VIDEO: Train smashes tractor trailer in Chester VA

this should be a training video.  this happens way too much.

Looks like the trailer has an lowered center deck. These trailers get stuck on the crown of the crossings all the time. Had to be a scary couple of moments for the train crew and the truck driver.

I hope the train crew was ok, looks as if the trailer top was even with the locomotive's windshield.

Can you imagine what it looked like for them when they saw that large trailer on their tracks?

Ed

Shows what kind of tickey-tackey trailers are made of.

RSJB18 posted:

Looks like the trailer has an lowered center deck. These trailers get stuck on the crown of the crossings all the time. Had to be a scary couple of moments for the train crew and the truck driver.

Very likely the case, you are correct. I remember a big load ( Condenser on a lowboy or something) getting stuck and then hit either coming from or going to Pratt Whitney North of WPB years ago.  Really not a lot of clearance on some of those trailers.

I saw this wreck right after it happened heading home late one night. Same thing, a low boy trailer hauling an excavator got hung up on the crossing. This was a push/pull type train that the LIRR used to run all the time. The GP-38 shown was at the back end pushing with the F unit on the lead. The top of the rail was a good 8-10' higher than the road on either side. After this accident the town re-built the crossing and raised the road to be closer to the track elevation as it approached the track. 

On Aug. 26, 1988, a westbound LIRR train derailed after it struck a flatbed trailer at the Park Avenue crossing in Huntington, injuring 18 people aboard. LIRR officials blamed the crash on the driver of the flatbed, which got stuck straddling the tracks.

Here, an aerial view of a derailed westbound LIRR train after it struck a flatbed trailer at the Park Avenue crossing in Huntington on Aug. 26, 1988. The derailment, which left 18 people injured, caused an estimated $2.5 million in damage to cars, engines, track, signals and a lumberyard adjacent to the tracks where one of the cars came to rest.

Ed Mullan posted:

I hope the train crew was ok, looks as if the trailer top was even with the locomotive's windshield.

Can you imagine what it looked like for them when they saw that large trailer on their tracks?

Ed

From a training standpoint it would be educational to see a synchronized side by side of that dash cam footage with locomotive camera footage if available.  Scary moment for the train crew.

So, how is automation going to fix this problem?  Since the trailer was hung up on the crossing, it seems to me the trucker should not have been on this road.  So, how do we prevent these types of accidents?  One would think that the drivers GPS would be yelling at him to turn around.  If he was using a GPS.......

Virginia DOT has had to post signs at this one narrow road near my house that starts with “Truckers, ignore your GPS.  Do not use this road”.   Assuming VDOT has notified the trucking companies, why haven’t the trucking companies updated their systems?  And who has the authority to enforce updating the GPS systems?

One can mandate having automated assistants, but how done one enforce their intelligent use?

Shows what kind of tickey-tackey trailers are made of.

There is a show on the weather channel about folks who do heavy towing in a mountainous area of Canada. A common theme is the weakness of truck trailers. Watching an episode or two can be interesting, but after a few they get repetitive.
It's called Highway Thru Hell.

I wonder if that crossing has any signs relative to "no Semi-Trailers" due to high-centering? 

Wally Ubik posted:

One would think that the drivers GPS would be yelling at him to turn around.  If he was using a GPS.......

Virginia DOT has had to post signs at this one narrow road near my house that starts with “Truckers, ignore your GPS.  Do not use this road”.   Assuming VDOT has notified the trucking companies, why haven’t the trucking companies updated their systems?  And who has the authority to enforce updating the GPS systems?

 

 

This is the problem with "newer" truck drivers these days.  First, a GPS doesn't have the ability to consider the vaviables involved as to whether there is enough clearance for any truck in any situation.

Secondly, "newer" drivers are so focused on the GPS they miss or ignore problems on the roadway. IMO a GPS is just as distracting as a cell phone because your eyes are not on the road.

