NTSB: Train worker likely to survive if he hadn't jumped.

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casanova419

Member
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Officials say a crew member who was aboard a freight train that struck a parked train in New Mexico probably would have survived if he had not jumped from the train right before impact.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said Wednesday that the locomotive's survival area was completely intact after it struck the train parked on a siding. They say a manually operated switch was locked in place, sending the train onto the side track.
One of the two Southwestern Railroad crew members on board was killed. The other was injured.
Officials say the crew applied their train's brakes to try to stop it as the accident unfolded Tuesday morning about 10 miles southeast of Roswell.
The NTSB says the train was going 31 mph at the time of impact.
 
"Survival area completely intact"

nmcrash.jpg


Not bad, I guess.
 
Details, please. Did the article specify which train the crew member jumped from? I've found images of that crash with intact BNSF locomotives strewn about. Was the Southwest train parked? Or was it the BNSF train? You didn't mention a total death/injury count, just a count of the Southwest crew. From the look of the photo nicky9499, it looks as if the Southwest train was the one parked, since I doubt it could plow through the BNSF train at 31mph and remain upright, while the BNSF train ended up like this:
train-crash-4.jpg

(I'm hoping that's spilled fuel and not blood.)

You did say the crew member jumped from the train that struck the parked train, with an "intact survival area", which this pic suggests the BNSF train was the one moving. And wouldn't BNSF have priority over Southwest, thus shunting Southwest's train to let BNSF's pass?
 
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Off-road (non taxed) diesel fuel is dyed red so it can not be used in on-the-road trucks.
 
That is really interesting, never heard of it. What would stop someone from using red dyed fuel in their truck if they really wanted to though?
 
nicky9499 said:
That is really interesting, never heard of it. What would stop someone from using red dyed fuel in their truck if they really wanted to though?
Click to expand...

Trucks (lorries) go through mandatory roadside stop inspections more often than not. If a trucker is caught using the wrong fuel, he or his company is fined very high for tax fraud and possibly other charges.

John
 
Didn't expect to learn an interesting fact about diesel fuel and trucking laws when I posted in here. :hehe:
Thanks for that!
 
hauntedclipp said:
Details, please. Did the article specify which train the crew member jumped from? I've found images of that crash with intact BNSF locomotives strewn about. Was the Southwest train parked? Or was it the BNSF train? You didn't mention a total death/injury count, just a count of the Southwest crew. From the look of the photo nicky9499, it looks as if the Southwest train was the one parked, since I doubt it could plow through the BNSF train at 31mph and remain upright, while the BNSF train ended up like this:


You did say the crew member jumped from the train that struck the parked train, with an "intact survival area", which this pic suggests the BNSF train was the one moving. And wouldn't BNSF have priority over Southwest, thus shunting Southwest's train to let BNSF's pass?
Click to expand...
Well from a good close read of the whole story, I think the actual count is 2 people died. The unit with the survival area still intact was the lead BNSF unit, clearly you can see what was left of the head end of what was an EMD of some kind. It appears to have completely destroyed the engineer side, so I would say the other crew member was the engineer of the parked train. The BNSF train was the one moving. How else could there have been a collision with a parked Southwestern RR train if the BNSF train was not moving? The switch was not set for the BNSF Main, thus allowing the BNSF train to pass on to Southwestern tracks and smash the parked train.
 
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