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CSX Freight Hits Interstate Bus in Biloxi Mississippi

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Posted by Euclid on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 6:11 AM

Does anybody have the actual address of this crossing?  I would like to see what it looks like upon approach, and particularly what the signs look like.

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Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 12:27 AM

blue streak 1

Some one who knows the history and agreements for the Sunset east needs to enter into this discussion.

This poster vaguely recalls a statement that for the service to be restored that the city of Biloxi was to close some grade crossings.  Any truth ?

With all the accidents at this crossing Amtrak needs to refuse to begin Sunset east service until this problem crossing is mitigated.   We don't want an Amtrak train hitting a tour bus and in the confusion media thinking many train passengers hurt.

 What some one who is living there needs to tell us is why the city has not taken care of the problem crossing.  2 previous deaths and many accidents what is going on ?   Politics ?  

After Katrina was there a proposal to move the CSX route out of Biloxi to the north ?    

 

 

Streak: Since the MsDOT has inherited the railroad regulatory side of this after the re-purposing of MsPSC, MsDOT has to call the shots. (again - I'd love to see any city or railroad complaints lodged with those folks....something tells me the city went mute once they found out what it would cost them and that MsDOT would hold them financially responsible....then there is the high possibility that MsDOT is all bus/rubber tired bubbas and they do not understand the steel-wheeled side of the equation and have nobody on staff with even a few months of railroad pedigree)

Amthrax is a tennant of CSX and is struggling to keep the route alive. Grandstanding can only bring you trouble. Be wise about where you pick a fight and analyze the consequences carefully.

Wonder how far apart FRA and NTSB will be at the release of investigation findings. FRA may also growl at Biloxi and MsDOT because the accident report did not get posted with the 16 others. (IMHO and experience, the incidents at crossings often go unreported or improperly reported - look at the errors in the reporting of the other 16 sheets and keep in mind that the older reporting sheets were not as detailed as they are now.)

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 blue streak 1 on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 9:59 PM

Some one who knows the history and agreements for the Sunset east needs to enter into this discussion.

This poster vaguely recalls a statement that for the service to be restored that the city of Biloxi was to close some grade crossings.  Any truth ?

With all the accidents at this crossing Amtrak needs to refuse to begin Sunset east service until this problem crossing is mitigated.   We don't want an Amtrak train hitting a tour bus and in the confusion media thinking many train passengers hurt.

 What some one who is living there needs to tell us is why the city has not taken care of the problem crossing.  2 previous deaths and many accidents what is going on ?   Politics ?  

After Katrina was there a proposal to move the CSX route out of Biloxi to the north ?    

 

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 9:35 PM

Responding to MC's post, from: 

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-mississippi-train-crash-20170307-story.html 

"Records show there have been 16 accidents at the crossing since 1976, including in 1983 and 2003, each of which involved one fatality. A delivery truck was also struck at the same crossing in January, WLOX-TV reports. No one was injured in that crash.

From: http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/traffic/article136966968.html (emphasis added):

"A problem for years’

It’s the second time in two months a train has hit a vehicle at the Main Street crossing. A CSX freight train hit a Pepsi-Cola delivery truck. The tractor-trailer got hung up on the steep grade. The driver of the truck, owned by Allen Beverage of Gulfport, got out and phoned for help but the train couldn’t stop in time.

Mark Robinson said that crossing “has been a problem for years” and city officials should close it or figure out a way to make it less hazardous.

One man who lives on Esters Boulevard less than a block from the crash said he’s seen many accidents there. He said there’s a steep-grade sign at the tracks, adding buses would be better off using the crossing at Caillavet street.

Another woman at the scene said she remembered when a Mardi Gras float got stuck on the track years ago, but the krewe made it off before the train plowed into it."

Pepsi truck incident:  http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/traffic/article124693519.html 


Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/traffic/article136966968.html#storylink=cpy

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 9:05 PM

mudchicken
Flashers/Bells/cantilever flashers & no gates with "stuck on track" injuries and fatals in the past.

Google street view shows gates.  Of little use if you're high centered...

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Posted by schlimm on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 9:01 PM

Chartered casino bus, mostly senior citizens, four dead.

C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 7:36 PM

ATSFGuy

How much damage?  Any fatalities on the bus?  Did the train derail?

 

According to the accounts in the other thread on this matter, at least three of the passengers died.

Johnny

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Posted by ATSFGuy on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 7:27 PM

How much damage?  Any fatalities on the bus?  Did the train derail?

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Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 6:57 PM

Roger that (practical side noted/ trainhandling)...we are 6 miles away at 726.81 with a NB bus and an EB train.... 340-185W

Flashers/Bells/cantilever flashers & no gates with "stuck on track" injuries and fatals in the past...It isn't like CSX just raised the tracks...Other crossings have similar issues, must be like running a gauntlet.

Bang HeadBang HeadBang Head Appears that the city ignored the AASHTO/AREMA joint spec (they are responsible for the approach grades, probably up to the edge of ballast (rail +2 feet) like most states)...Wonder what the MsDOT/MsPSC/MsRRC record has to say at this location.

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 BaltACD on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 6:27 PM

mudchicken
boarded speed is 45 (per FRA DOT record), but agree with you on the stupid number of crossings.

25 MPH over Biloxi Bay Drawbrige

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 6:17 PM

boarded speed is 45 (per FRA DOT record), but agree with you on the stupid number of crossings.

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 BaltACD on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 6:13 PM

Trains don't hit vehicles that aren't blocking or fouling the track. 

I don't have an Atlanta Division ETT available, but I seem to remember speed through Biloxi being 25 MPH or less - in part because of all the road crossings but also because of the drawbridge across Biloxi Bay.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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CSX Freight Hits Interstate Bus in Biloxi Mississippi
Posted by samfp1943 on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 4:39 PM

 

 


 

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