Meteor #97 grade crossing collision (6/1) in FL - not fatal, but yikes

[OlympianHiawatha]

The SUV was hit by 98, not auto train.

Then another case of poorly selected B-Roll as they (WNBC-New York) showed a Superliner consist with no Bag.

 

[FormerOBS]

I just googled "Amtrak hits vehicle in Florida" and got an item saying 98 (not Auto Train) hit a Lincoln Navigator in Satsuma, FL (just south of Palatka) yesterday afternoon. Driver seriously injured.

So this is a separate incident.

Tom

 

[jis]

Yesterday (6/7/15) afternoon 91 got stuck behind a CSX freight that went into emergency somewhere between Winter Haven and Auburndale, and lost 1 hour and 45 minutes. I was out on a points run KIS - TPA - KIS, and got held up in TPA by this delay.

It is amazing how full the train was coming into TPA, what an enormous number of people got off from it at TPA, and what an enormous number of people got on at TPA. Basically there were two cars full of intra-Florida passengers, and another two cars of inter-State passengers leaving TPA. There still were a few empty seats, but not very many.

 

[afigg]

I just googled "Amtrak hits vehicle in Florida" and got an item saying 98 (not Auto Train) hit a Lincoln Navigator in Satsuma, FL (just south of Palatka) yesterday afternoon. Driver seriously injured.

So this is a separate incident.

I repeated your google search and found this news report on the Meteor #98 collision on Sunday: Amtrak train hits car in Putnam County. Serious accident that sent the 66 year old driver to the hospital along with 1 passenger on the train. Excerpt:

Around 5:30 p.m. FHP said Burch's condition changed from stable to critical and seemed to be getting progressively worse.

According to Amtrak officials on the scene, the Amtrak train #98 was crossing the intersection of E. Buffalo Bluff Road and Tyler Street when - for unknown reasons - the driver entered the tracks, driving around the railroad crossing arms that were down. FHP said the front end of the train collided with the back end of the SUV. The SUV was thrown several feet down the tracks.

The train, which had 246 passengers and 14 crew members on board, was going from Miami to New York, according to a spokesperson for Amtrak. One of the passengers on the train was later taken to a local hospital for neck pain. FHP said she was released with minor injuries.

What is it with the drivers in Florida going around lowered crossing gates? Especially in the Jacksonville area? Florida DOT and the state & local police really should look into either more grade crossing enforcement efforts along with installing quad gates at the busier grade crossings. I think All Aboard Florida will be installing quad gates at many crossings, but they may have to do it at every crossing if they were not planning to. Or it could be an AAF collision every couple of weeks.

The status report for #98(6/07) shows the schedule hit due to the incident:

* Train 98 of 06/07/2015. 
* Silver Meteor
* +---------------- Station Code
* |    +----------- Schedule Arrival Day 
* |    |  +-------- Schedule Arrival Time
* |    |  |     +----- Schedule Departure Day
* |    |  |     |  +-- Schedule Departure Time
* |    |  |     |  |     +------------- Actual Arrival Time
* |    |  |     |  |     |     +------- Actual Departure Time
* |    |  |     |  |     |     |     +- Comments
* V    V  V     V  V     V     V     V
* MIA  *  *     1  820A  *     820A  Departed:  On time.
* HOL  *  *     1  844A  *     846A  Departed:  2 minutes late.
* FTL  *  *     1  900A  *     902A  Departed:  2 minutes late.
* DFB  *  *     1  918A  *     919A  Departed:  1 minute late.
* DLB  *  *     1  932A  *     933A  Departed:  1 minute late.
* WPB  *  *     1  957A  *     959A  Departed:  2 minutes late.
* SBG  *  *     1  1133A *     1133A Departed:  On time.
* WTH  *  *     1  1217P *     1217P Departed:  On time.
* KIS  *  *     1  106P  *     106P  Departed:  On time.
* ORL  1  133P  1  145P  125P  153P  Arrived:  8 minutes early.           |  Departed:  8 minutes late.
* WPK  *  *     1  202P  *     208P  Departed:  6 minutes late.
* DLD  *  *     1  244P  *     255P  Departed:  11 minutes late.
* PAK  *  *     1  334P  *     619P  Departed:  2 hours, 45 minutes late.
* JAX  1  452P  1  512P  725P  743P  Arrived:  2 hours, 33 minutes late.  |  Departed:  2 hours, 31 minutes late.
* JSP  *  *     1  634P  *     910P  Departed:  2 hours, 36 minutes late.
* SAV  1  728P  1  736P  1001P 1008P Arrived:  2 hours, 33 minutes late.  |  Departed:  2 hours, 32 minutes late.
....

