15 hurt in Florida after passenger train collides with fire truck | AP News
Video shows shocking moment high-speed train collides with a Florida fire truck that drove onto tracks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fire truck crew screwed up - NO EXCUSE for cutting around a gate!
🐷
Indeed, the fire truck driver messed up. Apparently, a train had gone by the other way on the other track and the fire truck, thinking that it was clear and that the gates were defective (which they sometimes are) thought that the train was past.
I looked at that area on g**gle maps - lots of crossings, so my thought is that the trains probably don’t go extremely fast through there (which turns out to be wrong, see below). They do have speed limits for trains. Near me, there are some curves so they limit it to 35 mph, but once they clear the curves, it’s fairly straight for about 80 miles up to Harriman. And they move pretty fast through that part. Norfolk & southern tracks, no passenger trains.
I know that that particular passenger train is considered high speed so once they clear the city, they open up to over 100 mph. Top speed is listed at 125 mph on the stretch from Cocoa to Orlando Airport, and 79 in south Florida (where this accident took place).
Still, even at 40 mph, it takes a lot of distance to stop a train. Steel wheels on steel rails don’t offer a lot of grip, even though every wheel on the train is contributing.