Amtrak 91 - CSX Collision Cayce, SC - 2/4/18

[Backshophoss]

One of the Amfleet coaches shows a crumple on the roof,1 coach.1 cafe toast!

[justalurker66]

The signal system was suspended due to maintenance, no signals were in play to protect anything! This is not an uncommon thing to see, and there are rules in place to protect against these types of accidents.

Then somebody broke a rule.

Apparently a switch left locked lining a train into an occupied siding?
A signal suspension in place that removed any alert from the signalling system (restricting signals into that block) that would have warned the engineer?

One rule that was apparently not broken was the speed (unless MAS was slower) ---
300.5 The following speeds must not be exceeded:
b. 59 MPH for passenger trains operating within the limits of a signal suspension or against the current of traffic

(And as a supporter of PTC I'll agree that PTC would not have helped if it also would be suspended along with the signal system.)

[east point]

The café car number might have been 28002 from blowing up one picture about 10 times ? ? ?

[USRailFan]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVNLKBjW4AA59N_.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Is that a completely shredded Genesis? Or is it one of the CSX locos?

[justalurker66]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVNLKBjW4AA59N_.jpg
Is that a completely shredded Genesis? Or is it one of the CSX locos?

The cab is the lead CSX loco.

[JimBoylan]

And the front truck of the Amtrak engine?

[USRailFan]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVNLKBjW4AA59N_.jpg
Is that a completely shredded Genesis? Or is it one of the CSX locos?

The cab is the lead CSX loco.

Yeah noticed that when I watched the drone video on youtube afterwards. The Genesis looks pretty done for too though.... And that cafe car snapped in half...

EDIT: Noticed that the cafe was an Amfleet not a Viewliner.

[sullysullinburg]

At least in this case, it might have been helpful that the cafe car snapped the way it did. All the engery from the cars behind it was channeled outwards instead of forwards. The cafe car acted as a “spring”.

[Railjunkie]

The feds are going to be looking for a SPAF (Switch Position Form) from the freight crew and of course the EC-1 issued to 91s train crew. That will tell some of the story. With a signal suspension all the dispatcher does is issue paper give you permission in and out. Its dark territory they dont know where you are unless they ask you to report clear of locations.

[AdvancedApproach1991]

Will watch the rest of Robert Sumwalt's press briefing later today but so far it seems that:

1. CSX just finished unloading the autoracks at the facility near by

2. Pulled north from the control point and shoved into the siding

3. Switch was left lined for the siding and was not thrown back

4. Amtrak 91 was diverged into the path of CSX


*Sorry if this was noted before*

[CPSK]

If the CSX freight was backed into the siding, wouldn't it have been the responsibility of that crew to re-line the switch to normal and lock it? I can't imagine any rule that would allow a switch to remain in a position that would force another train onto an occupied or a "dead-end" siding track.
Why isn't there a secondary system - which is independent of the primary signaling system - that reports the position of each and every switch (at least those on a main line) back to the dispatcher?

[Tommy Meehan]

Based on the two satellite photos below, it looks like the siding where the CSX freight was parked began a short distance north of the Charleston Highway overpass (the roadway visible in both images, marked US 321 in Fig 2). In Fig 1 the location of the siding switch would be at the uppermost right corner, though obscured by trees. The impact was at the area in Fig 2 on the siding track about opposite where the rail car on the right is parked. It appears the distance between the siding switch and the collision point were only 300-400 feet at most. So the Amtrak train, traveling at 59 mph, is unexpectedly diverted off the main track onto the siding without enough distance to stop short of the freight train ahead. Tragic.

.

[CPSK]

Just for curiosity, I checked the status of Amtrak train #91 to Miami. It is currently being reported as 42 minutes early!
How could that be? Isn't there still blockage of that track, and even if not, wouldn't the ongoing investigation force a re-routing of the Amtrak #91 and its counterpart the #97?

[AdvancedApproach1991]

Just for curiosity, I checked the status of Amtrak train #91 to Miami. It is currently being reported as 42 minutes early!
How could that be? Isn't there still blockage of that track, and even if not, wouldn't the ongoing investigation force a re-routing of the Amtrak #91 and its counterpart the #97?

Possible reroute on the A Line and bus people north of SAV?

[Tommy Meehan]

It looks like they are operating on an alternate route much further east. I think 91/92's usual route through South Carolina is on the former Seaboard Air Line. They're probably using the former Atlantic Coast Line main via Charleston. I can't get arrival times from the Amtrak train status app but on the tracker it shows 92 (circled in green) operating on the former ACL. see below