Amtrak derailment North Carolina

Another Stuck Truck on Crossing!

 

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2...ak-train-derails.cnn

There is now an in car video of the actual crash, taken by a traveler on the highway right beside the Amtrak train. Pretty spectacular.

Roanoke Rapids is where most of my dad's family used to live.  Must be the old SAL or ACL tracks.

I know exactly where that is. Use to be double track there until the late 80"s. Had another derailment there back then as well. Hit another lowboy carrying a trachea and with a big magnet. Magnet came off and the lead engine was on top of the magnet and slide down the track. 

 

Never good site to see Amtrak on the ground. Hated going to those.

 

Hopefully no serious injuries, especially to the crew.

 

Gene

Bob,

 

Was the old ACL tracks there. SAL came in at Weldon.

 

The crossing sit at MP A 89.8

 

Gene

Looking at the aerial views of the wreck it appears to be a case of the truck having stopped for a red light at the intersection with his trailer blocking the tracks.

 

Stuart

 

 

Says the truck was hung up on the tracks. He could have been hung up and did not have time to react. Seen this too many times.

 

Gene

The truck driver should have all the RR toll free emergency #s handy and call asap.  That should be a must before turning the keys to start the day.  But its amazing how much of the driving public doesn't even think trains exist.

The 800 number is on all crossings. It has the Mile Post and the DOT number.

CSX has them on all crossing regardless if the have gates and lights or
cross bucks.

Should have been on his permits, if he had any and requested the right
ones. Too many companies do not stipulate they have a low clearence. More
costs.

I had the same problem in Ohio.

Gene
On Mar 9, 2015 3:41 PM, "O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum" <alerts@hoop.la>
wrote:

Here is a link with more information about the wreck.  Apparently the truck was trying to make a left turn for about fifteen minutes, but because of the length of the rig he was having trouble making it.  There even was a state trooper trying to help.

 

Amtrak Derailment in N.C.

 

Stuart

 

 

Yeah it sounds like the truck was stuck long enough to have called the toll free #.  The truck should bear all the cost of this.  Instead of calling the # and stopping the trains...he wasted the time trying to talk to another truck driver about making the turn.  

 

I can't believe the trooper didn't call the RR.  Is the public really this dumb?  That's a busy rail line...that should have been the first thing everyone did.

Hard to believe a State Trooper would allow him to block the crossing. Also
for 15 minutes, someone should have called. The crossing is on a long
sweeping curve.

Gene
On Mar 9, 2015 3:47 PM, "O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum" <alerts@hoop.la>
wrote:

The trucking company and their insurance company will pay. Dearly! All
Amtrak costs, CSX costs, and the passenger claims. ..

A phone call is dirt cheap.
On Mar 9, 2015 3:47 PM, "O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum" <alerts@hoop.la>
wrote:

I normally ride this train from Greensboro, NC to Washington DC.........wow!! I'm glad that I wasn't on this train this time!!!

Human failure again......Is that better than mechanical????

Gotta stop.....

Thanks Gene.  They crossed each other at Weldon now that I think about it.

Talk about STUPID  !!  They had a police escort and that did no good at all.  Thank God it wasn't an oil train. Hope the engineer is OK.

Not to mention that after being "hung-up" for some 15 minutes, according to reports, the State Police failed to call the railroad emergency 800 phone number, that is posted on every single crossing signal!

Was just reading an essay postulating that most truck drivers will be replaced with computerized, driverless equipment, maybe as soon as the next 5 years. The technology is there, only the infrastructure awaits. No sick days, no wages, probably few or no crashes and liability, etc.  Bye bye, another employment category.

Fat chance. 

 

Rusty

A local report quoted the trooper as saying he didn't know there was a number and didn't know the train came through daily.  How dumb.  There are numbers for anything that could be an issue...and there are 30+ trains a day through there.

Rusty - You know those autos that can back themselves into parking spots? All ya gotta do is put that gear in the front of the car/truck!     The US Army already ran tests 10 years ago out in the NV desert of a huge convoy of driverless trucks - very succesful.  All the major truck manufacturers participated.

Thankfully 'I didn't know' is not a defense in court.  I do not normally like to beat up on public safety personnel of any kind.....but PLEASE!! 

While it is true I am a train 'person'......but I carry a Amtrak and CSX emergency phone numbers in my wallet. I'd hope that NC has radio's in their cars......and the officers know how to use them......I may have even given a heads up to the RR weather it got stuck or not!!!  I Pray these were rookie officers and not NC's Best.......

