Retired Firefighter goes missing on Amtrak Train

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I am afraid the information re: Omaha came from the news reports. We were sleeping in Omaha and did not actually see him. The last time we saw him was in Denver on the platform. The reports seem to be a bit conflicting since the family seems to be launching their search via Lincoln, while the one conductor seems to say he talked to him in Omaha. I believe the police departments are doing their best to locate him, but I am fearful that they seem to not know exactly where he may have detrained.

I do not think I have anything to add to what they already know and I do not do Facebook. :(
I ewas wondering about the same thing. The gfamily may have gotten some eveidence that Dowd got off in LNK depite the conductor contradicting it. Now they think he jumped off the train. I hope he's OK.

New information from another passenger on the train has lead the family to believe that Mr. Dowd may have fallen off the train sometime before 11:00pm Thursday night. The search is now focusing on eastern Colorado and western Nebraska.

Sadly, having been missing for 4-5 days now with no sign, it's more likely that he fell from the train than it is he simply wandered away during a station stop.

Working Link below - not sure why I can't get it to work in this particular post.
If he did fall from the train, woudn't it be easy to find his body? Not that I hope he's gone.
 
If he did fall from the train, woudn't it be easy to find his body? Not that I hope he's gone.
how easy is it to fall from a train? I would have thought the doors can't be opened that easily by accident.

And even if somebody did manage, wouldn't there then be an open door that somebody would see?

I'm stil hoping he got off at the wrong station and walked away. Hopefully somebody will pick him him.
 
If he did fall from the train, woudn't it be easy to find his body? Not that I hope he's gone.
how easy is it to fall from a train? I would have thought the doors can't be opened that easily by accident.

And even if somebody did manage, wouldn't there then be an open door that somebody would see?

I'm stil hoping he got off at the wrong station and walked away. Hopefully somebody will pick him him.
Unfortunately, there's no way to tell what happened until they find the man dead or alive.

If he suffered a stroke or mini-stroke and got disoriented - he could have left the train at a station - and wandered off.

Or could have opened a door (difficult but not improbable) and left the train between stops at 79 mph.

Searching the whole many hundreds of miles of ROW will take days at least - searching the possible stations and vicinity where he might have wandered off will take a long time -

Hope that he is OK. No way the onboard crew could keep track of him - many of us sleeper car people have no need to see the car attendant for a half-day or more.

Hope he's well -- if he's dead - well, it happens to all of us.

Understand that most local law and Amtrak and the family are still searching.

Hoping for a happy, or at least not bad, ending to this story.

And hope his family can find out what happened.
 
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If he did fall from the train, woudn't it be easy to find his body? Not that I hope he's gone.
how easy is it to fall from a train? I would have thought the doors can't be opened that easily by accident.

And even if somebody did manage, wouldn't there then be an open door that somebody would see?

I'm stil hoping he got off at the wrong station and walked away. Hopefully somebody will pick him him.
About the doors on Amtrak superliners - yes if the door is opened there is a visual indication -- thinking that it's an amber light on the outside of the rail car.
 
In the previous two cases of passengers leaving the train while it was in motion, it was determined that they could open the door while the train was moving and the door would likely swing back shut. But in this case, it appears that there is a witness that said they noticed the door ajar.

What I don't get is that a body that has fallen off the train should take a whole lot less than a week to find if there is any daylight freight traffic on that line at all.
 
If he did fall from the train, woudn't it be easy to find his body? Not that I hope he's gone.
how easy is it to fall from a train? I would have thought the doors can't be opened that easily by accident.

And even if somebody did manage, wouldn't there then be an open door that somebody would see?

I'm stil hoping he got off at the wrong station and walked away. Hopefully somebody will pick him him.
About the doors on Amtrak superliners - yes if the door is opened there is a visual indication -- thinking that it's an amber light on the outside of the rail car.
The lights on the side of the Superliner are brake status indicators.
 
But in this case, it appears that there is a witness that said they noticed the door ajar.
That changes the game entirely, and does make it seem likely that he fell from the train while it was moving.

This is very sad news.

I'm still hoping for a more positive outcome, and my thoughts and prayers are for his family.

What I don't get is that a body that has fallen off the train should take a whole lot less than a week to find if there is any daylight freight traffic on that line at all.
If it fell into some bushes or somthing like that it's not likely to be seen by the crews of passing trains. It could of course also be that he survived the fall and walked away, probably with injuries.
 
how easy is it to fall from a train? I would have thought the doors can't be opened that easily by accident.

And even if somebody did manage, wouldn't there then be an open door that somebody would see?

