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Started By
Message
re: Train Derailment in Pecos, TX
Posted on 12/20/24 at 8:58 am to Saunson69
Posted on 12/20/24 at 8:58 am to Saunson69
quote:
The Field Superintendent riding with me said that this happens all the time with all the oilfield traffic out there with all of the oilfield equipment and products that take I-20 every day between Midland/Odessa and the Delaware Basin.
It becomes a freaking mess. Oil hits $80+/bbl, and these water and sand hauling companies are hiring anyone who can halfway read a stop sign and knows how to start the truck.
The stretch of US 285 from about Artesia down south to Pecos had a reputation as the most dangerous stretch of highway in the entire country.
And the stretch of two lane NM-128 from Loving, NM to Jal is pretty bad too, much thanks to idiots in F-150s trying to pass three 18 wheelers all at one time.
0
Posted on 12/20/24 at 9:01 am to i am dan
quote:
Someone said the truck sat there for an hour possibly. Did this driver just fall of the turnip truck and start driving with no idea on how to handle emergencies or contingencies??
Have you paid any attention to the new breed of truck drivers?
Posted on 12/20/24 at 9:04 am to Funky Tide 8
Pecos, Texas is God's country.
Posted on 12/20/24 at 9:07 am to AlterDWI
Looks like it damaged their old station, let's hope it can be saved.
Posted on 12/20/24 at 9:19 am to Hogbit
That depot is 143 years old, between it and the road where the truck was hit is a little park with benches and tables, its under those shade trees and that vessel plowed all of that over. As bad as it was it could have been worse, in one video you can see a vehicle that is completely crushed under some cars. Not sure if it was on the road or parked on the side but apparently it was not occupied when hit because no one would have survived the ride it took.
Posted on 12/20/24 at 10:05 am to TxWadingFool
quote:
I was told neither were in the unit when found, the lead unit came apart after impact. It took several minutes to find the bodies, one had already passed, the second was barely alive but passed in the ambulance on the way to the hospital
When a locomootive turns on it's side whille still moving, the sliding glass window will open & basically everything including the crew will get sucked out.
Posted on 12/20/24 at 10:26 am to AlterDWI
quote:
Directly in front of the building is what's left of the lead unit. The roof of the cab was sheared off. I've been railroading for 23 years & I can't remember seeing one in that bad a shape.
Ok, yeah I didn't see that pic or even notice that thing sitting there stripped off like that. That is real bad. Reminds me of old SD40's that had damn near everything above the walkways stripped off in head on collisions.
The three trailing units made it much further and don't look bad at all. I assumed the leader was one of those as I didn't even notice the one by the building in the pics I saw.
eta-You can see the collision posts did their job as the nose is still on it. Unfortunately everything else is ripped off.
This post was edited on 12/20/24 at 10:37 am
Posted on 12/20/24 at 10:29 am to TxWadingFool
I heard one of the rail cars got thrust into the Pecos Chamber of Commerce building.
Posted on 12/20/24 at 10:32 am to Funky Tide 8
I get that it takes a while to slow down a train but these train operators showed no signs of slowing down...seemed to be going pretty fast for that area...
Posted on 12/20/24 at 10:36 am to Funky Tide 8
my first thought is if i'm one of those vehicles waiting on the train and i'm watching 1,000 ton cars fly through the air i'm either backing up like a motherfricker or i'm jumping out of my car and RUNNING AWAY
why are they just sitting there watching it?
why are they just sitting there watching it?
Posted on 12/20/24 at 10:38 am to Nado Jenkins83
Yep been over those same tracks myself
Posted on 12/20/24 at 10:48 am to Chicken
quote:
I get that it takes a while to slow down a train but these train operators showed no signs of slowing down...seemed to be going pretty fast for that area...
Had a guy commit suicide by train when I was going 60MPH. What was left of him was behind the 6000ft train by the time I stopped.
I'm not going to go into a long dissertation on how train brakes work, but to simplify it the train doesn't start slowing down the second you move the brake handle. Between propagation from front to back and composition brake shoes that require heat to really work there is a several second delay before first retardation and it increases as the brakes heat up. They don't have a lot of bite initially.
The engineer could have spiked the brakes 1000 feet out and you wouldn't notice much difference in speed before impact at 70MPH.
eta-Each one of those locomotives weighs 210 tons alone.
