Eye Witness Account Of Derailment

[amtrakadirondack]

It looked bad, very bad...

I thought to myself, at the scene of yesterday's derailment of the Silver Star. My mom was driving me to school on her way to work, as we saw smoke in the distance. As we got closer emergency units started to arrive on the scene, as more approached behind us. We pulled over the best we could, now being able to see the accident from about 20 ft away. One of the police officers told us that we would have to wait there until some of the EMT's moved and that we might have to get out of our car and leave the scene immediately, incase of an explosion, or something. We watched the crew's work, as the time passed. I had my window down to get some air, and I overheard one of the police officers say "Yeah, its train 91, in route to Miami". Then I thought about it and knew it was the Silver Star, because I know every train name, number, and schedules. Then about twenty minutes later, at about 11:00am we were able to go on our way. That's my eyewitness account of the Silver Star derailment. I'll be online if you want to type a question and I'll do my best to try to answer it.

Sincerely,

Amtrakadirondack

 

[steve_relei]

One of the problems with such train/truck or car "accidents'" is that many people try to blame the train and/or engineer. Newscasters say deadly train wreck even if no one on the train is killed, only the driver. Then people want to say or imply that Amtrak is not safe enough. Jay Leno is often carping about that. He was loathed to say the Amtrak was safer than air travel. Although things do happen on trains, it is generally pretty safe and are rare occurances. I like to travel, and I want every menas of transportation to be safe. Railfans might inquire into organizations such as Operation Lifesaver and see if anything more can be done about getting word out to the public.

 

[Amtrak Watcher]

I live in a downtown area completely surrounded by tracks carrying people and freight. There are RR crossing gates everywhere. I can go out and sit in front of my apartment just about any day –especially at night– and watch impatient drivers recklessly driving around the lowered gates with lights flashing and bells ringing. I’ve seen lots of close calls, and it’s just a matter of time before I see a horrible accident. People must be stupid. I am sorry for railroad people injured and killed in these pointless “accidents,” but I have no sympathy whatever for the stupid drivers who cause them and feel the railroads (or the families of the lost railroad employees) should sew the estates of the deceased drivers for damages.

 

[tubaallen]

You know, I'm sure, that a few years ago (and not too many, I'm guessing maybe 10-15) travelling by train was statistically safer. I'm not sure about it, but I think the reason flying took over isn't because it's actually less accidents, but rather because so many more people are flying these days. Their statistics are usually in terms of how many passengers get to their destinations safely, or something like that.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Note to Steve Relei, yeah, about Jay Leno. Too bad. He has a real problem with Amtrak and has had for several years. I never watch his program when there has been a recent Amtrak "wreck" or "accident"---(often a car or truck's fault). Otherwise, I often like much of his dialogue and his guests.

 

[Viewliner]

I too enjoy the show, but probably won't hear any Amtrak jokes as I only watch it on Friday nights. Even though he may be unfairly targeting us (Amtrak), I still find the jokes a little funny (in the sense how ironic/false they are).

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

I understand what you mean...sort of laughing "at him" rather than "with him"....on the Amtrak jokes, that is.("with him" on most other jokes)

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

One point which has occured to me about publicity of Amtrak accidents. Amtrak is, correctly, perceived as a national organization, thus it tends to get national publicity.

In the pre-Amtrak days, I think that usually a wreck got publicity in the surrounding states,mostly. I used to clip out wreck pictures and stories as a child, still have them, of course, but not TOO many of them were from distant places. I would NEVER show Jay Leno my collection of wreck shots., tumbled up lounge car furniture, etc., talking about way before Amtrak, even.

 

[jccollins]

I used to clip out wreck pictures and stories as a child, still have them, of course, but not TOO many of them were from distant places. I would NEVER show Jay Leno my collection of wreck shots., tumbled up lounge car furniture, etc., talking about way before Amtrak, even.

send them in... send them in! No, just kidding. I'm sure he would have a field day if you did, though. Even though he does make some jokes about Amtrak at least it gets a little publicity... even if it's not positive. Most people know that he's a joke anyway.