I'm stil hoping he got off at the wrong station and walked away. Hopefully somebody will pick him him.
SuperLiner doors are pretty easy to open, turn the upper and lower levers and pull. As far as I've seen there are no on-board indicator lamps for open doors.
 
SuperLiner doors are pretty easy to open, turn the upper and lower levers and pull.
Sure, but that's not the normal way you open a door, so it's hard to imagine somebody, no matter how absent minded or confused, doing that by accident.
 
Hmmm...He was a Retired Firefighter. Even in a disoriented state, he probably had plenty of experience in handling "points of ingress/egress," i.e., doors.
 
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SuperLiner doors are pretty easy to open, turn the upper and lower levers and pull.
Sure, but that's not the normal way you open a door, so it's hard to imagine somebody, no matter how absent minded or confused, doing that by accident.
A lawsuit against Amtrak a while back showed that the dog latch is fairly easy to figure out, even by someone who is drunk or disoriented.

Is there any way they could put a better lock on those doors; or is it a safety concern? I realize it would be a huge issue if the train had to be evacuated quickly and only the CAs and conductors were able to unlock the doors. There has to be some way to prevent this from happening, though. :(
 
Missing Person: Charlie Dowd - Please help us find him

https://www.facebook.com/MissingPersonCharlieDowd

Repost with date: If anyone was on the Amtrak California Zephyr Train #6 from Emeryville, CA to Chicago, IL (with pick ups in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska) and you think you saw Charlie, can you please message us? Departed CA on 9/12 in Utah 9/13 in Ill 9/14
Thank you so much.
 
Is there any way they could put a better lock on those doors; or is it a safety concern? I realize it would be a huge issue if the train had to be evacuated quickly and only the CAs and conductors were able to unlock the doors. There has to be some way to prevent this from happening, though. :(

I believe the answer lies, like most problems concerning Amtrak, with funding. It would be an extremely easy solution to place an electromagnetic locking device on all the older swing-style vestible doors in service on remaining heritage, Superliner and Viewliner car so equipped. Newer cars already have this problem solved (I know for sure that the California cars are equipped, and feel that the Acela and possibly the Amfleet cars are as well) with wheel-movement sensors that will automatically close and lock the sliding vestibule doors when the train is in motion. The technology is thus already in existance, has been for decades, and is reliable. Electromagnetic door locks are found just about everywhere, including banks, stores and in great deal of public facilities where remote locking capability is desired.

Place on each door an electromagnetic lock that, when the train is in motion, ensures that the door cannot be opened. It is automatic, turning off and thus allowing the door to be opened when the train is stopped, and turning back on when movement is detected. A key lock next to the door, both interior and exterior, would allow OBS to override the electromagnet for the opening and closing of the door when the lock is active. And on the inside of the vestibule, for emergency situations, have a fire alarm-style pull station covered by a vandal-proof break-out glass panel that deactivates the locks on both doors.

But again, this means spending money.
 
Missing Person: Charlie Dowd - Please help us find him

https://www.facebook.com/MissingPersonCharlieDowd

Repost with date: If anyone was on the Amtrak California Zephyr Train #6 from Emeryville, CA to Chicago, IL (with pick ups in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska) and you think you saw Charlie, can you please message us? Departed CA on 9/12 in Utah 9/13 in Ill 9/14
Thank you so much.

As we stated earlier, the last time we saw Mr. Dowd was on the platform in Denver. We went back to our room on the all aboard call and did not see him again after that. We had the car attendant put our beds down around the Fort Morgan area and were in our bedroom until we went to breakfast the next morning in Iowa. The night ride across Nebraska was very rough. Did not sleep much as the car was moving and shaking most of the evening. Our thoughts are with the family and hope he will be located soon. RRB
 
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Is there any way they could put a better lock on those doors; or is it a safety concern? I realize it would be a huge issue if the train had to be evacuated quickly and only the CAs and conductors were able to unlock the doors. There has to be some way to prevent this from happening, though. :(

I believe the answer lies, like most problems concerning Amtrak, with funding. It would be an extremely easy solution to place an electromagnetic locking device on all the older swing-style vestible doors in service on remaining heritage, Superliner and Viewliner car so equipped. Newer cars already have this problem solved (I know for sure that the California cars are equipped, and feel that the Acela and possibly the Amfleet cars are as well) with wheel-movement sensors that will automatically close and lock the sliding vestibule doors when the train is in motion. The technology is thus already in existance, has been for decades, and is reliable. Electromagnetic door locks are found just about everywhere, including banks, stores and in great deal of public facilities where remote locking capability is desired.

