[HiJinx]

Ping to two more head-on collisions...at or near train stations/switching centers.

[JLS]

Someone messing with switches????

[Frank_Discussion]

This be gettin' weird, mon...

[Publius]

I would wager that most of the crashes listed on this thread were caused by operator error.

There is a tendency to think that a train engineer's job is easy. Just hit the brakes on a yellow, flashing yellow or red signal, and open the throttle on a green. It's not like that at all. An engineer has to factor in the speed for a block, the signal status, the length and weight of his train, the grade he's traversing, and the slack between his cars. It's hard work, made harder by the long hours and the tendency of the sound and vibration of the locomotive to lull you to sleep.

A nasty accident in suburban L.A. happened when a freight engineer couldn't see a red block signal because of the glare of the setting sun on his windshield. That's why he plowed into a commuter train.

Each of the collision accidents sounds like an operator who blew past a red signal somewhere.