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Man's wife listened as train crash happened
Houston Chronicle ^ | 10.24.07 | CINDY HORSWELL

Posted on 10/24/2007 3:30:00 PM PDT by trumandogz

A Katy man was on his cell phone with his wife when he crashed into a freight train on Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Investigators said they are unsure whether Santiago Cadena, 33, was trying to beat the train or didn't see it coming before the crash happened around 2:30 p.m.

Cadena's wife told authorities that she overheard the wrenching, screeching crash, said DPS Sgt. Chuck Havard.

A west-bound Union Pacific freight train slammed into the cab of Cadena's empty flat bed truck, splintering it into pieces.

The truck had been heading south on FM 2830 and crossed the tracks about a block from where the farm road intersects U.S. 90 in Raywood.

Sgt. Havard said the train had sounded its horn and the crossing lights were flashing, but this intersection has no crossing arms.

Investigators are still checking the train's speed but believe it was traveling about 30 mph.

Cadena was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Because of its weight and power, Havard said, the train was not damaged. None of its cargo spilled and no one else was injured, he said.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Texas
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1 posted on 10/24/2007 3:30:02 PM PDT by trumandogz
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To: trumandogz

Cell phones and driving. Not the best mix.


2 posted on 10/24/2007 3:33:10 PM PDT by null and void (Franz Kafka would have killed himself in despair if he lived in the world we inhabit today.)
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To: null and void

Vehicle and Trains even a worse combination.
Always bet on the train —— You’ll never lose!


3 posted on 10/24/2007 3:39:33 PM PDT by TaMoDee
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To: trumandogz

No damage to train - a good outcome.


4 posted on 10/24/2007 3:40:00 PM PDT by diogenes ghost
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To: trumandogz

Because of its weight and power, Havard said, the train was not damaged.


Whew - glad they provided the explanation - else that would have been a real head scratcher!


5 posted on 10/24/2007 3:41:19 PM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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To: trumandogz

My sympathy to the engineer and conductor who had to watch it happen. Even when the train brakes are put into emergency position it takes time to stop.


6 posted on 10/24/2007 3:41:20 PM PDT by ol' hoghead (He is not here; for he is risen.)
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To: trumandogz

Se habla ingles?


7 posted on 10/24/2007 3:41:39 PM PDT by ssaftler (Which Al is more deadly: Al Qaeda or Al Gore?)
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To: trumandogz

“Can you hear me now?”


8 posted on 10/24/2007 3:41:57 PM PDT by Cementjungle
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To: Cementjungle

Somebody posted a little ditty years ago. It went something like:

The bells are a ringin’
The lights are a flashin’
The whistle is screaming in vain
If you stay on the tracks
Ignoring the facts
You can’t blame the wreck on the train


9 posted on 10/24/2007 3:46:12 PM PDT by null and void (Franz Kafka would have killed himself in despair if he lived in the world we inhabit today.)
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To: Cementjungle

I hope he didn’t have Verizon. All his cellular team members that follow him around would have had to watch this incident.

Actually, I’m sorry to hear of anyone losing their life. It’s a real shame.

I advise everyone to get hands free technology and use it in the car. Even using the speaker phone function is better than holding the thing in your hand.


10 posted on 10/24/2007 3:56:20 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Hillary has PAY FEEVER. There she goes now. Ah hsu, ah hsu, ahhhaa hsu, ah hsu, ahhhhhh hsu...)
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To: trumandogz
Guys would try to beat the train long before cell phones were invented, with pretty much the same result.

I live near a crossing on the main Atlanta-Chattanooga line. Actually, three crossings. We had a similar incident a number of years ago.

Guy drove around the gates trying to beat the train up at the Paces Ferry crossing. He lost, and the locomotive carried him about a mile southbound before the car peeled off the front of the train and rolled down the embankment into his own back yard. His wife found his body in the wreckage of the car.

My neighbor said, "She was never quite the same afterwards."

I guess not.

11 posted on 10/24/2007 3:56:40 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
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To: trumandogz

Charles Darwin, please pick up the white courtesy phone.


12 posted on 10/24/2007 3:56:50 PM PDT by beelzepug ("One should never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.")
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To: null and void

I hope for the wife’s sake the call was IMPORTANT.

If it was something that could have waited ‘til he got home, she’s gonna have some issues.


13 posted on 10/24/2007 4:02:46 PM PDT by JennysCool (Don't taze me, Bro!)
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To: AnAmericanMother
Guy drove around the gates trying to beat the train

I remember when a car full of high school kids tried that in my home town of La Mirada, CA.

Same result.

14 posted on 10/24/2007 4:16:08 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler ("A person's a person no matter how small." -Dr. Seuss)
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To: ol' hoghead

My son is an engineer and just the thought of this is a nightmare for him.


15 posted on 10/24/2007 4:46:05 PM PDT by Pure Country
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To: trumandogz

Someone may have ordered a code red on him.

16 posted on 10/24/2007 4:49:53 PM PDT by Dysart (Temporarily Unavailable)
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To: trumandogz

Don’t bring a truck to a train wreck.


17 posted on 10/24/2007 4:53:25 PM PDT by Starstruck
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To: DoughtyOne

“I hope he didn’t have Verizon. All his cellular team members that follow him around would have had to watch this incident.”

Literally laughed out loud on that one. Thanks for a well needed giggle.


18 posted on 10/24/2007 4:56:10 PM PDT by donnab (saving liberals brains....one moron at a time.)
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To: trumandogz
Man's wife listened as train crash happened

Did anyone read this headline?
What a sad tragedy.
I fail to see any humor at all.
May God comfort her.

19 posted on 10/24/2007 5:29:06 PM PDT by jrushing (Anti-American-Terrorists-Cowards-Nazis-Communist-Socialist-Democratic Party)
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To: donnab

Hope you didn’t get any coffee on the keyboard. ;-)


20 posted on 10/24/2007 5:30:44 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (CRINTON has PAY FEAVER. There she goes now. Ah hsu, ah hsu, ahhhaa hsu, ah hsu, ahhhhhh hsu...)
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