One conductor is safe. However 2 engineers and 1 conductor are unaccounted for. I ask that y'all join me in praying (in your own fashion) for these crews and their families.
It happened at 1000 this morning and still no additional news. I can't find any pictures, either. (Except the one with all the smoke from a distance.) I read that the highway is closed.
Wow, that is terrible. How did they get into a head on situation? I would have thought that would've been almost impossible these days, particularly on a mainline. So sad.
From what I am hearing from other sources, yes it is CTC. The question I have is, was there a siding nearby and if so, then why wasn't one of the trains diverted to the siding? Many questions need to be answered. I will answer one--the three missing were confirmed dead.
To the Union Pacific employees I send my condolences, to the crews that will operate their trains past the past wreck site I share your pain. To the familys of the victims I send my prayers. I'm certain the loss of these crews will ne noticed in the locker room, in the lunch room and on the railroad radio. I hope that the UP employees will support each other as they always have and watch out for each other in this time of grief.
From what I've read (hope I'm wring) one train was supposed to be on the siding. Somebody missed a signal, as a report on another website stated there seems to be no problem with the signals in the area. Either a signal was missed or was never sent properly. Either way, it's a tragedy. Alan
I passed 10 miles north of there in Guymon exactly 24 hours before this happened. That is pretty crazy. This also happened on the former Rock Island "Golden State" route. The Rock never got around to double tracking their portion to Kansas City from Tucumcari of which this wreck happened on the Dalhart to Guymon portion. The Eastbound should have been on the siding as I believe UP's Westbound trains have authority over Eastbound. The cargo on the Eastbound also indicates that it most definitely should have been the one on the siding.
Boxcab, I can't find the link now, I think it was something in the comments section of the Huffington Post article about the wreck. Be advised, if you read those comments, make sure to take your blood pressure meds first, some of the ones that posted on there are so stupid, I want to hunt them down & punch them. Alan
BINGO! I knew I'd seen it somewhere http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/06/26/ntsb_why_didnt_train_wait_before_okla_crash/
Some of the NTSB's photos are on their website and one particular one shows the switch that was thrown for the westbound to enter the siding was run through with a bit of damage to the tie bar from the switch stand. The westbound obviously never even got to the siding. Some leaked internal reports are that the crew of the eastbound ignored three alerts from the DTC blocks and in cab alerts before blowing through the switch and hitting the westbound. They were believed to be asleep, but someone in Omaha failed to get on the radio to alert the crew of either train.
