Auto Train Hits Car

I work in the media in Richmond, VA, and We are just getting word into our newsroom that Auto Train just hit a car North of Emporia Virginia. No word on which way it was heading. Happened within the past hour. Image coming soon.

52... Was already almost 6 hours late..

I was thinking it was 52.

If it's a private vehicle then presumably there's not much damage to the train itself. Driver might not be able to do much more driving though.

Are they sure it was a corrections officer, or perhaps an escapee from the Big House? Either way, a dim bulb just got dimmer.

That must have been the last straw for southbound 53, then. It is still sitting in Lorton at 12:10am CJ

Report on TO.com states it arrived at LOR well over 12 hours late. 52 is well it's way to LOR from SFA. Just a guess is that 53(6) and 52(6) will be annulled to rest crews and on top of that it could take well over a week for that one set to make up 12 hours. So if 53(5) leaves LOR between 2 and 4am it should arrive in SFA between 7 and 9pm today the 6th. It just makes sense to annul the AT in each direction today.

53(5) departed over 9 hours late around 1am.

See previous thread entitled "5/2 Northbound Auto Train Delay". This is the same consist. So far, little if any time has been made up since previous posts, OR time made up has been lost thru a series of mishaps. 52 was running with four locomotives (unusual). As of this morning, I have heard no mention of plans for annulment. One version of the story is that 52 struck the vehicle & threw it into the path of a southbound train. I don't know whether that can be confirmed. The driver evidently survived & is in hospital.

TOdotcom says 79 hit the vehicle first, and threw it into 52's path. 79 may have been running a bit late (not sure). The accident occurred near Jarrett, VA around 2:30 - 2:40 PM. It added about 2 hours to 52's delay. Don't know the impact on 79's schedule. No onboard injuries that I know of.

2 hours??? Then explain how it went from around 6 hours late and arrived 12 hours late?? Please explain that. I'm ready to laugh..

Monday (May 5) was not a good day for Amtrak in the Mid-Atlantic for incidents. The southbound Vermonter hit a trespasser in Baltimore with fatal results. From the Baltimore Sun report, it occurred near or at the West Baltimore station. The Vermonter passengers were transferred to a Regional. Since this occurred after 9:30 PM, the effects on NEC operations were likely minimal.

I was on 52 when the accident ocurred. The S bound train hit the car first and it flew into 52. The driver of the car totaly ignored the gates. 52 had quite a number of delays and arrived in Lortin at around 10PM. It was a ride I shall never forget.

afigg said:

Monday (May 5) was not a good day for Amtrak in the Mid-Atlantic for incidents. The southbound Vermonter hit a trespasser in Baltimore with fatal results. From the Baltimore Sun report, it occurred near or at the West Baltimore station. The Vermonter passengers were transferred to a Regional. Since this occurred after 9:30 PM, the effects on NEC operations were likely minimal.

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Trains don't even go that fast on that curve.. I think it's a 45mph curve.. I'll have to consult the employee timetable to confirm.

Al B said:

I was on 52 when the accident ocurred. The S bound train hit the car first and it flew into 52. The driver of the car totaly ignored the gates. 52 had quite a number of delays and arrived in Lortin at around 10PM. It was a ride I shall never forget.

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Al, how was the crews attitude during the trip?

Acela 150: I don't know the whole story. That Auto Train consist suffered a succession of difficulties. They passed Charleston SC around 7:30 AM, expecting to arrive LOR about 5 PM (7-1/2 hrs. late). Around 9 AM at Kingstree SC, they got stuck behind a disabled CSX freight train for over an hour. They finally got to Florence around 10:30 AM, about 9-1/2 hours late. They left NC and entered VA a little after 2 PM, having apparently made up a little bit of time. Then the collision occurred around 2:30 PM, and were held till around 4:30. Running at normal speed, they should have made it from Jarrett to LOR in a little over 2-1/2 hours, or 7:00 - 7:30. I don't know the actual arrival time at LOR. If it was 12 hours late, that would mean they arrived at 9:30 PM, and that would mean loss of about 2 more hours after the collision. A common cliché is "Late trains get later". It is possible that 52 was bound to lose more time because its late operation was conflicting with the schedules of other trains. The CSX dispatcher would have to answer that one.

52 (6) departed at 1 :38 am today due into lorton at 5:19 pm they are either gonna have to do an annulment or just run till it gets back on schedule, isn't there a spare set they can assemble, and get it in place of the next day's 53 or something ?

No spare sets. They don't have the equipment for it.

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Brian:

You got a couple P-40's, 16 Superliners, and about 34 Auto Carriers sitting around, that you're not using at the moment? Amtrak would like to borrow them for a couple days. (Sorry. I don't mean to be snarky, but I couldn't resist).

FormerOBS said:

Brian:

You got a couple P-40's, 16 Superliners, and about 34 Auto Carriers sitting around, that you're not using at the moment? Amtrak would like to borrow them for a couple days. (Sorry. I don't mean to be snarky, but I couldn't resist).

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i wish heh heh heh but it looks like i guess they will run till it gets back on schedule

No - but if the loads are light enough (what are the occupancies at right now) they may get away with a half consist. All they would need are two P42s.

That's the nice thing about the AT - it only has to carry equipment for the projected next two days. Don't know if they actually do that all the time - they do it to a small extent from what I've seen.

Light loads on the Auto Train??? You nuts? It sells out almost everyday!!

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All they need are two P-42's?????

Yes, plus a few Superliners, plus a few auto carriers, plus a service crew, plus the supplies needed for the run, plus an onboard service crew, plus a T&E crew for the SFA-FLO leg, plus a T&E crew for the FLO-LOR leg, plus a time slot in the schedule on which they can run. Yup. Easy as pie.

Northbound passenger loads have been around 500-600 passengers and up to about 300 vehicles. Somewhat lighter southbound. So a half consist wouldn't do much good anyway.