Hail All! 
I'm still a bit groggy this morning from having too little sleep, but I'm going to answer these points as best I can as some of them certainly warrant a rapid response.
The thing is most people who jump in front of trains is certainly not of concious and function mind. Those who are usually choose a more dignified approach, such as drug overdose, which is more peaceful for themselves. Jumpers are acting on an instinct, whereas ODs are more likely to occur after thought and time to decide that this is what they want.
Hmm...Good point. I suppose that anyone
planning to commit suicide would probabally try to find a way to do it so they would cause the least strain and inconvenience for other people, so - Like ye say - Drug overdose, asphyxiation and similar methods.
Although if someone suddenly got the notion to commit suicide
right off the bat, wouldn't they - In the case of railway suicides - Still have to conciously find their way to the nearest station or section of line? Surely anyone who considers instant suicide doesn't just
happen to be right next to a railway line at that precise moment, do they? :?
It's just a real pity that - Thanks to the different and varied types of rolling stock on our lines - That platform edge doors (PEDs) can't really be installed at all stations. Although thinking about that from a different angle, wouldn't PEDs installed about two metres from the edge of the platform be a workable solution? The doors on the platform would'nt match up with the doors on the train, but that space between the two would allow passengers sufficient room to access the train easily...
Well,
I've nearly done the above and nearly landed myself on 3rd rail, it wasn't easy for me, instead i took over 20 sleeping pills, which done nothing but make me hallucinate for over 8 hours until I recovered at Frenchay Hospital
I must admit that back in my younger days, there were one or two occasions when I was
tempted to throw myself on the line at Guildford. In retrospect - Despite the fact that my life is (Currently) very stagnant and unproductive - I'm thanking the Gods that I didn't actually
attempt it...And that's not for my own sake!
Sorry to ruin your fantasy, Death, but there are more people involved in a fatality than just the Driver and the Deceased.
MOM/LOM {RIO}
BTP
Civil Police
Paramedics and Doctor
Undertaker
DSM/GSM
Coroner
Signalman
Fitters
Aye, true...Although I will make it clear that what I posted above is definitely
not any kind of fantasy or dream that I possess.
The main reason why my thoughts tend to concentrate mainly on the driver themselves is because they are always the first to know of such a happening, and I would imagine that it would hit them the worst simply because it was their train - That was under their control - That hit and killed (Or seriously injured) the person in question.
ad:
With the other people involved, they at least have some fore-warning that it's a railway suicide that they are dealing with, and that would at least give them the time to mentally steel themselves for what they are about to encounter. In the poor drivers case, there's absolutely no fore-warning whatsoever as to that kind of thing befalling them. :cry:
WTF are you chatting about!?!?
That is just......sick. There are Rail Staff on this forum who have had to deal with this sort of situation before (myself included) who have to deal with the clean up of these incidents and returning to service of the trains / track.
Ive had a couple of these happen when I worked for my old TOC, and examing the underneath of a train where it has hit a 16 year old and there was the residue of the person underneath, not pleasent one b***dy bit!
The smell, the colour, the residue, the cold chill down my spine and of course the damage it'd done!
Aye, that's a very poinient fact about such happenings, and - Though I've never had to clean up human remains from a suicide - There have been a couple of occasions where I've had to clean up animal remains from my car following Fox and Rabbit strikes on dark country roads. The two things that hit me the most about those situations were:
- The fact that the animal in question wasn't trying to commit suicide or anything of the kind...The poor things were just minding their own business, and weren't aware of what a motor vehicle is, and why one can be dangerous, and
- As a Pagan, I have a deep-rooted love of most forms of life (Sentient and otherwise) and having to endure the fact that I had taken life by accident in that way is often quite harrowing. In truth, I have a tendancy to become upset if I so much as step on a Spider!
The clean-up job from those wasn't easy either, especially as I wasn't expecting so much matter to end up just about everywhere inside the engine bay!
hock:
So in future, before posting about your sick satisfying desires, think before you speak, for the people who have been there and done that, and don't want to be in that situation again, despite the fact that it more than likely is.
Like I said in response to TheSlash's post above, this
is not any kind of fantasy or desire for me whatsoever, and - Having seen some fairly horrific industrial accidents in my time - I can and do acknowlege just how harrowing such things can be.
hock:
:cry:
What I was
trying to state in my previous post was that if someone
had to commit suicide on the railway, then I would sooner they did it by throwing themselves underneath a train that I was driving as opposed to going under anyone elses vehicle. Although the horror of cleaning up cannot be denied under any circumstances (Although following such an incident, I would be happy to assist in the clean-up) at least it would remove one unfortunate consequence; That being the memory of that incident playing on the drivers mind for the rest of his life.
I can be selectively de-sensitised to such happenings if necessary, and if someone was to throw themselves underneath a train that I was driving then - Though I would acknowlege the happening and it's implications in the same way as any other driver - I would be able to reassure myself that the suicide was their fault and not mine...And though I would obviously do all that I could to bring the train to a halt beforehand if at all possible, it is rather difficult to bring over 100t of train to a sharp stop in time...
I have seen this sort of thing too - one happend in the platform one day, luckily spotted though. We also had a local woman who used to be a regular, she'd standnear to the edge of the platform then walk towards the edge as a train approached, scared a few of my mates more than once.
Well, I pray to the Gods that she's been banned from entering railway property and that a close watch is kept on her! Even if she's not actually intending to do the deed, a badly timed strong gust of wind could turn the whole situation around very quickly!
I tend to move closer to the platform edge when I am intending to catch a train that's pulling into the platform...But for the benefit of the driver, I don't start to move up until the cab is already well past my position. I also still keep a few feet away until the train has come to a complete halt.
Also know one it did happen too and he never drove again. This sort of thing should never happen to anyone, it ruins lives - innocent people just going about their every day work and for one split second of shear stupidity and thoughtlessness, their world is turned upside down never to be the same again. One second lasts for years. Please, if anyone even thinks about something like this - please please think again.
I've already made the firm decision that - Should I ever need to do such a thing to myself - Then it shall be done in private, through careful application of my own Sword, and I'd be inclined to ensure that anyone encountering the situation woulkd be appropriately warned beforehand, such as by a clear and explicit warning notice placed upon the closed door of the room where it had happened.
The final question/suggestion that I would like to pose though, is:
Is there any way that railway suicides could be prevented...Period? 8)
Farewell...
>> Death <<
found throughout his posts.