A peanut sat on a railroad track, his heart was all aflutter. 'Long came the choo-choo train. CHOO CHOO! Peanut butter.

Pasco Railyard, Photo by Gabriel Sanchez on Unsplash
Pasco Railyard, Photo by Gabriel Sanchez on Unsplash
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When an intersection has a railroad crossing, where do you stop for a red light?

Plenty of intersections in Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco have railroad tracks that go through them. I go over train tracks on my work commute twice a day. Usually, there isn't a stoppage for a train. However, some days the train does come through when I'm at that intersection. I see plenty of people go over the track, passing the barrier, and stopping closer to the light.

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At a railroad track, you actually need to stop at that line. If there wasn't a line, you stop at least 15 feet away from the tracks, but no more than 50 feet. I see so many people ignoring the stop line at the intersection but thankfully I've never seen a train come through when that happens. When Tri-Cities traffic gets backed up, too many people clog this intersection.

Google Street View
Google Street View
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A semi-truck stood no chance as it got stuck on a Salem, Oregon train track.

Full disclosure, this story is from February of last year. I chose to go ahead with this article for three reasons:

  • The absolute absurdity of the events that play out in crisp dashcam footage.
  • I can't guarantee that everyone in Oregon and Washington saw this story when it came out.
  • It serves as a reminder that when it comes to a train, don't mess around.

A truck in Salem said "this barrier isn't for me," and proceeded to press forward as a train readied to pass by. The semi appears to get stuck on the tracks, and unable to move, its trailer is in perfect position for a collision with the oncoming train. Miraculously, nobody was hurt. Please be advised the video below contains adult language near the end.

Play it smart with trains.

You can bet that truck driver thinks twice now when he approaches train tracks. A smaller truck or Subaru like I see all over Tri-Cities would not stand a chance going head to head with a train. If you're driving that vehicle, you will become human goo.

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