Acknowledging Japan - and hoping it doesn't happen here...

As a railfan -and since my wife's family is Japanese- I watched with interest the NHK coverage of the terrible crash that just happened in Japan... Rail travel is an integral part of life in Japan and its far more prevalent than here in the US. Its amazing how close to office buildings and apartments these trains travel in that very tight space. Its also amazing to watch the coverage in Japanese, as opposed to English, and hear the level of detail they cover. Of course, as I watched this, I couldn't help but think of the terrible accidents that have happened here - the CNJ at Newark Bay Bridge - the PRR commuter train in Woodbridge - and the seemingly endless annual Amtrak crashes. We've been fairly fortunate that NJT hasn't had anything too awful in a few years. I hope they keep up that good track record. We do seem to have a pretty good safety record around here... Knocking on wood and hoping it continues... and my sympathies to the 73 dead in Japan.
BigDell

BigDell,

Nicely said.

Thanks

This is very sad, but the cause is unlikely to be duplicated here.

The NY Times speculates that the train was running late, a whole 90 seconds late. The 23 year old engineer had overshot a platform earlier, which required him to back up, and lose the 90 seconds. In Japan, bringing a train in one second late is late.

The pasengers report that the train entered the curve at 66 mph or so, compared to the required 44 mph. Because the tolerances of curves are very well defined, it's not unusual to have walls and buildings within 4 feet of the tracks.

reports say the young engineer has not been found. Given the sense of obligation and honor imposed on railway workers in Japan, he may be a very despondent young man, if he's still alive.

Apparently he perished in the crash as well. I saw the video of the curvature of the track, its REALLY tight... I can't begin to imagine a train taking it at 66 MPH.
The Japanese press has extensively covered the story, but the government still won't make an "official" determination as to the cause, although its well-speculated by their media that it was speed.

I wonder where the tightest curves are in the NJT system? (I know, lots of potential one-liners there).
The corridor is obviously pretty straight, although I LOVE the S-curve in Elizabeth. But I wonder if there is anything "funky" on the NJCL (not that I can remember) or out in the provinces West of the city?

BigDell

PS - deathtoll up to 103.

``He was traveling too fast on one of the sharpest turns on Japan's railways and that was the reason,'' Sato, a lecturer in the economics department at Asia University in Tokyo, said. ``JR West's operation system is outdated compared with that of JR East and the one for bullet trains.''
Sources said some of the bodies recovered were so severely damaged that DNA testing would be needed to make identifications.
The driver of the train, Ryujiro Takami, 23, is believed to be among those trapped, officials said.

Where can we see the video? I can't seem to locate it.

Thanks.

BigDell wrote:I wonder where the tightest curves are in the NJT system?

The Montclair-Boonton Line certainly has its share of tight curves, several of which are the result of building connections between formerly separate lines:

--Mountain View, where DL&W Boonton Line makes a sharp right turn to join the Erie Greenwood Lake Line.

--Montclair, the curves at both ends of the connnector that joins the Erie Greenwood Lake Line and the DL&W Montclair Branch.

Other tight curves resulting from reallignments:

--Secaucus, the curves at each end of the new connector between the Bergen County Line and the Main Line (eastern end of the former DL&W Boonton Line).

--South Paterson (Erie Main to Newark Branch segment). This is not too tight as it was an existing junction before the Main Line was realligned to join the former Boonton Line.


Others:

--Two curves on the Bergen County Line in the Garfield area.

--Denville, Morristown Line.


A few years ago I was riding to work on the now-abandonded section of the Boonton Line (former Greenwood Lake) through Bloomfield, cab-car forward. At least three people who were not members of the crew were in the cab with the engineer. The train barrelled into the curve over the Garden State Parkway just west of Rowe Street. The train had not slowed at all going into the curve (the engineer must not have been paying attention or was distracted or both).

It was a pretty scary couple of seconds. Bags and coats were flung from the luggage racks, coffee was spilled, and even the water cooler near the cab flew out of its compartment. I'd swear I could almost feel the wheel flanges riding up on the rails. Then it was all over, and everybody kind of resumed what they were doing, albeit a little pale. The visitors to the cab came out and picked up the water cooler. The crew was back the next day. I'm guessing they might not have been (the engineer, at least) if this had gotten back to the management.

In 20 years of commuting and 10 more railfan riding, that was the one time when I thought the train was actually going to leave the rails.

I heard later that some conductors didn't like working with this particular engineer because they thought he was a little dangerous.

The curve east of Long Branch station is pretty tight - its 25 mph around it, adn even at that, the flanges squeal.

a speed limit of 44 mph surprised me, as that shows that they take their times and their speeds very seriously, and get every MPH out the track, and therefore curves - a 44mph restriction there would probably equal like 30 here!

Remember, JT, they measure speed in kilometers per hour, so 44 mph is probably the conversion from kph (probably 70 kph?).

true, true = good point - hahahaha