Car-Train Collision

[Anonymous]

On 6-4, a Norfolk Southern train running through Orangeburg, South Carolina collided with a vehicle at a crossing in Orangeburg. Minor injuries at the site of the accident and there is talk in Orangeburg about trying to slow the speed limit of trains in Orangeburg down from 49 mph to 15 mph. This is the 2nd accident at this particular crossing in 3 weeks.

[thirdrail1]

Municipalities are considered to be "interfering with Interstate Commerce" by the FRA if they set railroad speed limits without agreement of the FRA. The ordinance would not stand up in federal Court.

[Soo2610]

Interesting! In Fox River Grove, Il. a municipal speed limit did stand up in court after a school bus that stopped on the tracks was hit by a Metra express commuter train resulting in the deaths of eleven or twelve students several years ago.

[Anonymous]

This is a serious problem down in Orangeburg. I went to SC State University down there in Orangeburg and that NS line is heavily traveled by NS and occasionally CSX switching to their line that runs south of town. There are a lot of college students and little kids around those tracks constantly and SC State homecoming parade crosses that track as well. I was on the band and we got stopped by a NS train and they probably didn't know about our parade. My point is 49 MPH around a heavily populated area should be dangerous. I know they have schedules to keep, but look at it from a civilian standpoint as well.

[Anonymous]

Slowing an already modest speed limit to a meager 15mph would probably result in an operational nightmare for the rr. There are other solutions for safety in high population areas. Fencing is the simplest and probably the cheapest: it works well on the Northeast Corridor, so why not in Orangeburg?

[Anonymous]

Sorry Reggie, but the higher speeds work. I'm a former C&S, now BNSF engineer. At Fort Collins, CO we bisect the campus of CSU, because the RR gave the land to the state to build the school (a fact they conveniently forget). The speed limit was 20 for years (100?), then the RR caved in to city pressure to lower it to 15, now the Santa Fe management says it's either 12 or 20, so now it's ten!Now, the city is howling over blocked crossings, lengthy delays, and one female student lost her leg, and others injured, when "hopping" the slow moving trains while drunk! 2 questions: Who was there first, my money's on the RR, and are these crossing marked and protected? Those flashers and crossbucks are there for a reason, the railroad doesn't beleive in ornaments!!

[wabash1]

well as a engineer i have seen the close call and fatal accidents rise from lowered speeds. gates only slow the people down who are going to go around them anyways. think about this. a 1 mile long train takes 1 min and 10 sec to clear a crossing at 50 mph. thats not a big delay compaired to not getting there at all. and you say these are collage students seems to me that they need to go back to grade school and learn to stop look and listen. one other thing to think about. everyone seems to blame the railroad for killing some one. the poor families of the people killed what about the crew on that train. i have hit trespasser on the railroad i wasnt happy it really ruins your day.

[PaulWWoodring]

There are probably few places in the U. S. that have more grade crossings and semi-street running with heavy traffic volume than Ashland, VA (CSX RF&P sub). It's a town with lots of tourism, as well as having Randolph Macon College right along the tracks, and about 7 grade crossings from one end of town to the other. In additon to speed restrictions (35 day/45 night) there is also a no-whistle/continual bell ringing rule in effect. With all of these potential pitfalls, there doesn't appear to be an excessive number of accidents there. It might just be random occurance, or the fact that the town is in the middle of a long straight-a-way that affords traffic and pedestrians lots of warning for approaching trains. It's an example of such an arrangement working.

[MP57313]

It seems that many folks are not "railroad aware", even in areas with heavy train traffic. Trains are just not in the public eye. Has the city (Orangeburg) explored a grade separation or pedestrian bridge, at least at one location? I realize these are expensive, and can destroy the "appearance" of some areas, but they reduce headaches for both the local civilians and rail crews.

[cprted]

It's interesting to look at the differnce in attitude towards trains in North America and Europe. In Europe if someone was walking on the tracks and got roasted by a train people would say it was the person's fault they souldn't have been there. But it seems the same situation in North America often results in public outcry over how fast the trains are going and how the engineers don't pay enough attention, people seem to forget that the railway tracks are private property and not a public sidewalk. Also, in europe their are very few grade crossings on busy lines (in some places you have a train going past at 90mph every minute) and much fencing has been built around the lines, but accidents still occur on the branch line routes.

[Soo2610]

Ted,
I tend to agree with you. Unfortunately here in America there is an attitude of it is always somebody elses fault when something bad happens no matter how stupid you may have been. This attitude seems to have been fostered by what you would call a barrister and the opportunity to make a fast buck at someone elses expense. I only hope that the people in this country wake up and realize that nothing is free before all research and development is curtailed due to product liability lawsuits.