Sorry, someguy, you are still generating heat, not light on this issue.
I am not sure that an explanation will even dint you preconceived notion, but for the others, here it is:
The particular accident you mention, which occurred in January 2005, was in all ways a fluke, had a 60 ton coach hit a 3 ton or less pickup. There is nothing about this, considering you already have a mass ratio of 20 to 1 to indicate if it had been an engine of 120 tons or so it would not have also derailed. It appears that there is not as yet a NTSB accident report published on this accident. When we get that it should resolve most issues. It has been long enough that it should be out any time now. Suffice to say, these people are always ready to make recommendantions to improve safety, and they have made no public recommendation against push mode operation.
The following is FACTUAL information from various news reports. I emphasize factual because there were quite a few errors seen in these reports, including in one report even which train hit the SUV:
GLENDALE, Calif. – At least 10 people were killed and an estimated 200 injured at 6:11 a.m. today when southbound Metrolink commuter train No. 100, bound for L.A. Union Station (LAUS) to Burbank, derailed after hitting a Jeep Grand Cherokee intentionally parked on the tracks. The accident also involved northbound train No. 901 which was struck in the side by the first and second cars of train 901, derailing the second and third cars.
Final position of the cars, from post-accident pictures. Positions and angles are guesstimates.
Train 100 (southbound) ended up with:
the first car upright but rotated about 100 degrees clockwise from its original orientation, across all three tracks
the second car ended up leaning about 15 degrees and rotated about 30 degrees counterclockwise, fouling both main tracks
the third car ended up leaning about 5 degrees and approximately in line with but off the rails
the engine appears to still be on the rails but I have no picture that is clear enough to tell.
Train 901 ended up with:
the engine appears to be derailed, but upright and in line with the track.
the first coach is derailed, is upright and rotated about 5 degrees counterclockwise
the second coach is derailed, parallel to but about two feet of the track and leaning about 40 degrees. A large portion of the west side has been ripped off by the back end of the front coach, front end of the second coach of train 100.
the third coach is lying on its side parallel to the track but about 30 feet east of the northbound main close to a warehouse type building. It also has significant side damage from contact with the same cars of train 100 as the second coach.
Location of accident is about one mile north of Metrolink Glendale Station.
Train speed of the two trains was in the 50 to 60 mph range for both trains. Both trains consisted of three coaches and one diesel engine, with the diesel on the nominal north end on both trains.
Impact of train to SUV was about 500 feet south of the Chevy Chase Drive road crossing. UP diesel Locomotive was located some distance south of Verdant St.
Later reports questions the driver's actual suicide intent and speculated that causing an accident was his actual intent.
The track at the accident location consisted of two main tracks, with a third track on the west side on which was parked a ballast train headed by two diesels. the third track ended short of the Chevy Chase Drive road crossing, and a pair of crossovers between the two mains were in the section of track between the road crossing and the start of the third track.
***
The following is my distillation of the events of the accident based on news reports and pictures. No, I am not an expert, although I have been involved in a couple of accident analyses. I wrote the following shortly after the accident occurred.
1. The driver of the Jeep drove around the crossing gates at a grade crossing and proceeded to drive south on the nominally southbound track. If he was attempting to charge the northbound train, he was on the wrong track.
2. The Jeep's wheels became wedged between the rails at the first turnout in the track, the south turnout of the first of a pair of crossovers between the two main tracks so it could no longer be moved forward, backward, or to either side. No damage to the turnout was apparent in any pictures, so it is unlikely that the derailment took place at it.
3. At this point the perp bailed out of the Jeep, and stood to one side in the dark as the disaster unfolded. From the time he passed the lowered gates until the time he abandoned the Jeep may have been as little as thirty seconds... According to some news reports, it was after the collision that he slashed his wrists and stabbed himself in the chest.
4. The southbound train's cab car struck the Jeep (a 60+/- ton vehicle striking a 3+/- ton vehicle) at about 50mph (that stretch of track is cleared for 79mph) pushed it some distance down the track. possibly to the next turnout, and rode up over the wreckage, coming down with the lead wheels off the rails to the right. The greater resistance of the front end of the train plowing into the ballast caused the front coach to move further to the right until:
5. The lead car impacted the UP locomotive knocking it over on its side (a 60+/- ton vehicle impacting a 210+/- ton vehicle). This brought the forward motion of this coach to a virtual stop. At this point, if not before, the back end of this first coach began to rotate left (eastward), carrying the front of the second coach with it.
6. Northbound train reaches derailment site at this time. Leftward (eastward) movement of coach ends in southbound train as described above fouls the northbound train as its second coach is passing. Front end of second car of southbound train gouges into side of second car of northbound train, peeling away side over about half its length. Lateral pressure derails northbound coach to the right (also eastward) based on its direction of travel.
7. Back end of first car and front end of second car of southbound train continue to move to left (eastward) despite impact with northbound train due to the front of the first car being jammed into the UP locomotive, which it is in the process of turning over. Front end of third car of northbound train is impacted, breaking coupling between second and third cars. Front end of third car appears to have bounced sideways and then the car was impacted again about midway along its side. This impact finishes the job of pushing the car over onto its side. It appears to have slide on the ground on its side some 50 to 100 feet.
8. The second car of the northbound train continues northward with the train, but is being pulled along derailed to the right (eastward). It continues to rotate to the right and impacts the signal bridge support, bringing down the signal bridge on top of the car, but resulting in little additional damage to the car, regardless of some news reports to the contrary.
*****
I do not see a lot of tradeoffs in having the engines on the front here. If the engine had been on the front, it might have resulted in fewer injures and deaths on train 100, but it would almost certainly have still derailed, and the back end would have still rotated left into train 901. The greater mass and more rigid frame of the engine would have almost certainly increased the damage to train 901, so any lives saved in train 100 would have most likely been traded for additional lives lost in train 901.
therefore, I see no way that this accident can be used as an example to validate the OPINION that trains should not operate in push mode.
I am anxiously awaiting the NTSB accident report. I would be very curious to see if a computer simulation of the accident has been done with the trains set up as they were and with the engines on the front in both cases. Even then, I would consider it indicative, not definitive, as a truly valid computer simulation of a railroad accident is very difficult.
George