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TRAINS experts on the Nevada Amtrak wreck
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<p>[quote user="henry6"]</p> <p> What I've heard is that the truck was probably going at least 70mph legally on the open highway and left at least 300 feet of skid marks with one speculation that the truck could have hit the train while doing only 15 mph! <div style="clear:both;"></div> [/quote]</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">I believe I said that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figured that if the truck skidded 300 feet, it must have decelerated a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But with a 70 mph speed limit, the truck may have been doing 70-80 mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is a link to a report saying that the truck could have required as much as 465 ft. to stop if it were going 70 mph:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nevada-train-crash-20110626,0,4724347.story"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nevada-train-crash-20110626,0,4724347.story</span></span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">The engineer of the train probably has a pretty good read on the impact speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The impact speed may have been higher than my suggestion of 15 mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly there was horrific damage to the train, but the fact that it rips through several cars is an indication of the affect of the train’s speed, which also contributed to the damage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, overall, I might raise my estimate to 25 mph at impact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But at speeds much higher, I would have expected the truck to completely pierce the rail car it hit, possibly derailing the train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">In regard to questions for <em>Trains</em>, I would like to hear the description of the collision from the two associated truck drivers who were following the lead truck, and also from the Amtrak engineer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to know if either of the following drivers was talking to the lead driver on a cell phone at the time of the crash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">Also, the news has reported that the crossing was at right angles to the road, but one report says the crossing is 45 degrees to the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to have that clarified and to learn the truck direction in relation to the crossing angle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p>
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