Passenger Trains > Trespasser strike train14 of the 22

On the northbound Coast Starlight south of Salinas.  We have hit a trespasser, about 610 PM, so we will be stopped for a while.
Edit - We are stopped about two miles south of Soledad.  It appears to be a fatality.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/16 18:50 by Jimbo.

Jimbo Wrote:
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> On the northbound Coast Starlight south of
> Salinas.  We have hit a trespasser, about 610 PM,
> so we will be stopped for a while.
> Edit - We are stopped about two miles south of
> Soledad.  It appears to be a fatality.

wonder if it  is related to the wildfire down  there in the Metz road area.
C

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

Carol,

The fire was a ways back and did not appear to be near the track.

Two hours and 20 minutes and we still are waiting on the coroner.

Jim

I'm on Capitol 747 just now into San Jose (9:00).
Our ast conductor will cab down to dog-catch your train.
Engineer will cab up from SLO- ours aren't qualified beyond San Jose.
Figure 10:30ish 'till he gets there.
SR

Jimbo Wrote:
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> Carol,
>
> The fire was a ways back and did not appear to be
> near the track.
>
> Two hours and 20 minutes and we still are waiting
> on the coroner.
>
> Jim

Aside from the ATK crewing concerns, getting a coroner to the scene on late Sunday evening is gonna be slow going---sorry about that.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

We figure you'll make Oakland about 1am, Sac a little before 4am.
SR

(Those are somewhat informed wild guesses.
Railroading is NOT one of the exact sciences!)

At 930 pm we are still sitting.

Jim

Hello?
SR

On the move at 940 pm.  Should arrive Salinas about 1015.

So ridiculous.  They don't block entire highways nearly that long for fatalities.  The masses wouldn't stand for it.  They get things going again.  They need to do the same with railroads.

Getting traffic moving on a highway after a fatality isn't dependent on bringing in a fresh crew to drive the cars. On the train it can take some time to assemble and transport a crew to the scene. 

It's not like Amtrak has a spare engineer and conductor on standby in Soledad.

The original crew took us to Salinas, arriving about 1010 pm.  We left at 1040, so over 4 hours down, with the new crew.  It was a good trip until our trespasser strike, good crew and equipment.  Willamete Valley Pacific Parlour car.  Only problem has been the slow WiFi.

coach Wrote:
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> So ridiculous.  They don't block entire highways
> nearly that long for fatalities.  The masses
> wouldn't stand for it.  They get things going
> again.  They need to do the same with railroads.

They may not block the entire highway, but they most certainly block any lanes directly affected. It is very common on a Southern California freeway when a fatality is involved for lanes to be closed for 6-10 hours.

Also depends upon location and distance from the cororner. Late last year there was a fatal vehicle accident on CA 62 near Rice, CA. Single lane each direction. Entire road was closed for 10 hours on a late Friday night, early Saturday morning. Closes San Bernadino County Cororner was 2 1/2 hours away. Only problem was, he was on another accident. Total wait time until the cororner was on the scene: 6 1/2 hours.

When there is only one track, kind of hard to open part of it.

If you are going to rant, make sure it is apples to apples.

I wonder if back in the day, the Coast Daylight sat and waited 4 hours for a coroner or new crew to turn up. Of course then, people weren't as stupid and thus weren't on the tracks. Seems like this happens every week. And that's just the ones reported here.

People were plenty stupid back then too. There were just less of them.

Would someone please explain why a trespasser strike makes a train need a new crew? Why not just move the body off the tracks and get the train moving? Any investigation or statements needed could be handled by phone or later if necessary in person.

It is REQUIRED that they get a pee test at that TIME and cannot do anything concerning there work until that has been done. That includes results from it being negative. The corner is required to issue a preliminary cause of death also. Same as anyone holding a CDL when driving a comercial vehicle. And yes they close roads down for hours even if it means all traffic is stopped no matter what.
 Another item years ago there was not instant coast to coast  internet to report these things. It was not as big a deal either back then. Crossing accidents were much more commen way back also along with people getting hit. Check the records have seen them posted a few years back. It was much worse even with less people in the early 1900s.
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> Would someone please explain why a trespasser
> strike makes a train need a new crew? Why not just
> move the body off the tracks and get the train
> moving? Any investigation or statements needed
> could be handled by phone or later if necessary in
> person.

One thing that was done when I was driving a tow truck, if they were still alive get them into an ambulance so the accident scene could be dealt with like an injury accident. That being the case if they passed while in route to the hospital we didn't have to call for the coroner and just document and clean up like a normal injury one.

Those on the head end have just witnessed a death. The conductor and A/C have just gone back to find the body to confirm the death or the need for EMT services.
This tends to leave the crew a bit rattled, to say the least.
All are entitled to 3 days off if they request it.
Most do.
SR

Condolences to the crew that dealt with this situation.

Following an especially long delay after a pedestrian strike on the NEC in 2008, NJ issued new guidelines to medical examiners and police agencies on railroad issues. The local police had shut down the NEC for four hours after an apparent suicide, and three hours after the examiner arrived.

They're supposed to use discretion on shutting down tracks not directly affected by the investigation. The medical examiner is supposed to use his professional skill to draw conclusions, and allow use of the tracks.

Some delays are much longer, but this allows the legal framework to move toward a conclusion of suicide where many indications support it.