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Commuter train derails in Glendale (Update: Crash escalates to criminal probe)
AP ^ | 01/26/05 | AP

Posted on 01/26/2005 6:42:20 AM PST by Pikamax

Commuter train derails in Glendale

Associated Press

GLENDALE, Calif. - A Metrolink commuter train derailed early Wednesday in this Los Angeles suburb, and firefighters were searching through the wreckage.

Television reports showed smoke coming from twisted wreckage at the scene of the crash, where two separate trains could be seen derailed.

The derailment in this Los Angeles suburb was near San Fernando Road and Chevy Chase Boulevard.

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


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: california; deathpenalty; derailment; glendale; juanmanuelalvarez; losangeles; maneatingsuv; metrolink; murder; rail; socal; southerncalifornia; traincrashes; trainwreck; trainwrecks; transportation
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To: Wolfstar

There is a missing LAPD employee....they did five ground searches, and came up negative. So, they will need to lift the cars that have fallen over etc.

the FBI is also there....as is every other alphabet agency.... my brother is actually taking his train home tonight from Burbank!


601 posted on 01/26/2005 3:54:47 PM PST by BurbankKarl
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To: CedarDave
The car I was refering to in my post was the passenger railroad car.

Oh...thanks for clarifying. And yep, they can get the serial number off the axle.

602 posted on 01/26/2005 3:55:51 PM PST by Wolfstar (Have YOU laughed at a Democrat today?)
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To: Wolfstar

Need to clarify and correct some statements you and others have made..

There were no occupants/employees on the Union Pacific locomotive. That train pulled into the siding at 345am 1/23 and has been standing there since then. Hand brakes were set on the units and on the railcars of the train that were loaded with ballast.

The bodies found "on the engine" were in fact, passengers and possibly the engineer of the Metra train. There were no UP train crews on the train or called to take the train anywhere. It would have run later this morning to assist in repairs on the Santa Barbara Sub.

The cab car, which has the control stand for the engineer while running with power to rear, was first to impact the jeep.

The jeep did in fact cause the intial derailment becasue of the lightness of the railcar. All it needed was a lift of about 2 inches for the flange to clear the ball of the rail. Once that happens it's "katie bar the door". The auto, getting under the end of the car shedding parts and pieces as it went, was enought to cause this lift.
Once the car derailed, it still followed the track until it got to the west switch of the siding where it headed into the siding and impacted the UP locomotive.

We (UP) were allowed into the site to download the "black box" off of the second unit of the UP train. After the movement into the siding at 345am 1/23, there had been no other recorded movement until 559am pt this morning. The inertia of the Metra train at impact caused 2 x 220 ton locomotives and 20 railcars loaded with ballast, all with hand brakes set, to move backwards 44 feet and reach an immediate speed of 19 mph before stopping.

How do I know all of this - let's just say I have a good source..

Hopefully this will help clear up some questions..


603 posted on 01/26/2005 3:56:41 PM PST by UPcrawfish
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To: BurbankKarl
There is a missing LAPD employee....

Wow! I had not heard that. Thanks for keeping me up to date. Because there is no passenger manifest for comuter trains like there is for airlines, no one can be 100% sure how many people were on the trains. More victims could be under the worst part of the wreckage, but I sure hope not.

BTW, people are concerned about whether or not we will ever know if the perp is an illegal alien. We'll know. While I am not John & Ken fans, the way they've taken on the illegal alien issue, I have no doubt they will be all over this story.

604 posted on 01/26/2005 4:00:16 PM PST by Wolfstar (Have YOU laughed at a Democrat today?)
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To: UPcrawfish
How do I know all of this - let's just say I have a good source..

If you're from Nebraska, around Omaha, I'd say so.

The fact that there's anything left at all of the cab car speaks to the strength of its construction.

605 posted on 01/26/2005 4:02:37 PM PST by CedarDave (Democrats don't speak -- they rant!)
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To: BurbankKarl; lainie

Ping to this post:.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1328875/posts?page=603#603


606 posted on 01/26/2005 4:03:54 PM PST by CedarDave (Democrats don't speak -- they rant!)
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To: UPcrawfish
The bodies found "on the engine" were in fact, passengers and possibly the engineer of the Metra train.

Thanks. I appreciate the clarification, update, and the technical information. Again, I was relaying what I heard on early local news reports this morning (between 6:00am and nearly 9:00am). The details in such early reporting are often wrong in most news stories.

Channel 5 had the best coverage at the time, because their ground reporter was able to get right up close to the UP engine. I was watching when the senior fire chief was standing on top of the engine with the recovered license plate and drivers license in his hand. He put those down momentarily when someone handed him a couple of white sheets, which he put over the bodies on the engine. The Channel 5 reporter said they were the remains of UP employees on the engine.

