Very Ignorant speed Story on WCBS (NJT)

Will all my FRA Engineer's Please Chime in!

SECAUCUS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Amtrak trains began rolling again Monday on the busy Northeast Corridor between New York and Philadelphia, but the National Transportation Safety Board investigation into a deadly derailment last week is far from over.

The NTSB said it is still too soon to determine the exact cause of the derailment last week, but has said the train was traveling twice the speed limit as it pulled into a curve before the crash in Philadelphia.

CBS2 wanted to find out how fast trains in our area are going, and Meg Baker went out with an array of technology to investigate.

First, Baker and her crew tested the equipment by calibrating and checking the technology. Baker tested the Speed-O-Meter app she was using for accuracy alongside the speedometer in a car – and found it to be pretty accurate.

Using the app and a radar gun along multiple routes, CBS2’s Baker went out to test the rails of NJ TRANSIT, following complaints. She clocked a 72 mph train zooming through Secaucus Junction, and a 69 mph train speeding through South Orange – a smaller station.

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Girl should have talked to an FRA certified engineer instead of a civil engineer and she is getting reamed on the cbs ny facebook page about it whipping up fear and sounding stupid

btw you guys should go and educate her, her twitter name is @megbakertv and on facebook Meg Baker

https://www.facebook.com/MegBakerTV

Yup, as if all the attacks from the right wingnuts were not enough, now we have the attacks of the left wingnuts. The railroads can't get a break, specially when passenger trains are concerned apparently.

Yep, it brings to mind my favorite media story in "The Washingtin Post" about Obama and Amtrak Joes ride on the PV down the NEC on the way to their first Inauguration in 2009.

The Post reported that they rode on a Private Rail Car that President Lincoln had used and since it was on the end of the Special, that they rode in the Caboose!!!

The Post later ran a correction that blamed the"expert" that advised the reporter, a Political Historian! Sounds familiar!!

Might want to avoid using "girl" to refer to an adult woman.

Eric S said:

Might want to avoid using "girl" to refer to an adult woman.

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I agree with this.

I also agree that the original story is a bunch of garbage.

However, this is a classic example of an organization trying to sidestep what on the face of it is a legitimate question in the public interest: How fast are trains going compared to how fast they should be going? It's a perfectly natural question to ask in the wake of the Amtrak 188 derailment.

The fact that NJT made very little attempt to answer the reporter's questions speaks poorly of NJT. They are a public entity. There is no reason that I can think of to refuse to disclose basic information such as speed policy. There is no reason why NJT could not make an official available for an interview. By refusing to provide the reporter with the facts, NJT ended up with a story that made them look obtuse, stupid and dangerous. That's not to excuse the reporter. But let's be fair.

Get her hands on an employee timetable and find someone who knows how to read it

NJTransit is one of the most inept organizations in handling any kind of interaction with the public. That in and of itself should not be news for anyone who have had the misfortune of dealing with them. We in the rail advocacy community are long sufferers of their ineptitude. However, if i is the case that CBS did not consult with NJT or Amtrak before embarking on the project, some could argue that given that apparently CBS bothered to go to NJT only after publishing the bovine scatology, as a matter of protocol it was probably proper for NJT to refuse to talk to them. However, in the process an opportunity to educate the public was lost.

Here is Railway Age's take on the CBS hatchet job:


Meg Baker and her trusty Speed-O-Meter to the rescue!

jis said:

Here is Railway Age's take on the CBS hatchet job:

Meg Baker and her trusty Speed-O-Meter to the rescue!

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A juvenile article, IMO.

"Why should NJT bother [to respond]? You wouldn’t understand it anyway, and it would be too complicated for your dumbed-down, assumption-filled, fact-deprived, agenda-driven report."

I guess NJT gets a free pass on responding to the public since we wouldn't understand it anyway.

fairviewroad said:

jis said:

Here is Railway Age's take on the CBS hatchet job:

Meg Baker and her trusty Speed-O-Meter to the rescue!

