Western Railroad Discussion > Crash Latest: Two bodies recovered

PANHANDLE, TX (KFDA) -The bodies of two missing crew members from the freight liners that crashed Tuesday have been recovered, according to BNSF spokesperson Joe Faust Wednesday afternoon.The Department of Public Safety said earlier in the day recovery efforts were underway and the third member missing is presumed dead.The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to begin an investigation into the crash once the fire is completely extinguished and the workers are recovered.Officials confirmed Tuesday one of the trains was en route to Los Angeles and the other toward Chicago when they collided around 8 a.m. The speed limit for this rail area is 70 miles per hour, but BNSF officials say neither train was traveling that fast. The trains were carrying mixed freight and consumer products.One person, who presumably jumped from the liner before the crash, remains hospitalized at Northwest Texas Hospital. His injuries are not considered life-threatening. The identities of the people on board have not been released. The last BNSF accident involving a collision with another train was in December 2013 in Keithville, LA. Two locomotives and 11 cars from the train derailed when it met head-on with a Union Pacific train. Three front locomotives and one car from the UP train derailed.The likely cause of the 2013 accident was the BNSF conductor’s improper positioning for a switch onto a side track, according to the [color=#0000FF][b]NTSB investigation[/b][/color].

Freight liners?? They get dumber and dumber.

Chosen semantics aside, really sad news. Three brothers were lost in the blink of an eye.

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/32332787/crews-continue-to-work-fiery-train-collision-wreckage-in-panhandle

trainjunkie Wrote:
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> Three
> brothers were lost in the blink of an eye.

Two brothers and a sister.

Okay, fair enough. I haven't seen any names or genders revealed. Plus, where I work the term "brother" is gender neutral. Sad day on the rails nonetheless.

NorthernOhioRail Wrote:
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> PANHANDLE, TX (KFDA) -The bodies of two missing
> crew members from the freight liners that crashed
> Tuesday have been recovered, according to BNSF
> spokesperson Joe Faust Wednesday afternoon.The
> Department of Public Safety said earlier in the
> day recovery efforts were underway and the third
> member missing is presumed dead.The National
> Transportation Safety Board is expected to begin
> an investigation into the crash once the fire is
> completely extinguished and the workers are
> recovered.Officials confirmed Tuesday one of the
> trains was en route to Los Angeles and the other
> toward Chicago when they collided around 8
> a.m. The speed limit for this rail area is 70
> miles per hour, but BNSF officials say neither
> train was traveling that fast. The trains were
> carrying mixed freight and consumer products.One
> person, who presumably jumped from the liner
> before the crash, remains hospitalized at
> Northwest Texas Hospital. His injuries are not
> considered life-threatening. The identities of
> the people on board have not been released. The
> last BNSF accident involving a collision with
> another train was in December 2013 in Keithville,
> LA. Two locomotives and 11 cars from the train
> derailed when it met head-on with a Union Pacific
> train. Three front locomotives and one car from
> the UP train derailed.The likely cause of the 2013
> accident was the BNSF conductor’s improper
> positioning for a switch onto a side track,
> according to the NTSB investigation.

Is this account of "The last BNSF accident involving a collision with another train was in December 2013 in Keithville, LA." correct? I thought it would be the collision outside of Cassleton, ND on Dec. 30, 2013. Still praying for God's comfort of the crews' families and friends.

Bill

bmarti7 Wrote:
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> Is this account of "The last BNSF accident
> involving a collision with another train was in
> December 2013 in Keithville, LA." correct? I
> thought it would be the collision outside of
> Cassleton, ND on Dec. 30, 2013. Still praying for
> God's comfort of the crews' families and friends.
>

They might be defining collision for this purpose as head-on? Or involving casualties?

FIRST OFF IN THIS CONTEXT OF DECEASED RAIL WORKERS being the MAIN TOPIC let's KEEP THIS THREAD ON POINT and GIVE THE RESPECT AND REVERENCE for the perished crew members before making any non rail death related comments ...  i get sick to my stomac everytime i hear or read about something like this ... doesn't matter if i don't know them ... there's still a connection ... i lost 4 close friends in 2 tragic incidents 38 years apart ... the last incident being the 2  Amtrak workers this past spring ... one of them was my railroad best friend at the time back in '78 ... besides them i lost about 5-6 aqcuaintences that i worked with in that time period  ... 

i would hate to see this thread get callously off topic with non sense ... like this guy ... DUDE it's not about the reporters collision speculation ...  

