Just saw this posted on another forum - I hope everyone is ok.
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Another update.
Latest report, from NTSB sources; 1 injured (the individual jumped prior to impact and is currently being treated at a hospital), and 3 missing. Definitely NOT good!
Ugh.. Hope they can find the missing railroad employees and they can be transported to medical care!
EscapeRocks posted:Ugh.. Hope they can find the missing railroad employees and they can be transported to medical care!
Let's hope they only need medical care...
Terrible.............
C&O Allie posted:More Pics and a link to the local TV Station.
Wow, that looks bad....
That's rough. I hope the crew from both engines were able to jump clear before the impact. After the dust clears the you-know-what is going to hit the fan behind why this happened.
It's pretty bad. One of the worst I have ever seen. I am not at the wreck, but have been following the feeds and I have a few inside sources. The Engineer who jumped was transported to the hospital here in Amarillo, and, although injured, he will recover quickly. I promoted him to Engineer several years ago, and always knew him to be a good Engineer, as well as a genuinely good person.
Those of you who are so inclined, pray for the other three employees and their families. The locomotives are in a pile-up and the fire is from diesel fuel. Not much hope, but let's not rush to judgment.
Number 90 posted:Not much hope, but let's not rush to judgment.
AGREED.
Just read this...
An eastbound train was reportedly stopped on the tracks when it was rear-ended by another eastbound train.
A few seconds later a westbound train hit the wreckage.
I have ZERO real world train experience but it seems pretty wild to me that with all the communication technology, radio contact etc. etc. that's in use today that something like that could happen....IF, in fact, that is what really happened.
mike.caruso posted:Just read this...
An eastbound train was reportedly stopped on the tracks when it was rear-ended by another eastbound train.
A few seconds later a westbound train hit the wreckage.
It happened within seconds. Have you ever dozed off while sitting in a chair, or caught yourself trying to doze while driving?
These are human beings. Let's not rush to judgment. Elected officials will take care of that.
It's pretty bad. The Engineer who jumped was transported to the hospital here in Amarillo, and, although injured, he will recover quickly. Those of you who are so inclined, pray for the other three employees and their families. The locomotives are in a pile-up and the fire is from diesel fuel. Not much hope, but let's not rush to judgment.
Number 90 posted:mike.caruso posted:Just read this...
An eastbound train was reportedly stopped on the tracks when it was rear-ended by another eastbound train.
A few seconds later a westbound train hit the wreckage.
It happened within seconds. Have you ever dozed off while sitting in a chair, or caught yourself trying to doze while driving?
These are human beings. Let's not rush to judgment.
No, no...don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not blaming anyone on any of the crews. I'm sure it does happen within seconds. It would just surprise me, besides the aspect of it that I mentioned, that three trains would be that closely bunched together and traveling at such a rate of speed that there was no time to stop. (yeah, I know..."do you know how long it takes to stop a mile long freight train traveling at 60 mph??") I'm not blaming anyone, not judging anyone.
At 4:10 PM Central Time, the fire is still burning. They cannot look for the remaining crew members until they can extinguish the fire. The fire is only from diesel fuel, but these locomotives carry a lot of it, and it is difficult to put out a diesel fuel fire.
PTC not yet in use on Panhandle Subdivision.
mike.caruso posted:Number 90 posted: It would just surprise me, besides the aspect of it that I mentioned, that three trains would be that closely bunched together and traveling at such a rate of speed that there was no time to stop. (yeah, I know..."do you know how long it takes to stop a mile long freight train traveling at 60 mph??")
I understand. The speed for freight trains on that Subdivision is 70 MPH. It is common that trains start bunching up on that 300-mile crew district as they approach Amarillo, where trains stop to change crews. Dispatchers hold lower priority trains at Pampa, Panhandle, White Deer and St.Francis, to get them into the best order for entering and departing Amarillo with the least possible congestion, trying to get the hottest trains out first for the 300-mile crew district to the west. So, it's not uncommon for one train to be running around another one or two at Panhandle.There is high speed CTC signaling and it gives Engineers plenty of time to stop. There is always the slight -- and it's very slight -- possibility that somebody tampered with the brake pipe of the train which rear-ended the stopped one.
A similar wreck occurred last year at St.Francis, except that the train which hit the derailed cars was eastbound. That will give plenty of ammunition to the NTSB and FRA, both of which are more than somewhat political.
mike.caruso posted:Just read this...
