Western Railroad Discussion > Discussion Regarding Louisiana Truck/Train Crash

I've already seen this video on our newscasts today but none (at least in those four) discussed how to handle the situation. Here is a guide you might wish share with your friends. http://meteorologicalmusings.blogspot.com/2014/10/real-railroad-safety.html

Does anyone know how long this truck was stuck on the tracks before the train arrived? Did anyone think to call the 1-800 emergency number posted on the signal bungalow to alert the railroad? How about even calling 911? As a railroader tired of dealing with dangerous truck drivers, I hope the U.P. NAILS the trucking company responsible for this one! Let's keep the two injured crewmembers in our thoughts and prayers...

Posted from iPhone

stampedej Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know how long this truck was stuck on
> the tracks before the train arrived? Did anyone
> think to call the 1-800 emergency number posted on
> the signal bungalow to alert the railroad? How
> about even calling 911? As a railroader tired of
> dealing with dangerous truck drivers, I hope the
> U.P. NAILS the trucking company responsible for
> this one! Let's keep the two injured crewmembers
> in our thoughts and prayers...
>
> Posted from iPhone

Yes, in incidents like this we need to always think of the crew before we go off on the fact that it was an SP unit on the train.

I agree. The poor crew that saw the truck on the rails had to horrible. When are these guys going to learn tonnage rules. Put that truck on the rails anyway.

I'm a locomotive engineer by trade and have been for 20 years. I've been involved in a similar incident with a loaded grain truck. I have had two coworkers involved in similar incidents with loaded lowboy trailers and didn't return to work.

Having said that. I also have possessed and maintained a CDL for over 20 years. While I only usually drive semis during harvest season, I've logged a lot of miles in a 18 wheeler.

These incidents usually show that the blame rests on many shoulders and not necessarily the truck driver. Railroads routinely raise their rights of way several inches with every tie replacement or surfacing program. Most of the time the municipality responsible for the road isn't informed of the change in grade at the crossing. The RR is usually responsible for replacing pavement in the crossing and on the approaches. If it's a State road and a truck route, there's a reasonable expectation that the road is built to some specific standard for normal truck traffic. Police and/or tow truck operators aren't often educated on what to do in an incident like this. A simple phone call to the railroad could save trouble. And in my area all crossings have an emergency number to call in case of a situation such as this. But most people don't even realize it.

In one of the incidents I referred to above involving a coworker, the County Sheriff came to the scene of the lowboy stuck on the track. He quickly made a phone call to his son. His son you ask? Yes, he requested his son bring his 4 wheel drive pick-up to scene and they tried in vane to pull the semi off the tracks. After that didn't work, the truck driver fired up the bulldozer that he was hauling in order to drive it off the trailer. While he was waiting for the bulldozer to warm up, a westbound train showed up. Total time from the sheriff showing up on scene to the train striking the truck, derailing both locomotives and 20+ loaded autoracks? 1 hour and 20 minutes. When the emergency signs plainly located on the crossing flashers were brought to the sheriffs attention, he said that he had never seen them before.

One time while hauling grain for my friend, I got a loaded semi stuck in the mud while attempting to cross the tracks at a private crossing entering the field. The truck was clear of the crossing but only by about 20ft. A large tow truck was summoned to come winch me out of my embarrassing mess. As the tow truck driver showed up, I quickly called the RR dispatcher to let them know what was going on as we were going to have to foul the mainline. The dispatcher, who was a friend of mine, told me that a southbound was about 15 miles away and to call her back after he passed. Then imagine my surprise as I saw the tow truck driver had already parked his truck and had the outriggers out,fouling the mainline. I told him that he needed to move as there was a train coming. He looked at me like I was an idiot. I told him he needed to move his truck immediately or that the train would. So he reluctantly moved the truck. As we waited for the train to approach, I explained that I worked for the RR and that I had called the dispatcher. He told me that he had just earlier that month pulled a car off the tracks and never even thought about a train coming. I pointed out the signs posted at the crossing. After the train passed us, at speed, He remarked that we would have never had time to get his rig out of the way if I he'd started the process to retrieve my semi. He was a believer after that day!