MP555 Wrote:
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> Freight liners?? They get dumber and dumber.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/16 16:09 by Out_Of_Service.

18 years of running trains and have seen two friends get killed in that time. It's a sad day when my wife and I were discussing if I should jump out the window or ride a potential crash in. When on when will the railroads stop putting profits ahead of safety? Obviously none of us know the peticulars of this crash yet. That being said, my deepest condolences to those lost, those who are part of the clean up, and those who will run by this wreck sight for the remainder of their careers thinking of lost friends. I still think of conversations while running through the night with Dennis Hemme. He's been gone 4 years. Hopefully, their legacy will help make their friends safer. 

-Joe

for those who havn't seen it ... here's aerial footage showing the crash aftermath ... one look and you can see why it took a while to recover the victims ...

http://www.wistv.com/clip/12556557/exclusive-aerial-footage-from-train-collision-near-panhandle

joeygooganelli Wrote: > ... When [oh] when will the railroads stop putting profits ahead of safety...
Realistically? NEVER. Period. I've heard more than one RR management type say something to the effect of: "Son, if you don't like your job we have a stack of applications THIS HIGH to replace you. You're expendable." Now that the RR industry has got the longer crew districts into basically universal effect I don't believe they will ever go away. And RR management will NEVER fully concede that those longer runs account for well over 90% of the reason we have so many fatigue related accidents [read:deaths]. That bottom-line profit margin is WAAAY too important for any RR to admit the longer districts were a huge mistake. After 32 years in train service, 23 of it in longer crew districts, this is my not-so-humble opinion...

Lance Garrels
ex-MRL (1987 ~ 2010)
ex-DM&E (1987)
ex-Santa Fe (1978 ~ 1987)
 

But is it really the length of the crew districts that causes the fatigue issues, or the irregular scheduling? If it's really the latter, which I suspect, the unions' hands are bloody, too. The unions have been unable to put up a united front on scheduling because there are too many turn-and-burners willing to risk their lives to maximize their paychecks.
 

toledopatch Wrote: > ... is it really the length of the crew districts ... or the irregular scheduling?
The irregular scheduling has been there virtually from the beginning! The shorter districts allowed a human body caught short-rested to get to a rest period MANY HOURS sooner than the long ones do now.. Been there ~ done that both ways... 

Lance/199
 

toledopatch Wrote:
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> But is it really the length of the crew districts
> that causes the fatigue issues, or the irregular
> scheduling? If it's really the latter, which I
> suspect, the unions' hands are bloody, too. The
> unions have been unable to put up a united front
> on scheduling because there are too many
> turn-and-burners willing to risk their lives to
> maximize their paychecks.
>  
Unfortunately, there's a lot of truth to that.  Back in the dark ages of the 1970s, there were a lot of six and seven day jobs that rarely went begging.  Any suggestion of cutting them back to five days was not met with enthusiam.  In the ensuing years, the pay got better, the old money hungry types retired, some grudgingly, and the 6-7 day jobs went away.  I suppose there are railroaders today who have no problem with 60-70 hour work weeks in exchange for a big paycheck.  I'm sure they have their reasons, but I was never in that camp, and I didn't know too many who were.  

I came into Kansas City from Wellington many timed wanting to mark off, but "request denied", because the "weekenders" beat me to it. So I'd go back to work on my rest at the risk of being labeled a Mile hog.

Posted from Android

Cost vs risk..Many people die is headon car crashes on two lane roads.  Dont think I will ever see a barrier down the center line of the highway to prevent headons..not enough money in the world to get that done. Its two bad that PTC didnt get finished last year...but it didnt. In the future lets hope for fewer headons.
Roger Beckett

I hear you guys on that but the question is will PTC be a success!

Posted from Android

Or should the question be is PTC a panacea?  It's sold as the magic pill that will cure every ill.  If it works as advertised, it would have prevented this tragedy.  But no one thing will prevent every scenario.  We'll see.  It should be a positive thing if it works, though.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

This thread is by far the most interesting one yet concerning this accident.
It's always enlightening to hear real railroaders' viewpoint on working conditions.
How long are crew districts on the BNSF?
Also, regarding crew fatique, other industries require workbreaks. Is anything like that built in to a train crew's day on the road?

Thanks,

Danny Harmon
Tampa

Lunches and breaks are collective bargaining issues. Some have them, some don't. Out yard jobs get a lunch but no other breaks. Road jobs, nothing.