Truck hits train in Portsmouth

Article Quote:
"It’s an accident, no one was at fault," he said. "There is no stop sign and no working lights."

Noone at fault? How 'bout the truck who ran the crossing? Pan-Am should fine them for sure. Regardless of whether there's a stop sign or not, as long as there are crossbucks, then all vehicles need to yield to trains. Simple as that.

There aren't any crossbucks. The collision occurred at a private driveway, gaining entrance to the port after crossing Market Street. You should check your facts before pointing fingers. Did you actually read the article?

Based on the photo in the article and on the satellite images for the area, it looks like the truck was exiting the scrap operation and about to enter market street (the telephone pole is a good indication of the location).

From the satellite view, it looks like there is excellent visibility in both directions when exiting the facility. Even though charges aren't going to be filed, it would appear that the truck driver just didn't look.

I wonder if this would be such a non-event if the trucker clipped a school bus!

Gotta love the media. Fosters and Seacoast Newspapers had totally different headlines/outlooks on the same incident.

Seacoast Newspapers say the truck hit the train, while Fosters states that the train hit the truck. Well which happened!?

Foster's is a make-believe paper. I also love how they described the train had been traveling "east" from Maine. And Ian's spot on-The Herald and Foster's articles read as if they were two separate incidents.

Mattydred wrote:There aren't any crossbucks. The collision occurred at a private driveway, gaining entrance to the port after crossing Market Street. You should check your facts before pointing fingers. Did you actually read the article?

Well excuse me, Mattydred.... but I come from a place where trains have the right of way, and the vehicles on the road have to be on the lookout. What's that old saying.... oh yeah... expect a train on any track, in either direction, at any time. Anyone crossing active tracks, ** REGARDLESS OF PROTECTION ** should yield to a train. Yes, people do not do that, as this case, and the recent CONO incident down south, and dozens of others I'm not going to mention. Trains cannot stop on a dime, regardless of their speed. Are we actually defending the guy who hit the train? Come on! What next.. are we going to defend ATVs being on the tracks?

And yes, I DID read the article, several times actually, before I originally posted, and again before this post.

NH RSA states that a train holds the right of way, and that an operator of a motor vehicle SHALL yield the right of way, and slows for all railroad crossings, regardless of safety devices.
I had that as my signature for quite a while. Sorry I don’t know the actual RSA #... Ian do you?

This wasn't a guarded public crossing-once again, no crossbucks. I know the area well, and I was just trying to make a point. Nobody's really sure what happened yet. There may have been some visibility issues with a nearby fence. In any case it was minor. I come from that same place too. It's called Earth. And Pan Am's not going to "fine" anyone. I'm sure that would be up to NH Port Authority, since it happened on their watch. Instead, maybe Pan Am should spend a few dollars and put up adequate signals. I'm fully aware of right-of-way and inertia laws, you missed the point. And admittedly, the news articles were garbage.

b&m 1566 wrote: Sorry I don’t know the actual RSA #... Ian do you?

Ah let the loop holes of NH RSA's begin. Its 265:48. However private crossings are a different story on the RSA, as technically the landowner(industry or railroad) or road user would have the right of way because most MV Title 21 statues you can not enforce on a private way, and then if something happened it would be a civil case. However I guess you could argue for "reckless operation" which you can charge someone for on a private way.

Don't worry, this isn't the only RSA where there are like 70 different scenarios, or where some contradict themselves.