Runaway coal truck closes NS Pittsburgh Line

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[h=1]Runaway coal truck closes NS Pittsburgh Line[/h] By Erik Rasmussen | June 15, 2015
RELATED TOPICS: NORFOLK SOUTHERN | DERAILMENTS/WRECKS

A runaway coal truck temporarily closed Norfolk Southern's Pittsburgh Line in Summerhill, Pa.
Erik Rasmussen


SUMMERHILL, Pa. – A runaway coal truck crashed onto the NS Pittsburgh Line Friday, damaged two tracks and stopping main line rail traffic.

At approximately 3 p.m. on June 12, a coal-hauling dump truck lost its brakes while travelling southeast on Jackson Street in Summerhill. Unable to stop or make the turn at the bottom of the hill, the truck traveled through an intersection and through the parking lot of a former car dealership and onto Norfolk Southern’s Pittsburgh Mainline. Main track 3 was the most heavily damaged, but Main 2 was also knocked out of alignment while Main 1 was covered with spilled coal.

NS westbound train 11A was able to stop in time and traffic was stopped and held on all three tracks until the main lines could be repaired.

Croyle Township police said 47-year Dennis Barnes of Johnstown was driving for Samuel D. Brink Trucking Inc. of Ebensburg, Pa. at the time of the crash.

The driver was able to climb from the vehicle and went to Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center for an evaluation.

The tracks reopened for service Saturday.

 

[nicky9499]

Wow, so much for their constant hating on "damned four wheelers". Turns out truckers aren't gods of the road after all.

 

[cascaderailroad]

See where the yellow school bus is in this image ... that truck took a flying leap off a 15 foot embankment ... OWCH !

https://www.google.com/maps/place/S...2!3m1!1s0x89cb0a5b6dd618af:0xd4cc84b70057a7e4

Reminds me of the song based on an actual truck accident that occurred in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1965

30,000 Pounds of Bananas

The incident

On March 18, 1965, a 35-year-old truck driver, Eugene P. Sesky, was on his way to deliver a load of bananas to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Sesky, an employee of Fred Carpentier, who operated a small truck line in Scranton, was returning from the boat piers at Weehawken, New Jersey where he had picked up his load. While the exact information is somewhat lost in time, the load was clearly destined for the "wholesale block" on the western edge of Lackawanna Avenue in Scranton, the local A&P Warehouse or to Halem Hazzouri Bananas, the premier banana purveyor in the area at the time. Sesky was driving a 1950s Brockway diesel truck tractor with a 35 ft (11 m) semi-trailer and was headed down Rt. 307 when he suddenly lost control. The "two-mile" descent extends from Lake Scranton down to the bottom of Moosic Street (41.4000000°N 75.6550000°WCoordinates: 41.4000000°N 75.6550000°W), a 500 ft (150 m) drop in elevation in little more than a mile, where the truck eventually crashed at the southwest corner of Moosic St and S. Irving Ave. For some reason, probably failure of its brake system, the truck cruised into Scranton at approximately 90 mi (140 km) an hour, sideswiping a number of cars before it crashed (probably as a direct result of Sesky deliberately flipping it over to avoid killing any pedestrians or motorists, or striking an automotive service station on Moosic Street that, had it been struck, would have exploded in flames and caused greater loss of life), killing Sesky himself and spilling bananas everywhere when the rig came to rest. The road was then closed for cleanup as Johnson's Towing Company helped out in the recovery. Trucks over 21,000 lb (9.5 t) are no longer allowed to travel that route.