Car Tries To Beat The Silver Star At Crossing

[AlanB]

A 19-year-old Jacksonville man died yesterday morning after he drove past flashing crossing arms and into the path of an Amtrak passenger train, police said.
None of the 130 Amtrak passengers on board was injured.

The full story from the Florida Times Union.

Assuming that trains were running on time this would have been the southbound Star.

This is also another case of the media not getting things quite right. Here's my favorite quote.

The train engineer told police he was traveling on cruise control at 79 miles an hour.

If only it were that simple to just hit a button and put the engine on cruise control.

 

[amtrakmichigan]

A couple more quotes that I would question on this one. 1) It says it was traveling at 79 mph and this happened LESS then 1 mile from the Amtrak station..... Sounds like aweful quick acceleration to me or too close to the station to stop from 79 mph for a station stop. 2) It also says that it drug the car 2000 ft before it halted. From 79mph it "might"be possible but I would think that it would take longer then that.

And on a final note, IT DRIVES ME CRAZY :angry: when crossing gates are refered to as "arms" or "guards", I think they refered to them as "flashing arms" <_< what the hell is a "flashing arm? know anything about railroads. Especially the "cruise control" statement. This reporter must not know anything about the railroad. I would bet my pay check that nobody from the Amtrak crew would make such a statement of "cruise control" either. The engineer may have said he was "cruising" at 79 mph.

Just a pet peve of mine...sorry had to get it off my chest

 

[battalion51]

The accident did occur just north of the JAX station, two crossings from the station in fact, between Dinsmore DXO and AMT-JAX switches. The train was on Main Track 2, with the Amtrak 153 in the lead. 91's regular crew (already on duty at the time) was taken in a van to Miami, as they were going to go on the law before they could get to Miami, and would therefore need 12 hours rest before taking 98 out today. An extra board crew was called to fill 91's T&E slots, they deadheaded back on 98 today. The train ended up in MIA at 9:23, right on the mark for 97, so they were probably carrying most of 97's passengers south of JAX. According to the Engineer on 92, when he passed 91 he said, "the engine looked pretty torn up." My best guess is that the engine will end up in Sanford or Beech Grove for its repair.

 

[highballer]

Actully the P40/P42 genesis engines do have cruise control on them, I use it all the time.

 

[battalion51]

Actually guys cruise control is also known as the 4th notch. Get up to speed, put it in the 4th notch, hit your alerter every once in a while, and blow that horn, that's all ya gotta do.

 

[Allen Dee]

A couple more quotes that I would question on this one. 1) It says it was traveling at 79 mph and this happened LESS then 1 mile from the Amtrak station..... Sounds like aweful quick acceleration to me or too close to the station to stop from 79 mph for a station stop. 2) It also says that it drug the car 2000 ft before it halted. From 79mph it "might"be possible but I would think that it would take longer then that.
And on a final note, IT DRIVES ME CRAZY :angry: when crossing gates are refered to as "arms" or "guards", I think they refered to them as "flashing arms" <_< what the hell is a "flashing arm? know anything about railroads. Especially the "cruise control" statement. This reporter must not know anything about the railroad. I would bet my pay check that nobody from the Amtrak crew would make such a statement of "cruise control" either. The engineer may have said he was "cruising" at 79 mph.

Just a pet peve of mine...sorry had to get it off my chest

Very few mainstream journalists have any working knowledge about railroading -- or other modes of transportation, for that matter.

It infuriates me everytime I read the line: "The conductor saw the man standing on the tracks, blew the horn, hit the brakes......." Most of the general public know the conductor on a passenger train does not ride in the locomotive. Why most reporters don't know this is beyond me!

 

[Viewliner]

Reminds me of that post Superliner Diner made a while back where it said the conductor was driving the train.

 

[AlanB]

A couple more quotes that I would question on this one. 1) It says it was traveling at 79 mph and this happened LESS then 1 mile from the Amtrak station..... Sounds like aweful quick acceleration to me or too close to the station to stop from 79 mph for a station stop. 2) It also says that it drug the car 2000 ft before it halted. From 79mph it "might"be possible but I would think that it would take longer then that.

B51,

You know the area better than any of us up here in the north. Is that area rated for 79 MPH and would he still be going that fast if he's that close to the station?

From what I recall, I would think that the engineer would have already been slowing down to take the switches leading into the station.

 

[AlanB]

Actually guys cruise control is also known as the 4th notch. Get up to speed, put it in the 4th notch, hit your alerter every once in a while, and blow that horn, that's all ya gotta do.

My point was more that the average layman is simply going to equate cruise control with what they have in their cars. It's a little different for an engine and as you mentioned B51, the engineer has certain activities that he must perform on a very regular basis if he wishes to keep the computer from dropping his air.

Unfortunately with the way they the paper printed this, many people are going to think that this engine was basically running itself. Most people know that you don't have to steer the train, so they will assume that the engineer is just sitting on his duff and not paying much attention to anything if the engine is on cruise control.

 

[battalion51]

Reminds me of that post Superliner Diner made a while back where it said the conductor was driving the train.

It has happened before believe it or not. Some situations (I won't say where) require the Conductor to be on the leading end, while the Engineer is not. Now according to the timetable the track is rated for 79 up to MP A638.7, the station at the A639.4. The speed drops to 40 MPH at the 638.7. Now I don't know an Engineer that's qualified on the territory, but, any Engineer would be putting air on the train about 1/2-3/4 of a mile before a speed reduction like that. So it is entirely possible that the train was doing 79 at the time of the incident. I'll try to find out Friday the exact location of the crossing is.