Bad Metrolink Accident in Oxnard

[Spencer]

There was another train/truck collision last night, a block or two away from last week's incident, on the same tracks.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-amtrak-collision-camarillo-20150301-story.html

[gotbeer]

There was another train/truck collision last night, a block or two away from last week's incident, on the same tracks.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-amtrak-collision-camarillo-20150301-story.html

 

10 miles away, not a block or 2.

 

On the bright side.  Just wait till high speed rail comes along.  Against the recommendations of the Japanese and French high speed rail bids, that lost bids to go to the lowest inexperienced bidder.  The cheap version will probably be using the same tracks.  So imagine those tracks with trains going 100+.  

 

There is a reason why the Japanese Shinkansen has never had an accident or fatality.  They have zero rail crossings, and their tracks are solely dedicated and wider than standard rail.  

[Tank]

North Haverbrook!

[Spencer]

6.2 miles away. I helped clean up the first one, so its pretty crazy to have a second incident right down the road.

Pray to god they don't implement high speed along existing 'neighborhood tracks' like this. CA legislature can't be that dumb, right?

[mp170.6]

6.2 miles away. I helped clean up the first one, so its pretty crazy to have a second incident right down the road.

Pray to god they don't implement high speed along existing 'neighborhood tracks' like this. CA legislature can't be that dumb, right?

 

Oh, you helped move the wrecked equipment down to Moorpark?

[ten ocho recon scout]

North Haverbrook!

one of the, if not the, greatest episodes ever.

[mp170.6]

I am shocked that a pick up truck derailed an entire train. It isn't unheard of for trains to plow into much bigger vehicles and nothing ever happens to the train, while the semi truck or whatever gets obliterated.

 

It's likely because the train was operating in "push mode" with the locomotive at the rear.  The last car of the train, called a cabcar, has controls like the locomotive does so the train can run the opposite direction without turning around.  This is the view from a Metrolink cabcar.  Passenger seating begins just behind this.

 

 

These cabcars are much lighter and have less crash protection than a locomotive does, which is why they are universally hated by all locomotive engineers.  I suspect debris from the trailer got underneath the cabcar and lifted the front wheelset off the tracks.  All it takes is a few inches of vertical movement for the wheel flange to lift over the rail and derail. 

[Jay]

10 miles away, not a block or 2.

 

On the bright side.  Just wait till high speed rail comes along.  Against the recommendations of the Japanese and French high speed rail bids, that lost bids to go to the lowest inexperienced bidder.  The cheap version will probably be using the same tracks.  So imagine those tracks with trains going 100+.  

 

There is a reason why the Japanese Shinkansen has never had an accident or fatality.  They have zero rail crossings, and their tracks are solely dedicated and wider than standard rail.  

 

Don't worry, our state government knows what it's doing.

[gotbeer]

I am shocked that a pick up truck derailed an entire train. It isn't unheard of for trains to plow into much bigger vehicles and nothing ever happens to the train, while the semi truck or whatever gets obliterated.

 

It could also be the rail itself.  If the impact dislodges the rail even an inch, it could be enough for a derailment.  That's one thing I noticed about the rail accident last week.  That track was all f'd up.  I'm surprised they got it back up and running so quick.

[Spencer]

Oh, you helped move the wrecked equipment down to Moorpark?

 

Kinda.  My contractors hauled everything off when we were finished.

I handled the environmental cleanup side of things.

[Tank]

It could also be the rail itself.  If the impact dislodges the rail even an inch, it could be enough for a derailment.  That's one thing I noticed about the rail accident last week.  That track was all f'd up.  I'm surprised they got it back up and running so quick.

 

they brought in some chinese immigrants to fix it real quick, just like the good ol' days.

 

 

 

 

too soon?

[gotbeer]

they brought in some chinese immigrants to fix it real quick, just like the good ol' days.

 

 

 

 

too soon?

 

Only if they dock her a days pay for napping on the job.

[mp170.6]

Metrolink (Amtrak) engineer Glenn Steele has died of his injuries.  I didn't know him well enough to consider him a friend, but pretty sure we talked a couple times over the years.

[Lhalo]

RIP

 

He probably saved lives by slowing down the train before it impacted the truck.

[mp170.6]

He was an avid Angels fan too. 

 

[mp170.6]

How do you know all of this? I'm assuming you work in the industry?

 

Yes

[Lhalo]

Yes

 

Not sure if you can or want to answer this but do you feel the investigation is going well? Do you think the truck was stuck on the tracks and this was all one big accident?

[mp170.6]

Not sure if you can or want to answer this but do you feel the investigation is going well? Do you think the truck was stuck on the tracks and this was all one big accident?

 

I'm not sure how to answer that.  Unlike aviation, railroad accidents are fairly straightforward.  You don't necessarily need video or the event recorder (railroad equivalent of black box) to determine what happened here.  It is good the NTSB decided to investigate.  They don't respond to every derailment or collision.  More on that in a second. 

 

There is a precedent for drivers making errant right turns onto live railroad tracks that run parallel to a road.  I think it's a combination of drivers not paying attention, not familiar with the area, fatigued, or else too reliant on GPS navigation.  As you know, older GPS devices are not as precise and the verbal commands not as well timed.  The driver might have turned onto the railroad tracks because his GPS device (if he had one) said to turn right on the parallel road. 

 

Part of the reason the NTSB showed up is because three of the four Metrolink cars have the Crash Energy Management (CEM) technology that the NTSB recommended after the 2005 Metrolink crash in Glendale.  This is what CEM is supposed to accomplish WITHOUT causing a derailment.

 

 

My personal feeling is that CEM is of minimal value when hitting cars or trucks at grade crossings.  It's most useful in train vs train collisions.  The redesign of the new cabcars to incorporate CEM may have contributed to this derailment, however. 

[gotbeer]

Interesting in those videos, they were using a push engine also.  

[mp170.6]

One thing that's bothersome about cabcars, and ESPECIALLY the new ones bought by Metrolink, is the lack of a large "snowplow" on the front to push debris out of the way.  Click on the photos for a closer look.  The first photo shows a cabcar identical to the one in last week's crash.  Look at the leading set of wheels and how accessible (and visible) they are to debris getting behind the plow and underneath the wheels.  All it takes is hitting something off-center for this to happen. 

 

 

 

Now examine what the front of a Metrolink locomotive looks like.  The plow on locomotives is substantially larger.  See the difference?  It's not only taller but wider too. 

 

[Lhalo]

Why would they choose the former over the latter? Cost?

Thanks for your insight btw.

[mp170.6]

Why would they choose the former over the latter? Cost?

Thanks for your insight btw.

 

Do you mean why use cabcars instead of locomotives on each end?  Commuter trains don't need two locomotives.  Acceleration would be faster but you'd waste a lot of money on fuel and maintenance and equipment costs doing it that way.

[gotbeer]

Amtrak train, truck collide in North Carolina; several hurt

Rail is taking a beating the last few weeks.  Not to mention the oil train derailing.

[Spencer]

Two weeks ago I was in Oxnard, and now I'm in Galena.

Its been fun.

[mp170.6]

Two weeks ago I was in Oxnard, and now I'm in Galena.

Its been fun.

 

Oh, nice.  At the rate these trains are blowing up, you might soon be traveling 52 weeks a year.