Amtrak Wreck in Kansas

[narig01]

PS That will mainly be people's lawyers trying to collect from the owners of the feedlot. 

[blue streak 1]

Well the lawyers are starting out quickly.

http://www.kwch.com/news/local-news/Amtrak-suing-Cimarron-cattle-company-regarding-train-derailment/38945770

 

[Norm48327]

Well, there goes the price of beef.

But seriously, both Amtrak and BNSF are fully justified in suing. Let's hope Cimmaron Feeders has a healthy liability policy so they are not forced into bankruptcy. Sad that this happened and someone tried to cover it up but perhaps the truck was not against the track when they found it and they had no idea it had displaced the rails.

Link to the federal court complaint:

http://www.kwch.com/blob/view/-/38946150/data/1/-/cd433cz/-/court-documents.pdf

[cefinkjr]

Thanks for the link, Norm.

IMHO, the complaint is weakened by the fact that it makes no attempt to identify the times involved.  When did the truck hit the railroad?  And, based on that, what were the light and weather conditions at the time?  When was the truck removed from the right of way?  And, again, what were the light and weather conditions at the time?

Then paragraph 19 becomes a problem; particularly if the truck was recovered during darkness and/or bad weather.  How far was the truck from the nearest rail when it was recovered?  Did it strike the track and remain actually on the roadbed in contact with the rail or did it, as is more likely, roll back toward the edge of the ballast and the edge of the right of way?

All of these taken together damage the assertion that Cimarron employees "knew or should have known that the truck caused damage to the railroad".  Many of us, including experienced railroaders, were at least a little surprised that a truck could have caused as much damage as this one apparently did; why should Cimarron employees have known, particularly if they did not see the truck hit the rail, see the truck in contact with the rail, or observe that the rail was displaced?

Understand, I'm not trying to defend Cimarron.  I'm merely saying that whoever drew up the complaint didn't do a very thorough job, IMO.

[Norm48327]

Legalese at work Chuck. I'm certain there will be "discovery" proceedings and the complaint will be amended to reflect the findings of such.

In the meantime, I would hate to be the employee responsible. He's likely now unemployed, broke, sweating blood, and possibly facing legal sanctions for his behavior.

[BaltACD]

Experienced railroaders that have contact with field operations know how suseptable the track structure is when it is struck from the side and knocked out of line.  In days gone by the local section gang would shift lateral track location with nothing more than men, lining bars and a chant.

 

On my carrier, whenever a report is received that a car is on or in contact with the track, or a traffic accident has happened on a road crossing at grade, the MofW is notified to inspect the track and a Restricted Speed speed restriction is placed on the track until it is inspected.

[Euclid]

Cimmaron should have call these guys after finding thier missing truck:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1O2X890tig&nohtml5=False