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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Update: Fotos from the Dupont, WA Amtrac train crash
2017-12-19
Follow up to this story from yesterday.
[Quartz] At least 6 people have been killed and scores more injured in a passenger train derailment near Tacoma, Washington. The Associated Press reports that an Amtrak train carrying 78 passengers derailed while traveling at more than 80 mph, sending several cars onto the busy Interstate 5 below.

The train was making its inaugural trip along a new route from Seattle, Washington to Portland, Oregon aiming to allow for higher speeds and faster service between cities. At least 50 people were sent to hospitals, more than a dozen with critical or serious injuries, the AP reported. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
And from Anguper Hupomosing9418:
Speeding alleged cause of Amtrak derailment in Washington State

[KING5] Amtrak train going 81 mph just before derailing around 30-mph curve.
Posted by:Besoeker

#15  grafitti: LABRAT KNATS its been there for a long time
Posted by: 746   2017-12-19 21:03  

#14  Anguper Hupomosing9418, I set the width of your picture at 450. It was breaking the Burg.
Posted by: trailing wife   2017-12-19 20:22  

#13  If there is Auto Train Stop on this route, the engineer wqasn't using it. Also, this was the FIRST run on a NEW route, pulled by a NEW engine, with notables aboard (most of whom got off a stop behind the wreck), so where was the Road Foreman of Engines who by tradition for such a run, would have been in the cab with the engineer?
Posted by: Rivrdog   2017-12-19 20:18  

#12  #3 I wanna know what is the meaning of LABRAT KNATS? Is it mere coincidence that this graffiti shows up on that bridge?

Googling around a bit suggests it has been there from some time, like a few years. Lots of curiosity about it.
Posted by: SteveS   2017-12-19 18:13  

#11  #8 - signalling systems are nearly idiot-proof. The drivers - not so much. Engineers are supposed to know every curve and every speed restriction before the leave the terminal. Driving a passenger train while texting killed 25 in California in 2008.Chatsworth, 2008
Posted by: Bobby   2017-12-19 17:25  

#10  King5 also has animation of wreck. Train was running west parallel to I-5 before reaching a curve and overpass south bound.

Actual fatalities so far are _3_, not 6. But I’ve also heard/read that 2 trains cars may have more bodies—the cars are not secure so recovery has been delayed.
Posted by: Dar   2017-12-19 16:09  

#9  Wow, thanks Anguper. So you've seen the photo of the other engine on the tracks with a tighter curve beyond the direction it's pointing? The train managed to (almost) negotiate that at 80 mph?
Posted by: KBK   2017-12-19 15:56  

#8  So speed appears to be the problem rather than something on or done to the tracks.

Human error is always a strong possibility. I don't know anything about automated controls and signalling on rail systems, but given our current crop of enviro-anarchists, I have to wonder if there was a warning signal that was disabled or a control system tampered with.
Posted by: SteveS   2017-12-19 15:01  

#7  " I wanna know what is the meaning of LABRAT KNATS?"
Satans lab rats?
Posted by: newc   2017-12-19 13:55  

#6  Where the lead engine wound up. Camera is aiming to the northeast.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2017-12-19 12:59  

#5   The tight bend appeared to be directly in front of the locomotive still on the tracks.
The train was southbound, had a front locomotive and a rear locomotive. The front locomotive derailed & fell onto I-5. The rear locomotive never derailed & was still on the tracks. NTSB in a TV interview stated they retrieved the event recorder from the rear locomotive & verified the train was going 80 mph when the derailment started. They haven't yet spoken to the engineer.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2017-12-19 12:38  

#4  The tight bend appeared to be directly in front of the locomotive still on the tracks. Maybe he braked for the turn and due to a system failure the cars and/or locomotive behind didn’t, causing the train to jackknife.
Posted by: KBK   2017-12-19 11:51  

#3  I wanna know what is the meaning of LABRAT KNATS? Is it mere coincidence that this graffiti shows up on that bridge?
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2017-12-19 10:05  

#2  So, evidently the speed goes from highway speed+ to school zone speed for the curve. The engineer should have slowed down about a mile back, cause it's a train.
I think they do need one of these in California; make the legislature ride it.
Posted by: ed in texas   2017-12-19 09:35  

#1  So is the corner they were on rated for 30mph and everything else rated for 79?
Posted by: gorb   2017-12-19 03:39  

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