Serious Amtrak derailment in Missouri (27/06)

[hexagon789]

Even 50mph I would consider highly dubious for an unsignalled crossing.

The fact this happened to a passenger train is unfortunate of course, it was significantly more likely to occur with a 50mph freight. The crossing has existed as is with a 90mph speed limit for passenger trains for many decades.

The road over the crossing is a local road, not a state or federal funded highway. No bus routes are scheduled to use it for instance and it has an AADT category of 5 (the lowest useage category). Its a very low priority.

The line has 58 scheduled trains over that crossing, 56 being freights. The low road user useage is one reason the crossing hasn't been deemed worthy of upgrading as yet.


On a side note:
The number of casualties has now been confirmed as 3 - the vehicle driver and two Amtrak personnel.

 

[matacaster]

Err, latest casualty figures are 150 taken to hospital, 50 serious. 3 dead on train, 1 dumper truck driver dead. RIP.

 

[hexagon789]

Err, latest casualty figures are 150 taken to hospital, 50 serious. 3 dead on train, 1 dumper truck driver dead. RIP.

I always took "casualty" to mean deceased when used to describe accidents.

Edit: I thought I'd check the OED to check whether I was misusing the term, it gives the following leading definition -

Casualty noun. A person killed or injured in a war or accident.

 

[eldomtom2]

The line has 58 scheduled trains over that crossing, 56 being freights. The low road user useage is one reason the crossing hasn't been deemed worthy of upgrading as yet.

58 per what?

 

[stuu]

I've read somewhere (it's only a memory now; I can't cite a source) that a substantial proportion (maybe as much as 40%) of US crossing incidents happen after the locomotive is way past the crossing (i.e. road vehicles hitting the side of the train).

The freight railways do have a habit of stopping trains across level crossings, so at night on an unlit road with no bells and lights for the crossing it's slightly more understandable

 

[Bletchleyite]

The freight railways do have a habit of stopping trains across level crossings, so at night on an unlit road with no bells and lights for the crossing it's slightly more understandable

Though presumably the cars have headlights. Crashing into a large stationary object really is the absolute height of driver incompetence.

 

[Wolfie]

The freight railways do have a habit of stopping trains across level crossings, so at night on an unlit road with no bells and lights for the crossing it's slightly more understandable

Less than ideal. However, with very long trains and relatively high numbers of crossings that may be unavailable at times.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jun 2022 ==

Though presumably the cars have headlights. Crashing into a large stationary object really is the absolute height of driver incompetence.

Yup.

 

[hexagon789]

58 per what?

Sorry, per day.

 

[The Ham]

2,100 collisions a year!? That's around 6 a day. Yes, it's a big place, but goodness gracious

Yet it's tiny compared to the number of deaths on the roads and whilst larger than the number of mass shooting, not by as little as you'd typically hope.

 

[matacaster]

Whilst, of course, ideally such a crossing should be made safer, there are a lot of them and it ain't going to happen soon. If a dump truck driver can't see what's coming down the tracks because of foliage or other obstruction or it's risky, then the obvious answer is do not attempt to cross! (I accept the detour may be many miles, but its safer).

 

[eldomtom2]

Sorry, per day.

That hardly sounds like a crossing with low rail traffic...

 

[Wolfie]

That hardly sounds like a crossing with low rail traffic...

Two and a half trains an hour on average is hardly vast traffic. I concede though that many US freight trains are mega-long.

 

[LLivery]

Sorry, per day.

That's fairly busier than I expected. I never really bought the argument from freight that more passenger trains are 'too difficult' but that's rather high considering the length of them

Yet it's tiny compared to the number of deaths on the roads and whilst larger than the number of mass shooting, not by as little as you'd typically hope.

True, unfortunately

 

[hexagon789]

That's fairly busier than I expected. I never really bought the argument from freight that more passenger trains are 'too difficult' but that's rather high considering the length of them

The maintenance of the track for 90mph running, to say nothing of the obsolete ATS equipment, must add a fair whack to costs considering there is only one passenger service each way per day. Perhaps the high volume of freights makes the maintenance much more viable.

