why would you fall asleep on train tracks?

[cleofus1]

http://www.ktva.com/Stories/0,1413,163~6882~2970115,00.html


A 13-year-old child is dead after being hit by an Alaska Railroad train in Willow the town is grieving the lost.11 News first brought you this story on Friday today we have new information on what the boy was doing on the tracks. Troopers say that 13-year-old Austin Webb was sleeping on the train tracks on Friday evening when he was hit by the train. Willow is a very small town, and the entire community is grieving the loss of one of their own.
13-year old Austin Webb was hit by an Alaska Railroad train on these tracks near Willow Creek Friday. "From our understanding Webb and his 12-year-old friend Michael they were out that day fishing and laid down on the tracks then to take an afternoon nap,” says Greg Wilkinson. The two children were napping on the tracks when a train carrying 270 tourists rounded the corner. Crew on board the train saw the boys and immediately blow the whistles and hit the emergency break. Walker got off the tracks before the train made impact...but Webb did not. The family and friends of 13-year-old Austin Webb put flowers near the tracks today to remember a life tragically taken at such a young age.

Friends say that Webb was a popular kid with two siblings…and his mother is understandably having a very difficult time. The whole community is shaken by the death, hearts are filled with pain. “I am sure that all the kids, this is a small tight knit community so all the kids here are going to need to be talked to,” says Mike Evans who lives near the accident. This is not the first time people have been killed on the tracks five people throughout the state are dead from walking or sleeping on railroad tracks. "It's happened three times, it's sickening, it's not a very good place for people to be trespassing on the bridge,” says Evans.

[havocmom]

1. For some, because suicide is anathema in our culture but it's OK if you

force someone else to be the instrument which brings about your own death. Really sucks. Ask any rail road worker who has tried to stop a train using the force of his will cuz he knows the laws of physics aren't gonna be any help. It really hurts others to be put in that position. Same with cops but in the position of dealing with someone who has chosen 'suicide by cop'.

[wakeme2008]

2. Right and Suicide by Cop is another way and

that has caused a lot of problems for cops.

[Ian David]

3. 13 year old kid kills himself by sleeping on the tracks?

And if you did want to kill yourself, wouldn't you have a hard time sleeping anywhere? Maybe with drugs, but still...

Is it more comfortable to sleep on the wooden planks of the tracks than on the ground?

Do people think, "Oh, if the train comes, I'll hear it in plenty of time to get out of the way. It will be like an alarm clock."

Or are there weird, psychic sleep-inducing energy fields emanating from the tracks that carry vibes from a higher dimension? Maybe it's a feng shui thing. Maybe we just need to allign the tracks with the Earth's natural lines of magnetic force. (That last thing is meant as a joke in an otherwise serious issue).

[havocmom]

6. Pointless to discuss it if you have the REAL explanation, I suppose.

I do know of a couple cases where the 'sleepers' left notes. Didn't say it was the reason in this case, but know for a fact that it is the reason in some cases. Many more cases are figured as suicides but reported as sleeping on tracks. There are porbably some murders which are managed with the use of drug and/or restraints and involving someone left 'sleeping on the tracks'.

And "sleeping on the tracks" is the euphemism used in official reports, again, due to the stigma against suicide in our culture. Officials seldom write: 'laid on tracks waiting for train to kill them'.

[Ian David]

12. Also very good points. I'm thankful for the more likely explanations

It also never occurred to me that someone would say "fell asleep" rather than "waited to die."

[havocmom]

18. Often what happens after a death is more to help the living left behind.

And, perhaps that is as it should be. A lie told as a kindness might be better than a truth which helps no one and causes more pain.

[havocmom]

7. Re the sleep in suicidal people

You assume everyone might have trouble sleeping. Fact is, for many, excessive sleep is one of the manifestations of depression. One size does NOT fit all when you are dealing with depressed people.

[Ian David]

11. Good point.

Just because I would feel too anxious to sleep in the face of impending death, doesn't mean a chronically (and fatally) depressed person wouldn't drift easily to sleep.

It seems very foreign to me, but you're probably right.

[havocmom]

17. Sadly, I speak from experience and know I am right about sleep and

depression. I have trouble sleeping and my brother has trouble staying awake. :shrug: Go figure. Same genetic materials, same envrionment yet two profoundly differing responses regarding depression and sleep.

Have done a lot of reading, learning, observing. Depression is a tough nut to crack.

Hope you never have to deal with it up close & personal. I would not wish that on anyone.

[zalinda]

4. They may sleep on the tracks because that's

the only clear space around. Both sides of the track may be choked with weeds, or rocks. But, then some people are just clueless.

zalinda

[uppityperson]

10. It is flat, with no brush, an invitingly warm place to sit or lay

Warm from the rocks between the rails and the dark colored ties. No brush and it is flat so it is an inviting place to take a break. Poor family and community. The kid might've figured the noise of the train would wake him and it didn't.

[unrepuke]

5. Natural Selection. nt

[cleofus1]

8. official reaction

“It’s absolutely crazy. I told these kids I ever find one step on the track, then you guys are going to wish you were dead. I don’t want to go through this as a parent. I’m just a friend. I know the parents and I can’t imagine,” Shawna June said.


And she hopes she never will. The June children won’t be allowed back to this area. Shawna June says this area is a very popular fishing spot. She says adults often stand on the tracks down by the water.



Railroad officials say since 1995, three people have been killed by trespassing on the tracks. The last one came in 1998 outside of Seward. Authorities say a man, who was apparently inebriated, fell asleep on the tracks.

[Ian David]

13. Seward: Southern-most terminus of The Alaskan Railroad

That's what the Coast Guard guy used to tell us when he gave his iceberg presentation every year at summer camp.

He said that when he learned he would be stationed in Seward, he looked it up in an encyclopedia, and the only thing it said was, "Southern-most terminus of The Alaskan Railroad."

That was before the internet(s).

And Seward has probably changed very much since then.

He said they used to navigate along the coast by taking sightings of the neon lights on the various bars.

[cleofus1]

9. i can't accept it was suicide...but the reason given

is just so senseless....


Troopers don’t know why the boys were asleep on the tracks. They're taking Webb's body to Anchorage for an autopsy. But troopers know that he had been out all day and the night before fishing, so one theory is that he was exhausted.

[Ian David]

14. Does anyone ever "fall asleep" in the middle of a highway?

I still don't get what it is about railroad tracks.

Senseless, troubling and confusing.

[uppityperson]

15. Willow is a small bush community in AK, tracks are clear place to sit

It is flat, warm, brush free. Good place to sit but not a good idea to nap there. Kids do not always make intellegent choices.

[Ian David]

16. Do trains still stop for "hitch-hikers" in Alaska?

Someone told me that was a common place practice.

Maybe they were waiting for a train to give them a lift, and they fell asleep?