She resigned under pressure. She would have been terminated had she not resigned.
Metrolink Wreck
- Thread starter WhoozOn1st
- Start date
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Aloha
Again I have set aside several post for review by the Moderating Team.
I am very sad to see all this name calling and bickering andjudgemental comments from some that are jumping to conclusions.
Let us please wait fror the investigation to finish.
Mahalo
Again I have set aside several post for review by the Moderating Team.
I am very sad to see all this name calling and bickering andjudgemental comments from some that are jumping to conclusions.
Let us please wait fror the investigation to finish.
Mahalo
The top honco of Metrolink board has admitted it was him that authorized the release of information and that the spokes woman had not done it on her own account.
It was during a emergency vboard meeting on sunday that the board tried to retract what they had released after a scalding by NTSB.
It realy appears the Metrolink board is biggest bunch of bunglers in rail history, and after this is over they should all be replaced.
Within the context of this forum, I wasn't going to delve into that level of detail. We could talk about safety pilot requirements, etc., but in general my point was that different levels of being a pilot require different levels of medical exam requirements, the most stringent being a hired person with charge of protecting hundreds of lives requiring such an exam every 6 months. And in those cases, there are ALWAYS two people in the cockpit BOTH with that level of medical exam.
As for moderating this thread, I respectfully request that you consider that we are talking about safety of passenger rail. Whether that safety is human factor or mechanical factor, one cannot be addressed without the consideration of the other. As the conversation starts eliminating mechanical factors as a root cause, there is a lot of room to consider human error.
I am not berating Mr. Sanchez (May God rest his soul!), but in my professional opinion, an individual who is put in the charge of the safety of people should be subject to a medical exam every six months that includes blood testing for drugs, alcohol, cholesterol, and sugar. Perhaps there is a problem with government operating passenger trains. Maybe they can't be as intrusive into a person's medical record as a private employer. However, to be put in charge of so many people should require a certain level of waiver to privacy, or else a candidate should look for another line of work.
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Patrick - do they have that line back open for regular service, yet?
Yes. A day later than planned. Route was ready on Tuesday, 9-16-08, but the NTSB took it over for testing as part of its investigation into the wreck. Part of this involved running two UP locomotives and a Metrolink train face to face (point of impact), then slowly backing them to determine the point at which the trains would have been visible to each other, and how much time the crews had to react (about 4 seconds).
Metrolink Ventura County Line resumed truncated rail service from Chatsworth to Union Station (Chatsworth, Northridge, Van Nuys, Burbank airport, downtown Burbank, Glendale, LAUS) on Monday, 9-15-08. Buses were used to convey passengers from the Moorpark and Simi Valley stops. Passengers who would normally board at Montalvo (me), Oxnard, and Camarillo had to find alternative transportation.
Because Amtrak's Pacific Surfliners and Coast Starlight were not running on the 16th, my Tuxedo Run, for which I had made reservations online prior to the wreck, was delayed by a day. Actually, the Starlight was beginning and ending at Santa Barbara, with buses connecting from L.A. No good for me, because although I coulda gotten the Starlight connecting bus at Oxnard, without the Surfliners running (or the Starlight south of SBA) I'd have no way home from Santa Barbara.
I called Amtrak early Tuesday morning for confirmation of the situation, and to make sure that whenever the trains resumed running there would be no problems with my reservations. Then Amtrak called ME, and we went over essentially the same ground. Difficult to say for sure, but I thought the agent sounded relieved that I was aware of the situation and didn't mind waiting for resumption of service. I'm easy!
Full route service on Metrolink's Ventura County Line was back by Tuesday afternoon, with Amtrak following suit on Wednesday. Coast Starlight Train 11 may have made it to L.A. on the 16th, but not sure.
But not cheap!!I'm easy!
Aloha
As one of the moderators here I agree with what you just said. When a message includes "name calling" and personal disparaging remarks, that message does not belong here. If a message contains both types of content then what I feel most comfortable doing is hiding that message until other moderators review such message. This way we, and you can be confortable about what content to expect while allowing the free expression of Ideas and opinions. The participants here are from all ages and backgrounds our goal is free interchange of thoughts, while retaining proper decorum.
Last night I said, and I did, hide 7 messages, that I thought transcended our acceptable standards, which includes our fellow users. This morning I see that others in the team have agreed about the removal of 3 of them. If we ere, I hope we always ere on the side of community, that can always be adjusted, but if we leave something offensive how do we undo the offense?
I may have written this poorly, and other moderators may add or change what I have said, however I hope that all understand the goals we try to achieve.
Mahalo
Eric
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
Dude, I don't know the extent of the relationship this engineer had with these kids. I've had a lot of fairly close relationships with people considerably older than me in my life. None of them were what I'd call inappropriate. Perhaps this dude always wished he had kids and wanted to be a friend and somewhat paternal figure towards these admiring teenagers. Nothing wrong with that. Or he could have been a grown kid- I can qualify sometimes- and had a friendship with them that way. Its not inappropriate there, either.
Give one iota of actual improper conduct between them and I'd take your point of view more seriously. Age, in and of itself, is not an issue in relationships that are both platonic and have no power influence. Which the engineer did not.
Should an engineer be text messaging whilst in the position of operating a train? No bloody way. Is there malem in sie problems with him reading and sending text messages during a station stop, if he keeps on schedule and pays proper attention? Nope.
Could he be a creep? Sure he could. But you haven't demonstrated any evidence whatsoever to indicate that other than some observation and a mountain of semiplausible conjecture infused with a healthy dose of confirmation bias.
