North Carolina NCDOT-Amtrak Carolinian Service

[glennk419]

And one report says that two 'compartments' derailed. Someone (Amtrak, OL, DOT/FRA) needs to put together a glossary of rail industry terms and distribute it to the press. At least, so far, I haven't read that the conductor was blowing the whistle.

The Associated Press was calling the locomotive a "cabin". These writers must all be from Europe.

[Greg Moore]

And one report says that two 'compartments' derailed. Someone (Amtrak, OL, DOT/FRA) needs to put together a glossary of rail industry terms and distribute it to the press. At least, so far, I haven't read that the conductor was blowing the whistle.

The Associated Press was calling the locomotive a "cabin". These writers must all be from Europe.

That's better than the reporter on the Today show that called it a coach.

[EDM5970]

I heard the horn on the video. I was making reference to the un-informed media frequently referring to engineers as conductors, and horns as whistles. I also saw the crossing GATES referred to as arms. The media needs educating, that's all.

[Bob Roberts]

I heard the horn on the video. I was making reference to the un-informed media frequently referring to engineers as conductors, and horns as whistles. I also saw the crossing GATES referred to as arms. The media needs educating, that's all.

Mea culpa. My sarcasm detector works poorly before noon.

[dedm30junk]

After all the accidents and collision on the tracks the main stay media still do not know the differences between a Conductor and Engineer.

[ExCon90]

It only says "asked that Amtrak be notified", nothing about a call actually made, or anything about the railroad that Amtrak was operating on being notified.

Well yes, but I interpret "asked that Amtrak be notified" as satisfying pumpers' question as to whether the trooper either called or told someone to call the railroad, and thus acted properly and should be absolved of blame. Logically I would assume he called the railroad, whose number is posted at the crossing, and asked them to notify Amtrak.

Some more details would be nice, but we probably won't know exactly what happened until the NTSB report comes out in many months (if they investigate at all).

Actually, Amtrak is not the party to notify. I'm sure that in every town in the U. S. that has a grade crossing the local police know what number to call when the gates are stuck down or a crossing is blocked--that's the number to call if they want to notify the right person immediately (and that number might be the 800 number at the crossing). I hope someone at the police station has a sheet of paper under the glass top of his desk with the right phone number and all relevant crossing numbers. The important thing is to get word to the railroad's dispatcher, not Amtrak. I would be interested in knowing whether the state trooper radioed headquarters and if someone there immediately called the railroad. Of course, if the train was already too close to stop, even that wouldn't have helped.

[DutchRailnut]

even then the cop would have probably heard the horn on other crossings, he could have turned his flashers on with trooper car on crossing and a stop signal given with light.
a stop signal to motorist at night is same as stop signal given to train day or night.
if the cop had called 800 number listed on box the dispatcher would have had crossing identified as part of caller id (number dialed) and could have taken immediate action.
any other way would have a procedural delay, but then truck was only stuck for near 15 minutes WTF?

http://news.yahoo.com/college-student-r ... 28678.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TrainPhotos]

even then the cop would have probably heard the horn on other crossings, he could have turned his flashers on with trooper car on crossing and a stop signal given with light.
a stop signal to motorist at night is same as stop signal given to train day or night.
if the cop had called 800 number listed on box the dispatcher would have had crossing identified as part of caller id (number dialed) and could have taken immediate action.
any other way would have a procedural delay, but then truck was only stuck for near 15 minutes WTF?

I agree that the 15 minutes was wasted time and could have easily lead to a non-incident if proper steps were taken. Thanks to quick action by the engineer, it does look like the collision was far below the allowed speed in that area (people saying it was 70-79 mph). Imagine if it had been a freight train doing 70?

[DutchRailnut]

so much for his career...
http://www.wncn.com/story/28359720/high ... -collision" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[n2cbo]

even then the cop would have probably heard the horn on other crossings, he could have turned his flashers on with trooper car on crossing and a stop signal given with light.
a stop signal to motorist at night is same as stop signal given to train day or night.
if the cop had called 800 number listed on box the dispatcher would have had crossing identified as part of caller id (number dialed) and could have taken immediate action.
any other way would have a procedural delay, but then truck was only stuck for near 15 minutes WTF?

http://news.yahoo.com/college-student-r ... 28678.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It looks like the Mayberry, NC Sheriff's department was on the job and Barney Fife was the deputy in charge along with Gomer Pyle...
I could just see it now... Gomer repeatedly hollering "Citizen's Arrest" at Barney.

[Greg Moore]

so much for his career...
http://www.wncn.com/story/28359720/high ... -collision" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Very not good. I'm quite confident CSX and Amtrak would have preferred him to call and it end up being a false alarm than this.

[Backshophoss]

From a "Screen Grab" pic in today's New York Times,seem like the train hit part of a modular home at the crossing,the engine was on it's
side and the ex-coach baggage car was on the ground,the Amfleet coach was still on the rails,however the injury count
seems to be different ranging from 55 to 65 depending on the reporter's info.

[CentralValleyRail]

A simple solution would be any police department that has a set of train tracks that go thru their jurisdiction to have a list of frequencies that they can call the train directly on. It saves the what ifs and go between and gets quick hard information fast to train crew.

At major airports in the New York Area most ground crews and cars (driven by various employees of various companies) that drive around the airport have direct freq's and walkies to talk to planes in the rare event of an emergency. It's the same basic concept.

[Backshophoss]

The days of the "Mutual Aid" channel on PD mobile radio,may have gone the way of the "dodo bird" due to
cellphones and onboard "mobile data terminals",and the change to 800 mhz radios.
Believe CSX or NS is the host RR here,most 911 centers have the direct dial #'s to RR dispatch centers,as long as the
officer on scene tells the 911 dispatch the crossing # to pass on to the RR dispatcher.
A RR PD officer might be able to "tone up" the dispatcher on the radio.

[DutchRailnut]

The load was NOT a modular home but a metal electrical switching station weighing as much as Genesis.

http://www.wncn.com/story/28359720/high ... -collision" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/03/10/2 ... hould.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;