Track crew accidentally turned off crossing gates, lights before fatal crash, probes say

Chicago Tribune ^

[Chet 99]

A track crew inadvertently turned off the gates and warning lights at a rail crossing in University Park late last week, shortly before a deadly crash in which a train blindsided an SUV driven by a Chicago woman, according to the preliminary federal and state investigation disclosed on Monday.

"This was human error,'' said an investigator, who asked not to be identified.

Last week, the Canadian National Railway crew was working on signals and electrical circuits connected to a track-switching mechanism being built near the crossing when workers shut down all warnings to motorists about approaching trains, the investigator said.

Also, a video camera aboard the four-car Amtrak train that struck and killed Katie Lunn, 26, on Friday night corroborated the preliminary findings, officials said.

The video, shot from the train's locomotive as it was traveling nearly 79 mph, clearly shows that the barrier gates, flashing lights and bells at the Stuenkel Road crossing near Governors Highway did not turn on, federal and state investigators said.

[Balding_Eagle]

Oh man.

[handmade]

Oh my.

[Onelifetogive]

the barrier gates, flashing lights and bells at the Stuenkel Road crossing near Governors Highway did not turn on

This almost always means that a train is not coming...almost...

[rawhide]

Katie Lunn, age 26

Dance Instructor

Dance Ensemble Company Manager

Katie is a graduate of Oklahoma City University where she recieved her degree in dance management. She has danced for the Ameican Spirit Dance Company as well as the Oklahoma City University Pep Dancers. Katie has also danced professionally, as well as choreographed, for the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz Arena Football Dance Team. Katie has also been blessed with many opportunities to hold management positions, such as assistant stage manager and assistant childrens director, for several Oklahoma City University's American Spirit Dance Company's performances. Katie is extremely excited that she is joining the SPA staff and is blessed to have yet another wonderful opportunity to share her love of dance.

[rawhide]

Accident scene

[bigbob]

This just sucks. Condolences to the young woman’s family.

[dragnet2]

This is one that will certainly never go to court, and they’ll just hand her family over a truck full of cash.

[1FASTGLOCK45]

Yes Folks,
I slow down at RR Tracks and look both ways. To those that insist at flying across RR tracks... Don’t play with trains....

Always assume there could be a faulty RR switch, etc...

[dragnet2]

There was nothing faulty here.

This is an incident that resulted from total negligence.

[1FASTGLOCK45]

RE: dragnet2 wrote:

There was nothing faulty here.

This is an incident that resulted from total negligence.

---

I know it was negligence. I’m just saying people should not take for granted these lights and “gates” will be working at all times.
I cross rail road tracks more than I care for, but i always assume these things will not always be working regardless of negligence or faulty equipment.
I’m sure if this woman had been a little more vigilant she may have had more of a chance, but seems like she was just a typical driver, but to give her credit, I wasn’t there so i will give her benefit of the doubt.
I would just like to see our public drivers be a bit more educated about driving as I see so many are not or don’t care as they fly at high speed without regards to the real dangers of RR tracks.

[ikka]

It is like something from Ayn Rand ... incompetence rewarded leads to innocents’ death.

[AnAmericanMother]

I live a block from a crossing on the CSX mainline. We go back and forth over it many times daily.

We all roll our windows down (even in the rain) and listen for the train. We look both ways before crossing.

Even leaving aside obvious negligence like this case, equipment fails and malfunctions.

The railroad is very sensitive about this crossing because it's a busy one on a main drag into the city. They have crews out several times a week checking the gates here, and you'll often see a CSX truck parked at the crossing just keeping an eye on things.

Stuff STILL goes wrong. They have an 800 number posted on the gates to call in case of a malfunction. I call it about once every month or so - gates stuck down or (worse) stuck open with lights flashing and bells ringing. After an hour or so everybody just ignores the lights and bells. The first thing CSX does in that case is put a go-slow order on all the trains.

Sooner or later somebody's going to get hit, it's been since the late 80s when somebody jumped the gate at the next crossing 2 miles up the line . . . but we had a close call about 2 years ago. Go slow order saved the day.

[AnAmericanMother]

Exactly. I cross the darned things probably 3-4 times a day, and believe me I 'stop, look, and listen' lights or no lights.

The other scary thing is that the two main crossings here are the only "no horn" crossings in the state. Four gates, European style, so the train doesn't pull for the crossing. Which scares the heck out of me, that horn is one more safety factor.

Westbound we have good sight lines in both directions, but eastbound you can't see more than 50 yards up the track to the south and the trees are right up against the road to the north. So we listen with all our ears. Fortunately there's a crossing 2 miles north and another crossing which is NOT a no-horn crossing about 1/2 mile north, so you can hear a southbound train pull the whistle for the middle crossing. Thank goodness.

I've gotten to where I can tell from the sound of the diesel motors whether it's a slow or a fast freight.

[dragnet2]

I know it was negligence. I’m just saying people should not take for granted these lights and “gates” will be working at all times.

But they do, unfortunately.

People expect things like trains and planes to be safe and expect those that operate and run them to keep them safe...Just the way it is.

Me personally? On approach to intersections with green lights, my foot is off the accelerator, and hovering over the brake, watching for broadside and left turn killers....Things like intersections are mass murderers.

[1FASTGLOCK45]

I hear ya, I drive defensively all the time.
I would much rather let Mother Nature take me out naturally than some loose screwball :-)

[dragnet2]

Yep

[CharlesWayneCT]

School buses are required to stop at the crossing, and open the door to listen for the trains.

The trains are required to blow their whistles (except we have some intersections now where they trains don’t late at night, but they are labelled with signs so motoroists know to be extra careful.

I do fly across tracks, but I always glance both ways, and I’m pretty sure I’d notice a train barreling down. Of course, that assumes a good sight line.

In my opinion, it should be impossible to shut down the gate power without lowering the gates. That would be a pain for motorists, but then the people working on the tracks would have to go manually raise the gates, which would make it clear to them that they had shut off the gates.

There should also be an alarm when the gates are off. Maybe even a blinking light set powered by batteries, in case there is a general power failure.

[AnAmericanMother]

THAT is a really good idea. I wonder if I ought to call the trainmaster and suggest it.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

I slow down at RR Tracks and look both ways.

I live in a relatively flat part of Wisconsin and you can see at least a mile up and down the track as you approach a RR crossing. Not everyone slows down but most do, not because of approaching trains though. It seems the railroads are responsible for maintaining the narrow strip of highway between the gates. State/County crews will not touch that area and for good reason. On the other hand, RR crews very seldom pull maintenance either with the consequence that the crossings are usually in a terrible state of repair. When they finally get around to fixing things, they don't stay fixed for long as the constant pounding causes the roadbed to move with the passing freight cars. It's scary to sit at a crossing and watch the rails flex 4 to 6 inches as the wheel trucks roll down the line.

There was a time when government subsidized the railroads, that time has long passed and it shows. The flow of government money has shifted to interstate roads (trucking) and regional airports (air freight), neither of which can move the thousands of tons of coal a day needed to keep a central power plant operating. So the railroad slowly returns to rust.

I usually take the long view up & down the track from a quarter mile away and then hit the throttle so that I literally fly through the gate without touching the muffler grabbing, chuck hole ridden surface.

Don't get me started about gates stuck in the down position w/ lights flashing and bells clanging for days at a time. No wonder people drive around the cross-bucks, sometimes you have no choice.

Regards,
GtG