Wash State Amtrack Crash

[JCave]

Hopefully our friends up north are safe.


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amtrak-...-live-updates/

[fazool]

egads that looks horrible.

Fortunately rail travel is still very, very safe and such things are incredibly rare

I hope everyone is safe

[JCave]

Six deaths are reported so far. Today was the inaugural run for this high speed line from Seattle to Portland.

[Silly Moustache]

Just seen this on the BBC news -looks terrible!

We had a similar but far less dramatic derailment event in the UK a short while ago when a train took a corner too fast.

Obviously thoughts and best wishes to those affected by this.

[SMan]

That is shocking to see. I've driven that stretch of I-5 hundreds of times. Praying for the victims.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by JCave

Six deaths are reported so far. Today was the inaugural run for this high speed line from Seattle to Portland.

I read that it was the inaugural run but I wasn't sure if it's a new train, a new track, or both?

[clintj]

The latest update I've seen is that the curve in question has a speed limit of 30mph, and the train was traveling 81mph shortly before the derailment.

That's a big mess. I lived near Bremerton a few years ago, and know that area fairly well.

[H165]

wasn't sure if it's a new train, a new track, or both?

New route for a fairly new train on old freight route rails.

I too have driven this stretch of road many times.

This looks to be a wholly man-made disaster prima facie. Putting what is essentially a "bullet train" on a 31 MPH curve could not look right to anyone with common sense. Hope that report turns out to be inaccurate, though there's no helping the victims now.

[GHS]

Originally Posted by clintj

The latest update I've seen is that the curve in question has a speed limit of 30mph, and the train was traveling 81mph shortly before the derailment.

That's a big mess. I lived near Bremerton a few years ago, and know that area fairly well.

Further info reports that portion was rated at 79mph and the train was going 81. Dont know how much of a difference that would make .

[SMan]

Originally Posted by GHS

Further info reports that portion was rated at 79mph and the train was going 81. Dont know how much of a difference that would make .

Again I have driven under that particular trestle hundreds of times and it has a fairly aggressive curve as it jogs over I-5 and is limited to 30 mph for both freight and passenger trains. No way is it a 79 mph stretch of track.

[GHS]

Originally Posted by SMan

Again I have driven under that particular trestle hundreds of times and it has a fairly aggressive curve as it jogs over I-5 and is limited to 30 mph for both freight and passenger trains. No way is it a 79 mph stretch of track.

You are correct. Just this am the news reported 30mph zone. Did not seem right to me being 79mph, odd number, curve seemed pretty tight. For the first two to three hours the news station said they got that info from computer monitors at the WSDOT. Just goes to prove what has been said time and again about initial reports being all over the map on any incident.

[clintj]

According to CNN and other sources, an NTSB member has confirmed the train was traveling 80 in a 30mph zone based on data from the rear locomotive, and reports from witnesses that the train was passing traffic on I-5 at the time. Positive Train Control, which can automatically slow or stop a train, was supposed to be activated around mid-2018.

My heart goes out to the people involved and their families, and I hope those injured recover quickly.

[Bob Womack]

Why do I get the feeling there was a tremendous communication foul-up somewhere? I'm sure the crew had the proper (previous) speed profile charts for the stretch in hand. Why do I get the feeling that someone in management told the engineer to ignore the published profile and signage because the line had just been updated to allow the advertised speed of 80mph for this newly-inaugurated high-speed service?

It has that feel, unless there was, *ahem*, a cell phone involved again.

Oh, my.

Bob

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by GHS

Further info reports that portion was rated at 79mph and the train was going 81. Dont know how much of a difference that would make .

I read that initial report yesterday. Today the report is that the limit goes from 79 to 30 mph for that turn. Yikes. Understandable why the derailment happened if you're doing 50mph over

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Why do I get the feeling there was a tremendous communication foul-up somewhere? I'm sure the crew had the proper (previous) speed profile charts for the stretch in hand. Why do I get the feeling that someone in management told the engineer to ignore the published profile and signage because the line had just been updated to allow the advertised speed of 80mph for this newly-inaugurated high-speed service?

It has that feel, unless there was, *ahem*, a cell phone involved again.

Oh, my.

Bob

I was thinking that in the absence of the speed control system not yet installed that maybe there was some other alert system that failed to work when the train was approaching the slow down area of track.

IOW, the old GIGO cause.

It was reported that weeks of testing were done on the line, but I"ve not yet seen anyone confirm that testing included the slowdown needed as the train approached the curve. At 80mph, i'd imagine a fair amount of time is needed for correction, so, I'm curious about who did the math that resulted in an instruction (automated or otherwise) to the engineer about when to slow down.