Comin' Down the Grade, Makin' 90 Miles an Hour...

....watch Ol' 97 roll.
An Amtrak train that derailed near Philadelphia was apparently traveling at more than 100 miles per hour at the time of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Wednesday.... Seven peopled were killed and more than 100 injured during the crash.



If you're interested in the story of the real 'Old 97,' it's an interesting one too.

10 comments:

Texan99 said...

That really surprises me. I heard a woman interviewed on TV last night who very clearly said that she takes that train all the time, and that her distinct impression was of quite normal speed just before the crash. I realize it's not always easy to tell how fast you're going in a smooth train, but she'd only been on board 10 minutes or so, and they were still well inside the city.

Grim said...

Amtrack trains I've ridden, I'd be surprised if they could get up to 100 in ten minutes. Or at all.

Texan99 said...

But it seems the speed is confirmed not only by the black box but by surveillance video. The engineer walked away from the crash but isn't talking. The conductor is in the hospital with a head injury. I admit ignorance: which one controls the speed? Do they work right next to each other?

Some witnesses in today's stories are saying they were worried by the speed just before the crash. I suppose some people notice more than others.

David Foster said...

Different speed restrictions for different sections of track; unless one was watching closely and had a track map, it would be hard to know when limits were being exceeded.

Before the 100mph data came out, Dems were arguing that the crash was caused by inadequate spending on infrastructure. If this had been true..say, the train was going assigned speed of 50 and still ran off the track...then it seems clear that assigning that speed and dispatching the train would have been criminal negligence on the part of Amtrak management.

If you're an airline, you don't get to skip required periodic maintenance because you're having financial problems. Same principle applies here.

Texan99 said...

Yet another catastrophe in a blue city and a blue industry, but still the fault of Republicans. I think it's the Republicans' fault that Chicago's bonds were downgraded, too.

Anonymous said...

California Democrats regularly blame the Republicans, too. Again, the Democrats have been in control of this state for decades.

Any excuse to avoid actually debating the merits of a policy.

Valerie

Gringo said...

This train accident apparently resulted from not following established procedures. That is, going too fast. I am reminded of the Macondo blowout of 2010. The WSJ had a number of detailed articles on the blowout. I was shocked at the number of times BP, the company that billed itself as "Beyond Petroleum," had not followed established drilling procedures. Beyond following established oil industry procedures, also.

Dull, conventional, conservative quite often means doing what has been proven to work.

Eric Blair said...

I know exactly where that train derailed, and infact watch Amtrak trains go by at high rates of speed all the time while waiting for my train in the morning. but that's on a section of straight track.

What's interesting to me is how fast the train got up to that speed, since it had stopped at the 30th street station.

Engineer wasn't paying attention.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r23lUATZTJw

raven said...

Regarding the ole 97- sometimes it is a prudent course of action to tell a boss to "stuff it", when they ask one to do something stupid.
A new job is far easier to get than a new life.