Passenger Trains > Bad Day, worse night at Caltrain

Good evening,

We had a bad day at Caltrain today. Everything was going great until #237 (limited) went northward by CP Tunnel (Bayshore) when my dispatcher noticed a track indication left behind on main track No. 1. Then, little by little we had several control points fail. First, CP Tunnel, then CP Brisbane, CP Palm (San Mateo), and then it spread southward all the way to "infect" CP Coast and CP Stockton at Santa Clara and San Jose.

We scrambled to get every signal maintainer on duty (even the C&S boss) to man signal huts and
change routes and display signals for trains. When I went home at 3:15 or so none of the control
points were back on line. I thought, I hope those guys don't have any more problems.

But, at around 4:30 PM I recieved a message that No. 365 had struck a vehicle on the crossing at
East Meadow drive in Palo Alto with confirmed fatalities to a family. The railroad was completely
shut down for about 2 hours since we could not single track around the accident sight.

I feel for the engineer and crew of No. 365 and the guys at San Jose Control.
The engineer asked for relief (not sure of the crew), I guess the automobile was under the train
set. Hope the rest of night goes ok for those guys.

TopCat

I hope that this incident didn't damage any track or Friday morning might be interesting. I hope the signal and crossing gates are not tied together. This sounds like a traffic problem.

What a horrible day. I was on train 260. First we took a 30 minute hit at CP Common because the CTC failed, requiring us to hand throw all of the dual-control switches for our route. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like anyone had EVER operated those switches in hand throw before. The handles and the foot locks were so jammed up and binding one another that it was nearly impossible to do anything. That's why it took us 30 minutes. Then 365 had their run-in with the car at Charleston Ave, forcing us to hold back at Cal Ave station for an hour or so. They finally opened up main track 2, but due to the ongoing CTC failure (that kept getting worse and worse as the day went on) San Jose Control was unable to route northbound trains around the scene of the fatality, and as far as I know, northbound trains are still sitting there stacked up from Palo Alto to Lawrence as I type this, with multiple trains stacked up in San Jose waiting for instructions.

It was the worst I've seen in 8 years.

Can you even think in the direction that what the conductors where putting up with in the comments of the passengers. This seems like a night like the Titanic sinking. I wonder what Friday morning will look at. Any idea if we have damage to track?

golden-spike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can you even think in the direction that what the
> conductors where putting up with in the comments
> of the passengers. This seems like a night like
> the Titanic sinking. I wonder what Friday morning
> will look at. Any idea if we have damage to
> track?

Glad I'm not a conductor. ;)

The track looked ok, but who knows if the CTC will be working properly by the morning commute. Last I heard they still weren't sure what was causing the problem to begin with.

Caltrain-Engr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The track looked ok, but who knows if the CTC will
> be working properly by the morning commute. Last I
> heard they still weren't sure what was causing the
> problem to begin with.

This brings up a less obvious rail security issue. Here are some questions for any techies in the industry: Could the software possibly be infected with a virus or other malware, or are CTC failures the result of glitches, or perhaps power surges? Are such failures diagnosed in-house, or do vendors need to be brought in? Is the underlying source code in dispatching software proprietary, and if so, would in-house folks even be allowed by the vendor to peek 'under the hood'? What mechanisms if any exist to prevent these situations in the first place? I'm not at all familiar with how these applications work, so any insight would be greatly appreciated.

And, of course, the fatality(ies?) heaps tragedy upon inconvenience. Say what you will about California High Speed Rail, but if it's ever built at least Caltrain will finally get the sealed corridor it desperately needs. Operation Lifesaver is a noble cause, but there will always be ignorant dolts on the road.

A switch over in control to a new facility was needed to proceed to their new concept. But was everything ready? Radio problems, now signals. Was this a bridge to far to fast?

pacificparlour Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> Could the software possibly be infected
> with a virus or other malware, or are CTC failures
> the result of glitches, or perhaps power surges?
> Are such failures diagnosed in-house, or do
> vendors need to be brought in? Is the underlying
> source code in dispatching software proprietary,
> and if so, would in-house folks even be allowed by
> the vendor to peek 'under the hood'? What
> mechanisms if any exist to prevent these
> situations in the first place? I'm not at all
> familiar with how these applications work, so any
> insight would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like a Windoze based program ;)
Tumble down failures do happen from time to time, just ask the BNSF or UPee.
Just like the power grid, all it takes is one piece of the puzzle to fail and stand back.

