Shuttle 490 vs Truck in Berlin, CT

tjensen wrote:F**k why a Metroliner??

I'd like to see a couple Amfleets smashed up

You got your wish at Chase, MD. 16 innocent people have died. Then there was the incident on the Downeaster that damaged a coach.

For the curious: Metroliner cab car interior (not my photo). Not somewhere I'd want to be if I saw a truck on the tracks while rounding a blind corner.

R36 Combine Coach wrote:

tjensen wrote:F**k why a Metroliner??

I'd like to see a couple Amfleets smashed up

You got your wish at Chase, MD. 16 innocent people have died. Then there was the incident on the Downeaster that damaged a coach.

I meant that i wanted to see some cars in the scrapper; i didnt want them to be involved in any sort of accident which would kill/hurt ppl

csor2010 wrote:For the curious: Metroliner cab car interior (not my photo). Not somewhere I'd want to be if I saw a truck on the tracks while rounding a blind corner.

Nice to see one of my photos making the rounds again. Someone posted a better one that shows the structure of a Metroliner cab with the fiberglass removed and there isn't a lot there to really ward off bucket trucks and whatnot. Still, the cab car in this situation seemed to do a pretty good job. Inland Shittle crews tend to leave the interior door open for this very reason. Moreover about 10 years ago Amtrak dropped a 25mph speed restriction in Wallingford and Meriden due to the number of either collisions or close calls. Speeds through those cities had previously been 60mph.

Local news reported that the truck was sitting on the tracks waiting for somebody to unlock a gate. It seems that the landowner shouldn't have placed a gate where it would force a driver to stop on or near the tracks. If there's going to be a locked gate, put one on both sides of the tracks. In this location it's a single track with no crossing signals, which might lull the average person into thinking it's a lightly used freight line where trains don't go so fast. There are at least 12 trains zooming through there at 60 - 79 mph each day.

Jehochman wrote:Local news reported that the truck was sitting on the tracks waiting for somebody to unlock a gate. It seems that the landowner shouldn't have placed a gate where it would force a driver to stop on or near the tracks. If there's going to be a locked gate, put one on both sides of the tracks. In this location it's a single track with no crossing signals, which might lull the average person into thinking it's a lightly used freight line where trains don't go so fast. There are at least 12 trains zooming through there at 60 - 79 mph each day.

Or simply stop on the other side of the tracks, walk over, unlock the gate and THEN drive over the tracks.

Really, it's not that hard folks.

Jehochman wrote:Local news reported that the truck was sitting on the tracks waiting for somebody to unlock a gate. It seems that the landowner shouldn't have placed a gate where it would force a driver to stop on or near the tracks. If there's going to be a locked gate, put one on both sides of the tracks. In this location it's a single track with no crossing signals, which might lull the average person into thinking it's a lightly used freight line where trains don't go so fast. There are at least 12 trains zooming through there at 60 - 79 mph each day.

Here's the chain-link gate in question, opposite side of the tracks next to the telephone pole: http://goo.gl/maps/wx4dj" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

That's probably illegal, but that end of Norton Ln. is so remote I doubt any official presence gets down there often enough to enforce it. And it's probably the town or state who has to enforce it. Connecticut is notorious, especially on the Springfield Line, for the towns refusing to comply with traffic enforcement around crossings if it inconveniences some Alderman Pothole's loudest 3 constituents even a little bit. To the extent of town of West Hartford disconnecting the state-paid and state-installed traffic signal preemption around one of the busiest crossings in town. And this is a private crossing, so appeals to a higher authority are even more futile if the town doesn't want to lift a finger. The only crossing of any kind in Berlin, so it's not like failure to enforce here trickles up to increase the police dept. and fire dept.'s liability around other public crossings in town. Amtrak could've easily been screaming about the safety risk here for years, but if it's off their property line it's somebody else's job to go to the property owner and enforce the ordinances. And if this property owner has any influence, the chances of that actually happening are close to nil.

That's Connecticut for you. The dumbest state in New England by far when it comes to obeying the law around grade crossings. Which baffles me when lines like the NEC, Springfield, MNRR New Caanan/Danbury/Waterbury, NECR, and the P&W main have had such stable Class 2-4 speeds, frequent passenger traffic and/or semi-frequent freight traffic for so many years, nearly all-gated crossings throwing up a dead-obvious caution, and a relatively even geographical spread across the state. Trains going at good clip through crossings are not exactly unfamiliar sights to any driver within a 10-15 mile radius of origin, and It's not like there's too many miles of podunk Class 1 branchlines left that only have rare 10 MPH movements between days or weeks or inactivity.

Thanks for the picture of the Metroliner cab. That's the thing with cabs and any vehicle with an over the front-wheel design (i.e. city/charter buses): you are the first one on the scene of an accident. I imagine the engineer/driver may have an "escape" planned a second in advance. Personally having driven these types of buses, I know I would if I could.

I really hope those injured get well soon.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

Jehochman wrote:Local news reported that the truck was sitting on the tracks waiting for somebody to unlock a gate. It seems that the landowner shouldn't have placed a gate where it would force a driver to stop on or near the tracks. If there's going to be a locked gate, put one on both sides of the tracks. In this location it's a single track with no crossing signals, which might lull the average person into thinking it's a lightly used freight line where trains don't go so fast. There are at least 12 trains zooming through there at 60 - 79 mph each day.

