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  • 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

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1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.

Moderators: lensovet, Kaback9, nick11a

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by Jeff Smith
 
The train with 42 passengers on board as it headed south through Mansfield around 6 a.m., according NJ Transit spokesman John Chartier. The operator was trapped inside and pronounced dead at the scene.

23 passengers on board the train suffered mostly minor injuries. 19 others continued on their trip via bus, according to Chartier.

Chartier said the tree was already on the tracks when it was encountered by the train. An image posted by 6 ABC Action News shows a large piece of the tree under the right front corner of the train.

Image

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by lensovet
 
Interesting that the tree was apparently on the tracks prior to the collision – my initial assumption was that it crashed onto the train while it was in motion.

This line goes through a lot of woods and during the summer months, some bushes even grow into the ROW such that passing trains push the branches out of the way. Makes you wonder if changes will be implemented to clear vegetation.

Also, is it possible for signals to be set up in such a way that a tree across the tracks would foul the block?

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by RandallW
 
Signals can be set up such that a tree would trigger the signal, but it requires that fencing or lines be installed and that the signal is triggered by the tree falling against or over the fence or line (like a rock slide detector).

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by eolesen
 
I'd think with in conjunction with PTC you could also have forward looking imaging or pattern recognition to detect things that shouldn't be there. You could also have wayside optics to detect an incursion.

While I feel badly for the family of the operator who died, I have to question if they were fully paying attention to what was in front of them, and if there's any forward looking video to show how visible the was obstruction before impact.

This was around 6am heading south, but don't light rail have ditch lights?

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by lensovet
 
This line operates under an FRA time separation waiver, so it’s unclear to me if any kind of PTC is installed on it.

The vehicles have two car-style headlights plus a center-mount overhead lamp. As a bespoke design for this line, I have no idea what illumination requirements it’s supposed to meet. https://youtu.be/C0DBKJeymYQ?si=Q-wr85hSEWZUWym0

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by R36 Combine Coach
 
Is the center high mounted headlamp modeled after the 1997 FRA requirement for two running lights (ditchlights) and a high mount headlight?

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by scratchyX1
 
R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2024 2:29 am Is the center high mounted headlamp modeled after the 1997 FRA requirement for two running lights (ditchlights) and a high mount headlight?
Could a tracked drone run out on the tracks, before the first run, to look for obstructions? Or would it not be heavy enough to trigger crossings?

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by Head-end View
 
News reports said it was still night darkness at the time of the crash and that the train came around a curve just before the point-of-impact. Don't know what sight distance was involved and the news reports have not said what the speed of the train was.

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by eolesen
 
scratchyX1 wrote:
R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2024 2:29 am Is the center high mounted headlamp modeled after the 1997 FRA requirement for two running lights (ditchlights) and a high mount headlight?
Could a tracked drone run out on the tracks, before the first run, to look for obstructions? Or would it not be heavy enough to trigger crossings?
Rather than run a drone, why not just run at restricted speed on the first run after weather if there's not a clear view of the track?


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Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by ExCon90
 
They could run a pilot train every morning at a reduced speed ahead of the first scheduled trip (I believe at least one set overnights just south of Trenton, so they could start from both ends and meet in the middle, returning to their starting points at track speed with no stops). That could be done immediately.

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by lensovet
 
They can barely run the scheduled service with the trains they have. Cancellations, which finally stopped after the adjusted schedule was released in September, have now resumed on a daily basis.

Note also that they can't run trains before the first trains as temporal separation is used to get an FRA crashworthiness waiver. So to implement this, they would have to cancel the first few trains in the morning.

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by ExCon90
 
They wouldn't need an additional train -- just one of the sets sitting south of Trenton. It might be possible to adjust the temporal separation to permit an LRV move to just short of the northernmost industry, with a return to Trenton, relying on the local freight to find any obstruction south of there. (I suppose the FRA might require a derail at that point.) Still better than what happened.

Re: 1 killed, 6 injured after tree falls onto NJ Transit Light Rail

  by lensovet
 
I'm not suggesting what happened was insignificant or shouldn't be prevented. I'm just saying this entire operation was already hanging by a thread and now will go back to the insanity of the summer. They cancelled 15 trains today, a Sunday. They are not in any position to be doing creative moves, applying for new FRA waivers (which would take months anyway), or anything else. They are trying to just keep their heads above the water.
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