Amtrak Train Derailment After Hitting Dump Truck

It's not a totally clear view.. but it's a decent view... I don't think he was trying to be it.. (who knows though).. I know the farmers where I load down there I have heard them complain about the crossing before..Up here were I live right north of me the BNR has 6 crossings that are uncontrolled between in the 10 miles between Murray & Osceola.. there's usually 2 or 3 hits a year mostly coal trains .. but Amtrack flies through here too most of us know enough be extra careful at certain hrs of the day cause thats when Amtrack could be flying through ... but we all tend to forget I know a few farmers that have got hit crossing with farm equipment because the crossings are rough as hell and you have to crawl across them at a snail's pace.. just a year ago had 5 high school kids get killed by a freight train at a uncontrolled straight north of my house 3 miles...
I & all the people around here agree with your thoughts.. there should not be a single uncontrolled crossing .. Warren Buffet needs to spend some of his billions on improving his Choo Choo trains crossings

 

There's been 3 in the last week evolved with Amtrack

 

Back in... '96 I think it was. When the east coast got nailed with that #### blizzard. DC had 36 inches of snow I think from that storm, the best part? I was on a train from DC to L.A. leaving the city and the snow behind! LOL. DC to Chicago, and Chicago to L.A. 3 Day trip back then. 1 to to Chicago, and 2 to L.A. I forget the name of the route, but it was a beautiful ride for the most part. The train ride back was just as cool.

Three things I remember from that trip...

Albuquerque, NM - Found some decent..wait for it....tacos when we stopped there for a brief layover. It's where they searched the train for drugs, etc. Some little truck that would park near the station.

The crazy dude on the way back who swore up and down he was a hitman for the Gambino crime family. Older guy. He swore it was so, yet he knew none of the names, one would know if they were actually from there or a member of said family. He was harmless, but entertaining. I've always enjoyed reading about the mob so he got he wrong guy to try that story on. I had just got done reading a book about the history of the mafia and the five families of NY. LOL.

The Chicago Train station is kick ###, especially if your a fan of the Untouchables movie. Also the McDonalds there at the time, was open on Christmas, which was rare back then. I was quite happy, as I was starving. Had a 12 hour layover there.

Good times.

Sirscrapntruckalot -

 

Spot on from what CATMANDO said

FROM STATE SENATOR:
Cindy O'Laughlin
10h ·
=AZXKIB9gSEf3xtlas0zg4ty4Id19Xt2eIO2XqgviUKKrEKtOkWUHQOWD9Qk05s_4mk0Kwab61EHrUulbRD-Dy01iRiq28WmAOIST3pTlZ2x0O16XgHm3OYiyX1A28TBRX2bsRdfFrejTLwpIwCvO43sHBKn0SIVb6YzjnI3C_VyewXFt0VJ6bxNFxJWZFm9lhg4&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-y-R']I am not a professional investigator. There's plenty of that here including NTSB, FRA, and of course BNSF. This is a double track, the route between Kansas City and Chicago is in one person's words "...the I-70 of railroad shipping." There's a train every 6 to 8 minutes 24 hours a day. The rating is 90 m.p.h.
=AZXKIB9gSEf3xtlas0zg4ty4Id19Xt2eIO2XqgviUKKrEKtOkWUHQOWD9Qk05s_4mk0Kwab61EHrUulbRD-Dy01iRiq28WmAOIST3pTlZ2x0O16XgHm3OYiyX1A28TBRX2bsRdfFrejTLwpIwCvO43sHBKn0SIVb6YzjnI3C_VyewXFt0VJ6bxNFxJWZFm9lhg4&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-y-R']The track runs a little diagonal so right there you have increased safety risk. A train running 89 m.p.h. is going to cross distance faster than you might judge. The road running up to this crossing is clearly farm related. A dirt track really. And it is a steep grade, very steep. Any equipment trying to cross here is going to be doing something risky. I asked, "Why isn't there a light and cross bar here?" It is really a wonder this hasn't happened here before in my eyes. A guy driving a loaded dump truck is going to be left to his "guess" of whether or not it is safe. You have to be almost to the top of the hill to be able to see both directions clearly. And if you're loaded it is going to be a hard "restart" once you stop. If you are driving farm equipment you would have to cross slowly because of the width and ground clearance of the equipment.
=AZXKIB9gSEf3xtlas0zg4ty4Id19Xt2eIO2XqgviUKKrEKtOkWUHQOWD9Qk05s_4mk0Kwab61EHrUulbRD-Dy01iRiq28WmAOIST3pTlZ2x0O16XgHm3OYiyX1A28TBRX2bsRdfFrejTLwpIwCvO43sHBKn0SIVb6YzjnI3C_VyewXFt0VJ6bxNFxJWZFm9lhg4&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-y-R']I spoke with Amtrak and BNSF. There's all kinds of professionals here because of course the liability is enormous.
=AZXKIB9gSEf3xtlas0zg4ty4Id19Xt2eIO2XqgviUKKrEKtOkWUHQOWD9Qk05s_4mk0Kwab61EHrUulbRD-Dy01iRiq28WmAOIST3pTlZ2x0O16XgHm3OYiyX1A28TBRX2bsRdfFrejTLwpIwCvO43sHBKn0SIVb6YzjnI3C_VyewXFt0VJ6bxNFxJWZFm9lhg4&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-y-R']Turns out the decision of whether to put lights and cross bar is MODOT'S. I was told this was in the commission's list to approve because it is on the STIP. But the commission hasn't met to vote on it. I don't know that I believe this. Take this for what it's worth but I have often found the STIP to be meaningless because locals come up with priorities and then that list gets changed numerous times. So what does "priority" mean in that scenario? Nothing.
=AZXKIB9gSEf3xtlas0zg4ty4Id19Xt2eIO2XqgviUKKrEKtOkWUHQOWD9Qk05s_4mk0Kwab61EHrUulbRD-Dy01iRiq28WmAOIST3pTlZ2x0O16XgHm3OYiyX1A28TBRX2bsRdfFrejTLwpIwCvO43sHBKn0SIVb6YzjnI3C_VyewXFt0VJ6bxNFxJWZFm9lhg4&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-y-R']We have heard over and over again how "There's no money." I know of some examples where clear safety risk is reported and it is shrugged off. This is maybe one of those. I understand you weigh out priorities and I suppose the thinking could be, "well this is the middle of farm ground, not much traffic." But the point is the RISK OF LIFE AND PROPERTY. And here we have the result. This is an extremely risky crossing and it is exacerbated by the type of equipment most likely crossing. I believe there should be lights and a crossbar here. This could have been avoided or at least a much better chance of crossing safely. This is a big failure and it has cost an enormous amount in lives and property.

 

KCTV5 News Kansas City - Local farmer on train derailment | Facebook | By KCTV5 News Kansas City | Mike Spencer, a corn and soybean farmer near where the Amtrak train derailment happened, posted a video on Facebook of a train speeding by a few weeks...

Have said it was gonna happen a few weeks ago.

 

you can bet the lawyers lined up now

 

Warren buffett being their major investor..