Northeast Regional 188 - Accident In Philadelphia

Last appearance on the online tracker:

https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status ... 44/photo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jslader wrote:

jackintosh11 wrote:

jslader wrote:I've noticed they have painted red numbers on some of the cars. Would these perhaps indicate the location of the fatalities?

They might also be the position in the consist.

I thought so too, at first, but one of the car has three numbers painted on it in separate locations, a "1" next to a"2", with a "3" painted at the very end.

they miscounted a few times so some of those were cross outs. They originally forgot to count the destroyed car.

litz wrote:Presumably, these Sprinters have event recorders ... do they have witness cameras too?

Just listening to a transportation reporter who got confirmation from Amtrak that not only do the Sprinters have event recorders, but Amtrak can download the feed live. So they probably have all the vital stats in-hand.


Updated injury totals from the Governor's ongoing press conference:
5 dead
6 critically injured
59 non-critically injured


So that's good. The death toll and critical injury toll hasn't risen at all in the hour since the Mayor's press conference, and the non-criticals have only increased by +6. These tallies probably aren't going to budge very much now 4+ hours after the accident.

Matt Johnson wrote:Last appearance on the online tracker:

https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status ... 44/photo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you believe that report the train made it a long way out of Philadelphia. It is hard to take the speed as gospel when the location is absolutely wrong.

justalurker66 wrote:

Matt Johnson wrote:Last appearance on the online tracker:

https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status ... 44/photo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you believe that report the train made it a long way out of Philadelphia. It is hard to take the speed as gospel when the location is absolutely wrong.

There's no question the tracker is wrong ... if they really went through that curve at 106mph, that train would be 2 streets over clear on the other side of the freight yard.

justalurker66 wrote:

Matt Johnson wrote:Last appearance on the online tracker:

https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status ... 44/photo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you believe that report the train made it a long way out of Philadelphia. It is hard to take the speed as gospel when the location is absolutely wrong.

That location is actually correct. It's a long way out of 30th St but not a long way out of Philly.

justalurker66 wrote:

Matt Johnson wrote:Last appearance on the online tracker:

https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status ... 44/photo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you believe that report the train made it a long way out of Philadelphia. It is hard to take the speed as gospel when the location is absolutely wrong.

The location isn't wrong, but there is no way that speed is correct.

The scale must be throwing me off ... Anyways - more from the NTSB when they release information.

Some of the tanker cars in that area are staged as Lube product that goes to Eddington, unplacarded cars. Not sure of what's currently there however.

litz wrote:

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:News choppers on the live feed just did a 360-degree pan around the Sprinter and shone a light on it. It looks, amazingly, relatively unscathed. Doesn't appear that it struck anything. But...wow...the ties nearby have been completely stripped of rail. Staggering amount of lateral displacement.

I would put even money that the tracks it plowed through (and it looks like it plowed clear through a double track) caught it and stopped it, akin to a guardrail on a highway.

Imagine if it had kept going into the parked freight cars ... esp. if any of those contained hazmat.

As for condition - yeah, it seems in rather good shape; although the inside of the cab looks a complete mess, as is not surprising considering it had a considerable off-road excursion. Pantographs are even lowered and stowed.

Presumably, these Sprinters have event recorders ... do they have witness cameras too?

I saw one note the conductor might be missing, but I've seen nothing on condition of any of the rest of the crew (including the engineer).

All Amtrak electrics have silent witness cameras installed in addition to the event recorder so I'm pretty sure things will be put together piece by piece. Where are you seeing both pantographs locked down? The one good roof shot I see of the loco has the rear pantograph (the one that should have been up) completely gone.

Anybody know the maximum speed allowed at the Frankford Junction curve?

8th Notch wrote:

litz wrote:

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:News choppers on the live feed just did a 360-degree pan around the Sprinter and shone a light on it. It looks, amazingly, relatively unscathed. Doesn't appear that it struck anything. But...wow...the ties nearby have been completely stripped of rail. Staggering amount of lateral displacement.

I would put even money that the tracks it plowed through (and it looks like it plowed clear through a double track) caught it and stopped it, akin to a guardrail on a highway.

Imagine if it had kept going into the parked freight cars ... esp. if any of those contained hazmat.

As for condition - yeah, it seems in rather good shape; although the inside of the cab looks a complete mess, as is not surprising considering it had a considerable off-road excursion. Pantographs are even lowered and stowed.

Presumably, these Sprinters have event recorders ... do they have witness cameras too?

I saw one note the conductor might be missing, but I've seen nothing on condition of any of the rest of the crew (including the engineer).

All Amtrak electrics have silent witness cameras installed in addition to the event recorder so I'm pretty sure things will be put together piece by piece. Where are you seeing both pantographs locked down? The one good roof shot I see of the loco has the rear pantograph (the one that should have been up) completely gone.

Looked to me like it was missing both pans.

jslader wrote:

justalurker66 wrote:

Matt Johnson wrote:Last appearance on the online tracker:

https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status ... 44/photo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you believe that report the train made it a long way out of Philadelphia. It is hard to take the speed as gospel when the location is absolutely wrong.

The location isn't wrong, but there is no way that speed is correct.

I hope that's the case, but there was clearly a lot of energy in this crash, and the debris field is pretty big. That had to come from somewhere, and with trains, that's usually speed. I''m pretty confident that we will know in good time, though.

As a passenger, that curve is frustratingly slow due to how sharp it is. it is probably the slowest section other than the Elizabeth curves between Philly and New York.

khecht wrote:

jslader wrote:

justalurker66 wrote:

Matt Johnson wrote:Last appearance on the online tracker:

https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status ... 44/photo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you believe that report the train made it a long way out of Philadelphia. It is hard to take the speed as gospel when the location is absolutely wrong.

The location isn't wrong, but there is no way that speed is correct.

I hope that's the case, but there was clearly a lot of energy in this crash, and the debris field is pretty big. That had to come from somewhere, and with trains, that's usually speed. I''m pretty confident that we will know in good time, though.

As a passenger, that curve is frustratingly slow due to how sharp it is. it is probably the slowest section other than the Elizabeth curves between Philly and New York.

Oh god if this was the Elizabeth curve i dont even want to think about it.

I have delivered to the businesses alongside the tracks at that location, and have often observed trains passing by there up close. I believe someone said there is a 60mph speed restriction at that location, but the trains in that area all seem to be going 25-35 mph. They don't go very fast.