I’m posting this here but only to move this to PASSENGER forum.
https://www.kmbc.com/article/passenger-train-derails-missouri-monday-afternoon/40435950
Dump truck driver is in some serious trouble. (every public crossing within 5 miles of town is gated.)
Stalled on crossing or drove around gates?
Probably FELT STREET / MP 360.56 005-278V Marcelline Sub
Waiting on the details.
Yes, he’s in DEEP trouble assuming he’s not dead. From the live feed it looks like the truck came completely apart.
Shocking to say the least. I don’t think there’s ever been an Amtrak train put totally on the ground like that.
Stalled on the crossing or going around the gates? We’ll have to wait to find out.
Is this the former ATSF 90 MPH territory?
Mendon, MO, not KS.
Just looked on Google Maps. The tracks cross Felt Street and there are two main tracks with a third that ends just beyond Felt St. There are signals and gates on both sides of the crossing.
Location is at CR 113 just west of Mendon. Crossbucks only
Yes, gravel road with crossbucks. State Patrol reported.
An Appleton, Wi Boy Scout troop group and adult leaders were on the train. Four children were injured, but not seriously. Others (ironically) were helping other passengers.
National News is reporting 3 dead including the truck driver.
Believe this is about two miles west of the town on a gravel road with no electronic crossing warning devices; just a crossbuck
Private crossing with cross bucks only? Any trackage with passenger trains at least needs proper gated crossings.These private crossings should be eliminated or cease running service.
Location:
Looks like a public road with excellent sightlines (no brush, trees or buildings).
In Canada the standards for new crossings require warning devices on double track, and when double track is built any existing crossings must be upgraded to current standards. There are still a lot of older crossings that are grandfathered in, both public and private.
That was the old 90 mph (ATS) territory. If the crossing is as claimed, CR-113 (Porche Prairie Road)is in the middle of a 14 mile long tangent with light curves at each end. (The train [#4]would not have gotten to Mendon yet. 005-284Y Has not had any type of reportable accident/ collision in over 50 years according to FRA. Crossing is at about a 45 degree angle, table top flat (0%) grade and is just east (1.5 Mi) of the old Wabash line to Omaha used to cross near Whitham (ATSF over WAB)…As DC correctly pointed out, wide-open site-lines (farm fields and almost no trees).
PUBLIC crossing. (The AADT is really small, but trying to close these or get the rail side of MoDOT to throw Section 400 Money at it is a non-starter. Good argument for bringing back the old RR Commission and demanding that the agency have at least one person with a railroad qualified pedigree…NOT gonna happen in MO.)
Clear sightlines are sometimes the worst… no reference points makes it very easy to misjudge speed and distance.
The road and tracks cross at about a 45 degree angle. I haven’t seen which way the truck was travelling, but if it was northbound, the train would have been seen over over the driver’s left shoulder. Depending on a lot of variables, the driver may not have seen the train.
The train was running late, so the driver may not have expected it (I know, always expect…)
Just another factor to throw into the mix.
If the truck was southbound, the driver should have had a clear view of the oncoming train.
EDIT: The crossing database for crossing 005284Y shows 58 trains a day, plus two Amtrak. Average road traffic (1989) was five, 10% trucks. From the FRA crossing databse.
Recall: about i.5 to 3 years back(?) the SW CHIEF[#3] went on the ground near Dodge City Ks.: when a local feed lot’s truck backed up on the track,and I think, ‘rolled a rail over’(?) and put her on the ground. Not as bad as this current crash, but still pretty ugly…
The 16 Boy Scouts from Appleton were coming back from an adventure week at that Boy Scout camp in New Mexico that Santa Fe/Amtrak have ferried kids to forever in the summertime. Two of the adult leaders were taken to the hospital. Hoping broken ribs were the worst of the injuries. The kids lended first aid to other passengers and the dump truck driver. Reported driver as deceased, so don’t know if only one person was in the truck. The group were scheduled to take the Hiawatha from Chicago up to Milwaukee once they got to Chicago.
I’ve complained here with pushback about the need to invest in grade crossing elimination on trunk lines, particularly where commuter/Amtrak train service is prevalent. It was accomplished on the NEC. A bigger chunk of state highway dollars should be directed to that in my book.
I don’t disagree.
But, as MC points out, that crossing has zero accident history. With the limited traffic (in another post), grade separation is an unlikely possibility, and the 4 or so mile detour closing the crossing would require, it might not be a popular decision locally.
I’m sure the highway folks have bigger fish to fry, this incident notwithstanding.
Your complaints pale in comparison to the efforts the carriers expend in crossing elimination - and the push back they get from any and every local organization and governmental body in the area.
Before I retired, I know local operating division officers were given a quota number of crossings to be closed on the division and how closely they attained or exceeded that number was one aspect of their ‘performance review’ that set their compensation.