"City" on the ground!

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not sure yet exactly which cars are "wrecks", but 'on their side' is for sure bye-bye for a loooooong period. Possibly one car still upright? Anyhow, repairs by class since they began bringing back cars and effect of this wreck:

sleepers 5 back - 2 gone here

diners 3 back - 1 gone here

lounges 4 back - 1 gone here

coaches 5 back - 4 gone here

dorms 3 back - 0 gone here (sleeper running as dorm - ironically 32005 which just returned to service in January is in this wreck)
 
I might be riding the "City" on monday, if I get a contract in Monroe, La. :eek:

There is no real easy way to get to Monroe, but I can take a train to Jackson Ms and drive over.
 
Here's Amtrak's official press release:

Members of Amtrak's customer care team have arrived at a location 25 miles north of Jackson, Miss., in response to the derailment of the City of New Orleans on Tuesday evening.  The team is on hand to provide assistance for passengers, including accommodations, clothing, transportation and communication.
The northbound City of New Orleans, train #58, derailed Tuesday at approximately 6:35 p.m. CDT near Flora, Miss., on tracks owned, operated and maintained by Canadian National/Illinois Central Railway (CNIC).

There were 73 persons aboard the train at the time of the derailment - 61 passengers and 12 crewmembers.  

Injured passengers were taken to six area medical facilities. Most were treated and released; four persons were admitted.  Amtrak has confirmed one passenger fatality.

The train consisted of one engine, one baggage car, seven passenger cars and one unoccupied passenger car in transit.  Preliminary reports from the scene indicate that all nine cars derailed, with the first seven of them coming to rest on their sides. The locomotive remained on the track.

Amtrak has established a toll-free number with information for friends and relatives of passengers on the train - 1-800-523-9101.  

The southbound City of New Orleans, train #59, which departed Chicago Tuesday evening, will terminate in Memphis with passengers bused to points south.  Passengers scheduled to travel north on Wednesday aboard train #58 will be bussed to Memphis where they will board the train to Chicago.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will lead an investigation into the cause of the derailment.  Members of the NTSB are expected to arrive at the scene this morning.
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The full press release can be found here.
 
I was on 58 2 months ago through that area and my god that was some rough track i don't know how we stayed on the track.But then again this is typical CN track rough they don't do any mantainence on there tracks unless they have to. :eek:
 
I know it's hard to take positives out of a bad situation such as this, but for those of you who are Phase IV fans there is good news. The 82 is one of a few P-42's left in standard Phase IV (NEC Units fall into a seperate category IMHO), and since it appears it stayed on the tracks and no damage was done it's saved from Phase V. The other engines running in Phase IV are the Amtrak 97 and Amtrak 34, the 97 strangely enough has blue number boards (don't ask me how it got them).

On a freaky note, I saw the 32005 and 34135 on Sunday. While I was in Tallahassee over the weekend I decided to go down to the station and see the Sunset as she made the trip west to LA. Tacked on to the bottom was Sleeper 32005 and Coach 34135 (both deadheads). So I guess it's kind of eerie for me to see something one day and then a couple of days later it's on the ground in Mississippi. Freaky. :ph34r:
 
I THINK that 34135 was the remaining upright car from the news reports, but who knows...
 
My thoughts and prayers go out to all passengers and crew members onboard the train. On a freaky note of my own, I had Coach 34069 on the Capitol Limited #29 this past summer.
 
From CNN website:

"The track is owned and maintained by Canadian National/Illinois Central Railway, Amtrak said.

A train carrying hazardous chemicals crashed on the same section of tracks in 1997, forcing the evacuation of about 4,000 people. Three other freight trains have derailed within a five-mile stretch -- one in 1986 and two in 1994."

Sounds like that stretch has long been an accident waiting to happen.
 
Waiting to happen? Sounds like it has happened on more than one ocassion. Let's hope the NTSB and FRA get on CN's back like they have CSX's since CSX's string of derailments. I've noticed a much improved ride quality on CSX since the Auto Train/Capitol Ltd accidents. Maybe this is CN's wake up call.
 
Looks pretty bad, I would have thought the train would have gone slower if the conductor new the tracks were not so well there.
 
