Don't text while driving a train

[jtbell]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/15/train.collision/index.html

 

[Cyrus]

I have to nitpick because I know you're into trains. One does not 'drive' a train. You 'operate' it.

 

[mgb_phys]

I would beg to differ, http://www.aslef.org.uk/ "the train drivers union since 1880"

 

[OAQfirst]

Is this a regional semantic? Maybe in the U.K. they drive while in the U.S. we operate?

Anyway, it's kinda obvious that jtbell was playing on the expression. If the alternative was given as a title, it'd sound a wee bit more interesting, albeit misleading: "Don't text while operating... a train!" You can just see the (kind of humorous) initial interpretation of texting while doing a triple bypass.

 

[Moonbear]

YIKES!

Is there any sensor after a signal on train tracks to alert other trains sharing the tracks that for some reason, one has missed heeding a signal? I don't know how much evasive action a freight train really can take, but if you knew another train had missed stopping for a signal and was heading your way, maybe they could at least stop rather than keep moving forward or perhaps start going backward to minimize any impact even if the impact itself is inevitable once a train misses a stop?

That, or when the engineers board the train, have someone at the station lock up their cell phone in a box the engineers can't open themselves, so until they are ready to get off the train at another station, they can't get anyone to open it.

 

[lisab]

It's hard to believe that the safety of all the passengers depends on one guy noticing one light. What if he has a medical emergency...or even something not that serious, like a fit of sneezes?

Is this how all trains in the US run...with no "plan B" if the engineer messes up? Yikes!

 

[Evo]

How did these teenagers get this "engineer's" cell phone number? How old was this engineer?

 

[edward]

It's hard to believe that the safety of all the passengers depends on one guy noticing one light. What if he has a medical emergency...or even something not that serious, like a fit of sneezes?

Is this how all trains in the US run...with no "plan B" if the engineer messes up? Yikes!

It is a matter of choice by the railroads

The NTSB for decades has recommended collision-avoidance devices for corridors where passenger and freight trains use the same track. Railroads say the technology costs too much and isn't reliable.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/traffic/la-me-control14-2008sep14,0,5390210.story

The east coast rail lines have been using collision-avoidance methods for years.

There is a conductor on the passenger trains who is also responsible for stopping the trains. The French company that operates the California metro liner choose to blame the conductor.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i9pBP3gdj7HT4uYJJHiWPFNNU0UQ

No one has mentioned that the warning from dispatch could have come much sooner.

The U.S. always seems to be behind on the technology learning curve, or at least behind on implementing new technology.

In Europe trains have disc brakes and can stop much faster. The eighteen wheelers in Europe have anti lock brakes to keep the trucks from doing the infamous jack knife.

 

[Astronuc]

How did these teenagers get this "engineer's" cell phone number? How old was this engineer?

A story a few days ago indicated that the teens had somehow befriended the engineering, and they had asked questions about train operations and so on. I knew some engineers when I was younger, but I'd never would interfere with the operation of a train.

Some systems uses a warning system in the cab that would alert the engineer that he ran a red light. It might have been too late in this guys case because it sounds like he ran the light just before the freight approached. He probably looked up and saw he was about to hit. Doesn't sound like he had time to hit the breaks based on the telescoping of the locomotive into the trailing cars, unless the force of the freight recoiled the passenger locomotive into the lead passenger car.


Same reason that people shouldn't talk on their cells or text while driving.

 

[mgb_phys]

If it's anything like the UK. A warning system was invented for Brunel's Great Western Railway and first fitted in 1906, it sounds an alarm and puts on the brakes if you pass a red signal - it became mandatory after a bad accident in 1997!
91 years is a pretty quick response for British Rail.

 

[rootX]

If it's anything like the UK. A warning system was invented for Brunel's Great Western Railway and first fitted in 1906, it sounds an alarm and puts on the brakes if you pass a red signal - it became mandatory after a bad accident in 1997!
91 years is a pretty quick response for British Rail.

Why Americans did not use it

 

[Art]

If it's anything like the UK. A warning system was invented for Brunel's Great Western Railway and first fitted in 1906, it sounds an alarm and puts on the brakes if you pass a red signal - it became mandatory after a bad accident in 1997!
91 years is a pretty quick response for British Rail.

I think I read though they went for the cheaper system (TPWS) which doesn't work for trains traveling faster than 70 MPH as opposed to the more expensive (ATP) system which works for trains traveling up to 200 MPH.

 

[Evo]

I think I read though they went for the cheaper system (TPWS) which doesn't work for trains traveling faster than 70 MPH as opposed to the more expensive (ATP) system which works for trains traveling up to 200 MPH.

The train was going 42 MPH.

 

[Art]

The train was going 42 MPH.

I wasn't commenting on this specific instance just that the UK system is not entirely foolproof but certainly a hell of a lot better than having none.

 

[Astronuc]

Good chance the passenger engineer missed a previous approach light, and he was therefore speeding. He should have been slowing for a red light and getting ready to stop.

The conductor is actually responsible for the conduct of the train. The engineer is an operator. The dispatcher apparently warned the conductor, but too late it seems.

 

[edward]

There is a mix and match of overhead signal bridges, track side signal s, and semaphores used in this country. Different companies use different signals.

I have a friend who retired from CSX a few years ago. He was an operating engineer. His biggest gripe was the mix of signals and how they varied. It is not unusual to run on a rail line owned by another company. There are a lot more than just stop or go signals.

Below is just a sample.

http://modratec.com/mud_sig02.php

 

[Art]

There is a mix and match of overhead signal bridges, track side signal s, and semaphores used in this country. Different companies use different signals.

I have a friend who retired from CSX a few years ago. He was an operating engineer. His biggest gripe was the mix of signals and how they varied. It is not unusual to run on a rail line owned by another company. There are a lot more than just stop or go signals.

Below is just a sample.

http://modratec.com/mud_sig02.php

Before the UK introduced their fail-safe system a report found trains were running 600 red lights a year which is pretty scary.

 

[Andre]

It's hard to believe that the safety of all the passengers depends on one guy noticing one light.

Welcome to the real world, Lisa in aviation that would be the pilut.