Is it just me, or is this an odd expression?

It means that they're giving their best wishes to (whomever). The full expression is "my thoughts go out to...".

I haven't found an origin yet, but possibly the most famous use (although in a slightly different sense) was on 7 July 1812 by Beethoven, while on bed rest for his health, "Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all"

You've got me intrigued!

Seems you've just come across internet ghouls for the first time. They scour the net for cases of sudden or unexplained death, and also often look for deaths due to long illnesses then post random sympathies to relatives (they've never met) of the deceased (they've never met).

The more ghoulish even go into raptures about what a nice person (they'd never met) the deceased was and how they'd be sorely missed.

Yet another group of saddos who waste their time on the net - ghoulish AND attention-seeking all at the same time. Makes ordinary folks like you and me sick.........

Not to the railways it isn't. TBH this is - and always has been - a HIGHWAYS problem not a rail one (unlike Elsenham where clearly the railways were lacking). The rails were there first (for most roads) and it is the council highways who should be acting to safeguard their ratepayers who are roadusers. But they have always pleaded "broke" so the railways have installed gates at their own cost where they saw the risks were greatest. I hate to say it, but IMHO Network Rail have always attempted to aqct in an exemplary manner (even if their asset base was so inaccurate they often didn't have a clue what crossings were actually installed where......).

I'm sure many of our journalists would have the trains give way to cars at any crossings if they had the chance.......

Sadly the 4 year old girl who was in the car has died.

I'm not so sure that it is correct to suggest that railways were there first, man and his paths from village to village were there long before. Most roads in Lincs remain single track and many main highways are not much wider.
I said nothing about who paid for mitigation measures but I believe the records would show (if they could be viewed) that at the end of the day regardless of which authority 'paid' for the work it was all borne by the taxpayer thus my comment of 'cheap' stands. There could be better ways to do things but they will never come to pass so long as decisions are based upon political gain rather than national interest.

Do they, do they really? Did you actually stop what else you were doing in order to say such prayers for that specific purpose? I would suggest not as I would expect that to be the case for the vast majority. In reality for most it is simply a figure of speech, something politically correct to say in conversation so as not to be seen as disinterested or uncaring. I have no doubt that for some it is a case of 'there but for the grace of God go I' or "I'm so glad that I have never had such happen to my own loved ones" and so there is at least some thought behind the words for those people.

The truth is that we no longer live in a religious world, religion is, as it has always been, a convenient peg upon which to hang so much misunderstanding or fear of the otherwise unknown. For some 'sheep' there is no harm in it, for others it is a reason to harm one another but for all believers what is common is faith in the belief. There is little or no democracy in any religion, the members of any and all beliefs being required to blindly follow without thinking.

Personally I was brought up 'in the faith', which one is unimportant as each has its own teaching of God and Christian or other values and thus they are much of a muchness but I have always been a thinking man and not a 'sheep' myself. As soon as I was officially an adult I lapsed my faith which had bothered me for many years, had I had no respect for my parents I would have done so as a teenager. Nevertheless I was baptised and confirmed as a Christian and still believe myself to have 'Christian values' in the popular sense, which incidentally has very little to do with Christ these days or indeed the worship or not of a God.

Thus my thoughts do not go out, the accident is just another statistic, it's sad for those to whom it matters, it matters not to me as I have no relationship with the parties involved. I have no false sympathy to confer and no prayers to proffer, I am simply an honest man with a mind of my own.

Thank you for proving my point regarding why so many people wish to leave the mention of prayer or religion out of an expression of condolence, sadness, empathy. Debate around the nature of religion is bound to follow, and is that departure really appropriate at that time? There is a time and a place for soapboxes.

Oh dear, that seems to me to be quite a bleak outlook. Made all the more bleak by the grain of truth in it.

Forgive me if I appear harsh, uncaring etc. However, in the context of people of whom I have no prior knowledge who have injury or death inflicted on them, whether by natural disaster or accident, I cannot pretend to give them any thought.
Although I will probably be something of an emotional wreck when Aretha Franklin pops her clogs, I have no knowledge of her family and so will not feel anything other than my own sadness over the death of someone I have admired for close to 40 years.
In the context of an Internet forum, the “my thoughts go out ...” type of posts are totally meaningless to me unless it is an actual member of the forum involved. However, I do not wish to disrespect those who believe making such posts to be worthwhile and appropriate.

I cannot help but comment in the style of the thread "Oh ye of little faith"!