I broke my leg!

[The Big Sky]

This is my first time posting, I found this website years ago but never registered, I don't know why.

A little background: I'm a conductor for one of the larger commuter railroads in the Northeastern US. I see a lot of people everyday, most of them are nice, but some make you want to bang their head against the cold, hard steel of a coach vestibule.

This particular story deals with a passenger, but he wasn't an SP (sucky passenger?). I was working a train up from the shore, it was the conductor, 3 ticket collectors (including myself), and the rear brake. It was a Sunday train, and it wasn't very crowded. As I am walking through my car after leaving one of the stations, a man who had been on our train from the very start flags me down and says "I need an ambulance to meet the train in New York, I broke my leg." He reaches down and lifts up his pant leg, and he's got a broken prosthetic leg. It's duct taped in a few places, and it's bent the wrong way. My mouth hit the floor; I was seriously dumbfounded. I did feel bad for the guy though.

So, I go up front and tell the conductor, who radios ahead. Supervision wants the guy off in Newark, and the police meet the train there. Of course, they can't get the guy off the train as he insists on going to New York because that's where his doctor is. He gets to New York where he's met by a swarm of station personnel. I found out later that night that he had gotten on one of our trains with the foot part of the leg broken, transferred to another train, broke the leg some more, got on the train coming back up and then got on my train before he decided he needed help. Only on the railroad...

[Broomjockey]

Wow. Just...

I'm just glad it wasn't you who broke your leg like I first thought reading the title!

But, I can actually HEAR the thought process this guy was going through.
"Oh, crud, it's broken. Only a little though. I'll be fine until I get back."
"Oops. Hmm. I'm sure I can still make it home after I do everything."
"Ah poopmonkeys. If I stand on this thing again, it is gonna shatter, I just know it. Oh excuse me! I've broken my leg! Can you get a doctor to meet me at my stop?"

[repsac]

Very OT, but I have to pass this one on since I'm certain it's good for a laugh. This comes from a friend of mine on another forum I post in.

I forget exactly where he was at the time, possibly up in the north east, but I remember most of this story.

According to him, he had to ride this commuter train into work every day. Most days it was fine, but during fall; things got a bit dicey.

Why?

Well there were a ton of eucalyptus (hope I spelled that right) trees that lined the tracks near the station. During the fall, the leaves would fall onto the rails and, well ask anyone that knows trains and they'll tell you even a tiny bit of leaves can be a problem.

I remember him recounting one story where the engineer applied the brakes, only to have the leaves cause the train to slide. Now it wasn't your usual wheel screeching slide. No, because of the leaves the train's movement was nearly silent.

Imagine if you will, standing at the platform and watching this train coming into the station, then sliding through the station, and on down the track a good distance before stopping. I'd hate to have been the engineer on that one, having to walk down the train to the other cab past all those irate passengers...

[The Big Sky]

Haha, we have the leaf problem too on a few of our lines. At best they cause delays, at worst a few trains get cancelled. Believe me, I've got a lot of stories about the railroad in me...

[Rapscallion]

We're famous for the quote of a railway engineer over here saying we had the wrong sort of snow on the tracks.

Rapscallion

[Pezzle]

This is my first time posting, I found this website years ago but never registered, I don't know why.

A little background: I'm a conductor for one of the larger commuter railroads in the Northeastern US. I see a lot of people everyday, most of them are nice, but some make you want to bang their head against the cold, hard steel of a coach vestibule.

Yeah, from my commuter experiences on NJT... Well, I'm sorry for you having to deal with my drunk arse


Or are we talking PATH?

[The Big Sky]

It's NJT. I don't mind the jovial drunks, it's the loud, obnoxious ones that start fights with each other that annoy the crap outta me.

[Pezzle]

It's NJT. I don't mind the jovial drunks, it's the loud, obnoxious ones that start fights with each other that annoy the crap outta me.

Hamilton Station represent I love NJT personally much better than the PATH to NYC.

We're the "chill out guys, that beer was tasty lets sleep and kiss etc" drunks

[repsac]

Yeah, and Raps, don't forget the District (could have been Met driver) who got seriously talked to for the stunt he pulled.

Guy's standing on the platform with dark sunglasses on and a white cane with red tip. (Blind man's cane) When the train he's supposed to take arrives, he makes a show of walking down the side of the train tapping at it with the cane till he finds the door. He then enters and drives it to the next station or so.

Wouldn't you have loved to be a passenger on that day?