Posted on 12/19/2017 4:07:00 AM PST by servo1969
An Amtrak train that derailed Monday during its inaugural ride on a new line in Washington state was traveling at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone, the National Transportation Safety Board said, citing data recorder information.
Bella Dinh-Zarr, an NTSB board member, said at a news conference late Monday that information from the data recorder in the rear locomotive provided information about the trains speed.
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A track chart prepared by the Washington State Department of Transportation shows the maximum speed drops from 79 mph to 30 mph for passenger trains just before the tracks curve to cross Interstate 5, which is where the train went off the tracks.
An Amtrak train derailed south of Seattle early Monday, causing "injuries and casualties," according to officials. (Washington State Patrol Trooper Brooke Bova) The chart, dated Feb. 7, was submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration in anticipation of the start of passenger service along a new bypass route that shaves off 10 minutes for the trip between Seattle and Portland, Ore.
Kimberly Reason with Sound Transit, the Seattle-area transit agency that owns the tracks, said speed signs are posted 2 miles before the speed zone changes and just before the speed zone approaching the curve.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times
Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times
Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times
Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times
Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times
Mark Nowlin / The Seattle Times
Someone is in serious trouble.
a RePlay of the old story of Casey Jones?
They still are not mentioning the Earth First terror activity? Is this a news blackout?
Excellent presentation, servo.
Condolences to all the casualties/families.
Oh my, what a mess :-\
EF is doubtless a nest of maggots, but this seems to be a major league case of driver fubar.
Nine figures spent for 10 minutes. If the engineer was speeding, 3 guesses why.
Amtrak should be privatized.
Looks like they wanted to open the shore line to developments. Somebody is going to make 9 figures.
We do the same thing on highway projects all the time because politicians are afraid to tell commuters to live closer to their jobs but want to be seen "doing something" about congestion.
Good enuf fer government work.
Amtrak exists for one reason: the Acela service in the NE. Privatize Amtrak. If its Acela users like it so dang much, they can bloody well pay for it.
Other considerations involved. Along Nisqually Reach is a series of low cliffs that the old BNSF freight track set up against. Falling rocks and minor landslides were a ongoing problem with that section of rail.
Was it?
This is the third passenger train to derail on a curve due to excessive speed. Amtrak in North Philly (5/12/15) and NY Metro-North at Spuyten Duyvil (12/1/13) are the others. Being a RR fan and historian, I don’t recall seeing these types of crashes happening in this frequency in the past.
Marijuana?
“If the engineer was speeding, 3 guesses why.
I’ll take “affirmative action hire” for $1000, please.
What do you think about this?
Antifa Group Takes Down Web Page Promoting Train Derailments
In this situation, AMTRAK is a contractor to the States of Washington and Oregon. The States own the locomotives, rail cars and a portion of the rail right of way, not AMTRAK.
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