undercarriage and the railroad ties, but the engines have a “cowcatcher” on the front that only has 6 in clearance, or something. So you might have been fine except the engine got you. > [@ZenBeam](#): > > The turbulence doesn’t have to pull the flesh off your bones, or even your shirt off your back. It just needs to pull your shirt up to where the train hooks it, and pulls you up. The train can then pull the flesh off your bones at its leisure. The air didn’t rip the party apart, all it had to do was pull the person off balance off the platform. Mythbusters did this with a train and a baby carriage. There’s typically a line on the platform to stand behind, a couple feet from the edge. Obviously it is to prevent accidental physical contact, but also relates to suction from the train. Too close and the slipstream pulls you off the platform. ---
**Author:** ![bintang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8edcca/32.png) [@bintang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bintang)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/33 "2012-12-04T23:27:41Z")
[This was on Tosh.0](http://youtu.be/dz1Ui4MdEGA) So yes. It is possible, but completely retarded. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/34 "2012-12-04T23:29:48Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZpckhI0-4k) is probably one of the best videos. A close shot video of a teenager not only under a train, but timing the passage of the wheels correctly and escaping unharmed too. The train is moving fairly slowly, maybe 20mph at most, but I can’t watch it without getting scared for the boy. There’s a longer version but this gets the highlights. _Wow, this thread has been going on for nearly 7 hours and I still get ninja’d by two minutes._ ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/35 "2012-12-05T06:05:26Z")
Trains are scary powerful. I once saw a video of the aftermath of a cow vs train collision. The cow was positioned just right (wrong?) so that the passing train struck the front two thirds of its head. It literally knocked it clean off. In the video you see the retrieved “face”, then the camera pans over to the cow, still alive, pawing and flicking nervously, unable to see or cry out. Wish I could remember where I saw it. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/36 "2012-12-05T06:18:28Z")
Google “train hits cow.” ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/37 "2012-12-05T06:27:43Z")
That would be it. The cow hit by train, face missing one. Don’t I feel silly. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/38 "2012-12-05T06:50:11Z")
> [@nion](#): > > Trains are scary powerful. I once saw a video of the aftermath of a cow vs train collision. The cow was positioned just right (wrong?) so that the passing train struck the front two thirds of its head. It literally knocked it clean off. In the video you see the retrieved “face”, then the camera pans over to the cow, still alive, pawing and flicking nervously, unable to see or cry out. Wish I could remember where I saw it. 😕 That sounds pretty fucking horrible ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hrishi87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Hrishi87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrishi87)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204/39 "2012-12-05T07:20:15Z")
Ok, so [**this** \*](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKPwb_ojTdY) is the video I’ve been talking about. When I first saw it, I literally jumped outta my chair thinking the guy would be pulped. It was really a retarded thing to do unless he wanted to get himself killed. Dunno whether he got respect or not but he surely must’ve got a lot of s\*\*t and pee since the trains here still discharge them onto the tracks! 🙂 \*The vid quality isn’t great since it was prolly shot by a cam phone. Hrishi. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-in-the-middle-of-train-tracks/232204.md?page=1)