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A juvenile article, IMO.

"Why should NJT bother [to respond]? You wouldn’t understand it anyway, and it would be too complicated for your dumbed-down, assumption-filled, fact-deprived, agenda-driven report."

I guess NJT gets a free pass on responding to the public since we wouldn't understand it anyway.

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Was just that part juvenile or did you think that the entire article is juvenile. Just trying to gauge your overall position

In general I think an opportunity to educate was lost and should have been taken up by either NJT and if they could not then Amtrak, at least for the NEC part.

I am still curious where they got their expert from and why they thought he is a train operations expert, and where they got the bit about 60mph. That is the rule used on some NYCTA subway lines admittedly. But can't people, even relatively uninformed reporters and their uninformed experts, tell the difference between a subway line and a high speed mainline?

I think a lot of the article was juvenile. Other examples:

"A Cracker Jack box apparently is where CBS2-New York investigative reporter Meg Baker, her news assignment editor and her producer “earned” their credentials"

"A cell phone app and a radar gun. I’m impressed—NOT!“

"Thanks for the kindergarten-level explanation of super-elevation and track geometry, which you obviously didn’t take the time to even try to understand."

The author missed an opportunity to introduce a reporter and a news outlet to possible resources to use in future coverage, and instead chose to hurl

personal insults. Not very productive, IYAM. The Railway Age writer does not seem to understand the challenges of reporting for a general circulation

audience, as opposed to an audience of industry insiders and hobbyists. The TV reporter cannot assume that her audience knows the first thing about

any of this.

I agree with your comment about the "expert" in the original news story. That, to me, was the worst part. Instead of turning to someone with questionable

credentials, I think the reporter should have hammered home the point that NJT refuses to discuss safety policies with the public. OTOH, pointing a radar

gun at a train was simply a device to tell a story in a relatable manner.

Thank you fairviewroad. I tend to agree with your assessment that the article could have been written in a way that it could have educated without trying to offend.

OTOH, I guess, there are very few in the general public that would ever read a Railway Age anything (unless brought to their attention by the likes of us who sit on the boundary wall between the industry and the general public) since it is pretty much an industry rag.

Shots fired by NJT! :giggle:
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/05/post_722.html

BrianPR3 said:

Shots fired by NJT! :giggle:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/05/post_722.html

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Virtually all of their complaints could have been addressed had the agency responded to the reporter's inquiries in a meaningful way. Why are they so eager to share this information now, when beforehand they said it wasn't possible to divulge it? NJT could learn a lot by hiring a public relations consultant for, oh, an hour or so.

fairviewroad said:

BrianPR3 said:

Shots fired by NJT! :giggle:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/05/post_722.html

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Virtually all of their complaints could have been addressed had the agency responded to the reporter's inquiries in a meaningful way. Why are they so eager to share this information now, when beforehand they said it wasn't possible to divulge it? NJT could learn a lot by hiring a public relations consultant for, oh, an hour or so.

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i also think she earns a stern rebuke from someone for whipping up hysteria when trains are doing something normal. also this girl came from that circus "chasing NJ" that replaced the my 9 news at 10 in nj.

At least I got to verify that I remembered all the speed limits correctly

But I got to say, that expert Professor is a piece of work! What is someone who knows not and knows not that he knows not?

jis said:

At least I got to verify that I remembered all the speed limits correctly

But I got to say, that expert Professor is a piece of work! What is someone who knows not and knows not that he knows not?

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A politician?

Tokkyu40 said:

jis said:

At least I got to verify that I remembered all the speed limits correctly

But I got to say, that expert Professor is a piece of work! What is someone who knows not and knows not that he knows not?

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A politician?

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True that!!!
Also, perhaps the talking heads on TV?

The answer from the saying is "a fool".

There's no need to be redundant.

Either meg baker is stirring the pot again or who knows

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/06/08/n-j-transit-safety/