https://youtu.be/a_xLI6U9F-E?si=E_1y718HDfcbyruD
The crossing only had a crossbucks. Just another indication that train crews need better crossing protection on busy mainlines.
Genuine STOP signs are on both sides of the crossing, in addition to the crossbucks.
You get the protection you are willing to pay for.
Perhaps one way to motivate truckers and truck companies is to require that they carry insurance that will pay for installation of crossing gates at any truck vs train incident at an ungated crossing where the truck driver was at fault.
if you look at the history of crossing incidents reported from 1970 for that crossing, there have been only two incidents reported and both of those were the motor vehicles’/roadway users’ fault.
One was another driver that ran through a stop sign (like in this case) and into the side of the train. The other was an abandoned vehicle driving off the crossing surface and getting stuck in a snowstorm, then abandoning the vehicle.
The truck driver here was clearly at fault (sherriff dragging their feet on which charges to be filed…Milk producer and driver bought a derailment.)
Northeast Colorado has a problem with Oilfield and Ag truck drivers at grade crossings. PTC could not have prevented this and the local road agencies are failing badly on their part about improving safety at public and private crossings (follow the money, especially the federal Section 400 allotment$… Those funds are being thrown at QZ’s instead of legitimate safety upgrades.)
One of the first TV news reports when this happened a couple of days ago said the tanker truck was stopped on the tracks when it was hit, although later ones said it was moving. Be interesting to see what actually happened.
It was moving in one plane until it was struck and then moved in a different plane. At the instant of impact it was stopped in both planes.
Busy mainlines, especially those hosting pssenger services should have better protection (for locomotive crew and passengers) than crossbucks even with a stop sign. But perhaps no one cares enough or saving money is trumping safety concerns.
Why not reflectors on all cross bucks that are aimed to shine loco’s headlight blinking into any driver’s eyes?
The key seems to be the amount of traffic on the roadway. I’ve seen industrial leads with flashers, both roadside and overhead, and crossing gates when the road is a four-lane artery with heavy truck traffic. On the other hand, I’ve also seen mainlines protected only by crossbucks when the roadway is low traffic and gravel paved.
One thing that’s really bothering me about this, it appears to me that some of these newer models of Amtrak’s locomotives have an increased tendency to derail when a car or a truck fouls a grade crossing.
In Michigan, an Amtrak locomotive derailed after merely hitting an SUV that got stuck on the track.
Years ago, when the Class I roads ran passenger trains, it seems to me like they usually wouldn’t derail all that easily when they hit a car or truck. Indeed, on today’s freight trains, the freight locomotives don’t often derail in a grade crossing incident like that. It’s not that they never derail but just not as likely.
Or, is this just my imagination? Perhaps it only seems like that to me. Someone please tell me I’m wrong.
speed? PAssenger trains usually are going a lot faster.
I’ve also seen plenty of freight trains derail after hitting vehicles. Just doesn’t make anything more than the local news.
Zug Mann,
Ja, sie fahren schneller (they go faster) but I have been wondering if these newer model locomotives, while more powerful, might also be lighter. What is the difference in the weight from a late model Charger or one of these other new locomotives and an E9 from the 1950s or '60s? Is there any difference in the weight?
Because, if they are lighter, that might make them more prone to derailment in a grade crossing collision.
Seeing photos of Es and Fs wrecked - they ain’t pretty. I think I’d take my chances in a tipped over charger any day.
From a quick wiki look, the chargers are between the Fs and Es weight wise.
50+ years ago when Class 1’s ran their own passenger trains there weren’t as many road crossings and there weren’t as many vehicles on the roads as there are in the 21st Century.
Balt,
I believe that you are absolutely right about that. That might be a lot of the issue. In my own personal, honest and humble opinion there are far too many cars and trucks on the road today. In the semi-rural area where I live, the traffic has at least TRIPLED in the last 40 years. No one, least of all me, has any idea what to do about it.
To that you have to add that there are both a lot more highly aggressive drivers on the road today and many who are just plain stupid. “There is no cure for stupid”. Into this mix, we now live in the smart phone era where there are a lot more issues with driver distraction.
Two things that could be done would be to make crossings safer and impose harsher penalties on drivers who drive around lowered gates (IF, that is, they live to receive punishment).
Crossings where the tracks are higher than the road creating a chance where a big truck could get stuck should either be fixed or closed. To fix them, this should be a highway expense, not a railroad expense since it basically constitutes a highway safety improvement.
Everybody complains about drivers today - if today’s drivers were at the skill level of those from the 1940’s & 1950’s the death totals would likely be 10 times what the counts are today.
When I was still working, CSX was aggressively undertaking a program to CLOSE road crossings - I don’t know the status of the program since I have been retired for seven years, however, it needs to be still in place and still actively working to close more and more crossings.
I’m pretty sure one can count the total crossings on the “Water Level Route” between NYC and Buffalo on one’s fingers and toes. That’s several hundred miles. Lines away from the now “Chicago Line,” not so much.
Nonetheless, a driver recently manage to drive onto the tracks at Fairport, NY, and subsequently got smushed (driver got out OK).
Also, in the forties and fifties, people didn’t have car radios that played at the decibel level of a jet airplane. I know I was almost in an accident once because a driver signalled a right turn at an intersection and then went straight - his music was so loud, he couldn’t hear that his turn signal was on. I wonder if people have been hit by trains because they didn’t hear the horn or the warning bells.
That speculation has some merit.
Some years ago we almost hit a motorist at a trail crossing - no lights or gates. We didn’t see much traffic there (it was otherwise a dead end).
We were running our RS3 with the “blaat” horn (single note honker). As we approached the crossing, bell ringing, horn blaring, a car pulled across the tracks, stopped, then quickly backed up before we (by now in emergency) reached the crossing. He was upset - he thought we were supposed to be blowing the horn.
We were.