Bracdude181 wrote:One thing that's been on my mind about this, why did 268 rear end 24X? Isn't PTC meant to prevent this sort of collision? Also how long between the initial collision and 19G coming from the other way and crashing into the wreckage? Seems to me they didn't have much warning about it. Certainly not enough time to stop...
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From the details I'm hearing, PTC was working as intended. PTC doesn't know where the rear of a train is, its purpose is to restrict speed based on the conditions ahead of the train. In this case 268 would have either had a restricting signal at CP-87 or a stop and proceed at an automatic ( I'm not qualified out there, but the same principal applies). PTC, as designed, will allow you to enter that block as long as you maintain a slow speed.
In this case, it seems 268 hit 24X somewhere between 5 and 8 mph which would be acceptable speed in PTC. It looked like there was no damage to 24X, but the force of the "hard coupling" derailed one or two of 268's well's. 19G showed up about 5 minutes later.
allegedly before anyone knew 268 was derailed.