Amtrak Crash on NEC in Chester

[eric220]

https://www.google.com/amp/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/amtrak-train-derails-after-crash-near-philadelphia-1459691961?client=safari#

Evidently hit construction equipment.

I can't quite make out the number on the cab on my phone, but it looks like... No... It can't be......

Edit: Got to a computer and pulled it up. Looks like the last digit is a 7, not a 1, making it loco 627. I was all ready to start believing in the Curse of Kato.

[mu26aeh]

Headlines say backhoe, but if video it correct, looks like LORAM crew possible was working on an adjacent track.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/breaking/Chester-Train-Tracks-Crash-Equipment-374406561.html

2 people have been confirmed dead.

[mu26aeh]

Ha, we posted at same time.

Here is image of front of train.  Can't make out numbers either.

[davefoxx]

Wow, I just saw #627 on Friday in Newark, Delaware.  Amazing no one else was hurt considering the damage to the nose of the locomotive and the puncture wounds on the first Amtrak car.

DFF

[Smike]

Unfortunately 2 people are reported dead. Appears they were not passengers Either maint crew on the tracks or the engineer and another crew member.

"Two Amtrak employees, with more than 40 years of service between them, died and at least one person was injured, investigators said."

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/breaking/Chester-Train-Tracks-Crash-Equipment-374406561.html#ixzz44mNTAfZM



The engine is indeed 627.  Looks like they hit a ballast spreader.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

My guess would be the crew working with the track equipment. Physics was not on their side, and the Sprinters are probably pretty crashworthy.

[pedro]

Trains and on-track equipment cannot occupy the same space without someone having violated an authority...

And still we wait for PTC...

[Bob Bufkin]

Doubt that PTC could have prevented this.  Work equipment was on a different track.

[eric220]

Doubt that PTC could have prevented this.  Work equipment was on a different track.

Precisely. PTC or similar technology can't protect against people obstructing the track. Locally, BART lost a contractor during the construction of the West Dublin station because he left his cherry picker too low over the track and got hit by a passing train. If the obstruction doesn't trip the occupancy detectors, no technology can help.

[nkalanaga]

The news reports I've heard/seen/read all said "backhoe".  However, they've included pictures of the work equipment, but no backhoe.  Would a crew using that LORAM machine also have a backhoe?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The news reports I've heard/seen/read all said "backhoe".  However, they've included pictures of the work equipment, but no backhoe.  Would a crew using that LORAM machine also have a backhoe?

Well, I remember seeing a piece of a wheel that was down an embankment that looked like it might've come from a back hoe. It was just the wheel and hub though, which makes me think it's the thing that got hit by the train.

[Dave V]

I'm having trouble imagining using a backhoe under energized catenary.

[davefoxx]

I'm having trouble imagining using a backhoe under energized catenary.

Especially out far enough to cause an impediment on the second track!

I know down here just over the state line in Maryland, Amtrak is doing track maintenance, because MOW equipment has been in town for several days.  This morning, it's obvious that there are new concrete ties on one of the tracks.  On yet another off-topic note, I spotted an Amtrak Express Car in MOW service (in a nice coat of MOW yellow paint).  I hope to get a picture, because it's a really cool repurpose for modelers of the modern era since Amtrak got out of the express freight business.

DFF

[basementcalling]

Sad to hear. I have yet to see a news headline without the "backhoe" in it. Fairly sure all reporters would know the difference between a backhoe and a LORAM, and doubtful AMTRAK will correct them. When I first heard the reports a train hit a backhoe, I assumed it correct and that the backhoe must have been on a trailer or parked on the tracks by mistake by non railroad peeps.

[glakedylan]

local news outlets here in Philly
confirm backhoe with photos
earlier word was that this happened in a place
where fiber optics cable was being installed
on a regular basis
no confirmation on that piece

tonight's broadcast reported that the backhoe operator
and his supervisor were both Amtrak employees
and the backhoe was being used to work on the track
(apparently along with the other MOW equip on site)

they were the two fatalities