An eastbound train was reportedly stopped on the tracks when it was rear-ended by another eastbound train.
A few seconds later a westbound train hit the wreckage.
I have ZERO real world train experience but it seems pretty wild to me that with all the communication technology, radio contact etc. etc. that's in use today that something like that could happen....IF, in fact, that is what really happened.
No. It was apparently a head-on between a Westbound and an Eastbound. Very, very tragic.
Hot Water posted:No. It was apparently a head-on between a Westbound and an Eastbound. Very, very tragic.
Yeah, looks like it could be, from here:
Note the locos spilled off to the right of the tracks and what might be the lead unit at a right angle to the tracks. A head-on (what the older timers called a "Cornfield meet") could give you a scene like this, but a rear-ender might as well.
No way to know which train the containers to the right came from, probably from the train coming from the right.
In the days to come, we'll find out for sure. Cabs these days often have cameras on board, will be interesting to see if there's video of this.
It was my understanding that they were both on the same track heading toward each other resulting in a head on collision. They just showed a video clip someone took of the cars piling up. No doubt it is terrible.
This is from a new release earlier today. It was a head on, not a rear-ender. Bad either way for those missing crew members.
"11:27 a.m. - BNSF has confirmed that the lead locomotives on two intermodal trains collided near Panhandle, TX, this morning, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, at approximately 8:40 a.m. CT. Four BNSF employees were involved in the incident. "
Anyone know what type of territory? single track CTC? double track CTC? One of the pic suggests to me single track but it looks like double track or siding at the collision point.
Bad day for railroading. My heart goes out the crew members & families.
They said earlier it was a single track.
Lot's of updates coming out of Texas including live video streaming - 3 crew still missing - 4th member jumped and is in the hospital
I lived in Pampa, Tx in the mid 1970's. . I do not know the date the track's were double tracked but it was before 1973. Does not look good for the 3 crew members. I will pray for the crew and families.
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Gregg posted:Anyone know what type of territory? single track CTC? double track CTC?
CTC with two main tracks. There is also a CTC controlled siding at Panhandle. No PTC on this subdivision yet. Maximum authorized speed for freight trains not otherwise restricted is 70 MPH.
The collision occurred at the west switch of the siding. Eastward train was entering siding, and was struck at the switch by the westward train.
Video of the tragedy as it occurred - horrific:
Rapid Transit Holmes posted:Video of the tragedy as it occurred - horrific:
Appears to not work, possibly because it's a "members only" site.
I opened the video and I saw it earlier. A wife of a BNSF engineer criticized the video taker for doing it but I don't agree with that. Not much on the news about it that I can find. I was wondering if they found the missing crew. Most of the news today is about terrorists in the world.
My heart goes out to the families of the missing. I can only pray for a miracle that they will all be found alive and can recover. I can't image what the engineer who jumped must be feeling now. As the son of a PRR engineer I know the effects on an engineer of a fatal accident.
I just hope that the inevitable rush to judgement crowd remembers that as sophisticated as railroads have become, we are dealing with mechanical entities and human beings - both subject to occasional breakdown or errors.
Very tragic accident.
Ed
More video.
Adriatic posted:Rapid Transit Holmes posted:Video of the tragedy as it occurred - horrific:
Appears to not work, possibly because it's a "members only" site.
The video, sent to me by a friend and fellow railroader via Facebook message, is posted on ABC 7 Amarillo's FB page but a Google search produced a viable link to the same:
http://www.statter911.com/2016...ear-panhandle-texas/
I can understand the wife of a Locomotive Engineer being upset by the event, however, the video shows only cars and containers careening and colliding and serves to remind us that we're playing for keeps when we step into the cab. Let's strive to keep her husband and all railroaders safe, every day.
Latest preliminary information is, the eastbound failed to stop at a red, absolute signal, continuing on through the power switch, and hit the westbound head-on. The westbound was line into the siding for the meet.
So the eastbound went disregarded at least two signals, along the way.
Sad, very sad.
Gene posted:So the eastbound went disregarded at least two signals, along the way.
That would be two restrictive signal indications PRIOR to the red absolute, i.e. flashing yellow, yellow and THEN the red.
Sad, very sad.
Yes!
Two bodies recovered:
