Union safety clauses in their General Contract require an extra access point on full-width locomotives. There's a front door on the P42's; I've seen it-- in fact, a picture of someone exiting via one was posted here about a year ago. If some chubby engineer in his 50's can use it (it involves an unfolding hand/footrail and a very unweildy ladder), anyone can. There's no exterior latch to it, but there's plenty of info out there on how to get in, thanks for emergency preparedness preparations.
Are you sure that's not the P32 AC-DM which has no rear door, and therefore no extra access point? I believe that I remember reading a post about how they put in a special door on the front of those locos.
Whereas the P40's and P42's have a rear door, and therefore an extra access point.
And there's no rule that says you have to try to get in while the train's moving.
Never said that there was a rule like that.
In fact it would be a whole lot easier regardless of how many engines and whatever their orientation, to simply walk up there on the ground while the train is in a station.
There's only so much a CTC Dispatcher can do. It's a traffic control system, not a remote-control system. Plus, how willing will a Dispatcher be to deliberately put a fully loaded train into the dirt? Plus, there's the factor of timing-- something happening fast and at the last moment, and how much reaction time is left to do something about it?
Agreed that CTC can only do so much, but there are areas where Amtrak does run, where there are levels higher than CTC. And in today's world, I suspect that most dispatchers now have instructions on just what to do with a train no longer under the crew's control. And I'm sure that the idea of putting a train onto the ground 20 miles outside of a major city is a far more attractive choice to a dispatcher, than letting it run into a major city with whatever it's payload might be.
Yes, if there is minimal time left to deal with an incident, then there may be little that can be done. But boy the timing on the part of the terrorist would need to be spot on.
And, on a multiple-loco train, is it necessary to be in the front unit to raise havoc? My GE & EMD manuals indicate "no".
If one wants control of the train, then one pretty much needs to be up front to prevent the engineer from doing things to counter you. If all one wants is havoc, then there is no need to head for the engines in the first place. Much easier to leave a suitcase bomb in the cars, than it is to try and gain access to an engine just for creating havoc.
MANY years ago I remember a security agent for El Al, The Israeili national airline, speaking on network news, pointing out security flaws in the US' airlines. It was a list the length of my arm. One thing I remember most was his mentioning, "Ther scenarios you people consider unlikely, nonexistant or worse, we deal with on a regular basis. One day, your running airports with your heads in the sand will result in tragedy."
This is of course quite true. The Israeli's have been ahead of us for years on airline security, and despite all that we've done since 9/11, we are still far behind the level of security that one encounters when trying to fly El Al out of an airport in Israel.