Palmetto 89 Incident in Chester, Pa. (4/3/16)

[offroad437]

Not sure but I think the reports of the fatalities being on the ground would appear accurate. I would guess it was the crew with the backhoe.

 

[jis]

Looks suspiciously like the backhoe was actually working on track 4, but was partly and most likely unintentionally, fouling track 3 when 89 came by and got side swiped by the backhoe, spinning the backhoe around to have part of strike the first coach, while derailing the front truck of the engine. Just my guess from the multiple pictures and the layout of things.

One more new report with a long interview with witnesses....

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/breaking/Chester-Train-Tracks-Crash-Equipment-374406561.html

 

[Bex]

Just to answer my own question, and in case anyone else is travelling on the NEC today, Amtrak's Twitter account now says service is suspended "until early Sunday afternoon."

 

[jis]

NJT Departure Vision at Trenton shows that Amtrak 143 is running to Philadelphia, All Keystone Corridor trains including the Pennsylvanian, are operating between New York and Philly and beyond.

The epic 14 hour late 92 is apparently stuck in this mess somewhere between Wilmington and Chester. Today's 51 is stuck after departing Philly. Presumably 98 is stuck somewhere between Wilmington and Chester too.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Someone on FB wonders if the wind may have blown the backhoe into 89's path. We're having wicked winds in this area.

 

[priller]

News Channel 8, in Wash, DC is showing still images of the SouthWest Chief derailment and presenting it as today accident in PA. I'm sure just to be more dramatic.

http://wjla.com/newschannel-8

If this type of fake tabloid reporting really ticks you off, send an email to [email protected]

 

[jis]

According to a quick live Q&A with Stephen Gardner of Amtrak, There were 35 injuries on the train, none life threatening, two fatalities on the ground. Passengers are being ferried back to Philly by road. Amtrak is operating normally on the Keystone Corridor service between New York and Harrisburg and beyond. He did not give any estimate on when service will be restored. NTSB is on its way, and they will handle all further reporting on details of the incident when they get there.

 

[PRR 60]

This article from Philly.com show the front end damage to ACS-64 #627. Pretty smashed up. That one will not be back in service for a while.

Philly.com

 

[jis]

This article from Philly.com show the front end damage to ACS-64 #627. Pretty smashed up. That one will not be back in service for a while.

Philly.com

Nor will that Amfleet I right behind the engine.

 

[afigg]

This article from Philly.com show the front end damage to ACS-64 #627. Pretty smashed up. That one will not be back in service for a while.

Philly.com

Yes, that is one seriously beaten up ACS-64. Saw the same photo on the Washington Post website, but your link is better for the photo.

Given the body damage to side of the Amfleet car that was behind the locomotive, the coach car could be a writeoff.

 

[Triley]

A bit off subject but now service is moving between dc and Wilmington.

Currently using 2252's equipment to run as 88 up to Wilmington, and turn for 195 and head back to dc.

 

[Bex]

A bit off subject but now service is moving between dc and Wilmington.

Currently using 2252's equipment to run as 88 up to Wilmington, and turn for 195 and head back to dc.

Not off subject to me, thanks. But I gather it will be a while until service returns WIL-NYP?

 

[jis]

I was really a bit surprised with the suspension of service between Washington and Baltimore and Wilmington. I guess the problem was stationing someone who could uncouple and couple engines at Baltimore or Wilmington.

Which makes me wonder if Amtrak keeps a contingency plan in place for closure of tracks in various segments of the system. Ideally there would be an outline playbook for handling track closures between any two major stops, since afterall there really are not that many to start with.

 

[Thirdrail7]

A bit off subject but now service is moving between dc and Wilmington.

Currently using 2252's equipment to run as 88 up to Wilmington, and turn for 195 and head back to dc.

Not off subject to me, thanks. But I gather it will be a while until service returns WIL-NYP?

There is a path available for quite some time. Just awaiting for the OK from the scene.Through movement shouldn't be too much longer

 

[Thirdrail7]

I was really a bit surprised with the suspension of service between Washington and Baltimore and Wilmington. I guess the problem was stationing someone who could uncouple and couple engines at Baltimore or Wilmington.

Which makes me wonder if Amtrak keeps a contingency plan in place for closure of tracks in various segments of the system. Ideally there would be an outline playbook for handling track closures between any two major stops, since afterall there really are not that many to start with.

Why should you be surprised? There were numerous trains in that area with a very limited area to accomplish much. There are also crew constraints to contend with. Sending more trains into an area without a lot of maneuverability is usually not recommended, particularly if you're not taking the majority of the passengers were they want to go. Remember, you have MARC between WAS-BAL, so all you're really adding is WIL.

 

[Bex]

A bit off subject but now service is moving between dc and Wilmington.