Its sort of seeing a married man spending time working late overtime with his young assistant as an indication of who he is. Sure, they could be spending time in there doing things that aren't good. Or they could simply be dedicatedly working their asses off on some project. Unless you observe what they do in the office after hours, you can gossip all you want, but you simply don't know.
Please, for the benefit of your own credibility, don't portray gossip as fact.
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Joel N. Weber II
Engineer
This is a difficult task, and I think overall the moderating team does a very good job of handling the challenges that are sometimes presented by people posting here. I certainly can't think of another site that I can argue is clearly better run with respect to these types of challenges.
Joel N. Weber II
Engineer
I can think of multiple platonic friendships I've had in my adult life with people who are maybe 20-30 years older than me, and I've learned quite a bit from talking with people whose experience in some areas exceeds mine; among other things, it's how I learned a good chunk of what I know about IP routing, machine shops, and ham radio. (Where I've been interested in learning more, I've also done a lot of reading.) I think that sort of friendship can provide an effective education in areas that classes in American schools don't tend to cover well, and it's something that should be encouraged.
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
heres some more info on the wreck
L.A. Times:
NTSB tries to sort it all out
Metrolink makes do as 'stepchild' agency
Delays in meal breaks sought. This article is about the lobbying activities of Veolia Transportation, the Metrolink contractor which employed Train 111 engineer Robert M. Sanchez.
NTSB tries to sort it all out
Metrolink makes do as 'stepchild' agency
Delays in meal breaks sought. This article is about the lobbying activities of Veolia Transportation, the Metrolink contractor which employed Train 111 engineer Robert M. Sanchez.
access bob
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2008
- Messages
- 340
Other side of same coin, Many years ago I was one of those kids, no radio or text messaging but I hung around the rails, and took photos with my old brownie (some photos now cherished classics) and got to know some of those "Creeps" , Many the time an Engineer would lean out of the cab and have a kind word with the "kid on the platform" some I got to "know" only because of them having compatible schedules with mine. but never once did any of them do or say anything inappropriate..
What I learned was that it was a hard job, and they were mostly dedicated to keeping those trains moving. once in a while a non safety rule was bent, but as I got older I got more interested.
I went off to college and got my degree in transportation engineering and among other jobs help design some of the improvements in the North East Corridor for the Acela high speed trains.. even today when I need some obscure fact I often turn to the railfans because they usually have the answer.
who knows if some of those guys (and it was all guys then) ever got into trouble, but I try to stay friendly with the railfans and unless they are doing something illegal or dangerous I leave them alone. sometimes talking to them but mostly just being professional. But if they hadn't taken an interest in that pest of a kid I doubt I would have spent the years as a professional transportation engineer that I have.
as for critizing, I critizize those who jump to conclusions, because too many times I've found the first conclusion is often the wrong one. So lets give these kids a break and not pass judgement on Mr Sanchez until we know the facts. Heck these kids could be doing drugs and robbing little old ladies instead they are recording a part of our history. 50 years from now who knows what those photos will be worth, and wouldn't it have been helpful if one of those cameras would have recorded what actually happened at Chatsworth???
if they are being safe and staying out of the way I say take all the photos you want. and if an employee is courteous or kind to them without compromising safety I say that is a good thing. why do we always want to believe the worst in somebody?
sorry that just had to be said.
Bob
And as of now, the other 4 have been returned to view, although two did receive a small edit.
G
Guest_George Harris_*
Guest
Another bird cage liner long on arm waving and short on real information. Not that I consider Vieolia that great or the idea of split shifts wonderful, but none the less, far more heat than light in the article.
Providing information is not the primary intent, purpose, or function of an opinion piece or editorial. The forms are meant to advocate points of view, not provide the objective coverage that is the goal of news reporting. I clearly label such pieces when posting links to them. In this case it was an op-ed piece, which derives from the traditional newspaper format of printing outside views on the page OPposite the EDitorials. Such pieces are always credited to one or more individuals, while editorials are unsigned and typically reflect the views of the publisher, as distilled through a board composed of the publication's senior editors.
Failure to recognize the difference between reporting news and advocating ideas represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the basic principles and forms of journalism.
G
Guest_George Harris_*
Guest
I have no problem with the presentation of opinion, just the presentation of opinion from the obviously uninformed when they pronounce solutions with minimal understanding of the situation.
I agree about your description of many opinion pieces. However, I still read them because that is what other people read and often believe, and then vote accordingly. On anything important to me, I write a letter to the editor, as I wish more people with specific knowledge would.
In other words, I hope some of you write a letter to the LA Times (or wherever) before cleaning your "birdcages" ...
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
George, it is often interesting to read the point of view of the uninformed. What the great unwashed masses think is a valuable thing to know. If you know the information to be false, then you are ahead of the group.
More L.A. Times birdcage liner for Mr. Harris:
Years of use prove rail controls work
EDIT: Also an EDITORIAL: Asleep at the switch?
Years of use prove rail controls work
EDIT: Also an EDITORIAL: Asleep at the switch?
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Associated Press, via Ventura County Star:
Metrolink crash spurs Congress into action
A quote from the article:
"We regulate in this country by counting tombstones. If you don't have enough people dead, nothing gets done. The pressure isn't there to do it."
-- Barry Sweedler, former director of NTSB's office of safety recommendations.
Metrolink crash spurs Congress into action
A quote from the article:
"We regulate in this country by counting tombstones. If you don't have enough people dead, nothing gets done. The pressure isn't there to do it."
-- Barry Sweedler, former director of NTSB's office of safety recommendations.
PetalumaLoco
Conductor
Apparently Conan O'Brien was going to make a joke about headon train wrecks when NBC's Los Angeles station interupted the program...
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