The Eastwood Civic Association livestream camera at a Polk Street train crossing in east Houston captured something that terrified the group's president, Lindsay Williams.
"It's gut-wrenching," Williams said. "It's horrifying to watch. I usually can't breathe while it's going on."
At a Polk Street crossing, she said a man tossed a bag through a slow-moving train and proceeded to climb through it. It's not the first time she says cameras have captured something like this.
A few months ago, she said a group tossed bicycles and hopped a stopped train to get around it. Williams said stopped or slow-moving trains aren't the only problems.
"They always say, 'Don't go around the arms, but if the arms are constantly going down, people are not going to believe there's a train, ever," Williams explained.
Union Pacific, which operates the trains, told ABC13 it's aware of this weekend's video. It said anyone who does this is trespassing and it's dangerous.
Williams said it may be illegal, but dealing with stopped trains blocking intersections is an issue they've dealt with for years. To help, the city launched a train watch website a year ago.
The city said it's supposed to show real-time conditions. However, all day it's shown two crossings in east Houston were blocked by trains.
But when ABC13 crews went there, there were no trains.
"It certainly is a problem," Williams said. "As soon as you told me, I started asking myself, 'Hey, what's going on with this because I know a lot of people in those areas specifically that might be looking at those sensors to make a decision.'"
Looking for accurate information themselves, Williams said the civic association launched its own livestream cameras at train crossings.
"We have people that are trying to get home from the Metro Green Line and cannot get into Eastwood," Williams said.
A city spokesperson said they're working to improve the website, which uses train detection sensors and a traffic signal system. Even if it's fixed, Williams says it's not enough.
"You can monitor it all day long, and you can measure all day long, but you actually have to take an action to get to the root of the problem and actually fix it," Williams said.
She hopes videos like this will spark change to get shorter trains in the neighborhoods, improved crosswalks, and legislation to address parked trains on crossings.