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A WRECK OF A THREAD
#1
I've seen a few stories about bad motorist accidents this winter.

This one is the worst so far. Very sad.

A New York Metro-North Train slammed into an SUV that was on the tracks in Valhalla yesterday. There were over 650 passengers on the train. 5 passengers died, along with the driver of the SUV. Dozens more are in the hospital.


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Authorities said the impact was so forceful the electrified third rail came up and pierced the train.

"It's really inexplicable, based on the facts we have now," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on WCBS-AM radio. "Everybody wants to know exactly what happened, so that if something can be corrected, we correct it."

Metro-North has been criticized severely for accidents over the last couple of years. Late last year, the NTSB issued rulings on five accidents that occurred in New York and Connecticut in 2013 and 2014, repeatedly finding fault with the railroad while also noting that conditions have improved.

Last March, the Federal Railroad Administration issued a stinging report on Metro-North, saying it let safety concerns slip while pushing to keep trains on time. Railroad executives pledged to make safety their top priority.

It's not clear if the railroad was at fault this time though -- the investigation is just getting underway.

Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04...12722.html
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#2


The wife & mother of three, the driver of the SUV -

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#3
I don't think snow plows should have right of way at intersections. If you don't have a siren, I won't see your stupid yellow flashing lights. I was making a left turn at like an 8 lane intersection and a plow nearly slammed into the side of me.
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#4
Philadelphia Train Wreck Kills at Least 6 Passengers

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Several rail cars overturned when an Amtrak train derailed near a sharp curve in Philadelphia last night, killing at least six people and injuring dozens.

The northbound Amtrak train was carrying 238 passengers to New York when it derailed in a violent wreck that sheared the engine from the train and overturned cars full of riders.

The train originated in Washington and was due in New York about 10:30 p.m. But shortly after leaving Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, the train began to jerk and rock, passengers said.

One car was flipped nearly onto its roof, another was close to toppled, and three were on their sides, the Federal Railroad Administration said. The engine and two cars stayed upright.

The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known. The Amtrak official declined to speculate on whether the train’s speed contributed to the derailment but noted the tight curve in the area has a speed restriction of 55 miles an hour.

“It is an absolute disastrous mess,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said at a news conference.

Full story: http://www.wsj.com/articles/deadly-train...1431499608
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#5


It's a horrible, devastating accident. It was all over my news this morning before I left. There's a rumor floating around that it was speeding 100 mph in a 50 mph zone but I can't get that confirmed. There's at least one woman still missing. A musician from DC tweeted to AMTRAK "thanks a lot for derailing my train. Can I get my violin back from the 2nd car". Whatta moe.52
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#6
:( horrifying!
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#7


I listened to the press conference a little while ago. The speed limit heading up to the curve is 80 mph with it lowering to 50 once you're actually going into the curve. The train registered 106 when it hit the curve. The engineer has lawyered up. He's in deep shit! Seven people are now confirmed dead with others badly hurt and hospitalized.
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#8
(05-13-2015, 06:58 PM)Duchess Wrote:

He's in deep shit!

He may have been trying to get attention. Who knows.

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#9
(05-13-2015, 06:58 PM)Duchess Wrote: I listened to the press conference a little while ago. The speed limit heading up to the curve is 80 mph with it lowering to 50 once you're actually going into the curve. The train registered 106 when it hit the curve. The engineer has lawyered up. He's in deep shit! Seven people are now confirmed dead with others badly hurt and hospitalized.

The NTSB is condemning the mayor for making inflammatory statements before they've had a chance to fully investigate the rail conditions, the black box, the engineer's cell phone records, etc...

For me, if the engineer was doing twice the speed limit around that curve for any reason other than mechanical failure beyond his control then he deserves to be in deep shit.

I wonder if the train was behind schedule and he was trying to make up time and whether Amtrak encourages or turns a blind eye to such practices. I haven't heard anything like that, I'm just wondering.

Anyway, the NTSB spokesperson said there will be more definitive answers in the next 48 to 72 hours.

