NJT Hoboken Terminal crash

I would agree with you on the brakes as the possible cause of the accident. However, the engineer's actions, another mechanical, electrical problem, or something else may also play a part in the accident. I can't help but be reminded of the Federal Express crashing into Washington D.C.'s Union Station in 1953, where the cause of the accident was also a failure of the brakes.
Article of accident:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Pennsylvania_Railroad_train_wreck
 
Last edited:
Hi everybody.
Incident being reported widely here in UK, for BBC report please follow this link:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37503920

They are reporting there is no train protection system fitted to any of this company's trains. However, my thoughts and sympathy go out to all effected by this terrible incident whatever the cause may turnout to be.

Bill
 
Last edited:
They are reporting there is no train protection system fitted to any of this company's trains. However, my thoughts and sympathy go out to all effected by this terrible incident whatever the cause may turnout to be.

Actually, all trains operating on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, which NJ Transit runs trains on, need to be equipped with a cab signaling system, called Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System, or ACSES for short. ACSES can only be used on the Northeast Corridor, so lines that NJ Transit uses that are not part of the Northeast Corridor, such as the Hoboken terminal, is not equipped with ACSES. However, that does not mean that all of NJ Transit's route are equipped with some sort of cab signaling system. If the Hoboken terminal does have some sort of cab signaling system, then the engineer could have overridden it.
 
The article featured in this thread has been updated recently, still accessed by the same link in the opening post. New information says that a worker near the station said that the train never slowed down as the train neared the station, making it more likely that there was a problem with the brakes, though we can still not rule out other reasons. My second theory is that the engineer had a medical emergency that caused him to lose consciousness as the train approached the station, which could also explain why the train didn't slow down.
 
It seems it was a Push-Pull consist with the loco pushing. I wonder whether the connecting controls between front cab and rear locomotive failed. If that happened the driver would have no control at all, probably couldn't even apply the brakes.

Peter
 
I wonder if the engineer was somehow incapacitated. In the event of any equipment failure that would have prevented him from stopping the train, I would think a natural reaction would be to tell the conductor(s) to pull an emergency cord. Hopefully the event recorder and "dashcam" will answer many questions.
 
Back
Top