PA - Amtrak train from Washington crashes in Philadelphia, May 2015

[Inthedetails]

Are links to the UK Daily Express not permitted? I just posted a link to the Daily Express story and I see the post was deleted???

I don't know, but there is a great shot of the curve in the photo gallery here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ls-killing-5-people-investigation-begins.html

 

[trigger]

https://mobile.twitter.com/bpolatseck

Look at picture 3,5 and 7.

Looks like the train could have struck the overpass?

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Could the rails have been sabotaged before the engineer got to that curve?

 

[MissSunshine]

Search window shattered amtrak on twitter. Unconfirmed but supposed to have happened right before derailment. Interestingly this happened on a train last year in Virginia but the train did not derail.

I also find it interesting that 6 days ago a window was broken by an unknown object near Baltimore. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/commuting/bs-md-ci-amtrak-incident-20150504-story.html this is also supposed to be one of the Amtrac Acela trains that derailed today.

I saw this, too

Just before Tuesday's deadly Amtrak derailment, a SEPTA commuter train in the same corridor was crippled by a projectile sent through the engineer's window.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2..._before_Amtrak_crash.html#SkvyPVhU3wIqkgW1.99

 

[JerseyGirl]

I saw this, too

Just before Tuesday's deadly Amtrak derailment, a SEPTA commuter train in the same corridor was crippled by a projectile sent through the engineer's window.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2..._before_Amtrak_crash.html#SkvyPVhU3wIqkgW1.99

The Washington Times is picking up this story too: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/13/commuter-train-struck-minutes-amtrak-crash/

The northbound SEPTA train was en route to Trenton around 9:25 p.m. Tuesday on tracks beside the Amtrak rails when it was struck by “an unknown projectile” that broke the engineer’s window.

At 9:53 p.m., a young woman named Alex Ferraro tweeted that her father was on the commuter train and that it had been “shot.”

“My dad is stuck on a septa train that was shot at that’s behind this derailed Amtrak train,” she wrote on Twitter. The report has not been confirmed.

No one was injured in that incident, and about 80 train passengers were transferred to buses.

About three minutes later and four miles away in the same train corridor, Amtrak’s northbound Train 188 derailed. Federal authorities are investigating the cause of that crash.

 

[Bravo]

Thanks everyone for all the updates. Terrible, terrible tragedy. So rare to hear of a train accident.

 

[Bravo]

I admit i have skimmed trying to catch up but does anyone know approx. how far along the train was from leaving the Station? TIA

 

[Zuri]

I have taken this train many times from Wilmington, Delaware to NYC. Many politicians and business people take this train, as it originates in DC. Going through Philadelphia's 30th Street Station is really busy as there are a lot of trains converging to/from; very congested. The Regional train makes more stops than the Acela train, and when these trains pass each other in this area, you can feel the buffeting.

I really hope this was not a terror plot and I hope they can figure out the cause quickly. Sending prayers to everyone affected by this tragedy. The derailment scene look horrific.

 

[Zuri]

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/780/620/Northeast-Corridor-1-Schedule-011215,0.pdf

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=am/am2Station/Station_Page&code=PHL

IIRC, the Port Richmond area is about 5-7 minutes outside of Philadelphia. The train seemed to go slower as it wound its way through that corridor due to congestion, then sped up.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Was this an Acela or Regular train. I thought I read it originated in Washington, DC with a stop in Philly, then on to New York. Where there other stops?

Did it stop in Philly? From the map, it looks like 30th Street Station is before Port Richmond en-route to New York.

 

[i.b.nora]

The pinpoint on this map shows where the 'Headquarters' is located for the train accident. You can see just below it, the big curve in the track, is where the derailment is actually located.

You can follow the train tracks to the left to locate 30th street.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/2...1s0x89c6b63a4534c777:0x71f8921f583d46d6?hl=en

 

[Bravo]

Would the train have had time I wonder to reach a speed considered too fast? Don't know too much about trains. Guess I am about to learn more. Sadly.

 

[corundogs]

I don't know, but there is a great shot of the curve in the photo gallery here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ls-killing-5-people-investigation-begins.html

I am having a hard time figuring out where the train was supposed to be!

In the first 2 photos of the train in that link, right below the missing woman (so heartbreaking) the train is literally on two sets of tracks with a long distance between them! Which track was it actually riding on?

And in the 2nd photo, as someone pointed out earlier, where the top of the train is, it looks like the tracks were pushed together. What on earth could have caused that? I assume train tracks are pretty hard to move...

 

[corundogs]

Was this an Acela or Regular train. I thought I read it originated in Washington, DC with a stop in Philly, then on to New York. Where there other stops?

Did it stop in Philly? From the map, it looks like 30th Street Station is before Port Richmond en-route to New York.

Regional train, not the Acela. Reports say last stop was the 30th Street station.

 

[Zuri]

Was this an Acela or Regular train. I thought I read it originated in Washington, DC with a stop in Philly, then on to New York. Where there other stops?

Did it stop in Philly? From the map, it looks like 30th Street Station is before Port Richmond en-route to New York.

IIRC, the train had already gone through 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and was heading towards Trenton. It was a Regional train, which makes a couple more stops than the Acela train.

 

[Zuri]

The Quiet Car is behind the engine IIRC, and full of business people. I made the mistake of sitting there one time, and you couldn't talk, not even on the phone. That car, and the business class car were really brutally messed up. In Business Class, the seats are reserved and are more comfortable, with more leg room. I just feel so badly for all these people.

I know a young woman who was in an Amtrak crash about 25 years ago, where people were killed and she says she has never been the same. She received a settlement from Amtrak for her injuries. I want to say the train was coming from DC and derailed in Maryland or Virginia, but then again my memory fades as to these facts.

 

[Elley Mae]

Great pictures here, shows the curvy rails in that stretch of philly.

http://www.ibtimes.com/amtrak-train-derails-philadelphia-least-6-dead-over-140-injured-1919730

 

[corundogs]

OK...I think I have maybe figured out what happened. You know, because I am an accident investigator and all (/sarcasm)

It looks like the train was coming around the bend on the upper parts of track.

And the locomotive derailed and headed towards the lower parts of track.

The car that got so mangled, hit sideways against one of those tall goal post-type things that go over the entire track. Because the metal sticking out of that mangled car match the 2 that are still standing.

Did y'all follow that at all? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ls-killing-6-people-investigation-begins.html The 3rd and 4th photo (2nd and 3rd down, as there are 2 photos of the missing woman) is the best view of this.

 

[Bravo]

OK...I think I have maybe figured out what happened. You know, because I am an accident investigator and all (/sarcasm)

It looks like the train was coming around the bend on the upper parts of track.

And the locomotive derailed and headed towards the lower parts of track.

The car that got so mangled, hit sideways against one of those tall goal post-type things that go over the entire track. Because the metal sticking out of that mangled car match the 2 that are still standing.

Did y'all follow that at all? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ls-killing-6-people-investigation-begins.html The 3rd and 4th photo (2nd and 3rd down, as there are 2 photos of the missing woman) is the best view of this.

Yep makes sense for sure :seeya:

 

[i.b.nora]

Those photos at Daily Mail are good.