BREAKING NEWS - FIRE ON AMTRAK TRAIN OUTSIDE CLEVELAND!

[BigRedEO]

They just broke into our morning news program to let us know there is a fire on an Amtrak train in Elyria, OH, outside of Cleveland. Not much info, but they showed an aerial shot and it looked like the last car had a couple windows burned out. No mention as to whether it's the Capitol Limited or the Lakeshore Limited, but I'd like to know since I'm taking the Lakeshore out of Cleveland tomorrow myself!!!!

 

[BigRedEO]

No links online yet to put here, but they just showed another shot. Now it looks like it may have been one of the engines that caught fire and it has been separated from the rest of the train and is about 100 yards further down the track from the other cars. No injuries reported yet. Waiting on more info - but I've got to leave for work now. Will check back in later.

 

[jamesontheroad]

It's the eastbound LSL (Wall Street Journal)

 

[PRR 60]

Here's another link with lots of photos:

Loraine County (OH) Chronicle-Telegram

 

[SharonLPK]

Here's another link with lots of photos:

Loraine County (OH) Chronicle-Telegram

We rode this train Sunday night/Monday morning. It left CHI 3+ hours late due to some '480' cables having to be replaced. Arrived at our station 6+hours late. This was after leaving the day before on the LSL running 3+ hours late. At least we made it both ways. Many of the passengers out of CHI were taking the train since their flights were cancelled, probably most made it home quicker than they would have by flying -- some said there flights weren't being rescheduled until Tuesday...

I will say that the staff on the trains and in the stations were very patient and friendly. As were the passengers, for the most part...

 

[had8ley]

Well this is a first. A news reporter calling an "engine car." General Electric locomotives have a notorious reputation for stack fires. Oil accumulates in the stacks and the exhaust heat eventually turns the mess into a roaring fire. Amtrak also has a rep for letting engines idle for days at a time especially when they can't shut them down in cold weather.The early GE freight and pax locos had another reputation of smoking horribly; a lot of oil went up the stacks so much so that the state of California set up patrols at the state line to monitor "smokers." GE almost beat Alco for the best "smokers." The class 1's made sure the smokers went places other than California because California shut them down and tagged them while they were in state plus sent a healthy (???) fine to the RR.I'm just guessing but I'd bet the fire started in the stacks and worked its way down to the engine room. If I had a nickel for everyone I put out on a GE I might be able to buy a GE engine~ something I would never do !!! :excl:

 

[BigRedEO]

As long as the westbound is running tonight and I don't miss my connection to the Southwest Chief, I will be very happy!

 

[Scott]

This story sonds familar. I was on the Crescent in September, a few miles outside of BHM, and our second engine caught on fire. I never found out exactly what the cause was. We were relatively lucky, as a local fire company came and put the fire out, we sat for a bit then continued on to NOL, arriving about 2 hours late. They kept the engine in our consist, but kicked us all out of the sleepers due to 'fumes.' What was odd about that is I was in the DC at the time and we continued with our meals. I had to wonder why the sleepers were considered unsafe to occupy, but it was fine to eat the food one car back. No one on the crew said a thing about if our gear - including food we had in our rooms - might be contaminated. I was not too worried about it, it just seemed Amtrak's logic was rather flawed.

 

[BigRedEO]

A friend just texted me that Homeland Security is now involved in this incident.

 

[Ryan]

Wow, that's a heck of a fire - based on the amount of flames, think that 112 is a total loss?

 

[the_traveler]

they showed an aerial shot ... No mention as to whether it's the Capitol Limited or the Lakeshore Limited

They showed an aerial shot and you could not tell if it was the CL or LSL?

The CL is a Superliner while the LSL is an AFII! So if you saw 2 levels, it's the CS, but if you saw only 1 level, it's the LSL!

 

[cpamtfan]

Wow, that's a heck of a fire - based on the amount of flames, think that 112 is a total loss?

Yeah, looks toasted. That isn't a little eletrical fire..

 

[jimhudson]

Glad no-one was hurt, good job by the FD in what was probably terribly cold conditions including lack of water! Did notice the Fire Capt. was quoted as saying the engine belonged to NS, wasnt aware they purchased all the engines from Amtrak! :giggle: Ive been on several LD trains that had the same problem, wonder if Jay could enlighten us as to whether the cold weather accelerates the problem or are they just ready to be sold off to freight/commuter lines??? :help:

 

[the_traveler]

Wow, that's a heck of a fire - based on the amount of flames, think that 112 is a total loss?

Yeah, looks toasted. That isn't a little eletrical fire..

Maybe it can be used on the NEC as a toaster!

(It qualifies, as it's already toasted!

)

 

[rile42]

WEWS-TV in Cleveland (I think) reported there were 350 people on the train. A little different than the number reported in the news article from Lorain. I wonder if Kasich had something to do with this?

 

[BigRedEO]

they showed an aerial shot ... No mention as to whether it's the Capitol Limited or the Lakeshore Limited

They showed an aerial shot and you could not tell if it was the CL or LSL?

The CL is a Superliner while the LSL is an AFII! So if you saw 2 levels, it's the CS, but if you saw only 1 level, it's the LSL!

Not an aerial shot in the dark from far away - couldn't even tell from the first two shots whether it was an engine or not!

 

[BigRedEO]

WEWS-TV in Cleveland (I think) reported there were 350 people on the train. A little different than the number reported in the news article from Lorain. I wonder if Kasich had something to do with this?

Wouldn't surprise me!

Probably more to do with the WEWS site being our ABC affiliate and is updating their stories constantly, while the Chronicle-Telegram is a small local newspaper.

 

[PRR 60]

WEWS-TV in Cleveland (I think) reported there were 350 people on the train. A little different than the number reported in the news article from Lorain. I wonder if Kasich had something to do with this?

Wouldn't surprise me!

Probably more to do with the WEWS site being our ABC affiliate and is updating their stories constantly, while the Chronicle-Telegram is a small local newspaper.

The count from Amtrak is 128 passengers.

 

[Guest]

Well this is a first. A news reporter calling an "engine car."

IMHO, that's more than descriptive enough to differentiate it from a "dining car" or a "passenger car". If either, it could have been worse in terms of injuries.

 

[Gratt]

So does anyone know yet what equipment was lost/damaged?

Did it include any of the passenger cars? :unsure:

 

[BigRedEO]

So does anyone know yet what equipment was lost/damaged?

Did it include any of the passenger cars? :unsure:

Just the one engine as far as anyone has reported.

I just checked the Amtrak Status Maps website, and they still have not shown the #48 having arrived in Elyria yet. How long has a train been made to wait for another engine before continuing on? At what point would they think about busing people?

 

[PRR 60]

Just the one engine as far as anyone has reported.

I just checked the Amtrak Status Maps website, and they still have not shown the #48 having arrived in Elyria yet. How long has a train been made to wait for another engine before continuing on? At what point would they think about busing people?

The train is now in "Service Disruption" status, so the actual status is not shown. It may be in its way.

 

[gswager]

So does anyone know yet what equipment was lost/damaged?

Did it include any of the passenger cars? :unsure:

The fire is confined to the lead locomotive. There is 2nd locomotive. A quick thinking crew disconnected the first burning locomotive away from the rest of trainset, including 2nd locomotive.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd say 112 has pulled its last train.

 

[Bigval109]

So does anyone know yet what equipment was lost/damaged?

Did it include any of the passenger cars? :unsure:

Maybe it's a wakeup call that Amtrak needs a lot of new equipment. And maybe it's time for congress to take them off of the starvation funding.