Currently using 2252's equipment to run as 88 up to Wilmington, and turn for 195 and head back to dc.

Not off subject to me, thanks. But I gather it will be a while until service returns WIL-NYP?

There is a path available for quite some time. Just awaiting for the OK from the scene.Through movement shouldn't be too much longer

Thank you!

 

[jis]

I was really a bit surprised with the suspension of service between Washington and Baltimore and Wilmington. I guess the problem was stationing someone who could uncouple and couple engines at Baltimore or Wilmington.

Which makes me wonder if Amtrak keeps a contingency plan in place for closure of tracks in various segments of the system. Ideally there would be an outline playbook for handling track closures between any two major stops, since afterall there really are not that many to start with.

Why should you be surprised? There were numerous trains in that area with a very limited area to accomplish much. There are also crew constraints to contend with. Sending more trains into an area without a lot of maneuverability is usually not recommended, particularly if you're not taking the majority of the passengers were they want to go. Remember, you have MARC between WAS-BAL, so all you're really adding is WIL.

Right. Good point.

BTW, the only somewhat reliable info on what Amtrak trains are running in NJ at present appears to be NJ Transit's Departure Vision. The Amtrak train status stuff seem to be completely confused or stating many trains that are running to be is Disruption. Weird. And normally I trust the NJT Departure Vision less when it comes to Amtrak trains.

 

[The Chief]

Looks suspiciously like the backhoe was actually working on track 4, but was partly and most likely unintentionally, fouling track 3 when 89 came by and got side swiped by the backhoe, spinning the backhoe around to have part of strike the first coach, while derailing the front truck of the engine. Just my guess from the multiple pictures and the layout of things.

This conjecture makes sense. Logical. Interested to see cause for this effect.

If two-man MW crew on backhoe, one should always be looking alertly for trains.

 

[Thirdrail7]

I was really a bit surprised with the suspension of service between Washington and Baltimore and Wilmington. I guess the problem was stationing someone who could uncouple and couple engines at Baltimore or Wilmington.

Which makes me wonder if Amtrak keeps a contingency plan in place for closure of tracks in various segments of the system. Ideally there would be an outline playbook for handling track closures between any two major stops, since afterall there really are not that many to start with.

Why should you be surprised? There were numerous trains in that area with a very limited area to accomplish much. There are also crew constraints to contend with. Sending more trains into an area without a lot of maneuverability is usually not recommended, particularly if you're not taking the majority of the passengers were they want to go. Remember, you have MARC between WAS-BAL, so all you're really adding is WIL.

Right. Good point.

BTW, the only somewhat reliable info on what Amtrak trains are running in NJ at present appears to be NJ Transit's Departure Vision. The Amtrak train status stuff seem to be completely confused or stating many trains that are running to be is Disruption. Weird. And normally I trust the NJT Departure Vision less when it comes to Amtrak trains.

It is not necessarily weird. The on site status often fails to recognize extra trains or truncated trains. This happens sometimes when equipment is being manipulated en route. In some cases, the number assigned is not the number that is matching a particular schedule.

 

[jis]

I guess one needs both the train status thing and a local departure board info.

I have noticed that say on United Airlines status info, where they are able to provide almost instantaneous update on specific aircraft assigned to a flight, thing are easy to follow as long as a flight number is not changed. To detect that, the best way is to look at the O/D departure/arrival info for the entire day for the airport pair that you are interested in, and it becomes quite clear which flight number was removed and what flight number was substituted for it. Of course for this to work, the departure info has to be instantaneously sunched with the actual dispatching system too. But when it works, it is a thing of beauty.

A similar method works on the Indian Railways and the DB status information user interface too.

Anyway. I suppose this the geeky part of me speaking

 

[jis]

This is what the inside of the first car looks like - courtesy of Philly.com:

http://media.philly.com/images/1024*1024/20160403-Amtrak-inside-car.jpg

 

[Thirdrail7]

51(3) and 79(3) operated through the area.

 

[jis]

51(3) and 79(3) operated through the area.

That is good to know since the status system hinted that they were cancelled or disrupted or something.

I suppose track 1 was pretty much in the clear right? Track 2 was probably intruded upon a bit by the derailed ACS on track 3?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

51(3) and 79(3) operated through the area.

That is good to know since the status system hinted that they were cancelled or disrupted or something.

I suppose track 1 was pretty much in the clear right? Track 2 was probably intruded upon a bit by the derailed ACS on track 3?

88 is showing service disruption (on Paul's site) and 2252 is showing as overdue. But, as stated above and on FB, 2252's train set is being used for 88. So, as mentioned before, switching the #'s, etc, messes the statuses up.

 

[Groundpounder]

Stupid question....if there are workers on or even near the track, don't the trains passing through the area have to slow down?