by RDG467
philajack wrote:The engineer who died in that 1982 wreck on the newtown line was a good friend and coworker, his name is Donald Williams my he rest in peace. I just love to read all the know it all people who know nothing about this operation that was the newtown-foxchase line. I ran those RDC cars with Donald and a group of good men who after finding out that the Conrail engineers considered us scabs just wanted out. Septa had other plans and took our subway jobs off the board, we had no job to go back to. On the matter of running one RDC car and the shunting factor, as a dispatcher in contact with Wayne dispatchers from Conrail I was well informed about the Conrail book of rules in regards to running two cars at all times due to safety factors with shunting signals at grade crossings. I reported said conversations to the ones in charge but to no avail. Also on that ridiculous statement that the engineer Donald Williams locked the cab door let me say this "are you nuts" Donald as well as the rest of us up there never locked the cab doors besides this was the suburbs not the subway ok...Thank you for your time....Subway511Philajack/Subway 511, did you post pictures of the wreck online? I found some about 5 years ago, but they didn't have a photographer's credit that I could see. but I think I saw 511 in the folder name.
I reread the NTSB report this week to prepare for a presentation I'm doing at George School this Sunday to honor George M. Hart, GS '37 and interpret the station site for current and future students and visitors. I have a few Southampton pix and two at Newtown which I'd like to properly credit. Larry Eastwood will also present a brief history of the line and the other major accident in 1921.
The truck was SB, coming from the Engineer's left. The truck driver reported seeing a green light at the crossing, which was interlocked with the RR signals. He had changed lanes to avoid a car coming out from a side street, so he may have missed the initial red signals. Before that, he had made a right onto SSP from EB Street Rd.
The RDC was slowing for the station stop, and the truck driver's sight line was blocked and it appears he never heard the horn. By the time he saw the train, it was too late to stop.
The engineer's side hit the tank about 5 ft from the front end. The Oldsmobile was heading NB and waiting at the crossing, because he could see the train approaching. That driver stated that the RR lights had started and the Knowles Rd signal changed to red while the RDC was approaching, but then stopped and the light went green.
When the RDC hit the ARCO tank truck, it spun the tank around and flipped it *OVER* the Olds, landing on it's trunk. That driver was *REALLY* lucky to only get a few burns.
I don't think the engineer had much time to do anything before impact. Most of the 7900 gallons leaked and burned--some flowed into the sewer system and reappeared 350 ft south of the crash.
Unfortunately, the photo reproduction in the report was horrible- the aerial views looked like a photocopy of a photocopy of a muddy drawing. I was on winter break from GS, but saved the Intelligencer story. It may still be hidden somewhere in my files.
Philajack, thanks for posting his name- the report never mentioned it, that I could see. The crash didn't kill him, the burns took two weeks to do that.....
I rode the RDC's that winter from GS to Bryn Athyn- caught the 4:27- a much faster way to get home to Willow Grove than waiting for the school bus.