Last time it was a lady in a van trying to get her kid to a dance class, so she ran the gates at the train crossing and got hit by the Downeaster (which does NOT stop at that station, FYI). Nobody was hurt except her brain cells. Wait: To cut in front of a speeding train, you don't have any brain cells.
This time it appears that a car's driver did one of three possible stupid things at the train crossing:
1. tried to run the gates in front of the commuter train;
2. parked too close to the tracks when picking up pizza at the restaurant;
3. drove down the tracks thinking it was a street (happened a few miles away a couple of years ago, so not outside the realm of probability).
Either way, there is a car facing Boston on the train tracks, heading southbound with a giant commuter rail train stuck to its ass-end, and both are stopped on the tracks about 100 yards from the actual road crossing. SOMEBODY fucked up, and I'm willing to bet it has not been the train.
The worst part about the debacle is waiting hours on end for the road to re-open. The best part about it is waiting for the Three Stooges to decide whose jurisdiction the crash scene actually is: local police (it's our town), Amtrak (they own the railway), or the MBTA (owners of the train involved). Oh, and don't forget about the state inspectors who have to assess the damage.
Either way, someone fucked up big time, and the media will have a field day with it. Why shouldn't they? Dumbasses are funny (as long as their limbs aren't in my driveway).
