Truck hits train

[battalion51]

According to my source in Sanford there was a rather bad accident around Taft, FL today (about 10 miles south of the Orlando Amtrak Station, near where the Sunset turns its equipment). 91 was on the main track and was protecting a crossing near the south end when a truck hit the train. No confirmed report on where the truck hit the train, but it must have been either the rear of the engine or the Dorm, as the truck really tore up one of the airbags on the engine. Since the truck hit the train on the non-siding side, other trains were able to pass 91 in the siding. The last report on ARROW shows them out of Witner Haven at about 5:10 this evening, or 4 hours and 16 minutes late. No injuries occureded in the accident, and no word yet on where the relief crew will be picked up, as the crew goes on the law at about 8:15 this evening. As more details are made available to me, I will pass them along to you.

 

[battalion51]

I spoke with the Engineer from 98 today, he said that the engine looked pretty torn up. He didn't see what the unit was that hit the truck, but he knows that Engine 42 was the relief engine.

 

[battalion51]

My SFA buddy said the 162 was the engine that got hit on Tuesday. The crew that brought 42 down to Taft brought 162 back to Sanford. The engine is missing a lot of pain, especially the dark grey from the fuel tank to the rear of the engine.

 

[Viewliner]

What Phase? V?

 

[battalion51]

162? Definitely, remember that after 123 all the engines were born into Phase V. After 170 they were born into Vb. So 162 is a Va.

 

[Viewliner]

Ok, Thanks for answering my question.

 

[Amfleet]

I thought 182 was where Phase Vb took effect? Could be wrong though?

 

[battalion51]

OK I was close, it starts at 169. Here's a photo of 167

, while here's one of 169

According to Jim Hebner's website it starts at 169, he has no photo of 168 though. What you are thinking of most likely for 182 is that that is the unit with Gov Tmmy Thompson's name on it.

Going back to the original post. My Engineer friend in JAX spoke with the Engineer from 91 on Tuesday. He said that a Bekins truck is what hit him. My Engineer friend said that these Bekins guys have a habit of sitting on the tracks forever and a day, and don't like to move off of them. Maybe this'll be a wake up call to them.

 

[Amfleet]

Why was the scheme changed anyway?

 

[battalion51]

I don't know exactly. I personally think Va fits the engines better than Vb (IV still looks the best though ). The grey fits naturally with the contours of the engine as it starts to slant inward towards the bottom. Not many of the units below 122 were painted into Va, most got nabbed by VB, the P-40's among them.

 

[Amfleet]

I think Phase Vb looks better without the blue stripe on the bottom that Va has. It was kind of cluttered in my opinion. Phase IV was way to bland and boring (yawn :mellow: ).

 

[CRRBilly]

Guys,

Was not a Bekins truck. Was a semi tractor trailer owned by a small moving company. Unit 162 was hit broadside. Not much damage. Some paint scraped from center of unit to the rear. Tore off rear steps engineer side, and broke 2 shock absorbers. No dents or tears in the side. The truck ran into us at Jamaica Road, MP A794.07, a small private crossing protected by crossbucks. This is just over 2 miles south of the Orlando station. No injuries. Could have been much worse. P091 delayed about 3 1/2 hours. We could have gone on with the 162 but the replacement engine 42 had already been called from Sanford Auto-train. This is the real facts.

 

[battalion51]

Thank you CRRBilly. The trouble we have here is that a lot of information we get is third hand information, and therefore ocasionally strays from the facts. We do try our best to put the story together as best as we can, but unless you (meaning unless I) are at the accident site, you make do with the best information that we can. Thank you for setting the stroy straight though.