I still can't understand why so many people drive around the crossing gates. As a station host at the Martinez, CA station I see at least one car go around the crossing gates each week, even when there are multiple trains in and arriving at the station. I have even seen people walk to the end of the platform, out in the rock and around the back (or front!) of the passenger train in the station just to get to the other side a few seconds faster. Most of the time they don't even save any time since the train leaves and clears the street crossing before they make it back to the crossing.

I guess people just have rocks for brains - the world is full of Kelly Bundy's. (Married w/Children).

 

[Amtrak Watcher]

I’ve been watching the “train hits car” accident reports and the resulting law suits for some time. One not too far from me involved a certain young woman in Missouri who suffered considerable brain damage when she became a passenger in a car driven by her boyfriend, and was struck by a train at a rural crossing near her home. The court concluded that the rail operators were responsible because operators did not quickly apply brakes when they saw an approaching car. Note the term, “a vehicle was hit by a train.” Did the train jump off the tracks and intentionally hit the car? Did the train lurk at the crossing and then speed up to hit the car?

Here in Texas, periodic legislation emerges that attempts to silence whistles past 10:00 pm. None have passed yet, but I suppose it doesn’t matter, as drivers go around the gate crossings with or without whistles, horns, bells, and flashing lights. I live in new experimental mixed-use housing very close to a wide variety of tracks. Some of the new residents (my neighbors) are surprised to discover that the tracks are “so active and busy,” and that the “horns and whistles are so loud and frequent throughout the day and night,” and are filing law suits to get out of their contracts and leases. I note with interest that some of those who are bringing the law suits, have rather loud and annoying car alarms going off at all hours and for prolonged periods. Someone with a few functioning brain cells may have tried to connect the relatively low housing prices and apartment rents with reality. I guess I must be a jerk, but before I buy a house or rent an apartment I check out the surroundings. I’ll especially want to know why something has a relatively low price. The locomotives and the whistles don’t bother me, so I pay my rent every month with no complaints. I’ll take the bargain, thanks.

We are living in a blameless society. Nobody is responsible for anything. Though I don’t want to diminish the tragedy of these kinds of accidents, I don’t see why a train engineer should have to slow down every time a car approaches a crossing. If McDonald’s can be sued for hot coffee, and railroads for not slowing down their trains at crossings, I guess I can start suing lots of people I know, including my whining neighbors, for being too damned stupid to know better and letting their car alarms go off.

 

[steve_relei]

I spend a lot of time around trains and railroad tracks, including at crossings (they are usually pretty easy to get to), and I see a lot of things that scare me--by both drivers and pedestrians. I see drivers stopping on the tracks--even when there are signs that specifically say "Do not stop on tracks." I saw one delivery truck that stopped with the rear end of his truck still on the tracks. A UP freight train was in sight--waiting for a signal--yet the driver stayed there for about two minutes. It seems long. I wrote down his company's phone number and thought about reporting him to his superiors. A little time later, another car was stopped on the tracks, I pointed it out to the people, but they just smiled and said thank you. It was some time before they actually left the tracks. Amtrak trains are allowed up to 70 mph; freight trains 40 mph. I see people walk right in fron of trains, walk on tracks--even with a train barreling down on them, etc. It's scary watching trains these days!

A couple of weeks ago, a couple died after a BNSF freighter rammed their truck. There was a stop sign. Did they stop, look, and listen?

 

[Amfleet]

It looked bad, very bad...I thought to myself, at the scene of yesterday's derailment of the Silver Star. My mom was driving me to school on her way to work, as we saw smoke in the distance. As we got closer emergency units started to arrive on the scene, as more approached behind us. We pulled over the best we could, now being able to see the accident from about 20 ft away. One of the police officers told us that we would have to wait there until some of the EMT's moved and that we might have to get out of our car and leave the scene immediately, incase of an explosion, or something. We watched the crew's work, as the time passed. I had my window down to get some air, and I overheard one of the police officers say "Yeah, its train 91, in route to Miami". Then I thought about it and knew it was the Silver Star, because I know every train name, number, and schedules. Then about twenty minutes later, at about 11:00am we were able to go on our way. That's my eyewitness account of the Silver Star derailment. I'll be online if you want to type a question and I'll do my best to try to answer it.

