[PRCo] Re: Electric Railway Accidents

[Fred Schneider]

I'm really very sorry Jerry that I cannot take back the message I  
just posted but I can't.   I feel very sorry for your wife.   I also  
feel sorry for the engineman who had no more chance of avoiding it  
than a snow ball does of surviving in Florida heat.

But through much of this thread I have honestly said what I've felt  
about railroad / transit accidents.  I have only been in one so  
far ... that involved a farmer at a private crossing who refused to  
allow the Strasburg Rail Road to ring bells or blow whistles because  
they disturbed his family ... I was the fireman on the day he drove  
his horse in front of the train.   The horse had to be put to sleep;   
the engineman almost had to be sedated because he was one of those  
people who was more comfortable with animals than people and he had  
owned a horse.   I've had my share of near misses at PTM.    I also  
had my fight with a school administrator after I had almost had an  
accident with a school bus taking a team to an event ... bad brakes  
and he didn't want to spend money to fix them because they were going  
to retire that bus in four months.   (I acknowledged that I had a  
very long memory if the vehicle was involved in an accident).  Two  
weeks later he came into my classroom at the end of the day and want  
me to drive the same bus again, but he had taken me seriously and had  
spent over $1,000 fixing the beast.   There are two on this list who  
are professional full time operators and I've sure they've had a few  
close ones.

On Sep 28, 2005, at 2:42 PM, <mtoytrain at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> Headline - The Acela Train did not hit the car - the car hit the  
> Acela Train!
>
> People run into trains, and trains don't run into people.   My  
> father in law, was hit by a train
> in Georgia and just before he died, he said it was his fault, he  
> thought he could out run
> the train.   Electric Railway, Regular Railway, Streetcar or  
> whatever they all run on tracks and
> the driving American Public must realize this.   From the earliest  
> of trains or streetcars they have
> "cowcatchers' built on the front of them.
>
>>
>> From: "Ken & Tracie" <ktjosephson at earthlink.net>
>> Date: 2005/09/28 Wed PM 02:29:40 EDT
>> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Electric Railway Accidents
>>
>> Another one:
>>
>> Acela Train Hits Car in Conn., Killing Two
>> September 28, 2005 10:56 AM EDT
>> WATERFORD, Conn. - An Amtrak Acela train collided Wednesday with a  
>> car at a
>> crossing in eastern Connecticut, killing two and causing major  
>> delays on the
>> Northeast rail line.
>>
>> The accident happened just before 8 a.m. on the southbound tracks,  
>> Amtrak
>> spokeswoman Tracy Connell said. Video taken from a WTNH-TV  
>> helicopter showed
>> the engine of the train resting on wreckage of a white car.
>>
>> An adult and child in the car were killed, said Paul Eccard, a  
>> Waterford
>> town selectman. A second child was taken by helicopter to a  
>> hospital with
>> serious injuries. The hospital would not release the child's  
>> condition.
>>
>> None of the 130 passengers on the train was injured, Connell said.  
>> It was
>> not clear if the gates at the crossing were down at the time of the
>> accident.
>>
>> The Acela is Amtrak's high-speed express train, and operates  
>> between Boston
>> and Washington. The train can travel up to speeds of 120 mph, but  
>> goes much
>> slower through Connecticut.
>>
>> The rail line was shut down in the area while police and Amtrak  
>> officials
>> investigated the crash. Connell said Amtrak expected significant  
>> delays
>> between Boston and New York for most of the day.
>>
>> Copyright 2005 Associated Press.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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