Here's the chain-link gate in question, opposite side of the tracks next to the telephone pole: http://goo.gl/maps/wx4dj" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

That's probably illegal, but that end of Norton Ln. is so remote I doubt any official presence gets down there often enough to enforce it. And it's probably the town or state who has to enforce it. Connecticut is notorious, especially on the Springfield Line, for the towns refusing to comply with traffic enforcement around crossings if it inconveniences some Alderman Pothole's loudest 3 constituents even a little bit. To the extent of town of West Hartford disconnecting the state-paid and state-installed traffic signal preemption around one of the busiest crossings in town. And this is a private crossing, so appeals to a higher authority are even more futile if the town doesn't want to lift a finger. The only crossing of any kind in Berlin, so it's not like failure to enforce here trickles up to increase the police dept. and fire dept.'s liability around other public crossings in town. Amtrak could've easily been screaming about the safety risk here for years, but if it's off their property line it's somebody else's job to go to the property owner and enforce the ordinances. And if this property owner has any influence, the chances of that actually happening are close to nil.

That's Connecticut for you. The dumbest state in New England by far when it comes to obeying the law around grade crossings. Which baffles me when lines like the NEC, Springfield, MNRR New Caanan/Danbury/Waterbury, NECR, and the P&W main have had such stable Class 2-4 speeds, frequent passenger traffic and/or semi-frequent freight traffic for so many years, nearly all-gated crossings throwing up a dead-obvious caution, and a relatively even geographical spread across the state. Trains going at good clip through crossings are not exactly unfamiliar sights to any driver within a 10-15 mile radius of origin, and It's not like there's too many miles of podunk Class 1 branchlines left that only have rare 10 MPH movements between days or weeks or inactivity.

while the trains are a lot slower in downtown Meriden, you should see the crossing gates go down at Meriden south of the station... the crossing gate has gone down on the city busses and bounced off of them still working correctly. I fell is an accident waiting to happen just south of the train station.

Brooks Street in Meriden still beats that with moronic pedestrians, but at least that crossing will be closed when Meriden is renovated for NHHS. ($20 says people will probably still try to jump the barriers or something since you can't fix stupid.)

Either way, I hope whoever owns the crossing in Berlin as well as the tree trimming company both get sent hefty bills.

tjensen wrote:F**k why a Metroliner??

I'd like to see a couple Amfleets smashed up

The Amfleets were/are some of the best pieces of passenger equipment ever made. Amtrak was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to order them (and in the amount that were ordered). The Budd Company almost always (the SPV2000s being one exception) made a top quality product that has proven itself on other railroads such as VIA.

As for the Metroliner cabs it could have been far worse. At least the thing held up to some extent. Much like how an automobile -again, to some extent- is supposed to hold up strength-wise in an accident.

And for that matter why get worked up about a Metroliner cab going to the scrapper? They're going to be replaced in the not too distant future anyway when the Amfleet IIIs start making the rounds (whenever they do) so it's not too much of a loss. I'm sure the engineers that use them won't be sad to see them go.

Side note: Good to have you back, F-Line

csor2010 wrote:For the curious: Metroliner cab car interior (not my photo). Not somewhere I'd want to be if I saw a truck on the tracks while rounding a blind corner.

Ironic that a photo of an intact cab car was taken in Berlin.

This is why my uncle was in favor of the Alco FA power cars on the LIRR. More protection in a crash.

Indecently got stopped before hitting a truck which was fouling the tracks. It wouldn't have been pretty, but with an AC4400 in the lead, the trucker might have been aware that there was a problem.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

Jehochman wrote:Local news reported that the truck was sitting on the tracks waiting for somebody to unlock a gate. It seems that the landowner shouldn't have placed a gate where it would force a driver to stop on or near the tracks. If there's going to be a locked gate, put one on both sides of the tracks. In this location it's a single track with no crossing signals, which might lull the average person into thinking it's a lightly used freight line where trains don't go so fast. There are at least 12 trains zooming through there at 60 - 79 mph each day.

Here's the chain-link gate in question, opposite side of the tracks next to the telephone pole: http://goo.gl/maps/wx4dj" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

That's probably illegal, but that end of Norton Ln. is so remote I doubt any official presence gets down there often enough to enforce it. And it's probably the town or state who has to enforce it. Connecticut is notorious, especially on the Springfield Line, for the towns refusing to comply with traffic enforcement around crossings if it inconveniences some Alderman Pothole's loudest 3 constituents even a little bit. To the extent of town of West Hartford disconnecting the state-paid and state-installed traffic signal preemption around one of the busiest crossings in town. And this is a private crossing, so appeals to a higher authority are even more futile if the town doesn't want to lift a finger. The only crossing of any kind in Berlin, so it's not like failure to enforce here trickles up to increase the police dept. and fire dept.'s liability around other public crossings in town. Amtrak could've easily been screaming about the safety risk here for years, but if it's off their property line it's somebody else's job to go to the property owner and enforce the ordinances. And if this property owner has any influence, the chances of that actually happening are close to nil.

That's Connecticut for you. The dumbest state in New England by far when it comes to obeying the law around grade crossings. Which baffles me when lines like the NEC, Springfield, MNRR New Caanan/Danbury/Waterbury, NECR, and the P&W main have had such stable Class 2-4 speeds, frequent passenger traffic and/or semi-frequent freight traffic for so many years, nearly all-gated crossings throwing up a dead-obvious caution, and a relatively even geographical spread across the state. Trains going at good clip through crossings are not exactly unfamiliar sights to any driver within a 10-15 mile radius of origin, and It's not like there's too many miles of podunk Class 1 branchlines left that only have rare 10 MPH movements between days or weeks or inactivity.