Tragedy on the Tracks-Locations and grave-Williamson, West Virginia

[@RoyWade-bv8nu]

So sad...... I lost 3 cousins from a train accident. Always stop, look, and listen. And never try to beat a train...... you'll lose every time.

[@InnocentPotato-pd7wi]

EXACTLY ! It is NEVER a good idea to RUSH! I once had an interesting conversation with a former US Air Force Mortician. He told me he NEVER rushes anymore. Then he told me this story. He was rushing to catch an airplane on May 25, 1979. O'Hara Airport a DC -10 . The plane was pulling out of the gate, and he got into an argument with an American Airlines employee. He insisted he had to be on that train.The plane took off , lost an engine, it actually detached and flew over the left wing. Shortly, it crashed, killing everyone! He said " I went white ,she went white. You weren't supposed to be on that ,Sir. AMERICAN Airlines Flight #191. There is a You - Tube video about this crash. And FYI, the CEO of the Ocean Gate submersible was named RUSH! NEVER RUSH ! NEVER!

[@InnocentPotato-pd7wi]

Plane not train!

[@normajeanhedlund7429]

A friend of mine was hit by a train because there was no warning. She is ok now.

[@Beccabombcorn]

Also, never ever stop on the tracks and an intersection

[@melissadavis225]

@RoyWade-bv8nu sorry for loss I lost four family members in a fire last year so I know the feeling of a loss like this sending blessings and prayers..

[@gaylegaston5110]

I just discovered your channel while I am sitting here recovering from hip replacement. I love seeing these old cemeteries and hearing the stories of the people who are buried there. I loved walking through the old cemeteries in sw Idaho. Mostly gold miners and their families. Keep history alive!

[@carrieslantern9224]

Thank you so much for the common person's stories. Even tragic stories need to be told. Life has multiple levels and emotions and lessons and stories.

[@VerlinThacker-u2l]

What a sad story. Thanks for sharing, great job Leo and Heather.

[@connie2558]

Sad story but something tells me they appreciate you reminding everyone, especially how lovely Ruby lead you right to her. Thanks.

[@neeceeboo777]

This is really great what y'all's stories do to help some families with closure. And educational with all the untold history. Super job Leo and Heather. Lord bless

[@sridharanv.k.881]

Lively narrative that can touch everyone’s heart. Thanks from India for sharing

[@FleegerLinda]

My great grandad got killed on train tracks in Kentucky. Loretta Lynn's dad and my great grandad was first cousin's and the walked to the coal mine every day. But on this day my great grandad was a lone, so no one knows why he was on the track when the train came. His name is Henry Ramey. ( Butcher Hollar Kentucky )

[@ZFern9390]

@@FleegerLinda wow thanks for sharing! ❤️

[@CutieSusie7777]

So sad

[@wesleyjohnson2284]

Such a terrible tragedy you guys did a great job on this story thank you

[@michaelbedinger4121]

Very sad story. May they all rest in peace 🙏 I lived by railroad tracks 🛤 many, many years ago. My parents warned me about the dangers of crossing, or walking on railroad tracks. Thank you very much for sharing this Leo and Heather. Have a great day. 😊

[@judypierce7028]

Oh my goodness! How sad and tragic! I was born and raised in a house with railroad tracks just across the road. Thank goodness my family while traveling never tried to beat the train. Once I started driving and would come close to a railroad track crossing, my mother would say "Don't get too close to those tracks or it will cause the engine to turn off." Now, I understand the first part of what she meant, but the latter part about my engine cutting off is still a mystery. I am so glad that the railroad now has a crossing gate. Thank you Leo for this bittersweet piece of history. I just wanted you to know that while traveling to Flat Rock, NC from Louisville to deliver donated goods to the victims of Helene, I spent the night in Gatlinburg before moving on. I turned on the TV to "Mysteries of the Museum," a program that I love. WOW! The mystery shared was the Hatfield-McCoy feud. An interesting piece of history at the Big Sandy Museum was shown from the feud to introduce this story. It was so interesting, but no depth. You and Heather have done so much research and shared with the audience about this feud had so much more depth. Thank you both for all of the hours and hours that you have spent on the computer and traveling to these various cemeteries to find graves.

[@janetsides901]

“Cause the engine to cut off” the train would run into the car.

