Here is a Trib article, with pictures:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...0525,0,7213473.story
Apparently, the State Highway M bridge is directly above the crossing. Very ugly:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...0525,0,4728628.photo
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these are tracks that cross?
Yes, track intersection. Here is an aerial view from Google Maps satellite view.
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according to the article, UP hit the BNSF.
imo that is a strange intersection. wonder if a signal was out?
Looks like a pretty typical Midwest crossing to me, except for the highway bridge right above it.
Originally Posted by bigdodgetrain:
according to the article, UP hit the BNSF.
imo that is a strange intersection. wonder if a signal was out?
If the "signal was out" that is the same as RED,,,,,and you STOP!!!!!
Thus, somebody ran some signal in order to run into the other guy. Simple as THAT!
Yep its alot more than a simple as that. Take last week for example on the CN railroad I work for. I was given a rule 529A which is a false crossing gate activation which states we need to stop prior to said crossing and the conductor flags the train through. Well this new dispatcher gives us the upgraded version of a 529B rule (It was suppose to be the most restricting of a 529A) which allows us a 15mph head end restriction through said crossing. Well an FRA offical was doing spot checks and I repeated everything correctly back to the dispatcher and luckly it was just a test or we could have killed someone... said dispatcher has been fired.
Ill be honest with you all. I've been doing this for 21 years now and well they just hire alot of the wrong type of people. Lots of lack of common sense or fresh new hires straight out of collage thinking they now everything. :/
Originally Posted by Wyhog:
Another reporter said the UP train struck the BNSF train "just after it cleared the crossing". Umm how does that work and if true why is there a wreck?
Another said "the collision derailed one of the trains". His next sentence was that the UP train derailed 17 cars and the BNSF train derailed 12 cars. Duh?
Another news site web page of this wreck showed a photo of a 1970s era B&O geep being re-railed. And the photo was even posted backwards (mirror image with lettering and numbers reversed).
Gotta love modern "journalism".
Journalism is dead.
I know of two in a vehicle that were on the bridge at the time. Both were hospitalized for a short stay with non-life threatening injuries.
Originally Posted by Wyhog:
Thus, somebody ran some signal in order to run into the other guy. Simple as THAT!
While I agree that the odds are in favor of that conclusion I disagree that it is "Simple as THAT!"
During my 41 year career I personally saw over a half dozen false clear aspects. Back in the 1980s I also read in a Railroad Signaling and Communications magazine that nationwide there were 286 _confirmed_ false proceed signals the previous year. If there were that many _confirmed_ one has to wonder how many intermittent unconfirmed ones occurred.
...
Gotta love modern "journalism".
I don't even work for the railroad and I've seen several signal malfunctions, mostly grade crossings. The two that startled me the most were when a Metrolink train entered a block and the signal went red, then went dark seconds later, and a grade crossing where the gates went up while the train was still running through the crossing (which I reported to the railroad.)
As for "journalists" most of them seem to have taken on the role of glorified stenographers -- softball questions with no follow-up and repeating the responses of spokespersons verbatim.
Extract from NTSB preliminary report.
The UP train consisted of 2 locomotives and 60 cars. The BNSF train consisted of 3 locomotives and 75 cars. The engineer and conductor on the UP train were the only train crew members that were injured; they were transported to a local hospital. Subsequent to the highway bridge collapse, two motor vehicles struck damaged highway elements and were involved in fires. Five occupants of the motor vehicles were injured and transported to a local hospital. The weather was clear and 48° F at the time of the accident. The preliminary damage was estimated to be $11 million.
Event recorder data from the locomotives of both trains, as well as recorded data from the signal system, is being examined to determine train speeds and signal aspects prior to the collision. Initial data review indicates that the UP train was traveling about 49 mph when it struck the side of the BNSF train, which was traveling about 22 mph. Preliminary data indicates that the BNSF train received a signal indication permitting it to proceed through the interlocking, while the UP train received a stop signal indication at the interlocking. No positive train control system is currently installed at this location.