Place on each door an electromagnetic lock that, when the train is in motion, ensures that the door cannot be opened. It is automatic, turning off and thus allowing the door to be opened when the train is stopped, and turning back on when movement is detected. A key lock next to the door, both interior and exterior, would allow OBS to override the electromagnet for the opening and closing of the door when the lock is active. And on the inside of the vestibule, for emergency situations, have a fire alarm-style pull station covered by a vandal-proof break-out glass panel that deactivates the locks on both doors.

But again, this means spending money.
Pnumatic doors are better, IMHO. One button opens all the doors and in an emergency, you pull a valve.
 
Pnumatic doors are better, IMHO. One button opens all the doors and in an emergency, you pull a valve.

I agree, they are better for a full replacement option. But for a interm "band-aid" fix to an apparent issue that has been becoming a greater liability as time goes on, an electromagnet lock could be the easiest fix. Completely overhauling all Superliner, Viewliner, and heritage equipment (are there any others?) with swing doors to pneumatic sliding doors would likely cost millions over the entire fleet and would take years to implement. Leaving the current doors in service, adding a small electromagnet lock to them plus the required equipment, seems much more cost-effective and quicker to implement. Dunno though.

No need for single-point opening doors just yet, at least on the LD fleet.
 
Missing man may have fallen off train

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

McCook Daily Gazette

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Nearly six days since the family of Charlie Dowd last had contact with the 69-year-old Californian man, who disappeared from an Amtrak train somewhere between Denver, Colorado, and Chicago, Illinois, a search of portions of railway along the trains route is slowly beginning. Red Willow County Sheriff Gene Mahon said he was awaiting authorization from Amtrak to search the railway in his county, after receiving a call from the Dowd's family Wednesday morning and subsequently contacting Amtrak police.
Via the Facebook page.
 
Jennifer said she was concerned about the lack of response from Amtrak and didn't feel like they were taking the matter seriously enough.
The sheriff should just search along the tracks anyway. If amtrak won't give him permission to do a ground search then put a chopper in the air and fly the route. Although the sheriff should just search the amtrak property anyway. Whats the amtrak police going to do? arrest the sheriff and his deputy's?
 
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Ummm... Yes. But what property is Amtrak's along that route? I thought the freights owned all the track.
 
Jennifer said she was concerned about the lack of response from Amtrak and didn't feel like they were taking the matter seriously enough.
The sheriff should just search along the tracks anyway. If amtrak won't give him permission to do a ground search then put a chopper in the air and fly the route. Although the sheriff should just search the amtrak property anyway. Whats the amtrak police going to do? arrest the sheriff and his deputy's?
What Amtrak property? Do they want to search the cars? Or does the sheriff not know that Amtrak doesn't own the railroad tracks? Have they tried contacting the BNSF police?
 
Jennifer said she was concerned about the lack of response from Amtrak and didn't feel like they were taking the matter seriously enough.
The sheriff should just search along the tracks anyway. If amtrak won't give him permission to do a ground search then put a chopper in the air and fly the route. Although the sheriff should just search the amtrak property anyway. Whats the amtrak police going to do? arrest the sheriff and his deputy's?
What Amtrak property? Do they want to search the cars? Or does the sheriff not know that Amtrak doesn't own the railroad tracks? Have they tried contacting the BNSF police?
Journalists are famously clueless when it comes to railroads. Just because it isn't called out in the story, I would be very surprised if the BNSF police were not invovled, and permission to access the ROW would indeed have to come from BNSF and not Amtrak. In any case, if the local sheriff didn't involve BNSF, Amtrak PD knows and would.

There is a lot of supposition on agencies involved with relatively little information. Why don't we assume the proper authorities are involved?
 
I feel so badly for this family. A year and a half ago my grandmother and I took the Auto Train. Her mind was slowly starting to decline but at the time she was still very much with it. However, she had never slept overnight on the train and it totally whacked her out. She would sleep for a few minutes and then be confused about where she was, why there was so much motion, etc. If this gentleman already had medical issues, didn't take medicine, I could easily see how his issues could become exacerbated. At this point the outcome does not seem like a good one, but I hope the family can find some closure.
 
In the story it said the sheriff was waiting for permission from amtrak to search the tracks. So either the story writer got it wrong or the sheriff got it wrong. the family seams to think amtrak is trying to cover it up.
 
In the story it said the sheriff was waiting for permission from amtrak to search the tracks. So either the story writer got it wrong or the sheriff got it wrong. the family seams to think amtrak is trying to cover it up.
I don't know who got it wrong and frankly it doesn't really matter. But it is wrong!

Amtrak cannot grant access to something that they don't own. And outside of the Northeast corridor, a mile or so in Chicago, and Michigan, Amtrak doesn't own tracks.
 
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