[@mysticmimaw]

Sad stories but thank goodness the railroads have taken measures to improve safety. Thanks Leo and Heather 😊❤

[@kathynorris2371]

Thank you Heather and Leo for sharing these stories and remembering these precious people!🙏❤️

[@bluladie]

Train tragedies are so sad. Trains can't stop on time. People try and beat them and die. Don't test your luck with a train... 😢 Thank you, Leo. Hey Heather 👋

[@OldGearTech]

It's a shame how a tragedy (or multiple tragedies) have to occur in order to have a few simple safeguards made. One has to remember in the '50s and '60s there was another building in the vacant lot on the Old US 52 side of the crossing. So you were essentially going up to a blind crossing between two buildings with no way to see what was coming. Couple that with kids being loud or a radio with the volume turned up and there are so many ways it could not end well. A very nice tribute to a family and another lady who were both cut down before their time.

[@brianlykins6663]

Thanks, guys, for another interesting story. This, like any other accident, seems like such a waste. May they all RIP, gone far too early. God bless y'all for what you do to bring us these stories. I know each can be difficult for its own reasons. ❤👍👍

[@stephruiz573]

In Scott Depot WV a train hit and killed my pony & three other horses that escaped the pasture…That was traumatic for me at age 12. I have nothing but respect & caution when crossing any RR crossing!

[@sammyday3341]

That’s really sad. What a traumatic event for you.

[@melaniegudgel1]

A terribly sad story but you are absolutely correct, the things that happened afterward make it almost bearable. (Almost) we used to try to beat the train at lunchtime in order to get back to school on time. One day some of our classmates didn’t make it. We never did it again and the next year they made our school a closed campus meaning you couldn’t leave without permission. We were so stupid doing that. It’ll never happen to us. 🤦‍♀️

[@InnocentPotato-pd7wi]

Take a class in physics! There is no way a moving train can STOP on a dime ! NEVER ,EVER

[@D.H.-mg2cz]

Just discovered your channel - awesome! Greetings from Germany.

[@normajeanhedlund7429]

Really enjoyed this one, of course. You two are a great team. ❤

[@Amber12332]

Thanks for tellng your stories so they don't get lost with time.

[@melindaschluter1669]

You did it again, made me cry! Am I going to stop watching because of it? NOPE!!! I love you Heather and Leo!!! ❤❤❤

[@calmbeforethestorm9498]

I would like to ask who does your opening shots and music? They are mesmerizing and I think the best on youtube. Also, you treat everyone in your videos with so much respect... I wish you much success.

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Thank you. Heather does all of our editing.

[@JamesChubbyDamron]

Interesting to hear about distant relatives I’m a Damron from Charlottesville Virginia, via Rockfish Nelson County Virginia

[@ilovebutterflies8181]

My grandmother was a Dameron from VA.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

great Video !!

[@brendashaw2035]

Such a beautiful story

[@stephruiz573]

Can you imagine the horror that the family realized when the train was getting close! God rest all of their souls…🙏🏼

[@Carolb66]

Omg, when you ssud Aug 2nd 1958 i got shivers that is the day my late sister Karen was born. One life just starting & others ending, so sad. Thank you for documenting this tragedy & a lesson hopefully learned that you cant beat a moving freight train please respect the train tracks & dont try to run the closing gates its not worth it. ❤ RIP to those killed at the crossing, ny sister Karen too. 😢🙏🏻

[@mendymarcum8095]

My great grandmother was killed on those tracks. Thru used to call that train the silver bullet. My grandfather became an orphan at 5 but his grandma raised him up Turkey Creek. If I could just go back in time just to look around!

[@MysticalMe131]

Such a Sad story. May they rest in peace.

[@frypatty]

Thank you Heather and Leo for your great videos! I always look forward to them 😊

[@kathyleighton9091]

Something similar happened yrs ago in an area where I lived. A car stalled on the tracks and the man was trying to start it when the train came along. It claimed the father, his teenage daughter and her friend. The car wasn't even recognizable as it was so badly damaged.

[@susanhickman4714]

I love 💕 hearing stories from my Home 🏡 State !

[@jerrilynhenson9024]

Oh, wow, I was born on her birthday. May 31, 1944. Clear across the country. I don’t watch these stories for the awfulness of what happened but to honor, hopefully, their memory. 🙏 Her death certificate said she was born Dec 31. 🤷‍♀️

[@joanneweislocher8540]

Thank you Keo and Heather🙏my grandfather was killed in his car hit by a train when my mom was 3 years old, about 1923 in southern Missouri 😫 at a very rural track corner with nothing but trees and you couldn’t see a train coming. There was no train lights or cleared trees. 😥😭😖🥺

[@tessaducek5601]

Love the rural area. I am partial to small towns than big cities. I moved from Los Angeles to a town of 200 in NV. I never understood outrunning a train. I stop at each cross street without stop signs. I have never tootled across train tracks. I stop and scour both directions. There are still areas with no gates here. So one needs to be aware. Mom may have been distracted with children or thought. Its an awful loss.

