Wildlife collisions

A few minutes ago I felt a big thump under the floor of the first car of Amtrak 178 (NER) in Rhode Island. The conductor just announced that we had hit a deer, and that she had to go out and walk the train because we had tripped a dragging equipment indicator. Apparently the deer carcass was hanging from the undercarriage, but it fell off when we jiggled over the interlocking in East Greenwich. I suppose that's good luck for us, not so much for the deer. We're moving again.

How often does something like this happen? Deer and turkey are overrunning New England.

Sadly, all the time. I wish there were a way to protect wildlife, but alas, it's a routine occurrence. (Happens all too often on the road too, where it's not just a hazard for the animals. I had many near misses and successful avoidance maneuvers, and sadly two failures to avoid deer during my time in Pennsylvania.)

Bovine vs Amtrak is a somewhat regular "meeting","Instant hamburger" is the result for the Chief at times
All it takes is an open gate,or a weak fence for this to happen.

The east end of Long Island is infested with deer and they're always popping out onto the tracks. No match for a 128 ton DE.

But as long as it doesn't go airborne (i.e. No. 904's altercation with an off-course turkey last June) usually the delay is minimal.

It's going to keep getting worse as more sprawl forces regular wildlife to become 'urban wildlife'. Last year's two AEM-7 vs. Thanksgiving dinner incidents in Mansfield, MA weren't an aberration...the wild turkey population along the NEC is exploding the closer quarters they get to people. Same with the deer. What used to stay in the woods far away from any from any human structures now doesn't run from you in your front yard when it's knawing on the shrubs or (in the case of the turkeys) knocking over your trash cans and eating by the side of the road. Take away the habitat, and they gotta do what they gotta do.

It's happening even right inside the City of Boston. Both the NEC and I-93 come into the city through the Neponset River Reservation. Wildlife that used to stay on the reservation now is invading the Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods. The southern suburbs have gotten so overdeveloped they're pinched into a funnel taking them directly into the city. The morning MassDOT crews that deploy the reversible HOV "zipper" lane on I-93 have to check every morning when they take the truck out to move the barrier what wandered into the 3 ft. space between the jersey barrier and got trapped by A.M. traffic...like this baby deer they rescued and put in the truck. And staff at Southampton Yard have found coyotes that have walked all the way up the NEC and Fairmount Line overnight. One infamously a couple years ago got to South Station, walked across the Summer St. bridge in broad A.M. commute daylight, somehow found its way into the portal of the I-90 Ted Williams Tunnel, and eventually got captured (very scared) by animal control at a loading dock in the Financial District. The Needham Line commuter rail has infamous problems with off-peak commuters getting attacked by packs of aggressive turkeys standing on the platform. And that's just the big stuff...South Station and Southampton Yard have long had large feral cat populations feasting on all manner of small- and midsize prey that walks up those grade-separated tracks from miles around.


If it's turkey and deer strikes today, it'll only be a matter of time before the coyote strikes start to become a not-rare occurrence. And then there will be the day when a Northeast Regional makes the news for hitting a black bear, since that population is too invading suburban areas close to the NEC that haven't seen them in close to a century. I mean, other than a direct hit on a window like 904 and 944 suffered last year (though that physics usually requires wings instead of fur to hit the right spot) none of this is going to pose any hazard to the trains. Just squeamish stomachs when disembarking passengers walk past the gruesome scene on the loco nose. But it's not only gonna happen more frequently, it's gonna be seen/heard/felt by more people. Especially on the NEC.

Deer turkeys goose crows Willie E Coyote and even tree rats. Iv got them all at one point or another. Last year someone hit a bear. That stank for a week or two. Tell my friends who are hunters cant find anything to shoot at dress up like an Amtrak train and go running through the woods

Best I ever heard for a train taking a delay was a turbo set who hit a goose, dumped the air by opening the head end angle cock.

