Did anyone catch this on CNN? CNN video. "I-Reporter Laura Kennedy of Richmond, Texas, witnessed a train plowing into a semi truck while driving along highway 90." Anywhere near our buddy Watash? With any luck, the link will work. http://www.cnn.com/video/player/pla...ports/2007/04/30/ireport.train.hits.truck.cnn
Couldn't get the link to work, but I saw it this morning. It looks like someone lost a moving van full of household stuff!
You know, I have said it a million times: when will these folks learn that a train simply cannot stop? Just because the tracks are clear right now does not mean you STOP on them waiting for traffic to clear. Man, I hope no one was hurt and I do hope that driver faces charges AND has to pay the people who lost all of their possessions because of his/her stupidity. John
No Wayne lives up in Fort Worth. Highway 90 runs through Houston. Here is a link to a news story on it. It is on HWY 90A which runs farther south than HWY 90 and through Richmond where the reporter is from. Harlem Road is one of two crossings just east of Richmond where low "under clearance" moving vans are always getting stuck high centered on the Sunset Route. The fifth wheel picks the tractor wheels off the pavement and they can't go anywhere until a tow truck comes. I saw the results of a similar crash a few years ago. Someone's furnature and house hold belongings were spread all over down the right of way for 1/4 mile. There are plenty of signs but these idiot drivers don't seem to pay attention.
Now he'll probably try to sue the railroad like every other idiot driver does. The bad thing is that the railroads settle with them just to shut them up.
I drove over to check out the scene of the accident. There used to be a sign like this posted before the crossing but it is missing. Hmmm....I wonder if it dissapeared before or after the accident? It is a pretty steep drop off once you go over the rails.
Ah, when will they learn. That train looked like a solid unit train of those new KCS Southern Belle hoppers didn't they?
Yeah, I belive those were KCS engines too but still in the gray with red lettering scheme. The train was in emergency as you can hear the wheels sliding. KCS has track rights on the UP Sunset Route as far as Flatonia where they head south on the old SA&AP line to Corpus Christi. I guess the folks in cars in the right-turn lane decided they were not going down that road any time soon so were pulling back into the main lanes to go on to the next road a mile or so down the track. More on the accident. http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=88286
Lots of truck vs. train lunacy. It seems common sense isn't so common. mg: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlKdCXOmzH8"]YouTube - Train crashes into truck[/ame]
Mabe they should install these at RR crossings. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZZayp59WRk&mode=related&search="]YouTube - Traffic pole vs Truck[/ame]
It tore up one of those wimpy European lorries, but I'll be more impressed if it does the same to a Kenworth or Peterbilt with a fully-loaded trailer. And anyway, I'm rather surprised nobody mentioned the crew of the KCS freight. THEY got a front-row seat to this mess, plus a close-up look at somebody's now-demolished furniture. Stuff the truck driver- what about the crew?
I'd be willing to bet that the crew "hit the deck" when they saw what was going to happen. You just dont know what is inside of a trailer. A few years back one of our commuter engineers took out a trailerload of hardware(tools) at the La Grange Rd. grade crossing. The resulting shrapnel chewed up a few vehicles parked nearby and damaged the passenger waiting shelter on the WB platform, but miraculously noone was killed or injured from the flying shrapnel. The hogger said that he dropped down and kissed the floor when he saw the collision was inevitable. The most I ever did was chew up a felled crossing arm blade which had been knocked off by a passing vehicle just prior to our train's passing. IIRC that was La Grange Rd. also. That is one snarky and dangerous crossing! Good for making "flagman's pay" for commuter crews who can set out a flagman to protect the crossing until signal maintenance repairs it. That's another story! Charlie
I recall an incident years ago where a tank truck pulled in front of a train somewhere in Louisiana. Being in the heart of the oil and chemical coast, they thought they were toast but hit the deck anyway. The load ruptured and poured into the cab through the broken windshield. They about drowned but nothing ignited. It was milk.
We hit trucks all the time around here. You really don't feel much of anything even when they are loaded. The only thing I worry about is debris coming through the windshield.
Yesterday, I met the KCS engineer who was involved in this wreck. He said he still had his arm up to to keep the horn blowing but was a low to the deck as possible. The fiber glass sides of the moving van itself were not that substantial but the Lexus inside it did most of the damage to the locomotive.
Not these days. Almost every person is wrapped up in their own little world. Not caring, not aware of anything, or anyone else. And someone ends up paying a price for this poor behavior. :sad: Boxcab E50