[@QouteTheRavenNevermore]

My Grandfather and Great Grandfather were Section Foremen for Norfolk & Western. My Mother taught me from the time I could walk you stop, look, turn your radio off and roll your windows down at every crossing. You could hear the steam engines coming but these diesels not really. One thing a lot people don't know if you break down on the tracks run towards the train not away from it. When a train hits the vehicle you'll be hit with debris if you're running away from the train.

[@ddivincenzo1194]

It always takes tragedy to effect change. People and government will never change.

[@margaridafontes1512]

Descansem em paz. 🙏🙏🙏🇧🇷😇🙌🇧🇷🙏🙏🙏

[@ninaellyson814]

I have 2 true horrific stories of people that I knew who lost their best friend on a bicycle hit by train as a kid right behind her and my classmates dad and friend got hit and killed by a train when I was in first grade. Both tragic and shocking and sad. -Nina😢

[@NightOwl701]

My grandmother was a LPN in there. She worked the baby unit. She may have taken care of you. From the 50s through the 70s.

[@airbubble.]

In the cemetery you can see at least a couple of dozen burial plots on that side of the slope where you pointed, just obvious in the different shades of the grass in rectangular shapes, equal sized, in two rows.

[@robyndconner]

My dad worked 3rd shift at the ppg plant in shelby nc for over 30 yrs before his passing. My mom was pregnant with me, and my dad worked third shift that night. That following morning as he got off of work he drove himself home. A few minutes into his drive he went into a half asleep, half awake state. He had his radio blaring trying to keep himself from falling asleep during his drive. He never heard the train, and survived somehow but he was hit by a train he never saw nor heard that morning. And was very very lucky he didnt get himself killed

[@tammyasbury6517]

I always told my son not to be listening to radio at railroad crossing,we stopped for a train one time and this young boy coming from other side there were trees he didn't look or anything the train only missed his rear end by inches he had ear bugs in listening to radio never heard the horn blowing

[@sunspots6077]

I'm a very careful person... after getting away with doing a lot of stupid things when I was younger. I have a habit of once determining it is safe to cross a train track I speed up enough to have the momentum to clear the tracks even if the engine quits. My last GF would always say I was not supposed to do that ( conflating in her head with speeding up trying to "beat a train") She just did not get timing and nuance.. I also had a lot of drunks for relatives... and other relatives made excuses.. One drunk relative "went to sleep" on some train tracks and got hit one time.. I listened to the hubbub on the CB without knowing who it was.

[@vickielancaster7054]

Leo and Heather. A video hitting too close to home. My father's mother was killed in train accident in Minnesota. He never knew her. My heart is broke hearing this. Her name is Margaret also. 😢

[@barryrudolph3080]

I remember seeing a video of four Bhutanese teens in a white Camry get hit by a UP train in Bechtel, Kentucky.

[@theburtseoni]

That is one very sad story! That poor lady was likely distracted and in the habit of just driving over the tracks in town without looking! How many of us have done the same thing?

[@marshadean1321]

My husband has family on the main top they don't clean off and trees have grown up thru the tombstone.

[@kimberleyannedemong5621]

Such a tragic story. It's too bad that 4 people had to die before the gates & lights were installed. May they all rest in peace.

[@debrawalker2197]

My brother and his friend tried to out run the train on his motorcycle he was 15 .😢and my best friend and her family were all killed by a train We had been best friends for over 20 years.😢😢

[@lorrainedryburgh5079]

Think of the poor train drivers .. I remember friend of mine her son sat on the railway tracks was decapitated.. I attended his funeral .. two days later his friend also sat on the same track and was squished .. days later the mothers partner od in his car .. how sad was this

[@laurabrooks7655]

My aunt's car was struck by a train. It took over a year to recover from her injuries.

[@NEDD70]

My grandfather was an engineer for the Reading line. One night someone wandered out onto the tracks and he could not stop in time and killed the man. I think the man on the tracks was drunk? My grandfather was never the same after that. It really impacted him.

[@FRLN500]

@@NEDD70 I bet it impacted the victim too!

[@NEDD70]

@ I’ll say!

