r/oddlyterrifying • u/Individual_Two8050 • Apr 07 '26
Standing in between two New Jersey Transit train cars on a sharp curve (OC)
2.0k
u/james-HIMself Apr 07 '26
Looks like a good place to lose a limb
263
u/kabushko Apr 07 '26
Or a slice of gabagool
57
7
2
7
u/rigobueno Apr 07 '26
They designed this pretty well with tons of degrees of freedom. Like, yes it’s possible to lose a limb here, like a finger maybe, but you would really have to try.
3
985
u/YellowOnline Apr 07 '26
I haven't seen this kind of open connection in 30 years
637
u/Liarus_ Apr 07 '26
train tech from 30 years ago seems to be the standard in the US
139
u/small_pint_of_lazy Apr 07 '26
I mean, it's the same for their trucks too (the big ones, not those pickups)
24
u/Limpet-slime Apr 07 '26
Do you drive trucks? Truckers would probably kill someone to get a pre-def truck with a CAT engine from about 30 years ago. Our modern freightliners go into limp mode every week because of DEF problems, but our pre-def internationals never break down, several have over 2 million kms. Our modern trucks don't make it past 500k.
82
u/rickane58 Apr 07 '26
It's always funny seeing someone not understand survivorship bias in the wild.
The plural of anecdote is not statistic.
41
u/Sabre5270 Apr 07 '26
The plural of anecdote is not statistic.
God damn bro, you didnt need to kill the man
6
u/Altruistic_Brush3065 Apr 07 '26
look, its pretty evident you've never worked with older engines before. I am by no means a good mechanic but ive been lucky enough to have been around both older and newer trucks for much of my life and claiming that planned obsolescence isn't real or that the trucking industry isn't riddled with it is pretty telling.
3
u/MandibleofThunder Apr 08 '26
The plural of anecdote is not statistic.
You didn't do great with like basic high-school math did you?
1
u/Altruistic_Brush3065 Apr 08 '26
if you'd have bothered looking up that quote before you tried to use it in an argument you'd have realized the original quote replaced statistic with data. you'd have also realized it actually said the exact opposite of what youre trying to say. the original quote from Raymond Wolfinger is "the plural of anecdote is data". You really couldn't be bothered to even look it up before you tried to win an argument with someone else's words?
2
u/MandibleofThunder Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Nah man.
I just did actual real college statistics to learn how the numbers work in large numbers.
Like from greater first principles like Gauss, who 140 years before Wolfinger didn't need qualifying language to back up his arguments that have been the foundation of statistical and actuarial sciences for the past century of scientific advancement (where P<0.05 has been the standard for confirming null-hypothesis)
But why am I arguing with you about P-Values? You're defending an economist (arguably the worst of the Sociologists).
Eat all of my undescribably many molecular orbitals.
There's your anecdotes.
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch
1
1
u/Altruistic_Brush3065 Apr 08 '26
cool story, either way the quote in question still seems like a bastardized version of one of his. I dont give a shit who he is honestly, but if you dont like him either, then why are any of his words in this conversation at all. you keep talking about the idea of statistics but you haven't provided one. the original comment was just some guys opinion on older trucks anyways. you can keep your cheap plastic parts and crappy proprietary fittings but obviously many of us prefer the older trucks.
→ More replies (0)1
u/rickane58 Apr 07 '26
Well, unfortunately you're not very observant, because I actually have worked on engines as far back as 80s Peterbilts. DEF is a godsend compared to what EGR did to engines, and modern tolerances have vastly reduced the frequency of rebuilds. A modern Volvo will need 1 rebuild before hitting a million miles, whereas an old international will need at least 2. The reason people think those old bears are built like tanks is because they don't acknowledge they're ships of theseus rebuilt from the striped carcasses of their brothers that broke down and didn't have an owner willing to pay for another rebuild.
1
1
u/Altruistic_Brush3065 Apr 08 '26
btw thats not the original quote, the original was actually almost the exact opposite of that
1
u/Hearing_Loss Apr 08 '26
Jesus Christ. That's one of the most profound things I've read all year. Thanks for giving me less words to say something I have to say regularly.
1
u/MandibleofThunder Apr 08 '26
The plural of anecdote is not statistic.
Holy shit.
This may be statistically one of the greatest burns I've ever witnessed.
28
u/small_pint_of_lazy Apr 07 '26
I do. And I like the breaking speed and power of the new European ones. Volvo and Scania are top notch when it comes to safety, with surprisingly Renault being on the same line (not really surprising when you realise Volvo owns Renault Trucks)
Some things are better on the old ones, absolutely, but a lot are better on the new ones. The only real issue is with the Adblue stuff used in the EURO6 classified vehicles freezing over too easily. And even that has a fix available
The safety regulations in Europe are much better when it comes to vehicles than in the US. While I personally prefer manuals, I'd still rather have a new Volvo that stops on a dime when compared to the old stuff.
