Snowmobile vs. train in Charlemont, MA - 01-21-2011

A snow day turns tragic when a train hits a snowmobile in Charlemont.

It happened shortly after 2 Friday afternoon. Two riders inexplicably ventured into the Charlemont woods and drove right into the Hoosic tunnel. Officials say it's a tight space and something had to give. One rider was seriously hurt in the collision. The other rider is reportedly doing ok.

Read more at: http://www.cbs3springfield.com/news/loc ... 03414.html



* Edited by the moderator to include a short quote from the article.

Thanks for the post and link.
The crew sure didn't need that. The post from the responsible snowmobiler pretty much covered it.
At the risk of seeming to pick nits in the text version of the tv story, Charlemont FD may have responded and been interviewed, but west of the Deerfield River is Florida for the location and dateline of the event. Also, it's "Hoosac" for the tunnel and mountain, "Hoosic" for the river, and "Hoosick" for the New York towns.

Reading the article I don't think a train was involved. The two snowmobiles collided in the tunnel. Who would have thunk it??

Here's a completely different report.

From the Greenfield "Recorder" for Saturday.

http://www.recorder.com/story.cfm?id_no=20080527606

One train, one snowmobiler, hi-rail truck rescue and etc. Looks like it occurred east of the tunnel

Interesting:

Greenfield Recorder wrote:Pan-Am railroad police placed the scene of the accident in Rowe; however, the Massachusetts Environmental Police place it in Charlemont.

I'm not familiar with that area, so forgive me if this is a stupid question, but is it such a rural area that it's common for people to not be readily aware of what town they're in? Then again, I can think of some fairly urban areas where the town/city boundaries are not always easy to determine, even by locals who are familiar with the area. It's just strange to hear two law enforcement agencies disagreeing over what town they were in.

Assuming accuracy from the Greenfield paper, at least as far as mentioning MP 413 is concerned, that would place the event a bit east of CPF-414 or -- for those whole like to kick it old school -- right around Soapstone. Either Rowe or Charlemont would be possibilities, depending on just how far east.
Mebbe there'll be more changes in locale if there are follow-ups.

I don't know the area either, but I'm assuming that it's thick wilderness. It seems to someone like myself who isn't familiar with the area that Ch. 3 and the "Reporter" contradict each other. Ch. 3 puts the accident in the Hoosac Tunnel but the Reporter seems to indicate outside the tunnel by describing the location as "approximately three miles east of the railroad crossing on River Road in Florida near mile post 413." Would this description be inside the tunnel ?

The second paragraph of the text version of the Channel 3 report -- the first link -- states the snowmobilers drove "right into" the tunnel. Absent further explanation and clarification, the wording would seem to indicate the accident occured in the tunnel. East Portal is at MP 415-plus, but the later posting from the Greenfield newspaper, giving MP 413 as the approximate location, moves events two-plus miles further to the east and into either Charlemont or Rowe.
Concerning terrain, the ROW is in rugged and -- at least between the Deerfield River bridge just east of East Portal and to a bit west of Zoar -- relatively unsettled territory, with all the non-ROW complications for access stated.
As with the cable earlier event on the western side of the Hoosac, more investigation and subsequent reporting will probably disclose more.

If this occured down by Soapstone / Zoar it wouldn't surprise me if they had to use light power to ferry emergency responders to the site. It is very remote, the closest road is Tunnel Road at MP 415 - east nof there, it's a ROW road to Soapstone (CPF414) for signal maintainers and fuel delivery. After that, not a chance of a vehicle getting through. I saw the picture of the two locos in one of the articles and assumed this may have been the case - but who knows.

In cases like this, where it might take quite a while for the nearest EMTs and/or law enforcement officers to arrive, is the train crew permitted to administer first aid to the person(s) who were hit, or does company policy prohibit that? Just curious. (I understand all the pros and cons of allowing or not allowing company employees to intervene.)

That's a good question, MEC, and I'll say that if it's any indication, the engine is photographed outside the tunnel. You have to do some assuming on this one which I hate, but considering the length of the tunnel, I would assume that the train could have stopped in the tunnel if that's where the snow mobile was hit. I can't imagine the train continuing to the exit after the accident, for that would further expose the snow mobilers to risk, and because of the distance might indicate also that first aid was not applied by the train crew. Once again, I'm assuming that there is a way to communicate in the tunnel and that regulations call for the immediate stopping and freezing of the train in the event of a collision. (??)

It must have happened just outside of the tunnel, or a few hundred feet in, there couldn't be alot of snow in the tunnel, enough for a snowmobile?

3rdrail wrote:That's a good question, MEC, and I'll say that if it's any indication, the engine is photographed outside the tunnel. You have to do some assuming on this one which I hate, but considering the length of the tunnel, I would assume that the train could have stopped in the tunnel if that's where the snow mobile was hit. I can't imagine the train continuing to the exit after the accident, for that would further expose the snow mobilers to risk, and because of the distance might indicate also that first aid was not applied by the train crew. Once again, I'm assuming that there is a way to communicate in the tunnel and that regulations call for the immediate stopping and freezing of the train in the event of a collision. (??)

Yes, there are phones inside at 1500 foot? (I forgot exactly the #) intervals that ring directly to the dispatcher in North Billerica. The only times I had to use them they were dead, doh.

Could the train have stopped, finding the phone dead, then dropping a crew member off so that he could render first aid and keep the victims clear of the train when the train then left to summons assistance ? Do your radios work outside there ?

I am fairly sure nothing happened inside the tunnel...