Always look twice before you cross the street, don't run across at the pedestrian crossing when the gates are still down, and NEVER stop your car on the tracks.

---

IronJockey, are you another one of those Caltrain foamers that comes on here? Who are you good friends with TopCat, Axydent or worse yet that FJC clown? Hehehe, gotta stir up the crap for your first post here on TO land ;-)

IronJockey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Always look twice before you cross the street,
> don't run across at the pedestrian crossing when
> the gates are still down, and NEVER stop your car
> on the tracks.

As long as you don't accuse me of being Derail B's secret lover, F.J.C. I won't take offense. : ).

I pwomise, hey you gotta post those pics you took while we were back east, still have all those files?

IronJockey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As long as you don't accuse me of being Derail B's
> secret lover, F.J.C. I won't take offense. : ).

I won't ride Caltrain bombardier. I prefer rode on Bi-Level Coach. Because Bi-level coach were so strong and comfortable. :-)

IronJockey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As long as you don't accuse me of being Derail B's
> secret lover, F.J.C. I won't take offense. : ).


I have pictures!

Axy

News reports are questioning whether or not it was a suicide. This is based in part on an observer to the accident noting that, after the crossing arm came down ON TOP of her car, the lady didn't move or try to exit the vehicle, but stayed in it up to impact.

And, as usual, no mention was made of the horrific experience the train crew had to go through. Once more the media rises to a new low....

IronJockey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Always look twice before you cross the street,
> don't run across at the pedestrian crossing when
> the gates are still down, and NEVER stop your car
> on the tracks.
=============================================================
Where are the horns mounted on the caltrain cars? I sure don't see them in the photo. Are they mounted behind the plow so that that no one can see or hear them trackside like they do when mounted on the cab?

Tom

NathanAirChime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Where are the horns mounted on the caltrain cars?
> I sure don't see them in the photo. Are they
> mounted behind the plow so that that no one can
> see or hear them trackside like they do when
> mounted on the cab?
>
> Tom

Yes. Just like Metrolink.

djansson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> News reports are questioning whether or not it was
> a suicide. This is based in part on an observer
> to the accident noting that, after the crossing
> arm came down ON TOP of her car, the lady didn't
> move or try to exit the vehicle, but stayed in it
> up to impact.
>

At this crossing, there is a road (Alma St) paralleling the tracks, with signals at the intersection of Alma and Meadow (the street that crosses the tracks). When trains approach, all street signal immediately turn red, and the signal for Meadow in the direction from the grade crossing turns green, to allow automobiles to clear the intersection and clear the tracks. Several seconds elapse before the gates begin to lower, and the gates are down for at least 15 seconds before the train arrives. There are very prominently displayed signs at this crossing warning drivers not to stop on the tracks, but I see autos do it all the time. Whether the driver's car may have stalled, or whether the traffic in front of her did not clear the intersection quick enough, I don't know. At rush hour, traffic on Alma can be quite heavy and may have been blocking the intersection, so that drivers on Meadow could not quickly clear the intersection. But the train may well have been making track speed (65 mph or more) when approaching this crossing, so tragedy would be inevitable if the driver froze up and did not IMMEDIATELY flee the vehicle

IronJockey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Always look twice before you cross the street,
> don't run across at the pedestrian crossing when
> the gates are still down, and NEVER stop your car
> on the tracks.

I hope my dad was not alone in this crucial instruction, which I learned 60 years ago at age 4 or so "Always look both ways TWICE before crossing the street". The important part of looking twice is that one can then appreciate the speed of which approaching trafic is moving, looking once does not accomplish this. AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

But they make the good citizens of Menlo Park happy. I work in a building less than a block from the crossing at Ravenswood in Menlo Park. I can see the Caltrain trains roll by my window all day long but if I don't happen to be looking up as a train rolls by, I will miss them even if the engineer is laying on the horn. Now in the evening when the UP freights coming rolling through, I can hear them easily a couple crossing away.

Caltrain-Engr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NathanAirChime Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Where are the horns mounted on the caltrain
> cars?
> > I sure don't see them in the photo. Are they
> > mounted behind the plow so that that no one can
> > see or hear them trackside like they do when
> > mounted on the cab?
> >
> > Tom
>
> Yes. Just like Metrolink.