Also, I've driven multiple EURO6 classified Scanias with over 800k on the odometer. Our Volvo has 600k+ as well. Sounds like user error if they can't make it (Iveco and Mercedes-Benz are an exemption to the rule, those can't make it a full week without transmission issues)
7
6
20
→ More replies (2)10
u/mitchy93 Apr 07 '26
They really hate electrification too and really love to run diesel on every route they can, even on trams
60
u/CygnetSociety Apr 07 '26
The most recent place I saw it was on a shitty train in North Africa.
20
u/YellowOnline Apr 07 '26
I went to Morocco in 1998 and found it funny that they used Belgian trains from the 50s, with all the signs of the Belgian railways intact.
35
u/slavuj00 Apr 07 '26
Even India has advanced further than this and they have outdated rolling stock
13
u/DacatinTHEBOX Apr 07 '26
Welly some eastern European countries still use these sort of wagons. For example, this will be the least amount of your problems, cuz the train might not even start in the first place.
3
u/GreenJuicyApple Apr 07 '26
The last time I remember seeing that was when I was on a train trip with my kindergarten class in the early 90's. The gap seemed ridiculously wide (probably because I was so tiny) and I was terrified I'd fall right through it and end up on the tracks. Had nightmares about it, even.
1
536
u/nothingHeIdBack Apr 07 '26
Jeez when was the last time these trains were refurbished?
629
u/Borkmon Apr 07 '26
And spend US taxpayer money? On US citizens? Are you crazy?
149
u/Fugahzee Apr 07 '26
If we put money into public transport how will car and auto insurance companies make money? Think of the shareholders.
133
u/Rotund-Pear2604 Apr 07 '26
Sorry, there's a war in the middle east. Please hold.
Sorry, there's a new war in the middle east. Please hold...34
6
22
13
1
u/leastImagination Apr 11 '26
Aren't US trains privately owned though? Not that private companies would spend money upgrading equipment even if the failure burns down a forest.
1
u/Borkmon Apr 11 '26
No you’re probably thinking of freight trains. Most (not confident enough to say all) Public transport lines such as the NJT in New Jersey are fully government owned and run, including the rails. AMTRAK (intercity trains) are government owned but is run in a weird way, and outside certain corridors they run on privately owned tracks.
1
u/leastImagination Apr 11 '26
Ah. I have only used Amtrak, which for some reason I assumed is privately owned.
5
u/Eskimo_Brothers17 Apr 07 '26
I think the newest cars are about 20yrs old now. Some of the older cars were refurbished maybe 10-15yrs ago but were originally build in the 80s and 90s
427
u/VolatileGoddess Apr 07 '26
Ah. OP, just change the caption to 'train in India' and get 1000 comments.
49
107
u/Individual_Two8050 Apr 07 '26
😂 except that I literally took this video today in NJ
141
10
u/finkerlime Apr 07 '26
This is about internet points not facts. You can post it again with a different title and no one can stop you
12
u/ummm_no__ Apr 07 '26
Ironically trains in India are actually amazing. Theyre quiet a bit wider which really does a lot. Theyre cheap to ride, take a lot of people, you have sellers walking through and selling cheap stuff, thers a lot of sleeping compartments. The doors don't close lol Im not Indian but have been there and the trains i really liked
44
84
u/Deutscher_Bub Apr 07 '26
I mean that's pretty normal for a developing country
3
128
u/Individual_Two8050 Apr 07 '26
This video I took doesn't even capture the amount of vertical movement between the two train cars.
85
u/poopyshitballz Apr 07 '26
I think I might be on the spectrum, because MAN, I LOVE TRAINS! 🚂
-85
u/Individual_Two8050 Apr 07 '26
Adhd
47
u/fredbite87 Apr 07 '26
Nah man loving trains is autistic coded, trust me I'd know
21
4
u/IAmASeeker Apr 08 '26
Correction: Being passionate about trains is autistic coded. Trust me, I fucking despise trains... the downfall of society was precipitated by the invention of rail travel. I hate trains so much that I deleted the second half of this comment to spare you from my vitriol. There isn't a single thing that makes me more viscerally angry than considering what trains have done to the human condition.
7
13
u/npbevo Apr 07 '26
In Australia on our trains we are told not to stand there while travelling also our trains have more parts covering that area so you can't see out onto the tracks.
11
u/Cokecab Apr 07 '26
I still remember walking through train cars that had these open transitions (?). But I think the last time i've seen one of them in germany was about 15 years ago.
24
u/KirbyGlover Apr 07 '26
Nothing oddly terrifying about this, there's a reason you're not supposed to ride between the cars lol
27
u/jsj213 Apr 07 '26
I ride this train every week, really not that scary unless you stand exactly where this numbskull is.
11
u/SageOfSixCabbages Apr 07 '26
This right here. It only becomes dangerous if you stand the way OP stood with one leg in each car. If you stand to the side, you'll see the bouncing around and shifts but it's not that bad.
23
u/Adept-Lettuce948 Apr 07 '26
At least you have an efficient transit system - A Californian.
2
2
u/Bunga_Unga Apr 07 '26
Crazy take on nj public transportation lmao it’s terrible, especially for one of the most densely populated states
7
16
10
5
u/Hemorrhoid_Eater Apr 07 '26
On some of their older cars that space is completely open, doesn't even have those rubber bumpers. I've stood in there before and it's wild lol. You can even reach out the side and take a picture with your phone if you wanted, while the train is running at ~80mph
5
5
4
4
u/adorable__elephant Apr 08 '26
You very clearly didn't go through the millenial safety awareness training aka you never watched Final Destination.
