River Line incident... struck my first car last night......

Well, after 15 1/2 years of operating a locomotive without an accident, my streak ended last night. Going North on Q109-16, at about 1:20AM, we struck a vehicle at Short Clove Road, MP 31, in Havestraw. We were coming downgrade, just passing signal 31N(distant signal for CP-33, displaying an approach indication), and we spoteed headlights on the inside of the curve. My conductor and I realized instantly this car was in the gauge, point south, and we threw the brakes on. Estimated speed at impact was between 38 and 41 MPH. Driver lept of to the side(towards the river side ), and we launched the gray Ford off the side and over a 50 foot embankment. We came to a safe(although somewhat abrupt) stop, and notified the dispatcher. the conductor then walked back and located the driver who had slid down the embankment and worked her way back up to trackside. She was completely intoxicated and had not grasped what had just occurred. By this time, the local(Havestraw) police showed up, and took charge of the driver and sole occupant of the car, who was too busy trying to call her husband and tell him what happened. Strong smell of alcohol on her breath. At this location, she was coming up a hill, had to cross the tracks and come to a "T" intersection(Rte 9W). We figure her judgement was impaired enough that she simply turned left onto the tracks thinking it was 9W, and drove up about 300 feet half in/half out of the gauge before coming to a stop. No idea how long she was there before we showed up....
Local police took the vitals from myself and the conductor, and I inspected the lead locomotive, # 5011. Only thing noticeable was a bunch of paint on the knuckle draft gear and part of the plow, and one of the front sander pipes had been pushed out of line, but not enough to inhibit the operation of the locomotive. The car department showed up, and by this time we were released by the local PD. the DS asked how we were doing. It was agreed that as there was no injury or fatality, we were shaken up, and ready to continue north, but wanted to taxi home upon arrival at Selkirk, instead of going to the hotel as usual. All I wanted was 24 hours off, and I felt I would be OK to go back north Friday night, my next trip. My conductor concurred. We departed the scene at approx. 2:20AM and were in Selkirk by 5AM. We then were met by a road foreman who "pulled the tapes" off the event recorder, and took a statement, and made sure that we were in generally good shape. He agreed that as this was my first incident(and my conductor's) that it was best we head back home for a day off.
End result? one drunken 30 yr old(estimate) yuppie woman, one destroyed Ford Taurus(I consider this a "mercy killing" for that vehicle), a little paint on the front of the engine, and other than the initial shock of what happened, I am pretty much ready to get "back in the saddle" come Friday night! Mainline misadventure? possibly, but it could have been a lot worse!

Good to hear no one was hurt. Last thanksgiving was my 1st. E bd on Q624 the day after thanksgiving 2003. Maple st, Palmyra NY, MP 350.3. Young girl slammed brakes on to avoid car making L turn just south of crossing and cars front tire became lodged between rails just off os pavement on the west side of crossing. We were rounding the curve and I spotted the car first and yelled to the engineer that there was a car on the tracks. We struck the car and shoved it another half mile east into the CP349 interlocking ripping up electircal hardware as we passed. The car was empty when as the driver had jumped out when the gates activated. As the tow truck pulled the car away from the engine a couple hrs later, the girl and her boyfriend were standing on the dirt bank next to the tracks and was asking who he had to call to get the RR to replace his car. ('89 plymouth Aclaim). I always wanted to see his face when he got the bill for damages to the RR property and personel. Upon arriving at the Terminal the roadforeman advised us due to no fatality, even tho it was my first incident, "to bad, suck it up". Another brite spot in my career.

It's amazing how many people think legal liability is determined on who hit who rather than negligence. Imagine the case of driver A running a red light and being T-boned by driver B, and then A expecting Driver B to replace his car. Geez.

The unfortunate part of the grade crossing accident is that his insurnace company, not the driver, will have to pay.

Well im glad to see in both cases no one was hurt on the ground or in the cab. I wish all the engineers and conductors here many trips without any accidents. Stay safe on the rails guys.

How much could one possibly get for a 89 acclaim? I've never even heard of an acclaim and I always look for the cheapest car there is!

I'm also glad you guys did'nt get hurt. Stay safe out there.......

...is an engineer who has had his share of hits....One was a drunk who drove into the side of the train. But the most amusing was a woman whose car was struck at a grade crossing in Northern Pennsylvania just across the NY border who claimed that back in Jersey where she came from, "cars had the right of way at grade crossings!"

I rember comeing up on a car half on and half off at a railroad crossing at 2:30a.m. on a back farm road on a slipery winter nite while driveing home. I make it a point to drve down by the tracks on the way home just to see if anything is runing.

The driver did not know the area all that well and someone redneck moron took the curve and Railroad signs they had been missing for a week. The driver a 19year old girl and her boyfriend wiped around the sharpe curve and landed on the crossing. I'm assumeing that the ice and speed in which the car was moveing had something to do with it. We managed to push the car off about 10 minets befor the next east bound train came threw.

