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The more we learn about Amtrak derailment the stranger it gets
The Hill ^ | 31 December 2017 | Russell G. Quimby

Posted on 12/31/2017 8:58:50 AM PST by oh8eleven

The National Transportation Safety Board investigating the accident, which killed three people and injured more than 50 others, is still trying to determine the probable cause and prevent such accidents in the future.

It appears that there were two people in the lead locomotive control cab of the train who were both injured and hospitalized: an instructor engineer, and another engineer who was learning the territory and qualifying to operate the train along the route.

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: amtrak; ntsb; railroad; trainwreck; williegreen
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To: BobL

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-seattle-amtrak-crash-20171222-story.html

Engineer of Amtrak train was not on cellphone at time of crash


101 posted on 12/31/2017 2:57:40 PM PST by ilovesarah2012
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To: matthew fuller

My guess is personnel error, for what ever reason. Every train in this country is operated by a union member.


102 posted on 12/31/2017 3:02:29 PM PST by Bull Snipe
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To: Vinnie

The route had been run MANY times in preparation for the inaugural service run. The speed limits were well known and rehearsed.

Chalk this one up to stupid.


103 posted on 12/31/2017 3:04:22 PM PST by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchanged our dreams for survival. We just have a few days that don't suck.)
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To: editor-surveyor

Don’t know, but the locomotive did not belong to Amtrak, it was the property of the States of Oregon and Washington, the owners of the “Amtrak” Cascade.


104 posted on 12/31/2017 3:23:25 PM PST by Bull Snipe
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To: matthew fuller

corrections to my 102 post. All major railroads are fully union and have been for decades. Some of the small tourist type railroads, such as the Cass Scenic Railroad in WV or the Denver and Rio Grand narrow gage railroad in CO, may be non union.


105 posted on 12/31/2017 3:27:25 PM PST by Bull Snipe
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To: Bull Snipe

.
Well, no surprise. Washington and Oregan are near-total leftist wipes!
.


106 posted on 12/31/2017 3:34:21 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: Sequoyah101

.
This is a cover-up.

It was terrorism, not speed that caused the derailment.


107 posted on 12/31/2017 3:36:27 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: editor-surveyor

Didn’t Q post something about how this accident was a reprisal for an extraction on 17 Dec?


108 posted on 12/31/2017 4:52:08 PM PST by binreadin
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To: binreadin

That’s one theory.


109 posted on 12/31/2017 8:37:20 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: Bull Snipe

That’s a fair enough point.

It’s just I’d reckon BNSF would insist on dealing with Amtrak in this case.

Other states, running *commuter* train operations, have had outfits such as Keolis contracted to run them. Results have been mixed (see MBTA).


110 posted on 12/31/2017 10:17:31 PM PST by Sam_Damon
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To: Sam_Damon

thanks


111 posted on 01/01/2018 3:14:45 AM PST by Bull Snipe
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To: proust
Speed kills. How is this strange?

Took me back to when us Chevy folks would get into "debates" with the Ford folks - One of our slaps was "Speed kills, play it safe and buy a Ford"....maybe someone needs to find out who built the drive train and sue them for making it too fast.......

112 posted on 01/01/2018 3:31:32 AM PST by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone? I think Trump may give it back...)
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To: proust

With strange plane crashes I’m always suspicious of blaming it on the pilot or air traffic controller. But in this case I’ll play devil’s advocate.

Was the engineer a gambler? If so, he might have thought it would be easy to win a bet about how quickly he made the run. But of course, things like this tend to be shrouded in mystery, which fans the fires of suspicion.


113 posted on 01/01/2018 4:48:20 AM PST by Arthur Wildfire! March (Never forget that Obama enabled drug runners into US for Iran.)
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To: Sam_Damon

They certainly need an automated roof on speed at each sector. Going too slow doesn’t normally kill. They sure tell us car drivers that time and again and again and again.


114 posted on 01/01/2018 4:50:33 AM PST by Arthur Wildfire! March (Never forget that Obama enabled drug runners into US for Iran.)
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To: NYleatherneck
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

Really. What is your explanation for why they were going 81mph into a POSTED 30 MPH curve on a high profile inaugural run ?

115 posted on 01/01/2018 9:20:26 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: Cold Heart
They do not have to ward off lawsuits. Maximum settlement is set by law and they have come out and stated that all claims will be paid out.

IF it was found out that an official at AMTRAK ordered the engineer to ignore the speed limit, do you think that would change ?

116 posted on 01/01/2018 9:23:11 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: NYleatherneck; indthkr
From the article, "places the onus on those managing this operation and their judgment and experience, or lack thereof. The lack of competent oversight by management and/or policy may lie at the root cause of this accident." ----Hat tip to INDTHKR.

Seems like an admission by AMTRAK, right there in the article.

117 posted on 01/01/2018 9:29:26 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: ROCKLOBSTER
When they loaded them into the ambulance....did they have their pants on?

Very funny(/sarc). The reason for the crash had nothing to do with hanky panky in the cab.

118 posted on 01/01/2018 9:31:38 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: al baby
My thought too taking it up the caboose

The only sense in which that occurred was that the official in charge of the 'run' may have told the engineer that if he didn't make it on time, he was going to shove a big log up his caboose.

119 posted on 01/01/2018 9:34:24 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: factoryrat
The PTC system on that locomotive has GPS. Multiple redundant GPS receivers. The system wasn’t cut in yet. If it was cut in, PTC would have stopped that train as soon as it violated the first speed restriction.

Do you think that the engineers were not briefed on the fact that there was a sharp curve with a 30MPH SPEED LIMIT ? It's not like the 'route' they were taking was something that they could 'choose' amongst a host of other options. It's not like there are no maps to look at before the HIGHLY PUBLICIZED INAUGURAL RUN. It's not like the route had never been taken before (they had two practice runs).

120 posted on 01/01/2018 9:42:56 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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