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

[JusticeWillBeServed]

While it's great to see that strangers were helping each other to safety, it's weird that people would bother to take out their phones and record everything. Seems like it would slow them down.

 

[Bravo]

Hospital update coming soon. No time announced.

 

[Bravo]

David Soucie was just on and explained what all will be looked at. Strange seeing him for a train derailment when I have always heard him regarding plane crashes. Part of his expertise just seemed weird. Spoke to the condition of the tracks, speed will be looked at, that indeed if a train is going too fast alarms go off and train itself will automatically slow itself. Will look at if these mechanics have been checked etc. etc. He always explains things so well. So a ways to go yet with facts.

 

[Bravo]

While it's great to see that strangers were helping each other to safety, it's weird that people would bother to take out their phones and record everything. Seems like it would slow them down.

Seems it's the world we live in. Now.

 

[corundogs]

CNN "Breaking News" banner

NTSB: Train traveling 100+ MPH when it derailed

That sounds like an official source, right?

 

[Bravo]

CNN "Breaking News" banner

NTSB: Train traveling 100+ MPH when it derailed

That sounds like an official source, right?

If NTSB has confirmed I would give it a for sure.
ETA-prior banner just said "a source"

 

[mysteriew]

With the latest news about the speed it really makes me wonder. If the train was going that fast in a 55 mi an hr zone, you would think the engineer would have been in contact with the dispatch or control if it was a mechanical issue. Ditto if it was terrorist related. So I am wondering if it is an MH370 type issue.

 

[corundogs]

If NTSB has confirmed I would give it a for sure.
ETA-prior banner just said "a source"

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...ain-Derailment-in-Philadelphia-303583561.html

Just to make it official

The NTSB confirmed the Amtrak train that derailed Tuesday night was going faster than 100 mph just prior to hurling off the tracks, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 200. The confirmation comes as a "very, very active" search for answers — and possible victims — continues.

Two sources, who are close to the investigation, told NBC News the information came from the train's event recorder, or black box. NTSB officials later confirmed the report.

Read more: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...-in-Philadelphia-303583561.html#ixzz3a36BUOty
Follow us: @nbcphiladelphia on Twitter | nbcphiladelphia on Facebook

And from NTSB Twitter
NTSB confirms preliminary data shows #Amtrak train speed exceeded 100 mph prior to derailment. Further calibrations are being conducted.
https://twitter.com/NTSB/status/598566397241913346

 

[LietKynes]

news.yahoo.com/live-updates--amtrak-train-derailment-near-philadelphia-030241888.html

www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/13/amtra...adelphia-several-people-appear-to-be-injured/

The Associated Press analyzed surveillance video of the train just before the crash and estimates that the train was speeding at 107 mph.
Authorities recovered the black box from train and are inspecting video footage recorded from the front of the train moments before the accident.

How is this different from a person driving 60 in a 25 mph zone and hitting a pedestrian ?
If the train was in fact going this fast... isn't this possible vehicular homicide or manslaughter ?

I'd expect a possible arrest looming in the future.
Imo.

Rest in peace to the deceased ; especially thinking about the parents who lost their only son ! Horrible.
Prayers for those injured; may they recover swiftly.

 

[Bravo]

We have to wait and see what unfolds. Was this intentional or was there some kind of mechanical malfunction. Time will tell.

 

[Bravo]

Missed the Hospital presser! Anyhoo something to keep in mind in a crash such as this considering Inertia it's best to be in the last car/s of a train. Something to keep in mind. Cant hurt right?

 

[Inthedetails]

If you look at the map of the tracks between the station the train just departed and the crash site, there are a few sharp curves, not just the one where the trail derailed. How in the world did the engineer build up so much speed in that short amount of distance on a curvy stretch??

Did he zone out and think he had already passed the curvy section and was going full-steam ahead?

I really hope he was not texting!!! And, please don't let this be deliberate.

JMO.

 

[LietKynes]

My .02 at this time would be some kind of careless negligence. Doesn't seem like an intentional act. If it was some sort of suicide, crashing a train is not exactly a 'sure thing'.
And it doesn't seem like something a terrorist would commit --- don't those types usually go with a bomb, or sabotaging the train tracks ?

There have been cars that suddenly accelerated regardless of the driver applying the brakes. Maybe it was something like that ?

:moo:

 

[Bravo]

I hope we hear from experts who know trains as to how such a thing could happen? I hate the wondering and waiting.

 

[i.b.nora]

This information is somewhat dated but I think its essentially the same today:

How Diesel Locomotives Work

Driving a Locomotive

"You don't just hop in the cab, turn the key and drive away in a diesel locomotive. Starting a train is a little more complicated than starting your car.

The engineer climbs an 8-foot (2.4-m) ladder and enters a corridor behind the cab. He or she engages a knife switch (like the ones in old Frankenstein movies) that connects the batteries to the starter circuit. Then the engineer flips about a hundred switches on a circuit-breaker panel, providing power to everything from the lights to the fuel pump."​

Much much more... 3 pages if you want to read the whole article

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/diesel-locomotive10.htm

 

[corundogs]

This information is somewhat dated but I think its essentially the same today:

How Diesel Locomotives Work

Driving a Locomotive

"You don't just hop in the cab, turn the key and drive away in a diesel locomotive. Starting a train is a little more complicated than starting your car.

The engineer climbs an 8-foot (2.4-m) ladder and enters a corridor behind the cab. He or she engages a knife switch (like the ones in old Frankenstein movies) that connects the batteries to the starter circuit. Then the engineer flips about a hundred switches on a circuit-breaker panel, providing power to everything from the lights to the fuel pump."​

Much much more... 3 pages if you want to read the whole article

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/diesel-locomotive10.htm

Interesting! You would think with technology today...it would be a simple push of a button or flick of a switch. That being said, airplanes still have all of those buttons, switches, gadgets and gizmos...so I guess that makes sense.

 

[Bravo]

Thanks for that link i.b.nora. Interesting. Had no idea how technical a train is.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

CNN just mentioned Michigan native Rachael Jacobs who is missing following the train wreck. I posted a local news item about Ms. Jacobs earlier in this thread (#135). My thoughts and prayers are with her family and those of everyone who was injured or died as a result of this tragic event.

 

[LaLaw2000]

One of the first things that really struck me when the pics first came out was how the engine of the train was so far away from the mangled other 'cars' of the train. The engineer came away from the horrible derailment virtually unscathed. How is that? Did he disengage the engine from the rest of the train just before the derailment?

This is all very odd to me. I just cannot get over it. GB the victims and their families as well as the survivors and the responders. I just cannot imagine...................

MOO

 

[Inthedetails]

"The data recorder should provide investigators with details on the train’s speed, whether the brakes were ever applied or if the horn was sounded before the accident."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/derailed-amtrak-train-traveling-100-mph-article-1.2220766

From what I've read so far, no passengers have mentioned hearing a horn. Has anyone else?