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It was just announced on the 4 PM news that an Amtrak train going from Miami to New York has derailed in PlantCity ,Fla. It hit a concrete truck and the driver was killd. No injuries on the train. No further info at this time.
George Harris Member # 2077
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This is from the Tampa Tribune on line edition:
A 34-year-old Plant City truck driver was killed and at least nine people injured when a westbound Amtrak Silver Star derailed about 3:13 p.m. on U.S. 92 just east of Park Road.
The load included a large industrial bin and building materials out of a private drive from Universal Structures at 2291 U.S. 92 E. when the rig was hit by the train, said Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Larry Coggins and Police Chief Bill McDaniel. The crossing is marked with signs but has no gates or arms, Coggins said.
Two engines and nine train cars derailed. At least 15 people on the train had minor injuries. Amtrak said the injured included the engineer.
The truck “totally disintegrated,’ in the crash, Plant City Fire Rescue Operations Chief Eugene Shuler said.
133 passengers. Buses called.
CSX estimates the track to be back in service in 24 to 48 hours.
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Note that the number of injured is gives as both 9 and 15 in the same article. While the "train derailed on US 92" may sound a little silly, it is really not that far from truth. The highway and railroad are parallel and adjacent to each other in this area. Both are also dead straight in this area for at least a couple of miles each way from the crossings. From a look at the aerial photo on Mapquest, this is the middle of about three driveways that cross the track at spacing of about 1000 feet. Visibility would appear to be excellent if anyone stopped long enough to look.
train lady Member # 3920
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Thanks George. I don't know that area so I wondered if the train is going from Miami to NY shouldn't it be northbound, not west? Do the tracks swing around/
notelvis Member # 3071
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The Silver Star passes through the Plant City area twice on each trip......once on it's way TO Tampa and again on it's way FROM Tampa. If 92 were described as going westbound, I presume that it had not yet made it's Tampa station call yet.
RRRICH Member # 1418
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The news media coverage on TV here last night showed a bunch of passengers in Orlando complaining about the "bad AMTRAK service," and complaining that they paid a lot of money for a roomette, and something had better happen soon, and blah-blah-blah, etc. (like the whole thing is AMTRAK's fault that a truck tried to cross the tracks without looking to see if a train was coming)
As stated earlier, if all these passengers had missed a plane connection for some reason, I bet you wouldn't hear nearly as much complaining about the airline company's "bad service" as we heard about AMTRAK's service in this case.
The point is, people accept cancellations and service disruptions with airlines, but if it's an AMTRAK train, then you hear a whole different side of the issue. I felt like going down to the station and telling all these complaining people that if they want better AMTRAK "service," write to their Congress critters and get them to properly fund the AMTRAK system.
My other concern with these 2 derailments in 2 days is -- were any of the Viewliner cars damaged seriously enough that now we again have a shortage of sleepers for the future?
train lady Member # 3920
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Maybe you should write a letter to the editor or call your local TV outlet and express your opinion. Couldn't hurt!!!
George Harris Member # 2077
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quote:Originally posted by RRRICH: The news media coverage on TV here last night showed a bunch of passengers in Orlando complaining about the "bad AMTRAK service," and complaining that they paid a lot of money for a roomette, and something had better happen soon, and blah-blah-blah, etc. (like the whole thing is AMTRAK's fault that a truck tried to cross the tracks without looking to see if a train was coming)
What you actually have here is the typical media zooming in on the loudest whiner with the worst spin on things that they can find.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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George, you're blaming the messenger for the message! The culprits are the ignorant yahoos, not the folks who record what they say.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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George, you're blaming the messenger for the message! The culprits are the ignorant yahoos, not the folks who record what they say.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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Apologies for the double message -- fat-thumbed the keyboard again.
Railroad Bob Member # 3508
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This one reminds me of the Bourbonnais, IL disaster years ago with the City of New Orleans #59 and a truck hauling steel beams...another industrial crosssing, yet with good visibility both ways, if someone cared to look. In the IL case, I believe the driver was quoted as saying that he proceeded over the crossing, even though he could see an approaching headlight, because he "didn't want to wait for a slow freight to block his way." These senseless wrecks never fail to infuriate me, esp. when the media and others "spin" the blame toward the train and crew.
George Harris Member # 2077
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quote:Originally posted by Henry Kisor: George, you're blaming the messenger for the message! The culprits are the ignorant yahoos, not the folks who record what they say.
Actually not in my opinion, Henry. Almost everything that media has to say goes for sensationalism and who cares about what the truth is? This is carried off the end of the scale it seems when it comes to railroad matters. This seems to be a worldwide problem. Because of media scare-mongering, there were people convinced that the Taiwan High Speed Rail was unsafe to ride, and therefore they would not.
Particularly when it comes to grade crossing accidents the overwhelming majority of the time the effort seems to be to figure out how to assign blame to the railroad. This is patently rediculous. The train did not swerve out of its normal path to hit someone. The tracks are not invisible.
RRRICH Member # 1418
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George - I see you are no longer in Taiwan!!! Are you back "for good" now?
gp35 Member # 3971
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Last month a group of teens stole an SUV. Drove it wrecklessly around town. Slammed into a STOPPED freight train blocking a crossing. Ofcourse it was the trains fault.
George Harris Member # 2077
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quote:Originally posted by RRRICH: George - I see you are no longer in Taiwan!!! Are you back "for good" now?
So far as I know. I would still go back to Taiwan in a heartbeat. We loved it there and were well aclimated to the place. If anyone has a picture of a fairly normal looking middle age overweight American couple going down the street in Taipei on a motorscooter with D O G standing on the floor, that might have been us.
George
(Brainspasm. I temporarily forgot what the site does to the normal word for cannine.)
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