Piedmont vs. Tractor Trailer

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
MattW said:
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/story.a...d=57&hpt=T2That locomotive will definitely need time in the shop after this. Let's just hope the damage is all superficial and the frame isn't damaged or anything.

Let's also hope they throw the book at the truck driver and bar him from operating any commercial vehicle ever again!
Click to expand...

The loco and bag/cafe look unfixable. Apparently there is a hole in the roof of it, most likely from the escavator.
 
This accident certainly takes some of the shine off the NCDOT's scheduled launch of the midday Piedmont between Raleigh and Charlotte June 5.

The locomotive here, #1792, was a rebuilt freight GP which has been in service for he NCDOT for about 15 years already. It would have been the next locomotive retired by the NCDOT and I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to just scrap it rather than try to rebuild.
 
Yeah I'm going to say that the GP40 is toasted (quite literally). NCDOT has two F5PHIs and an F59PH, I don't foresee them trying to salvage that GP. My biggest concern is losing that trainset with the second round trip about to come on line. My best guess is that one set will be made up of Horizon/Amfleets while they make the necessary repairs to this set.
 
A moment of silence for that old soldier. What a crummy way to end a 44 year career.

Pity the truck driver survived the incident.
 
Pity the driver survived? Wow. I've heard some strange things from you, but just wow. As dumb as people can be sometimes I'm never going to wish death on someone who isn't a war criminal/terrorist. From what I can see it looks like this guy got stuck. It's not that he was trying to beat the train, or was too stupid to stay off before traffic cleared, he flat got stuck. A similar incident happened back in the 80s where a Silver Service train hit a truck that got stuck near Davenport. Could the driver potentially have used better judgment? Yeah. But to wish death on a man who likely has a wife, kids, and other loved ones to parish, that's just sad.
 
Sadly, every board on the 'net seems to have one (or more!) flamebaiter, who enjoys posting "outrageous" comments, unwrapping another Mallomar and sitting back to see who responds. We've got ours.

Often confusing opinion with fact, they never retract their off-balance opinion-statements nor do they ever admit a mistake when corrected by others, so about all you can do is roll your eyes and try to ignore the bait.
 
surfgeek said:
Sadly, every board on the 'net seems to have one (or more!) flamebaiter, who enjoys posting "outrageous" comments, unwrapping another Mallomar and sitting back to see who responds. We've got ours.
Often confusing opinion with fact, they never retract their off-balance opinion-statements nor do they ever admit a mistake when corrected by others, so about all you can do is roll your eyes and try to ignore the bait.
Click to expand...
Kind of reminds me of the French Taunter.
 
surfgeek said:
Sadly, every board on the 'net seems to have one (or more!) flamebaiter, who enjoys posting "outrageous" comments, unwrapping another Mallomar and sitting back to see who responds. We've got ours.
Often confusing opinion with fact, they never retract their off-balance opinion-statements nor do they ever admit a mistake when corrected by others, so about all you can do is roll your eyes and try to ignore the bait.
Click to expand...
I'm not interested in starting flame wars. I just bluntly state my opinions, as off kilter as they might be. I guess most members have learned to roll their eyes at what they don't like by now. I operate on certain premises, one of which is that fools are better off dead. The man was a fool. My opinion is consistent with what I believe.
 
Green Maned Lion said:
I'm not interested in starting flame wars. I just bluntly state my opinions, as off kilter as they might be. I guess most members have learned to roll their eyes at what they don't like by now. I operate on certain premises, one of which is that fools are better off dead. The man was a fool. My opinion is consistent with what I believe.
Click to expand...
I am curious as to what you think the truck driver did that was worthy of him losing his life? To me, it looks like the highway design was the problem, but maybe I'm missing something.
 
Notelvis said:
This accident certainly takes some of the shine off the NCDOT's scheduled launch of the midday Piedmont between Raleigh and Charlotte June 5.
The locomotive here, #1792, was a rebuilt freight GP which has been in service for he NCDOT for about 15 years already. It would have been the next locomotive retired by the NCDOT and I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to just scrap it rather than try to rebuild.
Click to expand...
I understand from a knowledgeable source that the locomotive had just undergone an overhaul.
 
