Danbury Branch Train Nearly Strikes Packed School Bus

Thankfully it was a near miss and not another front page headline:
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/loca ... 48671.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Based on that news article I would say that both the engineer AND the school bus driver deserve accolades for alertness.

Finally, some good news!!

I known the Engineer and he is a poster on this board (not me)

Well then, since said individual will surely end up reading this: EXCELLENT JOB!

Great job by the engineer! I am not surprised that crews on the Danbury branch would be vigilant, with the numerous grade crossings along the line. Plenty of opportunities for vehicles to get in the path of the train. Many years ago I worked for a school bus company in Redding. The crossing that always concerned me was where Simpaug Turnpike and Topstone Rd met. For those not familiar, Simpaug runs parallel to the track and then crosses to the other side at the intersection with Topstone. There were no gates at that location, and I always envisioned something bad happening there.

Bill

I agree.. Excellent work by all parties involved here, great thinking on the part of the bus driver to get the students off the bus and great reflexes on the part of the engineer.. This easily could've ended very badly and it didnt. Great work all around.

Years ago, I was taking a morning local out of New Canaan and had tripped the flashers for Grove Street when a school bus ignored the warning signals and pulled in front of me. I was going slow and there was no danger of a crash but the law was broken. I wrote down the license plate number and reported it to the ConRail police. They issued the driver a ticket. I was never called to testify, so the driver must have pleaded guilty. I was working on the West Shore in March of 1972 when a school bus driver failed to stop on Gilchrest Road in Valley Cottage, NY. Five students were killed in that accident and another 44 were injured.

How can anybody driving a school bus even think of run a railroad crossing with kids on board? At least in this case the driver says the bus stalled on the tracks and they were not trying to beat the train. Thankfully the kids were evacuated in time and there was no collision. Three words to remember, Stop, Look & Listen!!

The bus did stall and while they were taking kids out of bus, the gates started to come down.

If this was one crossing north at Perry Avenue, there's no doubt in my mind it wouldn't have ended so well. Very lucky situation and everyone was quick thinking and professional all around.

If this train was powered by an F10 would it still have stopped in time

yes, and we stopped this subject on Dec 21, way faster than you.

fl9m2004 wrote:If this train was powered by an F10 would it still have stopped in time

The engine doesn't stop the train, the brakes on each train car stop the train.