The ending results of this whole thing were after this little mishap years later the crossing was widened after several School bus drivers had trouble makeing a turn at the same location.

In '78 when I first started with the Sheriff's Dept. in Wayne Co., one nite we were dsp. to an accident on S.Main St. Savannah, NY (MP 322). The crossing here had been removed years before when the overpass was built. We found a highly intox. female had driven south, through the baricade and jumped track one coming to rest on track two. No injuries. Trains had been stopped before our arrival by the Sheriff Dsp. calling CR Police. The tow truck couldn't pull the car off so the Town's payloader had to come down and lift the car off the tracks. Besides the DWI charges, the driver was looking at some hefty repair charges to the cars undercaraige if repairable and the Town for uses of it's loader and operator.

To Ken from above...in a bad accident I had (nothing to do with trains), the other driver was totally at fault. His insurance company paid, sure...and the maximum. Not him. Now, though, he can't get insurance, literally. So for several years, he'll be off the road...hopefully. It doesn't make a life come back, or ease the trauma for a train crew, I imagine, but every little bit helps. Next time, they'll learn. We hope.

Dave Becker

Have to admit iI am finding these stories of a similar nature to me most fascinating. I should note that when the road foreman at Selkirk asked me "how many" this made, and I said its my first, he was suprised. Then when I told him my first since promotion in August of 1989 then he really did a double take. He did say, at least the first one wasn't a fatality, so it may(emphasize the word "may") help you for that first fatal accident, although everyone has their own way of reacting. And for some reason, Roadster, why am I not surprised by the "too bad, suck it up!" comment? Sounds suspiciously like the tone of a specific (now former) road foreman in Selkirk who has since left the area and is working for CSX down south. Evidently someone left the word "compassion"(and "intelligence") out of his vocabulary books when in school! And the part about asking who to see about getting the car replaced is priceless... only wish i could be a fly on the wall when he tries to call and collect!
Of course, the other popular statement is... "I don't recall those(hic!) tracks(burrrp!!!!) being here before, occifer!"Oh well.... I wuld like to see the police report or a statement from this woman whose car we hit. Oh yea, one othert thing.. every time the cops tried to get a statement from her she was on the cell phone, still wasted, evidently calling some friends up about what had just happened.... after a couple of tries, the cop ripped the cell phone out of her hand, and thats when she started to get nasty. not over what just happened or that she's lucky to be alive, but over the fact her cell phone was confiscated! Sheesh! Anyway, all is well with my conductor and i and i appreciate the good wishes and concerns expressed. Look for some more Mainline Misadventures coming soon....

Here is a link to BLET Division 272's (New Jersey Transit Rail Operations) web site CIRT page (Critical Incident Response Team).

Maybe your railroad needs an agreement like this one.

http://www.ble272.org/CIRT.htm

...to see that at least some railroads see the damage done to the train crew, the engineer in particular, in such incidents. I do wish the newsmedia would. Instead of trying to get sympathy for the driver of the auto who got it or almost got it, they should spend some time talking to the engineer and other head end personell about what happened inside the cab and inside thier heads as they sliced a car in half!
Another amusing incident I recall was in Owego, NY several years ago. Two Deputies were doing radar check on Route 17C east of town when a train appeared from the east. For fun they turned the radar gun on the train just as a car crossed in front of it! The train was doing 30 something, well below the 50 or so limit, when it struck the car. Only physicial injury was the driver of the car who was drunk and uninjured! But the train crew was cleared instantly because of the radar tape showing they were not even doing the speed limit much less speeding!

to JoeRailroad: I am quite familiar with the CIRT, and we do have a local team here on CSX. I was offered the services of the CIRT team, and as there was no fatality or injury, I felt well enough not to require the services of the group. But it is a welcom group to have, and as you work for NJT, you can well attest to its usefulness, if not by personal experience, then by others on NJT. Again, thanks for the inquiry.
For the unfamiliar, CIRT stands for "Critical Incident Response Team", an employee based group that counsels fellow employees after critical incidents such as crossing accidents and trespasser injuries/fatalities.

Hey rcbsd45,

Glad to hear you and your conductor are fine. Seems amazing to me, a non-railroader, that you could go for so long without an incident. A friend of mine was both a conductor and engineer before becoming a train dispatcher and he had an incident similar to yours. At the time he had only a fraction of the time in service you did. Anyway, glad to hear you're fine, looking forward to the next 'Mainline Misadventures'.

PS-a mercy killing for the Ford Taurus? My 92 Ford Taurus wagon is in the driveway wearing black in memory of it's relative who sacrificed itself to your locomotive while protecting its somewhat sorry owner. It's really not a bad car.