91 Silver Service Train delay outside DeLand FL 10-30-2021

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U

uz1

Train Attendant
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Messages
22
A friend on the train 91 says they struck a car trying to beat the crossing outside DeLand FL. Their first train trip. Other than saying I'm sorry and these things happen from time to time to express some empathy. I'm really not sure what the odds are of something like this to put it in perspective of what to expect, if on trips with crossings (excluding say Northeast Corridor), is it 1-in-a-1000 or 1-in-a-10000. I've had the usual strange occurrences and delays but nothing this dramatic. With the train delayed 3 hours before this event, it's too bad to have your first train experience like this. I would love to present some type of fact, like don't worry the odds are it won't happen again, as they have a return trip. But in reality I have no idea. I have certainty read worse horror stories on AU before, but I'd like to stay upbeat.

And if any more detail on the accident arises, I would be interested to know of it.
 
Amtrak reports a grade crossing "incident" involving #91 south of Palatka FL. Another site says a collision with a tractor trailer. Location map shows that the train has been stopped since before noon. Auto Train #53 is also stopped.
 
OK - it's a little bit confusing because there are reports of a collision near North Charleston, South Carolina, but Amtrak says there's a collision near Palatka, Florida.



But then I found this story, which has info that suggests another collision, and it sounds like the Auto Train. So it might be separate collisions.

An Amtrak spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that the train, which runs between Lorton, Virginia, and Sanford, Florida, was delayed for 1 hour and 53 minutes, and that the corporation is cooperating with local authorities.​
 
I hope my kids don’t see these reported accidents. They may ban me from riding trains. 😱
Yes, I told them about being on the South Shore line one during the gathering - but not till after I got home. Didn’t need them worrying about me while I was still riding trains.
 
This was posted on FB in the Silver Star Silver Meteor group:

Amtrak 91 97 delay amtrak to Miami delay amtrak 98 delay to nyc all trains stuck in plataka fl truck try to beat a train and lost but now the trailer is stuck underneath and estimated delay on south bound train 5-10hr delay estimated arrival to Miami 91 97 3am
Estimated arrival to nyc 4pm
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Looks like it. That is an interesting picture with the train number as opposed to what amtrak track-your-train shows. What is that url?
 
AmtrakBlue said:
I hope my kids don’t see these reported accidents. They may ban me from riding trains. 😱
Yes, I told them about being on the South Shore line one during the gathering - but not till after I got home. Didn’t need them worrying about me while I was still riding trains.
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Our kids should be more worried about us driving our cars across grade crossings, not being on the train. In all of these cases, no one on the train was hurt.
 
MARC Rider said:
Our kids should be more worried about us driving our cars across grade crossings, not being on the train. In all of these cases, no one on the train was hurt.
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Depends on the vehicle and the situation. The have been semis that T-boned a train and caused a derailment. But generally the train hitting a smaller vehicle isn't going to result in the train derailing.
 
MARC Rider said:
Our kids should be more worried about us driving our cars across grade crossings, not being on the train. In all of these cases, no one on the train was hurt.
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Yesterday there was an accident at a grade crossing - with the lights flashing - but the train was not involved. One car decided to make a u-turn (common at this grade crossing, I'm sure, because the freight trains are slow there and can be long). Apparently the driver assumed the car headed in the opposite direction on the other side of the tracks was going to stop for the train (I'm guessing the driver saw the other car). Well, that driver decided to try to beat the train and probably did not expect the other car to make a u-turn. Well, the driver and the pax in the u-turn car both died from injuries when the other car hit them. :(
https://www.wdel.com/news/update-el...cle_13bd77b0-3908-11ec-8050-4bf9db04ce39.html
 
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Source reported 91 Silver Star had a incident at crossing, possible damage to engine, its sitting at TPA station for over hour and half. and also other 91 Star near Cary, NC, trespasser.

Oh boy, not a good week for Amtrak.
 
Does anyone think about “Operation Lifesaver” anymore?? For crying out loud, attempting to beat a train at a gated crossing is futile. Even if you tie, you lose!! The train will ALWAYS win and you will be crushed—often fatally!

