04-07-2009, 10:48 AM
I'm sure the railroads all have counselors available, or provide counseling through their workman's comp. when needed. Since no one was hurt or killed in this accident, I would suspect no counseling was needed. My understanding is that the toughest thing for an engineer to deal with is having to stand by helplessly as the train train crashes into another vehicle or people on the tracks. On the episode of Extreme Trains where they were riding the U.P. from Omaha to Sacramento (Roseville Yard IIRC) the host pointed out one place where the engineer could see a crossing from about 2 miles away. If he spotted a car or truck blocking the crossing he had to apply brakes for an emergency stop as soon as he saw the vechicle. If the vehicle moved off the tracks before the train hit it, he would have flatspotted wheels the full length of the train and been in big trouble with management, but if the vehicle was disabled, failure to go to full emergency stop from 2 miles out would result in the train demolishing whatever was blocking the tracks!