by MetraBNSF
Hope this serves as a wake up call, as I didn't blink when I picked up the phone...
I witnessed a group of 5 or 6 people (one of which was a baby being pushed in a stroller) dart across the tracks at Belmont Rd. in Downers Grove while the gates were down and an eastbound freight was approaching. The engineer of the freight was blowing the horn when he saw the group cross the tracks and there was about a 5 second gap from the time the group started crossing to the time the freight reached Belmont Rd. The engineer of the freight gave a long hard look at the group when his train reached the intersection. Minutes later the group boards the eastbound Metra. I immedietely called BNSF and reported this, due to the fact that one of the adults was pushing a stroller with a baby. Two things entered my mind as this incident occured. I was going to film the incident as it happened, but couldn't since I was on the phone with BNSF. The other was to board the eastbound Metra and report this to a crew member, but couldn't since I wasn't in position. However, the BNSF employee was appreciative that I reported this. I hope to never see an incident like this ever happen again.
I witnessed a group of 5 or 6 people (one of which was a baby being pushed in a stroller) dart across the tracks at Belmont Rd. in Downers Grove while the gates were down and an eastbound freight was approaching. The engineer of the freight was blowing the horn when he saw the group cross the tracks and there was about a 5 second gap from the time the group started crossing to the time the freight reached Belmont Rd. The engineer of the freight gave a long hard look at the group when his train reached the intersection. Minutes later the group boards the eastbound Metra. I immedietely called BNSF and reported this, due to the fact that one of the adults was pushing a stroller with a baby. Two things entered my mind as this incident occured. I was going to film the incident as it happened, but couldn't since I was on the phone with BNSF. The other was to board the eastbound Metra and report this to a crew member, but couldn't since I wasn't in position. However, the BNSF employee was appreciative that I reported this. I hope to never see an incident like this ever happen again.