Metrolink Commuter Train Derailment- 2/24/2015

[davefoxx]

Sadly, there's been another commuter train derailment this morning.  This one is Metrolink, and the report says the train hit a truck.  Judging by the pictures, it was in push mode.  Three out of four cars are on their sides, and the fourth car and the locomotive are upright.  I'm curious as to whether push operation will someday be outlawed.

http://news.yahoo.com/metrolink-train-strikes-truck-southern-california-143339051.html

DFF

[C855B]

That's the third major incident on this line (ex-SP Coast Line) in 10 years. First was the one in 2005 with the Jeep parked on the tracks in an aborted suicide, second was the head-on in 2008 caused by the engineer texting with another railfan, ignoring signals. Now this one. [Oops... didn't read the article past the first paragraph. They said this. My bad.    Anyway...]

It tends to make me think that outlawing commuter operation on this line will happen before push mode goes away. This piece of railroad is snake-bit.

[conrail98]

The driver also attempted to flee, hmm, wonder why ...

[jwb]

That's the third major incident on this line (ex-SP Coast Line) in 10 years. First was the one in 2005 with the Jeep parked on the tracks in an aborted suicide, second was the head-on in 2008 caused by the engineer texting with another railfan, ignoring signals. Now this one. [Oops... didn't read the article past the first paragraph. They said this. My bad.    Anyway...]

It tends to make me think that outlawing commuter operation on this line will happen before push mode goes away. This piece of railroad is snake-bit.

There was at least one more, but earlier than 10 years -- in 2003. A pickup went around the gates in Burbank, multiple injuries, cars strewn all over. http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthread.php?180360-BREAKING-NEWS-Major-Metrolink-Crash-in-Burbank  That post refers to a 1992 dump truck collision in Burbank.  Many injuries in these accidents came from the rigid tables between facing seats, which resulted in a karate chop to liver, spleen, spine, etc for those seated facing forward. Although there were many safety improvements in the new Rotem cars, it looks like the casualty count was about the same.

[trainforfun]

Sad .
Maybe they should use a dummy loco ( like the Amtrak "Cabage" ) up front when in push mode instead of a cab car . A loco is more solid than a car .

[jwb]

Here is the current type of cab car on Metrolink:

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The Bombardier cars typical of several operators have all been put in storage due to the carnage of the earlier wrecks and replaced with these. They have reinforced noses and a design to push vehicles down and to the side. In addition, nearly all seats have been removed from the front and center sections of the car, so they're very nearly cabbages as things stand. The question I have is why, if the rigid tables don't exist in the new cars (they still have some Bombardier cars with tables mid-train) and with the cab car gutted, there were still so many casualties.

[victor miranda]

take up the life of a rail commuter....  nothing ever happens.
train goes

when things happen... no one is ready and they never will be.

physics says weight is the only real way to save lives on the train.
If running the loco around the train so it is always in front.... it has to be double ended.
that is possible. 

the problem is light weight is far more efficient than a runaround.
the real trick is to find a good way to keep the cars on the rails.

that way the entire train's weight will plow into the immovable object.

bad if you hit a train and good if you hit a truck.

and that is the problem with saving lives here,  one solution  can make
things worse in another situation...

if you want to save lives on a train... get rid of grade crossings
make everyone sit backwards in fiberglass  bucket crash seats with belts
and put the loco on the front...

lets see how that programme works out.

[Kentuckian]

Latest news makes this sound like sabotage.  We (the country) may have just experienced rail passenger transportation's 9/11.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Latest news makes this sound like sabotage.  We (the country) may have just experienced rail passenger transportation's 9/11.

Except there were no fatalities.

[jwb]

The news account at http://ktla.com/2015/02/24/at-least-1-dead-after-train-hits-vehicle-in-ventura-county/ contains the opinion from emergency responders that it "was not a deliberate act". The truck driver was booked on felony hit-and-run.

I think the only effective solution is grade crossing elimination. Huge expense to protect people from stupidity.

Metrolink is pretty disrupted today, lots of trains late due to equipment and crews out of cycle.

[victor miranda]

yeah I like that quote "not a deliberate act."

this next thought is not easy
lets change that quote to  "An act of mindless stupidity"

ok. I accept either judgement as a complete conclusion.

now lets get to the real problem.
how many times can someone commit such an act
before the conclusion is "a deliberate act "
and what should be done?

what he did is hard to forgive as mindless.

victor

[jwb]

The best conclusion I can draw from news accounts is that the guy was incredibly ga-ga -- he apparently was sober and not stoned, but he mistook the railroad track for the road 50 feet farther on. He left the scene, also because he was ga-ga stupid. Stupid in itself is not against the law. He did get booked for leaving the scene, a felony.  I assume he's lost his job, if he was working for someone else, or he'll lose his business and other assets, though the truck is totaled anyhow.

It's frustrating to see, but the Constitution bans cruel and unusual punishment, so there you are.

[victor miranda]

interesting...

ok it was stupid, he is stupid, and the truck was looking for a good time.

now, how many acts of stupidity where some one else is harmed is one stupid allowed?

this ain't his first act -o- stupidity....

victor

[RockGp40]

Except there were no fatalities.

Not true. I read that the engineer passed away due to his injuries while hospitalized.