As a truck driver myself its mind boggling how many drivers these days are so dependent on a GPS to get anywhere.

I refuse to use GPS in my truck or in my car. 

Just as real conversation has been lost to texting. Map reading is being lost to GPS use.

Having said all that, this looks to be a fairly steep incline these guys should have taken into consideration. I pulled a lowboy myself, ground clearance was just as important as wide turns.

C W Burfle posted:

Shows what kind of tickey-tackey trailers are made of.

There is a show on the weather channel about folks who do heavy towing in a mountainous area of Canada. A common theme is the weakness of truck trailers. Watching an episode or two can be interesting, but after a few they get repetitive.
It's called Highway Thru Hell.

The lighter a trailer is. The more revenue it can carry and still be legal gross weight.

Most things carried in a van trailer are palletized and secured so theres no real need for extra strong sides. The sides and roof are mostly to protect the contents from the elements.

The LIRR uses these warning signs at many grade crossings

If you are ever in a similar situation, move to the direction the train is coming from.  Flying debris goes in the direction of travel.  I agree it was possibly a relatively new driver.  He did not instinctively set the brakes when he exited the cab.  John in Lansing, ILL

Maybe someone could verify this, or debunk it if it is incorrect! Some time ago I heard the RR owns the strip of ground where tracks cross a roadway, and any damage to the train in an accident at a crossing was the financial responsibility of the vehicle. What say ye???

If the above is correct, it would seem that the trucking companies would have a vested interest in preventing the above type of accidents. Obviously there is insurance, but have a few accidents in your car where you are at fault and watch your premiums ascend!

Simon

Transportation companies carry insurance with a relatively high deductible.  For example their Liability Insurance policy may have a $250,000 deductible and a 'normal insurance policy' up to one million. Then a Lloyd policy from one million up to $5,000,000.  Above five million they close and file bankruptcy.  Collision may be self insured.  Cargo may be self insured for the first ten thousand. 

Everyone has a 'vested interest' in preventing accidents.  If a job cannot be done safely, it shouldn't be done.   That's why aircrews use check lists.  Would you board an aircraft with a 90% change of arriving safely?  Would your company ship their product on a carrier which would guarantee in tact arrival only 90% of the time?  Would you put your children on a school bus that guarantees a 95% safe arrival?  Safety, Safety, Safety.  From posters in locker rooms to company letters to safety meetings to labor negotiations.  Safety is stressed and stressed again.

John in Lansing, ILL

Hot Water posted:

I wonder if that crossing has any signs relative to "no Semi-Trailers" due to high-centering? 

Hello Hot,

I just "drove" the road in both directions all the way from where it starts to the crossing via satellite.   On either approach, the road has the standard railroad crossing markings and lines, as well as the standard "railroad ahead" circular yellow signs.     As you approach the double track crossing from either side, you then come upon the line (where comm. vehicles must stop and look).

There is no signage on the approach or signals indicating the high center danger.

Also, no signage on either end of the road prohibiting trucks.

The satellite images I used were from Dec 2017.

Simon Winter posted:

Maybe someone could verify this, or debunk it if it is incorrect! Some time ago I heard the RR owns the strip of ground where tracks cross a roadway, and any damage to the train in an accident at a crossing was the financial responsibility of the vehicle. What say ye???

 

Simon

You're correct, Simon.  Railroads typically file a claim against the motorist's insurance after a train/auto collision.  It may be interesting to know that damage to the locomotive is often much less expensive than to a car or truck.  Injury lawsuits often go to great lengths to obtain findings of even a tiny bit of railroad negligence, but the auto insurance does not typically do that.  Their client obviously failed to yield right of way to the train and they simply pay the railroad's damage claim and close it out.  Motorists who only carry the minimum required liability insurance normally don't have enough to cover signal damage, if there is any.

Most insurance carriers pay claims to the railroad, promptly.  However, we had a lot of trouble getting one particular insurance company to pay anything.