Posted on 09/13/2008 6:49:23 PM PDT by BenLurkin
CHATSWORTH, Calif. (CBS) ― Metrolink officials Saturday put the blame squarely on the engineer of the train for the deadly crash that has claimed at least 25 lives. They say he ran a red light.
But a group of local teens, train enthusiasts, who know the engineer well doubt that he was to blame.
They called their friend professional and caring and said he helped them learn about trains and being an engineer. To a man, they said he would "never" have been reckless or unprofessional or run a red light.
But one minute before the deadliest crash in Metrolink history, one teen -- Nick Williams -- said he received a text message on his cell phone from the engineer, whom the teens identified as Robert Sanchez.
Williams' received text was brief, "Just two lines", reported KCAL 9 and CBS 2 reporter Kristine Lazar, exclusively.
The text apparently told Williams and his friends where Sanchez would be meeting another passenger train.
The teens posted a tribute to their friend on YouTube.
A Metrolink spokeswoman earlier stated that the train's engineer, who has not officially been named, ran a red signal.
Another one of the teens, Evan Morrison, told Lazar that Sanchez " was not the kind of guy who would run a red light."
None of them believe he was at fault.
Saturday, Sanchez's teen friends all went to the crash site. Mark Speer, choking back tears said, "this is absolutely devastating."
Denise Tyrell, a spokesperson for Metrolink commented on the report that Sanchez might have been texting immediately before the crash.
She said, "I can't believe someone could be texting while driving a train."
I don’t know much of the details. My daughter did say that her friend said she was glad that my daughter answered her phone. My daughter is stationed East Coast.
Oh, and the UP train had a video camera in the cab...UP and BNSF has started installing cameras in everything, since they are first to be blamed for grade crossing accidents, etc
In reference to Maria Elena Villalobos, where her occupation states none:
Veronica Gonzalez spent a frantic night and day searching local hospitals for her niece Maria Elena Villalobos before learning she was among the dead.
“She was just the sweetest, kindest, always-trying-to-help-everyone person you would ever meet,” Gonzalez said of the 18-year-old, who had just started her first semester at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in downtown Los Angeles.
“I am not familiar with Metrolink’s operations, but most freight, passenger, and commuter rail train locomotives operate with at least two crew members: an engineer and a conductor. The engineer is responsible for running the train, and the conductor is responsible for calling the signals. Usually the conductor says something like “Metrolink train #5 has a clear signal at MP 155.2.” It is usually customary for the engineer to repeat this back and sometimes even crew conductors riding in the passenger cars repeat it as well.”
Your error is that in today’s passenger operations, most (not all) passenger trains operate with ONLY ONE person “on the head end” - the engineman running the locomotive.
Freight trains usually DO have “two in the cab”, that being both engineman and conductor, because there are no tickets to collect in freight.
But it DOESN’T work that way in passenger service. In most cases (including virtually ALL commuter operations), the engineman is alone on the locomotive (or on the leading end of a cab car in push-pull service). The conductor and assistant conductors are back in the body of the train with the passengers, and in many cases, can’t even get up to the engine.
That means, there’s only one pair of eyes actually observing conditions ahead. And that’s why all the responsibilty rests upon the shoulders of the guy running the train.
I hired out as a fireman nearly thirty years ago in 1979. Back then the fireman was that second pair of eyes in the engine cab.
But, but .... this is FreeRepublic, right? Where unions get the short end of the stick? Aren’t you familiar with the term “featherbedding”, about make-work jobs on the railroads that serve no purpose? Well, that’s what they said about having the second guy up there.
The railroads pretty much have gotten their way, insofar as passenger operations are concerned. They’ve taken the “second pair of eyes” OFF the engines in passenger service (this happened back around 1983, I remember it well), and now the guy running the train works alone. It’s all up to him (or her) up there by himself.
I’m guessing that when all the facts come out, it will point to a case of getting distracted, missing something important, and then fiding oneself in a very bad position.
