Using railroad tracks for bugging out

Outdoors said:
I'd think twice about using track myself. Not only for the points raised above, but purely for train safety reasons. A train can come up on you with little warning, and people walking on tracks are often killed in this situation. At the least, consider taking a railroad safety class so you have some idea of the safety procedures before you foul the tracks (that's what the railworkers call getting too close to or on the tracks).

Pat
Click to expand...

A high-school student in my area was killed a couple of days ago in
just this manner. She was walking beside the tracks at what she
thought was a safe distance, when she was struck & killed by a
structure jutting from the side of one of the cars. Take care.

John
 
I agree that BugOut situation means SHTF, and if it were Chem, Bio or whatever, and people were leaving in droves, you can go with all of them to certain gridlock, or hit the tracks.

You won't be alone, there will be some other "Like minded" people who had the same thought. If a few of them are armed, make a quick alliance (easy to do when you are all trying to get outta dodge) and watch each others backs.

I wouldn't make RR tracks my #1 choice, or my only choice, but, it's defintely an option. When your life is in the balance, and staying isn't the answer, then you'll risk the druggies and pervs to save yourself. A shotgun or rifle will keep em thinking twice.

And again, this would be for truly BAD Bad "Biblical" events. Not a 1 day power outage.

When your life is at stake, don't leave any option closed.

I think there is some merit in knowing where they lead, and how you would go about navigating them.
 
SkunkWerX said:
I think there is some merit in knowing where they lead, and how you would go about navigating them.
Click to expand...

I wonder if there's any option for getting such info in map form other than the few RR's marked on Rand McNally maps (or simply following a RR on foot).

I would be reluctant to call up a RR and ask for such info for fear of getting labeled as a terrorist. :(
 
jmpstock said:
A high-school student in my area was killed a couple of days ago in
just this manner. She was walking beside the tracks at what she
thought was a safe distance, when she was struck & killed by a
structure jutting from the side of one of the cars. Take care.

John
Click to expand...

whats bad is when banding strap breaks on a load and it flops out the side and just floats out there like a razor out the side of a train, I have had to work around trains a bunch and I get as far away as I can when they come by
 
Are RR's marked on US Geological Survey maps (larger scale) ?
I remember seeing RR's but do not know if any were not put
on the map. USGS could be useful maps in anycase.

What about GPS maps?
 
Once the trains stop running railbikes could come in handy:

double-2-640.jpg


http://railbike.com/buying.htm

All the best,

or
 
Yep most railroads are marked on USGS maps. Some maps are more up to date than others, tho.

Pat
 
RRs are even marked on your better street maps. They may not show every little spur, in a wharehosue dsiritct, but, they certainly show the main lines.

Here is a question: are they marked on GPS units software?
 
About twenty years ago when a local rail road went under they abandoned about 150 miles of track, which I'm located about in the middle of. One of my buddies got ahold of an Onan powered "motor car", and we had a ball on the thing. What a great way to access some really remote backwoods areas. Illegal? Yep, but then not much that's fun isn't nowadays. An indicator as to whether or not a line is in use or not is rust on the rail tops.
 
I was using Google Maps today and noticed some RR lines marked -- looks like Yahoo Maps and Mapquest also indicate RR lines (or at least some lines, I guess).

I followed one line from Denver to the Pacific! :D
 
my polaris 700 4x4 4wheeler runs down the tracks great at 30mph. better get off quick though when a train comes. the thing to do is wait till a train goes by then follow it. At least you know there is a delay before the next train comes and most likely you will be heading away from an oncoming train and not into one.
 
All this RXR talk has made me hungry. Don't want to do any cookin though.

There is a Moose Turd Pie story, by Utah Phillips, in this link that you might enjoy. Scroll down the page you get with the link below, then scroll down and clink the story link on the left, an oral story:

http://www.utahphillips.org/utah.html

oregon
 
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