[@NightOwl701]

I remember Dr Salton. He was one Dr that would tell his nurses and patients off.

[@Zzsmuf]

Good idea about the wood on the tracks that way nobody gets their vehicle stuck on the tracks

[@bertvosburg558]

Time doesn't heal all wounds, first they're a sore heart ache, then a ever festering sore, then a wound, albeit healed on the surface, still and all a wound underneath.

[@RussWhite-xq3zn]

The railroad company dont care about lives just money. Thanks Leo and Heather

[@crowe2you]

It looks like to me after going through all this that this possibly could’ve been done on purpose. He had no occupation and was playing pool. She was a receptionist and taking care of three children. It looks like the two boys might’ve been twins because of their age and there’s probably a lot more to this story.

[@LorieSmith-v8w]

A friend of my sister's was walking by the tracks near where we grew up. The train jumped the tracks and hit the girl. I remember when we had milk delivered in the early 1970s. Seat belts on school buses were not put on our buses until the late '80s / early '90s

[@Amber12332]

We still don't have seat belts on our school buses 🤦‍♀️

[@jerrilynhenson9024]

Yes, it’s horrible people have to die before things get done. There’s a light on U.S. Highway 12 by Mossyrock, Washington. It’s not a freeway…it’s a 2 lane highway. There are houses across the way. A student was killed crossing that highway a few years ago before they would put in a light.

[@jerrilynhenson9024]

My daughter and I planned to search a cemetery in Woodland, Washington for an ancestor. We drove in, and I said, you can start over there, and I’ll start….at this moment, before I opened my door, I looked down and saw his name.. maybe we will just look here. He died in I think 1877.

[@MrsJessiemerritt]

Very sad R.I.P. to all. My step dad in Heaven now was engineer for 25 plus years. He was always telling you about train tracks he said don’t get close to train track it reaches farther than you think on both sides, at end of drive way there’s train tracks he said stop roll windows down little listen look both ways before crossing. Him , his dad , and one brother all retired from railroad. Few accidents that happened while they worked on railroad. My step would talk very little about it haunted him he would let you have over train tracks. Other than that he cut up mostly and told jokes. God bless.

[@InnocentPotato-pd7wi]

My brother loves trains. He actually considered becoming an engineer! They informed him if he did, he would have to deal with the very real possibility that he we ould kill a number of problems! Prople walking on tge tracks ,some wanting to commit suicide! He decided not become an engineer!

[@CutieSusie7777]

How awful for the family!

[@sharoncampeaux1860]

How sad.

[@michaelhaiden6718]

Leo I stop at all crossings I have seen traveling and gates and lights not working

[@ZFern9390]

I'm always so confused about how these accidents happen. How do you not stop , look and listen? Such strange tragedies 😢 Always makes me wonder if they are intended suicides.

[@dougmorris5625]

Train is supposed to sound its horn two long, one short and the last long as it enters the crossing. How could she not hear that?

[@michaelhaiden6718]

Leo I wonder if the surviving son ever gave a Interview

[@gearhead2017]

horrible accident,RIP Moore family

[@someonesprincess3]

❤️ 👍🏻 👍🏻

[@SherryRBoyd]

Do you know if the long steps leading to Joesph ave is still there beside the hospital ? Leo do you have any clue like Ruby’s stone how to clean them properly to get black off ?

[@marvinjohnson424]

D2

[@thehillbillyfiles]

The upper end is still there, but the lower end got covered up. They make a spray you can get to kill the mildew on them. Just make sure it's non-corrosive.

[@Beverly-hv2ft]

I had my mind on something eles one day ,and I almost got hit , so very sad. May rip. 😢

[@randallstewart8487]

Back around 66,after I got back from school,I would go pick up my mother,she worked at a laundry in town five miles from our house,that day my sister went went with me,she was around 13 and I was around 15,driving my dads 65 datsun,which is nissan today,our road came out in town and had to cross a track to get over in town,I didnt hear the train coming north,forgot to look too,by the time I heard it,had to panic stop about ten feet away,came that close to killing both me and my sister,she was the passenger,the train was coming at us from her side,that reall shook me up,to this day I slow down and look both ways if there isnt a gate there,learned my lesson well at an early age about train crossings,this happened about 20 miles from Williamson in Pikeville!

[@NCGreeneyes85]

They might have been related to me on my dad's side. My mamaw's maiden name is Mitchell.

[@montelee8244]

Thank you

[@deerslayer9point]

That’s where I was born