Passenger Trains > "Metra Comes Clean" on Gates That Failed To Come Down

There were multiple failures earlier in the day before the one captured on police dash cam.
Cover up would have been accomplished if the dash cam had not gone viral.
In usual M.O. company is putting blame on a locomotive engineer.  He may have seriously erred in not reporting the
 first incident but I don't think he designed, installed, tested or maintained the warning devices.  The latter is where the 
serious problem is.

I noticed on the way home yesterday evening another maintainer had his hands in the instrument case at 191st St. and
a police car was stationed at the crossing.  This afternoon two maintainer trucks and a Metra PD SUV at the crossing.
Apparently something is still not right.  Trains are getting some type of protect the crossing order because they are running about
10 mph and Metra PD are on the scene.

The always investigating and always stunning Megan Hickey on the job for CBS 2
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/01/16/multiple-close-calls-after-metra-engineer-failed-to-report-crossing-gate-issue-in-mokena/

Metra is not really coming clean.  They are still blaming a short circuit for the gates not coming down.
Here are my multiple posts from a few weeks ago when the problem first surfaced.  I told you all then there was more to it than what the Metra
mouthpieces were saying.
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4694841,page=1

Chris Hush from NBC 5 has also checked in with his spin.  Chris clearly knows as much as the Metra CEO.  Apparently they have no fix. Something is not working 
properly and they have no idea what is wrong.  Let's just put in a new operating rule and cross our fingers that it will take care of the problem.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/New-Video-Shows-Another-Frightening-Close-Call-With-Metra-Train-After-Gates-Fail-to-Come-Down-in-Time-504447282.html

"Metra said an electrical short in the system was to blame, giving a green signal to the engineer inside the train cab
even though gates were malfunctioning. 

A new rule is now being implemented where trains that are allowed to pass a "stop" track signal are required to travel no more than 20 miles per hour
(a restricted speed), giving the engineer "complete control of that train when they recognize something is going wrong with the gates." 

Metra noted that if the trains had positive train control, the safety system also wouldn't have allowed the train to go
beyond the restricted speed and would have even stopped the train. It's a system they say will eventually be implemented. 

The transit agency said disciplinary action is being reviewed for the engineer who failed to report the first incident shown on video."

No word from the agency on reviewing the design, installation, testing and maintenance of the crossing warning devices.
 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/19 16:28 by Englewood.

I can see the company's point about the engineer not reporting the gates, to a point.
Yes, if you see a malfunction you need to report it, no matter how many times it happens. If it don't work, report it.
If for nothing else you're covering your own butt here.

Of course the company is looking for any way it can to dodge the blame and if an employee didn't follow the rules to the letter then they put a very large target on themselves.

Yes, but the malfunction was not caused by the engineer's failure to report the problem.

And the problem must still exist because this very evening there is a stop and flag order on the crossing.
It looks like Metra PD are doing the actual flagging.

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, but the malfunction was not caused by the
> engineer's failure to report the problem.
>
> And the problem must still exist because this very
> evening there is a stop and flag order on the
> crossing.
> It looks like Metra PD are doing the actual
> flagging.

Don't make a bit of difference if the malfunction was not caused by the engineer's violation of the company rules in not reporting it.
This is obviously a chronic problem at this crossing and one of the ways to get stuff like that fixed is to report it every trip.
Only way to make sure they can't blame you for anything.

> A new rule is now being implemented where trains
> that are allowed to pass a "stop" track signal are
> required to travel no more than 20 miles per hour
> (a restricted speed), giving the engineer
> "complete control of that train when they
> recognize something is going wrong with the
> gates." 

Passing a red signal at restricted speed is not a new rule and it is not clear how this applies to crossing gates not working.

For Metra's side of the story, including some details that were left out of the news reports, check this:  https://metrarail.com/about-metra/newsroom/metra-review-nov-9-grade-crossing-incident-mokena

I’ve read all the news reports, Metra’s response and seen video posted elsewhere without the news reporter talking over it. It sounds like Metra is saying that the cab signals should have indicated that the crossing signals were malfunctioning. My understanding is that cab signals reflect the lineside signals which are a separate system from the crossing signals. Something does not sound right.

Posted from iPhone

A cab signal will display a more favorable signal when there is a change in condition in the block. That could be a train ahead leaving the block, or passing a broken rail, or other cause of the restricting scenario.