F59 PHI said:
I THINK that 34135 was the remaining upright car from the news reports, but who knows...
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32005 and 34135 were both upright
 
All it took was for the last freight that passed to have further damaged that rail and you wind up with this situation. If that had been the case tho, why would the P-42 have stayed on the tracks? What do you experts say?
 
999, PRR 60 already posted those links. Clipper, as far as the engine staying on the tracks but the rest of the train derailing goesm the engines are much heavier and can handle stronger forces against them than a passenger car can. For example, why does a wood shack blow down before a cement building, because the cement building is heavier and able to withstand stronger forces against it. This same theory can be seen in Auto Train derailment, the engines (and first couple of cars) stayed on the tracks while the rest of the train toppled, same concept.
 
Chief: Thanks for the explainer. I understand now. A couple of new reports I read said something about the engineer laying on the horn right before the crash. Wonder - if true - what that was all about?
 
Well there's a few possiblities. First, maybe an animal was on the tracks ahead and he was trying to scare it off. Second, some Engineers will sound their horn as they approach curves, bridges, and trestles to warn any trespassers of the oncoming train. Third, maybe he saw a heat kink and was making some attempt to ge the crews attention (that's unlikely, but possible).
 
I was reading about the accident on Fox News website. Seems as though the condition of the track in that area was already known to be bad. So....who's gonna be sued...probably both Amtrak and who ever owns that portion of track.

IGO
 
I don't see how Amtrak can be responsible as long as the train was operating within the speed limits for that portion of track. The host railroad (in this case CNIC) is 100% responsible for track upkeep, so if the tracks fell into disrepair somehow, the blame should be placed solely on them. Just my opinion.

I'm looking forward to seeing the City get back on track down here. The afternoon's just aren't the same without hearing her blow her horn as she passes through the suburbs. :(
 
Rumor has it that the track on which the "City" derailed has benn repaired & returned to service as of 3 am this morning. Wonder if they maintenance cews fixed the "gumbo" that is supposed to be underneath the track here.
 
The sorry condition of that track has been known for a long time. At least as far back as 6 months ago, TRAINS Magazine reported about cars traveling the Jackson to Yazoo City section on the IC/CN...behaving as if they'd "bottomed out".

I'm not sure what CN's maintainence schedule has been, but the work that they could have done will have been much cheaper than the law suit money that their insurance carrier will ultimately pay to settle the claims for this accident!!

As far back as my time with Amtrak(1975-1980), from a maintainence, equipment, and service level point of view....the "City", nee "Panama Limited"......was always thought to be treated like a dog, both by Amtrak and their host roads..........since, by and large, the "City's" clientale were mostly from a lower socio-economic class that would always patronize the train, no matter how bad the situation was!!

Accidents and derailments happen(..and, have always happened!!). But, the casual passenger doesn't know Amtrak from CN, CSX, or Rock Island....although the host road is liable for track maintainence...Amtrak derailing is what sticks in the public's mind, leaving a negative perception toward Amtrak, right or wrong!!

My thoughts and prayers go out to the lady that was killed and her family. May all the injured return to good health soon.

As we "Am-fans" know, this accident further complicates an already diffucult equipment situation. I'm curious as to how the company will work this out, and how service levels on both the "City", and other trains will be affected!!

From the "Florida Funnel"

Foodman53
 
Has that section of the track been rendered unusable by this accident? Is Amtrak running the train again, or has it been canceled for a while? Is there an alternate route if the track is unusable. Just curious.

Thanks!!!
 
MrFSS said:
Has that section of the track been rendered unusable by this accident? Is Amtrak running the train again, or has it been canceled for a while? Is there an alternate route if the track is unusable. Just curious.
Thanks!!!
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No, it has been repaired & is now back in service. See my earlier post. The Grenada sub, which was the portion of track that the "City" originally ran on, has been significantly downgraded since the "City " was routed to its current route in 1995. I also recall learning that it has been severed, so there is no track in certain portions anymore. There are two ro three other routes that would involve the use of KCS (I think), or one other short-line (name escapes me right now), but they too are in less than acceptable condition.
 
The City was being annulled at Memphis and spun over from 59 to 58 with bustitution between New Orelans and Memphis. Hopefully the line is back in service now and the northbound can resume tomorrow once 59's equipment gets into NOL to spin for the next outbound.
 
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