Silver Service Screwed Up In FL

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

Well, I see why #98 has yet to go by my house this afternoon. #91 and #97 went by pretty close to on time this morning. Last heard..... #98 was sitting in the siding at Aurburndale. #97 was being held at ORL, and #92 of course was still in route runnning on time. But after their trip to LAK & TPA, they will be caught up in this if not already so by now. This is train #91 in the article below. It happened at Davenport, FL which is between the stations of KIS-LAK/WTH with Haines City being the nearest town to it.

Story:

Click here to read story from the "Lakeland Ledger," no registration required.

BTW : Alan, Anthony, Joe, there is a guest post from me about this, just delete it.......... I forgot to log in and forgot about the new policy on guest start topics.

Formerly OBS....

 

[~guest~]

wow... anyone feel like writing a letter to the editor of this paper?

This article once again makes it look like the big bad train leapt off the tracks and came hurdling out of control towards the innocent (read idiot) truck driver who got his truck stuck on the railroad tracks. The slant against amtrak and the railroad is unbelievable.

While the speed of teh train was undetermined, it pushed the trailer an amazing "50 yards". What was the train doing 15mph tops??????

This one really needs a response.

 

[Carlos Perea]

Maybe they've edited the article since then, but I never really got an anti-Amtrak or anti-railroad vibe from it. To me, it read like a minor incident where a train just pushed a trailer for a couple of feet, no real harm done.

I also don't think the truck driver was entirely at fault:

The railroad crossing is on a small hill.
“We have had this happen before when a truck pulling a low trailer gets struck on the tracks,’’ said City Manager Ryan Taylor.

“If the driver is going straight it isn’t usually a problem,” he said, “but if they try to turn right onto U.S. 17-92 then the low part of the trailer gets hung up and the trailer teeters on the tracks.’’

The truck got stuck on the tracks, and the driver was trying to get it off up until the collision. Considering the fact that this has happened before (this was just the first time anyone actually got hit), I vote that the Bay St crossing either be closed off to trucks over a certain length, or modified so that this can't happen again. If they choose the former option, it looks like longer trucks can be detoured via W Magnolia St and Slate St, where there's a longer distance between the tracks and US 17-92.

 

[GG-1]

Maybe they've edited the article since then, but I never really got an anti-Amtrak or anti-railroad vibe from it. To me, it read like a minor incident where a train just pushed a trailer for a couple of feet, no real harm done.
I also don't think the truck driver was entirely at fault:

The railroad crossing is on a small hill.
“We have had this happen before when a truck pulling a low trailer gets struck on the tracks,’’ said City Manager Ryan Taylor.

“If the driver is going straight it isn’t usually a problem,” he said, “but if they try to turn right onto U.S. 17-92 then the low part of the trailer gets hung up and the trailer teeters on the tracks.’’

The truck got stuck on the tracks, and the driver was trying to get it off up until the collision. Considering the fact that this has happened before (this was just the first time anyone actually got hit), I vote that the Bay St crossing either be closed off to trucks over a certain length, or modified so that this can't happen again. If they choose the former option, it looks like longer trucks can be detoured via W Magnolia St and Slate St, where there's a longer distance between the tracks and US 17-92.

Aloha

Carlos I have the same reaction as you, If there is Blame than it must be the community, that is aware of a problem, and waits for someone to die, before waking up and doing something.

 

[had8ley]

wow... anyone feel like writing a letter to the editor of this paper?
This article once again makes it look like the big bad train leapt off the tracks and came hurdling out of control towards the innocent (read idiot) truck driver who got his truck stuck on the railroad tracks. The slant against amtrak and the railroad is unbelievable.

While the speed of teh train was undetermined, it pushed the trailer an amazing "50 yards". What was the train doing 15mph tops??????

This one really needs a response.

I still have vivid memories of The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate headlines some years ago; "TRAIN ENGINEER KILLS 3 AT CROSSING." If people only knew how much we wish we could stop.

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee gone freight]

I still have vivid memories of The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate headlines some years ago; "TRAIN ENGINEER KILLS 3 AT CROSSING." If people only knew how much we wish we could stop.

Yeah....... I heard that!!!!

Formerly OBS....

 

[battalion51]

Now if we could just get the headline, "Car hit on tracks, mental anguish for crew on board."

 

[AmtrakFan]

Bat51,

I agree with you, the Media doesn't think about what the crew has gone thru sad. On a different note 65 was recently released from Overhaul.