Metra's concern is that the cab signal cleared up, but the condition causing the crossing failure was still present. The train goes back up to maximum speed, but the gates are not functioning properly. By holding trains to restricting the whole block, the desire is that the crew can stop before a failed crossing.

Not endorsing this as the best, or right, course of action, but it is the path they went.

Posted from Android

In that CBS Chicago video with the dash cam you can see that a worker is inside the signal instrument box.

Metra appears to be more imaginitive in making excuses than the Frontrunner operation in Utah.  

The two incidences are hauntingly similar.  

Since when is the Cab Signal system interlocked with the grade crossing signals?  AFAIK there is no connection.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Since when is the Cab Signal system interlocked
> with the grade crossing signals?  AFAIK there is
> no connection.

That's what I was wondering about. I believe that's the case for Amtrak's ITCS in Michigan which allows them to do 110mph over crossings, and I know Denver's RTD's PTC is tied into the grade crossings somehow, but didn't think that was the case on the older system METRA would be using.

metra6924 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For Metra's side of the story, including some
> details that were left out of the news reports,
> check this: 
> https://metrarail.com/about-metra/newsroom/metra-r
> eview-nov-9-grade-crossing-incident-mokena

From the Metra website
"The cause of both the track signal issue and the gate activation failure was the same:
an intermittent short in the electrical circuit that controlled the track signal and gates.
It was repaired by 3:40 p.m. the same day. The gates and track circuits went through
exhaustive testing before the extra protections were lifted."

Signal technology must have changed since I retired.  For the previous 100 years a short  would
shunt the track circuit and cause the gates to activate and the block signals to display their most restrictive indication.
When cab signals came into use a a short would cause the cab signal to go to its most restrictive until the 
short cleared up or the location of the short was passed.

 

When you see something, say something. What's so difficult about that? Might save YOUR life some day.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> From the Metra website

> "The cause of both the track signal issue and the
> gate activation failure was the same:
> an intermittent short in the electrical circuit
> that controlled the track signal and gates.
> It was repaired by 3:40 p.m. the same day. The
> gates and track circuits went through
> exhaustive testing before the extra protections
> were lifted."
>
> Signal technology must have changed since I retired.  For the previous 100 years a short 
> would shunt the track circuit and cause the gates to activate and the block signals to display their
> most restrictive indication.  When cab signals came into use a a short would
> cause the cab signal to go to its most restrictive until the short cleared up or the location of
> the short was passed.
>
>  
=====================================================

Sadly, I suspect that the semi-literate author of the Metra "excuse" is among the semi-literate who are
allowed to graduate from high school these days.

"SHORT" has become colloquial for any electrical fault.  Too many who use the word do not have a
working knowledge of what it really means. 

You've heard of "The King's English."  This is an example of "The Millennials' English."

MojaveBill Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When you see something, say something. What's so
> difficult about that? Might save YOUR life some
> day.

The culture of reporting defects is so ingrained in railroaders it makes one wonder what is going in here.

Perhaps such defects are so commonly reported and never resolved that employees see no use in reporting any more.
or
Perhaps the pressure applied by management for on time performance extends to not reporting defects that will lead
to train delay, such as flagging crossings.

Getting back to the original incident, it appears that the crossing lights were activated and working.  Not to take Metra off the hook, but none of the motorists appear to even slow down approaching this crossing.  To me, if I see the lights flashing I slow down prepared to stop as I have to assume something might be coming.

njmidlamd: go back and look at the video from the police cruiser again. The lights do not activate until the train is in the crossing.

Posted from iPhone

Metra blames this issue on a "short" caused on the industrial siding next to the crossing - the one with the lumber car on it in the videos.  
If you see crossing gates near a Metra station, when the gates go down, and the train then stops, the gates will go up again until the train loads and starts moving again.  Metra says that is what happened here.  An insulated joint failed between the switch and the siding, so the car in the siding caused the gates to go down - and with the car not moving, the gates went up again.  This repeated over and over again, including when a real train approached.  

I have no idea if this is accurate or not, but I think Metra has actually given a good explanation of this issue.

They mysterys are:  1.  Why didn't the first train call this in, and 2.  Why didn't Metra immediately instruct crew to flag the crossing, or have Metra police flag it?  At least 4 trains nearly hit cars at this crossing that day.

For those of you who visit this thread but are too busy to read the words or who already think they know everything:

The gates were not down nor were the lights flashing until the train No. 506 entered the "island circuit" that consists of the crossing and a few feet on both
sides of the crossing.  Even Metra admits that as a fact.