People should still look. Look, listen, live.
Southwest Chief derailment (June 2022)
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Dakota 400
Engineer
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NBC Nightly News reported a few minutes ago that two killed were passengers on the train. The truck driver died. According to the news report, the driver ended up in a ditch nearby the accident. A Boy Scout was nearby (for some reason) and tried to provide some comfort to the person before he passed.
Common sense is in very short supply these days. Has the good Lord had supply chain issues in installing this in recent generations?
Tight lock couplers prevented the couplers from climbing over each other and causing more damage. They prevent severe vertical displacement between the couplers as well as reducing the possibility of jackknifing
They reduced damage, not increased it.
Dakota 400
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It's been a bad day for public transportation in the last two days. The Amtrak issue on the West Coast, the SWC's derailment, and the Norwegian Sun's striking a growler trying to visit the Hubbard Glacier.
In even a minor low speed derailment where the cars remain upright and apparently undamaged, like the derailment backing up over sand awhile ago at Palm Springs, the cars must have all running gear and brake rigging minutely inspected before they can be moved at more than minimum speed or carry passengers.
In this case, the cars scoured the gravel on their sides decelerating from 90 mph. I think the damage might be considerably more extensive than their ability to "roll". At least some are likely to be classified as "wrecked-not repairable".
RIP!
OlympianHiawatha
Engineer
On a practical note, is Amtrak not already facing a serious shortage of usable SuperLiner equipment?
There were 2 Boy Scout troops on the SWC. Coming home from camp.
Wow, that Train is usually Full in the Summer in both directions.
west point
Engineer
Thoughts.
1. The angle of the road is very acute. If the truck was going north and the train NE the driver would need to really turn his head to see back down the track.
2. The AT&SF tracks are going NE for a long distance. North = S roads are going to all going to have looking for trains going a relative same diretion.
3. The grid system of roads in this area have both n- S % E_W raoads not crossing the tracks at a 90 egree angle.
4.. Kansas might need to place some kind of passive reflector to protect these crossings. Metal mirrors maybe but vandiaism a problem. Maybe the vertical type mountd on crossbuck poles that Ohio is using? That should be immediately. An emergency grant from FRA could be forth coming.
5. Tight lock couplers really seem to have done their job. Freight cars often accordian. Accordian passengers would be flung side to side causing many more fatilities.
6. The 2 dead if they were passengers or onboard crew were probably walking in an aisle and might have flown 40 or more feet forward to hit the bulkhead. I always walk hand by hand on seats.
If I ever hear the emergency brakes air exhaust I would take both hands hold on and yell " every body hold on, hold on, hold on. " Was on the Eagle once when another passenger did just that. I will follow that example. What happened was our train entered a siding too fast that the seach light signal was not propertly visible for the diversion. We did not derail and no one in our car was hurt.
1. The angle of the road is very acute. If the truck was going north and the train NE the driver would need to really turn his head to see back down the track.
2. The AT&SF tracks are going NE for a long distance. North = S roads are going to all going to have looking for trains going a relative same diretion.
3. The grid system of roads in this area have both n- S % E_W raoads not crossing the tracks at a 90 egree angle.
4.. Kansas might need to place some kind of passive reflector to protect these crossings. Metal mirrors maybe but vandiaism a problem. Maybe the vertical type mountd on crossbuck poles that Ohio is using? That should be immediately. An emergency grant from FRA could be forth coming.
5. Tight lock couplers really seem to have done their job. Freight cars often accordian. Accordian passengers would be flung side to side causing many more fatilities.
6. The 2 dead if they were passengers or onboard crew were probably walking in an aisle and might have flown 40 or more feet forward to hit the bulkhead. I always walk hand by hand on seats.
If I ever hear the emergency brakes air exhaust I would take both hands hold on and yell " every body hold on, hold on, hold on. " Was on the Eagle once when another passenger did just that. I will follow that example. What happened was our train entered a siding too fast that the seach light signal was not propertly visible for the diversion. We did not derail and no one in our car was hurt.
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Latest update from here in St. Louis. 3 people have died, they are reporting the train hit a dump truck. My biggest concern with the Marceline Sub was there were several crossing with no arm guards and crossings with only stop signs. For future travelers on this train it has rerouted through Quincy Illinois and St Louis in the past.
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There was also a group of High School Students from Kansas on the train.
So sorry to see this. This is the location:
https://goo.gl/maps/RLNkzHmcYqHSGgxX9
https://goo.gl/maps/RLNkzHmcYqHSGgxX9
...and some people will still try to beat out the train....Unfortunately, given the state of the American people today, we're probably going to need the arms, bells, and whistles at every crossing.
There has to be at some point in this country a reckoning of the monetary value of a single life. As described in previous posts, the intersection of tracks and many roads in this area are not at right angles. The BNSF must know this. I wonder how many similar accidents have occurred in this area.
The design of these crossings and lack of extra means to view trains from hard to view angles are the ingredients of a lawsuit imho.
The design of these crossings and lack of extra means to view trains from hard to view angles are the ingredients of a lawsuit imho.
It hasn't been such a hot day for people traveling in private cars, either.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=car+crashes+june+27+2022&ia=web
(I would expect this is typical of what happens on the road every day. Also, one of the entries pulled up on the search was a report of the car hitting the Amtrak train in California.)
Missouri Department of Transportation plan listed the intersection in need of lights, gates, and roadway improvements
https://www.kmbc.com/article/record...rash-on-list-for-safety-improvements/40438494
https://www.kmbc.com/article/record...rash-on-list-for-safety-improvements/40438494
west point
Engineer
Lacking equipment it would need to be 2 on, 2 off, 1 on, 2 off.
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I believe the state or local jurisdiction bears the responsibility to pay for upgrades to existing crossings, not the railroad.
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Per CNN, the 2 troops were from Appleton, Wisconsin with 8 adult leaders. They were on their way back home for the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. None of them were hurt (thank goodness) and they assisted other passengers who needed help. National headquarters is trying to arrange transportation to get them home as soon as possible.
crescent-zephyr
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BNSF made $6B last year. Why should the state (aka state tax-holders) be responsible?
ehbowen
Engineer
My understanding is that, as with drawbridges over waterways, much depends upon which came first: The highway or the railroad? Caveat: I Am Not A Lawyer.
While I was working for Oregon DOT, a Southern Pacific freight hit a school bus at 20 mph on the secondary West Side line. The school bus driver had stopped, then pulled in front of the train. As a result, outraged public demanded and got crossing gates on the access to a mobile home park. The state and railroad money came by deleting a crossing project with a more likely chance of an accident.
In this case, a 79 mph speed limit -- it appears -- would have made little difference. And the public share of crossing improvements might have been better used at a higher traffic volume location.
Added note: I see that this crossing was on the list for improvements. Some states have engineering units that work on crossing improvements and federal funds may be available. Oregon was doing this in the 70's, some other states had other priorities through the years.
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