# Who needs urban legends when stuff like this happens? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002 "2008-05-29T12:51:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/41 "2008-05-29T20:42:38Z")
> [@](#): > > From the article: > _Two teenage girls sunbathing on a railroad trestle lost limbs when a train came upon them unexpectedly in this New Hampshire border town, police said Wednesday._ A train should only come upon you unexpectedly in the following scenarios: 1. The railroad trestle is in your bathtub. 2. It’s a freakin’ ghost train. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/42 "2008-05-29T20:44:05Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] Urban legends always have that little nasty twist at the start, the girls would have to be high on some otherwise ordinary household item like cat piss or the like. [/QUOTE] The article claims that there was no evidence of drug use on anyone’s part, but rumor has it that the sight and smell of [reefer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_car) were noted at the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/43 "2008-05-29T20:46:50Z")
[QUOTE=LilShieste] A train should only come upon you unexpectedly in the following scenarios: 1. The railroad trestle is in your bathtub. 2. It’s a freakin’ ghost train. [/QUOTE] 3. You’re listening to Incubus. (huhuhuhuhuhuhuh.) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/44 "2008-05-29T21:22:35Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] The article claims that there was no evidence of drug use on anyone’s part, but rumor has it that the sight and smell of [reefer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_car) were noted at the scene. [/QUOTE] Worse than that— both girls are covered with track marks. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/45 "2008-05-29T22:06:36Z")
Rachel insists that they weren’t skipping class, they were on a break. (Ok, I got nothing) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/46 "2008-05-29T22:06:46Z")
And to think we could have had two potential Darwin Award nomiknees. Instead, we can possibly look forward to a future generation from these two doing the same thing down the tracks in 20 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/47 "2008-05-29T22:10:18Z")
What clever fucking people we have on this board. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/48 "2008-05-29T22:29:09Z")
1. Isn’t a trestle a bridge? Who the hell thinks, “I want to get some sun, so I’m going to go lie not just on the train tracks, but on the train bridge?” Aren’t train tracks normally made of splintery wood and steel rails and big chunks of rock? Aren’t those materials generally regarded as not terribly comfortable to lounge on? 2. Once you’ve made that brilliant decision - or even if you haven’t, even if you somehow accidentally find that, quite to your surprise, you’re on a train trestle - how does a freight train sneak up on you? Aren’t they rather big and noisy? According to another [link](http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2008/05/28/police_chief_2_girls_struck_by_train_in_lebanon_maine/), they don’t think that either girl was stoned or even wearing headphones. So…you’re lying on train tracks, and you hear a train approaching, and then you’re terribly surprised when hey, train!? ---
**Author:** ![Capcha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Capcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capcha)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/49 "2008-05-29T22:40:30Z")
You guys are so bad 😃 See, don’t blame the teenagers, blame their parents. It’s one of those things that have been drilled into my head: do not get close to a train track, even if it looks overgrown. At least they are joined in holy detach-a-tory. As for the train sneaking-up on them, the article mentioned they were asleep; Couple that with doe-eyed freezing in headlights… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/50 "2008-05-29T22:41:25Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] How does a freight train “come up” on you when you are lying on the track?! [/QUOTE] They probably thought it was just one of those pesky tornadoes. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/51 "2008-05-29T22:48:53Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] 2. Once you’ve made that brilliant decision - or even if you haven’t, even if you somehow accidentally find that, quite to your surprise, you’re on a train trestle - how does a freight train sneak up on you? [/QUOTE] According to the article, they had fallen asleep. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/52 "2008-05-29T22:56:22Z")
[QUOTE=Capcha] See, don’t blame the teenagers, blame their parents. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure what you’re suggesting about how these girls were raised, but it certainly seems to me that they have been well-trained. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/53 "2008-05-29T23:04:42Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] According to the article, they had fallen asleep. [/QUOTE] Yes, but…_freight train_! When I think of things that are big and loud and, generally speaking, capable of waking people, a freight train is pretty high up there. What are the chances that not one but two people could sleep through not just the noise, but the vibration on the tracks? I can’t help but think that there’s something more to this. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/54 "2008-05-29T23:15:01Z")
[QUOTE=Scubaqueen] talk about adrenaline and instinct taking over… fortunately for me, my car, \*\*and \*\* my driving record there hadn’t been anyone behind me, because in the next instant i found myself almost in the middle of the intersection. i have no memory of shoving the little chevy monza i was driving then into reverse and getting the hell out of dodge, but obviously i did. 😛 [/QUOTE] I’d be fucked because I’d sit there thinking “what’s better, gun it or reverse?” \>CRUNCH\< ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/55 "2008-05-30T00:56:03Z")
I’ll bet they’re as skinny as a rail. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/56 "2008-05-30T01:18:30Z")
**Destiny:** Alright, alright, Mickey’s a mouse, Donald’s a duck, Pluto’s a dog, what’s Goofy? **Rachel:** Goofy’s a dog. He’s definitely a dog. **Destiny:** He can’t be a dog. He drives a car and wears a hat. **Rachel:** Oh, God. That’s weird. What the hell is Goofy? _ **Train Smack** _ _“When the night has come And the land is dark And the moon is the only light we’ll see No I won’t be afraid, no I won’t be afraid Just as long as you limp, limp by me…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/57 "2008-05-30T06:14:34Z")
[QUOTE=Roland Orzabal] Personally, the one I feel sorry for in this situation is the train engineer. He’ll have to live with this for the rest of his life just as much as those girls will, and he’s the one who didn’t do anything wrong. [/QUOTE] Never having been in that type of situation, I may be wrong, but I’d like to think that the engineer would be able to say “What the holy hell would cause two people to sunbathe on the train tracks? They got what they SHOULD HAVE expected - a train came!” It’s not like an asleep-at-the-wheel driver or something… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Internut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Internut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Internut)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/58 "2008-05-30T06:28:47Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] And to think we could have had two potential Darwin Award nomiknees. Instead, we can possibly look forward to a future generation from these two doing the same thing down the tracks in 20 years or so. [/QUOTE] I hate you. And this reminds me very much of one of my favorite dumb blond jokes.. though the punchline is probably already ruined by the topic of the thread.. Two blonds are walking through the woods on a nature walk. They come across some tracks and one looks at the pamphlet the park ranger gave them. “These are moose tracks!” she says. “Nuh-uh!” says the other “Those are deer tracks!” They argue for an hour before being hit by a train. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/59 "2008-05-30T09:27:42Z")
New nursery rhymes. Hickory Dickory Dock The girls forgot sunblock The train struck two Their feet? Adieu! Hickory Dickory Dock ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002/60 "2008-05-30T09:59:11Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] I can’t help but think that there’s something more to this. [/QUOTE] [A police sketch artist’s depiction](http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/c/ca/180px-Villianc.svg.png) of a man wanted for questioning regarding the event. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-urban-legends-when-stuff-like-this-happens/451002.md?page=4)