Cars on both sides of the trestle.
Posted on 12/18/2017 6:00:15 PM PST by Mariner
The Amtrak train that derailed Monday morning on its inaugural trip through a faster railway route was supposed to slow dramatically before entering the curve where the crash occurred.
The speed limit at the curve where the train crosses Interstate 5 is 30 miles per hour, said state transportation department spokeswoman Barbara LaBoe, while the speed limit on most of the track is 79 mph. She said speed-limit signs are posted two miles before the lowered speed zone and then just before the zone.
“Engineers are trained to slow trains according to posted speeds,” she said.
Daniel Konzelman, who was driving on I-5 south parallel to the train, said he was traveling at 60 mph or more and watched the train pass his vehicle about a half-mile before the crash. A website that monitors locations and speeds of Amtrak trains, transitdocs.com, reported that the train was going about 81 mph shortly before the derailment, The Associated Press reported.
Russell Quimby, a consultant who was previously an investigator-in-charge for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said it appeared to him that the derailment was caused by speed. He said the track appeared relatively undisturbed, so it seemed unlikely that something knocked the train off the track, and he noted that it appeared the train drove in a straight line, missing the turn.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...
Casey Jones - - Toot Toot!!
WSDOT says it’s a 30mph curve.
The train was doing 81.1mph.
It would not matter if there was something on the track or not.
I am not knowledgeable as to trains. I ride them, I like them, I fool around with models — but for the Real Big Ones, I’m not an expert at all.
Having said that...
From the TeeVee pictures, it looked like the engine was still on the tracks. EVERY car had derailed.
...and, it looks like they “got all ziggy-zaggy” and rear-ended each other, and fell off the rails.
That seems odd to me.
Somewhere in the rush of displays of ignorance and idiocy that is the rattle and blather of the news, someone said there were two engines — a fairly normal thing. But only one showed in the pictures. (Perhaps the leader had been disconnected and pulled away from the wreck...)
Even so, it still seems odd.
Now, you may recall The Bad Guys publish a magazine, “Rumiah.” Very slick and professional. In recent months they ran a nice how-to article about a home-made train de-railer, made with rebar and concrete.
To me, this event sounds exactly like what they were promoting in that article.
Maybe just a coincidence.
Nothing to see here. Move along, please...
Antifa!
>><<
Or Affirmative Action engineer.
PTC will apply braking as needed if it is implemented and the track database is up to date in the locomotive and the system in the locomotive is turned on. Anything in yard limits is not covered.
Either this was engineer error, mechanical failure, or track failure. Right now, I lean toward engineer error.
The FRED units at the end of a train and the trackside sensors perform much of that function, but only to relay the condition of the train to the conductor and the dispatcher. Positive Train Control is the real answer to these kinds of operator errors.
True. The yards have their own speed limits unless there is a yard bypass track.
Soooooo,who was driving the train???Who ran it at 81 mph in a 30 mph bend??????
Cars on both sides of the trestle.
Where is the engineer’s cell phone?
That info should be recorded/kept somewhere one would think.
Time will tell.
It appears to be sabotage to me.
Maiden run? Pristine track? It dumped right on I 5? at Rush hour?
Over 250 injured. The only reason it wasn’t more horrific is the locomotive on the commuter train parked in the station absorbed the bulk of the impact. If the train had hit the passenger cars dead on, it would have accordianed those cars. I saw the locomotive after the accident. There was little left other then the bottom of the frame and the trucks or wheels. The body was gone. Cab gone. I don’t remember if the prime mover was still attached.
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/13/us/at-least-264-are-hurt-in-train-collision-in-boston.html
I don't claim to be an expert, so I can't say they are wrong. I'd sure be looking for something besides speed.
Just because a guy was speeding, it doesn't mean the derailment had to be related to it. It would obviously be an area of interest.
Yea. Maybe the FBI can take time out of their busy schedule to take a look.
The train had two engines, one on either end. The engine still on the rails is the rear engine. The lead engine ended up on the freeway. There are photos of it on other threads.
“Maiden run? Pristine track? It dumped right on I 5? at Rush hour?”
81.1mph on a 30mph curve.
It’s not hard to understand.
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