What use is posting emergency numbers if you don't educate the people that need them the most?

In my incident with the high centered grain truck. The RR claims department actually paid for the trucking companies trailer that we demolished. The claims adjuster said it was easier to just pay for a new trailer then go to court. He said that the RR would be found partially at fault because the rails had been raised over the years and that the truck driver had a reasonable expectation to be able to clear the crossing as he had just crossed it 30 mins before. Albeit he was empty when he did.

This incident in Louisiana will be a legal nightmare I'm sure. I cringed watching the video as you can see the lead trucks lift off of the rail. Then seeing the loco turn over as it is exiting the view of the camera put a lump in my throat. I pray for a quick recovery for the crew and that someone somewhere will learn from this incident.

Man this is scary situation for all crews on any train. Running down the tracks at 40-50 mph with the size of trains we run now days, it takes a long time to get stopped. I couldn't help but think, while the train keep going by, how that crew was on a ride of their life trying to stay alive. Mean while everyone else is just watching things worried about the truck driver. I can't believe the engineer was still blowing the horn when they hit, I would of been on the floor. What a ride!

Hope something I don't have happen to me. We run 50 mph out in Iowa on the CN. Alot of these towns are at the bottom of grades, so we usually got a good roll on them. Hope this make shed some light to danger of crossings. Been alot of talk on social media with the eye witness video! That maybe the good that comes out of it.

Craig Williams

harvick29trains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree. The poor crew that saw the truck on the
> rails had to horrible. When are these guys going
> to learn tonnage rules. Put that truck on the
> rails anyway.

The truck was on the rails---that's why the train hit it!!

I'm from MER ROUGE n that crossing has been a problem for truckers for as long as i can remember(in i'm 52 years old)dating back to the MoPac days. Maybe now U.P. will fix that bad low spot on the North side of the crossing. I was foaming there several months back. Anyway that crossing has almost a mile of line of site on both sides of that crossing. I guess the crew was hoping the truck would get clear as they got closer before they decided to dump the air. Well the good news is no one died in this incident didn't involve one of the many oil trains that travels this route.

You mention the sign on the side of the crossing and the 800 number. How long does it take to get the info to the crew of trains when you call? Well, glad you ask. I called in a crossing signal one afternoon. It was just going up and down repeatedly. I got out of the car so I could read the crossing number. After I talk to the railroad (CSX) I got in my car and about a minute later I heard the dispatcher call a train that was about 5 miles away and give him a slow order for that crossing and a warning that the signal was not functioning correctly.

I've told several of my friends about the signs and tell them to call the railroad if there is any kind of problem at the crossing. My son drives for UPS and he says that they have safety classes occasionally and they are advised of these signs. CSX is the major railroad in Louisville and he says that they have had classes with a rep from CSX there talking about safety around the railroad and the grade crosses.

I assume everyone on here knows what we're talking about but just in case someone doesn't, Every crossing has a sign on the signal standard, at least one on each side of the railroad and each side of the street. Below is a sample sign, your local railroad will probably be different but it should have the same kind of information

John

---

Clearly the videographer tampered with the video to show the gates and lights working!

Same crossing....different day. This was taken from an engineer friend of mine a few years ago, who stopped short by about 3 feet. This is the exact same crossing. His underwear did not make it...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/14 06:01 by sp8192.

---

The HuffPost article mentions that a police station is adjacent to the site of the accident. What isn't clear is why the truck driver didn't call the number on the adjacent post to warn the railroad of the hang-up on their tracks.

sp8192 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Same crossing....different day. This was taken
> from an engineer friend of mine a few years ago,
> who stopped short by about 3 feet. This is the
> exact same crossing. His underwear did not make
> it...