One thing I like about a forum such as this is that we can all share different perspectives and knowledge, thereby increasing our understanding of such an incident.

607 posted on 01/26/2005 4:08:31 PM PST by Wolfstar (Have YOU laughed at a Democrat today?)
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To: CedarDave

You found me out !!.. Been dealing with this since 810am ct. When I left work, the NTSB team was going to be on site about 800pm pt. The unaffected equipment could be moved but no wrecking operations were to be attempted until they had viewed the site and taken their measurements.

There is minimal track damage so once the wrecking starts it should not be long to open. Those cars will not be rerailed - likely cleared to right of way and then trucked out..

Hulcher Emergency Services divisions out of Colton and Stockton are on site waiting for the go-ahead to start wrecking.


608 posted on 01/26/2005 4:12:03 PM PST by UPcrawfish
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To: UPcrawfish

you mean Metrolink...not Metra!


609 posted on 01/26/2005 4:16:53 PM PST by BurbankKarl
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To: BurbankKarl

you're right - I get to deal with the Merto Link dumplings in Chicago also.. They run about 120 trains a day up there and are always whacking some idiot who drove in front of the train..


610 posted on 01/26/2005 4:19:18 PM PST by UPcrawfish
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To: UPcrawfish

You have had your problems this month -- the Santa Barbara and Mohave subs and the washout in Cottonwood Wash near Caliente, Nevada. Maybe I should buy stock in Hulcher.

Last weekend read the lengthy article in this month's "Trains" -- it's just one thing after another with UP, but the article ended on a postive note -- you're hiring and addressing capacity problems though it will take some time.


611 posted on 01/26/2005 4:27:37 PM PST by CedarDave (Democrats don't speak -- they rant!)
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To: BurbankKarl
"Why we are fed up "

Why?

612 posted on 01/26/2005 4:33:12 PM PST by bayourod (America, the greatest nation in history is a nation of immigrants. Immigrants are an asset.)
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To: bayourod

sick of friends dying...


613 posted on 01/26/2005 4:40:41 PM PST by BurbankKarl
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To: BurbankKarl
Oh, I see now what you're talking about. You're implyimng that the depressed man was an illegal immigrant.

Why? Because he has an Hispanic surname? Well he might be, but odds are he isn't

Would it really make any difference to you if his ancestors were residing in California before it became part of America? If his grandfather was wounded at Iwo Jima, his father in Viet Nam; and the he had just returned from Iraq?

If everytime you see an Hispanic name reported in a negative context you assume the person is illegal it could affect your opinion of illegal aliens.

614 posted on 01/26/2005 4:54:17 PM PST by bayourod (America, the greatest nation in history is a nation of immigrants. Immigrants are an asset.)
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To: bayourod

Not that it is conclusive, but, most people who are of the background you have described do not live in, nor have they ever lived in ghettos like Compton, instead, they are my neighbors or live in areas such as the one I do. Sure there are always exceptions. But in general ...


615 posted on 01/26/2005 5:04:21 PM PST by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: bayourod

Ahem.


616 posted on 01/26/2005 5:55:04 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo (Immigrants, "Those Wonderful People" in Jail Now Cost $1.4 Billion A Year To California Taxpayers)
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To: bayourod

Actually I was talking about the illegal alien who killed my friend driving drunk one Christmas Eve....

I don't know if the murder suspect was illegal or not...but I do know he killed two sheriffs employees, a firefighter, several other city employees and at least one Amtrak employee (whom I have met)

And, perhaps, if there were so many illegals in the LA County Jail system, this guy wouldnt have been kicked into a diversion program, or better yet, been picked up when he failed to complete it.


617 posted on 01/26/2005 6:19:11 PM PST by BurbankKarl
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To: CedarDave; lainie; bd476

I dropped my brother off at the Burbank Metrolink Station for his trip home....his train was supposed to leave at 515pm.....it is still there, and they are expecting 700 additional passengers by bus before they leave!


618 posted on 01/26/2005 6:20:32 PM PST by BurbankKarl
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To: bayourod
PHOTOGRAPH OF 'S.U.V. SUICIDE' BOY (Mass Murderer) (Just released by Glendale, CA police department


619 posted on 01/26/2005 6:53:06 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo (Immigrants, "Those Wonderful People" in Jail Now Cost $1.4 Billion A Year To California Taxpayers)
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To: Pikamax

Ping and a bump


620 posted on 01/26/2005 6:55:15 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo (Immigrants, "Those Wonderful People" in Jail Now Cost $1.4 Billion A Year To California Taxpayers)
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