 

[The Ham]

The maintenance of the track for 90mph running, to say nothing of the obsolete ATS equipment, must add a fair whack to costs considering there is only one passenger service each way per day. Perhaps the high volume of freights makes the maintenance much more viable.

Although 12 crew for a passenger service with 275 passengers on board would also be fairly costly.

 

[Yankee01]

Some information has been released from the data recorder.

Jennifer Homendy, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Wednesday that after analyzing information from its event recorder, federal investigators have determined that the train was traveling 89 mph about a quarter-mile out from the crash, when the horn started blowing, and 87 mph at impact.

The train was under the speed limit. The horn sounded 1/4 mile out, which would be about 10 seconds before the crossing. This is inline with the Federal Railway Administration regulation of sounding the horn no more than 1/4 mile away if the traveling above 60 MPH. Otherwise, it should be sounded 15-20 seconds prior.

The crossing itself is a bit tricky, with a steep incline heading up to it.

Mike Spencer, a farmer in the Mendon area, told ABC affiliate station KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri, that he's warned local officials that the crossing was dangerous, particularly for drivers unfamiliar with the crossing. Spencer said the crossing has a steep incline that rises 6 feet and because the railroad tracks sit at an angle, it's difficult to see approaching trains.

Unheeded recommendations might have prevented deadly Amtrak crash: NTSB

Investigators are working to determine if an Amtrak train was traveling at a speed limit of 90 mph when it plowed into a dump truck at a Missouri railroad crossing.

abcnews.go.com

 

[DelW]

Unheeded recommendations might have prevented deadly Amtrak crash: NTSB

Investigators are working to determine if an Amtrak train was traveling at a speed limit of 90 mph when it plowed into a dump truck at a Missouri railroad crossing.

abcnews.go.com

That linked report confirms that four people were killed, the truck driver and three passengers:

The dead passengers were identified on Wednesday by the Missouri State Highway Patrol as Binh Pham, 82, of Kansas City, Missouri, and Rochelle Cook, 57, and Kim Holsapple, 56, both of Desoto, Kansas. The driver of the dump truck who was killed was identified as Billy Barton II, 53, of Brookfield, Missouri, according to the highway patrol.

This section gives an idea of the scale of the issue of open crossings:

Homendy said she confirmed with the director of the Missouri Department of Transportation that the crossing was on a list of crossings they wanted to upgrade.

She said the funds to upgrade the crossing would come from Chariton County, the state and the BNSF Railway Co., which owns and operates the track.

However, Homendy noted that there are 3,500 similar passive railroad crossings in Missouri -- or about half of the state's railroad crossings.

Nationwide, there are 130,000 passive railroad crossings, Homendy said.

 

[Taunton]

Strange frothing by US media over whether the train was "speeding", when it was announced that it was running in a 90mph limit area at 89mph (likely under cruise control, as normal) it was all trumpeted by the media as "Breaking News".

Meanwhile I am a bit surprised that one of the heaviest duty main lines in the USA still had wooden ties rather than concrete. They do all seem displaced and crushed by the derailed lead loco, with the rest of the train following into derailment. It does seem to be cwr.

 

[Rick1984]

The train was under the speed limit. The horn sounded 1/4 mile out, which would be about 10 seconds before the crossing. This is inline with the Federal Railway Administration regulation of sounding the horn no more than 1/4 mile away if the traveling above 60 MPH. Otherwise, it should be sounded 15-20 seconds prior.

Why is traveling faster the horn sounded later? 10 seconds seems very short time

 

[GC class B1]

Why is traveling faster the horn sounded later? 10 seconds seems very short time

At 60 MPH it takes 15 seconds to travel 1/4 mile. At speeds above 60 MPH it will take less than 15 seconds so the horn must be sounded more than 1/4 mile away.

 

[Taunton]

USA has always had a requirement that the classic Long-Long-Short-Long for a level (grade) crossing) is finished just before the train gets to the crossing. At high speed this takes 1/4 mile. You don't want to blow beyond that distance as it will be pretty inaudible at the crossing at such a range.

