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Amtrak train kills two railroad employees in downtown Washington, DC

Two railroad employees were killed late Tuesday when an Amtrak train hit them near downtown Washington, D.C., as it was on its way to Union Station.

The D.C. Fire Department was called to the 1200 block of New York Avenue NE just before midnight on Tuesday to deal with the incident. The two people were pronounced dead at the scene.

The National Transportation Safety Board was on site early Wednesday morning investigating the incident and confirmed the two deceased people were CSX Freight Trains workers. Their names have not been released. Metropolitan Police Department officers and local fire officials are assisting the NTSB with its probe.

Amtrak has suspended all service, including Marc trains, between Philadelphia and Washington until further notice.

1 Two killed CSX Amtrack2 CSX Antrak

Source: Anna Giaritelli - Jun 28, 2017, 7:53 AM  /  Washington Examiner, Fox News & AP

Gary

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  • 1 Two killed CSX  Amtrack
  • 2 CSX Antrak
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Yes this is very tragic, according to WTOP, there are 4 tracks here, two owned by CSX and two owned by Amtrak. 

"The two CSX workers fatally struck by Amtrak train just north of Union Station late Tuesday night had exited the stopped freight train to check out a technical issue when they were hit by the passenger train, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday."

http://wtop.com/dc/2017/06/amt...fter-train-fatality/

Penn-Pacific posted:

Yes this is very tragic, according to WTOP, there are 4 tracks here, two owned by CSX and two owned by Amtrak. 

"The two CSX workers fatally struck by Amtrak train just north of Union Station late Tuesday night had exited the stopped freight train to check out a technical issue when they were hit by the passenger train, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday."

http://wtop.com/dc/2017/06/amt...fter-train-fatality/

 It can happen so fast on double or more tracks.... A very dangerous situation at the best of time...  I'm not sure whether any rules  were broken but suspect if the crew on the stopped train asked for protection on all of the adjacent  tracks or at least one of them would it have been given... Hope so but a little late now.   I mostly worked single track and normally didn't  run into this type of situation...  but every now and then.. Scary stuff for train crews.

Okay, for those who are wrapped around the axle on just the headlines, let's break this down:

Amtrak train kills two railroad employees in downtown Washington, DC

So, let's address this:

Amtrak train kills two railroad employees in downtown Washington, DC

Yep, a train operated by Amtrak involved. Check.

Amtrak train kills two railroad employees in downtown Washington, DC

Sadly, yes, two railroad employees were killed with contact from said Amtrak train, check.

Amtrak train kills two railroad employees in downtown Washington, DC

Well, near, anyway. The story says it took place at the 1200 block of New York Avenue NE. Check.

Welcome to the town of Semantics, anyone on an internet forum is a citizen!

Very sad. Out of necessity I ocasionally cross railroad tracks at unauthorized locations where high-speed AMTRAK passenger trains run and am amazed at how they approach in what seems to be utter silence until they are almost upon you. 60 miles per hour is 88 feet per second. I always use EXTREME caution, look both ways and try to keep my time on the tracks to an absolute minimum.

Tommy posted:

Out of necessity I ocasionally cross railroad tracks at unauthorized locations where high-speed AMTRAK passenger trains run and am amazed at how they approach in what seems to be utter silence until they are almost upon you.

When I was stationed at Aberdeen MD (right alongside the NE corridor) in the late 90s, I would occasionally go out and try to take train photos of the Metroliners zipping around. I learned early on that you have to do this on a long straightaway as otherwise, you'll never see a train until it's too late to get a good sight picture through the lens and you'll never heard it until it'd be too late to get out of the way if you were standing too close to the tracks. They are indeed that quiet.

I gave up trying to get shots on a curve as you'd be standing pointing one direction and it never failed the train came up from the opposite and you never got your shot. You have to be able to see at least a mile or two in either direction to have a hope of getting a shot.

Frankly, I don't think I ever got any good shots of Amtrak trains back then. They were that freaking fast!

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