PRR 60 said:
Green Maned Lion said:
I'm not interested in starting flame wars. I just bluntly state my opinions, as off kilter as they might be. I guess most members have learned to roll their eyes at what they don't like by now. I operate on certain premises, one of which is that fools are better off dead. The man was a fool. My opinion is consistent with what I believe.
Click to expand...
I am curious as to what you think the truck driver did that was worthy of him losing his life? To me, it looks like the highway design was the problem, but maybe I'm missing something.
Click to expand...
I'm with you PRR. The idiot who stopped on the crossing at Cypress Creek back in the mid 90's with a gas truck and had the Star plow into, he was an idiot and definitely at fault. But this situation it doesn't appear that there was gross negligence.
 
I have known numerous truck drivers in my time, and briefly attempted to go to truck driving school- as usual my vision problems kept me out of it. However, having been riding with some, I know several things. One of which is the competent truck driver is always aware of the clearance issues confronting his rig. Especially something hauling a wide load such as a CAT excavator. With something that wide, any newly traveled parts of the route are supposed to be checked out to make clearance. If you're 150% not sure that the rig will clear a particular route, you take another routing.

If that truck high-centered, whether it blocked a train or not, the driver is responsible for gross negligence in the operation of his vehicle. It would be like a train crew trying to haul a double stack into the North River tunnels. If it was a car, it was poor judgement. With a wide-load bearing semi truck, its gross negligence, not to mention unbelievable idiocy. 77
 
Green Maned Lion said:
I have known numerous truck drivers in my time, and briefly attempted to go to truck driving school- as usual my vision problems kept me out of it. However, having been riding with some, I know several things. One of which is the competent truck driver is always aware of the clearance issues confronting his rig. Especially something hauling a wide load such as a CAT excavator. With something that wide, any newly traveled parts of the route are supposed to be checked out to make clearance. If you're 150% not sure that the rig will clear a particular route, you take another routing.
If that truck high-centered, whether it blocked a train or not, the driver is responsible for gross negligence in the operation of his vehicle. It would be like a train crew trying to haul a double stack into the North River tunnels. If it was a car, it was poor judgement. With a wide-load bearing semi truck, its gross negligence, not to mention unbelievable idiocy. 77
Click to expand...
My point is that this was not a simple case of a nut-job truck driver risking life and limb to save 30 seconds. This particular trip was a permit load. The permit (issued typically by the state DOT) specifies the permitted route for the trip. Deviations from the permit route are a violation of law. It is possible that the driver knew the crossing was a problem for low clearance rigs and tried it anyway. It is also possible that the driver did not know the crossing and assumed (incorrectly) that the permitting agency would not route him on a road he could not safely use. Regardless, the driver did not have the authority to simply take another route.
If he knew there was a problem, he should have stopped and sorted it out with the permitting agency. That I agree with. He didn't. The agency should have known that the road - a major highway - had a hump profile at that crossing that could trap a low clearance rig. They didn't. The state DOT should not have a profile like that on a major highway. They do.

There is plenty of culpability to go around - not just that of the driver - but none of it rises to the level of a capital offense.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm willing to bet that there will be an investigation (or two), culpability will be assigned and apportioned, and -- the truck driver won't get the death penalty. And I don't even play a psychic on TV.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In addition to deploring that unthoughtful (to be kind to the writer) comment that its too bad the trucker wasn't killed, in addition to his family, let us remember that we can also be thankful that in this case an engineer will NOT have to deal with the mental stress that always accompanies a fatality for the guy/gal at the throttle, even thought he/she may have been totally powerless to avoid what happened. In addition to not wishing more harm or death on anyone in such a collision as this, in the spirit of future safety, we should try to reserve judgment at least until thorough investigation(s) shed proper light. I personally am thankful this wasn't worse.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top