Sincerely,

Amtrakadirondack

I have a question about your "eye witness account". Were you actually there or is this just what you thought would happen if you were there? I ask this only beause in you profile you say you're from Seattle, but this took place in Georgia. :unsure:

 

[amtrakadirondack]

I have Seattle on my locations because I will be moving there in about a month, I changed it early because I'm excited, I changed it early because I'm excited, sorry for any confusion.

 

[battalion51]

So where do you currently reside?

 

[amtrakadirondack]

I'm currently residing in Hinesville, GA and will be moving to Seattle with my mom and dad in about a month.

 

[Amfleet]

That's okay. Hope you enjoy your knew home in Seattle and new Amtrak territory to explore.

 

[amtrakadirondack]

That's okay. Hope you enjoy your knew home in Seattle and new Amtrak territory to explore.

Thanks Amfleet! I can’t wait to see and ride the Cascades!

 

[Viewliner]

That's okay. Hope you enjoy your knew home in Seattle and new Amtrak territory to explore.

I too hope you enjoy your new home and any (hopefully many) rides on the Cascades.

 

[steve_relei]

There are lots of nice things to see in and around Seattle as far as trains are concerned. There's UP, BNSF, Amtrak, Puget Sounder (commuter rail), trolleys, the monorail (yes, I consider the monorail a train and railroad and enjoy riding it and wish the city could expand it some. There is a lot of potential for it. I would love to arrive King Street Station on Amtrak and then board a monorail train for farther points into downtown Seattle.) You can see BNSF's (ex-GN) mainline along the Puget Sound from the Space Needle. I have watched trains--including the Empire Builder--from up there. And you can watch trains coming and going for miles. I also like watching trains along the waterfront, where trains glide by the Edgewater Inn and old wharves and past the Elliot Park (one side of the park is the Puget Sound with beautiful vistas and the other side is the mainline). The Seattle Waterfront trolley also rides and dings by.

One of the most interesting parts about railroading in Seattle is the tunnel that burrows underneath downtown. It starts just north of King Street Station and exits at about Pike Place Market (from there the lilne is along the waterfront as explained above). Sports fans might enjoy the new SAFECO field next door to the station.

There are efforts to get financing for restoring the station to its original self. It was completed in 1906 and had a lot of the ornateness many stations of that era had. The station was used by GN and NP trains. The Milwaukee Road and UP trains used the Union Station, which is across the street, and is still standing and is used for offices and other uses. It, too, is very ornate.

There was a restaurant near King Street Station called the Iron Horse (I think) where your food and drinks are brought to you by G-Scale trains.

 

[amtrakadirondack]

Thanks for the info about Seattle, I was the one that pointed Seattle out and my parents checked it out and they loved it, I'm doing research for my parents about what to do around Seattle, and know I have more info to tell them, Thank you!

 

[steve_relei]

And there is so much more to do in Seattle than just watching trains. It is such a vibrant city--culture, the arts, shopping, tours, the Underground Tour (not far from King Street Station), ferry rides, long walks. There is a lot of beautiful scenery--the Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains, the Cascades (including 14, 410-ft Mount Rainier), vistas from the hilltops, steep streets, wildlife (birds, sea life. etc), the iron horse.

 

[amtrakadirondack]

Yeah, my family went to visit Seattle about 6 weeks ago (We took a plane, wish we could of taken Amtrak), and we visited many cool places, I recommended that we take the Amtrak Cascades to Vancouver, but we didn’t have enough time, one of my favorite places was the Space Needle, here are other places I really like, Pike Market Place, Pioneer Square, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, and there are many more, my parents let us go to the Amtrak King Street Station, so I was able to see the Amtrak Cascades, it was a fun trip, and Seattle was beautiful, a lot of people we talked to said that they could do with more sun, but it’s a very nice place to live. Then we told them the weather where we lived, and they said that now they feel lucky. My family has visited New York City, San Francisco and many other cities, and over all most people are happy, but to us Seattle seems most calm, but I know that there are nice people everywhere, bye!