 

[CHamilton]

We need barriers like the Russians have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPt7bASfsGs

 

[Bob Dylan]

Tampa is a lot better place to be stranded on a points run than Taylor Texas! LOL

And as for the crowded trains to/from Tampa, perhaps the Florida Guv ( well known Health Care Criminal) was wrong to cancel the Orlando to Tampa rail project since everyone knows nobody rides trains anymore!

 

[Bob Dylan]

We need barriers like the Russians have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPt7bASfsGs

Cool! Have another Vodka Boris!!!

 

[jis]

Tampa is a lot better place to be stranded on a points run than Taylor Texas! LOL

And as for the crowded trains to/from Tampa, perhaps the Florida Guv ( well known Health Care Criminal) was wrong to cancel the Orlando to Tampa rail project since everyone knows nobody rides trains anymore!

Well, wrong thread for this discussion, but I thought back then that the Orlando - Tampa HSR sort off ell in the same category as the Washington - Baltimore MagLev. Unless it was to be part of a bigger picture it did not make too much sense.

I think Florida's need at present is to build a credible statewide system rather than a short showcase system. So while it was painful to see that project canned, it wasn;t the worst thing that could happen.

With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I think overall the so called high speed rail related funding was managed rather poorly.

 

[Sbburkett]

As one who will be taking Amtrak over the course of six days for an upcoming vacation (part of which will be on the Meteor), the news regarding the recent string of accidents is very disconcerting.

And as bad as the Philadelphia incident was, I'm more concerned about these more common occurrences where the general public put people at risk simply because they are too impatient to wait for a train to pass at crossings.

Thankfully a train is not easily derailed for accidents involving impacts with vehicles on the road, but I'm sure there's always the possibility for derailment should certain pieces or parts of the vehicle lodge themselves under the engine or into the wheels in a such a way that could create the potential for derailment, putting the train's passengers and crew at risk as well.

I take the train over flying because I love trains and I thoroughly dislike flying for many reasons (including safety concerns). However, I'll certainly have an increase in worry about the potential for things like this in the back of my mind during the train portion of my upcoming trip, which is a shame.

 

[FormerOBS]

Sb: Having ridden many thousands of miles with that same thought in my mind, I finally decided to relax and take things as they come. You control what you can and you don't let yourself get too stressed about what you can't control. The guy in the car is the one in the most danger, whether his accident involves a train or not.

As for the Russian barriers, the idea was tried on an American railroad in the 1920's or 1930's. If I recall correctly, the location may have been Carey, Ohio. I believe the scheme proved unwieldy due to maintenance costs and wintertime problems with ice and snow.

But I sure do love those videos!

Tom

 

[Sbburkett]

Thanks for the reassurance FormerOBS. I'm sure once I'm on the train and enjoying every minute of it the worry about such an incident will (hopefully) be out of mind.

I'd LOVE to see barriers like those in the video in use, but I can also see the extra costs associated with maintenance and other problems they could cause (like not closing after the train passes), but in an ideal situation where they could be guaranteed to work all of the time they would be great!

Watching the video I honestly had no sympathies for the cars damaged by the barriers...better that than putting other people in danger.

 

[John Bredin]

That Russian video is priceless. These are manned crossings, right? A worker in a neon vest swinging a lantern appears from a rather large trackside cabin (large compared to the ones holding just equipment), and then there's the moron in the white minivan who actually hits the worker before upping the ante on stupidity by running the gate. :blink:

Drivers there must be even worse than here (or the railways are seriously featherbedded) for a grade crossing to have lights-and-gates and pop-up barriers and an attendant.

 

[jis]

That Russian video is priceless. These are manned crossings, right? A worker in a neon vest swinging a lantern appears from a rather large trackside cabin (large compared to the ones holding just equipment), and then there's the moron in the white minivan who actually hits the worker before upping the ante on stupidity by running the gate. :blink:

Drivers there must be even worse than here (or the railways are seriously featherbedded) for a grade crossing to have lights-and-gates and pop-up barriers and an attendant.

In my experience from two brief visits to Russia in the recent past, it is about the most lawless place that tries to call itself civilized. It is way more lawless than places like say India when it comes to road traffic, and India is no paradigm of virtue in that department either.

 

[PaulM]

I take the train over flying because I love trains and I thoroughly dislike flying for many reasons (including safety concerns). However, I'll certainly have an increase in worry about the potential for things like this in the back of my mind during the train portion of my upcoming trip, which is a shame.

All the motor vehicles attacking trains might be a social problem, but if I absolutely had to find something to worry about, it would getting to and from the station. The odds against being injured by such an incident during any given train ride must be astronomical.

 

[CHamilton]

In my experience from two brief visits to Russia in the recent past, it is about the most lawless place that tries to call itself civilized. It is way more lawless than places like say India when it comes to road traffic, and India is no paradigm of virtue in that department either.

Russian drivers are crazy. Here's one about people who drive on the sidewalk, and the campaign to stop them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHJxIwvFIGY