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Amtrak vs. 18 wheels

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Amtrak vs. 18 wheels
Posted by edblysard on Friday, June 5, 2015 6:30 PM
Wonder how the resident wreck expert will spin today’s Amtrak vs. 18 wheeler in Illinois….the engineer must have been asleep of course, and if the train had been equipped with the super smart EPC brakes and load sensors, plus a detector to alert the engineer to the presence of the truck long before it got to the crossing, and if there had been 15 or 20 advance warning signs along the roadway, then of course this one could have been avoided…thank goodness there was no accordion effect.

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Posted by Norm48327 on Friday, June 5, 2015 6:55 PM

He's eating dinner. He'll be here shortly. Wink

Norm


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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Friday, June 5, 2015 6:59 PM

edblysard
…thank goodness there was no accordion effect.

Yeah, we don't want images of Lawrence Welk and Myron Florin bouncing through our heads, do we?Headphones

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Posted by Norm48327 on Friday, June 5, 2015 7:02 PM

Wunnerful, wunnerful. Turn off the bubble machine! Big Smile

Norm


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Posted by CShaveRR on Friday, June 5, 2015 8:29 PM

Truck was obviously where it shouldn't have been.  I've probably seen, perhaps even crossed, at this crossing.  Definitely been on the track here, as recently as May 25...same train, in fact.

All I saw on TV was the mess...anyone know whether the truck was stalled or moving?  Trying to beat train?  Claim to not see signals or train?  Any other stupid excuses?

Edit:  Having seen a better picture of the collision scene, it is fairly obvious that the truck was in the wrong lane while attempting to cross the track around a lowered gate.

Carl

Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)

CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

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Posted by erikem on Friday, June 5, 2015 10:24 PM

CShaveRR


Edit:  Having seen a better picture of the collision scene, it is fairly obvious that the truck was in the wrong lane while attempting to cross the track around a lowered gate.

So when are we going to hear call for faster implementation of PTC???

 

Postive Truck Control

 

- Erik

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, June 5, 2015 10:51 PM

Local TV in reporting about the incident - 'remarkably, the train didn't derail'.

It is only remarkable when the train does derail as hundreds to thousands of tons normally overpower less than 100 tons.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, June 6, 2015 12:00 AM

Norm48327

Wunnerful, wunnerful. Turn off the bubble machine! Big Smile

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0TSDcPW2Kk

 

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Saturday, June 6, 2015 12:51 AM

Apologies for misspelling Myron Floren's name.  This is what I was really thinking of:

Lady of Spain

All kidding side, it looks like the Amtrak engineer had slowed the train considerably before the collision because the pictures at the Chicago ABC station's website show the train stopped with the middle of the train at the grade crossing.  In my guestimate, he saw what was happening and reacted quickly and made the situation much better than it might have been.  Well, at least for the passengers, not for the load of bacon.

ABC7 Chicago story.

EDIT: Hokey smoke!  I just looked at the Google Earth Street View for the grade crossing and as the camera car is approaching from the East, Amtrak is heading north through the grade crossing.  Too eerie a coincidence for me.

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Posted by Firelock76 on Saturday, June 6, 2015 8:02 AM

My, how times have changed.  When I think "accordion" I think "Weird Al" Yankovik.

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Posted by wanswheel on Saturday, June 6, 2015 1:29 PM
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Posted by ACY Tom on Saturday, June 6, 2015 3:29 PM

Interesting comment from somebody on one of the news media sites.  Commenter says there should be a button on the Xing gates that would stop the train. 

R   I   G   H   TWhistling

I can just imagine how such a button would be misused by every self-important joker in North America.  Then they would sue if the button didn't get the train stopped with 30 seconds' notice.  How about just staying off the dang tracks?

Tom

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Posted by wanswheel on Saturday, June 6, 2015 3:48 PM
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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, June 6, 2015 5:49 PM

ACY
How about just staying off the dang tracks?

But I NEED my latte...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by blue streak 1 on Saturday, June 6, 2015 6:34 PM

Since # 22 train set turns to 59 was Amtrak able to cobble together a full consist for 59 ?

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, June 6, 2015 10:31 PM

wanswheel


One stop shopping, Accordian, Cigars, shoes shined and Christmas cards.....what more could you want?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Monday, June 8, 2015 7:05 AM

A shot of grappa might be nice.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by mudchicken on Monday, June 8, 2015 7:58 AM

Blindfold

CSSHEGEWISCH

A shot of grappa might be nice.

 

CSSHEGEWISCH

A shot of grappa might be nice.

 

CSSHEGEWISCH

A shot of grappa might be nice.

 

Rule G - unless it's for the newsworker creating hysteria. How dare that train swerve and hit the poor (stupid) truckerBlindfold

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by oltmannd on Monday, June 8, 2015 11:05 AM

Norm48327

He's eating dinner. He'll be here shortly. Wink

 

I hear bacon is on the menu.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Monday, June 8, 2015 4:42 PM

wanswheel

 
Nice tribute or mention of our notable Keystone State forum member right in the center of the picture!
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Posted by mudchicken on Monday, June 8, 2015 5:23 PM

good catch!

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by zugmann on Monday, June 8, 2015 7:44 PM

ChuckCobleigh
Nice tribute or mention of our notable Keystone State forum member right in the center of the picture!

 

I don't see my name in there... oh nevermind.  I see where I rank.  Fine.  Whatever.  I don't care.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by wanswheel on Monday, June 8, 2015 7:48 PM
Excerpt from The Italian Tribune
During the early 1900s Italian cigars, also known as Toscani (small hand rolled cigars made in Tuscany), were manufactured with U.S. imported dark-fire tobacco leaves. In Italy this cigar was closely associated with the Italian beef industry (a symbol of the Italian “cowboy”). With the Risorgimento, Italy’s cultural upswing (circa 1848) leading up to the Unification, the cigar became a symbol of the resurgence of Italian national pride.
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Posted by wanswheel on Monday, June 8, 2015 8:42 PM

zugmann
 
ChuckCobleigh
Nice tribute or mention of our notable Keystone State forum member right in the center of the picture!

 

 

I don't see my name in there... oh nevermind.  I see where I rank.  Fine.  Whatever.  I don't care.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TycEDEAR82c

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Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 6:21 AM

Zug,

There's an island in Detroit that is named after you. Cool

Norm


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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 7:17 AM

I believe that the Delray Connecting RR called itself "The Zug Island Road" in its listing in the Official Guide.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by edblysard on Wednesday, June 10, 2015 5:23 PM

Norm48327

Zug,

There's an island in Detroit that is named after you. Cool

 

And it hums!

The real question is, "can it carry a tune?"

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Wednesday, June 10, 2015 7:17 PM

edblysard
And it hums!

Clearly, that is because it doesn't know the words!Wink

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