AMTK Locomotive 66 Hit semi and damaged

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Looks like a container on chaise, with one of the containers that is partially owned by UP!!!
 
Chicago Tribune: Cops: Truck carrying ATVs struck by train after going around gates in Joliet.

A southbound Amtrak train struck a semi truck carrying all-terrain vehicles in Joliet Friday after the truck's driver drove around downed warning gates, Joliet police said.

Four semi trucks had gone around the downed gates before the train struck the fifth truck, police said.

No injuries were reported.

"The (gates) according to witnesses had been down for an extended period of time," said Joliet Police Deputy Chief Edgar Gregory. "Don't know what that amount of time exactly was."

Cedric Randel, 37, of Chicago, received three traffic citations including improper lane usage, stop arm violation and no proof of insurance, Gregory said. The trucks were headed west on Laraway Road, west of Illinois Hwy. 53 when they entered into the eastbound lane in order to go around the crossing arm, he said.
Five trucks drove around the lowered gates?? And the 5th one got hit. Yikes.
 
Has 66 been in any other notable accidents? Other than the Heritage paint scheme, it's no different than any other Amtrak locomotive. (Although this accident did take place near the old U.S. 66, so that's something.) The stretch of track south of Joliet is located near two giant container yards, one used by BNSF, the other by UP. Accidents involving trucks and container-haulers are very frequent in the area and the residents of Elwood, the town where the yards are located, have been freaking out about the problem, demanding new access to the yards from nearby I-55. In an unrelated incident, a truck made a u-turn and ran over several graves in nearby national veterans cemetery. Needless to say, the residents are very unhappy about the situation, despite the fact the town is reaping a lot of money from taxes on the container yards.
 
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Has 66 been in any other notable accidents? Other than the Heritage paint scheme, it's no different than any other Amtrak locomotive. (Although this accident did take place near the old U.S. 66, so that's something.) The stretch of track south of Joliet is located near two giant container yards, one used by BNSF, the other by UP. Accidents involving trucks and container-haulers are very frequent in the area and the residents of Elwood, the town where the yards are located, have been freaking out about the problem, demanding new access to the yards from nearby I-55. In an unrelated incident, a truck made a u-turn and ran over several graves in nearby national veterans cemetery. Needless to say, the residents are very unhappy about the situation, despite the fact the town is reaping a lot of money from taxes on the container yards.
This is the third accident with it since it received the paint job. It's the heritage unit that has had the worst luck.
 
Has 66 been in any other notable accidents? Other than the Heritage paint scheme, it's no different than any other Amtrak locomotive. (Although this accident did take place near the old U.S. 66, so that's something.) The stretch of track south of Joliet is located near two giant container yards, one used by BNSF, the other by UP. Accidents involving trucks and container-haulers are very frequent in the area and the residents of Elwood, the town where the yards are located, have been freaking out about the problem, demanding new access to the yards from nearby I-55. In an unrelated incident, a truck made a u-turn and ran over several graves in nearby national veterans cemetery. Needless to say, the residents are very unhappy about the situation, despite the fact the town is reaping a lot of money from taxes on the container yards.
I think it's been in 3 or 4 in the Phase II paint alone!
 
Chicago Tribune: Cops: Truck carrying ATVs struck by train after going around gates in Joliet.

Cedric Randel, 37, of Chicago, received three traffic citations including improper lane usage, stop arm violation and no proof of insurance, Gregory said.
Five trucks drove around the lowered gates?? And the 5th one got hit. Yikes.
That is a special kind of stupid.
One of the Facebook comments on the article pointed out that you can't fix stupid, but you can push it a mile down the tracks while you get the train stopped. (or something to that effect)
 
Chicago Tribune: Cops: Truck carrying ATVs struck by train after going around gates in Joliet.

Cedric Randel, 37, of Chicago, received three traffic citations including improper lane usage, stop arm violation and no proof of insurance, Gregory said.
Five trucks drove around the lowered gates?? And the 5th one got hit. Yikes.
That is a special kind of stupid.
It's easy to continue down the path of gawk and awe but maybe if we stopped viewing these kinds of routine events as being any kind of special we could finally start doing something about them. The trucking companies have made it clear that they don't see railroad crossing safety as an issue worthy of their time or consideration. Maybe we need to make it clear that this sort of attitude is a severe financial mistake with tougher regulations and more proactive enforcement?
 
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It is time to start equipping the grade crossings with four quadrant gates. I think it would help.
 
Chicago Tribune: Cops: Truck carrying ATVs struck by train after going around gates in Joliet.

Cedric Randel, 37, of Chicago, received three traffic citations including improper lane usage, stop arm violation and no proof of insurance, Gregory said.
Five trucks drove around the lowered gates?? And the 5th one got hit. Yikes.
That is a special kind of stupid.
It's easy to continue down the path of gawk and awe but maybe if we stopped viewing these kinds of routine events as being any kind of special we could finally start doing something about them. The trucking companies have made it clear that they don't see railroad crossing safety as an issue worthy of their time or consideration. Maybe we need to make it clear that this sort of attitude is a severe financial mistake with tougher regulations and more proactive enforcement?
I was referring specifically to the driver not having insurance paperwork. But I don't disagree with anything you said.
 
It is time to start equipping the grade crossings with four quadrant gates. I think it would help.
Or maybe the railroad should maintain there gates so they only go down when there a train coming. Add some railroad training and paint the crosstie so the crews know where the grade crossing sensor are so they don't fowl the crossing.

