Major grade-crossing accident in Valhalla 2/3/15

[vingong]

Train involved was reportedly the 659, the 5:44 Harlem Line express from Grand Central to Southeast. Thoughts and prayers to those affected.

Metro-North train hits two cars in Westchester — all three burst into flames
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mass-casualty-incident-metro-north-train-hits-car-article-1.2102293

The Harlem line train slammed the vehicles, which were on the track on the Commerce St. crossing in the hamlet of Valhalla, at 6:30 p.m., authorities said. The front of the train and both cars burst into flames, according to a Metro North spokesman.

The Harlem line train slammed the vehicles, which were on the track on the Commerce St. crossing in the hamlet of Valhalla, at 6:30 p.m., authorities said. The front of the train and both cars burst into flames, according to a Metro North spokesman.

Service on the Hudson Line was suspended between North White Plains and Pleasantville, the Metro North spokesman said.n said.

[ACeInTheHole]

Message from Site Admin: "The prayers of railroad.net are with the crew and victims of this accident. Not much is known at this time about the circumstances nor victims. Let's keep the speculation and hyperbole' to a minimum while this tragedy is investigated." - Jeff

6 dead, multiple injuries after 2 cars, train collide in Valhalla
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2015/02/03/train-car-collide-valhalla-mass-casualties/22822737/

At least six people were killed Tuesday after a Metro-North commuter train struck two cars just north of the train station, emergency responders said.

Multiple others were said to be injured in the crash.

The crash, which occurred about 6:30 p.m. near the Commerce Street crossing, caused an explosion that ignited both the cars and the Harlem Line train.

A large emergency response team had already been in the area responding to a head-on crash on the Taconic State Parkway. The parkway is now closed to northbound and southbound traffic and is expected to remain so for several hours.

[charlie6017]

Here's more on this breaking news story......prayers to all involved.

6 dead after Metro-North train hits car in New York
http://jewishfeed.com/2015/02/metro-north-train-on-fire-after-hitting-car/

spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said about 800 to 850 people were on board the train, which has eight cars. Emergency responders at the scene said all passengers had been evacuated from the train, but the number of injured was not immediately known.

Charlie

[John_Perkowski]

Dutch Railnut sent Jeff, Simon and I this link

Our prayers are with the families of the dead, and the people and families of the people who were injured.

[glennk419]

This is not at all good. It sounds like a car was stalled on the tracks and there are multiple victims. Fortunately, the train remained on the rails.

Prayers and condolences to all involved.

[nomis]

It appears from pictures linked that the 4333 was the leading MU on the consist.

Mod Note: Let's keep the speculation and hyperbole' to a minimum while this tragedy is investigated.

[DutchRailnut]

ny post reports 7 killed 9 injured

7 dead after Metro-North train collides with car
http://nypost.com/2015/02/03/metro-north-train-collides-with-2-cars-causing-massive-explosion/

At least seven people were killed and 9 injured after a car collided with a Metro-North train in Westchester on Tuesday night, according to law enforcement sources.
The vehicle and the front of the Harlem line train to burst into flames killing one in the car and six on the train, sources said.

[4400Washboard]

6 confirmed dead after 2 vehicles struck in Valhalla

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/02/03/ ... rlem-line/

This hasn't been a good past 2 years for metro north...

EDIT: Never mind this post. It has been merged into this one. Sorry for the wrong link, I didn't paste the correct URL (Since fixed^)

[glennk419]

After seeing the latest pictures, best wishes to the engineer.

[Jeff Smith]

ADMIN NOTE:

Thanks Joe for posting my note earlier. Our thoughts and prayers are with the crew and victims of the crash.

Let's remember to keep them in mind while posting. Now is not the time to be assigning blame, etc. This is a major incident and lives have been lost, regardless of where fault may lie. Let's not be making comments that usually follow topics such as these. We'll be watching this thread closely, and Insensitive remarks will not be tolerated.

Thanks to all of you for your patience; of course we're getting a lot of traffic because of the incident. Even I've been having trouble getting into the site tonight. I've made the owner aware and we're working on a permanent solution and a new hosting site.

[Head-end View]

So of course the idiot news stations are comparing this incident to the December 2013 Spuyten Duyvil crash, as if there were any similarity between the two incidents. Ignorance and sensationalism at its best (or worst).

Has anyone heard anything about the condition of the engineer and other crew members?

[SwingMan]

All three crew members on the train were reported to be accounted for, thankfully. However, still very tragic event.

[pnaw10]

WNBC-TV posted a 2-minute video from Chopper 4, showing the entire length of the train.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Me ... 16911.html

You could see the rear of the train was just barely still "fouling" the crossing, so it took nearly 8 car lengths to stop -- approximately 225 yards. While it's tough to see, they showed the crossing bars were down and the lights were blinking. Hopefully other media outlets take that into consideration before speculating against the engineer, the crossing signals, or "filling time" with a recap of MNR's history.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims, and sympathies to the loved ones of those who lost their lives.

[justalurker66]

All three crew members on the train were reported to be accounted for, thankfully. However, still very tragic event.

That is good to hear.
Passenger fatal accidents are horrible. I look forward to the official explanations of what occurred.

[Chessie GM50]

So of course the idiot news stations are comparing this incident to the December 2013 Spuyten Duyvil crash, as if there were any similarity between the two incidents. Ignorance and sensationalism at its best (or worst).

Appeal to fear at its finest. Prepare to hear nothing but ill-informed rhetoric from people who didn't know the Harlem line even existed until today.

Best wishes to all those affected: be it train crew, passengers, or the family of the Jeep's driver.