I'm amazed it doesn't happen more often - here in NJ, car drivers really put the *BAM!* into Bambi. Deer everywhere. I'm sure Amtrak collects their fair share.

BTW, at least in NJ,the troopers can write you a deer tag and you can gut it and take it to a place and get the meat.

In NH, drivers are offered the deer by the PD. Most decline, but many
PD's have a list of locals that will gladly take the deer. You do have to
contact the NH Fish and Game, who will issue the tag.

About a mile west of Dover, there is a farm that does not maintain
its fences very well and cattle will occasionally stray out onto the
right of way. However, I do not recall that there have been any
"hamburger" incidents. District #2 Dispatcher keeps the farmer's
number handy.

I take it you dont have wild pigs, a pig is the worst animal to hit apparently, because they are so solid.
Tag for the Deer???

As proof that the deer was not shot illegally.

One real danger is the deer rolling up under the train and parting the air hoses. On Amtk I suppose the HEP cables could be damaged but, they are higher on the car body. Tripping a DED is new to me.

for the most part the NEC does not have to worry about wild pigs


i was on the SLE one day in the lead cac car and a turkey hit the door that was loud

ExCon90 wrote:As proof that the deer was not shot illegally.

It definitely varies by state. When I had my first deer collision in Pennsylvania, I turned around to make sure the deer was off the road and then called it in, only to be told it's a non-reportable collision in PA and just call my insurance provider. (My second incident involved the deer running into the side of the car, and then proceeding to run off into the woods, but it left some fur behind as evidence!)

Jehochman wrote:A few minutes ago I felt a big thump under the floor of the first car of Amtrak 178 (NER) in Rhode Island. The conductor just announced that we had hit a deer, and that she had to go out and walk the train because we had tripped a dragging equipment indicator. Apparently the deer carcass was hanging from the undercarriage, but it fell off when we jiggled over the interlocking in East Greenwich. I suppose that's good luck for us, not so much for the deer. We're moving again.

How often does something like this happen? Deer and turkey are overrunning New England.

I've only had one collision, but it was a doozy. Back in 2011 I was on the Southwest Chief when it hit an elk near Williams Junction, Arizona. One of the coaches was sufficiently damaged that we had it cut it out of the consist. To top it off a sleeper passenger had a heart attack and the crew outlawed. Wound up four hours late into LA after a near-perfect run.

Everyone: This topic brings back a memory of a Empire Service train ride I took back in the
Spring of 1983:

At that time there once was a late afternoon/evening train run from NFL to NYG - after checking
my timetable collection this turned out to have been train #62 "Niagara Rainbow"...This train left
NFL at 2:00pm; BUF at 3:00pm and arrived/departed Albany at 7:43 and 7:48pm and was due to
arrive at NYG at 10:22pm...

I was visiting in Rochester and on my way back Downstate I was stopping in Schenectady to visit
briefly the Capital District on my way towards home and this train's schedule was perfect for this
certain trip...Leave ROC at 3:57pm and arrive SDY at 7:21pm...This train was right on time at
ROC - Turboliner equipment - and after settling into what looked to be a smooth ride about half
way to SYR - Montezuma Swamp area (?) our train hit something at speed and I recall that we
braked to a stop with whatever we had hit being felt under us...It turned out to be a deer and
when it was hit its remains somehow ruptured a hole in the lead power unit's brake pipe locking
up the brakes...A responding maintenance crew cut down a nearby tree to make a plug of some
type to place in the brake pipe hole allowing the train to get back under way after a delay of
what was probably around two hours...The crew kept informing us on board about the problem
and I recall having a conversation with one of the trainmen on that trip about the Turboliners
and railroading in general during the delay helping pass the time...

In my travels by train this was the only time that a significant delay was caused from striking a
animal as I can recall...and reading these other experiences shows that it can and does happen
and it can result in a dangerous situation like that broken AEM7 window after hitting a turkey
at speed...These unusual experiences are not soon forgotten...

MACTRAXX