 

[notverydeep]

USA has always had a requirement that the classic Long-Long-Short-Long for a level (grade) crossing) is finished just before the train gets to the crossing. At high speed this takes 1/4 mile. You don't want to blow beyond that distance as it will be pretty inaudible at the crossing at such a range.

In my experience there are so many level crossings on US railways, that trains are sounding their horns more or less continuously! I don't know how many were close to the one at the accident scene however...

 

[Taunton]

In my experience there are so many level crossings on US railways, that trains are sounding their horns more or less continuously! I don't know how many were close to the one at the accident scene however...

This is all well surveyed, and marked along the track with the classic USA Start Crossing Horn sign, oblong with two holes in it. Modern locos have a single button which automatically does the grade crossing horn sequence, avoiding the engineer having to operate the whistle appropriately on the whistle cord.

 

[Yankee01]

In my experience there are so many level crossings on US railways, that trains are sounding their horns more or less continuously! I don't know how many were close to the one at the accident scene however...

Regulations for quiet zones have been written and implemented in some places for populated areas. These require barrier arms across all lanes of traffic in both directions, or some sort of median or kurb extending a certain distance such that a vehicle can't be driven around an arm. No horn at anytime other than emergency situations in these areas, but a bell is still sounded though. The community is entirely responsible for funding the required improvements to establish a quite zone.

 

[ac6000cw]

Meanwhile I am a bit surprised that one of the heaviest duty main lines in the USA still had wooden ties rather than concrete. They do all seem displaced and crushed by the derailed lead loco, with the rest of the train following into derailment. It does seem to be cwr.

It's pretty common to have CWR on wood ties + baseplates + spikes (+ rail anchors sometimes).

Out of interest I had a quick look through the video/photos from my last trip to Southern California in 2019, at various locations along the far west end of the same BNSF route. Starting at the west end, at Fullerton it was CWR on wood ties, on Cajon Pass it's on concrete ties, Victorville wood, Barstow concrete and Ash Hill (half way to Needles) it was wood. So a complete mixture, and no obvious reason why - other than Fullerton, all those places are similar 'high desert' locations, with temperatures into the high 30C/low 40C in high summer and down to freezing or below overnight in winter.

Example at Fullerton (...and spot the track defect):

 

[stuartl]

I see that Amtrak are now suing the company that owned the lorry!

 

[ac6000cw]

I see that Amtrack are now suing the company that owned the lorry!

It's what you'd expect them to do - effectively they're suing the insurers of the company that operated the truck. By the way it's spelt 'Amtrak'.

Doubtless there's hoards of ambulance-chasing lawyers working on lawsuits against the truck operator, Amtrak and BNSF on behalf as many of the casualties (or their families) as they've managed to sign up...

Regulations for quiet zones have been written and implemented in some places for populated areas. These require barrier arms across all lanes of traffic in both directions, or some sort of median or kurb extending a certain distance such that a vehicle can't be driven around an arm. No horn at anytime other than emergency situations in these areas, but a bell is still sounded though. The community is entirely responsible for funding the required improvements to establish a quite zone.

In 2017 I was in Western Canada following (by road) the CP mainline Ashcroft, BC - Canmore, AB and the CN (ex-BC Rail) North Vancouver - Lillooet line. There was very little sounding of horns on either route - they were effectively very long 'quiet zones'.

 

[DelW]

There's an NTSB video on YouTube of an inspection of the train, showing that the lead loco stood up quite well to an 87mph collision:

Screenshot showing the loco cab attached.

 

[matacaster]

There is an article about the crash in 'railway age' magazine in usa. It has quotes from NTSB (national transport safety board) and very detailed insurance claim specifying huge number of violations by truck driver and his employer MS Contracting. Then there's all the claims for dead and injured... Ouch!

 

[D6130]

Example at Fullerton (...and spot the track defect):

Yep....a good old-fashioned UK-style wet spot!