Railroad Forums 

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

Moderator: Liquidcamphor

 #1504906  by Backshophoss
 
Red Markers and Headlights on=train is short of cars,used during AM Peak to alert passengers!
ie The normal 10 car train is short 1 pair,is an 8 car train now!
From the notes printed in a Babylon Branch public TT dated in 2011.
 #1504907  by DutchRailnut
 
cool but not on rear end of train Joe !!
 #1504914  by DutchRailnut
 
what has any of that accident to do with LIRR and its operations specially since cab/atc are not part of it ?
 #1504962  by ExCon90
 
I just read the opening paragraph of the report and found no mention that ignoring a dark signal is a violation of the rule stating that a dark signal is to be regarded as displaying the most restrictive indication possible on that signal--if that rule had been observed, the train would have been proceeding at restricted speed and there should have been no problem identifying the headlight of the standing train. The headlight on the rear of the standing train did not cause the collision.
 #1504989  by awtprod
 
ExCon90 wrote:I just read the opening paragraph of the report and found no mention that ignoring a dark signal is a violation of the rule stating that a dark signal is to be regarded as displaying the most restrictive indication possible on that signal--if that rule had been observed, the train would have been proceeding at restricted speed and there should have been no problem identifying the headlight of the standing train. The headlight on the rear of the standing train did not cause the collision.
The crew mistook the dim headlight on the rear locomotive on the stopped train in front of them as the signal. They didn't purposefully ignore the dark signal. The NTSB made the recommendation to the FRA to end the practice of using a dim headlight as a marker of the end of the train after this accident.
To the Federal Railroad Administration:
Prohibit the use of a white light as a marking device on the rear of a train.
(R-15-26)
 #1504997  by Absolute-Limited Advance-Approach
 
ExCon90 wrote:I just read the opening paragraph of the report and found no mention that ignoring a dark signal is a violation of the rule stating that a dark signal is to be regarded as displaying the most restrictive indication possible on that signal--if that rule had been observed, the train would have been proceeding at restricted speed and there should have been no problem identifying the headlight of the standing train. The headlight on the rear of the standing train did not cause the collision.

The NTSB specifically noted that the dark signal was only visible for 3 seconds, this was partly caused by crew dimming their headlights expecting a train to be approaching in the opposite direction. So the use of rear end headlights partly induced the poor lighting conditions that caused the signal to not be observable.