mudchicken "Creeks/Hills/Woods/Curves - Old MoP line.....Not your atypical Kansas country in the SE corner of the state. Bet he was WB when he encountered the NB train going around a curve behind a hill."
"Creeks/Hills/Woods/Curves - Old MoP line.....Not your atypical Kansas country in the SE corner of the state. Bet he was WB when he encountered the NB train going around a curve behind a hill."
Mudchicken is on-point with his description of this atypical Eastern Kansas terrain. Benedict, Kansas is a small community (less that 100 population) at one time it was a junction of two lines; The MoP ran from a junction at Fredonia to Kansas City. The AT&SF ran west out of Chanute to Fredonia.[ Line was a SK&O[1990's] property, and was abandoned about 2000.] The Current UPR Branch line runs out of Coffeville, Ks to Kansas City; it is primarily a Northbound routing. The Rail-Highway intersection is a shallow curving route thru Benedict from Southeasterly direction to a more or less North-northeasterly direction. The sight distance travling on K-39 from the East is a limited sight distance, but the railroad speed thru there is usually a leisurely pace, and is not heavily trafficed. I drive that route on a fairly regular basis.
Chuck: Good choice of words, 'energetic'!
Paul of Covington I went back and read the comments, too, and while in this case they added some (maybe valid) information, the tone of the comments reminded me why I never read comments on news articles.
I went back and read the comments, too, and while in this case they added some (maybe valid) information, the tone of the comments reminded me why I never read comments on news articles.
Yeah, they made some of the more energetic threads here seem downright civil by comparison.
I agree that the comments are of no consequence. I do not see any way to reach any of those conclusions. I was just wondering when the idea of bad brakes entered the news stream.
I looked at the map, and I see that the road was straight while passing through the crossing zone out to the advance signs.
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"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Oh, I see that is where the brake discussion came from.
Euclid Also, I do not find any report mentioning brake problems. The driver and two others on the locomotive were taken to the hospital.
Also, I do not find any report mentioning brake problems.
The driver and two others on the locomotive were taken to the hospital.
Read the comments associated with the original article.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
In looking at the pictures again, I see that the trailer is on one side of the track and the tractor is on the other side. It appears that the train hit the trailer broadside about in the middle of the trailer. So the truck did not run into the side of the train, as I had originally understood. Also, I do not find any report mentioning brake problems.
Maybe there was a problem with the brakes. But even the best brakes won't "stop you on a dime". Drive too fast for conditions or let your attention get distracted for a few seconds and the braking distance can easily become inadequate. That's not the fault of the brakes.
I don't expect we will ever know the truth here. By the time it is determined the event is old and ignored by the media.
John
mudchicken Creeks/Hills/Woods/Curves - Old MoP line.....Not your atypical Kansas country in the SE corner of the state. Bet he was WB when he encountered the NB train going around a curve behind a hill.
Creeks/Hills/Woods/Curves - Old MoP line.....Not your atypical Kansas country in the SE corner of the state. Bet he was WB when he encountered the NB train going around a curve behind a hill.
Reading the article and comments sounds like it was a local government truck with bad brakes.
It almost looks like the truck driver may have realized he was on a collision course with the train, and swerved hard to get the truck into the ditch rather than collide with the train. Then the loaded trailer continued straight into the train depite the swerve.
Kansas Hwy. K-39 - tractor-trailer hauling gravel ran into the side of the train (@ locos ?), derailing them + 8 cars. Article has about 5 photos, pretty good illustrations - trailer is twisted metal, tractor looks OK, locos are sideways and leaning over pretty far. Fortunately, looks like no one seriously hurt.
- Paul North.
No details yet other than this link.
http://www.koamtv.com/story/27860044/train-crash-in-wilson-county
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