Los Angeles commuter train crash

Luckily not the LIRR, but a fairly big commuter train crash happened today near Los Angeles. At least nine dead, and over a hundred injured. See:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/26/train. ... index.html

A spokeswoman for the commuter line, Metrolink, said a Metrolink train hit a parked car at a railroad crossing, ran into another Metrolink train and crashed into a parked Union Pacific train.

A parked car at a crossing?

just a reality of what that masscare at mineola w/ DE pushing and a car or truck stoped on the tracks would be like, and with that over pass i would imagine it be much worse. also nassau would then see its final distruction. and rail service would be distruped for a good year knowing how our snal pase NTSB and govenrmnet works.

Horrible, absolutly horrible. Now they are saying on the news that this may have not been an accident. They are saying that a Jeep may have been intentionaly left on the tracks.

Just to let you all know that I worked for Metrolink for five years and I have friends who quite possably may have been killed in that wreck. I am trying to find out who the train crew is. The MAS is 79mph and it was at a crossover. Here is a quote:

As the first Metrolink train derailed before dawn, it sideswiped an oncoming train, scattering railcars and sending passengers tumbling down the aisles, authorities said.

Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca said authorities were speaking with the driver of the vehicle and believe it was intentionally parked on the tracks.

"It didn't appear that the vehicle had stalled," Baca said. "It appears that it was deliberately placed there."

The exact circumstances of the crash were still under investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board was sending investigators.

In my opinion, the NTSB are very good at what they do. This is a very tragic occurance and perhaps the less said the better.

JoeLIRR
Contributor
Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 300
Location: Valley Stream L.I.
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:32 am    Post subject:
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just a reality of what that masscare at mineola w/ DE pushing and a car or truck stoped on the tracks would be like, and with that over pass i would imagine it be much worse. also nassau would then see its final distruction. and rail service would be distruped for a good year knowing how our snal pase NTSB and govenrmnet works.
_________________
Long Island 7285 Out.

Joe, You need to be more accurate in your writing and and perhaps more empathetic towards your fellow men and woman. Otherwise your ignorance shows.

yea, your right, paul,

Latest news is that the driver of the SUV deliberately parked on the crossing in an attempted suicide. But bailed out at the last minute, leaving the vehicle there. HE IS reportedly in police custody and likely will be charged with multiple counts of homicide. MSNBC and FOX News both have good coverage.

IIRC this the second such case of an L.A. Metrolink train hitting a vehicle resulting in a massive derailment, overturn, etc. Again I wonder why the train didn't just push the vehicle down the tracks, as is usually the case on LIRR. Obviously there are many factors involved which will come out of the investigation. I guess we'll soon be having more discussion here about the physics involved with push-pull bi-level trains in this type of accident.

As would be expected, it looks like a good job by all the Fire, Police, and EMS personnel involved. They and the (hopefully surviving) train crews involved will probably all need Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, as is common in this type of multi-casualty incident.

if it were attempt @ suicide,and the police have the vadle, i hope the bastard gets live in prison. that will make him pay reall good
1life sentance for every one killed. + 50 yrs for every one hurt. hell really be sorry then

Can anyone identify what was leading the Metrolink train? A locomotive? A cab car? Thanks. Joe

as a local LI volunteer fireman, I would not ever want to find that at one of the crossings in my town. At that early hour, the supply of available EMS and Fire personnel would be limited. Getting 35 ambulances mustered would take time, especially with all the traffic tying up major roads during the AM rush hour. This makes me ask the RR workers... i know it would be twice as expensive to maintain, but wouldn't it make any sense to put gates across the entire road, in both directions of traffic travel? I know it would double the workload of MOW, but wouldnt that maybe help a little? Having to get out of the car to actually lift a gate instead of driving around it might trigger a person to think twice. I'm curious of what you all think.

The problem with full width (or double) gates that cover the entire roadway is that they tend to have a "trapping effect" on drivers who don't get completely through the intersection.

In the days of crossings with gate attendants, many heavy roads had double gates. Some even had high fences that completely closed the road. On the Atlantic Branch, the LIRR experimented with an huge overhead gate that would lower to block the crossing.

The topic of improved protection always rears its head when some hideous accident occurs. Perhaps the best coverage of the California wreck so far is as usual on the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4209619.stm

Trivia question: Where is the LIRR's only crossing with a gate attendant today?

Clem

There was not a crossing where this person drove his car onto the tracks. And yes, the Metroling cars do tend to derail when stiking heavy debris. The pilots tend to break away as part of the design.

Clem... What is ...PD tower, Ocean Avenue.

I didn't realize the collision occured away from a level crossing. I guess without fencing from one end of the system to the other this wouldnt be prevented, like our endless pedestrian hits here.

The Burbank line is map oriention north/south but is considered railroad east/west. The U.P SD70M was facing railroad west (map north). I still have not learned who the train crew is. Fences or not, when someone is determined to cause harm, they will most likley succeed.