Sunbathing Girls Struck By Train

[Alonzo]

LEBANON, Maine -- Police said two teenage girls sunbathing on a railroad trestle lost limbs when a train came upon them unexpectedly in Lebanon Maine, along the New Hampshire border.

Authorities said 13-year-old Destiny Phaneuf and 14-year-old Rachel Brown, both of Lebanon, were lying on beach towels on the trestle over Three Mill Pond when the train rounded a corner late Wednesday morning and began braking and blasting its horn.

Lt. Gary Fecteau of the York County Sheriff's Department quotes the train crew as saying they never saw the girls move, but their injuries suggest they tried to scramble away at the last moment.

Phaneuf lost her leg just below the knee, while Brown lost a foot. Both were airlifted to a Portland hospital.

Fecteau said the girls were cutting class and enjoying the sunny weather. He said there's no indication that they were impaired by alcohol or drugs, or that their hearing was impaired by headphones.

http://www.wfsb.com/news/16418055/detail.html

I had a train track about 100 feet behind my house as a kid and we never played on it. I'd heard of games such as chicken and things, but as dumb as that was I can't imagine what made people think sunbathing on a train track was a good idea.

[Saigio]

It's Maine, Zo. I know. I live here. Quite a shortage of brains. I've seen people do some really stupid stuff.

[PatrickHenry]

Give 'em the Darwin Award.

Do you suppose they'll reproduce?

[AlanC]

Two more candidates for the Darwin awards....its a real shame but how do you fix stupid?

[Saigio]

Give 'em the Darwin Award.

Do you suppose they'll reproduce?

They are inelibible as of yet for the Award. They live (as far as I know).
As fo the reporducing, that can be answered by saying that, again, this is Maine. They will most likely have kids.

[Easy90]

It's Maine, Zo. I know. I live here. Quite a shortage of brains. I've seen people do some really stupid stuff.

Geez...they are 13 year old girls...how bout giving them a break? Sad story...

[Saigio]

Geez...they are 13 year old girls...how bout giving them a break? Sad story...

Why? It's true. They were stupid. If they weren't, they would still have there arms.

[Easy90]

Where's the compassion for little kids? Maybe their mommas or baby daddys didn't TELL them not to hang out on the RR tracks.

[Saigio]

Where's the compassion for little kids? Maybe their mommas or baby daddys didn't TELL them not to hang out on the RR tracks.

I don't much care for idiocy. People that are stupid to the degree that they decide to sunbathe on train tracks that are in use deserve the fate they recive.

[PatrickHenry]

This sounds like a story from the Onion.

Can you imagine living handicapped for the rest of your life, knowing that you're an idiot?

[Easy90]

Maybe they didn't know they were in use. Maybe they were blonds. Maybe they went to public schools...All sorts of missing info here. They were teeny boppers...you should be more tolerant.

[Alonzo]

Geez...they are 13 year old girls...how bout giving them a break? Sad story...

Ya, that's my thing. I'd be laughing and bringing up the darwin award myself if they were 20 or 30, but laughing at kids who almost died, however stupid they are, makes me feel a little dirty.

[micfranklin]

I'm sure it'd very inappropriate to laugh, so I'm not going to....but how exactly did the girls not hear a train coming?

[AlanC]

13 is old enough for most people to make the mental connection between train tracks and trains themselves.

I am not aware of anywhere in the country where active rail lines do not run on a set schedule. And last time I checked, if you are within walking distance of a rail line, you would be aware that trains do indeed operate on said line.

All those who find even abandoned rail road tressels a good place to sun bathe, raise your hands. I didn't think so.

At some point, this has to be seen as a really dumb thing for anyone who does not suffer a cognitive disability to have done.

If it comes out that they were mentally incapable of preventing this, I will be happy to retract my criticism and in turn call for the lynching of whoever had responsibility for their care.

[Alonzo]

I am not aware of anywhere in the country where active rail lines do not run on a set schedule. And last time I checked, if you are within walking distance of a rail line, you would be aware that trains do indeed operate on said line.

To be fair, I never knew the schedule for the train behind my house, even though you could hear it when it passed. No one really bothered to figure it out as it simply went through the woods, it didn't cross the nearby streets.

It was a commuter rail line that went into Boston, the actual train stop was about 10 minutes away.

[AlanC]

To be fair, I never knew the schedule for the train behind my house, even though you could hear it when it passed. No one really bothered to figure it out as it simply went through the woods, it didn't cross the nearby streets.

It was a commuter rail line that went into Boston, the actual train stop was about 10 minutes away.


And you therefore felt comfortable laying on the rails to sunbathe? I can see kids playin on or around railroad tracks. But sunbathing on them is a bit much as is not being aware enough to hear a train coming.

[potter]

Where's the compassion for little kids? Maybe their mommas or baby daddys didn't TELL them not to hang out on the RR tracks.

:ponder:

Maybe we do need a nanny state.....

Ah well, stupid is as stupid does.......

[Wndrtch]

http://www.wfsb.com/news/16418055/detail.html

I had a train track about 100 feet behind my house as a kid and we never played on it. I'd heard of games such as chicken and things, but as dumb as that was I can't imagine what made people think sunbathing on a train track was a good idea.

A prime example of Natural Selection!

It didn't work tho, these girls will still be able to reproduce.

[Cobra]

....but how exactly did the girls not hear a train coming?

They fell asleep and must have been really asleep cuz most trains are loud. Just plain stupid. It's hard to feel sorry for people like that, 13 is old enough to know better.

[Alonzo]

They fell asleep and must have been really asleep cuz most trains are loud. Just plain stupid. It's hard to feel sorry for people like that, 13 is old enough to know better.

Well I can see not hearing the train until it gets close. As I said the train went behind my house and you could easily hear it and the house would often shake a bit. But, at the same time, being around it all the time made you oblivious. We'd be outside playing baseball and often wouldn't hear it, even though it was under 100 feet away.

Though the article said it appeared that the girls did hear it right before it hit them, as they seemed to have tried to get away.

Though, as I said before, they were stupid for sitting or sunbathing on it. The longest I ever spent on a railroad track was once when I was walking in an unfamiliar woods. I couldn't remember which route I took to get where I was, but I knew the train tracks passed by the entrance to the woods, so I just walked besides them till I got back to the beginning.