50 Hurt After Amtrak Train Derails in Philly

NBC Pjiladelphia ^ | NBC

[tcrlaf]

At least 50 people were hurt after an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia Tuesday night, according to officials.

Read more: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Amtrak-Derailment-Philadelphia--303536331.html#ixzz3ZypyykBM Follow us: @nbcphiladelphia on Twitter | nbcphiladelphia on Facebook

[BenLurkin]

It struck a signal gantry, which peeled off its roof along the line of windows "like a can of sardines". Car #8 wrapped itself around the gantry upright in a figure U. The next six cars were scattered at odd angles over the tracks, and the last two cars remained undamaged,

The pics show what looks like some kind of structure involved in tonight's wreck. I wonder if its a signal gantry.

[Sarah Barracuda]

Someone posted it on twitter a few minutes ago..ironic that just a few days after that post was made, something like this happens

[Born to Conserve]

“Fox just said an eyewitness heard an explosion and saw flame at the moment it happened.”

I’ve seen 20-30 feet of arcing come off those catenaries. 25 hertz loud enough to knock the phlegm out of you.

[easternsky]

Just heard on scanner they asked for the crime scene investigating team, and make sure have lots of video equipment. They then asked for a supervisor, he said he was a supervisor. then someone else told him he was live and special events was also linked to this?

[80skid]

Wake up America.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/07/05/president-obama-and-mayor-nutter-make-stop-philadelphia

[re_nortex]

...one of the better press conferences i’ve seen over the years...

Nutter? He's terrible, stumbling over words and not a literate, smooth delivery -- typical of leftists. He's nothing more than an ordinary 'RAT ward heeler and now "leads" one of America's most crime-ridden cesspools. There's nothing positive to say about this vile Obamaite.

[Drago]

Photo #1 in this slideshow seems to show that: http://www.myfoxphilly.com/slideshow?widgetid=156171&slideshowimageid=1

[PennsylvaniaMom]

It’s dated 2006?

[Lonely Bull]

The damage to the one mangled, V'd car is bizarre.

What does "V'd" mean? Thanks in advance.

[Cementjungle]

Looks like something knocked that first car (the engine?) off the track.

No sign of anything it might have hit on the track (freight car, etc).

I wonder where the engineers are? No one has mentioned them, and they would have been right there in the front.

[easternsky]

post 181 indicated likely deceased

[CedarDave]

I think the poster was describing how the train car was bent into a “V” shape in the crash. But only one portion of the car can be recognized, the rest is mangled metal.

[CedarDave]

Looks like something knocked that first car (the engine?) off the track. No sign of anything it might have hit on the track (freight car, etc).

I wonder where the engineers are? No one has mentioned them, and they would have been right there in the front.

An update from the poster at the other site:

I just got done talking to my buddy ... there was a track inspection car that went by earlier today ... my one buddy was in the engine and he said there was no blood inside the cab just a cracked windshield ... unconfirmed reports are they're looking for the engineer ... they can't find him ... news is showing rescue crews carryng body bags across the tracks ... no bomb or incendiary material were found ... 1,2 and 3 tracks are completely destroyed ... 4 track is out of alignment ... i'll eat crow (hate crow) ... word out in the field is the incident was speed induced.

Seems like the engineer survived and may have fled the scene. Nothing suspicious like a bomb or incendiary found so far.

[LucyT]

From comments at # 49, # 62, # 116, # 136, # 142, # 171:

Witness who was driving parallel to train said he heard a loud boom, and saw a large flame.

Witness on train said the train decelerated first, then eventually derailed.

Almost sounds like something blew up the track in front of the train... engineer tried to stop, but couldn't avoid derailing.

"Aerial image shows railroad tracks having come completely off their ties at derailment location."

Fox just said an eyewitness heard an explosion and saw flame at the moment it happened.

Reports from experienced rail folks on another site are disturbing:.

my buddy's on scene on the tracks ... he just called me ... he said there's a crater in the track that the FBI won't let anybody near ... bomb squad on scene with bomb sniffer dogs ... I believe the engineer is one of the fatalities but not confirmed ... now we've seen plenty of derailments ... he said he'd never seen nothing like it ... .

concrete ties obliterated ... cat poles hanging ... my opinion ... something forced that train off the track and I'm starting to think with the info I just got that something sinister occurred ...

And from another poster: The damage to the one mangled, V'd car is bizarre. Similar accident on Pennsy in same area in 1943. Tank car on adjacent track but does not seem to have been involved or disturbed. The force needed to bend an Amfleet in half is tremendous. .

Built by Budd to withstand 800,000 pound compression load force at the ends and 300,000 lb horizontal load at the sides. I don't understand it! I was praying no fataltities, but someone has posted 5 dead. I am saddened by this news. .

NBC10 Philly just mentioned that rails were extremenly bent and what force would be needed to bend them by the derailed loco. The locomotive is almost 217,000 pounds. I am more interested in how that Amfleet became so mangled. I am totally perplexed and shocked at this!.

If this is any thing other than a mechanical/track malfunction or unintentional human error, -- we have a new national security problem, though the Feds would likely try to bury it like TWA 800.

Thank you, Wildhighlander57.

[Beach333]

“Seems like the engineer survived and may have fled the scene.”

OMG. So hard to imagine someone doing this.

[NoCmpromiz]

the moron engineer who was texting before a big wreck

That one was in California - the engineer was texting some boys - draw your own conclusions - and blew through a restricted signal (i.e. a red light) into the path of a Union Pacific freight...

There are probably others but this is the one that came to mind..

[WildHighlander57]

you’re welcome, LucyT!

update at this post (many thanks, CedarDave!):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3289215/posts?page=213#213

An update from the poster at the other site:

“I just got done talking to my buddy ... there was a track inspection car that went by earlier today ... my one buddy was in the engine and he said there was no blood inside the cab just a cracked windshield ... unconfirmed reports are they’re looking for the engineer ... they can’t find him ... news is showing rescue crews carryng body bags across the tracks ... no bomb or incendiary material were found ... 1,2 and 3 tracks are completely destroyed ... 4 track is out of alignment ... i’ll eat crow (hate crow) ... word out in the field is the incident was speed induced.”

Seems like the engineer survived and may have fled the scene. Nothing suspicious like a bomb or incendiary found so far.

[GeronL]

They were hurt after it? not because of it? or during it?

[NoCmpromiz]

Here's some of the info on that..

2008 Chatsworth train collision

[tcrlaf]

AMTRAK CRASH U/D: Philadelphia PD responding to the hospital that the engineer was transported to, to conduct an interview.