North Carolina NCDOT-Amtrak Carolinian Service

RMadisonWI wrote:YYZ=Toronto. To bring this back to the topic of thus forum, Amtrak's code for Toronto is, curiously, TWO. Anyone have any clue where the "W" comes from?

Maybe the Amtrak codes were created by Elmer Fudd

In related yet generally insignificant news, "YYZ" is also a great song by the Canadian rock band Rush. from their 1981 masterpiece, Moving Pictures.

Airfans have their Forums as well, and they can help with this off topic diversion, to which I must bear responsibility.

It just seemed to me a miracle there were only a handful of minor injuries resulting from AF358 yesterday.(European carriers evidently do not observe the customary E=even=East flight numbering as do railroads and domestic air carriers)

Once again, I realize Flight Attendants are no longer 'stewardesses' and are no longer "petite young things". Ads to the effect of "I'm Mimi, Fly Me' would have an Air France executive in the "hooskow', but listen up when they speak. Flight safety comes first, "Coffee, Tea, or M*' is ancilliary.

Actually stewardesses, even in their "glory days", were always primarily there for safety. The airlines gripe about their labor costs (they have to have x number of flight attendants, depending on the size of the plane) but situations like this show that they are worth the money. Those Air France stews tend to wear some high heels, but they could still hustle everybody out. Perhaps they wielded them as weapons?

Despite the perennial French bashing in America, I think even the most dim-witted of that crowd can agree they did a great job in this situation.

As for the Carolinian incident, I agree that it is annoying when the media portrays an accident where it was clearly due to vehicle operator negligence as some sort of spontaneous failure on Amtrak's fault.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:I think it is a safe assumption that this story has been "pre-empted' by "The Miracle at YYZ".

When you fly, I don't know what better lesson has been afforded than to "listen up' to the Flight Attendants. Secondly, someone may choose to take my advice and always wear laced shoes while flying. I know contrary advice is given since the TSA mandated inspection of passenger footwear, but with a survivable incident such as today, you can run much faster through a debris field with footwear than without.

Agree. I compromise with velcro strapped shoes (cheap) that quickly can go on/off for security checks. As secure as laced, to boot.

Getting back to trains (although I'm as happy as everyone else that all survived that Air France crash), I'm another one who's constantly frustrated by the way both the print and electronic media headline these tragic events. It's apparently a lot easier to simply write "Two Killed In Amtrak Crash" than "Truck Drives In Front Of Amtrak Train; Truck Occupants Killed". Today's Boston Globe says "Train Derails in North Carolina", which also suggests railroad culpability. I would hope that Amtrak's PR people point out the distinction to the media outlets responsible and request a more precise portrayal of these grade crossing accidents.

updrumcorpsguy wrote: As for the Carolinian incident, I agree that it is annoying when the media portrays an accident where it was clearly due to vehicle operator negligence as some sort of spontaneous failure on Amtrak's fault.

It must have been ten to 15 years ago that Amtrak trains hit three trucks at grade crossings in the Southeast in one month. A brain dead Congressman (pardon the redundancy) demanded an investigation of Amtrak's safety deficiencies.

Any word on whether P42 #69 is "totalled"?

from what i can see in a photo she looks to be in decent shape for having collided with a truck. I think that #69 could be repaired if funding is available.

Added:
It appears to me that 69 has lost her trucks. this could slow repairs down quite a bit. We may not see 69 for a while.

I never thought I'd be like this, but P42 #69 (followed by #79 and two others) led the Southwest Chief that I rode in from Chicago to LA in February of 2003. It was the only specific loco that I had remembered or looked for when a diesel hauled train would pass me (a rarity here in electrified South Station territory). The only time I had seen it since was in February 2004 (a year to the day after I left Chicago on the Chief), it passed under me as I was walking across a bridge, it was leading the Lake Shore Limited out of the South Station yards at the very beginning of its journey to Chicago. I was with a friend at the time who thought I was a bit crazy to have remembered that.

A quick correction: turns out that trains run at 45mph over this crossing, prob ably due to curvature, rather than the 59mph that are generally permitted between Raleigh and Selma.

As a result of this incident, I read that NCDOT is investigating what it can do to further increase safety at crossings. For those of you not already aware, NCDOT is a national leader with it's Sealed Corridor Initiative which has the goal of closing, grade separating, or improving every grade crossing on the Raleigh-Charlotte corridor. Improvements where grade separation or closure/consolidation is not an option generally include four-quadrant gates, longer gate arms, median barriers, or all of the above.

Unfortunately, this crossing is the second crossing beyond the eastern end of the Sealed Corridor project. That is probably why the truck was able to drive around the gates. Perhaps this will be the incident that causes NCDOT to turn the project into a statewide initiative. While they have been doing improvements elsewhere on a project-by-project basis, they haven't been under the banner of a single initiative.

Well Folks there was some damage. Baggage Car 1704 will have to be scrapped and 69 which I saw right before this that day actually will be going to Beech.

AmtrakFan wrote:Baggage Car 1704 will have to be scrapped

That's odd. It didn't look too bad.

Maybe amtrak didn't feel like paying for repairs. Although they are a little short on baggage cars...

Group,
I saw 69 24 Hours to the minute before this happened it was ideling in Washington D.C.

Three cars from the Carolinian wreck were being deadheaded on yesterday's (8/6/2005) southbound 73 (Piedmont). I was on that train, and there was hardly an open seat to be found among the three revenue coaches. Hooray for the Piedmont!

The consist was as follows:

GP40 1792 City of Raleigh
F59PHI 1755 City of Salisbury
Lounge 400201 Pamlico Sound
Coach 400002 Dogwood
Coach 400004 Long Leaf Pine
Coach 400005 Scotch Bonnet

followed by the deadhead cars:

Capstone Coach 82033
Cafe 28357
Business Class 26032

I guess they needed the extra engine in order to keep the rather tight schedule of the Piedmont, which is normally run with a very short consist. It proved to be futile, however, as there were a number of problems along the way, including a stalled freight, NS 351, just east of Burlington, several slow orders, and an extended dwell time at Greensboro while waiting for the NB Carolinan (80) to leave the platform. The train eventually got to Charlotte approximately 1 hour late.

It was kind of strange to see Amfleets being pulled by an NCDOT locomotive. Photos (taken at the Charlotte station) here and here. Sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry and didn't have time to find a better angle.