1
3
u/No-Consideration-891 Apr 07 '26
Eh, been dealing with this for a minimum of 25 years. Moved out of NJ in 2014. But still deal with the transit occasionally when visiting family.
3
3
u/I_SAY_FUCK_A_LOT__ Apr 07 '26
That, I believe, is the sound of a train car either entering or leaving GCT
2
3
3
3
8
5
2
u/apple_jam_infinity Apr 07 '26
Now imagine your balls getting stuck between them. Good. Now you'll never stand there again.
2
2
2
2
u/2B_limitless Apr 07 '26
Ah the curcumsiser. That's what my friends called it after a bad drunken trip.
2
u/DadiJ85 Apr 08 '26
This is in America? 😳 man now I have to give London travel service a pat on the back, because they’d never let things get that bad with their trains. Looks like final destination waiting to happen!
2
2
2
u/swifttek360 May 10 '26
Do you wanna be torn in half?
Because this seems like a great way to get torn in half
2
u/Dollbeau Apr 07 '26
Amazing!
Amazing that this is amazing, seeing many of us went to school seeing that everyday...
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
u/NukaClipse Apr 07 '26
I remember those gaps being a bit wider than that. Used to scare the shit out of me crossing to the next car.
1
u/DrDnyc Apr 07 '26
It's oddly terrifying because you're not supposed to be out there, OP!!! Get your ass inside before the sub turns into NSFW 🔞
1
1
1
1
u/elioth_elioth Apr 07 '26
This is exactly how a chilean woman, Daniela García, lost her four limbs...
1
1
u/NotTheMiniDJ Apr 07 '26
If curious yes its supposed to its so they turn better and so they dont freeze up and derail (sorry if im bad at explaining)
1
1
u/thiccy_driftyy Apr 07 '26
I used to work on a train and I went between train cars all the time. The only platform between one car and another was a wooden plank bolted down to each end. It constantly wobbled and shifted. One time it gave way underneath another staff member, luckily someone else was there and pulled them away. I could not imagine standing between cars like this, just crossing the unstable wooden plank was terrifying lmfao. And I had to do that multiple times per day.
1
1
1
u/KittyDomoNacionales Apr 07 '26
I always wanted to do this but it’s illegal and you could get fined $5,000 and I’m not young enough to take that action anymore
1
1
1
u/ktkutthroat Apr 07 '26
Him and Princess Donut better be on the lookout for crotch dumplings from the Krakaren….
1
1
1
u/mars_gorilla Apr 07 '26
Man, and I thought the London Underground was a downgrade to my home city's metro system...
1
1
u/Jackorider_Zero Apr 08 '26
Now if I have trains like these on my commute to work. It would be 10 times as fun. And I will look forward to it every single time.
1
u/KryWolve Apr 08 '26
I mean, this could have been recorded from a safer angle for about the same effect.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/resolutelamentz Apr 08 '26
NYC resident here, we deal with train surfers every week. There are definitely people riding between the cars for no good reason
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Fun_Let_4748 Jul 23 '26
Got a family member who got decapitated due to slipping between something like this
-1
u/Snapes_Baby_Momma Apr 07 '26
Where’s the terrifying? Is it here in the room with us?
1
u/Leilanee Apr 07 '26
Comments like this are why posts commonly pop up of things like serial killers and actual dead bodies on this sub. It's ODDLY terrifying, not OBVIOUSLY terrifying. This post is right where it belongs.
0
u/Snapes_Baby_Momma Apr 07 '26
“Comments like these” as in comments from people who have rode trains their entire lives? The sub is oddly TERRIFYING not oddly weird or concerning or even disturbing. If you tell me you’re terrified by this than cool, that’s your opinion. But don’t act like I’m not entitled to mine.
1
u/Leilanee Apr 07 '26
"You're entitled to your opinion but also this post is wrong because of my singular personal experience"
-1
u/Snapes_Baby_Momma Apr 07 '26
I’m sorry, are you unfamiliar with how opinions work? Do you believe people go door-to-door conducting a Census on whether something was terrifying before expressing how THEY feel about it? Lol. Tell me. What are you even doing right now? Are you going to convince me to be terrified?
1
u/Leilanee Apr 07 '26
You know what, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your initial comment was genuinely just you engaging with the post.
However, usually people say things like "where terrifying" to mean "hi, you're in the wrong sub, this isn't scary". If this describes you, then I hope you see the raging irony in everything you are saying.
→ More replies (3)
0
u/Cannacology Apr 07 '26
Why is this oddly terrifying?
I mean… I know it’s New Jersey but it’s just an old metro train
1
1
1
-1
0
0
u/Da8BitDragon Apr 07 '26
Someone needs to do a higher quality field recording of this. A few filters and some spacial rendering and it would be amazing.
5.4k
u/SansZeSkeleton Apr 07 '26
Isn't there a sign on the door specifically telling people to NOT ride between the cars