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Just saw this one hour NOVA documentary on PBS. Very infomative, although geared to "Joe Average," not to the railfan. I detected no glaring errors, but then I'm not that far removed from "Joe Average."
It will undoubtedly be rebroadcast, and I note that it will be shown again at 2:00 am EST Thurs. (for those reading this in real time).
-------------------- Ocala Mike Posts: 1530 | From: Ocala, FL | Registered: Dec 2006
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I watched "Why Trains Crash", on PBS, last night.
Yes, the presentation was intended for a general audience, but I thought they did a very good job in explaining causes of train crashes and possible remedies, including PTC .
I thought they covered the Chatsworth crash and the train 188 derailment, near Philadelphia, quite well. I was amazed to see the devastation of the Lac-Magantic oil train distaster. It looked like the town was carpet bombed, after the crash.
I was impressed with the stringent track and train maintenance programs for the Japanese bullet train systems.
A good presentation.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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Nova is one series that PBS offers to the on-demand the major cable providers offer. Something else (probably SIX) will just get "pre-empted" until Sunday when I'll have nothing to watch.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by yukon11: I thought they covered the Chatsworth crash and the train 188 derailment, near Philadelphia, quite well. I was amazed to see the devastation of the Lac-Magantic oil train distaster. It looked like the town was carpet bombed, after the crash
Richard, having watched the show last night at On-Demand, I wholly concur with your thoughts. Sanchez (Chatsworth) was grossly negligent; Bostian (Frankford Jct - 2015) was a conscientious Engineer who found himself overwhelmed by conditions, and as a result, lost necessary situation awareness.
Megantic was not directly attributed to either employee negligence or situational awareness, but rather to a management culture that was looking to cut every corner and awarding "Brownie Points" for dreaming up new ones. It is hardly the first time in history that lowerlings have fallen on the sword for the deity.
The show did point out the deficiency of having Bakken crude being handled as if it were, say, West Texas. Somebody had to recognize that "Bakken is gasoline", but didn't.
This railroad show is one that is worth your while; but hurry, as PBS does not make their material available for long, but of course, they are happy to sell you a DVD of such anytime.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Regulations to prevent a reocurrance of Megantic are outstanding examples of the saying that safety rules are written in blood.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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