Every time I see a train derailment picture, it reminds me of where I grew up. My bedroom was about 50-60 FEET from railroad tracks. We had a two-car detached garage, about 15-20 feet of sidewalk (if that), then the house. If a train ever derailed, the hope was that the garage stopped it before it got to the house. Fortunately, we never had it tested. The tracks were so close to the house that when I was talking to my girlfriend (before she made the mistake of marrying me) on the phone one day, a train came through and she yelled into the phone, "What the hell is that?", semi-panicked. And I said, "What is what?" She said, "That noise." It took about 10 seconds to realize she meant the train - I don't even notice them any more.
There was one derailment near us when I lived there (I was in elementary school, so early 70s), about a mile or so from the house. Right here (although this picture is years after the fact).
There was a car parked almost exactly where the nearer car is in that picture. A tank car rolled over and crushed it, which kept it from rolling out into the road. The story was that a woman was sitting in the car while her husband was fishing, got bored, and got out to cross the tracks and ask him to wrap it up about five minutes before the train came through. I have no idea if it's actually true or not.