Geez, that crossing doesn't look badly surfaced to me. If I'd been driving the semi, I don't think I would have ID'd that as a problem.

As for calling the number on the equipment box, most people have no idea that info is there. I've now had two experiences calling that number to report gates down (both on CSX's Water Level route across upstate NY). In both cases, the dispatcher was warning trains approaching the crossing within 5 minutes of my cell call. Situation was handled very professionally in both cases.

wa4umr Wrote:>
> I assume everyone on here knows what we're talking
> about but just in case someone doesn't, Every
> crossing has a sign on the signal standard, at
> least one on each side of the railroad and each
> side of the street. Below is a sample sign, your
> local railroad will probably be different but it
> should have the same kind of information
>
> John


I attempted to report malfunctioning gates (sporadically turning on, then off, etc.) to the UP by calling the 800 number on the crossing's relay bungalow, I was only able to get the phone number, but not the crossing number. The individual who answered asked for the crossing number, I mentioned that I was unable to get the crossing number, but explained (calmly & politely) that it was the only UP grade crossing of Cutting Blvd. in the city of Richmond, CA. The guy on the other end of the phone very rudely said, "I NEED TO KNOW THE CROSSING NUMBER, THERE'S NO POINT IN REPORTING IF THERE'S NOT A NUMBER TO GO WITH IT!" I apologized & again repeated the crossings location, Cutting Blvd. etc. Sometime during my repeating of that info, he terminated the call. I don't know if the call was directed to a UP call center, or an answering service contracted out by the railroad, but employees/sub-contractors like that may be why the railroads pay the insurance they do, & need to have several attorneys on permanent retainer. I will spare the railroad of any such bothers in the future...

Desmond Praetzel, "4451 Puff"

~ô~

---

4451Puff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wa4umr Wrote:>
> > I assume everyone on here knows what we're
> talking
> > about but just in case someone doesn't, Every
> > crossing has a sign on the signal standard, at
> > least one on each side of the railroad and each
> > side of the street. Below is a sample sign,
> your
> > local railroad will probably be different but
> it
> > should have the same kind of information
> >
> > John
>
>
> I attempted to report malfunctioning gates
> (sporadically turning on, then off, etc.) to the
> UP by calling the 800 number on the crossing's
> relay bungalow, I was only able to get the phone
> number, but not the crossing number. The
> individual who answered asked for the crossing
> number, I mentioned that I was unable to get the
> crossing number, but explained (calmly & politely)
> that it was the only UP grade crossing of Cutting
> Blvd. in the city of Richmond, CA. The guy on the
> other end of the phone very rudely said, "I NEED
> TO KNOW THE CROSSING NUMBER, THERE'S NO POINT IN
> REPORTING IF THERE'S NOT A NUMBER TO GO WITH IT!"
> I apologized & again repeated the crossings
> location, Cutting Blvd. etc. Sometime during my
> repeating of that info, he terminated the call. I
> don't know if the call was directed to a UP call
> center, or an answering service contracted out by
> the railroad, but employees/sub-contractors like
> that may be why the railroads pay the insurance
> they do, & need to have several attorneys on
> permanent retainer. I will spare the railroad of
> any such bothers in the future...
>
> Desmond Praetzel, "4451 Puff"


If you can document that, it would be very helpful in the event of a future accident at that crossing. Worth its weight in gold to a plaintiff's counsel.

Last autumn at Pierce City,MO at the MO-97 crossing on bnSF Cherokee Sub, I called in regarding sporadic gate operation. The "gentleman" asked me if I worked for the railroad and how I knew the crossing ID. Of course I said I noted what was on the bungalow. I wanted to say "you idiot", also but I didn't. bnSF must be farming out their 800 emergency calls to India.

Isn't odd that the name of the truck driver responsible for this accident hasn't been released? Also oddly enough, the members of the train crew haven't either.