Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:27 pm
@CJPat there were no car stops on the night of the crash. They put ties on the track after the crash, but that’s it.
The car ran past the derail, and would've been fine without the section of missing rail after the derail which caused it to tip over. There's also trees wedged in the brake gear under the centerbeam. A crane is in sight now and they're begging the cleanup process.
@Bracdude - I believe from Coast Line's quote above, there was at least a derail in place and not just cross ties.
Of, course SA-31 used to run down to Lakehurst to do his turn around, but that was 5 extra miles and time at 10-15 mph which adds up. I am not familiar with their procedures as to why they had to also pull the section of rail up after building the runaround (dispatcher should have known that the train had a length issue), but I would guess it has a bit to do with classifying the whole length to Lakehurst as OOS for tax reduction.
They were definitely tying their hands by pulling that section of rail that close to the runaround, rather than 500 yds further south. Probably should have left the rail intact until almost down to the Whitesville Rd crossing. Budgets must be hurting to be cutting resources so close to the bone.