Passenger Trains > Chicago Metra Southwest Service Derailment

Fox 32 pictures and video
The still aerial picture is looking compass direction west.
The derailed Metra is a Chicago bound train on the single track main that skirts the ex-Wabash Landers yard.
This is about 1/4 mile west of the CSXT crossing at Forest Hill / 75th St.
The road is a private road crossing used to access the yard office.
The road parallel to the derailed train is Columbus Blvd. aka Southwest Highway.
The yard on the left side of the photo is Landers.  At the top of the photo you can see 
a Metra train that is presumably detouring through the yard.
The BRC mains cross Columbus Blvd. at the lower right hand edge of the photo.

For an engineer's perspective of the crossing go to a well known video sharing site
and search for "Metra ride along Southwest Service inbound".
The crossing is at 52'36" in the video

About 10 years ago a NS police officer was killed at this same crossing when his vehicle was
struck by possibly the same train number.  

I have not been in the area for a few years and was surprised to see the old Landers yardmaster tower
has been razed and replaced by the one story building on the engineer's side of the derailed train.

Ironically one of the billboards at the accident scene is for Glenn Lerner 222.2222 a well known personal
injury lawyer who advertises heavily on Maury, TMZ, etc.  "In a wreck? Need a check?"

https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/southwest-service-metra-train-hits-semi-derails-in-rail-yard-major-delays-expected

WGN
https://wgntv.com/2019/09/13/metra-train-strikes-semi-partially-derails-on-south-side/
 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/19 21:07 by Englewood.

Interesting. Looks like a special load too, perhaps part of a crane for the NS intermodal yard.

Posted from iPhone

Just watched the coverage on two different Chicago TV channels (WBBM TV and WLS TV), and as usual neither report offered any information about WHY THE DAMNED TRUCK WAS ON THE TRACK! The news media ALWAYS reports that "The train struck,,,,,,, vehicle, pedestrian, truck, etc." without any explanation of WHY!!!!  I really think that all the politicians need to band together and enact laws to put a stop to all these trains swerving off he tracks and striking/killing people!!!!!!

Bad crossing.
No automatic protection.
On a curve.
I don't know the exact track speed there but probably 40-50 and slowing down for the CSX diamonds.
Engineer must have had it pinched down because train stopped with first car on the crossing.
Truck looks like it had turned off of Columbus and was entering the yard.
Perhaps a low boy that got hung up.
Doesn't seem like the road to use if delivering equipment to the yard.  Easier access via Western Ave.
without crossing tracks.  Perhaps driver's PTC, I mean GPS, sent him the wrong way.   

Englewood Wrote:
-----------------------------------------------------
> Easier access via Western
> Ave. without crossing tracks.     

Possibly but it appeared to be a special haul low boy trailer which typically need more room to turn. I’d have to run some truck turning simulations to confirm but the Western Avenue has some tight turns. The intake gates might not provide the horizontal and vertical clearances needed.

I did notice in one of the aerial photos from WGN a low clearance crossing warning sign at the crossing.

It’s a shame that with a few hours of planning, the route could have been checked to ensure that the truck and load could safely access the site.

Coincidentally, I spent my day at working checking turning movements for one of my projects. Now I get to tell my client that their preliminary engineering report is flawed.

Posted from iPhone

Towing company owner saves us all a lot of conjecture.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Metra-Train-Derails-Following-Crash-With-Semi-on-Chicagos-South-Side-SouthWest-Service-Halted-560267341.html

"The trailer got stuck, and the driver couldn't move it forward or backward," said Matt Simmons, owner of AMJ Towing.
"So the driver then aborted his truck, got out, and then the train made contact." 
 

Matt should work for the NTSB.  We wouldn't need to wait a year for the cause every time there is an accident.


Seventyfive you can drop that signal for 830, I'll let you know when he is on the move again.
I'll take the outbound Metra through the 95................



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/19 21:28 by Englewood.

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

> Seventyfive you can drop that signal for 830, I'll
> let you know when he is on the move again.
> I'll take the outbound Metra through the
> 95................

Might not have to grind out if he goes on the reverse from 74th and in 96.

TAW

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "The trailer got stuck, and the driver couldn't
> move it forward or backward," said Matt Simmons,
> owner of AMJ Towing.
> "So the driver then aborted his truck, got out,
> and then the train made contact." 
>  
>
> Matt should work for the NTSB.  We wouldn't need
> to wait a year for the cause every time there is
> an accident.


But in a year we'll have the NTSB tell us who is really to blame:  Metra for not installing some super expensive gizmo to alert that  a truck was on the tracks, and of course the company that manufactures the railcar.  The truck driver will get a free pass because "Hey, mistakes happen, and we wanted to insure that he'd cooperate with our interviewers."

TAW Wrote:

>
> Might not have to grind out if he goes on the
> reverse from 74th and in 96.
>
> TAW

Sounds good, let me see if I can get 74th.

Some years before I left we couldn't use the term "reverse", "against" or "wrong main" between 74th and Landers
anymore.  Of the 4 railroads involved the DS of one screwed it up.  This was a person whose career in the clerical
department should never have proceeded past "janitor and other duties as shall be assigned". He should have only
been allowed in the DS office to empty the garbage cans not to dispatch trains.  He had the irritating habit
of referring to trains as "that guy", or "this guy" when discussing movement with other DS's, Ops YM's, etc.  Many years of extreme
decibel rock and roll and associated refreshments had also diminished his listening and reasoning skills.  So one day after a
lengthy discussion about "after that guy on the right, this guy on the  reverse"  he was the only one that didn't really understand
the move.  Opposing trains, even at Restricted Speed shouldn't be on the same track without a turnout or crossover between them.
Since he was "connected" and "protected" the rest of the world had to change and use track numbers.  

Some time later an oaf who was well trained by the above "DS" managed to get a track car and an opposing Metra on the same track in that area.
The upshot of that was about 10 paragraphs of special instructions concerning the movement of trains and track cars on a two mile stretch of track.

The Chicago Terminal used to have numerous areas of tower-to-tower dispatching. If someone couldn't cut it by doing things the way
it had been done for 50 years previous, they were gone.  

The terms "reverse", "against" and "wrong main" when used between towermen and DS's have much more meaning than "Track 1" or "Track 2".
Living in the U.S. we learn from the pre-school age that traffic keeps to the right.  We instinctively know what that.  We don't instinctively know
that Track 1 is the westbound track, etc.   I am so glad to be long gone.

Englewood Wrote:
Seventyfive you can drop that signal for 830, I'll let you know when he is on the move again.
 I'll take the outbound Metra through the 95................
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, haven't been paying close enough attention to the news and look what I missed.
Yes, "put him on the wrong" (as we used to say between us at 75, Belt Jct., Landers & Hayford)
and in 96 like Tom suggested.  If the diamonds aren't blocked by a CSX Q train with 
12,000 feet entering or departing 59th Street Yd.

The photo showing the Landers YM Tower gone is shocking.  The view was really great up there.
Thanks for all the links and info.  Six hours to get the trailer off the main?  What were they doing
for the first five hours?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/19 13:12 by Seventyfive.