Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Texas Train Wreck

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/15/texas-train-crash/1707877/

I am still reading this in disbelief. I simply can't believe it. For those guys and their wives/children/family to go through the process of a deployment and then this happen to them... I can't explain it but this is really upsetting to me...

Very sad, but it sounds like piss poor planning. They're lucky more weren't killed.

Very sad indeed

There is an investigation going on to see if they forgot to extend the range of the gate control when they raised the track speed limit from 40 to 70 MPH. That would have given them too little time to get off the track even if all else was going right. The driver could not have accelerated very quickly because everyone was sitting on chairs that had just been set on the flatbed, so he would have left them tumbling on the track if he had 'stomped it'. I doubt anyone even thought of checking the railroad schedule.

I was reading that there was a two time purple heart recipient on that float with his wife. His last act was grabbing a hold of his wife and throwing her from the float before the train crashed into them. They have two children. If anyone has deployed or are friends with someone serving, then you know what a deployment does to a family...especially how hard it is on the children. I just can't imagine this...these families celebrating the return of these troops and then have this. It really is horrible.

That is probably all true, but my guess is that all could have been avoided had no tractor/trailer proceeded across the tracks till there was room on the other side.
I once had this problem, a tractor/trailer carrying a crane followed another carrying the booms into our yard. Just outside our gate are tracks, both had come and gone many times, but never in parade. Well the first carrying the booms took too long to maneuver into the yard leaving the one carrying the very heavy load on the tracks for sometime. When it went to proceed the lowboy hung up on the tracks. Luckily, the old gals in the office kept a train schedule, we had 20 minutes to stop the train, they did. It was a bad day, could have been much worse, a reminder that the world is a dangerous place.

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There is an investigation going on to see if they forgot to extend the range of the gate control when they raised the track speed limit from 40 to 70 MPH.

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did i miss this element of information in the article?
where was it stated that there was no longer a speed restriction on the track?

most grade crossing warning devices initiate with a wheel pass, at a specific distance from the crossing, regardless of speed.
if the gates and flashers were working properly; a visible/audible signal would've been initiated prior to gates coming down.
therefore; it would've been incumbent upon the driver of the vehicle not to commence crossing the track at all.

in fact, the driver of the vehicle which was struck should have remained clear of the track
until the driver in front of him/her had cleared the track entirely.
this is information that should have been introduced at a 'pre parade safety briefing.

whether the engineer, brakeman, or conductor saw the vehicle stopped on the track is a moot point.
weight X length X speed of train makes for a long stop distance.
if the engineer was sounding the horn, i can confidently say he/she was already applying brake.
even in the best of circumstances an emergency brake application doesn't stop that train on a dime (sorry for the cliche.)

It was fairly close to here, so I got to see more of the local news about the crash. The train was going about 55 - 60 MPH, well below the 70 MPH limit for that line. Witness accounts said that the gates came down and the train arrived in about the amount of time it took to tell about it, which is why more people didn't make it off the truck (lorry). This is why they think that the trip point for the gates is still at the distance that would be proper for a 40 MPH speed limit.
Freight (goods) trains in this area are usually very long container haulers with 4 2000 HP locomotives in front and another 3 at the rear partly to take some of the strain off the couplings. Considering that this area is flatter than last week's beer, that amount of power gives you an idea just how long and heavy that train probably was.

I though it was reported they had 20 seconds between warning and impact. They had also have used the same parade route for several years. So sad.