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It looks like they are operating on an alternate route much further east. I think 91/92's usual route through South Carolina is on the former Seaboard Air Line. They're probably using the former Atlantic Coast Line main via Charleston. I can't get arrival times from the Amtrak train status app but o...

Based on the two satellite photos below, it looks like the siding where the CSX freight was parked began a short distance north of the Charleston Highway overpass (the roadway visible in both images, marked US 321 in Fig 2). In Fig 1 the location of the siding switch would be at the uppermost right ...

The governor of South Carolina said at his press conference:

The CSX train was stationary on the tracks, "awaiting a later movement," when the collision occurred, Gov. Henry McMaster said in a press conference Sunday morning. It's not believed anyone was on that train. Link to CNN quote

I just wanted to explain my comment, "the freight was apparently holding." That was based on listening to a rail industry 'talking head' on ABC-News. He said, given the location and the impact damage -- the way the two trains reacted to the impact -- his immediate impression was that the f...

Below is an image at the scene looking south. The track leading off to the left serves a local industry. You can click on the image to enlarge it. The Amtrak train was apparently leaving single track with the freight holding.

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It's signaled track so it is hard to understand how this could happen. Two fatalities, looks like the lead CSX freight unit took a severe impact.

People cut corners here in my professional opinion. And this is the kind of corner cutting that leads to more regulations, lots more. I don't know if you can really accuse Amtrak or Washington DOT of cutting corners. None of the agencies make any profit. That seems to me to point to the underlying ...

...can you imagine saying to a police officer you didn't slow down for a speed limit/curve because you had only driven the route once or twice?... That probably happens all the time. I had it happen to me on Rt 17 in New Jersey a few years ago. A traffic light where I didn't expect one and a yellow...

The federal program New Jersey and New York were (or are) talking about for Gateway is the FTA's New Starts program. From the US DOT link I posted: “Acceptance into New Starts is an important step forward for the Gateway Program,” said Amtrak Board Chairman Anthony M. Coscia. “Amtrak is a committed ...

The article says, "Senators Schumer and Booker worked closely with Secretary Foxx of the DOT and Chairman Coscia of Amtrak, and secured a commitment from both that their respective agencies would cover half of the total project costs." Did the Secretary and Chairman confirm that they made...

We have some idea how much PTC BNSF has installed on the Seattle Subdivision. This is from the statement released by Washington State DOT that Dutch linked: On the segments of Washington’s Amtrak Cascades corridor beyond the Point Defiance Bypass, BNSF is already operating PTC for its freight trains...

In short, WSDOT's placing the blame on the host railroads for not getting PTC going... I don't think it is fair or accurate to say Washington DOT is "placing the blame" for the derailment on the host railroad. From the link that Dutch posted (and you copied): The National Transportation S...

One of the advantages of PTC was supposed to be, the railroads would gain additional capacity by being able to run freight trains faster and closer together, and do it safely. A pilot program about twenty years ago on BN in northern Minnesota worked very well. Early on Union Pacific was a big suppor...

Wasn't aware of this, but a Seattle TV station is reporting that until the PTC system is active (that is supposed to be around April) Amtrak will go back to operating on the old route. The director of Washington State Department of Transportation told KIRO 7 the Amtrak Cascades run will not return t...

I think we will be hearing more about the training process and if the crews had adequate time qualifying on a new territory. I had testing with Amtrak several years back and I was a little surprised that it wasn't more intense... Regarding Amtrak locomotive engineer training. A friend is a locomoti...