Valley Railroad grade crossing accident - 8/14

This just in - looks like a moron tried to beat the Essex Steam Train across a crossing at Dump Road in Essex. Looks like it was on the return trip south - #97 running tender forward. News reports said derailment, but the helocopter footage from Channel 8 it looks like everything is on the rails. Maybe the tender is off - can't really tell from the helo shots. Links to the news:

http://www.nbc30.com/news/9676344/detail.html
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=5278411

And it was a garbage truck that was struck - not just a car...

WTNH has video from their helocopter also...

-Tom Nanos

Too bad dump road isn't a dead end
97 looks ok
Too many idiots in this world

Yeah, I've been watching the video feed. They zoomed in on the end of the tender, and the knuckle looks scraped up - that's about it. My brother in-law is on the scene and he can't see anything derailed, although that's what the word is around there.

My sister just talked to one of the conductors on the train. Aparently #97's brakes are damaged - nothing is derailed. Conductor was saying she'll be taken out of commission for a while to repair the brakes.

-Tom

WTNH just showed one of the centercabs sitting on the siding at the north end of Essex station with white flags on her. Maybe heading up to bring the train back when the police are done with their investigation.

#97 is heading back under their own power as of 3:07 PM

Here is a link to another article about this unfortunate incident.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/ ... TE=DEFAULT

Noel Weaver

I'm sorry what happen to the truck driver but when are people going to learn. Thankgood the damage was to the tender at least.

Just watched channel 30 train ok and driver more than likely will face charges.

Heard about the incident today from 2 of my friends calling me. In my years of working there, we had a couple mishaps, both of which happened right at Rt 154, both were incidents with someone smashing through the gates. That happened quite a bit at that xing, the busiest regular used one on the line.

The general synopsis from people especially along the Valley line is that the train is moving slow enough that they have time to outrun it. Thank god noone was seriously injured on the train.

Funniest part of the story is that the news keeps on calling it the Dump Road crossing. Well, that's not the official name of the crossing anymore.... it's the Essex Transfer Station Crossing! I remember when the change came and it was described to us as a "very important" change at the annual rules exam. We all got a laugh out of that.

-Jay H.

Just saw a small thing about this in the Boston Globe, so I peeked here and watched the video. Not much damage all around, but it sure is odd to hear about a tourist train in such an accident!

I hope the kids on the train now understand why you take railroad crossings seriously...

Well theres two things that this proves.

1. Some people are still morons when it comes to thinking that they can beat a train to a crossing.

2. This just shows how well locomotives are built and this is a steam locomotive tender that turned over a 5(?)ton truck and the tender ju got very minor dammage!

How is it so odd to hear of a tourist train in such an accident?
Tourist trains are still real trains with real crossings. My old boss said it best-- "no matter how small the railroad, the danger is still there." I have witnessed first hand the aftermath of a tourist train Vs. motorist accident. it really isnt all that far-fetched for something like this to happen. Where there are crossings, there are nincompoops who run them, no matter what railroad it is.

How odd?

How many tourist trains are running compared to revenue trains? And how many of those are pulled by actual steam engines? How many trips do they make in a year past that crossing compared to commuter rail or freight lines elsewhere with all their miles of trackage?

Since I started getting into trains 3.5 years ago I have not heard of an accident involving a tourist train, yet alone one being hauled by steam. Maybe I don't know every detail of every accident in the nation, but to me, the situation is at least unique, if not odd.

oh I agree that crossing accidents involving steam locos are really rare in this day and age.. (infact this is the first one that I have personally heard of). But afew years ago, Cape Cod Central Railroad's Scenic train was involved in a serious fatality at a crossing. though scenic train accidents are seemingly fewer compared to their freight and amtrak brethren, it happens more than train crews would like them to. hope I didnt ruffle any feathers with the previous post, but I just wanted to say afew things on that note.