Good rule of thumb: Whenever you come to an active railroad crossing, just stop. Even if the lights aren’t flashing and/or the gates are not down. Just stop.You don’t know if the crossing is defective. People can honk all they want. Your life is more important. Now, if you know the crossing is “exempt” or a spur line, you can proceed carefully if the lights aren’t flashing. But a major Class 1 or even a short line active track, just stop and look.

If you come to a crossing and the lights and/or gates are on, but no train appears after a few minutes, do the following.

1. Take down the telephone number indicated on the crossing sign and the crossing’s ID number. Every active railroad crossing is required to post this information.
2. Call the number and report the defective crossing. Or, take the info down then proceed cautiously across. Then call ASAP.
3. The number usually connects to the railroad’s police. They can immediately dispatch someone to repair the gates and lights.

Regarding the line between Jacksonville and DeLand, passenger trains can hit 79 mph. The single-track line only serves a couple local freights as CSX has shifted most of its thru freights through Ocala. So, when a train hits a car or truck, it shreds it completely at those speeds!
 
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Is there a good place to find recent data (2021) for grade crossing incidents? I'd like to compare that with overall traffic incidents this year, which are set up to be the highest in a long time.

Can we please try to refer to these events as "incidents", " crashes", or "collisions" instead of "accidents"? They're anything but, as they can be prevented, just like any other traffic crash out there.
 
daybeers said:
Can we please try to refer to these events as "incidents", " crashes", or "collisions" instead of "accidents"? They're anything but, as they can be prevented, just like any other traffic crash out there.
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That may have about as much success as having the news media report that "car causes train to hit it" instead of "train hits car"
 
daybeers said:
Can we please try to refer to these events as "incidents", " crashes", or "collisions" instead of "accidents"? They're anything but, as they can be prevented, just like any other traffic crash out there.
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Amen to that. I used to have to take a Defensive Driving class every couple of years as a condition for by being to allow to drive taxpayer-owned vehicles in the course of my work, and the first thing the instructor would say is that "accidents" are extremely rare (it's stuff like brakes failing or an engine throwing a rod or something), whereas "crashes" are really common and can always be avoided if one pays attention. I suppose that a split second of inattention at a critical time might qualify as an "accident," but racing the train to a crossing or, even worse, deliberately driving around closed gates would definitely be a crash.
 
I was on 98 (10/30). We first received word of the crash somewhere between Winter Park and Deland. The conductor warned us what was coming up. We made the station stop at Deland then pulled up a little so the train wasn't blocking the crossing. We waited a little more than two hours just north of Deland. Fortunately, while we didn't make up any time, we didn't lose any more time.

Listening to the scanner they said that a truck was stuck under the engine.

After the wreckage was cleared away they found that the engine's horn and PTC were inoperable. The plan was to place the train on a siding. This meant that the conductor had to flag and fusee all grade crossings.

Credit goes to our conductor on 98 who explained everything I heard on the scanner and even went into a bit of detail about what was involved in flagging a grade crossing. Our conductor made this sound like it was an awful task.

I wasn't able to see any of the aftermath, It was on the opposite side of the train from my seat. The train was so full that there weren't any empty seats in coach for me to sit in.
 
WaterLevel said:
I was on 98 (10/30). We first received word of the crash somewhere between Winter Park and Deland. The conductor warned us what was coming up. We made the station stop at Deland then pulled up a little so the train wasn't blocking the crossing. We waited a little more than two hours just north of Deland. Fortunately, while we didn't make up any time, we didn't lose any more time.

Listening to the scanner they said that a truck was stuck under the engine.

After the wreckage was cleared away they found that the engine's horn and PTC were inoperable. The plan was to place the train on a siding. This meant that the conductor had to flag and fusee all grade crossings.

Credit goes to our conductor on 98 who explained everything I heard on the scanner and even went into a bit of detail about what was involved in flagging a grade crossing. Our conductor made this sound like it was an awful task.

I wasn't able to see any of the aftermath, It was on the opposite side of the train from my seat. The train was so full that there weren't any empty seats in coach for me to sit in.
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I ride on the Silver Meteor quite frequently (at least I used to) and am always impressed with the quality of the crew. I am glad you had a good conductor who explained the situation to passengers.
 

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