This is going to be a difficult one for the F.R.A. (Federal Railroad Administration). Most railroads already have rules in place regarding the use of electronic devices and cell phones while operating a locomotive (that is to say, their use is prohibited while at the controls of a moving train).
But - after as bad a wreck as this - the bureaucrats will feel that they “have to do something” - write a new rule or regulation that will “address” the problem, hopefullly to prevent future accidents of a similar nature. How can they write a rule, when that rule already exists?
My guess is that they might ban the possession of cell phones outright while on the locomotive (the implication being that there is too great a tempation to use them), making it a “decertifiable” offense (loss of the engineman’s “certificate” that authorizes him to operate the engine).
Just a guess....
- John
“Someone had to monkey with the lights and track switches for this to happen.”
Management always and immediately blame “pilot error” for accidents where the pilot cannot talk back.
It’s the least costly outcome for management. Truth is irrelevant.
The final story will be “multiple errors” and such, predictably.
Airliners fly very controlled flightpaths and pilots should be routinely looking outside.
Take my advice youd be better off dead.
Switchmans sleeping, train hundred and two is
On the wrong track and headed for you.
Although it would be foolish to send a text message to some railfans while operating, there are other possibilities. He could have had a heart attack or a stroke. He could have not had enough sleep and spaced out the red lights, unrelated to the texting.
We’ll find out what happened.
It surprises me to learn that ACELA is the only trainset in the U.S. that has an automated system to brake the train to a halt at a STOP signal aspect if the Engineer doesn’t do it first.
I’ve got ancient b/w video of a system being demonstrated on the NYC that would automatically halt the train moments after blowing through a STOP signal. That must have been the late 1940’s or early 1950’s.
And you say there’s no such system being used on modern equipment except the ACELA running the NE Corridor?
Wow.
Just...wow.
Just last week it became illegal here in Alaska to drive while sending a text message. I thought the stupidest thing about the law was that it was actually thought to be necessary but I guess there is always that 1% of people that don’t don’t think there is anything wrong with driving and texting.
There are many,many things we know how to make safer but refuse to do so because of the initial costs.
Remember the memo about it being cheaper to pay lawsuits than redesign car gas tanks?
And from what I have read in railfan,model r.r. books(and you would be shocked at the fanatic lengths some hobbyists go to mimic exactly real operations) and observation of industrial switching at my workplace, John is giving us info from someone who really knows what he is talking about.
The revelation that the engineer was sending a text message is likely to ensure a massive negligence suit against Metro. The taxpayers are going to get hit as this is a "public" form of transportation. The engineer is wholly responsible for running the train and observing the signal lights. He allowed his attention to be distracted with a cell phone sending text messages. Modern locomotives are full of equipment to help the engineer do the job safely. They can't overcome negligence or stupidity.
I don't doubt that in the least.
...you would be shocked at the fanatic lengths some hobbyists go to mimic exactly real operations...
Probably less shocked than you'd expect; I've seen the lengths to which modelers will go to make their rolling stock, track, and terrain look completely real.
Check this out:
http://www.proto87.com/
Just WOW!
Yes, they said they got the data recorders and video recorders [IIRC] from both trains this morning.
Remember last year and the 5 teenage cheerleaders text messaging while trying to pass a car on the road. All died in a blazing inferno minutes after the message reached their friends a couple of cars back.
It was mentioned last night that the NTSB was there investigating ... not just MetroLink.
Pulled up to a red light yesterday. Looked over at a guy on a motor cycle. He was texting. These people are brain dead.I don’t care if they kill themselves, but i hate that they kill innocent people.
The NYC Subway has "trip cocks" on reds that trip the air brakes if passed.
The last I read, both trains were going 40 mph, and the text was supposedly sent 1 minute before the crash. NOT sure if that was responsible, even if it looks bad at first. It would help to know what he was doing in the minute up to and including the exact time of crash.
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