# Runway LIRR Engine Injures 4



## AlanB (Mar 10, 2004)

> Four people were injured, two critically, when one car of a freight train apparently came loose and struck two vehicles in Queens Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.


The full story from 1010 WINS News.

Please note however that the preliminary story above indicates that this was a runaway freight car. However, I'm hearing radio reports that indicate that it was instead an LIRR Diesel switching engine that ran away from the yard, while the crew was positioning some cars. You will also note that in one of the pictures that I've linked to below, one can clearly see the "M" logo of the MTA on a switch engine. There is no MTA yard in this area and therefore that engine would have no business being there, unless it was indeed the runway.

This incident occured on the lower Montauk branch of the LIRR in Queens.

Pictures from News Channel 4.


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## AlanB (Mar 10, 2004)

> The Long Island Railroad locomotive began to roll away around 2:18 p.m. during an engine change at a freight train facility in the Maspeth section, said railroad spokesman Sam Zambuto.


The 1010 WINS News story has now been updated to reflect that it was indeed an MTA LIRR locomotive that ran away. They are however still stating that it was switching out some freight cars, where as the reports that I heard on the radio indicated it was switching passenger cars.

I'm not sure just what freight the LIRR would be switching, since this is the New York & Atlantic's service area. However since this is still unclear, involves LIRR equipment, and will affect the one LIRR rush hour train that would normall run on this line, I'll leave this story under the commuter topic at present.

The updated story can be found here. It's the same link as above.


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## AlanB (Mar 10, 2004)

A further update to this story now confirms that there are three critically injured people, one of who’s injuries are life threatening.

The 1010 WINS story that I linked to above has once again been updated. This further update, along with a TV report to confirm things, tells me that my earlier post was wrong. This accident occurred on the Bushwick branch and not the lower Montauk branch. The Bushwick branch does however diverge from the lower Montauk branch.

The Bushwick branch is strictly a single-track freight branch. Unfortunately since this branch does not see much activity and has maximum speeds of 15 MPH, it also does not have any active warning devices at most of its crossings. This includes the major thoroughfare of Metropolitan Avenue. These crossings are typically flagged with flares as moves are made.

So this unattended engine rolled thru several crossings, including Metropolitan Ave with zero warning to motorists.  No flashing lights, no gates, no flares, no flags, and no horn. This no doubt contributed to the number of cars that were hit and frankly it's a miracle that more weren't hit.


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## Amtrak Railfan (Mar 10, 2004)

I think when this Collides the Diesel Power was a MP15 Switch.

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