This post was edited on 12/20/24 at 10:52 am
Posted on 12/20/24 at 10:57 am to BuckyCheese
If they were paying attention, how far away do you think they were when they saw the tracks being blocked?
Is there an alert system to tell them that the tracks are blocked?
Is there an alert system to tell them that the tracks are blocked?
Posted on 12/20/24 at 11:04 am to Chicken
Even if they saw it in plenty of time, there was no way to know it was stuck & not possibly waiting for a stop light. If every train immediately stopped for every vehicle on a crossing, the railroad would grind to a halt. Personally, I never dump the air until impact.
Posted on 12/20/24 at 11:08 am to AlterDWI
Exactly. The crew had no way to know the truck was stuck until it was far too late.
Every crossing you're watching traffic going across in front of you until about 15 seconds before you occupy it.
Every crossing you're watching traffic going across in front of you until about 15 seconds before you occupy it.
Posted on 12/20/24 at 11:10 am to Saunson69
quote:
I've been to a Walmart in Pecos, TX. I was a new PETE spending 1 week a month in the fields of Loving Country. I showed up in regular clothes to ride around with operators to learn. One of the foreman told me I couldn't do it in regular clothes and needed FRs. I did it but was like FRs are understandably needed during drilling, but all I was doing was looking at producing wells and no drill sites. Had to drive like 45 minutes to Pecos walmart to get FRs. Most field operators are a different bunch. One was like a 65 year old man that was head in operations. He had to be on clock 24/7 for his week. He would always get alerts at 3 AM that a compressor went down and he had to go check on it. He would brag to me about how he made more money than me. They have a disdain for petroleum engineers in the office. Another one that was 350 lbs said he and his wife were the same weight. He said his wife was 400 lbs at one time and got a liposuction and gained the weight back in 1 year . One other operator said they never once saw 350 lb guy brush his teeth in years of being out there. He wore a Dallas Cowboys hard hat. He also had a story that before he left for this hitch, that his wife threw a brick threw his front wind shield. hahaha. They drank beer in a completions trailor during coiled tubing drill outs. If CEO of company saw that they'd be fired. They always frick with the new guys or very young engineers. They'd never frick with the senior pet engrs. We had a pretty hot gate guard at one of our completions sites. One of the operators told me I should ask for her number so I did. She gave it but didn't respond. I feel in hindsight she probably felt obligated because in a way I employed her. You can't trust any of those operators, he told my boss the VP of Ops. He was a cool dude and didn't care. He dipped during work in the office, but said if HR figured out I'd get in trouble.
You seem like quite the loser
Posted on 12/20/24 at 11:11 am to oldtrucker
quote:
over size haulers are usually very experienced and know their sh##.
everyone I've interactive with seemed to treat professional driving like a professional
. Kinda mind boggling that this could happen with all the permits,planning and considerations thats involved with a heavy haul like that. Every heavy haul outfit just cringed at the thought of their next insurance quote.
Posted on 12/20/24 at 11:58 am to Funky Tide 8
Did no one call this into the railroad or police ahead of time? Each railroad crossing has a blue sign attached with the emergency contact number for the railroad.
Posted on 12/20/24 at 12:11 pm to Chicken
quote:
I heard one of the rail cars got thrust into the Pecos Chamber of Commerce building.
The Chamber offices are located in the Depot, their offices must be from the middle toward the other end of the building, they had 3 workers in the building at the time and they were all accounted for.
quote:
Is there an alert system to tell them that the tracks are blocked?
They were probably a 1/4" away from throwing a red light signal that may have warned the train depending on where the lights are in that area. Those concrete crossing panels across the tracks sit about a 1/4" above the top of the rails, presumably the trailer was sitting flat across the panels a 1/4" or so above the rails, if the trailer would have been sitting on both rails it would have shown something on the track and thrown a red light up along the line, dispatch would have gotten a warning and they could have passed it along to the crew depending on the timing of everything. I'm trying to track down how long the truck was hung up from some folks I know.
This post was edited on 12/20/24 at 12:12 pm
Posted on 12/20/24 at 12:43 pm to BuckyCheese
quote:
Had a guy commit suicide by train when I was going 60MPH. What was left of him was behind the 6000ft train by the time I stopped.
Damn! Was he just standing there or did he jump on the tracks right before?
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