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Amtrak Wolverine derails in Michigan
occurred, back up to Kalamazoo
Those in charge of Amtrak seem to forget that fancy systems are built by people just as prone to error as a brakeman. Perhaps more so because fancy systems tend to duplicate problems in large quantities.
Just think if that was a plane crash, the consequenses will be much more dire. Just some food for
thought , Jeffery Guse.
Since there were only a few injuries and the train stayed upright and in line, I assume this is not a part of the higher speed section of Amtrak rails.
Perhaps six months from now they may have concluded that the Incremental Train Control System simply was to slow or late in shutting down the train. Thus it derailed at a slow enough speed to not kill or very seriously injure anyone.
“Equipment from westbound Wolverine No. 351 from eastern Michigan, which was preparing to pass No. 350 when the derailment occurred, back up to Kalamazoo and continued east with train No. 350’s passenger.”
Not much time for proof-reading these days.
This article needs follow-up from Trains’ staff, in light of this article in the Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-ntsb-chicagomichigan-amtrak-missed-hitting-freight-car-by-21-feet-20121023,0,2208814.story
I hope there will at least be something in the magazine about it.
High speed 110mph is from Kalamazoo to porter only. The rest is 65 to 70mph
Lets wait for the NTSB to conclude their investigation and announce the facts about this incident before we start making judgement calls.
Relating two comments, airline crashes and systems: let’s think before we speak please. Should American Airlines stop trusting radar? For a number of good reasons, electronic systems are much safer than human ones statistically. There is little evidence of problem duplication in large quantities in either one, actually.