59(9) hits car in amite la. Driver killed

[offroad437]

http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/local/northshore/2015/05/10/1-dead-after-amtrak-train-hits-vehicle-on-tracks/27091691/

 

[offroad437]

823 down for the count due to fire after hitting car

 

[afigg]

Bad weekend for fatal Amtrak incidents.

The southbound #57 Vermonter struck a trespasser on Saturday morning, May 9, Burlington Free Press: Man dies after being hit by Amtrak train.

There is a post on trainorders that Surfliner #763 hit a trespasser on Saturday morning as well.

 

[George K]

I know it's speculation on everyone's part, but is a collision like that survivable by the locomotive? Fire?

As we rode 59 last March, I was impressed how much the engineer was on the horn during our trip, and mentioned it to our SCA (Hi, Rion!). He said that there are a lot of unprotected crossings in Louisiana and Mississippi, and when they stopped being so aggressive, collisions went up - a lot.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The South is full of thousands of unsignaled and unmarked grade crossings and there are many more train/vehicle and train/tresspasser incidents than those that make the news!( " If it bleeds, it leads!")

I would much rather have the horn blowing at every crossing than to have to sit for hours while waiting on the authorities to investigate moronic actions by boobs that result in deaths or injuries to people and/or damage to Train Equipment and property!

 

[offroad437]

This was a protected crossing from the pictures I have seen. Not much left of the truck. Not my picture

 

[VentureForth]

To be clear, the deceased is the driver of the TRUCK, not the TRAIN.

 

[George K]

Here's a satellite view of the crossing:



And here's the street view:

 

[Grandpa D]

The crossing in Amite, LA only had crossbucks and a stop sign. No lights, no crossing gates.

What happened to 59? Status Maps doesn't have any info after the prior stop. As they took passengers off I'm guessing bustitution.

 

[George K]

http://wgno.com/2015/05/10/fatal-amtrak-crash-in-amite/

Fire Chief says a truck stalled over the tracks near Highway 51 and Pope Lane.

I don't get it. "Stalled"?

How often do trucks "stall" at a grade crossing? I imagine that there might have been traffic (such as it is in Amite, LA) in front of him, but otherwise, I don't understand.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Might have become stuck as a result of poor planning by the truck driver or it may have indeed stalled as a result of poor maintenance by the truck owner. Either way the solution rests with the trucking company. If you want fewer incidents you'll either need to remove crossings so careless truckers are no longer able to screw up or start increasing penalties until they're severe enough to create substantially safer trucking companies.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Based in the pics that George posted doesn't seem any reason for the driver not to have been able to see a train coming from either direction! Unfortunately the South is full of these grade crossings and collisions between trains and vehicles is basically a daily event!!!

The exception would be if the train suddenly appeared out of thin air like magic, just as the truck was on the tracks!

When will they ever learn? Never!!! Sigh

 

[George K]

Based in the pics that George posted doesn't seem any reason for the driver not to have been able to see a train coming from either direction!

That's what I was thinking, Jim. A wider screen shot confirms. Site of collision is in the center.

 

[fairviewroad]

Could "stalled" in this case mean "high-centered". That crossing looks like it's on a bit of a rise. It's possible

the driver tried to cross there without realizing that and got stuck on the crossing. That wouldn't explain

why the driver was killed, unless he failed to exit the truck and instead stayed inside to call for help.

 

[George K]

Good point. There's a crossing in my town (marked, and with gates) that is a little on the high side, and a few people have gotten stuck there, particularly when there's a lot of snow.

 

[mlasher911]

I was on this train when the accident happened. The church across the street graciously opened its doors where we waited until busses arrived to take us to New Orleans.

 

[FormerOBS]

Until someone comes forward with good, reliable info about this crossing and this accident, there's not much we can know for certain except that the train and its passengers were delayed, the loco was fire damaged, the truck was destroyed, and the truck driver is dead. We don't know whether the truck was a pickup, a straight truck, or a semi. We don't know what it was carrying, or why there was a fire. We don't know whether there was other traffic involved, or whether high-centering was a factor. We don't know whether the truck was moving or not. We don't know whether the driver was distracted by a phone call, texting, or a loud radio. We don't know whether there was damage to the track or signals. The reporter may think he did a good job, but I don't think he had (or has) a clue.

Am I being too harsh?

Tom

 

[George K]

Am I being too harsh?

Tom

Nope. You're 100% right. Lots of smoke, lots of heat. Not much light.

