Thankfully there is no mention of anyone getting hurt.
But somebody is going to have trouble explaining this one.
Thanks for posting! Right now, details are a bit sketchy.
- Amtrak train #383 is the Illinois Zephyr to Galesburg and Quincy. It left Chicago @5:55 pm and was traveling west on the BNSF Chicago Subdivision. It had made its first stop at La Grange and was headed towards its second stop at Naperville when it hit the BNSF welding truck near the Belmont station around 6:25 pm.
- According to news reports the BNSF truck was parked too close to main track #1 when it was struck. Two BNSF employess were injured when they possibly attempted to move the truck right before it was hit.
- It’s unknown right now what track and time permits the welders had.
As they say… more details to follow.
CC
Darwin?
That wasn’t very nice.
How about we wait for some facts about who was in the wrong before we cast aspersions.
It is mishaps like this that make our resident mudchicken lose feathers!
Darwin is out. No-one was removed from the gene pool.
I would love to be the fly on the wall when those welders have to explain why there truck was parked too close to the tracks to their boss tomorrow monring.
Well, we had a saying in the Marines that “There’s always some poor SOB who doesn’t get the word.” Wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the situation here.
“Yeah, it’s OK to park the truck there, ain’t supposed to be no trains comin’ on that track.”
Well excuse me (for the snarky remark), but for years these forums have had posters gloating about the stupidity of drivers and pedestrians involved in crossing accidents without waiting for “some facts.”
BNSF employess parked a company vehicle too close to active tracks. Employees, far more than the general public, should know better. I am glad if their injuries are minor.
Well, we had a saying in the Army Transportation Corps: “Expect movement on any track, in any direction, at any time.”
Yeah, stories like this keep me on my toes when we’re working trackside. We always have track protection if we’re gonna foul, but stuff happens. As a safety captain, I do like seeing this sort of info posted here. I like to brief the gang on these sorts of stories during job briefings.
Good to see your war on railroad employees is still going on.
It’s known as irony.
And naturally, of all of the trains that could have hit the truck, it had to be Amtrak!
I was rear ended by someone not too long ago in a company truck. That was enough of an ordeal with all the reports and calls. I don’t even like to think about all the stuff you have to deal with on something like the above story.
I don’t know about BNSF, but I’ve seen welders (depending on what they were doing) and other MOW do some work with only a Look-Out for protection. No main track authorization such as a track permit or track and time, etc. Just one member of the gang designated to watch for traffic. The vest even says, “Look Out” on it.
Jeff
ALL:
Let’s all wait for more information to come forth before making assumptions.
I worked in the Engineering and Operating Departments.
Ed Burns
One quick update… This incident happened at the Lisle interlocker (CP25). No updates regarding the condition of the two BNSF employees who were injured.
CC
(1) We wait to see what FRA and BNSF investigation outcome is.
(2) Because this is an interlocking and most likely track and time in CTC limits is involved, there is a chain of decisions that need to be looked at. Starting at the communication between the welder and the DS, was the right time and fouling limits communicated. This was an after hours issue which means that somebody called the welders out most likely.
(3) 214(c) rules are drilled into everybody. Fortunately all involved are with us and re-construction of the chain of events can probably happen. The job briefing standard forms will speak volumes.
Having seen the aftermath of several such incidents (including fatals), no two ever have managed to work out the same exact way.
Jeff: The lookout with the imprinted yellow teddyvest cannot join in the work, he is the EIC under visual rules and his word while fouling the main is absolute. A major part of what me and my people do is under visual rules, the only time we go to track warrants or track & time is in interlockers, in noisy or restricted sight conditions or when the traffic density is just nuts. (we don’t foul with vehicles or equipment, it’s just us on foot.)
*** If the defect the welder was fixing was that bad or condemnable, the welder had the right (and obligation) to take the track out of service (over-ruling the DS and the operating department which would howl, but so be it. FRA would take the welder’s side.) So much we don’t know here on an incident type that no longer is as common as it used to be…
One time I watched two guys doing some work on a yard track. One was the Look Out, with vest, and the other was doing the work. They would change off every so often, complete with trading the vest.
Jeff