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Full disclosure. I am what 2nd trick operator would call a "railfan." Under some circumstances, I refer to myself as a "dude with a camera." I have ten years prior experience in the media shooting and writing for TV news. With some of you, that won't mean much. I've also freelanced for newspapers and Trains Magazine.
For what it's worth, I'm also a South Carolina native and for ten plus years, I lived in Columbia and often rode by the auto rack facility. One of my photographs of a train parked inside the facility wound up in Trains.
The line sees both the northbound and southbound versions of the daily Amtrak Silver Star. It used to see a lot of coal trains daily, but not so much anymore. The auto rack train used to be daily in both directions. I'm not sure that's the case anymore, but it might be.
I watch the briefings with the NTSB and wish I were there asking questions. The media wants to ask about PTC and I'm not saying there isn't a place for that. But right now, there are investigators still on the ground and the time is ripe for asking them specific question about the accident. Perhaps these questions are getting asked and I am missing them.
1.) How long had the CSX train been on the siding?
2.) Was the CSX crew on scene? (I know they weren't on the train. Wondering if they were there though.)
3.) Any indication how long the switch had been lined for the siding? (This is a different question from the first one. It's possible a second crew from the one that parked the train came to take the train northbound. Usually, a separate crew unloads the train. I'm guessing the NSTB would not answer this question right now, but it should be asked.)
4.) Was the Amtrak engineer blowing for the crossing at Old Dixiana Road? If not, was he blowing because he saw the switch was lined wrong and also saw a CSX crew on scene and blew in the hope against hope they could line the switch right?
5.) I also want to know about the service record of the CSX crew in light of what we know about Mr. Harrison's cost cutting methods across the railroad, although I'd leave that part out of the question. We know a lot about the Amtrak crew so far including that the engineer worked for CSX at one point.
Full disclosure. I am what 2nd trick operator would call a "railfan." Under some circumstances, I refer to myself as a "dude with a camera." I have ten years prior experience in the media shooting and writing for TV news. With some of you, that won't mean much. I've also freelanced for newspapers and Trains Magazine.
For what it's worth, I'm also a South Carolina native and for ten plus years, I lived in Columbia and often rode by the auto rack facility. One of my photographs of a train parked inside the facility wound up in Trains.
The line sees both the northbound and southbound versions of the daily Amtrak Silver Star. It used to see a lot of coal trains daily, but not so much anymore. The auto rack train used to be daily in both directions. I'm not sure that's the case anymore, but it might be.
I watch the briefings with the NTSB and wish I were there asking questions. The media wants to ask about PTC and I'm not saying there isn't a place for that. But right now, there are investigators still on the ground and the time is ripe for asking them specific question about the accident. Perhaps these questions are getting asked and I am missing them.
1.) How long had the CSX train been on the siding?
2.) Was the CSX crew on scene? (I know they weren't on the train. Wondering if they were there though.)
3.) Any indication how long the switch had been lined for the siding? (This is a different question from the first one. It's possible a second crew from the one that parked the train came to take the train northbound. Usually, a separate crew unloads the train. I'm guessing the NSTB would not answer this question right now, but it should be asked.)
4.) Was the Amtrak engineer blowing for the crossing at Old Dixiana Road? If not, was he blowing because he saw the switch was lined wrong and also saw a CSX crew on scene and blew in the hope against hope they could line the switch right?
5.) I also want to know about the service record of the CSX crew in light of what we know about Mr. Harrison's cost cutting methods across the railroad, although I'd leave that part out of the question. We know a lot about the Amtrak crew so far including that the engineer worked for CSX at one point.
You could have picked a worse hobby.........I am interested because I worked there so long. Certainly not an expert,but I have experience and have seen some crazy stuff. When I started in 1973 we were using 19th century work practices. I got to see it evolve into the 21st century............
There was no formal NTSB briefing today. I had heard an unconfirmed report earlier that 91 stopped after the Columbia station at or near the CSX yard in Cayce. The Jacksonville Business Journal reports the following --
Quote:
Shortly before the 2:35 a.m. crash, Amtrak 91 stopped five miles before the site of the collision and waited for a go-ahead from a CSX dispatcher, per CSX protocol when a signaling system is being worked on, CSX documents show.
After the CSX conductor on site told a dispatcher that the switch was properly aligned, the dispatcher gave the go-ahead for the Amtrak train, which was carrying 139 passengers and eight crew members bound from New York to Miami, to proceed.
Five miles before the accident site would roughly be the CSX yard. So if this is the case, it would seem the CSX crew was on scene just before the time of the accident
Lawsuits have been filed now according to press reports. The widow of the Amtrak conductor sued both Amtrak and CSX. At least one passenger has sued CSX. CSX might need some of the money they paid Mr. Harrison back.
There's an update in the State, but a lot of it seems to be stuff that had already come out. The article does confirm what I suspected, that the CSX crew was at the scene when the crash occurred. The CSX conductor was on the back of the lead CSX engine and received minor injuries. The CSX engineer saw what was about to happen and managed to get off safely.
Quote:
Investigators have said human decision making “likely” played a key role in the Feb. 4 crash near Cayce.
CSX fired both the conductor and the engineer. Now the conductor is obvious, but the engineer not so much. I feel read bad for what he is going through. Unless I missed it, they did not mention that the reason the territory was "dark" was because they were installing PTC which the segment claimed would have prevented the accident.
The NTSB has released their final report on tis crash and seem to put the blame on CSX and their train crew. It's sad that anyone died or got injured, but especialy when none of the dead or injured were to blame is even sadder.
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