A somber anniversary

[Superliner Diner]

On January 4, 1987, AMTRAK had its most fatal incident on the Northeast Corridor. On that date, the COLONIAL, Train 94, running from Newport News to Boston hit Conrail engines that had fouled AMTRAK's main at Chase, MD just before the bridge. Sixteen people died.

 

[Viewliner]

So Sad, wasn't this the wreck that took out AEM-7s' #900 and #903?

 

I remember reading a story on this from trains.com the other day, I'll post my link tomorrow as I'm stuck on a computer with a 28.8 Modem.

 

[Amfleet]

Yes, I know that accident very well from reading about and I think MSNBC had it on one of their rail accident specials a couple of years ago. The Conrail engineers where beleived to have been smoking "weed" on the job. Well a lot has changed in 15 years with Conrail gone and manditory drug and alcohol tests on engineers. However, the Amtrak engineer was also somewhat at fault when he was supposed to be at a restricted speed of 100mph because of a Heritage car on the rear, but pulled 110mph. So in the learning process engineers today are to stay strictly to there speed and train travel has been made even safer.

 

[Viewliner]

You're right about the speed limit, I remember that too, but even so, had he followed the speed limit, it wouldn't've made much of a difference. The impact would've been reduced slightly, but the train was going to hit the freight train at such a high speed, sad to say. Its unfortunate that the enginneer and those passengers had to die because some moron was too "high" to drive his freight train.

I believe this wreck is the reason freights try to (or have to) operate primarily at night on the NEC.

 

[AlanB]

I believe this wreck is the reason freights try to (or have to) operate primarily at night on the NEC.

I suspect that the wreck had far less to do with the freight being banned during the day. That was simply an economic move on Amtrak's part, as too many places on the corridor are far too congested with passenger equipment to allow for freight movements.

The freight RR's can't figure out how to handle Amtrak at 79 MPH behind a 40 MPH freight train. Think of how much harder it is to get a 125 MPH passenger train around a 40 MPH freight train. Plus I suspect that it was also Amtrak's way of punishing the freight RR's, for they way that they handle Amtrak.

By the way here's the article that Viewliner mentioned from Trains.com.

 

[Amfleet]

Isn't CSX now restricted to operate freight off to one of the side tracks that highspeed or commuter trains use, day or night? Also, if the Conrail engineers weren't so high the would've avoided the whole thing by stopping at their red singnal. This wasn't a off mainline spur!!!

 

[Superliner Diner]

Stange thing is, I have seen freights operating on the NEC in New Jersey during the day, and they have been seen on what should be Amtrak's express tracks, probably avoiding the more frequent local NJT trains.

 

[Viewliner]

I'm guessing that they're not banned, rather limited, and/or the companies try to schedule the majority of their trains at night because of it.

 

[Superliner Diner]

Well I guarantee that one of those things will never get in the way of an Acela Express !!!