Amtrack and truck crash in Maine...

Another idiot taking a foolish gamble.

It's stuff like this that prompted me to rant on traffic. I mean, why do people want to beat the train?! You should know, you're not going to win. But, apparently, some idiot forgot this important rule. When you get to a crossing with gates down you do what?! STOP! Not go around! I feel bad for the guys at Amtrak who had to witness and be in such a horrific incident. The driver of the truck is an example of people who don't deserve a license in the first place. They drive like they're Speed Racer and what does it get them? Accidents that either minorly injure, seriously injure or kill them or those around them. This driver is just another numbskull who doesn't understand crossing safety.

Crossing Safety 101 By: PereMarquette1225fan

  1. When approaching a crossing, stop, look and listen and if you dont hear anything.
  2. At a crossing with multiple tracks, cross with caution. One train may be stopped, but another may be coming.
  3. When at a crossing with lights flashing and the gates are down, don't swerve around, just stop and wait. Is your life not important enough to wait a few seconds instead of making a foolish decision that could cost your life.
  4. If lights are flashing and gates are coming down, just stop and wait until the train has passed, and once the gates are raised, then cross.
I hope we all knows these rules, because the driver of the truck sure as heck, didn't. Forgive me, if I sound harsh, I'm just angry that's all.
 
Not go around!
Click to expand...
I don't believe he was trying to go around. He tried to stop according to eyewitnesses, but skidded into the path of the train. It was a fully loaded eighteen wheeler and if I had to guess I would say that he was speeding on a rural two lane road and simply could not stop in time.
 
gfisher said:
I don't believe he was trying to go around. He tried to stop according to eyewitnesses, but skidded into the path of the train. It was a fully loaded eighteen wheeler and if I had to guess I would say that he was speeding on a rural two lane road and simply could not stop in time.
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That changes everything.
 
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/11/amtrak-train-collides-with-dump-trunk-in-maine/?test=latestnews

We're pretty quick to condemn the drivers in these situations. There's a reason they are called accidents. We probably make decisions everyday, especially on the road, that are only a hair's breadths from an accident. Let us not start speculating about the cause. I see nothing in either article about the state of the crossing, or the speed of either the train or the truck.

The FOX article states the engineer had the presence of mind to separate the locomotive from the consist to prevent the fire from spreading. That's some composure, give that you've just collided with a truck, and the vehicle you're uncoupling is ON FIRE!:eek:
 
I heard about this a few minutes ago (I live East of Boston and have taken the Downeaster before, usually on one day mini-vacations to Portland), so this is certainly local to me. It's pretty sad, and the worst part is that the eyewitness testimony suggest that the truck was stopping with a decent amount of room but didn't make it.

On that note, lets try and keep the prejudice down and let investigators judge who is at fault. Last time, the thread got locked due to that. My condolences to the family.

One other interesting thing: check out the damage done to the locomotive (to those who don't know the undamaged F40 in the back is an NPCU) and the little bit of noticeable damage to the first coach! http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/165371/112/Train-hits-truck-in-North-Berwick
 
Isn't that what Operation Life Saver is all about is teaching and preventing people from doing things like that?
 
Now granted I work on a railroad, But I always get very cautious when it comes to moving trains.

I look every time I cross the tracks, even when I know nothing is there, I always make sure I know where the engines are when moving around the consist, and what they are doing.

I can't imagine why people try to beat a train, simply because I am so scared of what happens when you lose, and because of that, I would never do it
 
gfisher said:
The train was doing seventy miles an hour and the crossing gates were down and the signals working.
Click to expand...


Do you have a link to a source George? I haven't read an article that included that information.

Sawyer811: Are you implying the thread will be locked, or something else?
 
All I can say is that this kind of stuff has always been happening. It's better though with new locomotive design. Keeps the crew safer, but it never gets better for the truck drivers.

Do you guys know the very first Illinois Central Gulf Geep Bicentennial unit? Nope, it wasn't #1776.

The VERY first ICG GP38AC Bicentennial was ICG #9510. Approaching a crossing in Missouri, the train struck a fuel tanker. The "L" window on the cab broke in and the engineer was burned to death, and the brakemen next to him suffered severe burns.

It's happened to old trains, such as the CB&Q. Or ATSF. EMD E1 #3 was involved in a collision with a truck that ended in an explosion, the engineer and crew survived that one.

For me, it's the same old story. Always sad.

Cheers,
Joshua
 
I have one answer what the crossing was:
QUIET ZONE
Montclair, NJ, put in there danged quiet zone so if a car got hit by a train they could sue NJT for not blowing the horn.
Whoops, got off topic.
But why do people drive around gates or stop short and crash into a train
 
Do you have a link to a source George? I haven't read an article that included that information.
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It was on the local evening TV news.

And there has been no indication at all in the news that the crossing was or was not a "quiet zone" crossing, or for that matter whether the train blew or did not blow a whistle.

And if you are driving any vehicle and cannot stop for a properly functioning railroad crossing then you are the one at fault. I do not see where "prejudice" enters into it.
 
I see. I don't watch the local news, but they probably wouldn't have covered it anyway.:hehe:
 
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