California Zephyr Hits Garbage Truck in Iowa

[Agent]

The eastbound California Zephyr, Amtrak train #6(25), has hit a vehicle between Albia and Ottumwa, Iowa. Not a lot of details right now, but it has been reported that there were no injuries on the train.

 

[NSC1109]

The eastbound California Zephyr, Amtrak train #6(25), has hit a vehicle between Albia and Ottumwa, Iowa. Not a lot of details right now, but it has been reported that there were no injuries on the train.

Maybe not to passengers, but initial report says there were crew injuries.

They hit a garbage truck. Lead locomotive, 36, is seriously damaged and is unusable. Supposedly they’re going to set it out at Ottumwa and continue to Chicago with the remaining Gennie

 

[Agent]

Sounds like the plan right now is for a BNSF train to drop off an engine to be #6's new leader.

 

[NSC1109]

Sounds like the plan right now is for a BNSF train to drop off an engine to be #6's new leader.

That is correct, both Amtrak units had flat spots that are considered federal (likely from plugging the brake line) and are not road-worthy. The plow on 36 was cut off too. 5 is supposed to cut off an engine to be used on the back of 6 for HEP.

 

[jis]

Do these grade crossing accidents happen way more frequently in this country than almost anywhere else? One sure gets such an impression. I wonder what the number of incidents per train mile are like in various countries.

 

[NSC1109]

Do these grade crossing accidents happen way more frequently in this country than almost anywhere else? One sure gets such an impression. I wonder what the number of incidents per train mile are like in various countries.

I mean….the answer is likely yes because we probably have more crossings here than any other country.

 

[Asher]

Do these grade crossing accidents happen way more frequently in this country than almost anywhere else? One sure gets such an impression. I wonder what the number of incidents per train mile are like in various countries.

It was in a rural area, no guard rail? No lights. Just a wooden crossing sign. A neighbor witness stated that a Eastbound Amtrak train is rare at that crossing, Westbound happens more often. I don’t understand that.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The Westbound Zephyr goes through Iowa in the Dark, the Eastbound in Daylight ( when on Schedule).

 

[Agent]

The article I linked to in the first post has been updated with a news video, and there's also some photos of the scene on the reporter's Twitter page.

 

[Cal]

A neighbor witness stated that a Eastbound Amtrak train is rare at that crossing, Westbound happens more often. I don’t understand that.

Just shows to prove how knowledgeable and reliable they are.

 

[Cal]

 

[Agent]

It was in a rural area, no guard rail? No lights. Just a wooden crossing sign. A neighbor witness stated that a Eastbound Amtrak train is rare at that crossing, Westbound happens more often. I don’t understand that.

Here's the location of the crossing. The two main tracks aren't side-by-side at this point. Amtrak #6 was running eastbound on the normally-westbound Main 1. Neighbor seems to be used to them running on Main 2 farther to the south. Although it's probably not that unusual for the Zephyr to run left-handed there.

 

[Agent]

View attachment 25160

Looks like they put #6's engines in the power plant's track.

 

[NSC1109]

Looks like they put #6's engines in the power plant's track.

that is correct. they’re gonna be there a while.

 

[jis]

I mean….the answer is likely yes because we probably have more crossings here than any other country.

Unprotected ones probably so. But countries like India, Russia and China have numerous crossings, and orders of magnitude more passenger trains.

 

[me_little_me]

Americans feel they have the right to be free to try to outrun trains, I suppose.

 

[Agent]

Amtrak #6 by Agency, Iowa at 10:33 p.m. with BNSF 8066 and AMTK 137 leading.

 

[George Harris]

Count your blessings. It stayed on the rails. About a year ago a NS freight hit a garbage truck approximately 15 miles east of Memphis and derailed at least two units. Truck driver died from injuries. Train speed probably around 40 mph, maybe less. Garbage truck impacts can be very serious for the train.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

From where the train stopped it looks like it was barely moving when it hit the truck. Wonder if the truck was stuck on the grade crossing and the engineer went into emergency far enough out to almost stop before the crossing. Or the train was slowing already - how close was it to the next station?

https://www.kcci.com/article/amtrak...38siWwCQN4HAVTsp9jPuXIGDWBFBGwysZm2d9CIgyb6Fw

 

[UserNameRequired]

From where the train stopped it looks like it was barely moving when it hit the truck. Wonder if the truck was stuck on the grade crossing and the engineer went into emergency far enough out to almost stop before the crossing. Or the train was slowing already - how close was it to the next station?
..

~18-20 miles to Ottumwa.

 

[basketmaker]

I mean….the answer is likely yes because we probably have more crossings here than any other country.

https://railroads.dot.gov/accident-...crossing-incidents/highwayrail-grade-crossing

 

[MARC Rider]

https://railroads.dot.gov/accident-...crossing-incidents/highwayrail-grade-crossing

That's some interesting statistics, but it would be more useful if they normalized the data by dividing the number of accidents by the number of grade crossings in the county.

It makes sense, though that Cook County, IL (i.e. Chicago) has such a large number of accidents, being that it's a rail center, and, heck, even the L trains have grade crossings, as we found out riding the Pink Line at the Gathering.

 

[basketmaker]

That's some interesting statistics, but it would be more useful if they normalized the data by dividing the number of accidents by the number of grade crossings in the county.

It makes sense, though that Cook County, IL (i.e. Chicago) has such a large number of accidents, being that it's a rail center, and, heck, even the L trains have grade crossings, as we found out riding the Pink Line at the Gathering.

Hey it's a government website wouldn't expect it to make common sense. Nothing is "normalized" there.

 

[Cal]

Americans feel they have the right to be free to try to outrun trains, I suppose.

I think a title of "comedian" would suit you better than the current "engineer".

 

[Agent]

A week ago, I saw AMTK 36 still sitting in the BNSF/Burlington Junction yard in Ottumwa.