Miami Graffiti Artist Dies After Being Struck by Train That’s Reportedly Killed Over 200 People
People | 5/22/26 | Charna Flam
And what’s up with the name Charna Flam?
The Brightline train is one of two high-speed trains in the U.S., traveling as fast as 125 miles per hour. The train began test runs in 2017. Since then, there have been over 200 fatalities associated with Brightline trains that took place near or on the tracks.
Um, probably very near, am I correct?
The plan is to spend about $50 billion to transfer it to a lonely stretch of California’s Central Valley, where no one can possibly be harmed…
Only $50 billion. Absolutely. Honest. [wink, wink]
I heard it’s often followed by the Silver Ghost 041.
Ecologists have been happy to report that most of the rope used was natural hemp.
“But it is the ties that bind.” Defense used at Snidely Whiplash murder trial.
I heard Boxcar Willie put a curse on the trains from the grave. 🪦
Well, on a train, a crazy name
Mowed down some folks and found a claim to fame
She was gory, you know the story
Killin’ folks all down that old fair lane
In the heat, spraying blood
But they just couldn’t get control
[Chorus]
I said, train kept a-rolling all night long
Train kept a-rolling all night long
Train kept a-rolling all night long
Train kept a-rolling all night long
With a heave, and a ho
But they just couldn’t get control no, no, no
No human relationships. No fixed address. Always in need of money. Classic signs of a serial killer.
Solving the homeless crisis one-by-one.
Suicidal passengers disembarking at Clarksville.
At 125 MPH people look like roadside mailboxes to drunk engineers with baseball bats.
Only job Axel Rose could find was train whistle which attracts mullet haired rednecks.
“OK, students, important safety note: make sure the train isn’t moving before you spray-paint the front.”
Good morning California, how are you?
Say, don’t you know Newsome? He’s vegetative, son
I’m the train they call the City of Los Angeles
I’ll be gone five hundred billion when the day is done
Good morning Louisiana, how are you?
Say, don’t you know Cassidy? RINO’s irritative, son
I’m the train they call the City of New Orleans
I’ll have killed more than Katrina when the day is done
Graffiti artist Wile E. Coyote wannabes not quite finishing spray painting fake tunnels on mountainsides.
Serge A. Storms designed train station mens room put urinal on front of train.
“Beating train to RR Xing” part of drivers license testing was meant to attract New Yorks Puerto Rican cab drivers not recent retirees.
“… killed at 12:26 a.m. local time while walking on the tracks…”
One suspects that alcohol use may have been involved – probably not on the part of the train.
200 fatalities? That’s lot of Indians. (Dots not feathers)
“If you clean the train I’m on, you will know that I am gone
You can see my gristle flew 100 miles
A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles
You can see my gristle blew a hundred miles
…
“Not a shirt on my back, look like penne, toot my name
Lord I can’t go home this away
This a-way, that a-way, that a-way, and this a-way
Lord I can’t sell my art on Ebay.”
Don’t you mean “allegedly killed”? The train hasn’t been convicted of anything yet.
“Fightin’ that train
Land in Spokane
Casey Jones, you’d better watch its speed…”
Sounds like something for Newsom to campaign on…”My train to nowhere has never run over anyone.”
After the initial bow wave of air from the lead locomotive (which can be strong), there’s a low pressure. So, bow wave causes person near the rails to stumble/lose balance, low pressure pulls them into the train. Even the lightweight aluminum passenger cars are pretty sturdy, so if you lurch into one that’s going even a moderate speed (say 60MPH) it’s going to do a lot of damage. And if you happen to fall across a rail, the train wheels will chop you apart. But yes, you do have to be pretty close to the rails for this effect.
One thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that trains are actually not that loud. I live 100 yards from Brightline’s rails. I barely notice them when they go by. Earbuds/headphones can mask the sound. Brightline goes from Orlando to the coast by following highway 528. Once it’s near the coast, it’s in a mostly suburban setting, and runs close to US1. Traffic noise can easily be loud enough to mask the train noise, other than the horn. And by the time the engineer notices someone on the rails and blows the horn, even if it’s noticed, the normal response is to turn around, which usually results in the victim realizing their fate just in time to meet it. At night, the engineer might not ever realize there is someone on the rails unless the front slope of the locomotive spreads body parts or fluids over the windscreen. I’d be surprised if the train could be heard from 200 yards even on a quite night by someone with nothing over their ears over the sound of their own feet on the ties and/or ballast. At that distance, a train going 100 MPH is traveling 150 ft/sec. So you’ve got 4 seconds to hear it, identify it for what it is, and then move 10 feet (minimum) to the side before it hits you. Wise people don’t walk the rails (which is a federal trespassing charge – both of my parents used to work for a railroad is how I know this).
There’s two reasons for this happening, and in some instances, probably both apply: impairment due to drugs, and stupidity. While these events are tragedies for the families and friends of the victims, looked at from a species standpoint – the weakest members of the pack are mostly who’s getting culled. I know that they’ve required brightline to slow down to 20 MPH through downtown Melbourne because of this. Because the flashing lights, train horn, crossing guards, and the existence of the rails and what that means just aren’t enough to keep some people from winding up dead. Especially stupid because a Florida East Coast freight train can still sail through at 45, and at 80 MPH brightline is gone in seconds. Of course, the crossing guards are down for around 30 seconds total, even though the train is past in 10. But wanting to save 30 seconds to get to/from the bar/restaurant and your car is a really stupid reason to die. Even an FEC train will only hold you up for maybe 90 seconds.
Always remember that in the race to the rail road crossing, if it’s a tie, YOU LOSE.