Posted on 12/18/2017 9:12:29 AM PST by JME_FAN
A high-speed Amtrak train derailed onto Interstate 5 between Tacoma and Olympia Monday. Casualties and injuries are reported. Drivers are being told to avoid the area and expect alternate routes to be backed up.
(Excerpt) Read more at king5.com ...
I was driving down to Olympia for a 10:00 job and got stuck in the many miles long backup. I think I could have made it to Olympia eventually but at 9:15 my client called to cancel the job saying he could not make it.
I exited at Dupont, near JBLM, and got turned around north to Seattle.
There were many troopers and aid cars going south, fighting their way down to the wreck.
Antifa action is quite plausible.
I am dismayed at how stupid a lot of these people are. It is distressing! They have emotionally wracked brains.
Sorry for the off topic rant.....
When I was caught there in the miles-long backup I exited I Dupont and turned back north.
During the brief time in Dupont, I saw a huge sign saying “December 18 is the first day of five trains running.”
Seeing something elsewhere that the train management was WARNED about sabotage...will try to find
Not off-topic, and appreciated.
I don’t understand. Where was the semi? I saw the orange one under the bridge.
If that’s what was done, whoever decided to skip the roadbed portion of high speed rail and move straight to the “high speed” part ought to be put away for life. The Shinkansen system in Japan, for example, is a completely separate and specially constructed rail line. And it’s as smooth as riding on air.
Omg, sorry for your rough morning. The 5 would be the same down here in LA if a train fell on it.
I assumed high speed rail had a “high speed RAIL.” Isn’t the rail the main part of a railroad? Putting a fast train on an old rail just sounds dumb.
Yeah, but it still looks more like damage from maybe 50mph or less. There's no way they took that bend at 80.
Unfortunately, watching the coverage this morning there is just so much misinformation about the recent history of this section of track and this “inaugural” train voyage. The Seattle to Portland passenger train run has been regularly scheduled for many years.
This “detour” through an urban area at high speed was hugely expensive, highly controversial, and only suppose to shave 4 minutes off the normal route. When one considers that this multibillion dollar “improvement” was only suppose to save a very limited number of passengers a minimal amount of time... heads should roll, but since this is an all government boondoggle I would expect that no one will ever be held accountable.
Sound Transit “purchased” the section of track where the train derailed and has recently spent 800 million dollars just “improving” the tracks. A BNSF railroad representative was on our local news and said they had no responsibility for this section of track.
The maximum speed on the straight sections of track in this area is 79mph, but this was on a curve. On the coverage we have seen it looks like the locomotive derailed at the curve and kept going straight while the cars behind it accordioned and ended up all over the place with some falling off of the bridge and onto the freeway.
Yes, the orange 40’ container truck you saw was struck in the front of the cab by the derailed train. I believe it was the locomotive that struck the semi cab.
It looked to me that the driver might not have been struck because the driver door was intact. It was just a matter of a few foot miss. Of course, I don’t actually know what happened to the truck driver.
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I hear you.
... one major waste of money .......... and life.
They’re bot twats. Block em - report ‘em. But DO NOT respond to ‘em ... Unless you want to have your account suspended. However, that action will likely occur anyway, no matter what you do - if you are conservative. With any luck, the dickwad twat, CEO Jack Dorsey, will soon be bankrupt.
Watching down here in Portland area. Yes, one semi truck hit below, can’t tell if any other hit on I-5. Six fatalities that I have heard.
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