Gothamist: Man Fatally Hit by LIRR Train

nycnewsjunkie

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:24:25 -0500

First condolences to the family and friends of Patrick Robert Neenan. I wonder if alcohol (again) played a role in one of these LIRR tragedies... The Bellmore LIRR Station is an elevated station with room underneath the platform for one to hide/wait until the the train passes...also both tracks (especially the eastbound) at the station are straight for well over a mile making it very easy to see (at night) a train coming from a distance.

Gem

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:43:11 -0500

We will all miss you Neenan. You made us all smile. You'll always be apart of our Navy Family. love Clements' wife.

Lunawink

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:37:37 -0500

A family has lost a son, a brother, a cousin, and a friend. Imagine losing someone in such a tragic accident and stumbling upon your insensitive comments. My heart goes out to his friends and family and no matter what happened that night, a family is still in mourning.

Tower18

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:01:33 -0500

All talk of whether there should be any reason to be on the tracks in the first place aside, what ever happened to "look both ways?" Unless he got stuck down there and couldn't get back up, he must have been able to see the train coming...that's a long straight section of track.

Peter

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:21:21 -0500

6] And the replies should start coming in any time now, "Any real man with upper body strength wouldn't have any problems getting back on the platform. I've done it!" Heh heh, I actually do have a lot of upper-body strength (285-lb. bench press), but I wasn't about to mess up my clothes by trying to climb up onto the platform.

Spiritof76

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:57:51 -0500

[6] And the replies should start coming in any time now, "Any real man with upper body strength wouldn't have any problems getting back on the platform. I've done it!"

Peter

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:46:00 -0500

I actually went onto the tracks at the LIRR's Medford station a couple months ago to retrieve a dropped iPod. It's a very lightly used non-third-rail station with just a few trains a day and long sightlines in either direction, so it wasn't dangerous. What I noticed very quickly is that the distance between the track level and the platform is much greater than it appears when you're standing on the platform. Trying to climb up onto the platform isn't easy at all (I just walked around the end of the platform).

Politburo

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:34:52 -0500

I agree wholeheartedly. Nothing in my previous comment should be construed as absolving the victim of their responsibility to stay off the tracks.

Rob T Firefly

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:25:58 -0500

I hate to be insensitive, but one should not need whistles to know that railroad tracks are not for jumping onto, no matter what you dropped.

r1b2

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:12:10 -0500

The sad thing is this is all avoidable. Really tragic.

Politburo

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:07:36 -0500

Obviously not too many details available, but any train passing through a station should be blowing the whistle. The article doesn't say that it wasn't blown, and I'm not assuming either way. However in many areas, NIMBYs have restricted warning whistles to the daylight hours (when they're needed the least....), and it appears LIRR was hit by these NIMBYs back in 1999. MNR refused to exempt platform whistles from these restrictions, but I can't find any definitive info for LIRR.

thenebula

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:51:27 -0500

And here comes another lawsuit for the MTA to deal with saying the work train should've seen him on the tracks and stopped the train on a dime.