I wonder if Amtrak even told NC State Police there's a number to call?  Or does everybody wake up one morning with all this knowledge in their heads?

I'd say day to day driving will be taken out of peoples hands within 15 years easy. Go to YouTube and watch the systems that are ready to go today.

When my grandfather was a kid and saw 'A trip to the Moon' he had no idea that in 50 years it would happen......or even regular folks would fly coast to coast in jets.

The tech is here now.....no stopping it.

Bob,

 

For heaven's sake, those "emergency" phone numbers are plastered all over every single crossing gate/lights control box. We're certainly not talking Rocket Science, nor Brain Surgery here.

Well, lets be clearer about this situation. It wasn't a "train wreck"! A truck driver, apparently WITH a police escort, got hung-up on a street crossing the railroad's main line. Thus, because nobody bothered/thought to call the emergency phone number posted on every crossing control box setup, AFTER 15 MINUTES, the next train on the line ran through the truck's trailer.

Was there paid duty to witness the wreck????

NO....it was to make sure it was done safely.......they failed.

My job as a computer analyst for a NC based bank had ZERO tolerance for errors....and that was just money not lives.

Wasn't a "train wreck". I know you love to get on the narrow edge Hot Water but what does it take for you to acknowledge a train wreck? Two trains? 

Yes, two trains.

How about a little more information:

 

1) This was an escorted move by the State Police, and the entire route had to be planned at least 24 hours in advance. Heavy load permits must have been involved, based on the size and weight of the trailer/load.

 

2) Per GCOR (General Code of Operating Rules) rule 6.32.2, any and all railroad crossings MUST be protected. 

 

3) Did the trucking company and/or State Police even bother to notify the railroad involved, prior to this special highway move?

Bob...

It would be Amtrak to call.. those are CSX tracks. The numbers are at
every crossing on CSX.

Nothing but stupidity. The DOT should have furnished it with the permits.

On Mar 9, 2015 5:40 PM, "O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum" <alerts@hoop.la>
wrote:

Jack,

 

I'm 90 minutes from where this wreck occurred.  I've never seen a phone number on any crossing between here and there, if they're there, they must be well hidden.  I have to cross CSX tracks to go just about anywhere around here, never seen them.

 

I'll look next time I go out.  I tore a calf muscle Saturday, so I'm gimping around for a while, never knew something like that could make a POP when it tears

Bob,

 

Good luck on the calf muscle. I did that playing basketball a few years ago. It hurt for several weeks. 

 

You can locate them at every crossing. They are usually on an 8 X 10 sign. It will post the 800 number, MP location and DOT number which is what the CSX Police command center will ask for. 

 

They have to be inspected at least once a month to make sure they are visible and readable.

 

They are also on each side of the track attached to the crossing protection.

 

Gene

Let's see now.  It is only March 9 and we have had train vehicle crashes on Metro North, Palo Alto, Oxnard and now North Carolina.  I am not sure how many are dead and seriously injured.

 

Every grade crossing in my area has a control box.  An 800 emergency number is posted on it that connects directly to the Union Pacific dispatch office.  UP dispatches all the trains in the SF Bay Area including Amtrak trains.  The call box also gives the location of the crossing by a number.  I know the number works because I called it once when I noticed a broken crossing gate.  Evidently a car had hit the arm.  

 

I am not sure that a person who is not aware of railroad practices would know to look for or to call the number.  I imagine that  a call to 911 may also be a way to contact the UP dispatchers.  

 

I can't understand why the police or the truck driver failed to notify the railroad when the truck got stuck.  

 

Joe

having been involved in the trucking industry before retirement, i had my share of "permit" loads. every railcrossing with a phone no. will be on that permit.the people who escorted that truck would have been responsible to secure that intersection before the truck entered the area. the escort party,regardless who was in it,should be dismissed for their lack of action.-jim

 

EXACTLY!  Thanks for you contribution to this sordid affair.

Caught this on the news tonight..




K.C.

I was in CA when the Amtrak hit the truck north of LA.  It was reported there, that for the last 10 years, that crossing has had many wrecks, and that it was in the 'planning stages' for improvements.  The hold up has been the environmental impact statement, for 10 years nothing has been done, time to say heck with the EPA and fix it.