Western Railroad Discussion > THREE train accident in Amarillo last night

Just got sent this on the Railspot group site.

THREE trains involve in this one in Amarillo Tx. Two employees critically injured.

http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=950993#.UkLUq4ZON8E

Not good, prayers for those involved

Here is some more media coverage.
http://www.newschannel10.com/story/23523411/train-collision-east-of-amarillo
http://www.myhighplains.com/story/three-trains-collide-near-hwy-60/d/story/n3S6WLYE5U6GJMg3YwVBtA
http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2013-09-25/train-wreck-near-highland-park-school-injures-4

"Expect significant delays"

Looks like some late Z trains - this one shut down the transcon

Prayers to those hurt.

Any chance of diversions over Raton Pass?

Daveb Wrote:
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> Prayers to those hurt.
>
> Any chance of diversions over Raton Pass?


Stop it!! NO Qualified crews.

Posted from Android

From the BNSF Service Advisory web page.

OCV


To: All Impacted Customers
09/25/2013

Preliminary Report: Derailment Near St Francis, Texas

We have a preliminary report that B-LACWSP1-23, S-LHTLPC2-23, and Z-WSPSBD7-24 have derailed on multiple main tracks near St Francis, Texas at 4:17 AM Central Time on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. St Francis, Texas is located 8 miles northeast of Amarillo, Texas.

BNSF personnel are currently at the derailment site to determine the impact. Currently, we have no estimate on the mainline reopening. BNSF will continue to provide you with additional information as it becomes available. Customers may experience delays of 24 to 36 hours on shipments moving through this corridor

Who wants to bet somebody ran a red signal, AGAIN!

Event time was 0417. BNSF won't view that as a factor, though.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

Colorado and now this...

What was that statement from the higher ups in a large corporation? : There is no place for common sense in this company! Individual thinking ruins the team concept!

I wonder what will come of this one.

fbe Wrote:
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> Event time was 0417. BNSF won't view that as a
> factor, though.
>
> Posted from Windows Phone OS 7


BNSF won't have to factor that in, the NTSB and the FRA will do it for them.

SOB

Another example of why the carriers want in-cab cameras and they'll probably want voice recorders to go along with them.

This doesn't help the union cause of complaints against cameras and voice recordings.

SOB

Daveb Wrote:
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> Prayers to those hurt.
>
> Any chance of diversions over Raton Pass?

Right now looks like the majority of the reroutes are running via the Ark City, Red Rock, Fort Worth, Wichita Falls, and Red River Valley Subs (former Santa Fe Texas main and FW&D main) as long as the crew bases on this route holds up. Wouldn't be surprised if some of the Memphis and Atlanta traffic gets rerouted via the Slaton Sub and UP between Tecific and Memphis.

BNSFDS

A comment on the Railspot board indicated that the first westbound was stopped, when the following westbound train rear ended it. A passing eastbound then hit the derailed westbound. I don't know what the symbols mean, but somebody out here can take this info, and decipher the sequence of what happened to what trains.

They could try the two Engineer shift for certain trains or hours. There's an awful lot of money to be saved by not doing the wreck thing.

At some point they could do the 'numbers' in a cost/benefit/risk analysis (often called trade-offs, now termed 'Trade Study') of 03:00 am starts and find they're often not worth the hassle. Suspect they would find that the 03:00 starts had been 00:00 starts that slipped and are being scheduled in a panic to prevent an 06:00 start.

Having done those shifts before, it's screwed up either way. But there's not too many places to pull over and catch a few ZZZ's.

http://www.amarillo.com/slideshow/2013-09-25/photos-3-train-collision-near-highland-park

Quite a mess, looks pretty survivable. Amazing how condensed a derailment can be.
JB

elueck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A comment on the Railspot board indicated that the
> first westbound was stopped, when the following
> westbound train rear ended it. A passing
> eastbound then hit the derailed westbound.


Same thing happened at Augusta, KS a few years back. An intermodal train stopped on Main 1, a following grain train never slowed from track speed and rear ended it. An eastbound Z was passing on Main 2, and it derailed into the mess also. Luckily, it's head end had just passed and it was east of the wreckage.