Reminds me of many years ago when a neighbor crossed a train track on the High Plains. You could see for miles both ways and he had crossed it hundreds of times before.
Just as he crossed, a train went past behind him. He later said he still does not know how he missed seeing or hearing the train as he stopped to look both ways.
I believe Jeff Cooper called it “Condition White”, being totally oblivious to your surroundings,
Familiarity breeds contempt.
He was subconsciously editing out (ignoring) those sounds. Scary.
I could sit in my apartment, TV going / movie whatever. I could hear and feel the rumble of a train passing 500 feet away from my apartment. That low rumble of diesels shaking the ground (and the air a bit).
I don’t know what happened in this case.
However, I was told by a fireman who went to train/car/ped wrecks all the time, Here’s what happens:
There are two parallel tracks. There is a slow-moving train on the track most visible to the motorist/pedestrian. There is a fast train on the other track. The slow train makes it look safe to cross, and obscures the sight and sound of the fast moving train. The car/ped makes a run for it, but gets nabbed by the fast train. I always look both ways, no matter what.
Probably not what happened here, as it appears only a single track and slow moving train, but still worth describing the failure mode described above.