 

[afigg]

Until someone comes forward with good, reliable info about this crossing and this accident, there's not much we can know for certain except that the train and its passengers were delayed, the loco was fire damaged, the truck was destroyed, and the truck driver is dead. We don't know whether the truck was a pickup, a straight truck, or a semi. We don't know what it was carrying, or why there was a fire. We don't know whether there was other traffic involved, or whether high-centering was a factor. We don't know whether the truck was moving or not. We don't know whether the driver was distracted by a phone call, texting, or a loud radio. We don't know whether there was damage to the track or signals. The reporter may think he did a good job, but I don't think he had (or has) a clue.

Am I being too harsh?

Tom

Searching for local news reports, the Louisiana paper The Advocate report states the vehicle was a roll-back tow truck: Amite fire chief: Amtrak train slams into tow truck killing driver, injuring two passengers. Excerpt:

The vehicle, a roll-back tow truck, caused significant damage to the train, Cutrer said.

It is unclear why the tow truck was on the tracks, Cutrer said, and the identity of the driver has not been released, pending notification of next of kin.

So it was a fairly large truck. Beyond that we know little, other than the grade crossing did not have gates and is on a minor road that leads to a small cluster of houses. Looking at the crossing in Google Street View from the eastern side of the tracks, the road ramps up to the tracks, so it is possible the tow truck got hung up on the tracks. But that is speculation only. The local news outlets may not write follow-up news reports on the collision because accidents like this are mundane stuff.

I should fire up the FRA grade crossing locator info app on my iPad and see if there have been any other collisions at this crossing or nearby ones in recent decades.

 

[mlasher911]

Not too harsh at all. I was on the train and it's always interesting how information gets distorted. It was a tow truck that got hit. It had to have been a large one because it took 3 tow trucks to clear the wreckage. There was no fire in the engine but the impact to the front was severe. I also saw a puncture in a side panel of the engine.

Only one news station came out to report and he showed up long after the accident.

I have no information as to why the driver was on the track.

 

[afigg]

I should fire up the FRA grade crossing locator info app on my iPad and see if there have been any other collisions at this crossing or nearby ones in recent decades.

Looked up the Pope Lane crossing on the FRA app and, if I am correct, the grade crossing # is 300155V. There are a LOT of grade crossings along that stretch of railroad. This crossing has a history of 4 collisions going back to 1979, including a fatal one in 1990. FRA link for grade crossing inventory and accident reports.

Accident reports for crossing #300155V:

August 5, 2011: 2 injured in collision with 56 car freight train. Narrative: "MOTORIST STOPPED VEHICLE TOO CLOSE TO TRACKS AT CROSSING AND WAS HIT BY ONCOMING TRAIN. DRIVER AND INFANT PASSENGER WERE TRANSPORTED TO HOSPITAL"

February 6, 2011: one injured in collision with 120 car freight train. Narrative: “DRIVER STOPPED VEHICLE AT STOP SIGN AND THEN SLOWLY PROCEEDED ONTO THE CROSSING AND WAS STRUCK BY APPROACHING TRAIN. DRIVER TRANSPORTED TO HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT OF INJURIES.”

June 23, 1990: two killed, 4 injured in collision with 32 car freight train. No narrative comment, but codes indicate highway user stopped on crossing.

July 3, 1979: no injuries in a collision with a freight train. No narrative comment, but codes indicate highway user stopped on crossing.

With 3 accidents in little more than 4 years, perhaps the local parish or Louisiana DOT should pay for a gated crossing there. What does Louisiana have for a railroad grade crossing safety improvement program?

 

[fairviewroad]

With 3 accidents in little more than 4 years, perhaps the local parish or Louisiana DOT should pay for a gated crossing there.

Or perhaps close that crossing and construct a new, guarded crossing just to the south at the intersection with Robin Street. Of course,

the problem with either of these proposals is that the traffic generated by the handful of homes on Pope Lane probably does not merit

a significant infrastructure upgrade. And since there's no other way in or out of that street, you can't simply close it (which would be the

most sensible thing to do otherwise).

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Let the commercial trucking companies pay to move or modify the crossing. They are the ones risking major damage to our rail infrastructure and serious harm to our passengers and crew. After reading dozens of these articles I'm still waiting for the first example of a major grade crossing collision where the commercial vehicle driver was not at fault.

 

[Mike C.]

i was on the Amtrak heading to Memphis Sunday. We were delayed in Hammond, LA for about 2 hours. Terrible tragedy. I can only surmise "suicide by train". That crossing looks awfully clear and any driver "stuck" on the track would be able to see the train in time to clear vehicle and tracks.