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Started By
Message
re: Amtrak train derails & falls from bridge onto I-5 in Olympia, Washington, at least 3 dead
Posted on 12/18/17 at 5:22 pm to fightin tigers
Posted on 12/18/17 at 5:22 pm to fightin tigers
quote:
Lead engine and the first car are still on the tracks. The next two are to the right of the tracks and the rest appear to have gone straight into the forest (and over the bridge rail to the ground).
So the engine immediately stopped right there dragging cars over the edge as the rest of the cars passed it up and went into the trees? That’s not how trains work.
They probably have engines on each end of the train since this is a daily route. All you have to move is the engineer, rather than an engine, to make the return trip.
Edit: in that aerial shot you can see the gouge in the ground the car that went across the interstate left, indicating it was going right to left in the photo and that the engine in the photo is the rear car, in this case.
Edit 2: That car in the middle of the highway to which I am referring is the lead engine.
This post was edited on 12/18/17 at 5:35 pm
2
Posted on 12/18/17 at 5:30 pm to Sasquatch Smash
I was assuming left to right movement in all the pics posted, but if it the right to left then that is completely true.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 5:35 pm to Sasquatch Smash
Amtrak conductor made no mention of hitting anything in his initial call to 911. Just said he was taking the corner and went on the ground.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 6:04 pm to deltaland
quote:
More like Amnotontrak
I shouldn’t laugh but
Posted on 12/18/17 at 6:11 pm to TDsngumbo
If it was intentional, wouldn't be the first time. The City of San Francisco was intentionally derailed in the 30's, killing 24. In an unsolved crime, the Sunset Limited in Arizona was intentionally derailed in 1995, killing one.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 6:46 pm to crazy4lsu
quote:
Holy crap. This is right by my house.
Mine too, we live off of the Nisqually exit. I drove underneath it going northbound about 15 minutes before this happened. The train derailed on the southbound side of I-5. My wife and boys went through a few minutes after it happened before most of the emergency vehicles arrived. Crazy stuff.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 6:49 pm to CajunSuperJeff
quote:
Mine too, we live off of the Nisqually exit. I drove underneath it going northbound about 15 minutes before this happened. The train derailed on the southbound side of I-5. My wife and boys went through a few minutes after it happened before most of the emergency vehicles arrived. Crazy stuff.
I'm not far either (UP). From another thread it sounds like this train might have been running on the old tracks that run along JBLM. If so, those tracks have been sitting abandoned for years.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 6:50 pm to NWarty
quote:
Holy s*** my commute home is going to suck (I live in Oly)
I feel your pain. I work on JBLM and I am being diverted to the East Gate and have to sit in hours of traffic through Roy and Yelm to get one mile past this accident that is expected to be there for a few days.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 6:59 pm to northshorebamaman
Just looked it up. It is the same (formally) abandoned tracks. Unbelievable that they would run a new high speed passenger train on those tracks.
This post was edited on 12/18/17 at 7:00 pm
Posted on 12/18/17 at 7:14 pm to CajunSuperJeff
I live in Oly, work in Fife.
Took 2.5 hrs to get home along the northern route. I’m hearing it’s 5 hours from Spanaway to Yelm. Ouch.
Took 2.5 hrs to get home along the northern route. I’m hearing it’s 5 hours from Spanaway to Yelm. Ouch.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 7:14 pm to northshorebamaman
A lot of times they use old tracks that were decommissioned to lay new lines.
They could have just put this rail down recently but used old rail that came from somewhere else. This is common practice. I don't agree with it but it looks good when they can "recycle" old material and save money. Not sure if this is the case here, but it could be what they mean by "old tracks".
They could have just put this rail down recently but used old rail that came from somewhere else. This is common practice. I don't agree with it but it looks good when they can "recycle" old material and save money. Not sure if this is the case here, but it could be what they mean by "old tracks".
Posted on 12/18/17 at 7:20 pm to The Great McGinty
What I meant was that those same tracks have been sitting, abandoned, for at least the last 10 years. Nothing was put down recently.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 7:58 pm to northshorebamaman
As someone that's been in the railroad business for nearly 30 years I have no doubt they'll find the cause, I'd be surprised if they didn't know it already but just have not released it yet. The engines on both end have cameras and "black boxes" recording everything that's going on with that train. There are several possibilities including, human error, terrorism, material / equipment failure, etc. That track is inspected daily and the specifications that are required for commuter rail service is as strict as there is, they didn't just run a 80 mph commuter train down a unsafe track.
This post was edited on 12/18/17 at 8:03 pm
Posted on 12/18/17 at 7:58 pm to northshorebamaman
quote:
Just looked it up. It is the same (formally) abandoned tracks. Unbelievable that they would run a new high speed passenger train on those tracks.
If you look at the Google Street View of the tracks, they've clearly done some work on them, because they've got new ballast and concrete sleepers.
LINK
I just rode the Cascades last month. This change to the new route has been years in the making. Answers will come out in due time as to why this happened, but it's not like they just decided one day to flip the switch and send a train down abandoned tracks at 80 mph.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 8:02 pm to krones
quote:
If you look at the Google Street View of the tracks, they've clearly done some work on them, because they've got new ballast and concrete sleepers.
Yeah, obvious from there. Hard to tell from my usual vantage point (the interstate) because there are at least two or three rows of tracks running along that strip.
Posted on 12/18/17 at 8:10 pm to northshorebamaman
quote:
Yeah, obvious from there. Hard to tell from my usual vantage point (the interstate) because there are at least two or three rows of tracks running along that strip.
Yeah from certain views it's tough to see. They gave them a complete overhaul:
July 2015
August 2017
Posted on 12/18/17 at 8:43 pm to krones
I wonder if any of the resident train experts can offer any theories based on what this guy heard:
LINK
quote:
A 79-year-old Olympia man, who suffered minor injuries when an Amtrak train derailed Monday near DuPont, said it sounded like it had a “flat wheel,” as if one of those train wheels had been ground off and was skidding along the track.
He said they were in car 3, a forward car, when the crash happened. He began to hear what he thought was a flat wheel for about a minute before the train crashed, followed by tossing and the sounds of squealing and rattling.
LINK
Posted on 12/18/17 at 8:45 pm to fightin tigers
quote:
I was assuming left to right movement in all the pics posted, but if it the right to left then that is completely true.
I was assuming the same because you see the engine on the track but the the lead engine was on the opposite side and the train was moving right to left. So it's likely they took the curve too fast.
The guy driving the container truck in this pic will need a new set of underwear. Imagine a damn train engine falling on the hood of your truck.
This post was edited on 12/18/17 at 8:47 pm
Posted on 12/18/17 at 8:46 pm to redstick13
quote:
So it would likely seem that they took the curve too fast.
First day piloting that ship has me leaning this way too.
Despite the damage the engine did stick that landing.
This post was edited on 12/18/17 at 8:47 pm
Posted on 12/18/17 at 8:48 pm to fightin tigers
The guy in the container semi-truck was one lucky SOB.
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