Camera's mounted on the dash of a P-42.

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

Today I was at the station in Tuscaloosa, When the Crescent came in I looked up into the windshield and saw what looked like a small white, square, security camera. Is Amtrak participating in some sort of a program related to grade-crossing accidents like NS was a few years ago? The locomotive was in the 40-49 series not sure the exact number, 46 maybe?

 

[gswager]

Today I was at the station in Tuscaloosa, When the Crescent came in I looked up into the windshield and saw what looked like a small white, square, security camera. Is Amtrak participating in some sort of a program related to grade-crossing accidents like NS was a few years ago? The locomotive was in the 40-49 series not sure the exact number, 46 maybe?

You just got yourself a correct answer.

 

[MStrain]

That might be some kind of "proof" camera in case there is an accident. It would make any investigation easier for sure.

Its hard to believe that this day in age people are still allowing themselves to be hit by trains; both in cars and out.

Shame.......

MStrain

 

[CREW-DORM#2524]

42 and 160 were the two test locomotives. the whole fleet is to be outfitted when they go in for major work.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

42 and 160 were the two test locomotives. the whole fleet is to be outfitted when they go in for major work.

It may have been 42 I've seen both of these on the Crescent.

 

[AlanB]

Yup, it's time to put an end to the excuses, "the gates weren't down", "the train didn't blow it's horn", "the train was going 200 MPH", and so on. Now it's time for, "no, you weren't obeying the rules of the road and you don't get a dime from Amtrak because of that."

Remember that old rule? A picture is worth a thousand words!

 

[Green Maned Lion]

You'd think that people thought engineers enjoy that time of staring at the object they are bearing down on or something.

 

[had8ley]

Yup, it's time to put an end to the excuses, "the gates weren't down", "the train didn't blow it's horn", "the train was going 200 MPH", and so on. Now it's time for, "no, you weren't obeying the rules of the road and you don't get a dime from Amtrak because of that."
Remember that old rule? A picture is worth a thousand words!

Let me add that the crews were hesitant when they first came out but are relieved when the gate runners go to sue and don't have a leg (or car) to stand on.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Yup, it's time to put an end to the excuses, "the gates weren't down", "the train didn't blow it's horn", "the train was going 200 MPH", and so on. Now it's time for, "no, you weren't obeying the rules of the road and you don't get a dime from Amtrak because of that."
Remember that old rule? A picture is worth a thousand words!

Let me add that the crews were hesitant when they first came out but are relieved when the gate runners go to sue and don't have a leg (or car) to stand on.

there not just used for crossing accidents. there also used in case a train runs a single or something and theres a head on they can see which train was at fault

 

[had8ley]

Yup, it's time to put an end to the excuses, "the gates weren't down", "the train didn't blow it's horn", "the train was going 200 MPH", and so on. Now it's time for, "no, you weren't obeying the rules of the road and you don't get a dime from Amtrak because of that."
Remember that old rule? A picture is worth a thousand words!

Let me add that the crews were hesitant when they first came out but are relieved when the gate runners go to sue and don't have a leg (or car) to stand on.

there not just used for crossing accidents. there also used in case a train runs a single or something and theres a head on they can see which train was at fault

I don't think that any freight crew I know wants to think about something like that. True, it probably is there for that also but if you compare the crossing accidents to the number of head- ons it would be an infinitely small number.

 

[Sam Damon]

Thank our lawyers for this initiative.

 

[transit54]

there not just used for crossing accidents. there also used in case a train runs a single or something and theres a head on they can see which train was at fault

Makes me think of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-kZONm3E6A

Thankfully, my understanding is that the crew was all right.

 

[Guest]

not sure if its the manufacturer's name or whatever, but the camera's have a name on the back of them called "Silent Witness"

 

[George Harris]

not sure if its the manufacturer's name or whatever, but the camera's have a name on the back of them called "Silent Witness"

I think that is the model name. One of these mounted in a school bus - looking inside the bus for the sake of keeping up with rowdy kids - was able to prove that the bus did not stop at a railroad crossing as the driver claimed. This about 10 years ago at a minor road crossing near the Georgia - Tennessee boundary. Her words, "I don't know where the train came from. It must have fallen out of the sky."

An engineer's worst nightmare.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I'd imagine. I doubt they'd sleep for a month after that. God.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

Well this will show proof of how the event occurred but it does nothing for all the: the crossing wasn't safe enough, the gates came down too slow, you shouldn't be able to go around the gates, the gates should be able to hold back a speeding transfer truck, so on and so forth.... A good lawyer will still be able to convince a jury/judge that the railroad was at fault for running over somebody who broke the law, just like the trespassers who were electrocuted by catenary wires in Philadelphia.

 

[VentureForth]

It'd be cool if it were like Gulfstream's EVS or Enhanced Vision System. Could help keep from having to reduce speed in the fog...

 

[Green Maned Lion]

They should simply use hydraulics to move Jersey barriers into place whenever a train approaches.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

I think we need to have plates that lift up from the roadway or either locking one-way gates.

The plates would look similar to the two halves of a drawbridge and would raise when a train approached.

The locking one-way gates would come down as the current ones do, then slide back an inch or so into a locking mechanism embedded into the pavement. The gates would open from the inside to let a trapped motorist out. The gates would be strong enough to resist an impact from the outside.

With all the idiots with drivers licenses out there the current system isn't enough to override stupidity.