Metrolink Wreck

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L.A. Times:

Accord reached on rail bill

"The measure had stalled before Sept. 12, when a Metrolink commuter train crashed into a Union Pacific freight train, killing 25 people and injuring 135."

EDIT: In the accompanying AP video, the Metrolink trains shown are 1) engaged in testing for the NTSB investigation, 2) arriving inbound at Downtown Burbank station, 3) arriving outbound at Chatsworth and, 4) running inbound toward Chatsworth after exiting the Santa Susana pass. Note bridle path beside tracks. Quite a few residents of the area (west end of the San Fernando Valley) keep horses, and even more have pools.
 
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WhoozOn1st said:
GG-1 said:
Aloha
Well finally I am reading what appears to be a honest report about the crash. the link is here

Mahalo
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Not really a report at all, and the title page calls it a "Brief Overview," which is an accurate description of the photo account of the wreck and reenactment.
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Te PUC report has more holes in it than a swis cheese, how did they get to 80 mph combined collision speed when Download and NTSB report show 25 for UP and 42 for the Metrolink train,.

My simple math sees that as 67 mph combined collision speed.

The PUC put out a report just to be first, not to be accurate
 
Dutchrailnut said:
Te PUC report has more holes in it than a swis cheese, how did they get to 80 mph combined collision speed when Download and NTSB report show 25 for UP and 42 for the Metrolink train,.My simple math sees that as 67 mph combined collision speed.

The PUC put out a report just to be first, not to be accurate
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The last line you wrote says it best. California PUC is attempting to justify its funding by trying to appear to be a big player in a situation where it really has very little standing to do anything.

Politics, pure and simple.

Particularly telling is the slide number 22, "Director Clark Briefing NTSB Board Member Kitty Higgins at the Scene on the Role of the PUC." Trying to make it look like the PUC is leading the charge and is providing guidance to the NTSB.

The reality is that the NTSB is BY LAW doing the investigation and the the PUC standing in the matter is somewhere between being gofers and being underfoot.
 
This is hardly a report. Just a series of obvious facts and an interesting slide show. There are no root causes, findings, or suggestions.

There will always be interagency cooperation and, realistically, competition. I think that PUC's only role is to get things cleaned up and back to operation. Even that is just regulatory oversight - the rebuilding and certifing of the ROW belongs to UP.
 
L.A. Times:

Metrolink to consider safety gear

Thursday, 9-25-08: New train safety improvements urged

On Thursday, 9-25-08, I was returning from a secret mission in preparation for our Amtrak Unlimited Second Annual Gathering at Los Angeles next month.

Riding Metrolink 113 in pull mode on the Ventura County Line, I had the opportunity to get photos of the curve where the wreck occurred. Because the train was moving over this stretch of track much more slowly than usual it's a pretty good sequence, taken running outbound from Chatsworth and into the Santa Susana pass. IIRC, about 1,100' of track had to be replaced. The only remaining traces of the carnage are heavy equipment tracks on both sides of the right of way, some parked equipment, piled ties, and other stuff.

The Metrolink Moorpark station is an overnight point for some Metrolink trainsets, and there's a small yard there. Parked, and fully cloaked by heavy plastic tarp, was a 6-axle locomotive that I suspect may have been the lead UP engine in the collision; never seen any freight locomotives there before.

So for what it's worth...

Metrolink Wreck Curve
 
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Just a quick curiosity of mine.

In none of the reorts have I seen the fate of the freight train crew. I didn't see them listed as among the dead, but saw nothing else.

Any reports of if they took cover, got seriously injured or not?
 
Rumpled said:
Just a quick curiosity of mine.In none of the reorts have I seen the fate of the freight train crew. I didn't see them listed as among the dead, but saw nothing else.
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Injured but both survived. Do not recall the extent of the injuries. Broken bones, at least. Despite the PUC "closing speed of 80 mph" according to other sources, NTSB? the freight train speed was 25 mph. Since it appears that the passenger locomotive was driven backward by the impact, the decelleration rate experienced by the freight crew would have been much less than that of the passenger loco.

Despite the hokum about "closing speed" the real issue is rate of change of speed, that is acceleration rate. The freight engine went from 25 mph to stopped in a distance of a few feet. The passenger engine went from 42 mph in one direction to some unkown but under 25 mph and probably well under it speed in the other direction in a very short distance, giving it and its unfortunate occupant a much higher acceleration rate.
 
the women who quit said the driver ran a red signal. thats the truth and how is that pre-mature. what we don't know is why did he run the signal. was he too busy texting and not looking out the window. Did he go into diabetic shock or coma. did he fall asleep from working a split shift. Was it suicide. we don't know and thats what the NTSB is trying to find out.
 
KISS_ALIVE said:
the women who quit said the driver ran a red signal. thats the truth and how is that pre-mature. what we don't know is why did he run the signal. was he too busy texting and not looking out the window. Did he go into diabetic shock or coma. did he fall asleep from working a split shift. Was it suicide. we don't know and thats what the NTSB is trying to find out.
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Yes, but the dog did it goes so far. I remember one incident that we investigated where a switch engine ran into the back of an Amtrak train. The brother engineer was vehement that his brakes did not apply. I asked him if he had put his engine into emergency to which we got a resounding, "YES." I then asked him to plug the engine. Every sander worked and there was no sand on the rail leading up the hind end of the pax train. He changed his story on the spot.
 
i know this is a different wreck but the one were the 2 metrolinks crashed into a car parked by a man claiming suicide. they say the driver of that train could have stopped in time if he had been paying proper attention and he goes on trail next year. seams metrolink has trouble with the drivers they use.
 

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