Los Angeles Derailment

[jswagger]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-31609770

California train derails after collision with truck.

 

[Groningen]

The driver from the truck that caused the accident was not a local. He was found 1 mile from the place of accident. He misjudged the turn and came with his pickup on the tracks. He towed a 3,6 meter trailer.

 

[Zoidberg]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-31609770

California train derails after collision with truck.

An extract from the linked page

A commuter train and a truck have collided, causing four carriages to derail northwest of Los Angeles.

The vehicle became engulfed in flames and at least 28 people have been injured, a fire department spokesman told the BBC.

Police in Oxnard, California, say the crash was first reported at 05:44 local time (13:44 GMT).

The collision happened at a level crossing as the truck turned on to the tracks and stopped, officials said.
"I saw a bright flash, a big fireball and flames, flames going pretty high," said Glenn Frisbie, who was driving to work and sitting at an intersection about a block away from the incident.

Metrolink spokesman Scott Johnson estimated the train struck the truck at a speed between 40 mph (64 kmh) to 50 mph.

Officials say that no one has died, but 13 people remained in emergency rooms Tuesday afternoon for treatment.

...

 

[Via Bank]

A grim forty-eight hours for rail passengers in California, then. A Caltrain struck an occupied vehicle on a crossing in Menlo Park yesterday, two pedestrians hit by trains since, and now this.

Not pleasant.

 

[MarkyT]

For the collision speed claimed (40/50MPH) the wreckage is spread all over the place in the pictures so forces experienced by the passengers must have been very high. Thankfully the car bodies seem to have held together very well though. Three of the four passenger cars of the push-pull set are on their sides with the leading driving trailer also swung around nearly 180 degrees, yet it has little visible nose damage. The line looks pretty straight and I can't see any facing junctions in the vicinity that might have contributed to splitting and spreading the consist like Ufton Nervet. Presumably a number of wheels must have been derailed by riding over particularly solid parts of the truck.

 

[edwin_m]

Ever since Polmont I have wondered about the potential for push-pull trains to jack-knife when the loco is at the rear. If the front is being decelerated at more than the normal braking rate due to collision or derailment, then there will be significantly more compressive forces in the train than there would be with a multiple unit of the same length. Unless ballasted up the cab car would also be lighter than a MU car so easier to lift off the track.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Ever since Polmont I have wondered about the potential for push-pull trains to jack-knife when the loco is at the rear. If the front is being decelerated at more than the normal braking rate due to collision or derailment, then there will be significantly more compressive forces in the train than there would be with a multiple unit of the same length. Unless ballasted up the cab car would also be lighter than a MU car so easier to lift off the track.

Always wondered about the Great Heck disaster, had the 225 train formation been the opposite way around with the Class 91 hitting the obstruction instead of the DVT, How much less a chance of a derailment would there actually have been?

 

[DownSouth]

Unless ballasted up the cab car would also be lighter than a MU car so easier to lift off the track.

US cab cars have a heavily beefed up structure for crashworthiness.

With nobody being killed or in a critical condition from what appears to be a very serious crash, it would appear that it did its job.

 

[edwin_m]

US cab cars have a heavily beefed up structure for crashworthiness.

With nobody being killed or in a critical condition from what appears to be a very serious crash, it would appear that it did its job.

Indeed, the cars themselves appear to have been structurally very little damaged. My concern is how much they seem to have been thrown around rather than staying in line.

 

[MK Tom]

Why'd they shut down the whole system? I don't see how this incident affects any other line. It could've happened on any level crossing anywhere in the country, and often does.