Silver Star 94(14) crashes into car-hauling semi, derails in Lakeland, FL

Silver Star 92(14) crashes into a semi hauling cars that was parked on the tracks

LAKELAND, Fla. — A train carrying 173 passengers and crew members partially derailed Friday night after it crashed into a semi-truck parked on a railroad crossing.

The truck was hauling eight vehicle, several of which became lodged underneath the train.

The crash was reported at 7:06 p.m. Lakeland Fire Rescue, Lakeland Police Department, Polk County Sheriff's Office and multiple other agencies responded to the scene near the intersection of Canal Street and Memorial Boulevard, which is just south of Lake Parker.

Lakeland Fire Rescue said the locomotive of the Amtrak train was taken off the tracks due to the force of the collision. As of 10:30 p.m., 7 people have been taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center with what were described at "non-critical" injuries.

Google Maps view of the area which if you go Street View... ew. This was not a "if" but "when".

• Traffic signal is *after* the railroad signal going north-bound.
• Railroad is on an elevated hump (non-rail road should of been smoothed over it more)

I'd assign blame but that will go straight into politics.

More details and photo: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local ... 76abc32dea

The passenger were very lucky, anyone know how Amtrak is getting them to their destinations?

Video of the impact:

https://twitter.com/ChadKMills/status/1 ... 53344?s=20

John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 5:18 pm The passenger were very lucky, anyone know how Amtrak is getting them to their destinations?

Returned by bus to the point of origin. As for onward travel, no clue. This has a knock on effect of cancelled trains for a week or so.

Unless it "speaks with forked tongue", a Train Status check as of a few moments ago, shows #92(16) operating and serving Tampa. Therefore, it would appear that Hialeah has a sufficient pool of equipment to assemble a make-up train, and that the wreckage has been cleared sufficiently to access Tampa.

Star derailment cancellers 7 / 18 Meteor'.

Amtrak Alerts

@AmtrakAlerts
As of 11:58 am ET, Due to equipment unavailability issues, Silver Meteor Train 98, which is scheduled to depart Miami (MIA) on 7/18 en route to New York (NYP), is now canceled. For further assistance, please call/text 1-800-USA-RAIL.
12:00 PM · Jul 17, 2023
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"Damages between 6 and 10 million" sounds like Amtrak is procuring a replacement charger on someone else's dime, while the GE goes to Beech for parts harvesting

Roscoe P. Coaltrain wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 9:25 pm "Damages between 6 and 10 million" sounds like Amtrak is procuring a replacement charger on someone else's dime, while the GE goes to Beech for parts harvesting

I do not believe there was a Charger on the train it looked to be two 42s on the headend. The leader derailed after hitting the auto carrier. Six to 10 sounds about right for damage to the locomotives and track.

Railjunkie wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 8:34 am
Six to 10 sounds about right for damage to the locomotives and track.

Sure, If you are aiming for 'outright replacement' costs rather than 'wreck repairs'.

Whether or not the train had a charger on it is irrelevant. They are jacking up the projected costs to use this accident as a reason to replace the worn out GE that was on the point with an additional charger that some trucker outfit insurance co will pay for. It happened in floriduh, after all. Inflation central and home of the $36,000 homeowners insurance premium..

Railjunkie wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 8:34 am I do not believe there was a Charger on the train it looked to be two 42s on the headend. The leader derailed after hitting the auto carrier. Six to 10 sounds about right for damage to the locomotives and track.

Nope, they didn't. But that doesn't matter in the greater context. They're replacing the P42's with Chargers in the grand scheme of things. All it does is add another $6-$10 million into the "buy more Chargers" budget and maybe a bit for an expedite fee.