Three-train collision in Amarillo

[DKS]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/us-usa-texas-derailment-idUSBRE98O0X220130925

[Philip H]

5 will get you 10 it was a faulty signal.

[Kisatchie]

5 will get you 10 it was a faulty signal.

Hmm... I prefer Fawlty
Towers...

[peteski]

Hmm... I prefer Fawlty
Towers...

Are you from Barcelona? 

[nkalanaga]

Barcelona?  Isn't Fawlty Towers British?

[peteski]

Barcelona?  Isn't Fawlty Towers British?

You had to watch the show to get that.

[Lenny53]

Is no rat is hamster, Siberian filigree 

[lock4244]

You had to watch the show to get that.

You mean all 12 episodes?

Thankfully none of the injuries were fatal.

[Kisatchie]

You had to watch the show to get that.

For those who don't know, Manuel the waiter was from Barcelona.


Hmm... I'm from Sumatra...
or is it Borneo...?

[peteski]

...and please don't mention the war! 

[nkalanaga]

Thank you.  No, I've never watched the show, and doubt that it was ever broadcast in the wilds of Appalachia. 

Dee:  Could be either one.  A DNA test could help you find out.  Interestingly, the locals used to claim that your kin could talk:

"The name "orangutan" (also written orang-utan, orang utan, orangutang, and ourang-outang) is derived from the Malay and Indonesian words orang meaning "person" and hutan meaning "forest",[1] thus "person of the forest".[2] Orang Hutan was originally not used to refer to apes, but to forest-dwelling humans. The Malay words used to refer specifically to the ape are maias and mawas, but it is unclear if those words refer to just orangutans, or to all apes in general. The first attestation of the word to name the Asian ape is in Jacobus Bontius' 1631 Historiae naturalis et medicae Indiae orientalis – he described that Malaysians had informed him the ape was able to talk, but preferred not to "lest he be compelled to labour"."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangutan

You may also be interested in an article I read on one of the science websites several years ago.  It seems that an anthropologist and his orangutan companion went deep into the jungle to find a tribe still using stone tools.  The human was interested in learning how they traditionally made their tools, and wanted a tribe that hadn't picked up "modern" ways.  He found a tribe, and the primary flint knapper agreed to teach him.  After a few weeks, the expert told the visitor that he was a "qualified" flint worker, and would be an asset to his people, but would never be a "great" one.  The orangutan, on the other hand, was judged to be above average, and better than the anthropologist!

[Chris333]

This thread is a train wreck   

[draskouasshat]

5 will get you 10 it was a faulty signal.

Im betting not and more towards train crew error. Dont get me wrong, there are very small signal screwups but a false clear is seldom the case. Its called trainmen not paying attention. Ill bet it winds up being human error yet again.

We do VERY extensive testing when we cut over a new signal system both in labs and finally in the field before any train runs a route on the new system.

[draskouasshat]

It was definitely NOT signal error. I cant say more though.