Railroad Forums 

Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.

Moderator: Liquidcamphor

 #1503061  by Head-end View
 
Well Mark777, I can think of lots of possible reasons the idiot SUV driver might have been fleeing the scene of a fender-bender and gone around the gates. How about maybe drunk driving, no license, suspended or revoked license, outstanding arrest warrant, illegal drugs in the car, illegal alien, or just plain stupid? Also only one person actually caused the incident, the driver of the SUV, not his passengers. The other two guys in the car may have actually been victims themselves. We just don't know.

You're right that LIRR's automatic-speed-control system has served well for decades so for LIRR, PTC is kind of an expansion of that system. But the reason the PTC mandate came about is for years there have been far too many train collisions on many railroads that never equipped themselves with any form of automatic train control and it finally caught up with them in the form of the PTC mandate.
 #1503086  by MattAmity90
 
Gentlemen, GENTLEMEN PLEASE! Positive Train Control and Chuck Schumer have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with what happened back on February 26th and there is nothing political about a grade crossing accident! All that happened was an idiot with two passengers going around the gates and lights, gets hit by an accelerating Hicksville-bound at no more than 45 MPH that pushed it into a train from Ronkonkoma going 80 MPH. School Street has been hazardous but according to the FRA, in New York it ranks 47th most likely to have an accident. Urban Avenue almost a mile to the East is ranked 3rd most likely, and is in the process of being eliminated (it closed off to thru-traffic on Friday, and will remain that way until the Fall as will Covert Avenue in New Hyde Park). Who cares if they were running from the scene of a skirmish, that's not the point. It was a typical case of impatience regardless of circumstance of going around the gates and getting t-boned by a train only to get pushed into another at a combined speed of 125 MPH.

Politics didn't come into play with the 1982 Herricks Road accident, the 1995 Covert Avenue incident, Unqua Road in 1973 and 1975, Brentwood in 2013, Executive Drive in 2011 and other times, Straight Path in 1989, Robbins Lane a few years ago, Willis Avenue last year, and all the pedestrian hits at Jackson Avenue, Broadway, Stewart Avenue, West Broadway, Bedford Avenue, Park Blvd, Anchor and Atlantic, and Glen Cove Road.
 #1503088  by workextra
 
Politics has nothing to do with the February wreck.
Politics has everything to do with Chuck Schumer and any chance he has to make an ass out of us or himself on a camera he won’t miss it. He knows PTC won’t do squat to prevent these types of wrecks, but why not use it to push the agenda and looks like he’s doing something good for God and country.
He’s just another creature in the swamp.
 #1503095  by MattAmity90
 
I just don't want any mention of Schumer or anything political in this thread because it has nothing to do with the subject.
 #1503118  by freightguy
 
I think your missing the mark MattAmity90, Schumer made it about that when he held a press conference about the incident and PTC. That’s what tens of thousands of people saw on the TV cameras and once again in Newsday. Not the select few that read the LIRR forum on here and most have a general knowledge of PTC.
 #1503138  by MattAmity90
 
Even though I'm young, it's better observe trains out there and read about the LIRR than it is to watch it on TV. I'm old school, and that's why I'm one of the select few that reads the forum and has a general knowledge of PTC.
 #1503139  by freightguy
 
Wreck-New-Hyde-Park_Covert-Ave_Newday-cover_12-17-1995_williamGilligan.jpg

I do not know if that Newsday cover Steve Lynch posted copied and pasted onto here. However that more accurately descibes what occurred on Feb 26, 2019. The news seems to water everything down these days. That was more stately Newsday reporting in the early and mid 1990’s. More accountability for ones actions and the local periodicals reporting events as such.
 #1503275  by Jeff Smith
 
Let's move on from the PTC aspect; Chuckie interjected himself as he usually does without any knowledge of what caused the crash. Typical. It's on topic, because he addressed the crash. Nevertheless, it's a distraction, so let's let it go.
 #1503296  by Kelly&Kelly
 
I believe this is the first grade crossing accident in the past score of years at least where the victims were fleeing a crime.

-REDACTED- But the media also ignored some interesting facts that even a preliminary review of official reports would have revealed. The engineer saved at least one life - that of a women riding in the head car.

Fleeing his operating compartment after sounding the horn and dumping the brakes, the engineer happened on the passenger, who was clearly in harm's way. He stopped long enough to grab her and shove her to safety, before the platform perforated the train, ripping the seat she was sitting in from the floor and piling it with a ton of concrete in the vestibule.

Had events unfolded only moment's differently, the outcome could have mimicked MetroNorth's Valhalla disaster.

And that is the rest of the story...
Last edited by Kelly&Kelly on Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 #1503323  by Head-end View
 
K & K, thanks for your usual good factual summary, especially re: the driver of the SUV. But in your reference to the Metro-North accident, I think you meant to say Valhalla, not Sleepy Hollow, right?
 #1503344  by BuddR32
 
Kelly&Kelly wrote: But the media also ignored some interesting facts that even a preliminary review of official reports would have revealed. The engineer saved at least one life - that of a women riding in the head car.

Fleeing his operating compartment after sounding the horn and dumping the brakes, the engineer happened on the passenger, who was clearly in harm's way. He stopped long enough to grab her and shove her to safety, before the platform perforated the train, ripping the seat she was sitting in from the floor and piling it with a ton of concrete in the vestibule.
Forget Newsday's bias against the railroad, its employees, and the like. They cannot even decipher an Engineer from a Conductor. However, the NY Post did report that the Engineer did act quickly and save the passenger's life. They also correctly stated his title.
 #1503345  by mark777
 
K & K:

Thank you for your post. I was eluding to this fact that the media was not willing to report on, but so that I don't put a few people in jeopardy for revealing that info early on after this accident occurred, I merely mentioned it as a possibility. -REDACTED-

-REDACTED-

-REDACTED-
  • 1
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8