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Metrolink 111 engineer led solitary life marred by tragedy
LA Times ^ | 9/17/08 | David Kelly and Sam Quinones

Posted on 09/17/2008 9:41:56 AM PDT by ZGuy

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1 posted on 09/17/2008 9:41:56 AM PDT by ZGuy
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To: ZGuy

So if this guy was so effed up then how did he pass the background check to be responsible for several hundred lives each day? WAS there a background check? Did he get a pass because he was gay?


2 posted on 09/17/2008 9:47:16 AM PDT by PeterFinn ("I will stand with the Muslims" - Baraq Hussein Obama p. 261 "Audacity of Hope")
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To: ZGuy
Sanchez took diabetes medication

Anybody want to guess that these drugs and whatever else he was taking had to do with this?

I'd feel sorry for him but this scum bag took out others as well. That reminds me, don't they do screening of people who work for metrolink and other companies that they don't do this kind of garbage?

3 posted on 09/17/2008 9:47:18 AM PDT by mainestategop (MAINE: The way communism should be)
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To: PeterFinn
how did he pass the background check to be responsible for several hundred lives each day

It's California right?

4 posted on 09/17/2008 9:50:48 AM PDT by nascarnation
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To: mainestategop

Are these engineers regulated?


5 posted on 09/17/2008 9:51:51 AM PDT by mmanager (What a mess we are in.)
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To: ZGuy

Does anybody know the location of the “dead man” switch/button on these trains? If he collapsed, could he have fallen on that switch, keeping it engaged and preventing the train from coming to an automatic halt?


6 posted on 09/17/2008 9:52:04 AM PDT by ZGuy
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To: ZGuy
Well at least this explains why he was texting teenage boys.
7 posted on 09/17/2008 9:53:09 AM PDT by Slicksadick (Go out on a limb........Its where the fruit is.)
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To: ZGuy

Who dosen't want to wear the ribbon????

8 posted on 09/17/2008 9:55:15 AM PDT by Vaquero (" an armed society is a polite society" Heinlein "MOLON LABE!" Leonidas of Sparta)
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To: balk; editor-surveyor

Can you shed any light on #6?


9 posted on 09/17/2008 9:55:29 AM PDT by ZGuy
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To: nascarnation
It's California right?

My thoughts exactly! Everything is regulated by that God forsaken nanny state except essential workers who are lazy or nuts! More reasons why not to trust government!

10 posted on 09/17/2008 9:56:34 AM PDT by mainestategop (MAINE: The way communism should be)
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To: nascarnation

In this particular case, as lawsuit is justified.

Metrolink was negligent. If I was a passenger, and discovered the engineers personal history, I would walk.

L.A. Times are being typical when trying to portray the engineer as a “victim” of circumstances. The man had a criminal record as well as a colored history. As a result of Metrolink’s neglect, innocent and unsuspecting people died or were seriously injured.


11 posted on 09/17/2008 10:04:07 AM PDT by This Just In
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To: ZGuy
Sanchez took diabetes medication

There is a difference between insulin and glucophage.

12 posted on 09/17/2008 10:07:30 AM PDT by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 78:35 And they remembered that God was their ROCK, And the Most High God their Redeemer.)
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To: ZGuy

Nowadays, there is no “deadman control.” Instead there is an “Alerter” If a control, (throttle, brake, etc.) is not moved in a set amount of time, an alarm is sounded that the engineer has to acknowledge. If he doesn’t acknowledge the alert or change a position of a control, a penalty brake application will be made, slowing the train.


13 posted on 09/17/2008 10:15:51 AM PDT by Chief Engineer
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To: ZGuy

Don’t know for sure about the newer engines, but on older engines, it is a pedal that requires measurable force to depress. I believe that some of the european engines use a hand grip with a similar provision.

I doubt that the deadman switch played into this. It’s more likely that he was just not paying attention, and that the curve of the track kept the trains out of each other’s view until it was beyond the point of prevention. Trains take a long time to slow.


14 posted on 09/17/2008 10:34:46 AM PDT by editor-surveyor ( If Obama had Palin's resume and experience Obama would be qualified to be VP too.)
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To: XeniaSt

I don’t have any knowledge on the subject. Could you provide some information and whether or not his diabetic condition could theoretically have been a factor in the crash? Thanks.


15 posted on 09/17/2008 10:36:24 AM PDT by ZGuy
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To: ZGuy

Metrolink was in violation of federal regulations in allowing this man to operate a train. He is disqualified in numerous ways.


16 posted on 09/17/2008 10:36:30 AM PDT by editor-surveyor ( If Obama had Palin's resume and experience Obama would be qualified to be VP too.)
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To: nascarnation
"It's California right?"

Federal regulations control rail and highway commercial traffic.

In all cases where both control, California standards exceed all others.

17 posted on 09/17/2008 10:39:11 AM PDT by editor-surveyor ( If Obama had Palin's resume and experience Obama would be qualified to be VP too.)
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To: editor-surveyor

The conductor reported that the engineer missed the final two calls, thus the question arises as to whether the engineer might have been unconscious.


18 posted on 09/17/2008 10:39:30 AM PDT by ZGuy
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To: mainestategop

wow, maybe he used secret mind power to will this trespasser on the tracks too!

>>>Sanchez was involved in a fatal crash with a pedestrian earlier this month.


19 posted on 09/17/2008 10:40:35 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
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To: ZGuy

Huh? If he was unconscious, how did he stop at Chatsworth Station?

>>>The conductor reported that the engineer missed the final two calls, thus the question arises as to whether the engineer might have been unconscious.


20 posted on 09/17/2008 10:43:23 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
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