This time the wreck was in Southern California with injuries sustained by many. 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/02/24/southern-california-commuter-train-crashes-into-truck-injuries-reported/

99.9999999% of the time, when a highway vehicle gets hit by a train, it is the highway vehicle's fault.

It was looking as if the truck-driver committed an act of terrorism, but authorities released him from jail...

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/02/25/metrolink-hopes-to-reopen-tracks-late-wednesday-following-derailment-in-oxnard/

The dumb-ass actually drove onto the track, but wasn't stuck...  Then wandered away??  Since he doesn't speak english 'well', I'd hazard a guess that he doesn't do abiding by American laws 'well' either.  Unbelievable.

Quote from: Darth Fife on February 24, 2015, 09:21:10 PM
99.9999999% of the time, when a highway vehicle gets hit by a train, it is the highway vehicle's fault.

I don't know if the percentage is quite that high, but I was once involved in a case where a highway vehicle struck and damaged a train (not the other way around) at a grade crossing. A dump truck owned by my company lost its brakes and struck a CSX locomotive broadside, rupturing its saddle tanks, and spilling about 3,500 gallons of #2 Diesel fuel into a backwater swamp along the 20-foot railbed embankment. I worked all night and half the next day in that muck organizing an effort aimed at trying to contain and clean up the spill. Not one of my fondest memories. I still say my shit smelled like Diesel fuel for three days after that. 

Quote from: TboneAgain on February 27, 2015, 11:40:42 AM
I don't know if the percentage is quite that high, but I was once involved in a case where a highway vehicle struck and damaged a train (not the other way around) at a grade crossing. A dump truck owned by my company lost its brakes and struck a CSX locomotive broadside, rupturing its saddle tanks, and spilling about 3,500 gallons of #2 Diesel fuel into a backwater swamp along the 20-foot railbed embankment. I worked all night and half the next day in that muck organizing an effort aimed at trying to contain and clean up the spill. Not one of my fondest memories. I still say my shit smelled like Diesel fuel for three days after that. 

Diesels don't have "saddle tanks".

Saddle tanks are part of a certain type of steam locomotive and are filled with water - de-mineralized water in fact.

Just sayin'...

Why did they let him out of jail? Was he illegally here? Why was he driving a truck, given his record?


There's more to this story I think - he's driving for an American company and he's been here for decades yet he can't speak English?

Quote from: jungle x on February 28, 2015, 05:27:59 PM
Why did they let him out of jail? Was he illegally here? Why was he driving a truck, given his record?


There's more to this story I think - he's driving for an American company and he's been here for decades yet he can't speak English?

It always seem to be an convenient excuse, doesn't it?

Just a little FYI...

If you are ever in the situation where your vehicle is stuck on railroad tracks:

1) Get out of the vehicle and get off the tracks.

2) Call 911.

3) IF, there is no train immediately present, take your jumper cables (you do have jumper cables don't you?) and clip one end to one rail and the other end to the opposite rail. This will cause the dispatcher's board to light up like the proverbial Christmas tree. More importantly, it will also set the track side signals and signals in the cab of any locomotive for miles in either direction to "STOP".

Quote from: Darth Fife on March 01, 2015, 08:22:12 AM
Just a little FYI...

If you are ever in the situation where your vehicle is stuck on railroad tracks:

1) Get out of the vehicle and get off the tracks.

2) Call 911.

3) IF, there is no train immediately present, take your jumper cables (you do have jumper cables don't you?) and clip one end to one rail and the other end to the opposite rail. This will cause the dispatcher's board to light up like the proverbial Christmas tree. More importantly, it will also set the track side signals and signals in the cab of any locomotive for miles in either direction to "STOP".

Excellent advice, assuming you're within 100' of a crossing. Kathy probably knows the actual distance.
But good advice, nonetheless.

Quote from: Darth Fife on March 01, 2015, 08:22:12 AM
Just a little FYI...

If you are ever in the situation where your vehicle is stuck on railroad tracks:

1) Get out of the vehicle and get off the tracks.

2) Call 911.

3) IF, there is no train immediately present, take your jumper cables (you do have jumper cables don't you?) and clip one end to one rail and the other end to the opposite rail. This will cause the dispatcher's board to light up like the proverbial Christmas tree. More importantly, it will also set the track side signals and signals in the cab of any locomotive for miles in either direction to "STOP".

IF so are jumper cables that long in this day and age? 

Quote from: walkstall on March 01, 2015, 09:00:19 AM
IF so are jumper cables that long in this day and age?

Railhead to railhead is 4' 8 1/2"! Never seen jumper cables shorter than about 6 feet!

Quote from: Solar on March 01, 2015, 08:56:41 AM
Excellent advice, assuming you're within 100' of a crossing. Kathy probably knows the actual distance.
But good advice, nonetheless.

Doesn't matter how close you are to the crossing. The entire rail system has a "live" detection circuit that is divided into electrical "blocks". That is how (prior to GPS) railroads kept track of the locations of trains.

Quote from: kit saginaw on February 27, 2015, 08:36:48 AM
It was looking as if the truck-driver committed an act of terrorism, but authorities released him from jail...

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/02/25/metrolink-hopes-to-reopen-tracks-late-wednesday-following-derailment-in-oxnard/

The dumb-ass actually drove onto the track, but wasn't stuck...  Then wandered away??  Since he doesn't speak english 'well', I'd hazard a guess that he doesn't do abiding by American laws 'well' either.  Unbelievable.

Nonow its'their fault the're to busying answer cellphonesl That little ol train can just stop for them insteadl

Quote from: Darth Fife on March 01, 2015, 09:06:55 AM
Railhead to railhead is 4' 8 1/2"! Never seen jumper cables shorter than about 6 feet!

Would not know as the set I have for over 40 years now are 15' long.  I just see people having to get side by side or nose to nose in this day and age for a jump start. 

Quote from: Darth Fife on March 01, 2015, 09:09:44 AM
Doesn't matter how close you are to the crossing. The entire rail system has a "live" detection circuit that is divided into electrical "blocks". That is how (prior to GPS) railroads kept track of the locations of trains.

In the real world of design, that's true, but walk a set of tracks and you'll see that in several places along the track, the rails do not touch, and in some cases jumpers are attached to the rails to make contact, but weather/temperature fluctuations tend to shift contact regularly.

I wouldn't count on this working flawlessly, if at all, because you are counting on one tiny spot, while an entire train may span as little as a quarter mile, to several miles in length, assuring contact of the rails.