All because some idiot truck driver left his brain behind before he set off to work. By running away from the scene, did he really think he was going to escape justice.
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Definitely, NOT a five-star situation. I question push-pull operation's safety-- too much opportunity for a derailment in a grade-crossing accident. Previous tragedies on MetroLink and Metro North should be a wake-up call for a safer solution. Kudos to MetroLink for the cab-car redesigns.
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| Posted by Kibu on February 26, 2015 | |
Push Pull operations have had something of a bad history when it comes to derailments. There was one in the UK (the exact one escapes me) which was made worse simply because it was a push-pull operation. In that case, the head end of the train derailed, and the locomotive, which was in the push orientation, continued forward, pushing the cars off the track. From looking at previous accidents, this seems to be a common problem in push-pull accidents. Making me wonder if top and tail isn't a better option.
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These are valid point. Had this been a Genesis hitting the truck head on, there would likely have been no derailment. You put your weight at the front. It's a safety issue. Wonder if things will change moving forward.
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Unless you have a degree in physics and engineering this is all speculation. Hitting a truck on a locomotive also involved 2000+- gallons of diesel fuel to rupture and catch fire and it doesn't matter if train is pushing or pulling...gravity and inertia will keep train moving after impact so again hitting truck with the loco or cab car is irrelevant. with no reported deaths I'd say cab car design was well worth being ugly as sin
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| Posted by JerryE on February 28, 2015 | |
@Kibu: @Sean Mathews: Indeed, the UK realised the problems with push-pull operations way back in 1984. In the derailment mentioned by Kibu a cab-control car leading an express commuter train between Glasgow and Edinburgh hit a stray cow on the line, not a 50 ton truck on a grade crossing, causing one of the following cars not only to derail but actually somersault, that accident resulted in 13 deaths and 17 injuries (meaning admission to hospital); http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polmont_rail_accident As for the usual comments (from others) about "idiot truck drivers", surely until all the facts are known don't assume that the cause was of the the drivers making, there could have been a mechanical breakdown, was there adequate warnings of the approach of the train, and just because there were such warnings was there enough time between warning and train for all types of expected and usual highway traffic to clear the crossing. All questions for your NTSB to ask and solve. As for running away from such a scene of destruction, it's not always about fleeing a 'crime', it's about fleeing because of post-traumatic shock.
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Unfortunately, the engineer on this train, Glen Steele, 62, passed away early in the morning of March 3rd. He was Metrolink's longest-tenured engineers.
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| Posted by Kibu on March 3, 2015 | |
Thank you Jerry. I remember watching a video talking about the dangers and causes of derailments; which had a computer rendered video of that accident. It was there where they noted that the locomotive pushing from the rear had exacerbated the accident.
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