Four quadrants gates can fail, when they do two of arms fail down, two of the arms fail up. So five trucks still could get around them in a failure mode.

One thinks with modern technology a failed gate, or a fowled gate could report itself to the dispatcher.
 
Chicago Tribune: Cops: Truck carrying ATVs struck by train after going around gates in Joliet.

Cedric Randel, 37, of Chicago, received three traffic citations including improper lane usage, stop arm violation and no proof of insurance, Gregory said.
Five trucks drove around the lowered gates?? And the 5th one got hit. Yikes.
That is a special kind of stupid.
It's easy to continue down the path of gawk and awe but maybe if we stopped viewing these kinds of routine events as being any kind of special we could finally start doing something about them. The trucking companies have made it clear that they don't see railroad crossing safety as an issue worthy of their time or consideration. Maybe we need to make it clear that this sort of attitude is a severe financial mistake with tougher regulations and more proactive enforcement?
If I recall correctly DOT rules only require liability insurance to state minimums (150K to 300K? for most trucks, 1M for Hazardous materials, and 5M for Hazardous waste). Clearly not enough if a gyppo wrecks a locomotive, even another truck, or puts someone in a trauma center and rehab for a year of so. The truckers that don't care (many do... but they stay out of the news) would care a little bit more if their insurance costs became higher for the shady operators... and there was a little enforcement at the pumps with no insurance? = no fuel purchase!

Note that this bozo may have had insurance... just not carrying the proof.

It is time to start equipping the grade crossings with four quadrant gates. I think it would help.
While full quadrant gates are better than lane gates separated crossings (over/underpasses) are even better.

There are a lot if intersections where it is physically not feasible to install four quadrant gates, usually where an intersection to a road paralleling the railroad is too close to the tracks. The incident at the VA/NC border and IL several weeks ago were that type of intersections (and both had a truck trailer fouling the track while waiting to turn onto the parallel highway).

I don't think there are very many good and inexpensive solutions out there... whats left is either not that good or very expensive.
 
It is time to start equipping the grade crossings with four quadrant gates. I think it would help.
The basic problem is cost, which starts at around $250K. Who is going to pony up?
While full quadrant gates are better than lane gates separated crossings (over/underpasses) are even better.

There are a lot if intersections where it is physically not feasible to install four quadrant gates, usually where an intersection to a road paralleling the railroad is too close to the tracks. The incident at the VA/NC border and IL several weeks ago were that type of intersections (and both had a truck trailer fouling the track while waiting to turn onto the parallel highway).

I don't think there are very many good and inexpensive solutions out there... whats left is either not that good or very expensive.

My thought process is a grade crossing incident usually ends up costing millions in loss of life, lawsuits and damages. Where it is feasible, equipping the crossings with four quadrant gates is probably cheaper than grade crossing separation. The states can use a portion of motor vehicle fines with contribution from the railroads to pay for it.

After all, you can pay for it 250k at a time or have a few million dollar, lump sum payments.
 
The solution is simple - put red light cameras at grade crossings.

Institute a $1,000 fine for personal vehicles, $50,000 fine to commercial vehicles.

The cameras will pay for themselves, then pay for quad gates or whatever the best solution is, then can get moved to the next intersection.
 
The solution is simple - put red light cameras at grade crossings.

Institute a $1,000 fine for personal vehicles, $50,000 fine to commercial vehicles.

The cameras will pay for themselves, then pay for quad gates or whatever the best solution is, then can get moved to the next intersection.
I was thinking the cameras and their monitoring would be more expense than the gate.
 
It is time to start equipping the grade crossings with four quadrant gates. I think it would help.
Or maybe the railroad should maintain there gates so they only go down when there a train coming. Add some railroad training and paint the crosstie so the crews know where the grade crossing sensor are so they don't fowl the crossing.
Four quadrants gates can fail, when they do two of arms fail down, two of the arms fail up. So five trucks still could get around them in a failure mode.

One thinks with modern technology a failed gate, or a fowled gate could report itself to the dispatcher.
Most of the crossings have detection systems that can track the speed and distance of the train and estimate when it will cross the road, and trigger the sequence when deemed appropriate. When a train stops after activation, the gate stays down until the circuitry realizes that the crossing is not blocked, then it will deactivate.
 
The solution is simple - put red light cameras at grade crossings.

Institute a $1,000 fine for personal vehicles, $50,000 fine to commercial vehicles.

The cameras will pay for themselves, then pay for quad gates or whatever the best solution is, then can get moved to the next intersection.
I was thinking the cameras and their monitoring would be more expense than the gate.
According to the link below, the cost is under $80,000, which unfortunately - given the number of violations - would soon pay for itself. The idea makes good sense (so we know it'll never happen).

Wonder if there is a practical way to let the railroads do the installation, and reimburse them out of the ticket revenues?

http://www.itscosts.its.dot.gov/ITS/benecost.nsf/ID/2B209AD2C5AD2AB985256DB10045892B?OpenDocument&Query=CApp
 
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The solution is simple - put red light cameras at grade crossings.

Institute a $1,000 fine for personal vehicles, $50,000 fine to commercial vehicles.

The cameras will pay for themselves, then pay for quad gates or whatever the best solution is, then can get moved to the next intersection.
And something along the lines of a 3 year license suspension for drivers of Class 6, 7, and 8 trucks.
 
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