Very sad situation for the families of the deceased.
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#10
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#11
Are you working up to suggesting that Bostian was dreaming of pulling a choo choo when the train derailed, Zero? Smiley_emoticons_wink

I remember a Metro train going off the tracks a couple of years back; 4 passengers were killed. The investigation determined that the wreck was due to the conductor/engineer falling asleep.

I know that engineer was hit with massive civil suits, but don't think he ever faced any criminal charges.
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#12
(05-13-2015, 09:29 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: The NTSB is condemning the mayor for making inflammatory statements.....

This May 13th may be noteworthy for Philadelphia Mayoral inflammatory statements, but I can remember the all time winner for such May 13th conduct. IMO it was Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode. ''As Mayor of this city I accept full and total responsibility,'' Mr. Goode said. ''There was no way to avoid it.

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#13
(05-13-2015, 10:04 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: Are you working up to suggesting that Bostian was dreaming of pulling a choo choo when the train derailed, Zero? Smiley_emoticons_wink

It's just a guess but I figure instead of conductor, that night he'd rather be riding caboose. Maybe he thought his job was the pits.
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#14
Wow, hard to believe the MOVE fire was 25 years ago.
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#15
JB, That night was just the beginning of lawsuits, graft, corruption and malfeasance. The new homes built to replace the fire bombed homes were constructed so poorly they were later condemned as uninhabitable.
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#16
(05-13-2015, 07:48 PM)ZEROSPHERES Wrote:
(05-13-2015, 06:58 PM)Duchess Wrote:

He's in deep shit!

He may have been trying to get attention. Who knows.

Or just day dreaming.

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#17
(05-13-2015, 09:29 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote:
(05-13-2015, 06:58 PM)Duchess Wrote: I listened to the press conference a little while ago. The speed limit heading up to the curve is 80 mph with it lowering to 50 once you're actually going into the curve. The train registered 106 when it hit the curve. The engineer has lawyered up. He's in deep shit! Seven people are now confirmed dead with others badly hurt and hospitalized.

The NTSB is condemning the mayor for making inflammatory statements before they've had a chance to fully investigate the rail conditions, the black box, the engineer's cell phone records, etc...

For me, if the engineer was doing twice the speed limit around that curve for any reason other than mechanical failure beyond his control then he deserves to be in deep shit.

I wonder if the train was behind schedule and he was trying to make up time and whether Amtrak encourages or turns a blind eye to such practices. I haven't heard anything like that, I'm just wondering.

Anyway, the NTSB spokesperson said there will be more definitive answers in the next 48 to 72 hours.

Very sad situation for the families of the deceased.

I agree with ^^^^^ above.....Amtrak has too many accidents....it is one thing when it is a mechanical and/or a rail issue, etc., but it seems many of these devastating crashes have been due to human error and thus, preventable. One engineer, in recent history, was distracted by a call on his cell phone and missed a warning light at an intersecting track causing a head on collision with another train. Another accident was caused by an engineer falling asleep on the job.. Either they need more training and/or an alternate Engineer on board....or maybe they need to hire new personnel.

I checked number of accidents with fatalities for past 10 years and you won't ever get me on Amtrak.....never....and I have saying that for years. Speeding is a preventable accident, if that was the case, in this latest incident.
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#18
(05-13-2015, 11:03 PM)ZEROSPHERES Wrote: JB, That night was just the beginning of lawsuits, graft, corruption and malfeasance. The new homes built to replace the fire bombed homes were constructed so poorly they were later condemned as uninhabitable.

I remember watching the coverage of that the day it happened on WCAU.
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#19
This guy, Callanan, says he thinks the train was stoned off the tracks. I find that far fetched.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/conduc...iladelphia

Callanan has a theory:
"We have had our trains stoned before. All kinds of stuff happens on the Northeast corridor. If you name it, I've seen it. Baltimore, we've had children stoning the train, throwing rocks at the train. That particular area, North Philly, is a bad area," says Callanan.


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#20
I don't see how a projectile could cause the train to accelerate from 70 to 106 mph minutes before the derailment. I would mark it up to a very strange coincidence. It is verified though that a Septa train travelling in the same corridor 20 minutes before Amtrak 188 was hit by something breaking its windshield. These new state of the art Amtrak engines have bullet proof glass. Something would have to be very powerful to leave that damage.
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