Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS 24E Accident KCS 733 Damaged

NS 24E KCS Meridian Ms. KCS to Atlanta Georgia was delay some 3 hours into Atlanta Georgia this morning as a result of a Blue Circle dry cement truck not heeding warning signs and following the correct truck traffic route in Douglasville Georgia. The truck ended up stuck on the tracks and the 24E lead by KCS733 had no time to avoid the collision. No one was injured as the truck driver just stood by and watched as the east bound train into Atlanta approached at 40mph, knotch 4 and 300+ amps on the steep grade crossing. The KCS 733 suffered damage to the brake cylinders and was bad ordered at the accident site. It was able to move to the wood yard siding and placed on a level area and wheels chocked as the hand brakes were of no use. NS3561 & NS6561 the trains other units in the consist managed to take the train on into Atlanta. The accident caused about 3 hours of delay on the busy Alabama Division single track just west of Atlanta.

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Amazing. Thank Goodness the crew were not seriously injured. In fact they took the KCS733 to the wood yard siding before they left the accident site.

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Any idea how long the trucker was stuck on the crossing before the train came? He better have done his best to contact local authorities immediately after getting stuck...

I do hope that the NS and other railroads have a good set of lawyers to sue these irresponsible truckers, et al, in order to recover all the costs and damages associated with one of these incidents.

If said trucking company had to pay for all the costs (repairs to locomotive, delay costs, damage to crossing equipment, etc.) then they would train their drivers and retrain their drivers to avoid stopping EVER on any railroad crossing.

Avoidable losses for any company can change behaviors.

It will be pretty much guaranteed that the trucking company will be getting a nice bill in the mail from NS... standard practice.

My friend of mine's friend way back in the 70s managed to get his car struck by a Santa Fe train... not only totalled the car, but he got a nice bill from the Santa Fe to repair damage (albeit minor) to the lead engine.

The other half of the tanker containing cement. As indicated this road crossing is marked and all trucks are required to cross the tracks about a 1/2 mile east of this location. Yet hardly a week doesn't go by that an 18 wheeler of some type doesn't get hung up at this grade crossing. The problem is that the pavement drops off about 4-5 feet in the 15 ft. distance between the southside of the tracks and Hiway 78 that runs parralell to the east/west tracks. By the time the driver realizes what has happened it is to late.

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You know, that really sucks when people, especially people who drive commercial vehicles, ignore traffic rules that were erected to protect them from possible collisions with trains. Same thing happen to a couple of guys I know who work the Conrail shared assets Vineland secondary up to Camden. Collided with a truck at a crossing just beyond the Woodbury jct. When the police showed up, the driver claimed he didn't hear the horn. At this point, the conductor overheard this and promptly cussed the truck driver out, in front of the cops!!! What the driver hadn't counted on was the 30 or so people standing at the bus stop near the collision, all of whom claimed to hear the horn very cleary and loudly, one of whom said he overheard it through his headphones. The end result? A $4500.00 bill sent to the trucking company for damage done to the engine and the driver being cited. The truck he was driving was cut in half just behind the cab in the collision.

Ship captians,railroad engineers,& aircraft pilots have to be qualified on thier routes or use a pilot. How many times have you been cut-off by a 18 wheeler trying not to miss his exit at the last moment.