Southampton Yard Derailment (10/31/20)

At some point on yesterday(10/31) a bi-level split a switch near the commuter rail S&I. Not sure the number but by the pictures I saw the coach looked pretty jacked up. All Amtrak trains are quick turning at South Station due to the access to the Amtrak yard being blocked by the derailment and Catenary being shut down. From the sounds of it, the coach did some serious damage to the track

Is there any more information on this and where can any pictures be found?

I tried searching for a news story on this derailment and I could not find a single thing. Nothing on any of the media outlets websites or on news.google.com.

The only thing that comes up on Google is this thread.

It was a yard derailment so it probably won’t make any type of news. Investigation is still ongoing however it appears that the Engineer may have ran an improperly lined switch then made a reverse move. The rear truck of the engine derailed and the coach behind it derailed fully and tipped over slightly.

Thats what ive heard as well. If it wasnt for the locomotive I guess the car would have tipped completely

Happened on a yard track, no signals or dispatcher control.

Are yard switches manual? How much damage to the couch?

I did not see the damage to the coach after it was removed, the switches in the yard all have to be lined by the crews. There are both switches that have to be lined by hand and some that are lined by radio control that require the crews to enter the correct code.

Amtrak trains 195 and 2253 were cancelled and some others left South Station over three hrs LT. I believe the cancelled trains were stuck in the yard and the late departures resulted in having to wait for inbound trains to arrive and go out with the inbound train's equipment. Is there a wye where the inbound trains were turned that does not involve going into the yard? Could the trains go in and out of South Station with electrics or were diesels needed? Were any MBTA trains delayed as a result of the derailment?
Thanks!
Andy

Regionals came in, Loco came off, previous trains loco went on the outbound end and the train went out. Wash loop track was oos as was the Amtrak yard. Catenary was down just past South Station and the wye thats there has one leg that does not have Cat

8th Notch wrote: ↑Tue Nov 03, 2020 10:40 am I did not see the damage to the coach after it was removed, the switches in the yard all have to be lined by the crews. There are both switches that have to be lined by hand and some that are lined by radio control that require the crews to enter the correct code.

Is it normal for busy yard switches to be manually controlled? Seems inefficient and a high chance of human error.

Yes, really depends on the yard, the type of work and how much money the railroad wants to invest. Radio operated switches are considerably more expensive and need to be tied into some basic signal logic that detects a train on the switch so it isn't thrown under it. Dispatcher control with signals brings a whole new level of complexity and expense that isn't really warranted for low-speed yard operations. Calling the dispatcher and waiting for them to respond, tell them which switch you want, etc. when you could have punched in a code or walked up and thrown the switch yourself.

If the yard is or will become congested with more movements as service expands here is a solution. Do it subway style. Have a control stand mounted at approach to switch(s) that engineer can punch in route desired or just the one switch. That way you cut down on transit times. The one problem is when backing a loco someone will have to dismount to operate the control box unless box is far enough away from the switch so loco cab can access from left side..
I can see problems if using tone ups if too many receivers are in close proximity.

Looking at the car, it looks like a Rotem and not a rebuilt K-Car (you can tell by the placement of the LED signs, the Rotems have their LED signs above the purple lining, while the K-Cars have them within the purple lining).

Hard to see a number in the picture, is it the 845 by any chance? It's being listed on the inventory as "Held for carbody repair".

Yes, the car involved was 845.